Things I Forgot to Mention in My Update

I finished and sent my update today, and I keep thinking of things I forgot to mention.  I may add to the list later as I keep remembering

• I finished my fourth blog book in June and uploaded it to the printer.  I had decided I wasn't going to print it until after we have a job since it's about $100, but I forgot that if you don't order a copy within 15 days of uploading they delete it from their online space.  Darn!  It took at least 2 hours to upload.  Still, I did finish it.  All of the editing, re-arranging, and everything else is as done as it's gonna get.
• The other day I noticed that Jill was repeatedly spitting on the floor.  I asked her what she was spitting out, and she said, "Scratchy's food tastes yucky."  Apparently, she saw some sitting around and decided to sample it.  Lesson learned.
• Michael also learned a good lesson.  This one was about the microwave.  One day he was wandering around bored, and he started pushing buttons on the microwave.  This is a big, nice microwave that our friends the Spurlocks gave us back in 2006 or so.  It had hardly been used at all and is just really nice.  Anyway, he had the microwave running with nothing in it.  I scolded him a bit and had him turn it off.  I noticed a burned smell, but I figured it was just food that the boys have spilled in there.  Not long after that I went to use the microwave to make Jill some ramen.  After a few seconds of cooking it got really bright inside the microwave and it sounded really funny.  I opened the microwave and found a big old scorch mark on the side of the inside.  I do believe we had some flames in there.  We unplugged it and replaced it.  Kind of scary!  But it's a good lesson to learn.  Don't microwave nothing!
• Sometime in June Jeremy finally received his diploma from INSEEC (the school in Paris).  It came with a blue stole.  Pretty exciting!  It also came with a ticket for a gala in Paris for INSEEC graduates.  The gala happened in like May or something.  Ha ha!  Now we are just missing the diploma from SUU.  That should come out around the middle of this month.  It's funny that they all took so long!  We bought 3 document frames, so now he has his ASU and INSEEC diplomas up on the wall.  The SUU one will join them.  Also, did you realize that he has received 4 degrees since we got married?  He got an AAS degree back in 2001, a bachelors degree in 2005, and 2 masters degrees in 2013 (though his coursework was all officially done for the masters degrees in 2012).  He is pretty fancy.

I also have been thinking - the one-year mark for Jeremy's departure to Paris has come and gone, and we've almost gotten all the way to the one-year mark of his arrival home.  I know I talk about that time now and then, but lately I have been reminded of it over and over.  In particular, I keep thinking about people's reactions to that situation.  I don't really remember what people in our ward said of it, but I do remember that first Sunday without Jeremy.  At the end I was gathering my things after Relief Society and my friend Tia asked me how I was doing.  I don't remember what I said in response.  I do remember that I burst into tears and she just sat there with her arm around me.  I appreciated that a lot.  And I remember hearing now and then about the reactions people who Jeremy met while he was in Paris and the other countries he visited.  They would say that Jeremy is lucky to have a wife who would let him do that.  Or that I am brave.  Or whatever.  Those reactions all kind of surprised me.  I shouldn't have been surprised, but my perspective was that we both knew this was what the Lord wanted us to do, and that he promised me that we would be ok and have a good summer.  That was that.  That was the perspective I went in with.  I still wonder what people think.  I kind of figure that my ward thinks I was a basket case the entire time and couldn't handle my children at all.  Who knows.  It probably doesn't matter, and they probably don't think that.

I can say, however, that I treasure the memory of those times.  I do wish I hadn't freaked out so much.  We did have some good times and overall I think I did ok, but I do feel like I was living a short hop away from insanity a lot of the time.  I felt so pressured and so lonely.  I am thankful for the help I got with the water heater, and I was thankful for all the little times we were blessed.  I have some pretty nice memories from that time.  I'm thankful that we heard and obeyed the voice of the Lord and went ahead with that crazy scheme.

(And just as a side-note, I'm thankful that we obeyed and came here too.)