Funyuns and suntans.

I passed by a small group of strangers and overheard a woman say, "Hey, that's the girl that lost the little guy and planted the garden for him."  Another woman chimed in, "Oh yeah!  I read her blog!" How strange to know that people I've never met have read my most personal thoughts and feelings, but pretty darn cool, too.  And as far as my thoughts on Jakobi go, I still miss him every single moment of every single day.  The garden is growing in leaps and bounds, though unfortunately that also means the weeds and I have had exactly no time to work on it lately.  I'm hoping that in the next week, I can get out there and pull weeds and take an updated photo.  Kenny found a garden decoration of a cow that jumps over a moon when the wind blows, but it seemed way too sad for me; a nursery rhyme I will never get to recite to my son, so instead I opted for the moon that rises over the sun.  Seems more fitting anyway.  

Work is wonderful.  I have had a most spectacular week.  I'd like to give you a snapshot from my mind.  I wish I could carry a camera with me at all times to show you some of the things that I get to see, but I suppose a mail carrier snapping photos of random people might cause quite an uproar with the post office, so you'll have to settle for my detailed description instead.  Here goes.  Yesterday morning, I was glumly walking through the rain and carrying my soggy stack of mail.  I looked toward the street and saw the most amazing sight.  An elderly man was riding his bike right down the middle of the street (don't worry, it's not a busy street at all).  He had his right arm extended and his face toward the sky, eyes closed, just taking in the rain with a huge smile on his face.  I can only speculate on what might have been going through his mind and I'll leave that part to your own imagination.  After taking in a deep breath, he opened his eyes, looked directly at me and said, "It's a BEAUTIFUL morning!"  And suddenly, it was.  It's awe-inspiring when a single person can, in one moment, make you step back and take in the 'little things' in life.  There is so much to be thankful for.  

In our home life, our house is a mess and our children are happy, so all is well.  Kenny has started buying the groceries (another duty I am glad to be relieved of), which means that we have enough Funyuns and Lucky Charms to last a lifetime.  He continues to "cook" (grill) nearly every day and he has discovered the joy of having a pool pass, which can be readily seen at any given moment by the tan lines he is quickly accumulating.  If you know Kenny at all, you know how big this is.  Typical Kenny can blind you with his ghost-white legs.  You'd almost not even recognize him now.  So far, every time he's brought the kids to the pool, he's said, "One hour, MAYBE two."  And then five or six hours later, they finally return home completely exhausted.  

Off to another wonderful day of work I go!  (Seriously, no sarcasm, I still love my job so far...).  Here's wishing everybody happiness and, well, more happiness.

Blur.

Life is becoming a blur and I'm really hoping it's just because it's summer.  Each day blends right into the next and when I think it ought to be Wednesday, I learn that it's Friday.  Except today actually is Wednesday, but it feels more like a Monday minus the bad.  

Kenny and I have decided to take our relationship to the next level.  After nearly eleven years of marriage, you might be wondering what 'the next level' exactly means so I'll tell you: We are officially shopping for an RV.  Not a new RV, just something to get us to the lake a few miles away.  I do not like tent-camping.  It is uncomfortable and unnecessary.  We have taken the kids camping maybe a total of three or four times in their lives just because of this, but now, NOW we will spend every weekend at the lake.  Or when we purchase an RV we will.  Thanks to the pure wonderfulness that is craigslist, we have maybe found a winner already, but I will definitely keep you updated on it.  Or maybe you'll just never hear from me again and then you can just assume we've found one.    

And now I'm off to another work-filled day.  What I know for sure is that Kyler is ten as of yesterday and Kenny is taking the kiddos swimming today, so everybody here is happy and good and just a little bit blurry.

The week of five.

Somewhere in between work and baseball and softball and swimming, I have found a very short amount of time to write.  FINALLY.  As it turns out, Week Five on the job is the particular week I've been eagerly anticipating.  It's the week that everything turns good.  My body has caught up with my job and I no longer fall asleep on the couch at seven o'clock each evening, nor do I spend ample time popping foot-blisters and scaring the kids with the oozing gush of pus that comes out of them.  Though we're only two days into this week, here is a list of all of the great things that have happened, in no specific order:

An elderly man tracked me down in his truck, blocks away from his house yesterday to ask if I deliver mail to his address.  "Yes."  (I was already wondering what horrible mistake I had made to make him fuss over finding me).  He asked if I delivered mail to his house on Saturday.  "Yes."  He asked if my initials are AB.  "Yes?"  He finally asked, "Did you pay the postage due on my mail for me?"  "Oh, (sigh of relief) yes, I did." He then gave me a very long and heartfelt thank you, barely able to believe how kind it was of me to do such a thing, and then he promptly paid me back my twenty cents.  This is at least the sixth person I have paid 'postage due' for, but the first to pay me back.  And obviously, twenty cents is no big deal, but proof that common courtesy really does exist is something to write about, so I will.  Or...did.  Just now.

After sitting in the shop for a whole week and having the wrong part ordered three times, the car is fixed and purring like a kitten.  Actually, more like a kitten with bronchitis, but that's just how our car sounds when it's running correctly.  To celebrate, Kyler and I drove to town and bought a family pool pass.  And that's probably why there is rain in the forecast for the rest of the week.  Sorry.

My manager pulled me aside at the end of my workday today and using wild hand gestures, told me how wonderful of a job I have been doing.  This went on for quite some time before he pulled the Postmaster into the conversation and asked her to chime in on how great I'm doing.  She also used wild hand gestures and gave me many great compliments, then asked permission to clone me.  I'm not sure, but I think they just might keep me.  I kind of felt like doing one of those leaping ankle-claps, but breaking or spraining a bone that is vital to keeping my job is probably not an idea I should even have been dancing with.  Instead, I high-fived my left hand with my right hand and drank a soda.

And finally, the little girl who likes to call me 'Mr. Mailwoman' was so thrilled to see me today (I haven't seen her in at least a week).  When she greeted me in the usual way, her dad rolled his eyes and said, "Will you PLEASE tell her your name so she quits calling you that?!"  So I'm no longer Mr. Mailwoman, I'm now "Manna."  

Kyler got his baby back, baby back, baby back...

As expected, this week is going so much better.  Thanks to the power of facebook, we picked Teeyl up last night about six miles away from home.  She is slightly thinner, but still has the same bubbly personality (and by bubbly, I mean she jumped up and licked me in the face mid-air as soon as she saw me).  Kyler is quite possibly the happiest boy in the county now.  A boy needs his dog.

Work is wonderful...I say as the thunder cracks and rain pours down.  At least, so far this week, work has been wonderful.  I have only one very persistent blister left on my toe and I am no longer sore at the end of the day, even though they have been giving me more and more work with each new day.  I love working. I just do.  After thirteen years of sitting on my butt, this is exactly what I need.  My days fly by and then I get to come home to my lovely little family.  Nearly every day, Kenny has the grill fired up.  Monday was burgers, yesterday was fish.  This is how Kenny cooks and I have absolutely no problem with it.  

And now I must bid you farewell as I head off to another great work day.  Who will I meet?  How many dogs will try to bite me?  How many tree limbs will jump out and catch my hair, leaving me momentarily stranded and confused?  Yeah, that happened last week.