A Great Start to the New Year

First of all, Travis came home from his mission in early January.


He's the last of my brothers-in-law to come home. The next missionary out will be my own John. Egads. I can't tell you how extremely grateful I was that Brian's family (and Brian) let me be a part of his return. Travis is such a sweetheart. I really love that kid. I mean man. Whatever. It's been good to have him home.


And here we have Boot Boy:

Christopher is making up for his status as the last child by being the first to get stitches and now, a broken bone. Well, a fracture. In any event, we lived with this fine specimen of high fashion for four weeks. Christopher has had one day without it and is slowly getting his strength back. Getting him to put weight on it was a bit of a struggle. We saw a lot of hopping and crawling there for awhile. Now he's limping but at least both feet are on the ground. Oh, I neglected to mention how it happened. He jumped off the top bunk over at his dad's place. A week later I caught him almost doing it again at his cousin's house.

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Are you kidding me?

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These next two pictures are here for my own entertainment. After giving a Christopher a shower and realizing we forgot a change of clothes, I left him in the bathroom while I fetched said apparel. This is what I came back to:

He was chewing gum and blew a bubble which popped all over his freshly-washed face. He even had gum in his eyelashes. He thought it was hilarious.

These are pics from our trip to Rawhide yesterday. Thanks to the 40th Anniversary celebration, we were able to enjoy all the attractions for free. (Yeehaw for free!) The lines were a bit long though, so after poking around, riding the train and watching a fabulous gun fight, the boys decided they'd had enough Western adventuring and we went home.

On a more personal note, I continue to receive plenty of encouragement and support from those around me, sometimes from the most unexpected sources. I have been greatly blessed by the Lord and am extremely grateful for it. I'm doing well and am feeling healed and adjusted. I've entered the dating scene and am really enjoying it. I'm tempted to go into more details about that, but I won't. ;) A blog just isn't the place.

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I WILL say that I've discovered (or maybe rediscovered) a passion for dancing. I'm talking the real dancing. Salsa, waltz, nightclub two step, merengue, stuff like that. I didn't even know those dances but I'm learning and I can follow a strong lead just fine. Who knew so many men my age knew how to dance like that? That's a new requirement for Future Mr. Whomever, BTW. ;)

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Along the lines of discovering or rediscovering things, I feel like I'm rediscovering my old self. There were parts of myself which I had allowed to be buried by my circumstances over the past many years, or which I buried all on my own. Turns out I'm a lot more relaxed, fun-loving and confident than I once thought. I'm having fun discovering new interests (I did mention the dancing, didn't I?) and I'm putting together a whole new way of living my life, which is exciting. There are many things I've longed to do over the years (like hike) which I'm finally getting to. I have a bit of lost time to make up for, but I'm having a blast doing it.

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Another thing I'll say, which sort of relates to the dating arena, is this: it's fun to flirt. If you married ladies aren't flirting with your husbands, you should be. ;) LOL

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Also, I started working on a new novel last Fall. A series of events caused me to set that aside and pick up the novel I sent out a few years ago, Gift of the Phoenix. I've spent quite a bit of time revising the manuscript and am currently preparing to send it out again. The list of agents I'm considering is short. I'm also sending to the only fantasy publisher who welcomes direct submissions from authors: TOR.

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If you love me at all, you will pray for my book.

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:)

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Because let me tell you, I've yet to find a career path that will provide for my family AND allow me the flexibility to actually be a mother to my children AND which does not first require 2-5 years of full-time schooling AND which will be something I actually want to do.

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Unless you consider becoming a successfully published writer as an option.

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Which I do.

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So please pray for me.

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Once I send the manuscript out, I'll return to the new book I started in the Fall. As part of my preparation for that book, I'm planning a research trip to Sedona. My good friend Tammy has agreed to be my chaperone. Should be fun!

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As for the America Jane site, I've had no time for it lately. Which is sad. Maybe if I were willing to sacrifice some of my dancing time (which I'm not) or my writing time (which I'm definitely not) I could get something done on it. Oh well. I can't do it all now can I? ;)

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Until next time!

Final Post of the Year

I've recently switched from my old desktop (now residing in my closet) to my laptop. I forgot to switch over some pictures so it looks like some events will go blogless. I'm sure we'll all survive. ;)

Here are the pictures I have.

John is out of cub scouts and into boy scouts. This was his first Court of Honor:



I absolutely love John's scout leader. He does such a good job teaching those boys real scout skills and running the program the way it's supposed to be run. John has always been an enthusiastic and diligent scout and he's carrying that through to boy scouts. He's earned his Scout rank and is two requirements away from Tenderfoot. He went on his first Camporee in December and had a blast. And mom managed to not freak out too much about him being away from home. It helped me to know he was in good hands.


The next pictures were taken at my work. The company just renewed a 10-year lease at this location. Part of the deal was getting some renovations done. New carpeting, new tile, new paint, new wallpaper, new countertops and splitting the phone room into two so we could have a second multi-purpose room.

When did all this lovely work occur? On evenings and weekends? Oh no. During working hours. It was interesting to say the least. Most of the work was done in stages and the contractor was good about doing his best to work around rooms we needed due to studies going on or clients in town or whatever. For the most part, it wasn't as bad as I'd feared.

Then, the perfect storm.

The absolute worse day of renovations, in terms of chaos and disarray, was the day before we had a full house, in terms of studies and clients. This was carpeting day. It was NOT FUN.

Here's one of the two client lounges at 2:00 pm, which had to be ready to receive clients by mid-morning the next day:



Here's the other one:


Yes, that's a chair upside down. Don't ask me how these kinds of things happened. I'd rather not know.

This is the multi-purpose room, which also needed to be cleared out and set up by the next day.


This is the view from my office. See our desks in the hallway? Isn't that a lovely location for them? Beyond the hallway is the lobby. It also needed to be put together before clients arrived.



This is my office, in the process of being disassembled so the carpet layers could get to it. I hadn't yet moved out my computer.



Literally every room in our entire suite looked like this. Every hallway. Every kitchen (there are two, one of which we needed for clients the next day). Every everything. When I had to empty out my desk and clear out my shelves, it was hard to know where to put stuff. I found a blank spot of floor in the multi-purpose room.

In the middle of all this, with all three offices torn apart and dysfunctional, we were supposed to get ready for clients. You know, the normal work that has to be done prior to a study. Without working computers, that pretty much came to a halt.

By the time the movers started hauling out my desk it was time for me to go and I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

And here we get to delight in the joys of being an hourly worker who gets to walk out of the middle of all this. The two managers stayed late and arrived early the next day to put things back together, direct the moving crews and cleaning crews, etc. By the time I walked in the building the next morning, the place looked beautiful.

It was amazing.


In other December news, the boys had their Winter Sing at school.

Goof balls.

And Christmas. This year I hosted Christmas Eve at my house, which I haven't done in a long time. It was so much fun. Instead of my original centerpiece, I used the gingerbread houses we made.

The boys had a good Christmas, in terms of handling the changes this year. Ben struggled off and on in the week leading up to Christmas, but the actual holidays were really great. They got to spend time with me and Brian both, along with their two extended families, and they had a great time. I had a great time too. :)

So, that's the end of this year. It's been quite the year too. While it hasn't exactly been easy, in all honesty it has been much, much easier than last one was. The Lord has really been with me and my children through this whole thing and we have been greatly blessed. I know I've healed much quicker than I would have otherwise and I'm so grateful for that. I've been feeling really great for awhile now and I'm looking forward to a new year. We'll see what this one brings. :)

December Girls' Trip

Another fabulous, fabulous Girl's Weekend Away. This was one of my favorite trips. This time we stayed with Lynn in Cali and we had a blast. Steph and Lynn put together Picasa albums with everyone's pictures (read: TONS of pictures) so I'll just control myself and share a few of my favorites here.


















I can't wait until the next one!

Happy October!

Here's the latest in the Cook household...

Last month John received his Arrow of Light award. It was very exciting!

I really would like a different camera. Pictures on this camera come out so dark sometimes!

It was cute to see him cross the bridge. He had to salute his boy scout leader, salute the flag and step off and do the scout handshake with his leader. He was so serious about it. It was like watching a military man. Too cute.

I love that our ward gives the boys these arrow plaques in honor of their acheivement. John really did work hard for this award and I'm proud of him for it. We hung it above his bed.

Speaking of John's bed, I'm working on plans to get this kid his own room. I have all three boys in one bedroom. When they were small this was... okay. Now that they're getting bigger, it's starting to get impossible. John is getting to that age where he needs some quiet place to retreat to, and his brothers don't always cooperate on that front.

I've been using the other bedroom as an office. The office is stuffed full of furniture: a huge desk, a small desk for the kids, three bookcases, my great-grandmother's small upright piano and my other great-grandmother's cedar chest.

It took a little creative thinking to figure out how to get John his own room, but this is what I came up with.

I figured out if I got a small desk to put where the fish tank used to be (in the living room), then switch to a laptop so I can get rid of the huge desk and my ancient, semi-functional desktop computer, we'd make room for a bed for John. My mother kindly agreed to store the piano and chest at her house. I'm combining my books onto the one tall bookcase, leaving one in the room for John to use, and moving the third into what will be Ben and Chris' room for them to use. John has agreed to share some of the space in his room. The tall bookcase with my books will stay in John's room cuz there's really no where else for that to go. I'll put a small filing cabinet on the floor of his closet as well. Other than that, he'll be all set.

Because this plan requires funding, John agreed to having his own room be his Christmas gift this year. This took zero persuasion on my part. John is VERY excited about getting his own room.

So, stage one began last weekend.

I bought an inexpensive but (I think) pretty writing desk from WalMart, which I picked up after Brian got the kids on Friday. I didn't say anything to the kids about this, wanting to surprise them. I figured I'd put the desk together Friday night since we had conference all weekend (loved it!) and I had plans Saturday night.

Here's the before picture:

Here's after:

Let me be more specific. This is 37 parts, 93 screws, 52 nails and 6 hours later. You wouldn't think a desk like this could possibly have 37 parts, but it did.



My hands were pretty sore from tightening all those screws but still, I did it all by myself and it felt GREAT!

When the boys got home Sunday night they were so excited. Totally worth all the effort.

Other updates:

Christopher had his follow-up appointment with a new cardiologist who I really love. He's doing just fine, no more episodes. The plan is to keep him on the medication until he's a teenager and then do that relatively minor procedure to correct the problem. There's really no way to know for sure if he's outgrown it other than to take him off the medication and wait and see. I've never felt comfortable with that plan and this new doctor thinks it's risky too. The idea of his heart stopping one day just does not give me joy. Call me weird. Anyway, Brian and I both feel good about this new plan, so barring any new developments that's what it will be.

For those of you who are interested, I wrote a semi-personal post for the America Jane blog stating my intentions for the future of that blog. I really had to think about where that blog fits into the life of a single mother.

In general, we're doing fine over here. It's been six months since Brian and I separated and 2 1/2 since the divorce was final. Brian and I are very amicable and working well together to raise our children, for which I am grateful. They say it takes at least a year to recover from a divorce and I believe it. But the six month mark felt like a good milestone for me. While there's still healing and adjusting to do, I think the worst is behind me. John as well. Ben and Chris, being younger, are experiencing things differently. I think the reality of it all finally hit them last month. But all three of the kids are doing a good job talking about their feelings, which really helps. I'm proud of them.

Again, I just have to express my gratitude for the outpouring of support I've received from so many people. Your words of encouragement and comfort mean a lot to me. More than anything I have felt sustained by the Lord and I know I am in His hands. All in all, that's not a bad place to be.

To Answer Amy's Question...

A Few Things

I took a little excursion to California a few weeks ago. I pulled my camera out on the very last day just so I could prove I was there, LOL. It was when I'd walked down to the beach for a few last minutes with the ocean, but it was the only time I'd been alone. This was a mini girls' trip with Lynn, Polly and Leeann. Can I just say what generous, selfless friends these are?

Christopher lost his front tooth. Which I think is adorable.

The boys' at their desks on Meet the Teacher Day:

And ready to go on the first day of school:

I'm absolutely loving the normalcy and routine now that the boys are back in school. When they're not in school, they're home with me and that's just how it should be. I'm feeling more settled, which is nice.

I took the boys on a hike the other day. Afterward we drove out to the Superstitions for a closer look.


That was the first time I shared that special place with my kids. It was awesome.

This is from the pack meeting tonight.

John's in a tan shirt because he's officially a boy scout now, but he came to the meeting to get his Webelos award. He'll get his Arrow of Light next month (hooray!). He's already earned it, but they'll do the ceremony next month. I really didn't know if he should wear his cub scout shirt or his boy scout shirt. I still don't know.


Here is something John's Webelos den made over the summer. It was quite the project and I heard a lot about it as they were working on it. But it was a surprise so I didn't know what it was until tonight.

It's a hovercraft.



It actually hovers.

How cool is that?


So that is the extremely short version of events over here lately. It's time for bed! :)