Quiet day at home

I'm taking a quiet day at home today. The last couple of weeks I've been over scheduled and under rested and I really, really feel it. There's just so much I need and want to do, gosh darn it!

Work is great. I still scratch my head now and then about co-worker stuff, and I have my share of frustrating work orders that can't seem to come out right...or on time...or both...but I still love it and I'm still learning.

I'm holding on to the garden, but it's starting to slip away from me. I forgot to bring in my pepper seedlings last week when a frost blew through the area and completely destroyed them. D'oh! I don't have much seed left. Maybe only a quarter of what I had planted earlier. It's no fun starting over. I might not.

The community garden has completely slipped from me this year. I grew 30 head lettuce seedlings over 2 months (Bobby's parents even cared for them while I was away!), and my co-managers put them in the community garden soon after I returned. Not a week later, almost all of them were eaten down to the soil by some short, herbivorous rodent species which shall remain nameless. All of that time and effort...gone. It's pretty demoralizing. We'll need to shore up our perimeter fence before I plant anything else out there. Lucky me, I no longer have 50 pepper plants to put out this week *sob*

So what on earth is taking so much of my time and attention?!

Bikes. 

And kids.

But lots of bikes.

Salt and Light ministries finally received their annual bike donation from the city. I've been fixing up bikes for S&L for a few months already, but a sudden drop of 50+ bikes is kinda overwhelming. Fortunately, the bikes are mostly in fair shape. They're currently stored in the back of their warehouse. I'm not sure when the powers that be will put them on the sales floor, but I'd like to improve as many as I can before then. There's a looming and unpredictable deadline. I have a former co-worker who looooooves these kinds of projects, but they're not responding to my texts.

The kids had no school on Earth Day, so James and I took some supplies to the warehouse and made 13 bikes safer and more rideable on the spot. That felt good. A few bikes were so freaky dangerous in their current state, though, that I didn't feel good leaving them there. What if someone puts it on the sales floor and someone else takes home a bike that was bound to send them to the hospital!? Not cool. James and I threw those in the van to work on at home. 

Later on Earth Day, the boys and I went for a bike ride on some little park trails in town. It was a leisurely 7 miles round-trip. Lots of stops for water features and exploration.

And then, in addition to these 50+ bikes that could go on the sales floor at any minute *eek*, the shop I work at had 9 abandoned bikes they wanted to get rid of, too. My manager knows about my project with S&L and offered them to me. Of course I said yes! Soooooo, I'm back to having 19 bikes in my garage waiting to be worked on.

And a fresh pile of mulch on the driveway that needs to be spread onto my perennial flower beds.

The boys still love the Landscape Recycling Center (and renting a truck to haul stuff with), but the novelty of helping me move all that mulch has certainly worn off.

And kids. 

A high school junior registering for community college courses to take his senior year. He's right on the cusp of adulting and discovering all the mixed feelings that come with that.

An 8th grader whose love language is akin to my own, yet so much louder and in-your-face. 

Love this kid!

A 5th grader starting to feel the weight of adolescent insecurity and awkwardness bearing down on him. Here comes middle school, here comes middle school, right down middle school lane. 

The boys ran some errands with me, including a trip to the garden center where there is a wide selection of concrete yard art for sale.

A 3rd grader who is fine until he's suddenly not and then he's fine and then it's the end of the world and he'll never be happy again and then it's the best day he's ever had and then he gets a feeling that he's going to get hurt soon and we all brush it off and then he falls out of his chair and gets hurt but it's okay this time because we could laugh it off...all in the course of one Sunday.

My 3rd grader!

Alex asked if he could work in the garage with me one evening. Not because he wanted to learn bike mechanics, but because he just wanted to spend time with me. He said that out loud. Well, I started to show him a few things, but he got wounded by a flat tire and decided to play the bike pump like a trombone instead.

Robert came out of his room last night in the throws of another migraine that was not fully tamed by the pain medication he had taken earlier. He asked if he could snuggle with me. 

I love having something about me that brings comfort to my kids. I also have things that drive them crazy and make them mad and embarrass them beyond reason *resigned sigh* but at least I have the comfort thing going for me.

Here, we're checking out the solar eclipse on April 8th. Totality was totally worth the drive. Such a surreal experience. 

It took a lot of courage for James to fast on Sunday. Bobby, the boys, and I were seeking inspiration on which school(s) the boys should attend next year. There's been a lot going on with our school district lately. James has struggled to fast in the past. He really can't stand to feel hungry. It's so, so hard for him. And he had been acting a little differently the last couple of weeks. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Anyway, he was able to fast. We talked about the things we thought and felt. Before breaking our fast, we all prayed silently in our own heads. Matthew said he felt good about his decision. James said he felt extreme happiness. I had felt promptings earlier that week at the temple and while we were learning about our options. And we all felt that sending the boys to a different school was the right thing to do. 

Later that evening, James asked if he and I could speak in private. He tearfully let me know that something I had done earlier that week seemed out of character for me and affected the comfort/safety he had felt at home. I knew exactly what he was talking about, agreed that it was a mistake, and apologized with a quiet determination to never do it again. Then he gave me a hug and we talked more about the other things on his mind. The things that had caused him to behave a little differently lately. There's a reason I don't share as much about James as I do about the other kids. He doesn't share as much about himself. That talk inspired me to find new ways to connect with James. The connection techniques that work so well with the others aren't nearly as effective with him. Time to adjust. Again. 

While looking up photos for this post, I found a few pictures from our trip that I want to share:

Tart Cherry Poppyseed Strudel in Austria. Yuuuuuuuuum. I got to share this and a slice of apricot pie with both Bobby and my mom. 

On the bus to another great tour destination!

My first taste of Almdudler soda. We were on an e-bike tour in Austria.

There was a safety drill one morning. Everyone got into their life jackets and assembled in the lounge for roll call. 

Two more tidbits

I went into the middle school office this week for some paperwork. They asked which grade my child was in and then his name. As soon as I said "Robert", the woman said, "Oh! Robert! Of course." Then, when the school counselor came down to deliver it, she talked about Robert as if she personally knew him. I was befuddled. How could office personnel and a school counselor assigned to hundreds of 8th graders not only recognize my child's name but act like they liked him? I was too curious to keep it to myself. I asked the counselor, "How do you know Robert?" She looked at me a little weirdly and said, "I'm his school counselor." 

"Yes, I know, but you have hundreds of kids assigned to you. How do you remember Robert in particular?"

"Oh! He's one of the higher performing students," she nodded, "And when I substitute in the classroom, I try to get to know everyone. Robert is just fun."

My confused look prompted her further...

"And I'm a lunch monitor, too. I see him every day and we know each other. He's so funny."

There you go, folks. The boy who regularly grouches at his unbearably annoying younger siblings AND aims to blend in and not get noticed by his peers somehow feels comfortable enough around his friends and teachers to show his funny and smart and just plain fun side. I love that side. I'm glad he shares it.

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Since getting home Sunday evening, I've been searching for my notebook. It's a tiny little notebook where I keep track of the bikes I'm refurbishing and all the repairs lined up for each one. I have 15 bikes in our garage right now in various states of disrepair and a pile of new parts ready to be installed, but only the notebook knows what goes where. I've been searching for that thing for days! This morning, I got desperate/creative and looked in places it really shouldn't be. Then, in a moment, it suddenly occurred to me that I could pray for help. Why didn't that occur to me 4 days ago?! As soon as the idea struck, I saw my notebook. There it was in plain sight but not where it was supposed to be. What a tender mercy. Of course I offered a heartfelt prayer of gratitude and shouted through the house with glee. Everyone was off to school and work except Robert. He raised only an eyebrow and then went back to whatever he was working on. I would have been okay without that notebook. I could have started a new notebook and figured it all out again. I didn't have to, though, and that was tender mercy.

Can't wait to get back to work!

Update Galore

A few items I'd like to record here:

--We hired a new employee at the shop just before I left on my trip. He had worked in another bike shop for a few years, so he had more experience than I did in many things. He also had a friendly history with the new owner AND he was hired as a full-time employee. Soooooo, I was feeling pretty insecure right off the bat. What would he be like? He'd probably be an awesome mechanic. Would they like him better than me? Would I be relegated to flat fixes forevermore? I was dreading going back to work today, but most of those fears were resolved within a couple of hours. He's a regular guy with strengths and weaknesses. I love that he's already capable and trustworthy enough to share the crazy work load that my other co-workers have been carrying on their own. No more 50-60 hour work weeks for them! And you know what? He's willing to learn and he's good with customers. He works diligently and does good work. I respect that. He's not a superstar mechanic, which brings me a shameful sense of satisfaction (Mind the pridefulness, Susan!), but he's confident in his abilities and doesn't mind asking questions. I will gladly work with someone like that!

--I was called into Federal Jury Duty this month. They didn't want me on this week's jury, but I get to call in every Thursday evening through April to see if they'll need me later. When the judge was asking me questions as part of jury selection, he asked about my profession. I told him I was a mother of 4 kids and a part-time bicycle mechanic. He chuckled and asked about the bike mechanic part. Maybe he thought I was being funny? I know it's not a terribly common profession, especially for a middle-aged mom of four, but some people are truly shocked to hear about it. Later, while we potential jurors were waiting outside of the courtroom, another woman asked me about it. Turns out, she's a professional assembler for Wal-Mart. She travels the region assembling all sorts of things for them, including bikes. And I'll tell you what...she's no slouch. I wish every Wal-Mart hired professional assemblers to put their bikes together! Just a couple weeks ago at the shop, a customer brought in a brand new bike they had just purchased at Wal-Mart. They had bought it for their kid who tends to thrash things, so they didn't want to spend a lot of money on a bike for him, but they brought it to our shop for a tune-up and assembly check before giving it to him. I'm so glad they did! That bike was functional, but a mess, and not as safe as it should have been. It was clearly assembled by someone who didn't know how to assemble bikes.

--Our river cruise in Europe was excellent. My favorite parts were 1) the style and culture of the cruise line itself (Viking River Cruises), 2) going with my parents and ALL of my siblings so there was always someone available that I wanted to chat with or eat with or sit by or go on an excursion with, 3) grocery shopping with Bobby in 3 totally new countries, 4) doing laundry with Bobby at a laundromat in Bratislava, Slovakia, 5) 3-course meals every lunch and dinner, 6) a diligent and experienced maitre d' who understood my dairy sensitivity and worked with the chefs EVERY DAY to modify or create delicious food that I could enjoy with abandon, 7) active shore excursions like hiking and e-biking, 8) being introduced to a refreshing Austrian soda called Almdudler (pronounced ahlm-doodler), 9) running into Austrian school children on field trips and seeing what they ate for lunch, 10) spending Easter Sunday with Bobby's cousins who currently live in Budapest (I have always been impressed and enamored with Bobby's cousin culture, this time was no exception, and it simply felt genuine and home-like and normal), 11) realizing my parents are 86 and 81 years old and STILL in really good health.

--Bobby's parents came to Illinois to care for the kids while we were away. Neither party will say much about the experience. I've only been able to glean bits and pieces. Alex tells me dinners were dead quiet. James and Matthew said they did a lot of reading. Robert tells me he let Grandma and Grandpa do things their way, even though he could have told them how to do it our way. Bob tells me it was good to come and get to know the grandkids better and that sometimes the kids drove them crazy. Loretta tells me they looked at a map of the Danube River and talked about some of the countries we were seeing and introduced the younger boys to "The Danube Waltz." Matthew showed us a really nifty Easter Week presentation he worked on with Grandma and James. Bob and Loretta diligently took the kids to their appointments and attended their parent-teacher conferences and did everything on the schedule. They cooked, they cleaned, they cared, and they patiently got through the day. I get the overall impression that adults and kids alike were tolerating a lot of discomfort to get through it together. Bob and Loretta did an excellent job, though, because all the kids seemed just the same as when we had left them. No one was angry at us leaving or too freakishly excited to see us come home. It was fine. They were fine. Now we're all fine together. 

--I finally made a big enough mistake at work to get the big boss's attention. I have been waiting for this milestone. I wondered how they would let me know about it and how I would take the news. Well, the mistake happened in the last hour of my shift the day before our trip, so no one caught it until the customer picked up their bike the next day and I was long gone. It was a major safety concern that I just didn't catch while doing the repairs. And somehow I didn't notice it on the test ride afterwards, either?? Anyway, it was a big to-do. One inexperienced person had ordered the wrong part and I was the inexperienced mechanic who didn't notice that the new part was the wrong size. It was an easy fix once discovered, but a huge embarrassment to the owner and a mark on our reputation as a reliable shop. Well, when I realized this was not a mistake of laziness or sloppiness, but inexperience, my shame evaporated. I just wanted to learn how to do it better in the future! So, not too shabby for my first big mistake, eh? :)

--The garden is underway! Asparagus harvest has begun, strawberry plants are in bloom, and the spring garden is almost completely planted. 

--My family kept pointing out bikes and bike shops on our trip. They helped me realize that I'm not a bike junky. I know a little about brands and components, but that's not the fun part for me. I'm actually drawn to the beat up and abandoned bikes...the ones that I can transform into useful, practical, and efficient modes of transportation. The sleuthing and healing bits are way more appealing to me than the parts themselves. That's my nurturing streak, I think. That same undercurrent propels my interests in food/nutrition and gardening. And it supports my investment in my kids.