Every Thursday night we take ONE of our kids out to dinner. Alone, just them alone with us. KK is week one, Peyton goes during week two and Walt week three. They get to pick the restaurant. Each of them has a unique restaurant style and I can almost always predict where we will go depending on whose week it is. KK is health conscious and doesn't eat meat, so we usually find ourselves at a salad place. Peyton.... A burger joint, maybe a Viva Chicken. Ryker loves Chilis and a couple of times he has chosen Chicken Alfredo at Olive Garden.
It is so fun to have them one on one. They open up more. They tell us stuff that is going on in their lives. We ask them a series of questions that make them think deeply and then we go in depth with their answers.
During Walt's most recent dinner, we asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up. He pondered it for several minutes and then he said... "I'd like to be an entrepreneur. I want to make something or have my own business." We asked him several more questions about that and laughed at some of the things we came up with that he could "make" and sell.
A couple of days after dinner, he came into our room late and asked if I could get him some supplies. He has a clothing brand that he likes, but the shirts are very expensive. $150 expensive. He said that he thought he could "MAKE HIS OWN VERSION" of the the shirt.
I said Buddy, that is hard. You don't even know how to do it.
He said, I know, but can I try to do it if I research how.
The next morning, he gave me a list of supplies that he would need. Wax paper, transfer paper, a t-shirt. I picked the items up on my way home from work. After dinner, he got to work. He tried and failed the first time. But he researched a few things and figured out what he did wrong. The second time was almost successful, but not quite. Again more researching. He turned up the heat on the iron and....
whallah! Success!!!
He is a left handed ironer
He was SO proud of himself and I was proud of him too. He didn't give up. He got a little frustrated, but he kept at it.
He very proudly wore his new shirt to school and his friends thought it was ligit. These are the things that entrepreneurs are made of.
I won't talk too much about the Superbowl. It was the worst I've ever seen. I have watched 7th grade football games with more excitement. I've seen 6th grade band concerts put on a better show than whatever that was at half time. It was embarrassing.
But our food was SO good. And it was fun just to get together and eat.
Peyton and Nana didn't want to be in my picture.
Thank you Walt, for being cooperative and letting me take your picture at our party.
I got flowers at work for Valentines Day "from my favorite 30 year old". Brayden coordinated with Nana to get me flowers. I love them. They are so cute on my desk and they are the kind that last a really long time and look good for several days. I love that people come in and ask who gave me flowers and I get to say MY SON. It made my day and also made me feel very loved.
Valentines Day was on a Friday this year. It was a very dark, cold, rainy day. Walt was really sick. He got sick the night of the Superbowl and didn't get out of bed until the next Sunday night. He lost 10 pounds and even though he had a Valentine, he completely missed the day. KK hung out with friends, so Rals and I took Peyton to dinner at Bishop's Diner. One of our favorites. We marveled at how dark the rain clouds were as we ate breakfast foods for dinner. It was lovely. I dropped her off at her friends house on the way home from dinner and then Rals and I listened to the rain on the window all night. I loved it.
We got a new mattress. Our old mattress is 18 years old and has seen some things. We did quite a bit of research and finally made our selection. We chose the one we did because it has an amazing return policy. You never know with mattresses. It was gorgeous when we laid it out. Beautifully white, no blemishes. No dents. I was so excited to sleep on it.
WHAT. IN. THE. WORLD?????
The worst nights sleep I have had in 18 years.
My back will probalby never be the same.
I literally woke up from a dream where I was sleeping on the wood planks of a pirate ship where I was a prisoner at sea. I thought I was dying. Tears were coming out of my eyes when I woke up. I finished the night on our crappy couch, that felt like a cloud comparitively. We cannot WAIT to return the thing. We have to wait 30 days. I will need back surgery of course after 30 freaking days....and maybe a spine transplant. It is like sleeping on a concrete slab. I have been having terrible dreams. I am the most irritable. Who cares that our old mattress is so high centered we can't sleep right next to each other and has stains from little kids from so long ago? Who cares? It was so soft and delightful and I WANT IT BACK!!! It's leaning up against our wall currently. Staring at me like an old friend that I tossed aside.
I am so sorry. Your condition was not your fault.
Rals had a really great experience at work. He works with my brother in law, Brent. And they are both really good at their prospective jobs. But Brent was feeling a little frustrated with a few things going on at work and he kind of casually started looking around to see if Houston had any employment opportunites that he might be interested in. He found a little job in his town that he thought he could be good at. He called Rals and they made a pros and cons list and he decided to give this other job a try.
Rals was supportive of him. He knows the work frustrations too.
He then called his boss to tell him that Brent had just given his two week notice and there's no other way to say it... all hell broke loose.
The boss and the boss of the boss and the president of the company started calling Raleigh and Brent multiple times a day for several days in a row. Expressing all kinds of emotions. They were SO compimentary of Brent, his work ethic, his contribution to the company, his strengths etc etc. So many days in a row. And at the same time, they were praising Raleigh and his contributions and his leadership skills. How can we get Brent to stay? We will do whatever he wants. Please Raleigh... please get him to change his mind.
After SO many back and forth calls over the course of many days... Brent was convinced to change his mind and his plans.
Well.. I'll be. I am just so proud of Brent and the good employee that he is and the help he is to Raleigh and the friendship that they have. I love that they work together and that they like each other
In the announcement of Raleigh's promotion his boss said "He is a long term solution that elevates everyone around him."
I could not agree with this more. That is exactly what he is to me too.
A long term solution. That elevates me.
What a blessing he is to me.
Thank you Brent for taking action that blessed us as well. You are the greatest.
The Vacation Rentals division of our company didn't get to have the President's Day Monday off like the rest of the company because that is too busy of a day for us to have off, so we got to take February 28th off instead.
It was a delightful day.
We went to the temple.
There were several people from our ward there and the weather was delightful. I got a couple of questions answered while I was there. We also went to lunch at The Habit. There is nothing better than a really good burger.... other than a really good steak. Or some really good ribs of course.
I have a couple of new decorative projects on the books. I will complete them in March. It is the most fun thing for me to do. I get so much satisfaction out of it and gives my job joy and meaning.
We were super busy this month with nothing especially reportable really. I didn't take any photos of any of the very lame things we did. I couldn't believe it when I actually looked back on my phone to find I hadn't documented anything.
I am beyond grateful at how fast the month flew by. That was a blessing for sure.
I am thrilled that February is behind us. It is the second worst month of every year. Let's get on with the good months. Now things can really start happening.
Happy Spring
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