Eight years ...

As of today, it's been exactly eight years since we moved to Montana. We actually left California a few days before, but it was October 26, 2006 when we spent our first night in this house. It's hard to believe we've been here this long. However, some days it feels like we've just gotten here, and other days it feels like we've been here forever. So strange. 

I took this picture of the house not too long ago. Those double doors on the lower level towards the left lead into our classroom. It's a great place for our homeschool room, especially since we get the afternoon sunshine there. Denny loves it. That's also where he begs to be let out to eat grass, or for "recess" as we say. But still—eight years—pretty unbelievable.

CrAzY WeEk!

First of all, thank you to everyone who has visited my blog recently. I know I've completely sucked at blogging lately. I've been even worse at visiting my favorite blogs. I have no excuse. I just suck. I hope to get better though, so please bear with me.

This week has been crazy. Actually, it started last week with a health screening for Rick's work. We do this once a year to get some money off our insurance fees. Then Monday I had a root canal. I was actually looking forward to it because the tooth has been a problem for awhile and it had just started hurting. It already had a root canal done previously, but something was wrong, so I had to have a second one. Turns out the remaining root has a fracture in it, so the endodontist suggested it be extracted. Ugh -- not exactly the news I was hoping for.

Then Tuesday I had a podiatrist appointment for something going on with my foot. I'm not sure if he's making it better or worse. I can barely walk without hobbling now. Wednesday was free, but Thursday the boys had dentist appointments. Those were just cleanings and check-ups. Neither had any cavities, which was good. While I was there, they slipped me back for a consultation about my tooth. My dentist gave me options of what to do--bridge or implant--and then prescribed some stronger antibiotics than what my endodontist gave me. Those darn things cost $40 for 6 tablets.

Today is Friday and I have an eye exam, which is part of the requirements for the health screening I mentioned earlier. To be honest, I'd rather have another root canal than have anyone mess with my eyes ... or my feet, for that matter! It's been a sucky week. I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'd like to think I have all this behind me, but it seems I have more in the future with a foot check-up on Halloween, the extraction as soon as the infection is cleared up, followed by the three month wait before I can get the implant put in, and then ... another three month wait to finish the tooth completely. Sheesh! I hope you are all doing well!

Coraline

I finished reading Coraline last night. My daughter, Nicole lent me her book awhile back, and I've had it sitting on my nightstand for the longest time. I finally gave myself time to read it. I've been a big fan of the film for a long time, so the book didn't disappoint at all. It's funny how people call her Caroline Jones in the book. That's my mother-in-law's name. Coraline is such a unique name, just as the story is unique.

Now that I've finished the book, I'll probably watch the movie again. I was going through some old photos recently when I came across the one I did after the movie came out. They used to have the photo thing on their site, but I don't see it now. Talk about The Other Mother ...