I said yes.

No, it wasn't that question.

A few months ago, I started working a part-time job. It started out as just a few hours per week, and was going to just be something to do for fun (and a little bit of spending money) while the kids were in school. As time went on, and I started getting the hang of things, my boss asked me if I could work a few more hours. I went from about 9 hours per week to about 20-24 on average. She also asked me to help train a few people here and there, but nothing major. I didn't really think too much about it.

Then I was surprised a couple of days ago when I was handed my little "award" but still...didn't think much of it. I had made it pretty clear when I started that I wasn't interested in anything more than a few hours per week.

On Wednesday, I actually got sent home a few hours early, which was fine with me. I was tired and cranky, and I had to go to Jared's friend's viewing that afternoon and I needed time to mentally prepare myself for that. When I got home from work, The Dude was hanging out with Alex and Daniel so I decided to try to lay down for a little bit. Unfortunately, a real nap didn't happen because I got a couple of phone calls - and the second one was my boss asking me if I could come back into the store because HER boss needed to talk to me. So I changed my clothes and went back to the store.

I sat down in a booth with the boss and the boss's boss, who proceeded to tell me that he had been "watching" me - I was so tempted to call him a creeper, but I figured that I'd better keep my mouth shut at that point and listen to what he had to say. Long story short, I was offered a full-time position as an assistant manager.

We talked about all of the details, and honestly, it sounded really good but I knew that there was no way that I could make a decision right then and there. I had to check into a lot of things before I could make a decision on something that huge. They understood, but said that they needed an answer by Saturday (tomorrow).

I had to check with The Dude, because working 45 hours per week is a huge jump for me - and it means that he will be taking on more responsibility with the kids. His response? "I've got your back, babe."

I had to check with Ex1, because I had to make sure that he was comfortable with The Dude taking a much bigger, much more active role in the kids' lives - he'll have to transport them to school a few days per week, among other things. His response? "Sounds like a good opportunity. I'm flexible. We'll work it out."

I had to check with Social Security because there is a limit on how much I can earn before those benefits start being reduced. Lots of technicalities about that one, but all in all it's not a big deal and I can handle that.

I had to check with the state because the kids have medical cards and I had to make sure that there wouldn't be a lapse in their medical coverage between the time when my income was too high to qualify for the medical cards and the time when my insurance through work would start. A few more technicalities there, but there won't be a lapse in coverage.

There were a lot of texts flying back and forth between me and my boss, as I asked more questions and got more clarification on a few things. She was very patient with me and answered everything that I needed, which made me feel a lot better about the whole thing.

And of course, I had to sit and think really really hard about all of this. I've been a stay-at-home-mom for so long, and I had planned to do that for a while yet, but this is a really good opportunity, and the timing is phenomenal. As I get ready to buy a house, having such a huge jump in my income will make qualifying for a mortgage even easier, and it will also allow us to take care of a few more bills and a few more necessities at the same time.

And I will have health insurance for the first time in ....... 4 years? Not that I ever go to the doctor, but at least if I have to, I'll finally have that option again...(but not for 90 days).

So with all of this going through my mind over the past few days, plus helping The Dude and his mother move into an apartment, plus just dealing with my day-to-day life, I got a little overwhelmed today and I just decided to take the kids and run away for a few hours.

So at 8:42pm tonight, I texted her and said "Ok. Let's do this." That started another flurry of texts back and forth working out a few final details. At this point, it looks like I'll start full-time the week after next.

Things are about to get a whole lot more chaotic around this place.

Fishing and Father's Day

The Dude and I decided to take Daniel and go for a spur-of-the-moment fishing trip late yesterday afternoon. We grabbed some hot dogs and s'mores fixin' stuff and took off for a few hours. The fish were absolutely NOT biting at all, but we still had a nice, quiet, relaxing time (in spite of the drunks at the next campsite). The fish started biting after it got dark, but none of us caught anything.

Heading out

Always a gorgeous drive

Lakeside

Relaxing

Still one of my all-time favorite views

Why, hello there Mr. Turtle. Now go away.

Bored out of his skull

Beautiful sky

The sunset was amazing.

Discussing the finer points of s'mores, I'm sure.

Fishing by the light of the moon.

Love nights like this.

This morning, we all slept late - even me. By the time that we got up and got moving, we were all hungry and so we decided to take The Dude out for a Father's Day lunch. Daniel gave him a card that he had picked out and signed all by himself, which totally melted my heart - and I think that The Dude was pretty darned happy with it too.

Walking to lunch

Stopping to check out the scenery under the bridge

The card.

Not a bad weekend, if I do say so myself.

A little bit of wildlife

While we were camping this weekend, we saw lots of wildlife - although some of it was much more alive than others. It was wonderful to just kick back and watch everything without the hustle and bustle of the real world to interrupt it.

Here are a few shots of what we saw.

ZOMBIE TURTLE!!!!

Crane. There were lots of these.

Ducks. Lots of them too.

Snakes. They were all over the water, and some of them
were extremely persistent.

Signs of raccoons.

This just makes me giggle.

I think he was trying to convince us that he
was to be feared....

....or that he was Loch Ness's cousin.

Crane - see the fish in its mouth?

Hey look! A crane!

Not sure what kind of birds these are, but they're
fearless. And fast.

Dragonfly - one of the few bugs that we saw the
entire weekend.

I waited all day to get this picture.

Another shot of Speedy.

Flying crane.

This little jerk was extremely persistent. He would NOT
go away, and he thoroughly enjoyed hanging out about
5' away from where I was sitting.

A pelican. In Kansas. I had to google it to be sure.

I still have a ton of pictures to go through and post....slowly but surely!!!

Last minute change of plans...

...and sometimes those are the best.

We didn't really have plans to do much of anything today. Well, I was going to clean and do laundry and stuff, but that was about it. Then a friend of mine texted me to let me know that she and her son and her girlfriend were going to be at the lake near our house and we should come out and say hi.

I mentioned it to The Dude, and he said that we should go fishing while we were there.

The mad scramble ensued.

I got a quick shower (yes, before I went fishing) and dug the fishing poles out of the garage and tossed them into the van along with the chairs. The boys and I went and got The Dude, we ran a couple of errands, dropped Alex off with The Dude's mother (he, uh, had some issues and lost the chance to go fishing) and took off for the lake.

We stopped at the bait shop first, where Daniel swindled The Dude out of a quarter...and we got our fishing licenses for the rest of the year. Now, we are free to go fishing whenever we want to go - and I fully intend to do exactly that.

Then we cruised around for a while until we found our friends. The joy of that lake in particular is that there is virtually zero cell phone reception - and that's a good thing when we just want to unplug and get away.

A few random shots...

Getting situated.

Trying to figure it all out.

Giving a few more pointers.

There was the threat of severe weather.

Across the lake.

Travis's first catch - and yes, photobombed by some punk who
wouldn't leave us alone, even when the park rangers sent
him back over to his parents.

Love this view. Even with the crocs and
ugly pants.

Raven's foster puppy. She was so tired.

He got bored with fishing and decided to dig holes.

And he caught one...

First catch - for him.

It was actually clear for a while.

My big - and only - catch of the day.
I even sacrificed a worm by throwing him straight into the water
in an attempt to appease the fishing gods and allow me to catch
just one fish - but it didn't work.

Budweiser can - a quick google search placed it from 1996.

His second one.

Christine and Travis, giving each other a hard time like only
mothers and sons can do.

Like a little old man...

Raven wasn't thrilled about being this close to it.
But she was a good sport about it!

And his third catch. The big showoff.

 And of course we had to do the goofy couples pictures, just for the heck of it.

Me and The Dude (obviously)

Raven and Christine

So anyway, we had a blast but had to scoot out of there fairly quickly as the weather started to roll into the area. We got back into town, picked Alex back up, grabbed some pizza, came home, ate, did baths..... and now I have to do all of the cleaning that I didn't do today while I was out drowning worms. I get to work bright and early in the morning (yay - extra hours!) so The Dude is going to be hanging out here with the kids while I go and do that, and then maybe I'll get to take a nap in the afternoon. Ha.