Down, Up, and Energetic
I am concerned; in trying to make this post I am being "forced" to construct the entry in the new-that-I-really-don't-like style. Is this being non-consensually shoved onto me in hopes that I'll eventually like it, as was done with Windows 10 and 11? Or, is something more sinister at work here? Only one way to find out, I guess.
Edit: after completing this entire entry, I utterly *despise* this style. After posting this, I am going to spend the next half hour figuring out not only how to go back to the original entry style, but I am also going to try to figure out how I can NEVER be exposed to this horrible, low-intelligence format ever again.
The last few days have been busy- but, really just busy in the "routine" way that's been established over the last several weeks: I'm working long hours, Amy and the kids have their chores, activities, homeschool stuff, and special events to attend/make time for...and we're all just trying to make it work, in the way that we complete everything on our list AND manage to spend quality time with one another, collectively and individually. I continue to be pretty worn out by the end of the day- whether that's in the main workday, or after I'd already done an extra hour or two at the lab- but forging on ahead as best I can. Being regularly hydrated and attempting to keep a sustainable sleep schedule have been two key supports of it all.
Barrett has developed some really impressive piano skills- impressive relative to his age as well as his level of instruction. At a previous recital he demonstrated complexity and avoided noticeable mistakes, plus the teacher speaks highly of his progress- so I really do believe this is turning out to be a great fit for him. Consider this a reminder to get some video of him playing when I get a clean opportunity.
He will be going to Falls Creek next week, with over 20 other attendees of our church youth program (I don't know how many other kids or churches will be there that week, but Falls Creek has about 50,000 kids go through every summer). I did "Bible camp" a couple times when I was his age, but not to as grandiose a place as where he's going- and we *certainly* didn't have a lodge as nice as the one our church just purchased. He initially took some convincing before he agreed to go, but has lately become quite enthusiastic about going, asking also to bring copies of his piano music so he can play/practice while he's there. It's $135 for him to go all week, but I consider it money well-spent.
On Wednesday I did a "half day" back at the clinic job, to start laying out and setting up materials now that the foundation concrete has been re-poured and some of the stud walls have been erected. Unfortunately that involved being outside in the HOT container for a long time, finding the appropriate materials, packing them up, and bringing them inside. I was sweating SO MUCH- my clothes were utterly soaked from the inside out- that after I got home I discovered severe heat rash on my legs but thankfully nowhere else. Despite all the work, I was told we're not going to work "full-time" at the clinic at present. I guess that means the aero-tech warehouse job is more important by a substantial margin. Oh, well.
Mom keeps waffling about our vacation trip to New Mexico. She keeps saying she wants to do August, then jumps back to saying September might be better. Part of this is due to her accepting a part-time job that pays decently, but has a weird schedule as part of the nature of the work. I might go into that later, and then again I might not. With how engaged my time is right now, I am not spending a lot of compute cycles on the whole thing- except to know that the "start date" is drawing nearer one way or the other.
Anyway, last night we had a *heavy* thunderstorm that hit OKC and my part of town as well. It didn't really become noticeable until after the kids' bedtime reading was finished, but of course the kids were awake well past that time anyway. Lots of thunder, lightning, and short-but-torrential downpours began around 9:45 or so. Amy went outside twice- once without rainproof gear, and the second time with several layers of it- to reset the tarp over the chicken coop. Presumably their feathers will protect them a little bit, but if we can protect them from being soaked it's generally worth the trouble. The lightning strikes were CLOSE, with near-immediate thunder claps that were some of the loudest I've heard since moving here.
At one point we may have had hail (it was in the forecast), but it also could've just been strong winds blowing rain against the house. The worst part, though, was that around 11 our power completely went out. Fortunately we'd had the AC running pretty strongly up to that time of night, so the house stayed a reasonably low temperature that allowed all of us to sleep in relative comfort. Unfortunately my phone had been pretty drained by that time, but I was able to use the USB port on our "travel" flashlight to get my phone charged a bit- but only a bit, as it made it to about 60% before being unable to charge more.
We still didn't have power when I got up for work in the morning- I completed my morning routine with an LED lantern at my side. Amy made me a PB&J sandwich for lunch, so she wouldn't have to open the fridge more than once. I couldn't have cooked eggs because our stove is electric, so I settled for cereal this time. She had already made plans to bring the kids to visit a friend across town (this someone still had electricity), so she decided to follow through with that: I said to bring our guinea pigs along because if power isn't restored all day, they could overheat. The whole day long at work I got updates about places all over town that were getting power, except for on our street. Last night's storm included winds up to NINETY-ONE miles per hour, meaning that a lot of trees (and branches) got knocked down, and interfered with the lines throughout the city.
It's likely that lightning strikes- close and severe though they were- didn't hurt our grid very much, because by all accounts our linemen were able to make quick and easy repairs to the lines- but there were just so many to do all across the city limits, that it couldn't be finished in a nice neat 8-hour workday. Amy and I made plans to fire up our little generator in preparation for a crummy evening, with me reminding her to get some gas because the cans in our shed were empty.
Power came back on maybe half an hour before I got home from work, which was at about 5:20- Amy was right behind me in the van, coming back from a visit to PetSmart. She didn't have gas, because our neighbor texted her- while she was on the way to the gas station, no less- that power had finally been restored.
Somewhat impressively, the internal temperature of the house- even after going almost 18 hours without air-conditioning- rose no higher than 78. My concerns about the guinea pigs getting too hot were clearly unfounded; then again, my experience is sourced in what happened in Arizona...so in context, perhaps a tad exaggerated.
Aha- I did another Tabata! It felt kinda silly, given that I considered myself to be so slow (and still didn't do all of the workouts properly) and out of practice, but some activity is better than no activity...I'll keep saying that, anyway.
Click to viewWe will be hosting a game night on Friday, and next week will of course be a short week due to July 4th being in there- but we haven't officially been told the details (ie if we're getting Thursday *and* Friday off or just Thursday, if Saturday will still be an optional workday, etc), so I'm not 100% sure what will follow after that. All I know for sure is that tomorrow will be the last 10-hour day for the week, and every other work day feels super-easy after that point.
God is good. That is all.