Just some ramblings....
Recently my neighbor (and friend) backed into the van.  It was a small dent, but unfortunately, she caught about an inch of the driver's door and 3 inches of the back sliding door.   Such a small dent, yet a lot of money to fix, because it requires ordering 2 new doors.  Her insurance decided to total the van!  I was bummed, but at least I had planned on driving the car until it dies.  I opted for payment and then 'bought' the van back from them.  Now I have to go change my title out for a salvage title!

With Benjamin on the wait list for driver's ed, one of the things they made very clear was that all of his documents must have the same name.  Ugh.  It reminded me that the name on his birth certificate is different from the name on his social security card.  In JR's culture, the kids take the dad's last name and then hyphenate and then the mom's maiden name.  Of course Benjamin being the oldest, in the hospital I filled out the birth certificate form with a hyphenated name.  A few weeks later when filling out social security paperwork, I decided I did not want the hyphen.  I expected it to be an issue when I signed him up for kindergarten, but it was not.  Well, it now appears it is time to legally change it.  I have filled out all the paperwork and am now waiting to hear from the courts on a court date....yes I have to go before a judge.  I don't anticipate any issues, just a formality.

One of the things I have enjoyed doing over the years is donating blood.  I have O negative blood, which means anyone can receive my blood.  I also recently learned that I am CMV negative, meaning I don't have the CMV or cytomegalovirus.  This virus can be deadly to low weight infants, so my blood can be given to the low weight babies.  I have tried to donate regularly, but have been denied the last 4 times.  I finally took their advice and had my ferritin levels checked.  The test determines how much iron my body is storing.  Turns out I am low. That would explain why I have struggled with endurance/stamina during my workouts recently.  I am taking iron supplements now and hope to get it back up.

I also recently went to the dermatologist for my annual skin check.  I have a few spots on my forehead that we cannot get to go away.  So the doc decided it was time to try a face cream for 21 days.  He was very casual about it but at one point told me to try for 21 days but if I had to stop at day 15 no big deal.  He had me curious.  Of course I came home and googled the cream.  It has a chemotherapy agent in it and it basically burns/destroys all the skin.  Although I have just a few spots, he said as long as I am doing it, to do the whole face.  It sounds like it is going to be potentially a very painful process.  I have finished up day 3 and no issues, but most of what I read about other's experiences, is that things don't get bad until anywhere from day 7-12 and continues until about 5-7 days after treatment stops.  Fortunately, we don't have anything going on, so if I need to hide out at home for a week or so, I can.  I have decided to take pictures and document my experience.  There are lots of people on message boards looking for information, since it seems a lot of the doctors out there are no being upfront with their patients about what they can expect. 

The boys just finished their 3rd quarter at school.  One more left until summer!  Looks like we have left winter behind and spring is here!  Still have lots of snow to melt, but green grass is on its way!  Looking forward to wearing sandals this week and putting the snow gear away!

We are at the end of the boys' spring break.  Wow, 2019 is 1/4 of the way over!

It has been a very chill week.  We started it by celebrating Jacob's 12th birthday.  He did not want to have a party, so he just invited a friend over.  This past Tuesday, JR and Ben headed to Miami.  JR's cousin's youngest daughter had her big quinceanera (15th birthday).  His parents also came up from Honduras.  Here are pictures from the big party.

Benjamin and JR's mom (Abuela)

JR's brother in law, sister and parents

They get back on Tuesday.

I have enjoyed a week of no cooking and very little cleaning!  Jacob, Joseph and I have just fended for ourselves.  The weather has been warmer, so they have gotten out on their scooters and also played with a lot of friends.  I think Jacob had 5 different sleep overs!

I am slowly trying to go through things again.  It seems that I am always thinking about what I could do to maybe get the house looking better, in the event we find something and want to put our place on the market.  I have been on the hunt for a small, comfy chair for the corner of our room.  I found one I liked.  The store (a local one, not a chain) told me I could take the chair home and if it worked, then swing back in and pay them for it.  The man let me leave the store with just my name and phone number.  I did not leave a credit card or driver's license.  Blew me away that there are still people out there that took me on my word.

Speaking of driver's license, the day of driver's ed is approaching.  Not too long ago Ben and I were running errands and I needed gas.  I told him to pump the gas and he informed me he did not know how.  So, he got his first lesson.  We have also been to the bank and he has learned how to deposit and with draw money.  So many life skills I just assume people know.

I am looking at several trips in the near future:  going to South Dakota to meet up with a friend for a women's retreat late April, a Cleveland trip late May for my niece's graduation, a NYC trip with Benjamin  late June(we have been saving for 2 years and have yet to make the trip happen) and potentially one or two more trips later in the summer/fall.  That is potentially a lot of traveling!

I have finally learned how to use both of JR's saws and have recently made a book shelf.  I am hoping to spend more time out in the garage once it warms up.  So many ideas I have for things to make!

We are at the end of what has been a huge snow week for us.  In the 12 years we have lived in town, we have never received as much snow over a short amount of time as we have this week.

The snow plows are struggling to keep up and our road has not been plowed in several days.  Fortunately, I have not gotten stuck.  (I have a front wheel drive van and I have regular tires and not winter/all season tires...that will change next winter!).  A lot of activities were cancelled, due to travel concerns.  When the sun is not out, the light is very flat and it can be hard to tell where the road ends and the snowy ditch begins.  It was so bad Thursday after school that the bus drivers refused to continue driving with the roads so deep.   We got more snow Thursday night. And, school was cancelled yesterday!  First snow day we have had probably since the 80s.  It was interesting to see all the remarks on Facebook.  Many were thankful, but then the other side is, come on, suck it up, Montanans are tough!

Here is our backyard.  Notice the snow on the fence shelf.  Our meter boxes are now completely covered.  (Also see the houses behind our house..makes me sad we lost our big open field.)

One of the many huge parking lot snow mounds Joseph wanted to climb.

Our porch light is covered with icicles. 

Looks like we will only see full sun one day in the next two weeks and we won't be above freezing until March 12th!  It is safe to say that everyone is ready for spring!

Jacob has his last basketball tournament this weekend.  So glad it is local.  Will be nice not to have any weekend commitments for a while!  Benjamin is considering track this spring, other than that, should be a quiet extra curricular next couple of months.