Catching UP with Us Meyer's

Catching up with us these days is getting harder and harder. Let's see if a brief synopsis will suffice for the past few months as an overview.

July: Mom went to IL for an extended trip. My Aunt Janet (Dad's sister) passed away and Mom made the trip to Massachusetts for the funeral and then back to IL. Dan left for an extended work assignment in Iowa and will be gone somewhere between 8-12 MONTHS. (don't ask) He got to pop over to IL one of the weekends and surprise his mama and brothers at the Walter's Family Reunion.

August: Derek turned 10 and joined the double digit club. Dan and I celebrated (separately) our 19th wedding anniversary. Mom returned from IL just in time to welcome Uncle Jerry and Aunt Marion for a quick visit in Cruces and then joined them for a visit to Idaho. Once she was finished visiting the family in Idaho, she drove through Cali on the way home to visit Dolli, RyRy and Wyatt. Tony Bean got married, and even after we'd said we couldn't come, Dan made it to the wedding and had a great time.

September: I spent 8 glorious days in Iowa with Dan to actually celebrate our anniversary. 8 days + hunky hubby + no responsibilities + first kidless week together in 18 years = BEST VACAY EVER. Period. Mom stayed with the boys (thanks Mom!) Mom them packed up and moved back to IL. I miss her desperately. We purchase Dan's plane ticket home for Thanksgiving. Pat and Derek start school.

October: David turned 18 and joined the newly adult club. (Mama K has feelings about that) Pat and David seriously consider a trip to Iowa but determine that now is not the best time. Joshua turns 27. David quits second job in favor of taking on more hours at first job. Fall Festival (I did a trunk this year) is a smashing success serving more than 8,000 people from our community. 

November: Renaissance Faire comes to Las Cruces. I opt to only volunteer one day so that I can enjoy the Faire for one of the days. Our church again does Feed My Starving Children Manna Packs. David moves out of our house and into Jay, Rachel and Maddie's apartment. Pat signs up to get his driver's permit. Hannah Ruoss comes to visit for 5 days. Patrick decides to get baptized the weekend that Dan is home for Thanksgiving...in the Rio Grande. (Brr!)  Kimberly makes plans to come visit in December. Dan decides that for Christmas, he will drive home and take Pat back with him (hooray for online school) Mama K opts for a non-traditional Thanksgiving meal of Dragon Soup, green bean casserole and pre-made pies so she can spend the extra time with Dan while he's home for Thanksgiving. Derek and Mama start making holiday plans and switch to Unschooling until after the New Year. 

See what I mean? I thought having a house full of littles was tiring and super fun. And it was. But in a completely different way than having a house full (and now not so full) of BIGS can be exhausting, exhilarating and exciting all in one day.
Thanks for trying to keep up with us. Goodness knows I can barely keep up and I live here. :)
Oh, and one more thing. For those of you not on FB (but isn't everyone these days?) my hair has undergone a small transition since Dan's departure in July. In July my hair looked like this.

In August and the first part of Sept, it looked like this.

In late September and October, it looked like this. 

And now in November, it looks like this. 

And Just Like That... {Week 10 Update}

Dan is gone.

Dan recently purchased a new iPad Air 2 and is delighted with it. He bought it so our skype sessions would be easier to manage and in better quality than we've previously had. To that end, this happened this week...

 

...a 2 HOUR skype chat. Be still my heart indeed. It may have been the longest conversation we've ever had. EVER.
Good things are happening at the Man Crew House, not the least of which is improved communication between Hercules and myself. I am content. If I remember nothing else from this week, or even this grand 'adventure' we are currently enjoying, I'll remember this picture and the amazing talk we had. Good stuff.

A little less lonely this week, 
        ~K~

And Just Like That... {Week 7 Update}

Dan is gone.

And so is this girl. Guess where I am right now? Go on, guess! I'm sitting in Dan's new apartment in Iowa, spending a whole glorious week with him! I've been here since Wednesday and we are having a ball! We spent the first day just soaking up the sight of each other. Dan has lost about 10 pounds and looks really good. (not that he ever didn't look good, but you know what I mean) He had to work on Thursday so I spend the day reading, enjoying the quiet and having lunch with my Internet Bestie Jen Hansen. She had to bring the boys to (ironically) University of Iowa Children's Hospital that--Lo and Behold--someone's handsome hubby just HAPPENS to be building. *grins* So we had lunch and laughs. Poor Jonah will never be the same after being stuck at the table with the two of us guffawing loud enough to break the sound barrier.
Dan surprised me by announcing that he had Friday off as well as Monday (Labor Day) so we spent the morning scouring through fantastic little thrift stores looking for kitchen supplies for the new apartment, doing some grocery shopping and wandering the local mall. Today we've just hung out at the apartment mostly, although we did take a trip to the phone repair store to fix Dan's speaker. We're enjoying Netflix, Pandora and games, and just being together.
If this is what being empty-nesters is like, I'm ALL ABOUT IT!! Dan and I have never spent more than a few days away from the children and even when we were first married, I was working with children full time, babysitting on the weekends and we always had my nephew Jayson around. This few days is the longest we've ever had together without children, ours or other people's, along with us. I was a little concerned that we'd run out of things to talk about, but so far that hasn't been an issue. Wooty woot woot! I could totally get used to this. NOW I know what Dan is talking about when he says that even though he L-O-V-E-S being a parent, he's not going to be broken hearted when they grow up and move out so we can have some US time. Seriously, I am enjoying myself like I haven't in ages. And that's saying something, because I KNOW what a blessed life I lead.
I'll head home in a few days to get back to mothering our little herd of boys and we will resume our watching and waiting for Dan's return to our beloved NM. But for now, I gotta go. We're watching like our 10th episode of Gilmore Girls. This man certainly does love me.
     Not Lonely and Not in NM,
       ~Kristy~