It Seems So Trivial

As I introduced in my most recent post, I intended to carry on a discussion (with myself, yes) regarding the Importance of Work.  This would carry forward for 6 weeks explaining how I justify this shift from a traditional work life without neglecting these important areas.  I've been working on round one of that series, "Work, an Income" for something like three weeks now.  It's near completion, and yet it all seems so trivial now.  I took all this time to analyze current budgets and anticipated future budgets, looking back over years of spending history for accurate reporting.  I make $100 a year sound like a bit of a big deal.  Discussing the topic, at least in the way I have laid it out, feels very self-involved.  The whole thing can be summed up in a sentence: I'll need some money to live so I'll need to work (some).  

The whole thing feels even more trivial considering the life changing events that are happening in my own life and those nearest to me.  As Mama pointed out, Baby A (Baby Girl) was brought into this world.  It feels silly to write a blog post mentioning how much it might cost me to use a laundry facility while RV living without first sharing this news.  Certainly the new child is far more important and impactful in my life than how many quarters I'll need for the laund-o-mat.  But by focusing on the "Work Series," I'm putting my time and mental energy* into writing about this completely unrelated topic.  Odd isn't it?  One of the most amazing things that will happen in my life has just unfolded with the birth of my third child, my only little girl, and I'm writing about a budget, not her.  

Additionally, my parents just days ago experienced the complete loss of their home and belongings after an EF3 tornado tore through their town.  It makes the fact that I'll save a few dollars a month on reduced internet costs seem... well, trivial.  How can I sit and write about such petty things in my own life when others so close to me are experiencing the complete loss of their material possessions? 

[Three of their four dogs have been found safe, one amidst the rubble, as of this writing.  We pray for little Bruno's safe return in what would be an extraordinarily wonderful thing for all four dogs to return home safely after such an event.]

Before:

After:

Bruno

UPDATE:  Shortly after writing this Bruno was located and appears safe.  All dogs recovered!

These two events were too significant for me to just ignore.  I couldn't move forward with any other sort of blogging without first acknowledging that these two events are the most important in my life right now.  I didn't want my trivial blog to make it seem otherwise.  

I didn't give too glowing of a preview of the upcoming "Work, an Income" post.  And I certainly don't make any promises as to the quality or captivating nature of it.  But I do still feel it is important to flesh out, at least for me personally.  After all, I'm going from what I consider an outrageously comfortable income and lifestyle to intentionally having no full time income (from myself or my wife), with three young kids to boot.  The income side of this equation is critical to consider, to include such trivial things as laundry mats and internet costs.  I'll publish it eventually, but really just haven't felt enough passion about writing it these last few weeks considering the major events we were anticipating, experiencing and witnessing.  And please don't confuse my lack of detailed blogging regarding these events as a reflection of how they impact me.  I suppose the more meaningful or heavier subjects are just a little harder to write, and sometimes a bit uncomfortable for me when being made available for anyone to read.

*Though not always evident in my writing, this does require a significant portion of my brain power.  Maybe that speaks to the limited supply available for use, or just the challenge of pulling jumbled thoughts out of my head and transferring them to coherent sentences.  Either way, my brain is cramping right now.

Big Things...

Mama here. It's been a while since I've posted, so I figured it was time.  There are a lot of big changes going on around here.  While this time of year is generally full of family, parties, and sometimes stress, we, here at the Whitehurst household, are laying low.  It is a bit of a nice change for us.  Dad finished his official shift work on Dec 9th and has been all hands on deck at home since.  (couldn't resist the Navy pun)

For a while there everything in our lives seemed to be in a holding pattern.  I was due with baby #3 on Dec 7th...or 12th, depending on who you ask, but she decided to take her time (like all of our babies tend to do) and greet us on December 18th.  I was actually scheduled for an induction on the 18th at 7am, but she outsmarted them and came at 6:34am.  And yes I said she.  We had a beautiful healthy baby girl.  Baby A, we will call her.  And her two big brothers couldn't be prouder.  They love giving her kisses, greeting her every morning, and seeing how high they can swing her in her swing.  (A practice we don't condone and have had many conversations about in the past week)

Christmas morning was a hit with the boys getting everything on their wish lists to include Cowboy Boots, rain boots, headphones for our lengthy car rides, a variety of movies, a travel soccer goal and soccer balls for each of them.  You would think this would keep them from fighting over balls, but it doesn't.  The goal has been taken down twice for too many disagreements ending in dinosaurs and arms being caught in the netting.

Our big undertaking Christmas evening was moving the boys in with each other.  We have a lot of furniture we are trying to sell so we thought it would be best to consolidate both the furniture and the kids into rooms in our house.  The boys now own the bigger of the two rooms and our furniture sits in the other, ready for craigslist buyers to come and grab.  This move came with a bunch of organizing and downsizing of clothing and some toys.  You'd think this wouldn't be too big of a challenge, but how do you simplify clothing for a toddler who seems to be perpetually in between sizes and a preschooler who is constantly growing?  How do I organize a billion clothing items for LJ to grow into in the next month and AJ to grow out of but that are just a tad too big for LJ?  Oy!  I'll just minimmize what each of them have in each size and they can wear clothing that might be slightly too big for them on laundry days.  Problem solved.  Marie Kondo doesn't talk about this in her organization book.  I look at about 15 different dinosaur shirts and can't decide which give the boys joy and which don't - they'd tatoo dinosaurs on their chests if I let them at this age.  So I'll keep a few for each of them.  And blame their cousin due in Feb for stealing all their dinosaur shirts ;)

AJ's bed was disassembled and placed in the garage for storage to make room for LJ's crib.  So, temporarily AJ is camping out behind a curtain on his cot.  Don't feel too bad for the kid, he has a lush down topper on his cot along with his Olaf blanket to keep him cozy.  He woke us at about 3am the first night saying he missed his big bed, which blows my mind since he's been napping on a bean bag chair in a tent, by choice, for the last month.  But hopefully he will get used to it and see the benefits of sharing the room with his brother.  Afterall, the crib puts them both at the perfect height for an unfair advantage at the basketball hoop hanging from the closet door.

This is just the first of many rooms that need to be weeded through, organized and sorted.  We have a plan, we will just see how well we can execute it.  T-40 days until we are planning on driving away in our trailer.  Now if we could only sell 2 vehicles and a house in the next month....

The boys' room