She Could Potentially be Driving Now

 Madelyn turned 15 in July.

Once again, there was no party and no friends. Although, she did get a promised sleepover (which we never do, so that was a great present). She kept things real simple, and requested Sonic for her birthday dinner. 

This girl is growing up to be a woman so quick it's dizzying. She's so independent, sometimes I'm surprised she's not already living on her own. And yet, I know she still needs us. She's ready to get her driving permit, but we haven't gotten around to it yet. She's also chomping at the bit to get a job already. When she wants something, she goes after it.

I started homeschooling Madelyn back in January, before the schools closed, and before Covid. But she's decided she wants to go back to public school for high school. Being able to be with her friends every day is VERY important to her. I'm hoping it is a really good experience for her.

Here are 15 more things about Madelyn.

1. Favorite food - gummy worms

2. Favorite color - green

3. Favorite TV show - Criminal Minds

4. Favorite movie - doesn't have one

5. Favorite song - doesn't have one

6. Favorite game - Subway Surfers

7. Favorite school subject - art

8. Least favorite food - carrots

9. Least favorite color - mustard yellow

10. Least favorite school subject - art

11. Where she wants to live - don't know

12. Where she wants to vacation - Egypt

13. Where she wants to hang out with her friends - shopping at Shadow Lake

14. What she wants to be when she grows us - Cosmetologist

15. Her favorite thing about herself - her eyes

We love you Madelyn!

Are We Moving?

 No, we're not. But we thought we were going to have to for a hot minute! Joe thought he'd get hired on with the company he was interning for in May, when we started terminal leave, but when June rolled around and he still hadn't gotten an offer, we started to get a little worried. We couldn't just wait until the last minute without having a plan B, C, and D, so Joe started putting in resumes anywhere and everywhere, and we even started looking at houses in a few places when company recruiters started showing interest in him. We kind of all caught the bug, and were actually looking forward to starting over again somewhere new. We were seriously looking at North Caroline, Florida, and Colorado. Joe and I were making pro and con lists, and wondering what we'd do if we actually did get an offer here in Nebraska. It was a crazy few weeks.

Well, the offer ended up coming through, and it was too good to turn down. Joe is switching career fields, going into computer security. He doesn't have a degree in that though, but this company was willing to hire him on anyway, and has been great to work with him. We felt good about it right away, and suddenly, staying here in Nebraska seemed like what we were supposed to do all along....at least for right now. 

So Joe officially retired from the Air Force, after 20 years of service, on July 1st. No fan fare. No retirement ceremony. He just walked away, and never looked back. Honestly, it wouldn't have been any different anyway, even if it hadn't been for Covid. We went to the retirement ceremony of his supervisor right before everything started shutting down, and it reaffirmed to us why we didn't want one. Who wants a commander, who knows nothing about you, and cares even less, to stand up there and spew off bullet points that he's gotten from your past performance reports, that he had his secretary look up, and then talk about how much the Air Force appreciates your service and will be missing a great guy? Not us, that's who. It's so disingenuous. It's so out of touch. And Joe has spent his entire military career working under people like that. There have been a few good apples here and there, but not many. It's all politics. It's all kissing butt. It's all about getting those bullet points. That's how you rise through the military. It has nothing to do with actually doing your job, and being good at it. It has nothing to do with being a good leader, in the real sense of the word. And so, is it greener on the other side (the civilian side)? For us, 100% yes. Joe likes the people he works with. They actually respect him. They actually appreciate him. They actually want to see him succeed. And the better he does his job, the better off he will be. What a crazy concept!

Don't get me wrong, Joe is very proud of the 20 years of service he gave, and I am WAY proud of him. He made sacrifices that allowed us to have a life I never could have dreamed of. And he always gave 100% to his job and his language studies. We're just glad it's over.

Now to the next 20 years.

Now to growing a beard again. 

Now to living our best life.

Getting Outside

Well, we've tried to get outside this summer. We had especially good weather in June, so that helped. No vacations though. Camping was closed all through June. Pretty much everything was closed all through June, so there really wasn't any point going on vacation anyway. 

We tried a second time to go to Platte River State Park, this time on a weekday, and it wasn't crowded at all. It's really pretty there. 

We walked around Walnut Creek Recreation Area a few time, and enjoyed all the flowers.

We went back to the Safari Park and got up close and personal with the Bison this time.

The zoo opened back up (outside exhibits only, one-way walking path), so Madelyn and I went there a couple of times. Not too exciting, though we did get to see the snow leopard and the baby rhinoceros for the first time. 

And we got a new grill, and Cora made a picnic bench, so that kept us outside a bit more too.

We are all DYING to go on a vacation. We've got a little something planned for Labor Day weekend, so that's something to look forward to. Not having a spring break vacation OR a summer vacation is the worst (first world problem)!

Last Teenager

 I'm going to try to do a bunch of catch-up posts today. This summer has flown by, and I haven't kept up on the old blog at all.

Alex turned 13 back in April. I now have four teenagers, for the time being. His birthday was uneventful, because that was right when everything was shutting down. We had planned to have a party for him, but obviously that didn't happen. Instead, we ordered in from Red Robin for dinner, and ordered him a present off of Amazon. He didn't complain. He never does.

Alex had tested for, and been accepted into HAL (the High Ability Learners program). He had been enjoying going to those extra classes/activities once a month, and he was really disappointed when they stopped school and all the activities. 

Alex definitely has an adventurous spirit. He would love to live overseas again. He still loves putting together Lego sets, especially with Cora. He's a really funny kid, and love to make people laugh. He has a hard time being serious about anything, really. 

I foresee that when Alex is the last kid left at home, he will be very spoiled. Can you blame us?

 

Here are 13 more things about Alex

1. Favorite food - Fruishi

2. Least favorite food - Cilantro

3. Favorite color - Purple

4. Favorite subject in school - English

5. Favorite TV show - Umbrella Academy

6. Favorite movie - Mr. Fantastic Fox

7. Favorite song - doesn't have one

8. Favorite game - Hollow Knight

9. Best friend - Taylor

10. Where he wants to live - Tokyo, Japan

11. Where he wants to go on vacation - South Korea

12. Favorite holiday - Christmas

13. What do you want to be when you grow up? a Doctor in the Air Force

We love you Alex!