April 21, 2013

Dear Mama,

Hi! I know it seems like forever since I last wrote, at least that 
is what it feels like to me. It took me a bit after my surgery to get 
back into the swing of things and to be honest, I am not quite back 100% 
yet, but am working on it. In fact, I cannot even remember what I wrote 
to you about last, so forgive me if I repeat myself.

Let's start with Jay. I do remember telling you about a job 
interview he had in Portales at ENMU and how we had looked at houses 
afterward and were appalled at the prices of such small houses on the 
market. I think I also told you that he decided to work on getting his 
Masters at Western Governors University that he can do on-line. Well, 
ENMU called Jay and offered him the job and he was offered the same wage 
he makes now, and even though it is salary vs. hourly, he turned it down 
because he was hoping to make a little more knowing how much more the 
cost of living in Portales is compared to Tucumcari. Well, about an 
hour later they called him again and gave him a little more incentive. 
The job is not something he has had a lot of experience in, but they 
still wanted him and promised him an even bigger raise if he shows 
himself as a star in this job. It is also what he will be working on 
his Masters in. So knowing that he needed to gain this experience and 
that it would lead to better opportunities in the future, he accepted 
the job. So, even though I am still not quite back to my old self yet, 
I have been cleaning and tossing and sorting and packing. Tomorrow our 
realtor will come over to have us sign papers and put the house up on 
the market. We have also been house shopping in Portales.

On General 
Conference Sunday, we went as a family to Portales and ran into a sister 
that I remember from the years we lived there 23 years earlier. Her 
mother's old house was for rent but we never did find it. So, we went 
back a few days later and she showed us where it was and gave us a grand 
tour. The renters that were there before left the place thrashed but 
they have made a deal with us that if we go in and clean it up and even 
make some repairs, we can have the first month rent free. The water is 
also free as it is well water and connected to the landlord's house. 
Also, we looked at other places to rent and they were all smaller for a 
higher price. Jay was hoping to find something in Floyd where we are 
going to send the kids to school (about 15 miles away), but it wasn't 
until after we accepted to take the house in Portales that we heard 
anything from our Floyd contacts.

Jay has this week off of work, taking his leave time that he will 
lose if he does not use it up, and we are fixing up our bathrooms. In 
the upstairs bathroom when we first moved here was the ugliest brown 
wallpaper that was textured with fine shaved bits of metal, which of 
course over the years, rusted. We tried to take it off and they must 
have used super glue, because 15 years later after many attemts at 
peeling away at this stuff, it is still stuck like it has grown roots or 
someone cast a cursed spell on it. We even bought this professional gel 
stuff with a scraper that looks like Jaws gone wild, and it still will 
not come off. I've got until May 25th to get it off (that is our target 
moving day). Meanwhile, in the downstairs bathroom, there was water 
damage on the ceiling from awhile back. We fixed the leak, and did a 
half repair job, but never finished it. So, we are going to do that, 
paint, and repair some bullnose on the ceramic tile counter that had 
come loose. I know this is a bunch of deferred maintenance, but we have 
been so busy that when we finally do get home, we want to spend it 
together as a family, or are just too tired to do anything else. So, 
now we are making the time to do it. So, as you can see, I have been 
super busy with this new upheaval in my life. At first I did not want 
to move and we discussed Jay getting a State Park Pass and camping out 
at Oasis State Park during the week and just coming home on the 
weekends, but he only uses a tent, and that would be extremely cold in 
the winter. He was willing to sacrifice, but I wasn't. I decided that 
being together as a family was more important than keeping our house. 
So on the market it goes, and in about a month, off to Portales we go. 

Actually, May 1st, Jay and Brenna and I will go to the new house and pick 
up the keys and start cleaning. I will have to leave to come back and 
get the boys from school, but Jay and Brenna will stay and continue 
cleaning the new place. Jay starts work at ENMU on May 6th, and Brenna 
will be job hunting for her new job. By the way, the new address of our 
place will be 127 State Road 467, Portales, NM 88130. We are not sure 
if that will be the mailing address or not, but we will find out on May 1st.
When we told people at church that we were moving, some were happy 
for us, and some are just angry. The branch president told me that he 
would release me from my calling, I really didn't have to move. It's 
pretty ironic that he is moving at about the same time and so I told 
him, "Right back at ya!". They of course decided to have us speak 
before we leave and assigned us for May 12, but that is Mother's Day, so 
I requested it be changed to May 19th instead. This morning we got 
permission to do so. We would have moved on May 18th, but that is the 
day that Shayna is graduating and we won't even be around. There is 
still so much to do with utilities, change of address, all the stuff 
that comes with moving. Jay hopes to get his Master's in a year since 
it is not by conventional means, and once he gets it, he will start 
putting out feelers for work elsewhere. I have never been too enamored 
of Portales. It smells of silage (the feed they manufacture for the 
cows), and when the winter snows finally melt, there is no drainage 
system and the streets flood. The one nice thing that has changed since 
we lived there last is the fact that they have a WalMart, albeit a small 
version.

Anyway, Brenna has given notice at KFC, and will be happy to be rid 
of the grease, but she still does not know what she wants to do with her 
life. She is not very impressed with the campus at ENMU, and it would 
be great to talk her into going there even if it is just to get the 
subjects she took in high school done again. ENMU carries a minor in 
Creative Writing which is what she wants to go into. She could always 
transfer later to a different University. The choice is hers.
Josh sprained his ankle at school a couple of weeks ago and even 
though it is still a bit swollen, it doesn't hurt to walk on it. The 
doctor cleared him last Friday. He really wants to go to House next 
year, and he still might, but Floyd has something called 20/20E which is 
a recovery program which helps students who are behind on some of their 
credits to speed up and catch up to where they need to be. He is a bit 
disappointed, but Floyd also has an Art class and does a Theater 
production every year. He said that it might make up for not being able 
to go to House.

Caleb decided that he would do Track and Field which will last 
until the end of school (about another 4 weeks). He had his first Track 
Meet last Thursday. It was 40 degrees out there, and he was in his 
track uniform. They got to the meet which was being held in Tucumcari 
about noon, and when I finally showed up, it was 5 in the afternoon 
thinking he would be finished and could bring him home, but he hadn't 
had one event yet. He finally had one an hour later. I was frozen 
through by the time he was ready to run the 400 meter. He placed third, 
and I am sure he was at a disadvantage since the other athletes had 
cleats and he was wearing his everyday shoes, which I looked closely at 
and they are falling apart and he needs new ones. We found a pair of 
Shayna's old tennis shoes, size 10, and they were too small for him. I 
guess I will have to break down and go get him some shoes to get him 
through the next 4 weeks. He wanted to stay and do the 800 meter race, 
but even his coach was leaving because of how cold it was and told him 
that he could run it next week at the track meet in Melrose. So, we 
left, too. The next morning he woke up with a cold. He couldn't 
understand why he caught a cold. I mean standing outside in 40 degree 
weather for 6 hours wearing shorts and a T-shirt has got to knock your 
immune system out of whack, right?

Sam somehow managed to get a fever blister/cold sore on his lip. I 
can never tell what is the difference because I have never gotten one. 
But this thing is really big, and he is slowly doctoring it, and it is 
slowly going away. Sam is trying to write a book (his last few attempts 
have been about three pages long), and is saving money for a bike, his 
other one has gone the way of all the earth.

Matt is still living at Beck's and comes over on Sunday's which 
will end when we move. When we told him we were moving to Portales, he 
paused, and then his eyes lit up and said, "You mean where I was born?" 
WOW! You could have knocked me over with a feather. How on earth did 
he remember that? He seems okay with the move, though.

Shayna is still working feverishly to get everything done and get 
all of her little duckies in a row so she can graduate in about a 
month. She also got her fingerprints done and sent off to the Peace 
Corps. So as far as we know, that is the last of the paperwork on her 
end and she just will have to sit tight as she finds out where they will 
send her. It's kind of like waiting for a mission call. She is hoping 
for someplace warm. We shall see.

So...how are things with you? Been keeping busy? Or are you 
sitting down enjoying the easy life? Uncle Fred called and asked me if 
I would do Aunt Margaret's endowments. I am hoping to do that on my 
last temple trip with the Relief Society Sisters next month. Although, 
Jay will have the van in Portales, so I am not sure how that is gonna 
work. I was surprised when he asked me to do this, because I was always 
under the impression that she was already a member and had all of that 
already done on her own. I hope she will accept the work being done for 
her. I may have Jay and I go to Lubbock next Friday--take a break from 
all of this packing and such---and go to the temple for our Stake temple 
weekend. One way or the other, I will make sure her work gets done. I 
just need to get it in the mail, and quickly.

Well, I will close for now. Take care of yourself, you are very 
often in my thoughts. All my love, your 4th, Lisa