For Sale...

Well I guess its for real now. Not sure if I am happy or sad - maybe a little of both! We put the house up for sale a couple of days ago. We are just going to take the future as it comes.

The border patrol option is getting closer now. Possibly this fall or early winter. We already know that if we still have the house, the kids and I won't be able to go south while Scott is in the academy - we learned last summer its not fun to pay mortgage and rent!! It's not like we will get to see him much when he is in the academy, but at least may be able to spend a day or two with him on the weekends. I am not sure I can do 5 months apart, well we may have to, but we will try to make it not have to be so.

And... if Scott doesn't make it though the academy, then we want to move off this highway anyways!! It has worked great for these 2 1/2 years we have been here, but there are a few things we want to change. We want to have a hobby farm (which we have already started with the chicks!!) but there is no place to raise a calf for beef here and Scott really wants to do that. We will have to do major renovations upstairs within the next couple of years as the kids bedrooms now are attached (walk through one room to get to the next) and Devon doesn't want to be downstairs by himself yet. With the slope of the roofline, we would have to bump up and out the whole trusses/roof, so will cost quite a bit. We can't open the windows at night because of the traffic on the highway now with a zip strip, the kids have no where to ride their bikes - all hill here and driveway slopes down into the highway, so I won't let them ride there. Kylee wants kittys real bad, and living on the highway is not the place. So nothing major at all, but alot of small things we would like to make different.

We are going to try and sell on our own for a while and see what happens. If by fall we haven't sold, maybe consider listing with a realtor. Being right on the highway, there will be alot of people see just driving by. (We had the first person pick up an information sheet this morning!!)I will advertise in the paper when I decide when I can do an open house, and will also put out info page up on some bulletin boards around the towns here.

If it does sell, we will rent for a while til we find out what happens with the border patrol. If border patrol doesn't work out, we plan to find 5 acres or so and build a house on it, between Harrisville and Lincoln area. We don't want to go closer to Oscoda where Scott works now, as the schools down there are known not to be the greatest for drugs and alcohol.

So... again a new chapter in life may start for us. We will see what happens...

Yaaa! All caught up!

Yaa! Finally - I took the afternoon to blog! A whole months worth in one day! Really wish we had high speed at home, but for now, the library's works great!

Kindergarden Round-up!

Kylees kindergarden roundup was last week, and she sure was one happy little girl!! She is super excited about going to kindergarden. I will probably be asked a million times before the summer is over, how much longer til the first day of kindergarden.
We met with half the kindergardeners - about 22 of them (there will be 45 total in 2 classes) for a half day. They took the kids in groups of 4 to different stations they had set up, basically to find out how much they know - recognizing letters and numbers, writing their name, colors, shapes, cutting, gluing and tying shoe laces etc. The only thing she didn't know was how to tie shoes. They took them into a different room to do these things, and when Kylees name was called, she jumped up, said bye mom, and didn't look back. I was kinda sad!! My little baby, and the toddler that clung to me 24/7 is all grown up! Guess she is ready for school, whether I am or not.

Wow, alot has happened this past year!

Its amazing what life brings in a year. We were just remembering that a year ago today we were on our long trek towards Tucson!! Was fun to take some time this afternoon to look over my blog posts (memories) over the year. Many changes.. many fun times... many experiences that we won't forget...many new friends made... kids have grown alot...a learning year!!

Its a beautiful day in Michigan!

Enjoying my day off and getting caught up on some things. Loving the signs of spring here, the sun is shining bright, water is dripping off the roof and down the driveway, the birds are singing loudly - beautiful!!

We usually are very healthy, but the last few weeks have been a little crazy! Starting with Scott's visit to the ER, and finding his kidney stone, to me with the achy flu, to Kylee and I with strept throat, to Devons strange rash on his face... enough dr's for a while! Scott did pass his kidney stone a few days ago, so he's glad thats over with. We sent it into the lab, and they will tell us what in his diet could be causing it so we can try to prevent any future ones.

Scott found out today that he is to go on a road-trip for work to JFK airport. He will leave on Sunday, for however long it takes to finish the job. He is kinda glad as it has been so slow at work the last few weeks, he is tired of looking busy, but with nothing to do, just cleaning and re-cleaning, or organizing shelves etc. It will be a couple of more weeks before they will have a plane to work on. No talks of layoffs this time, so thats good!

The kids have the last week of March off for Spring Break, so we will have to do something special, but just not sure what yet. Makes it a little harder to go somewhere with me working out of the house now. But hopefully we can work something out. School is going well for both kids - hard to believe there is only a couple more months left. Kylee asks alot how much longer til she goes to Kindergarden, and can't wait. That will be a huge change for me to have them both gone all day, every day. I think I will get lonesome!

Not much new with the border patrol thing, except we have learned that it probably won't be before the end of the year. They are changing the order they are doing the hiring with a whole bunch of things in the factor now, not just the date that you pass all the hiring steps, so between that and the decrease in positions available due to cutbacks, it will be a long time yet. I guess the easiest way to deal with it, for me anyways, is try not to stress about it too much, and know that if its meant to be it will happen at the right time, if not, it won't :) We need to plan a trip down to New Mexico and pick up our stuff that we have in a storage unit down there pretty soon. We left most of the stuff we had in Arizona there, thinking we would be back down way before summer for the academy for the border patrol. We left all the summer clothes and bikes, rollerblades etc. down there, and spring will be here soon!

Work is going well for me. I do enjoy the challenge, and it feels good to get out of the house a little. The dr. is a great person to work for, and so glad that she is willing to work with my shedule, taking Kylee with me etc. I know I will never find another situation like this! It will really be nice in the summer, won't have to think about daycare etc. I can bring both kids with me!

Looking forward to having a garden this summer. I picked up my tomato seeds this week and the starter pots for them. I have 44, so if they all grow, I will have lots of tomatoes again!! We really did like the spegetti sauce and salsa I made 2 years ago, so planning to do that again. Scott will have to re-til up the garden, as when we were gone last summer, it totally grew in and you can't even tell there was a garden there! He just cut down two trees that were shading the garden a little, so hopefully that will help the garden a little.

Whew, I guess thats all the news :)

Had a great weekend in Guelph

The kids were on their mid-winter break from school, so we decided to take a long weekend and go to Guelph to see and the family there. We all had a great time. Was great to see Grandma too, and to get in on a one-year birthday. Hard to believe that Tayah is one already!!
The guys went on a fishing trip up to Lake Simcoe, to my cousin Martins fishing hole. They had lots of fun, and came back with a few fish that are alot larger than what they catch here in the winter. Had some exciting stories to tell too - guess they went over a few pressure cracks, and one they lost the back end of the 4-wheeler through the hole - glad they had a trailer on to hold it up!! Kinda scary and exciting for Devon for sure! He won't forget that fishing trip for a while.
On Devon's first day back to school, at share time they were to share what they did on their break. Devon tells me that he told all about his fishing trip, all the fun things that he did with his cousins in Canada etc etc. The teacher finally said, Ok Devon, you only have time for a few more sentences!! :) Guess he enjoyed his time and had alot of things to share :)






Tayah is One!!


The little tea party!


Didn't last all night though - maybe next time :)




This is what we did while the guys were gone fishing.

Wow, Its time to catch up!!

I guess it must have been a busy month! I was reminded yesterday by someone who frequently checks my blog, that there has been nothing new for a while (smile), so its time!!!

We have just had wonderful visits and special meeting last night. Glad for the reminder again of whats most important and to spend our time on those things and have a deep hunger for those things and do them with love and with the right spirit. Everything else all ends with death.

The next few posts will summarize what happened in the last month.

Hope everyone has a healthy, happy 2010!!

Border Patrol position looking bleak ... far in the future now

This past week, we found out on the forum that we are watching that the border patrol position Scott is waiting for is looking like its far in the future now. They have slowed way down on the hiring - they are only replacing those who retire or quit and because of the economy, people are hanging onto their jobs as long as they can.
I will attach a portion of the posting that we read to give you more details. It is written by a bp agent named Ray, who is involved with the hiring process. Scott is one of those 2500 people he mentions whose files are sitting on his desk - Scotts TSU (accepted) date is Aug 27th.

And the other news is.. at Kalitta, they are doing layoffs again in January :( Like last time, we probably won't know til the day of layoff how many or who is going. Life is so unstable, so glad we have something more than this life to look forward too!


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Reducing the number of classes for this Fiscal Year.

A determination has been made and the classes that were on the training schedule for the 2nd quarter of this Fiscal Year (January thru March) will be reduced.

The reason for this is because we are not loosing people from the service like we have in the past. I think it is safe to say that the state of the economy has something to do with this.

The mandate or emphasis for the next few classes will be Northern Border. Those of you that applied under the Northern Border Announcement will be offered anywhere along the Northern Border. The positions we have to fill are far and few between. We have met the numbers for several of the locations on the Northern Border so when someone asks to be deferred for the 90 days don’t be surprised if and when you get another call and it’s NOT your area of preference. Since we are only filling attrition positions, we need people to leave the position for us to backfill it. It’s not happening! You may want to think twice about being deferred for 90 days. If you have a good job it can’t hurt. If you need a job I would take the offer on the table.

Just to remind people that applied for the Southwest Border you cannot change to the Northern Border. You are on a certificate that will only allow us to place you somewhere along the Southwest Border.

Things can change rapidly. I have been in this position too long and am nervous about where we will be going with offers. I want my staff and I to advise people of their options when we talk with them and hope they understand that the advice is based on what we currently know. The US Government has budget issues. This can trickle down to the point we don’t hire anymore because we have exceeded the budget for this Fiscal Year which explains why the number of classes have been reduced and the number of people we will schedule into a class has been reduced.

As it stands we have people that reached our area in late May that we haven’t been able to place. When we are given the Southwest Border for placement these will be the first people we call. You can figure this out if you reached us after May the time frame will be longer yet. If we told you it could be 4 to 6 months before you get a call, you can add another 4 to 6 months to that. I have over 2500 people cleared and sitting on my desk for the Southwest Border. Please understand we appreciate your patience.

I cannot stress enough that you need to take care of yourself and your family. You cannot be waiting around for us to call. Please go on with your life. IF and WHEN we call please let us know your situation and we will do our best to work with you. I just don’t want people waiting for us to make the move. It won’t benefit you or your family.

Been busy getting the fall outside stuff done!

I guess its been a little crazy around here the last little while. We are totally enjoying the Indian summer here - its been beautiful! And.. we are getting close to being all ready for the snow to come. The soffit and gutters are on, the leaves are all raked which is HUGE at this house. The back, and front upper decks are all stained now, and Scott is very close to getting all the railing all on. Will post a picture when that is completed. Just working on digging up the flower beds that got way overgrown when we were gone, and have some tulip bulbs to plant. Scott has a few little jobs to get done before the snow flies but shouldn't be a problem as all this week we are forecasted for nice weather too! The workers were here last week and helped us pull down and clean up a bunch of dead branches, clean out the ones that were in, and hanging over the pond, and we got the burn pile all burned up. Lookin good here now!!

Its sure been busy lately!

We are pretty much all settled back in our house. Seems like we have gone non-stop since we got back here.

Scott is back to work at Kalitta. He is in a different hanger than he was before, working on 727's this time. He works 7-4 Monday to Friday, which is a schedule that he has never had down there before. He loves that part of it, and we do too :) They were pretty busy when he first started there, but things have slowed right down, and there is not much to do. They are expecting it to get busy again around Thanksgiving time. We are still in waiting for the border patrol, but things could remain that way for a long time. The border patrol is only hiring now to replace people who quit or retire, and seems that there are many in line before him. But we are glad for the time here to work on our house, and get things done outside before the snow comes. Scott also got an email a few days ago, that the border patrol has changed a few things, one being that he will have to take another physical test before he goes to the academy, with about a 1/2 hour physical stuff nonstop - running 1 1/2 miles, situps, pushups, 200 yard dash etc. Seems that they are finding alot of people not ready physically for what needs to be done in the academy, and have to drop out because of that. And if you fail this fitness test, you are out with no chance of retake. So.. Scott is back into the running again :)

I am back to work again - 2 1/2 days a week for the eye dr. At her suggestion, I get to take Kylee with me 2 of those days!! We sure do love and appreciate that option, and it works great as it is in her basement at her house, and Kylee just does what she would do while I am working at home here! Every time we go, we take a few different things for her to do. She does great with it, and loves to tell people that "she goes to work too!!" :) On Thursday, the dr was there with us, and couldn't stop complimenting on how good and quiet Kylee is. Kylee would just smile at her and quietly go back to "work" The other 1/2 day is while Kylee is in preschool.

Devon is loving being back in his old school again. There are only a handful of kids the same as who were in his kindergarden, but he sees them all at lunch time. He seems to be doing very well. This school seems quite a bit behind where he was in Tucson. So far seems like alot of repeat of Kindergarden, and he says his teacher is surprised at how well he can read and spell. So hopefully he doesn't get too bored before they catch up to him. But so far, so good. There are a few changes that I am not too fond of there... teachers laid off, so class sizes are between 35 and 40, no music, no library, no art, no janitor, so teachers are to clean their own classrooms once a week - not good for germ spreading. Hopefully they see soon that the changes aren't good.

And, Kylee is back in the same preschool she was in last year - Tues and Friday mornings. And she loves it too. She was surprised and excited to learn that her teacher is going to have a baby in December, and can't wait. The teacher is a home schooling mom, and brings her kids with her to work in the room beside the preschool room, so she does plan to bring in her baby too. Will be fun for the kids. They are learning about bugs this month. She will be going on a field trip this week to the honey farm, to see and learn about the process of honey-making. I am interested to see this too and plan to go with her.

We are getting a few things done around the house. Scott has the facia and gutters on now, and will start working on the upper deck tomorrow. I am working on getting the back deck railing stained (which is taking forever - lesson learned - I am going to stain the railing for the top deck BEFORE Scott puts it together!!) It has taken a while to get the grass cut and trimmed - it was very long, the leaves all raked up and things looking back to a lived in yard again. But we are getting there. Hopefully we can get the ouside stuff done before the snow comes!!

Feels great to be home!

Just a quick post to let you all know we made it home and it feels great to ge back! Typing on my compter set up on the floor amongst the boxes :) Trying to unpack and get schools set up and mail sorted etc. But things should be back to normal by the end of the week.

You can all change our address again!!! :)
1075 North US 23
Harrisville, MI
48740
And cell phones will both stay connected, but don't get reception here at the house. New land line number is 989-724-6185

Trip back to MI - Day 1

Day 1 on the road went well. Left about 9:45, after our inspection at the apartments. Drove til about 9:30, (8:30 Arizona time) and stopped in Artesia, NM. Went about 455 miles. The kids did very well (with the help of the DVD player in our new truck - a babysitter they are not used to :) Sammy did really well too - we built up a bed for him between the kids seats and he slept alot. I think he felt special as it seemed one of the kids were petting him the whole ride :) We sold Scotts truck a few days before we left, so it is MUCH nicer all travelling together. Will unload most of the trailer in a storage unit here in Artesia, as this is where Scott will come for the academy for border patrol.




Nap Time - even for Sammy :)


Sammy gets LOTS of petting


Good spot to watch whats going past outside :)

Heading Home to Michigan!!

Its finally happening... we are moving back home!!! We got the news while out in Virginia that Scott will get his job back at Kalitta. They told him that they completely understand his situation of going through the process for the border patrol. They understand that he may be there for 2 weeks, or two years, but they still want him back!! And it won't hurt his record if he doesn't make it through the academy, they will take him back again after that... they must really like him or something! :)
He will be on days, with Saturday and Sunday off!!! That has never happened before for him at Kalitta. He will be working on the 727's, not the 747's this time, and that is their schedule over in that hanger. We plan to leave Tucson on the 22nd, and be home on the 26th or 27th. We will go by Artesia, NM and leave most of the stuff we have here in storage so if he does make it through the academy, we will only have one load left. We will take the trailer home empty this time for the next trip down. So... off to get the packing done again :)

In Memory of Aaron "Scoop" George Skilbred

Last week, we were all in Virgina for a very sad occasion... Aaron (Scotts brother) passed away due to a vehicle accident. It sure makes you think about the fragility of life. He will be missed by many.



Aaron "Scoop" George Skilbred, 39, of Suffolk VA passed away September 7, 2009 due to a vehicle accident. He was born in Sparta, WI. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and Desert Storm. He was an Electronic Technician Sub-contractor for System Tech Forum.

He is survived by his wife of 10 years, Melissa Jean Skilbred; daughter, Kayla N. Skilbred; sons Brandon A. Skilbred and Javin A. Skilbred; father and mother, George Harvard and Marilyn Accola Skilbred; sisters, Wanda Skilbred, Rebecca Hauersperger, Heidi Massey; brothers, Dewey, Mark, Scott, and Clifton Skilbred, and numerous nieces and nephews.


This family picture was taken in May 2009.

Found a Great Dentist in Mexico

Well... a friend told us about this dentist that several of the friends had been to. We were very impressed, actually probably the best dentist we have ever been to!! And...between Scott and I, we saved $3232.00 less about 150 in gas!!! Scott had 4 fillings done, I had 3 done and 3 crowns. I went yesterday and got the permanent crowns on, and they look great!

It is across from Yuma, AZ (about a 3 1/2 hour drive each way for us) so it was a long drive. The first time, we all went, and I felt safe, but was nervous going in by myself with Kylee yesterday. You park on the US side in a gated parking lot, and just walk across. I walked straight there and straight back (2 blocks each way) saying NO THANKS 50 times along the way :) There are open storefronts the whole way along the road but I was too nervous to do any looking.

Here is their website if anyone is interested and willing to travel to save some money. http://www.drconnieayaladds.com/ The buiding is very plain on the outside and inside, but once you get back in the dentist chair, everything looks the same as if you were in the US. All the equipment is the same, all sanitary etc.

A few weeks ago, I had a bad experience in a mexican dentist office. A guy from Scotts work (who is mexican and obviously had never been in an american dentists office) referred us there. He took us there, otherwise we would have never went in. It was run out of his home, no signs, no gloves, questionable sanitary tools, his fillings were just a tube that twisted up like a lipstick tube and he chipped off some stuff and stuck it in your tooth, half a dentists chair with headrests that squeeze your head to hold your upper body up. The filling was white, but he didn't have the ability to match your tooth color so it stuck out terribly. It was in my front tooth and was very crooked. He told me to come back and he would straighten it the next time as it was too soft to work with right then. Needless to say, the new dentist we just went to had to take out the filling and replace it! I only let the first guy do one filling so I could just get out of there! Glad thats all that happened from that experience.

We are now "Gluten Free"

It has been a real change for us, and still learning alot, but have found out that Scott has celiac disease (gluten intolerant). Once we have changed our diet, his "problems" have totally gone away!! I have basically had to learn how to cook again, but is so worth it for Scott (and has helped me shed a few pounds too ;)

I don't understand alot about it but here is some info I found on a website that describes a little about it.
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http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/

Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. When people with celiac disease eat foods or use products containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging or destroying villi—the tiny, fingerlike protrusions lining the small intestine. Celiac disease is both a disease of malabsorption—meaning nutrients are not absorbed properly—and an abnormal immune reaction to gluten. Celiac disease is genetic, meaning it runs in families. Sometimes the disease is triggered—or becomes active for the first time—after surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, viral infection, or severe emotional stress.

Symptoms:
abdominal bloating and pain
chronic diarrhea
vomiting
constipation
pale, foul-smelling, or fatty stool
weight loss
unexplained iron-deficiency anemia
fatigue
bone or joint pain
arthritis
bone loss or osteoporosis
depression or anxiety
tingling numbness in the hands and feet
seizures
missed menstrual periods
infertility or recurrent miscarriage
canker sores inside the mouth
an itchy skin rash called dermatitis herpetiformis
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I do know a quite a few people that are gluten intolerant, so as I find some recipes that we really like, I am going to post them on here. I am still trying to find a good gluten-free bread recipe, so if anyone has tried any that they like, please send us your recipe. I do have a few more to try yet though.

Here is a link that I found to be able to buy some of the flours cheaper than in the local grocery or health food store.
http://www.bulkfoods.com/baking.asp

Lots of info and help on this forum:
http://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/

Heres a place that I found some good recipes:
http://www.gluten.net/recipes/index.php

Possible Change of Plans

Ok, so things change quickly for us :)

Scotts website now has the green check for background check. That means that all his reports are back to the border patrol office and they ok'd everything. Next is a phone call telling him when to report to the academy and where he will be placed for the 1 1/2 years. That could be tomorrow, or up til 5 months from now. Being that Scotts file is expidited, it may come real quick.

So... we are unsure if we are headed to MI now. No use going up, then having to put in a 2 week notice at Kalitta. Scott could do that, but he doesn't think they would like that very much and he doesn't want to burn a bridge up there. We do know that there are classes starting every week still at the academy. All they give you is 2 weeks notice to report to the academy - just giving you enough time to give your notice to where you are currently working.

So for right now, we are undecided, just going to wait it out a bit and see what happens in the next month as we have to pay for our rent til Sept 25 - 30 day notice that I gave a few days ago.

Super Exciting News!!

We are headed back to Harrisville!!! Its back at Kalitta again, but they say only a 2 to 3 month position. But, better than nothing I say :) Scott is still working towards the border patrol, and still don't know how far in the future that is. They have completed all our background checks, so its just waiting for a position to open for us, they send us a letter telling us where it is, and when to report to the academy.

At least gets our foot back in the door back at Kalitta in case bp doesn't happen, or in case Scott can't handle the physical part at the academy - he is really worried about that. And maybe 2 to 3 months will extend to 6 months... to... who knows :) We will be working on our house getting ready to sell in case it comes to that. But will enjoy our time back at home while we have it! We will be leaving here within the next month. Kalitta tells us just to give them a date that works for us! So finishing dental work here, had to give our apartment 30 day notice..giving a two week notice at work... packing and just whenever we are ready to go, we will give Kalitta a call and tell them we will be there in 5 days!

Wow... Its been 5 months

Since we left MI!! In one way, it doesn't seem that long, in another, we are ready to move on. We have all had enough of the heat, and the apartment seems way too small!! It has been a fun time though.

Still no definite news of where we will be going or when we will be going, but the border patrol process is moving right along now. The background check is in process, and pretty close to done. We have heard from many of our references that they have had a visit with the investigators. Scott had his personal investigation on Monday. They came out to his workplace (Scott had to break the news to where he is working now, not good timing, as they are laying off at Bombardier) But so far, so good. His direct lead seems ok with it, so we cross our fingers that the job lasts as long as we need it.

Scotts interview was 2 hours long, with going though each place we lived, each place he worked in great details. They spent alot of time on the fact that I am Canadian, and our connections with Canada. How much we visit, if there is investments in Canada, if anyone we know could use anything in our past as blackmail to let vehicles, people though the borders, the fact that we have travelled a couple of times into mexico, etc. Seems that if we pass this, we are good to go for the academy, but we will get a letter letting us know.

Still no news from Kalitta up in MI, other than the fact that it is still slow, they hire on a few, and then let more go. So its the same story as when we were up there. Doesn't seem to promising to get hired on back there anytime soon. If Scott does get into the academy, I will head up north, put Devon in school up there and finish off the things we had going on the inside of the house and put it on the market and see what happens. We aren't too hopeful of selling it real soon, as not much is happening in real estate in the Harrisville area.

Our new Vehicle

It has been quite a week! We left on Thursday to go to CA to look at/buy a vehicle that we saw on ebay. It was also our 10 year anniversary so we planned to combine that with a couple of days vacation with no kids. But it didn't end up to be as relaxing a time as we planned. We did stay on the ocean, in Oceanside, CA and walked up the beach for a ways, which was very nice ... and beautiful!! Weather was alot cooler than in AZ! But... the WHOLE day on Friday was spent at the bank and running between the bank and where the vehicle was (1 1/2 hours each way)-3 times. We went with a preapproval, and thought that it would only take an hour to finish off the paperwork, but didn't close by 5:30 bank closing time. We ended up scraping together the funds from numerous places just to get the vehicle home so we didn't have go home, then back again to pick it up. Anyways, it was all worth it, as we really do like the vehicle. It is an 05 Yukon Denali.

The kids did really well, it was their first time without us for overnight. We left them with Anita Schwan, someone who goes to our meeting. She said there were no tears at bedtime, which was what I thought may happen (for Kylee anyways) Devon and Kylee both said they had lots of fun and wanted to do it again sometime! So.. we will have to go somewhere else for our 10 year sometime :)