Strategicon and busted pipes

So this weekend started off slow. On the way out of town I realized I forgot our pillows, I BIG oops considering both of us have a hard enough time sleeping in hotels much less on their crappy pillows. I also forgot my bathing suit which didn't end up mattering but I thought it would and it made me upset. I really wanted to go out to Pho before we went to the con but Kyle wanted to go to Fuddruckers and that was more convenient. All of this made me cranky for the whole ride there, the trip didn't seem promising. We knew we didn't have much money to spend there but we've backed out of Strategicon the past 3 or 4 conventions and we committed to sharing a hotel so we knew we just had to do it.



There were a couple of things we were looking forward to. Tournaments for this newer board game, Dominion, a Smash Bros. Brawl tourney and a Rock Band Tournament, all spread out across the whole weekend. Our plan was to leave Sunday afternoon. We were misinformed about the Dominion game so we missed it. Kyle lost in the first round of Smash and the Rock Band tournament.... oooooooh Rock Band. Ok, so, we are good at Rock Band. The 4 of us can average 5 stars on most songs and usually score in the 90%s but this tournament was not judged on score alone, it was mostly based on "style." This meant being a ham on stage a whooping up the crowd. The equipment wasn't the standard rock band controllers, there was a full electronic drum kit, real guitars made into controllers for the game, a real mic and tambourine, etc. It was fun but kept bugging out and they complicated game play more than anything. Well, we're not 16 anymore and we mostly wanted to play because it's something we're good at, but at home I don't dance around with the mic and try to get an applause. We used our band name that we have on our game at home: "Killing You Guys." It's an old inside joke (homestar runner, if anyone cares) but the name put people off. Then there were 2 bands with cute kids in them, both with their cute daughters on vocals making the small crowd of 10 or so laugh, ooh and aww. There was one band of people our age but they had similar equipment at home so they were more familiar plus it seemed like they knew the people that were doing the event. Needless to say we lost, but it was over all very discouraging. The contest wasn't judged objectively and our scores had hardly anything to do with it. The cute kids got their awards and the popular kids got theirs. We weren't the crowd favorite so we got booted even though we were the only band to crack 4 stars on hard in the 2nd round. It just put a bad taste in our mouth for the whole con because that was one of the things we were really looking forward to competing in and we lost because we weren't cool enough and our talent wasn't even a factor. Totally lame.



We played other board game tournaments, Agricola, which all 4 of us lost. The rest of the time Jess and Avery and her brothers played other tournaments for games me and Kyle didn't know so we had to entertain our selves all the while being a little bitter about the Rock band thing. But when our plumbing problems trapped us there for another day we had more time to find things to enjoy and ended up having a really good time. Jess and Avery bought this psycho game, Twilight Imperium, one of those 6 hour games that consume your life. It took us 3 hours to set up and read the rules and then over and hour to go through 1 round, but we finally learned how to play. And Kyle and I played a demo of a small card game which was way fun and bought that. All things considered, it was a fun trip.



We went out to PF Chang's on Saturday and got a text from Rachel asking us why there was no water. Turns out our water main cracked at a joint just under our front yard garden. It had flooded to the street and a couple walking their dog saw the rushing waters in the gutter and came to investigate. No one was home so they talked to our neighbors who (thank the LORD) turned off our water for us. When Rachel got home she didn't see the note, panicked, and then talked to the neighbors and figured out the situation. We just had a lot of plumbing work done last September which should still be under warranty, so we called those guys to come check it out. They said that our "galvanized steel main line" had a crack and that we could do a simple patch or replace the whole thing either way it would cost us tons, OH and it wasn't their fault, that the leak wasn't near their work area. Bull. We had Kent come check it out and the um PVC! main line was snapped because it was stressed near the joint. It looked like they had taken a pipe that was straight but needed to be on a slight angle and just make it bend a little and then filled the hole and called it a day. Yeah. So eventually the pipe just cracked at the joint and, glug glug glug, flooded my front yard. So when we called again to tell them the deal they we finally realized that they DID mess with that line but it wasn't recorded so it wasn't under their warranty. Which ended up being a good thing because Kent fixed the pipe and if he had done that and it WAS under warranty, our work would have voided it. Good news is we have water again. Bad news is the pipe being open and off for so long got dirt in the line and it clogged out kitchen sink tap, showers, and toilets. Kent is again fixing those things one by one, we should be back to normal by the end of the week. *sigh*

On top of it all we're flat broke. I'm telling you, guys, being a grown up sucks sometimes. What I'm really hating is that under all this stress I really don't want to think about eating right. I Should work out, it would probably help alleviate some stress, but I've been so exhausted from worrying all day that when I get home I just want to sleep. I didn't reach my goal of losing weight by Ashley's wedding which is in a couple weeks. I set the goal last a couple months ago and just never committed all the way.

I need to take a second and really give these things to God, not just saying I will. I know the world will be less daunting when I do. I wonder if I know how sometimes. I mean, how do you stop worrying about the things you give up? It all still keeps streaming through my mind and I don't feel any peace about anything while it's still in the air. Ay! I can't get a grip on all of this.

Hello All

I don't even know how many people will be interested in ever reading this but I have just had a lot on my heart that I want to share. After participating in Kathy's blog for a couple of weeks I have realized that I like being able to communicate my successes and struggles with my girl friends and since I don't always have time to talk with everyone, this is a good way.

This past week has been one of the hardest of my life. God has really had to crush me so that He can set my bones straight again. In the mean time I have felt broken and weak as I heal. At times I feel like I'm being to dramatic about things. I know people who are going through much more and are taking it much better. But God has never tested me like this before and I know it's because He's needing me to change. My world is going to be very different very soon.

In 42 days I will no longer work for Pinecrest Schools in Palmdale. I have no idea if I will be working at Pinecrest Lancaster, I also don't know if I will have a job at all or if I do where that next job will be. I am also trying to get pregnant. My body won't let me right now but I am also working to change that. The medication I am taking and the lifestyle changes have been shown to work is less than a year. To me this says: In less than a year, I could be a mother. Kyle is now leading worship much more often at the church as well, the extent of his responsibility is yet to to seen but it looks like... a bit more than he has now. Our financial situation is shaken and the prospect of Kyle changing careers is looking more and more probable.

My world is changing before me rapidly. God needed me to change rapidly, so He broke me so that I couldn't keep running away. I know now that I have not only Him to cast my burdens on but also my husband who has whole heartedly offered to take them and give them to God when I can't seem to. Well, i have known all along but now I am willing to give up my self, a favor God asked me for many years ago which I was hesitant to give.

I started this blog to share with others as I stretch and (hopefully) grow. So... let's see how everything turns out :)