"you're on a loop"

It all started when Ryan tried to request a transcript from U of I to be sent to our address in Boise. It evidently was sent down, but then a yellow label with a forwarding address was slapped on it and it was sent back up to Moscow.

Confused, Ryan asked me, "Well, could you have possibly mixed up the addresses when you submitted that change of address form online?"

I huffed at him. "Yeah, right! Seriously, I did it really carefully and I swear that I entered the right addresses in the right areas. But I'll check it out."

I got on the phone with the national USPS Hot line. Got a gal, she really wasn't interested in helping me, I kept asking questions, she kept saying, "I don't know. I'll submit this form and then someone will be contacting you by Monday." I'm frustrated by this point, I just want my dang mail!

Then I called Moscow Post Office and talked to a supervisor there. He didn't know what was causing it and I kept probing and kept asking questions, pleading for answers. He got into the computer and exclaimed, "Hey! You're on a loop." I said, "Uh, yeah. I LIVE on one." And he said, "No, you're on a loop. Your mail is on a loop. It's being forwarded from Moscow and then to Boise. Then from Boise it's coming back here to Moscow."

I said, "Whhhhaaaaatttttt?! So now what do I do?!"

I called down to my Boise Post Office and got some supervisor who didn't know what I was talking about, she got another supervisor. I explained my situation (I got really good at explaining it shortly, sweetly and to the point). She had no idea what I was talking about and I explained it over and over. She got into her computer and said, "Oh! You're on a loop."

I said, "I know. How can I fix that?"

She said, "You'll have to go online and fix it or come into the office and fill out a form."

I was so frustrated and I said, "Are you kidding me??!!! I don't have a car, I have three kids and there's no way I can get down there. Now, help me PLEASE FIX THIS!" (steam is coming out my ears by this point)

She said, "Looks like this is what happened: You submitted a change of address form from Boise to Moscow, right? (right...THREE YEARS AGO WHEN WE MOVED TO MOSCOW) Then you lived up there for three years (yes, I just told you that) and the moved back down to Boise at the same residence you did before? (yes, yes YES!) And did you submit a change of address form from Moscow to Boise (over two weeks ago, yes) and get a confirmation of that? (YES). Well, you should be fine."

Here's what happened: (If you haven't figured it out by now)

My change of address request from THREE YEARS AGO was still in effect. Mail sent to Moscow was forwarded to Boise, then FORWARDED back up to Moscow. Since there's a change of address request from Moscow to Boise, the mail was being RE-FORWARDED back to Boise...and then sent back again. I know this by now. This has been ingrained my mind by now. I GET IT!

But then, she said that the old forwarding request from 2006 was no longer in effect. And I'll start seeing my mail..."for sure by Monday."

I called the U of I office again to explain why their documents were sent back to them. I gave them my inlaws' address to send it to.

Will SOMEONE please send me a letter to see if it gets here? Just for kicks? This is why I'm dropping usps like third period french. I'm quitting cold turkey.

Because, apparently I'm on a loop.

goodbye gadekens

For two years, Brandon and Ryanna saw each other daily. They played daily. They fought daily. A few teachers at their school even thought they were brother and sister! They deserved each other and love each other. They had to say goodbye and Ryanna was heartbroken to leave. Here's their story:

In August 2007, five-year-old Ryanna was getting ready for her first day of Kindergarten.
We were both so excited! We went over to her school, she stood in line and they hadn't met yet, but there was a potential friend in the picture. (Isn't that weird?! We didn't know them yet and yet he's HALFWAY in the picture! And notice how she's in stripes and he's in plaid).
See how little she is! (she's in stripes)

They were instant friends. Here is their class for their fist Barn Dance. Do you spy Brandon and Ryanna? (he's in plaid and she's in stripes)

We had play dates over the summer and had kept in touch. Then the first day of First Grade came...they were in the same class again!! (he's in stripes)


We started carpooling. It was such a blessing because I taught piano right after school and it was so much easier for us to split up the week and take turns carpooling. A HUGE blessing!!
Their second Barn Dance was a lot of fun too!
(Brandon's in plaid)


Ryanna passing out her birthday treats on April Fool's Day this year. Do you spy Brandon? (he's in stripes)
For Ryanna's birthday party this year, it was a costume party. Brandon came in his grandfather's uniform and was very proud to be in it. (neither are in stripes nor plaid!)

This is one of his beautiful mom, Stacey. She's such a sweetheart! This was taken at Eastside Park for Dawson's birthday party in September 2007. (I'm sure he's wearing stripes or plaid underneath his little jacket!!)

The day before we left, the kids got to say their goodbyes. They look so grown-up! (and I couldn't help but notice...the metaphoric change of their clothing--polka dots and solid shirts. No more stripes and plaid pictures. Sad!)
Dawson, Brandon, Ryanna, Wyatt, and Carter.


Ryanna sure made some really special friends in Moscow, especially in this past year. Stay tuned for more posts about Isaac and Colby! (why are all of her closest friends BOYS?!!)

first slide of the season

We got out the slip-n-slide yesterday and tried to teach the kids how to do it. It was absolutely HILARIOUS!

Ryanna would start waaaaaaay back and run run run and FLOP! She'd belly flop onto the slide and then not go anywhere. If she DID go anywhere, she'd veer right and land on the grass about halfway down the slide.

Dawson would also start waaaaaaay back and run run run also. Unlike Ryanna, he would have all this momentum and then THUD! Land on his knees. Bringing him to a complete stop. And he looked up at me like, "Why aren't I moving?"

Carter wouldn't run and slide. He would just run up and down the slide, getting in the way of the other two. He'd mostly play in the water at the end of the slide. And because neither of the older two would actually slide that far, Carter could play as long as he wanted!

Even when he would TRY his best to slide, he would just sit there. Didn't go anywhere!

It wasn't until a little later that I resorted to running behind Ryanna and Dawson and actually PUSH them down the slide. They thought that was great, as did I; but it's exhausting! We all had a lot of fun, though. After a while, they got the hang of it and started getting better at it.










The water that we use for the slip-n-slide is cold irrigation water. So it only took about 20 minutes and all three of their lips were quivering. I got this awesome idea.
I took the little pool inside and threw it into the bathtub, filling it up with warmish/hot water. I hauled it outside (YES it was very very heavy and I did it without spilling, thank you very much) and threw it on the grass. The kids called it a Hot Tub. So they were warming up in their little pool they affectionately called a Hot Tub! Needless to say, it wore them out and we had some summer fun.








Fun times! You gotta love summer and make-shift hot tubs.

gimme my million, please

There are some perks to living in a battery-operated world nowadays. Have you ever played games that start as board games and end up being electronic? One total flop in our house was Catch Phrase. You can't play that one electronically. It's annoying and dumb.

But once in a while you can find a seriously cool electronic game and love it. The one that we've played 4 times this last week is our ELECTRONIC MONOPOLY! It's so cool! Totally worth the $35 we paid for it. It's brought so much fun and giggles into our house. There are new icons you can be, new places to buy and instead of cash, you have your little credit card.

Ashley and Donny come over to play, which we love being so close to them. Usually the games end up being 3-4 hours long, which goes by so fast! The boys plot against we girls and visa versa. We have so many "house rules" that make the game even more fun. Why it always turns into girl vs. boy I can't figure out.

They came over the other night and brought Twizzlers and M-n-Ms. We started the game at 9pm and they didn't leave until 12:45am! And after a long and very intense game.....I WON! I actually won. I've never won a game of Monopoly in my entire life! Not sure if it was because I was ruthless or because they just wanted to go home to bed and let some things slide, but I WON!!

I ended up with over 111 million dollars. I so wished that was real.