Things are looking up!

It’s been a busy week, but mostly a good one. We spent much of Sunday marathoning Game of Thrones, since we were a season behind. That was a welcome escape from real life! I also realized I hardly kill any characters by comparison, so y’all really have no basis for complaint when I off the OCCASIONAL totally necessary people.

Monday saw us at our storage space, unloading the uhaul. We don’t have much stuff, but it was hot, smoky and humid, so we were glad to have it done and the uhaul safely returned. Next, we needed to get our car fixed. We took it to a well-reviewed local shop, but the the code we constantly see didn’t come up for them. Naturally. So we took it to the muffler shop in the meantime, which was across town. I’m ok with the traffic here, but there’s something weird going on with my eyesight. Oncoming traffic, or curbs, or construction cones on my left side always look like they’re coming straight AT me, rather than past. It makes driving a lot more stressful than it needs to be. I’ll find an optometrist next week and hopefully it’s fixable.

Ben got to work applying to local driving jobs, and I notified the English school in China that I was back in business. They scheduled another training session for me, since it had been a while. It was pretty stressful; even though I wasn’t officially being evaluated, I couldn’t help but feel that I didn’t know what I was doing and just making a mess of things. But my trainer was kind and encouraging, then scheduled me for my first two probationary classes, at 5:00 am Friday morning!

It was actually a lot of fun. I had six children in each class- the maximum-, including one three-year-old sitting on his dad’s lap. I suffered through a few self-inflicted technical problems and two children I completely failed to engage, but overall, it was enjoyable, and the time flew by. I haven’t had much feedback, except notification on my class schedule that I’d passed, and expect I’ll hear more from my trainer on Monday. So, I’m really hoping that works out. It was quite a bit of fun, the money is good, and I don’t need a work wardrobe. The awful schedule is the only drawback, but I’m used to that after trucking for years. At least this will be somewhat regular.

By the time I was done and had my second cup of coffee, the rest of the family was up and planning their day. It was their first day back from a four-day camping trip, but they’re not the type to sit around. So my brother, sister-in-law and I headed to Alsea Falls for a couple-hour hike. Even though I’m in terrible shape, especially for climbing even the smallest hill, I actually managed not to die, and found myself feeling incredibly relaxed and enjoying the cool, quiet forest. It’s been way too long.

I took a long nap when we got back, then Ben and I headed to nearby Junction City for their annual Scandinavian Festival. Everyone else had already gone the night before. Seriously, this bunch does not slow down, EVER! We had some delicious food, then settled down for the entertainment. There were naturally, plenty of Scandinavian dance groups, but the headline act was the Kupalo Ukrainian dancers, all the way from Edmonton, and they were fabulous. Here’s the same troupe a few years ago, doing their most popular dance:

It’s been ages since we’ve gone out and had fun, so all of this has put us in a much better, more optimistic mood.

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