Kevin–  Well, this year started with a dental adventure that culminated in the most in-depth cleaning I’ve ever heard of (complete with lasers and other cool sounding and very expensive things), two implants, four root canal/crowns, and then, if that wasn’t enough, he decided that it was time to rupture a disc in his back.  After six weeks of it going improperly diagnosed, our primary physician admitted him to the hospital for an MRI.  Guess what?  “A bulge.”  Off we were transported to Lancaster (Kevin in an ambulance since sitting sent his pain through the charts and into triple digits), where he had a cortisone shot into the bulge.  Ahem.  Didn’t work.  Didn’t do a single thing.  So, he waited a few more days and went in for a microdiscectomy.  Guess what?  The disc wasn’t just bulging… it had ruptured, and a fragment was pressing on the sciatic nerve.  Disc fragment plus sciatic nerve=Kevin dying from pain.  After surgery, we stayed 2 more days at the Lancaster hospital (and learned even more reasons to LOVE our local hospital), before he came home.  They doped him up on Dilaudid (he hates it as much as me for different reasons) and then took his regular meds once we were home.  Guess what?  Never took another one again.  Six weeks later, Kevin goes back to work on Tuesday after three months at home.  I got a taste of what retirement is going to be like, and as long as he’s not in pain or recuperating from surgery the whole time, I’m gonna like it just fine.  In April (I think) he went to the Bahamas.  No, it wasn’t an exotic trip filled with beaches lined with scantily clad women in string bikinis– not that I’m complaining.  Instead, he spent his time in the barracks when not working.  There were no cool restaurants– nothing commercial.  Just the Navy base on Andros Island and the plane ride home from the nether regions.  He’s not eager to return.  However, he does have a passport now, but no stamps and unless he’s on official government business, he can’t use it.  Sigh.

Chautona (that’d be me)–  Well, I spent the year juggling finances so that we didn’t end up deep in debt from all of the medical and dental bills this year.  Oh, no.  Kevin’s aren’t all.  Not by a long shot.  I also finished the last book in my Annals of Wynnewood trilogy, Beneath the Cloak, and launched the book on a Facebook party from Kevin’s hospital room just an hour and a half after he was admitted.  Crazy?  Yeah.  I also learned this year that I am a lot stronger than I thought, that a positive mental attitude is essential when life keeps throwing sludge at you, and that I have the world’s greatest kids.  When not writing, educating the kids, driving to doctor’s/dentist’s appointments, I’ve had a lot of fun sewing and making cards.  I keep an online “journal” of those over at my Eclectivity blog.

Challice, David, & Kids– Have had a fun year.  They’ve purchased a larger vehicle, necessary now that they’re expecting another child next May, done some work around the house, and are doing a great job raising the two darlings they already have.  Those kids are well-beloved in our house and everyone is excited to see them come through the door.  David was such a great help when things went wrong and Kevin isn’t able to do anything about it, and Challice running errands for me is worth her weight in gold.

Morgann– Oh, she had an eventful year.  The awards she earned up at the college were only surpassed by the education she received.  She worked hard, got several scholarships, finally chose UC Irvine as her transfer school, and then just before graduation– had her wisdom teeth and another bad tooth pulled.  OUCH.  After an attempt at wearing contact lenses, she has chosen to stick with glasses for now.  She finished her first quarter at UCI this summer and did extremely well.  She’s now into her next quarter at UCI and has a job with campus security.  Morgann.  Security.  Little miss mercy is now in charge of enforcing “laws.”  I giggle.  Then again, she’s great with children, keeps the darlings in line, and well, that’s a lot like policing a college campus– particularly when your habit is to call everyone you know, “child.”  So, maybe it works.  Morgann enjoyed the highlights of having her first car accident (barely rolling into another car at a parking garage.  She actually popped the poor guy’s light out.  Didn’t break it… no, that’d be too exciting.  She just popped it out.  Our insurance went through the roof!  A whole dollar more per month.  What will we do with that girl?)  She, Amy, and I all went to Lancaster for the opening of The Deathley Hallows part 2.  There, she was manhandled by a security guy who thought she shouldn’t be away from an adult.  I guess 21 isn’t adult anymore.  Whatever.  The things that have happened to her since being at college would fill many blogs.  Let’s just say she leads an epic life and leave it at that.

Braelyn– After four years at her favorite job, the company was sold.  She worked for the new owners for three months before they moved the production to Tennessee.  Gulp.  Yeah.  Unemployment.  During that time, on the way back from Kevin getting his final implants, she called to inform us that some guy had hit her car.  2500.00 worth of damage.  OUCH.  It took the insurance company (his not ours) almost two weeks to get to it, but once they did, ten days later (thank you Lord for rental cars), she had a nice new car… in certain sections.  Snort.  The day before her Phi Theta Kappa induction dinner at the college (honor society for community colleges), she had her wisdom teeth removed.  Enjoy the videos of her and Morgann-- yes, we did them on the same day.  Snort.  She was a bit swollen at the dinner and talked a little funny, but it wasn’t too bad.  She’s had quite a few photo shoots this year– great ones– but the big trip she’d planned this summer failed when she lost her job.  Couldn’t really afford it then.  She’s taking a larger load of classes this semester and has discovered that she does NOT like it.  All she wants is a nice job packing for some company somewhere.  She and I are now working on a costume for a costume party.  It’s amazing.  Can’t wait to show off pictures.  She keeps telling me the party will be here in a blink of an eye, so I just said, “Well, don’t blink!”

Kaylene-  Never one to have too many papers, Kaylene decided she’d had enough and quit her route this year. After three years of nannying one little boy, she had the summer off.  I don’t think she quite knew what to do with herself.  However, it was probably good for her.  Taught her to appreciate her work even more… and of course, she missed the little tyke.  She spent a week watching three children while their parents were in Chicago.  That was a lot of fun.  She’s such a capable girl.  No, she’s still not taking classes at the college.  Not sure if she will when she can, but since the state of California refuses to acknowledge her existence with a Birth Certificate, she can’t get a social security number and without one of those nine-digit jobbies, she can’t go to school up there.  Grr.  Oh, well.  Braelyn and she are on a mission to get the courts to do what CA won’t do.  They’ve filed the paperwork (including a waiver of fees form– she’s hoping they’ll take pity) and next week some time she should get a court date.  Our friend Teresa (who saw every nasty bit of it and heard every wail out of me) promised to go to court with her and testify that she does indeed exist, she is the same kid who was there that  morning, and even said she’d give full testimony of everything she saw–complete with sound effects– if that would help.  We’re all praying it isn’t necessary.  Well, except for Teresa.  I think she’s rather looking forward to it.  She also went rapelling with Braelyn for the first time recently.  I think she liked it. She did not like the resulting sunburn.  Just sayin’.  She and Jenna went to the Harvest Crusade this spring and enjoyed that as well as a day at the beach.  WOOT.  Oh, I forgot.  She also went to a youth retreat up at Rim of the World near Crestline.  Ok.  It’s just sad when my kids go to places I would want to go if my friends hadn’t moved from there.  I am working on her costume for the same party Braelyn is attending.  Regency gown.  So pretty.

Nolan-  After seven or so years of carrying papers, Nolan gave up his newspaper empire this January and has been doing odd jobs for people since.  He’s managed to keep himself in spending money and also managed to raise 750.00 for a trip to Chicago for the “Jesus Culture Awakening” thing there.  He had a blast.  We had a whole lot of fun making sure they’d let him on the planes without ID (if Kaylene’s birth certificate comes through, Nolan is next!!!), but once we were sure, off he went.  He’s been working on learning more guitar, he runs the sound system at church quite a bit, and is becoming more and more artistic every day.  In the past few months, he’s decided he wants to graduate this year, so he’s working like a dog (or so he claims) to do it.  When I see the work, I issue the diploma.  It’s as simple as that.  He has turned into his mother in that he is the ultimate night owl these days.  He also went to the youth retreat with Kaylene and Jenna.  Oh, and I believe he and Kaylene both have been to Disneyland at least once or twice this year.  It’s such a forgettable place for me.

Jenna-  When Nolan quit doing his routes, Jenna took over some, Andra took over others, and voila.  More money for Jenna.  Her bank account is growing rapidly.  She went with Kaylene to the Harvest Crusade and with Nolan and Kaylene to the youth retreat.  Had a blast from what I can tell.  She also had the worst sunburn I’ve ever seen on her!  EEK.  She’s been a lifesaver this year.  When I decided to start hanging clothes to try to reduce our 331 dollar a month electric bill (it went up by over 1/3 with no increase in usage!!!), Jenna never hesitated to do it as well.  I was trying to do all the hanging myself, but Jenna has almost taken it over completely.  I need to have her remind me to go out and do it– just as soon as my shoulder stops hurting!  She is amazingly helpful, never complains, and when things are overwhelming, she seems to have a sixth sense about it.  She and Andra played volleyball this spring.  Jenna was getting pretty good at it!

Andra-  Andra added routes this year.  She’s making a little money, enjoying it, and it’s helping her overcome a bit of her blonde tendencies… I think.  Her school load is doubling this year which isn’t something she anticipated or wanted, but she’ll do it.  Not that she has much choice.  Andra rises to occasions once she realizes that there’s nothing she can do about it.  She’s the “go-to” gal for cooking around here.  If kids are hungry and want something, they ask her.  She and Ethan enjoy walking with their friends to the gym for volleyball and then over to the soccer fields to watch friends practice/play.  She also played volleyball on a team and definitely enjoyed it.  By the end of the season, she’d managed to become one of the few girls on her team that didn’t cringe at an oncoming ball.  WHEW!  She had a blast yesterday.  We had a bowling party for her birthday– and of course, no one remembered to bring the camera.

Ethan-  Our youngest dude is about to start his first paper route.  He’s looking forward to a chance to make a few dollars.  Around the house, he’s a strong, silent worker.  You don’t have to ask him to do things.  He just gets up, cleans up the living room, does his work, does his schoolwork, and then hunkers down into a project, a TV show, or a video game.  He enjoys video games more than the other kids did.  I think that’s fine.  He doesn’t live them.  That’s what matters.  He still comes up with amazing things to build out of nothingness.  It’s incredible.  Before the pool sprouted a leak about the time Kevin’s back went down, he enjoyed swimming with the neighbor kids.  Many Saturdays, a friend of his comes over to play games with him.  His schoolwork is also increasing this year, but he doesn’t seem to notice or care.  He’s kind of a “go with the flow” kid.

Lorna-  Wow.  She’s changed so much this year.  Lorna has learned to turn her scribbles into pictures, her coloring in books into art, and is reading quite well.  It hasn’t occurred to her that the words in the reading book are the same ones outside it, but once in a while I see glimpses of “wait a minute!  I know that… it’s…”  We’ll see.    I expect by Christmas to find her sitting on the couch with her early readers reading for the fun of it.  She’s that kind of kid.  Her math has increased to place value and she loves to copy everything.  We find notes with the words from pamphlets, boxes, cans, newspapers… you name it, she copies it onto everything.  She was crushed when the pool died, but rallied.  She now “sprays herself with the hose” and “waters the concrete.”  Ok, then.  She enjoys going on walks with Daddy (and has been his companion while laid up) and playing with Sergeant.  Sergeant loves her too.

Only a Havig could have something like that… (and a dozen other things next week for Morgann) on the weekend/week after having FIVE wisdom teeth removed.

Looks pretty good for a gal who is hopped up on Vicodin, bleeding, and miserable.  Just sayin’.  One event down… who knows how many left.

Thankfully, the trim is Kevin’s domain.  Aaaah…

A gift from our dear friend Carmen Yes, I am still speaking to her.  Barely.

PAISLEY IS HERE!!!

Garage Talk
Me: I just dropped a glop of mud.
Kevin: Yep.
Me: Why does it look and sound like a condor just dumped?
Kevin: I’m not going there…

THE FIGHT

Andra throws a blanket at Lorna.  Lorna screams… “COWABUNYAH!”

It is the guess of inhabitants of the house that she got bunions while rustling cattle.  That’s our story and we’re stickin’ to it.  Big sister Challice thinks she was doing the cowboy version of Kumbyya.  I’m thinkin’ not so much… but it was a good guess..

Kevin’s Personality in Five Words

As he’s handing me the nebulizer, the medicine, and everything necessary to keep my lungs working for me, Kevin starts singing, “Nebby face… you’ve got the…”

Heard every 32.9 seconds from Braelyn… “Love your guts.”

Hopefully pictures of the annex (once called the garage) are forthcoming.

We’ll be doing a group shot for Easter…. for now… here we are.

Sunday-  So, Jenna and Andra went to Santa’s Art Shop with our friends, the Lloyds.  Then, because spending all day there yesterday and them being at our house all day tomorrow wasn’t enough, they went home to have more time having fun.  yeah.  While they did that, Kevin worked like a dog on the garage.  The idea was that he’d sand and then I’d go out later and mud.  I haven’t been able to do any mudding for a week.  My asthma has been a pill.  P.I.L.L.  This is what I saw when he came in the house again.

Pretty spiffy, eh?  What was I doing while he did that?  Well, I’ll show you the after effects.  Let’s just say you couldn’t MOVE in our room aside from a tiny path around the edge of the bed.  In December, our room becomes a *cough* lovely pile of empty boxes, wrapping paper, and anything else the kids decide to dump there.  Yeah.  Blech.  But, I reorganized my whole stamping spot.  Lorna helped me make labels for all those cases of stamps.  Isn’t she a smart little thing!  YAY.

Monday-   We had a houseful of friends today.  A friend and her family always comes over when one of our families has a birthday.  We sit, watch a movie, and the kids play.  It’s nice.  I don’t think we got a picture of the kids whacking at the pinata, but I heard that Ethan nearly knocked it into next week.

Tuesday-  Oh, today was a dussie.  I made special goodies for a gift exchange we were in, waited for the call that something I ordered for that gift exchange had arrived, and then discovered that… OH GEE… THE PHONE DOESNT WORK.  OY.  Poodles.  And stuff.   However, a lovely time with Brigadoon was wonderful.  I tell you, Scots must have the love of bagpipes infused into their genes or something.  I hear the skirl of a bagpipe and my heart swells.  I also had a lovely asthma attack just as I went to bed.  Brilliant, right?

Wednesday-  I was amused by Lorna.  You see, my in-laws have a system to washing windows that requires patience, precision, and TIME.  They spent nearly two hours on one window in our room once.  Each of them on opposite sides, pointing, rubbing, pointing… yeah.  Well, Lorna was washing the mirror.  Thirty minutes into the job, she still was squirting, rubbing, rubbing, squirting, rubbing…  Yeah.  She’s a Havig all right.  I also shipped out my gift exchange package…

Thursday-

Me to Andra:  You’re my favorite Andra!  You make me merry, make me feel so very… (from “I love to Whistle”)
Andra:  WHAT!! (As in, what do you want?)
Me:  Fine.  You’re not my favorite Andra.
Andra:  You made me think you wanted me to do something!”

Harumph!

Oh, and Jenna took this cool video of one of our favorite decorated houses that night too.  They aren’t the most elaborate people in town, but they’re about my favorite.

Friday-  We textured the walls in the garage.  Let’s just say it’s a workout and leave it at that.  I was covered in splatter, my fingers ACHED, my body was as sore as a body can be, and well… the walls look fabuloso.  Mahvelous dahlink.  I’ll take pictures.

Saturday-  We painted!  The girls picked their paint colors.  Subtle Touch (gray) and Swan Sea (kind of a grayed turquoise) .  Do you have ANY idea how awkward it is to walk up to the guy at the paint counter and say, “I need some Subtle Touch, please?”  OY.  Four out of six walls mudded, textured, primed, and painted.

I also went to do a little shopping since I didn’t do it yesterday.  Minor things like gifts and food and suchlike.

Not only green, but red and blue
And also yellow this is true
Oh Christmas lights, oh Christmas lights,
Thy bulbs sometimes need changing.

~Kevin Havig Parody on O, Christmas Tree circa 1994 or so

Yes, we still need to paint.  STILL.  Sue us.  No don’t.  If you do that, we won’t be able to afford paint.  Pray for us.  Pray that the Lord blesses us with painting gnomes that fix the stucco and paint it all, on a perfect night, at the perfect time of the year, so all we have to do is go to bed and wake up painted and beautiful.  That’s a cool prayer.  Yes.  Do that.

And, signing off…

Merry Christmas trees are here,
Tastiest trees of all the year.
Eat them!  Eat them!
Happy children eat the trees.
May we have some more of these?
Oh, please, Daddy, we love trees
At Christmas time.
~Kevin Havig Parody on Christmas Time song from Little Women circa 1994

Today we went to see the display of their projects.  I thought I’d share Nolan’s.

These were this year’s participants.  Nolan’s “blurb” that someone wrote about him reads: Nolan is a sweet, honest, funny type of guy.  He is very attentive to his work and pays close attention to a lot of things going around.  He’s one of those guys who listens to you when you have problems or when you’re just plain bored and lazy.  He is truly an AMAZING friend and it’s great to BE his friend.  So… THANK YOU NOLAN!!!!  (emphasis theirs.  Snort.)

One of the girls is from the homeschool group here in town (bottom left) and Nolan played against her in volleyball this year too.  If I remember right, his team won.  Go Nolan!  (hee hee)

This was Nolan’s board.  He was very fascinated by the architectural aspects of Ridgecrest.  I think the firstp icture is probably my favorite, but the stairs are also very amazing.

He learned a lot about the Quonset huts around town, how they were used, and how they’ve been repurposed for use today.

The second picture is of the stairs of the USO Building which, you’ll see later, Braelyn also used on her board last year but from a different angle, and designed to make a different point.

Many of our oldest buildings and homes are cinderblock as shown in the third picture (top right.  In this picture you see two windows in a cinderblock building which Nolan points out we no longer build with anymore.

The last picture captivated him.  He was fascinated with the small rock sitting on top of the fence  that wouldn’t quite fill the hole in it.  I found the hole in the fence and the bottom hole in the old door to be an interesting similarity and contrast.

Doesn’t he look proud of his hard work.  Snort.   You can barelysee the board next to it, but it is Braelyn’s.

I had such a hard time getting this picture.  An elderly gentleman spent five minutes or more reading every word Nolan wrote.  It was kind of comical.  I mean, on the one hand, I was so aggrivated; on the other, I was flattered for Nolan.  His essay was:

RIDGECREST THROUGH THE YEARS

Ridgecrest is a unique town with widely varied architecture.  From cinder block buildings and homes to repurposed Quonset huts left over from World War II, to more modern steel and glass buildings like the Civic Center, our town has progressed from utilitarian structures to sleek designs that combine function with a more aesthetically appealing façade.  Originally, buildings began as simple places to serve a specific function, but over time people added on to them and redesigned them to serve other needs.   Like the Quonset huts that now serve as automobile repair centers, even small houses in Ridgecrest are now redesigned as stores.  There is even one house that now serves as tearoom.

The world changes quickly around us, but in every city there is usually a discernible blend between the old and the new.  Ridgecrest is no exception.  Newcomers drive down China Lake Boulevard and see our old hospital being converted and changed into a modernized facility, while across the street, new buildings dot the once empty landscape.  As you turn onto Ridgecrest Boulevard, suddenly, the new buildings slowly give way to older ones.  You can almost see the styles change yard by yard.

Some of the buildings are newly refurbished, and yet others seem to crumble a little more every time you drive past them.  In the middle of one row of businesses, several buildings were razed and a new building built as though proof that the new will always find its way among the old.

Yes, I helped him take his words and polish them.  He was very dissatisfied with how it was phrased until I took  words like “practical” and redefined them as “utilitarian.”    He wasn’t familiar with the concept of a facade, but he is now and now his essay doesn’t say “fake front.”  Hee hee.

I finally managed to get a broad shot of both of their boards.  Braelyn’s was titled “Ridgecrest Through My Lens” and focused on four words.  Mystery, transformation, serendipity, and palimpsest.   We all learned a new word.  I’d never heard or seen the word palimpsest before this thing.

Palimpsest: something having usually diverse aspects or layers apparent beneath the surface.

Thought you oughtta know.

These are pictures that didn’t make the final cut, but they wanted to share some with the public.  I wanted the bottom right to make Nolan’s final cut… it was one of the first he took I think (I think he took it!), but it really doesn’t fit the rest of the pictures so I think he was wise to leave it out.

Voila.  The last pictures.  That red door really grabs me.  It’s

such a powerful little picture.  I don’t know who took it, but I liked it.

I also think the heart in the gate was kind of symbolic.  I love that glimpse into the heart of someone’s life so to speak.

I also think the greenery growing up through the storm grate.  In Ridgecrest, even the possibility of something so green growing in the hottest months of our year, without good soil or sufficient water… is almost a miracle.

I sound like a boasting and proud mama.  Maybe that’s cause I am.