The meaning of CAGE

Hey there, this is Scott.  A few friends have asked why am I go by CAGEtrucker and CAGEdad and Kim is CAGEmom.  Well, when we were getting tattoos years back we wanted matching ones.  We thought and thought and decided on CAGE which is the kids initials.  Christian, Alexis, Garrison and Elizabeth.  When I was driving truck I also have my LLC which is CAGE4 LLC.  Anyway hope that answers the question of, "What is CAGE?"

Homecoming

This past weekend was Mesa High School homecoming.  Now generally we don't go to homecoming but this year we did.  Scott figured since we are back in Arizona and we have a child who goes to Mesa High we should go (if for no other reason to do the loving parental thing of embarrassing our child).  

I keep telling people that they really need to read the back of their child's birth certificates.  It clearly states (of course it is in ink that only a parent can read) that it is our civil duty as parents to embarrass your children at every opportunity.

Well Scott was able to see many people for the Hare Band of 1991.  He had a good time and Scott was glad that we went to the game.  The team lost their homecoming and their band is extremely small but all in all it was still a good time.  I feel the best part of the entire night was that not only were Scott and I shouting at Alexis to get her attention and to let everyone know who was in the immediate area that we love her but the group we were with joined in on the "parental fun."

Next year we will have another child in high school who can share in Alexis joy of knowing her parents are in the stands.  Only next year we will be celebrating Scott's 20th reunion.  I can hardly believe that we have been out of high school for almost 20 years.

Carry On Mesa High!  Carry On!  

Well I tell myself again and again that I need to make it a practice of writing on our blog everyday.  Again here I sit looking over this blog and realizing that I haven't touched it in almost a year.  Pretty typical for me.  Well me just do a quick recap of our year.

We moved to Washington State. Stayed there for about 7 months and as a family we decided that we needed to move back to the surface of the sun (Arizona).

Scott went back over the road as an Over the Road truck driver leasing a truck with Prime-Inc.  So we now have an LLC that Scott named CAGE4 LLC.  As soon as school let out he came home picked up the boys and off they went for a summer adventure on the truck.  They were gone for about 2 1/2 weeks and visited 37 states.  They had a blast.

With the boys out of our way, the girls and I packed up the house in Washington and with the help of my terrific cousin and some great friends we moved back to Arizona.  The girls and I made it back in just enough time to go to Scott's cousin's wedding.  Scott brought the boys home to Arizona and we prepared them to start school.

The house we are renting in directly across the street from the house I lived in when Scott and I met.  Small world.  We are close enough to the elementary school that the boys walk to school.  Beth began her last year of junior high.  Next year she will join Alexis at the high school where Alexis is currently a sophomore.

Alexis is currently going to Mesa High.  It is crazy to think that she is attending the same school that Scott and I did.  It is even more crazy that she is exactly the same age that I was when Scott and I met and started dating.

Busted down

Oh I guess I forgot to mention our adventure to church a week ago today.

Well like every Sunday we all got up, dressed and hopped in the suburban for the trip to church.  Surprisingly this time seemed to go pretty smooth.  Very little arguing and everyone was in the car ready with little hassle.  We were actually going to get there with plenty of time to spare.  Not the norm for us.  Just when you think everything is going pretty good you get thrown a curve ball.

As we were coming down the hill and making the turn by the Arabian horse farm the suburban made a very loud pop from underneath .  We coasted to the side of the road while Scott tried 4-wheel drive and all the gears I started making phone calls to anyone we knew who could help.  We were stranded.  We couldn't drive forward but we could drive in reverse.  Scott contemplated driving in reverse back up the hill to the house but I wasn't exactly comfortable with that.  Scott backed up about a half mile, parked in the front yard and went to the door of the guy who owns the horse farm to ask him if it was okay that the suburban was going to be sitting in front of his house for a bit until we get it towed.  He said no problem.

Well some new friends from church came and picked up half of us to go to church and the other half hitched a ride with the horse guy Ron (no he isn't a member, he just offered to help).

Well the transmission went out in the suburban and now we wait until it is finally fixed.  It was in very bad shape the guy came highly recommended from several people, Scott went to take a look and he said he is surprised and very happy we made it to Washington.  It needed a complete rebuild everything internal was broken or about to break.  We were supposed get it back on Friday but now it is looking like it will be tomorrow or Tuesday before we can get it back.  Fingers crossed!

DRAMA, Drama, drama

Oh I guess with the need to catch everyone up with our travels I completely forgot about our first week drama.

Let me set the stage. . . .

It was last Thursday and it was dark and foggy outside at 6:00 am.  I ran Alexis to the church for Seminary and was inching my way up our driveway to the house.  I finally approach the house where the other 3 children should be dressing and eating breakfast and all the other morning rituals for school.  I step into the house and slip of my shoes.  Suddenly I hear a scream.

"I'm bleeding!!!!" came out the bathroom.

Emerging from the bathroom with a bound was Beth holding the back of her head.  Apparently while Beth was getting ready for school, Christian entered the bathroom.  Then the fight was on.  The two began to shove and wrestle with each other.  Somehow they ended up falling into the shower and Beth smashed her head on the soap holder.

Upon examination of her head we discovered she had about a 2 inch gash on the back of her head.  I will spare you the gruesome details of what it looked like.  Let's just say that a band aide and a kiss wasn't going to cut it for this one.  A trip to the emergency room was in our very near future.

So off we go to the ER.  6 hours, 3 internal stitches and 7 staples later we emerge.  All I can say is thank goodness for insurance.

Beth spent that night sleeping on my floor where I was able to check her throughout the night (we can not confirm whether she ever lost consciousness.  Through out the night I set my alarm so I would wake up to check her.  At one point I must have reached down to feel for her and all I heard was "ouch".  I must have hit her on the head.  Oops!  She quickly caught on because every time the alarm went off I would hear her say, "I'm still here."

You can look at this experience in several ways.  I lean toward the fact that I have gained some new knowledge.  That's right I know where the hospital is.

The Infamous Trip to Washington

Well all I can say is it has been a long and crazy few weeks for the Riordan household.  As many (if not all) of you know we are officially relocated to the state of Washington.  Let me tell you what an adventure it has turned out to be.

Since it has been a long while since I had access to the use of a computer I guess I will start from the beginning of our journey.  I will spare all the boring stuff such as the packing and disagreements as to what is trash and what is treasure.  We will fast forward to the actual drive.

Scott and I had the brilliant idea of attempting to make the trip in one long stretch.  We quickly realized that we were going to need 2 more drivers in order for this to happen.  So we recruited the assistance of my dad and Isaac Jaten.  Boy they didn't know what they were signing up for.  Long story short we left Arizona at about 2:00 pm and away we went.

The trip seemed to be going very smooth and we were feeling tired but confident.  Big mistake!!!!  We reached Redding, California and started climbing Mt. Shasta.  As we approached we were listening to reports of people being turned back to get snow chains.  And yes we were one of them.  As we got to the local Walmart we discovered that the trailer I was towing behind the suburban had a flat tire.  Made the call to the roadside assistance and about an hour later and several bathroom trips into the Walmart we were back on the road.   As we approached the pass a second time the restriction for chains had been lifted (just our luck).  We had to purchase 2 sets for the suburban since it is 4-wheel drive, a set for the Penske rental truck and the a set for each trailer we had.

Slowly and carefully we climbed into the mountain through the snow.  Well we all thought to ourselves that if that was the worse of it we were in good shape.  On the other side of the pass we decided to stop a Burger King to get a quick bite to eat.  While we were sitting there a woman came up to our party and gave my dad $5 for the "eventful" trip down the mountain.  We are all still baffled as to why she gave us the money (especially since I was the one driving).

The weather began to show signs of changing to not so great and we all hopped back into the vehicles and away we went.  Within the first 10 minutes it began to snow again.  These were the biggest snowflakes I have ever seen in my life.  It was beautiful yet a bit scary at the same time.  Not only have I never driven in snow before but I had never towed anything before either.

One moving truck with a car hauler, one suburban with a trailer in tow, 4 adults, 4 kids, 3 dogs and a cat all pulled into the driveway of our new home after our 37 hour trip.  We were all so tired and it was about 1:00 am that we decided to pull the mattresses out the truck and we slept on the floor of the living room.

Finally mattresses unloaded and sleeping on the floor with only a few pillows, blankets and jackets it was a few short hours later around 8am we were all awoken to the children yelling that there were deer in the yard and to come and look.

Once we were are up and somewhat mobile we began to unload the truck and trailer.  We unloaded the little U-haul trailer 1st then we used it to move some things out of the basement that we did not want in the house.  We used the trailer to shuffle items from the front to back of house into the basement.  As we continued to unload the Penske truck the kids came running through the house screaming Scott was hurt.  The ramp had come out of the back of the trailer when it hit Scott took a huge fall to the ground he missed hitting his head by only millimeters it was so close.  Issac said he wished we had a video camera we could have won on Americas Funniest home videos.  We got everything unloaded by about 2 pm Washington time.

It was showers then off to grab a bit to eat and hanging out with Dawn, Ashley, Ava and Lilly.  They met us for lunch at Denny's then we came to the house for about an hour and it was off to the airport to fly Isaac and my dad home.  I was really difficult to have to say good bye and was relieved that I wasn't the one who had to make the drive to the airport.

Well that about covers it.  Still awake?  Good.  So stay tuned for another crazy installment.

T minus 3 days

For those who don't already know I have been working as a Detention Officer for the last 5 1/2 years.  I have to say it has been an "interesting" job.  I have met some great people and made some amazing friends along the way.  And yes, I have tons of stories about things I have seen and done (some stories require a strong stomach).  Everyday was something different.  I have served chow, searched cells and responded to multiple inmate disturbances.  I have escort inmates to court and assisted the Deputy Sheriffs with crowd control during mass protesters.

Many people were shocked when I entered the Detention Academy.  They said they pictured me as more of a teacher or nurse but never something in this line of work.  You know the old adage of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger?  Well I have to say it is very true.  I was required to go out of my comfort zone and learn to be assertive.  This job molded me (or should I say remolded) me into who I am today.  

I learned that I have the ability to hold my shoulders high and I can do anything I set my mind to.  I am no longer the girl who quietly keep her opinions to herself.  I learned that I am a strong and independent individual.  

Well with all that this job has given me it is time for me to move on.  My family is relocating to Washington state to begin a fresh chapter in our book.  With much thoughtful prayer we have decided that this is the path on which we have been set on.  We have put our faith in Heavenly Father's plan for us.

So I officially gave my notice at work and have completed the paperwork.  I am off tomorrow on my regular day off and will then have only 2 days of work.  It will be strange not to be having to wake early to go to work!!!!