7s and Coloroado Springs

Monday after we returned home from the Rodeo, Brandon called me about 10 am and said he had some great news! His foreman had told the whole crew that we would have work in Sterling until Christmas! Yay so I can finally relax a bit!! Then he told me that his crew has been offered to go to Colorado Springs on the weekends and help another Hooper crew on their job.  Brandon was ecstatic but I gotta admit I wasn't very happy when I first heard this news.  I didn't see how it would work driving 6+ hours every weekend and staying in hotels on top of working 7 days a week.  Brandon said to just trust him and that it would all work out, this is what he wanted to do.  Well last week was the first weekend he worked.  Bashlyn and I went with him because the rest of his crew wasn't going.  It was ok, it was nice being able to see him each morning and night.  It was pretty hard on Bashlyn though. We didn't leave Sterling on Friday until about 2:30 and the traffic was HORRIBLE so it was about 5 1/2 hours to get from Sterling to a hotel in Colorado Springs.  The guys will be able to leave right when they get off work and shouldn't hit rush hour traffic, hopefully!   Between the long drives and checkout being at noon on Sundays, that left Bashlyn and I with 6 1/2 hours to keep ourselves occupied.  I thought it would be fun to take her to Garden of the Gods and I thought it was a great idea since there was a Broncos game on Sunday…it wouldn't be very busy…WRONG! I drove through the park for an hour trying to find parking and there was none so we went back to Colorado springs and kept ourselves busy at Starbucks for a bit until Brandon was off work.  It sounds like Brandon will have the opportunity to work these weekends into next year.  Bashlyn and I might go with him once a month or so but for the most part we will stay in Sterling.  Brandon and two other guys on the crew will go down together and man camp in a hotel room Friday and Saturday night and return home Sunday.

We'll really be missing daddy 3 days a week but its ok because we get to see him so much Monday through Thursday.  He is usually home by 5:30 at the latest and doesn't go to bed until 8:30-9 so we get to catch up and Bashlyn gets to get all her snuggles in! I really never planned to be a part from him while on the road, since I am on the road I thought I could ALWAYS go with him, aside from storm but I know this is just a small sacrifice that will get us really ahead in the long run.  It will help so much since our place hasn't rented and I see it is starting to snow back home….makes me nervous! We did have two showings last week so please pray one of them wants it! :)  Another huge bonus, actually the biggest bonus, is Brandon is getting a lot of hot time on the jobs in Sterling so at this rate he should have all his hot and cold hours by January!! That is so exciting and is going to be such a huge relief! 

So all in all even though I wasn't super on board in the beginning I am excited about the 7s now. I know it will all be for the better in the end and it will help us out A LOT financially! Plus Brandon is on a great crew in Colorado Springs doing different work than he does in Sterling so he is just getting TONS of great experience every day! 

International Linemans Rodeo!!!!!

I swear our life is going 100 miles an hour CONSTANTLY!! We were supposed to leave Thursday to head to Kansas for the International Lineman Rodeo.  I didn't know WHEN we would leave Thursday but I knew it would be Thursday.  Wednesday afternoon I drove an hour and a half to Brighton to go to a Just Between Friends sale because my little baby is just TOO little to wear any of the cold weather clothes I bought her.  She only had about 4 outfits that were long sleeve and pants so we headed off to the sale to get her some more newborn size cold weather clothes.  The sale was a madhouse and crazy so I didn't get home until after 8. At this point I hadn't had time to pack or get anything ready for our trip so I did a little before going to bed but just figured I could do everything in the morning.  We woke up Thursday morning to no water again….we think there is something wrong with the park cause our foreman is freezing up too and he's plugged in as well.  I had a load of laundry to do and put it in (with soap) before realizing we didn't have any water.  I turned on the bathroom faucet so I could hear if the water started coming, I told myself if we didn't have water by 7:30 I would go to the laundry facility and put it in there.  7:30 came around and no water so Bash and I loaded up our soapy clothes and took off.  I thought the washing machines were $1.75 and I scrounged around to find that many quarters and of course it was $2.  Luckily I found a quarter under my seat in my car.  We get back to Piper not even 5 minutes from when we left and guess what, full on water running!!! Grrrr I was so frustrated but relieved at the same time!  

Brandon got off work, we packed up and hit the road to drive through Kansas.  It was about 9 hours.  Kansas is a big state but nothing compares to the time we drove through the entire state of Texas! The drive was great.  We decided I do much better at the driving part than Brandon and he does much much better at the navigation so it was a very happy drive.  Bashlyn did great, she slept most of the time, but did start to get fussy when we were about an hour away.  We stopped several times to let her stand up and stretch out those legs! We made it to our hotel about 8:30 and relaxed for the evening. 

The second day of the Expo started at 9 so we slept in, had some breakfast and went to the convention center. The one thing I will say about the International is there is LINES everywhere!! we got there about 8:30 and stood in line before getting in.  Once we were in it was a madhouse.  I had never seen anything like it and certainly didn't know what to expect.  There were hundreds of booths and they were all giving out t shirts, koozies, flashlights you name it! Brandon got a lot of garb and even little Bashlyn got a shirt (that she can wear in 3 years, hahaha) a book and a mini grunt sack.  We were able to see all the vendors and Brandon was able to check out some of the new tools going on the market.  We were able to meet the guys behind Bashlin Industries and talk with them for a good while and it was such a great time! Of course we also hung out with the wonderful NSUJL ladies and chatted with them :) It was such a fun time at the expo but next year we definitely have to be there Thursday because I can only imagine what it was like on the first day! 

Standing in line at the Expo

Look who we ran into!! Lineman Barn :)

Tammy and Jimmy Kent

Rod and Rob Paul with Bashlin Industires

We went and had some wings at Buffalo Wild Wings and then made our way back to the convention center to get ready for the Storm Soldiers showing.  The movie was awesome and of course we pre ordered it! You can pre order yours here : http://stormsoldiersmovie.com  All of the profits from sales of the movie are being split between 3 charitable organizations…one of them is NSUJL :) After the movie there was what is called "trade night" we had no idea what this was but its so cool! So every local that goes to the rodeo creates a shirt for the rodeo that year.  Trade night is where you can go and trade your shirts so you get a bunch of other locals shirts too! We obviously didn't have any shirts so we just made our way to the BBQ.  After the BBQ we made our way back to the hotel about 8 so Brandon could get to bed early.  

Saturday morning we were up bright and early at 5 am.  Apprentice testing started at 7 and we were about a half hour from the rodeo grounds.  We got to the grounds about 6:30 and it was FREEZING cold, I'm taking 34 degrees cold!! We walked through the grounds trying to find where the apprentice testing was.  There were tents set up everywhere for different locals, they all had hot food and coffee and everyone was eating and hanging out.  I really wished we were with our local at that point, we were so cold!!  We walked around the corner and saw the biggest line ever for apprentice testing!! Brandon ended up standing in that line for an hour and a half freezing cold before he was able to test.  The test was 50 questions in 15 minutes.  They don't tell you your time until you are done, If you go over 15 minutes its a 2 point deduction and over 20 is another 2 point deduction.  Brandon finished in 14 minutes. He said he was so cold though he couldn't even write his name when he first got in there. We sat in the car for a half hour with heat on full blast trying to get him warm again. 

 

It started to warm up a bit around 9 and we made our way to hurt man.  Brandon did great on hurt man, everything went smooth and he was happy with his time and no deductions! After hurt man was the pole climb.  They have to climb the pole, put a RAW egg in their mouth at the top and then climb down.  If you break or crack your egg you get a deduction.  Brandon did the speed climb in 30.15 seconds with no deductions!! He was happy but was hoping to get under 30 seconds.  After speed climb was the mystery event.  Brandon stood in line for about an hour and a half, maybe two hours waiting to start the event.  Thank goodness for Cayla, Amanda and Brandi or I would have been all alone all day!  It was so much fun getting to have Cayla by my side throughout the day.  She has been my go to girl throughout this apprenticeship and has sure been my shoulder to cry on.  It was fun getting to experience a fun day for this trade with her <3 

I was walking around and every time I saw him he hadn't moved…well wouldn't you know I was walking around, saying bye to Cayla and I went back to check on him.  I couldn't find him in line anywhere, I kept looking and looking and then I saw him on the pole!! Dang it I had missed the first half of his mystery. I got to see the second half but I was still pretty bummed.  After mystery he went and did his first aid/cpr, then picked up his test score for the written test and then he was done!! By this time it was almost 3.  We went to Local 53s tent for a bit, hung out and ate some food (THANK YOU!!).  

Brandon with the egg in his mouth

We went back to the hotel and got ready for the banquet and award dinner that evening.  It was supposed to start about 6:30 and we got there about 6 just in time to stand in line again :) The dinner was delicious, prime rib, salads, rice and beans! We ate and chatted until the award ceremony started about 8.  They played a couple videos they had put together and a couple different guys spoke.  We were watching the awards but not paying super close attention because we were all chatting at the same time.  All of a sudden I hear Tammy go "Brandon they just announced your name!!!" as she pointing at the big screen.  We both looked up and were shocked, Brandon goes "What do I do" I said "GO UP THERE!!" hahaha. Him and Tammy started heading up there, I pretty much threw Bashlyn to Amanda (THANK YOU!!) and then got my phone to take pictures.  Brandon got second place overall apprentice contractors division.  It was just so crazy because it literally came out of nowhere.  We didn't think he would even come close to placing! It was by far one of the coolest moments and I am so happy we were able to be surrounded by so many of our friends at the table!

As Brandon was standing in line all day he talked to a lot of guys.  He was the only guy not wearing a local or company shirt.  One guy asked him why he was wearing a Bashlin shirt and not his company or local and Brandon was like well I paid my own way here.  The guy pretty much just stared at him blankly, not able to comprehend that.  Everyone else there was either forced to go by their company or local or was paid for by their company or local.  We decided we wanted Brandon to be able to go and get this experience of competing at the international as an apprentice.  When we had all the unexpected expenses come up earlier this month we still decided this was a priority because this is the only year he can do this.  Next year he will be a  Journeyman and he will have to put a team together to compete so we wanted to make this work.  I am so glad we did, all we were going for was the experience and we left there with so much more.  We left with many new friends and priceless memories!! 

A little Update :)

Gosh these last few weeks have just flown by! The days are going so quickly, 5 comes around and I wonder what did I do ALL day?  I certainly feel busy from the minute I wake up til I go to bed!  I have kept myself busy with laundry, emails about our rental, accounting, dealing with insurance and the hospital about our medical bills, ect.  Speaking of doctors, Bashlyn had her two month check up on the 4th.  Her doctor said she is doing great but they are worried about her weight.  At her 1 month appointment she was in the 32nd percentile and at her two month she is only measuring in the 6th at 8 pounds 15 ounces.  The doctor thinks it must be their error (different nurses weighing her) but still want her to come back in 2 week for a weight check.  She's just a little baby! I can attest to the fact that she eats ALL the time! :)  She had her shots that day and I was on the verge of tears all day just thinking about it.  I was hoping I was making it out to be a bigger deal than it was but I wasn't.  It was so hard, I cried and just felt horrible.  Luckily after a few minutes she was fine.  The doctor told us we could give her some infants Tylenol later that night if she needed it but most kids don't.  I didn't really think much of it, so I didn't even have any at the house.  Well flash forward to 6pm and she woke up from her nap and was screaming just as loud as she did when she got her shots.  I tried feeding her but nothing would calm her down.  So I left Bashlyn with Brandon and I raced to walgreens to get some infants Tylenol.  I was crying on the way there because I just felt like the worst mom in the world for not already having it at the house for her.  When I got to walgreens I got this picture from Brandon:

So after we gave her some Tylenol she was fine for the rest of the night and was her normal happy self the next day.

We went to Lochbuie with Brandon on Saturday so he could go to the upgrade class.  Upgrade class is a class apprentices can go to before they sit for the journeyman test.  They have one every other month. Brandon is going to go until he can sit for his test which should be in August.  Bashlyn and I hung out at the class yard for awhile until Brandon was done and it was so cool.  There was also 1st year guys going to class that day (probably their first class of the apprenticeship) It was just so awesome to see these hard working guys getting into such a great trade.  I've said this so many times but this trade has changed my life.  I have met so many incredible women and men who will be in our lives forever.  We are so lucky!

Work is still crazy.  Brandon pretty much knows there is enough work for the next day, then they get another days work, so just like we have been since June we are just taking it one day at a time.  I would be ok if we got moved, I would love to see another state like Wyoming or Montana.  I am also ok with staying too, I really like Sterling and the RV park.  So here I am just a bubble on a wave :)

We are headed to the International Lineman Rodeo next week in Kansas!! We are so excited!! I wanted to go last year so bad but we were in NM and Brandon was working 6 days a week so we couldn't go. Now we're only 8 hours or so away so we are going!! I can't wait, we are finally going to get to meet SO many of the wonderful line families I have become friends with over the last couple of years.  One of my best girlfriends, Cayla is going to be there working the booth for NSUJL and I am over the moon excited to see her and the NSUJL booth! I can't wait to get some swag so if you are going, make sure to check out their booth too and show some love! We are going to get to meet Tammy Kent, the woman behind Lineman Barn who has helped me so much through this journey of life on the road and I THINK we will even get to meet Rod Paul with BASHLIN Industries!! I am seriously so excited and thats just Friday! Saturday Brandon will be competing and of course I can't wait. I love watching him work, or simulating work!  Since its international I think there will be guys from Australia there too and they have different climbers that kinda wrap around the pole, it will be so fun to see how they work.  There is a big BBQ friday night and then an awards banquet on Saturday.  Bashlyn is going to get to check off 2 more states she has been to! This girl is going to see more states by the time she is one than anyone I know! :)