Picking up where I left off… But first, Part 1 and Part 2.
Blaine took his CDL test with the Missouri Highway Patrol at a facility an hour away on April 13. He passed the pre-trip check without issue. They have a digital “lottery” of sorts to draw which maneuver of three he’d have to do. He got alley docking. He failed.
Talk about a letdown. You think everything is moving along. So much has happened so quickly. And then it screeches to a halt. Watching Blaine deal with the letdown with something he felt he knew well was really hard. The re-test was scheduled for April 26. Pins and needles, my friends. I was so nervous for him.
He drew alley docking again. He failed, trying so hard not to make the same mistake he made an opposite one. So, so frustrating. I’ve never seen the man fail at anything. He took it in stride. Attended the night classes some more. Spent his Saturdays at the driving range. Practiced more.
In the midst of everything, we decided we’d likely be spending the time until the baby is born in South Dakota. Purchasing a house there might happen, looking elsewhere remains a possibility, but for the summer, I think we’ll be living in our camper in my parents yard. Blaine will get a job locally there. Tentative plans at best.
In the meantime, Blaine’s brother tried to get a new birth certificate for Blaine. The state of New Jersey, his birthplace, has not opened back up since 2020 and the health departments are not open to the public. However, the city he was born in has its own health department, and upon calling, I was told of another website, the specific one to the city itself, to order birth certificates. I did, and ten days later had the new birth certificate. As of the end of May, the first one I ordered still is not approved and has not been mailed.
The third retest was scheduled for May 10. He drove the hour and met the instructor with the semi there, the highway patrol started the check on the truck for the safety inspection before the test and the air brakes failed. The air brakes that were checked multiple times on Saturday, that were checked twice on Monday before the instructor drove it the hour, failed due to a leak when they got there. The fix was simple, but the highway patrol is on a schedule and there was no time for the fix. Laugh or cry. We’d both hoped it would all be over that day. Instead, he went back to joining the night/Saturday class when he could, continuing to practice. Suppers together were again, not happening. The poor man worked all day and went to class for hours many evenings.
They rescheduled again, this time for May 19.
May 19, he drew alley docking for the third time. He passed it perfectly with no points off. He passed the driving portion easily. The dmv liked his new birth certificate, and he was issued his new license without problems. That was a moment. It took four extra days off, a lot more night classes, and a month longer than we’d planned, but it was finally finished.
Charlotte’s X-ray check with the orthopedic surgeon was May 27, so moving is already moved back by over two weeks from our original thoughts. He gave his notice to work, with the last day as June 4 – but he also proposed working for them remotely. Still waiting to hear how that all will go. Charlotte’s X-ray on her right wrist showed more damage than the orthopedic surgeon saw on the x-rays from urgent care. She should have been in a hard cast, but no extra damage was done. She came out of the brace on the left, resuming all normal activities with it. The right has to be splinted for another month. We’ll have another X-ray done in SD and have it sent to the surgeon here to get the all clear for removing the right splint. Disappointing, but she’s feeling more freedoms with the one off at least. She’s had no pain after the immediate “I haven’t used this arm in a month” that lasted a day.
We found a house I love, and with 90 minutes to pack after deciding to drive to South Dakota (650 miles) to see it, eight of the kids and I drove up to see it on May 21. The house was everything I expected, the easement that was never mentioned and the feedlot with 500 cows that owns the easement and rights to the well… yeah. Not expected. The trip was for naught, but the rest for a few days, with no packing or moving stress, was been wonderful.
To be continued.
