Random Thoughts on Tuesday

This meme is so 'me'. I'm very random. Especially in my thoughts so it works. These are actually random thoughts listed since Thursday. See? Random. But orderly because it's in a list. Best kind of random.

• I was still thinking more about this post that I rambled about a bunch of introspective stuff.
• But then this happened and now all of that introspective stuff is weighing more on my mind.
• I say that I put my family first...but how do I do that?
• How do I take care of them and not just care for them?
• And what am I teaching them?
• my music is random
• 80's Madonna & Cher
• Tupac & Papa Roach
• and more that I can't remember all in 20 min of driving
• ....just when you thought my playlist was random.
• some people just thrive on drama
• they are so loud about not liking it but seem to stir up a lot of it
• i enjoy drama....so long as its on tv ;)
• i just realized it is Wednesday
• and i don't remember where the rtt meme is
  
• so i guess it doesn't matter that it's not tuesday
• i've been sick for a couple of days, bad timing
• but then when would it really be good timing?
  

So....um.....yeah

I feel like my blog has been a little neglected lately. Yesterday facebook was having some issues so I spend waste some time fiddling with my blog. I was going to attempt a post but while there's SO much on my mind, there's not much that is *blog* worthy. I can't make it interesting or funny. And I'm having some issues focusing on any.one.thing. Just writing these three sentences I've ctrl+t'd over to 5 different tabs and alt+tab to a im convo with my bestie.

SOooo....in my uber productivity this morning I read Heather's Random Thoughts Tuesday post and thought "hey I can do random". So here goes.

• Just about everything has been random for me lately. My moods, energy, sleep habits, eating habits.
• I looked it up this morning and there are 59 days until Christmas! o.O
• I still need to make my lists - home made gift list, Mary Kay gift list (can't beat my discount!), packing list for longtripbackhome, card/letter/photo list, kids' gift list, black friday shopping list, baking list?...lots of lists - YAY!!
• This week is Red Ribbon Week at Michael's school. Yesterday was a beautiful day. Today is a rainy one & they're supposed to do the flag picture - he's wearing white so he'll be part of a star or stripe, if they still do it.
• They nixed 'hippie day' from the list of things to dress up in this week. Last year I was very confused & wondered if I was the only parent that said "hippie day + say no to drugs = makes no sense??"
• I found out I wasn't. :D
• Lydia is pretty much potty trained now. #1 & 2 make it into the potty 90+% of the time.
• Would you believe I used to actually be good at math?
• I watched the Soloist via Netflix (<3) It was good, done even better than I thought it would be. Very real, humbling & moving.
  
• I got scrubby with it Saturday - wiping down cabinets, baseboards...you know the kind of cleaning that only *I* will notice & appreciate. It's only Tuesday and you couldn't tell. :-/
• I need more sunny days...in more ways than one.

Well, there ya go. About as much random & focus as I can manage at this point without getting overly self analyzing and pouty. I hope everyone else has sunshine today, in & regardless of your weather forecast.

PS if you want to share some random thoughts click the button at the top of this post & linky there. there are a lot of random people today.

The Urge to PURGE {!!!!}

::SIGH::

I just LOVE the feeling of taking junk out of my house. Whether it's garbage, a lotion I haven't used in whoknowshowlong or toys that the kids have outgrown. Two days agoI finally started catching up on housework from when the sick invaded. I just did the math and realized that was over a week ago. o.O I have done things like dishes & laundry because those multiply faster than I can say "all done!" but I haven't done REAL cleaning. The kitchen & living area were tackled first - floors included. Yesterday I went to the commiscary for food that my family kept whining about for some reason. Apparently they need their milk, apples & bacon.

With much of the cleaning behind me I was free to purge & organize. I know to most that sounds like a chore that's not very fun and you dread it and put it off as long as possible. But for me {because I'm strange} it actually makes me giddy. Srsly. When I had to use 4 attachments to clean the yuck on my windowsill & blinds I wasn't happy but throwing out those old lotions and gave my son the choice to keep one of his two block sets...I could have done cartwheels. And when he suggested that he get rid of one of his two train sets, well I knew he was my son. After doing both kids' rooms I took a break to facebook then tackled both bathrooms. The best thing I threw out today were the bath toys with the holes that fill up with water and then turn into whatisthatgross. Only bath toys without holes will be allowed in this house now.

I think I had more of an attachment to some of his toys than he did. The Barney he got from my mom for his first birthday, when he chose to keep the wooden train set over the plastic Thomas one {from my mom} and even throwing away the cute hippos, frogs & pink duck bath toys was sad because those were gifts from my mom too. But then I realized that he's 5 and can't very well go off to college with Barney and my mom would think it rather gross to keep a pink duck filled with whatisthatyuck for Lydia and was okay with it.

With some recent stuff that has happened in my life and things that are coming up I'm finding this purge therapeutic. It gives me some time with my thoughts and to sort things out in my head while sorting out a cabinet or closet. I still have lots of clutter piles and closets and cabinets and drawers and spaces to purge and even more thoughts to sort out. Because Lord knows I don't clean for the rest of the people in the house, they're just working against me.

Back Up

There's a funky sick hanging out at my house so I've been less than productive...much less than productive. Turns out this morning was a good time to catch up on shows that I've missed and I may have watched a movieortwo yesterday as well. So today out of nowhere my computer shuts itself down & there was a blue screen with lots of technical words I don't understand. You really don't have to know much about computers to operate one. I restarted it - the only thing I did understand on the screen and all was well again. But this reminded me that I should back up my photos. I was over a year behind...now I've run out of CDs so I'm only five months behind. You can bet your hiney that CDs will be on my next shopping list so I can finish the job.

When there is sick, esp funky sick hanging out at your house it's good to have some back up and you take what you can get with no complaints. My son picked up a catchphrase that he likes to say {but rarely follows} "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit". Such wisdom in the kindergarten classroom. Shawn went to the store and got the things on my shopping list {after I cut it down to 1/10 it's original}, let me fall asleep & took care of the kids {but then woke me up with a kiss & I couldn't fall asleep for 2 hours}...you catch the drift. I'm just glad that he's home to help with anything...esp when my throat is burning, my head is all hurty & I'm just blah.

My internal clock is ticking away...no not that clock, well yes that one too on some days when I see little 10 day old babies that are SOsweet&omgmyovariesjustdidalittledance; but the clock I'm trying to ignore. The one that says we're now on the approximate sixish months give or take because the Army can change plans at any moment until my husband is no longer available to be my back up. Because he'll be backing up his battle buddies and focusing on things like safety, sleep & eating. That sixish months is going to fly. Between individual training schools, group training, field training, long nights, block leave {x2}, holidays, special events....whoosh! it's gone.

I've been here before so it's not that new. Except that it is. Last time we had just moved here & I barely knew a sole. Now we've been here almost 3 years and some days I think I know too many people. Last time I had a 3 year old & 11 month old...they were nearly clueless, the oldest knew nothing beyond "daddy's far away at work". Now I'll have 5 & 3 year olds who will notice & ask no less than 2,345 times a day why daddy has to go to regular work {let alone far away work}. There are lessons I learned about things like money & time management...and I'm hoping to remember them before repeating the same mistakes.

Maybe it's just the sick but I think that all ties together somehow...or maybe not. And now I'm not really sure how to close it up either. So this will do.

This is Going to Stink or The Time When I Wanted to Spray the World with Febreeze

Or maybe just our campsite. Michael turned 5 last Sunday and after his party we left for our camping trip. It was a fun time & I'll share more about that another day when I've moved past the stench.

But first let me apologize for this post. I'm sure it will stink in every way. When I was up at 3am Friday morning sitting by the fire pit, which had turned more into a smoke pit, I had a some catchy one liners and a funny little post written up. Or I wasn't funny but so tired that I thought I was. Either way I couldn't get to my notebook to write any of it down so I'll never really know.

Back to the stink. So we were camping and Thursday was our last night. I ended up in the kids' mattress because they woke up wanting snuggles. Jackie was in there too, unleashed. Shawn went answer nature's call and didn't zip the tent right away. Jackie bolted. She had woke me up a few times growling at some critter or another, and now she would meet her match.

I heard Jackie bark, Shawn yell for her to come back and the next thing I knew Jackie was back in the tent with a strange odor and spitting something up. Was it a bad odor? I couldn't tell, it was just odd but almost familiar. I sent her outside so Shawn could see what she was spitting up & then he broke the news - Jackie was sprayed by a skunk.

Yuck!

Did you know that a skunk's spray is an oil & used in some perfumes because of it's lingering quality? Also, when your dog is sprayed in the face at the campsite next door and is in your tent for less than a minute every.single.thing. will smell like skunk. Every.thing. All of the laundry, bedding, mattresses, tent, truck (thanks to the husband leaving the windows down all of the time), folding canvas chairs and diapers. Yes, diapers. We lost nearly a full pack of 60.

So all of this happened at 3am which meant I was up since 3am Friday morning. Luckily the kids stayed asleep and somehow Shawn slept in the tent but I just couldn't. My stomach turned just walking near the tent. So while waiting for the sun to rise I thought about my blog post and how funny it could be - this is rather disappointing. We packed up camp as quickly as possible and I started on laundry and baths as soon as we got home, there is still some cleaning to do and poor Jackie needs another vinegar/baking soda treatment before I'll snuggle her on my couch or anywhere. Tomato juice didn't do anything for her but give us another mess to clean up. I never want to smell that smell again and no diaper will ever compare to that stench.

I still have pictures to upload & will share more soon. Now it's 9am and I haven't had my coffee which really is just wrong.

So I Had a Thought

Had being the key word. I can't even remember when I had this thought but it was a thought about a blog post and now *poof* it's gone. Is that a thing that comes with children or age...maybe both? On a totally different subject - happy fourth of july! May your day be sunny & bright and all of your apendanges keep in tact tonight. Something about drinking & explosives seems like a dangerous combo. We have been busy getting ready for Michael's birthday party & our upcoming camping trip. Meanwhile the house still has to be cleaned, meals {somewhat} made and there's my business to run - not that I'm complaining about that one. I love how I can work my business while living my life - make a few phone calls while doing errands or dishes, take care of paperwork after kids are in bed and schedule appointments around my family's schedule. So as I was finishing one set of errands today just a few blocks from my house it started to pour. I knew it was coming, the dark clouds were rolling in with rumbling thunder, but hoped I could make it in the house before the downpour. No such luck, we got soaked. And now I'm rambling...maybe I'll find that thought one day & share it with you. Or maybe you lucked out and it really wasn't all that interesting anyway. Kind of like this post.

This Seems Familar

Michael is on day 4 of 10 days off of school, we're having freezing temps & rain, and I have a head cold. It would make sense if it were winter break but it's spring break, minus the spring weather. And I think I've lost my mind because I'm watching I'm watching The Hills and what makes it worse is I'm trying to make sense of the trainwrecks they call reality.

I have to admit that I'm a little bit of a reality show junkie. Maybe junkie is too strong a word, I don't watch them all but I can get caught up in it. Maybe watching a stranger's drama unfold on tv makes some of mine seem more manageable or at least brings some distraction. Some people get annoyed at the thought of rich "housewives" having their own shows but I laugh at it. Of course I use the term housewife loosely with most of the "Real Housewives" cast members because they don't clean their own homes - working or not. So maybe they are slightly annoying and some (or all?) of the drama is scripted but if it gives me a laugh and puts my worries into perspective I don't mind.

Though on the flipside while I sit and pat myself on the back because I know I could handle a situation better than some of those wives do I have to wonder what my reality show would look like. How many scenes would need editing to cut me losing patience with my children? How many eye rolls would the camera catch that my husband didn't?

I think I should be asleep now. I think I started this with some kind of thought but now I feel like even my thoughts are rambling. It's 11:30, cold and I'm sick so I should be sleeping anyhow.

He's Blogging For Me

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This morning I realized I hadn't posted anything beyond "o_O LOST" & my scrappy organization progress so I uploaded some pictures. Didn't start writing though and walked away from the computer getting things ready for the day. I sat down to finish it up & found that Michael put in his two cents and published my post. So the jibberish followed by his name is my son's contribution to my blog. And apparently his way of telling me that if I don't start posting he'll do it for me.

I've been busy, we've been busy and not enough time to sit and read blogs let alone write out a post. I'm still busy really, just taking a little break from the busyness. So in bulletin format & some pictures you can see what we've been up to.

• Michael & Lydia still love having daddy home to snuggle and rough house with.
• They don't like it so much when he tells them they're in trouble which has been more often lately.
• Michael hit his 100th day of school, slightly delayed due to the ice storms. He brought in 100 craft sticks and they had a fun celebration which meant everything was centered around 100.
• I experienced my first year of valentine's for school, bought valentine's ahead of time but put off him writing his name 30 times until the morning of so it was like running a sweatshop too. He came home with cards and some candy - less than I anticipated but still enough to share. :D
• We got a dog! I have been hesitant about getting a dog since Shawn was still deployed talking about one. Jackie (a two year old Jack Russel Terrior) wasn't planned and was a surprise but has been a lot of fun, much like our children. ;) But she makes less mess, doesn't talk back and wants to snuggle just about all of the time. I hope for the kids' sake we never have to choose between them and the dog. ;)
• Shawn bought a boat. I found out that when I agree to the purchase of a boat I also agree to the purchase of a new motor, battery, charger, paint, carpeting and seats. I'm making a note to never agree to a boat - great deal or not - again. It should be fun this summer though, relaxing on a boat bass fishing. Of course that will be Shawn as I'll be busy feeding the kids and making sure they don't drowned.
• I've been very busy with Mary Kay, more bookings then ever and two new recruits last week. I'm building my business and working my way up the career path looking forward to driving a free car and making big girl money as a director. Lord willing and if I still have my sanity at the end of it all. hehe

I hope everyone in the blogosphere is doing well. I'd read up to check on you but my tummy is rumbling for lunch so I better go answer the call and figure out the rest of my day.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I wish you all a safe & happy new year! I hope that you are ringing it in with family and/or friends. May this year bring you new adventures and much joy. I'm looking forward to spending the year with my little family and making some exciting changes and reaching for big things. :D his year has gone by quickly and had lots of changes. For us the most exciting change was having my husband home {have I mentioned that I LOVE having him around again?}. I'm so happy to be able to share a new year's kiss with the man I love since I missed it last year.

Merry Christmas

I wish you all a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! I hope that no matter who you are spending the holidays with you are surrounded by loved ones whether they be family or friends. This season brings plenty of hustle & bustle but in all of the busyness I hope you remember that Jesus is the reason for the season and think of the Miracle that was born in the manger, God in the flesh. May your days be merry & bright and your stomach full of good food & pie!

Happy 4th

Happy Fathers Day or The Day My Stomach Stopped Hating Me

I should be washing dishes, folding laundry, sweeping & mopping floors and just about every other house cleaning chore there is to catch up from days of illness. But first I'll waste take some time to love on my babies daddy. He has spent all but three weeks of the last nine months thousands of miles away from home and still I couldn't ask for a better father for my children. He calls & gets on the computer as often as he can to talk to them, see them on webcam & find out what they are up to. Shawn stays interested in & connected to his kids no matter the distance or time between them and his love just grows for them each day. He is missing them so much right now. They miss him as well, though they don't always know how to express that feeling. Lydia doesn't struggle with her feelings as much because she is younger. But for Michael missing daddy often comes out in tantrums, resistance to talk about his feelings or outright defiance. I'm glad we all have only 6 more months to count down for this deployment. Anyways, though Shawn hardly never reads my blog I want to say Happy Father's Day, I couldn't want a better husband or father to our kids. We love & miss you! And to my own dad, a special Happy Father's Day wish as well. He is spending this father's day getting to know his newest granddaughter. Actually, this will be the first father's day that he has spent with only 1 of us 9 kids, 2 of 11 if you count the son in laws.

You may be wondering about the other part of my title "The Day My Stomach Stopped Hating Me". The short & less gross story is that our home was invaded & attacked, by a nasty stomach flu bug. It started with Michael Thursday night about 15 minutes after I laid him down for bed - he puked. So I changed his jammies, put him down in my bed & washed his bedding. Around 2am this vile bug caused my insides to turn out and cleaning up such a mess just about repeated the first offense. The next morning {just a few hours later} Lydia woke up with a mess in her bed, on her jammies & of course all over her hair. It was awful. Fortunately the kids didn't get sick more than the one time but I didn't have the same good fortune. I spent my 26th birthday on the couch, half awake with stomach cramps that put my regular monthly cramps to shame and a puke bowl by my side. :BLEH: I was definitely missing Shawn that day, wanting to be taken care of but more importantly wanting the kids taken care of so I could take a nap for crying out loud. Though I didn't have Shawn to help me out I did have a couple of good friends who brought over stomach flu friendly snacks & drinks and medicine for us all, one friend even included a movie for the kids in her bag of sicky goodness. Yesterday I no longer needed the puke bowl by my side but I was still hurting. I suppose my insides had to recover from all of the violent convulsive activity from the day before. I attempted to clean up house with not much progress and finally gave over to the couch once again.

Today I am finally feeling better and am determined to get this house clean again. There is much to do because just about every day I'm behind on something anyway so I started out behind before taking two days off and then really it just starts to multiply exponentially. It's too much math for me without having my coffee but I'm pretty sure it's close to the equivalent of 2 months of housework - or at least feels that way. Speaking of feelings, I feel like a jerk. Yesterday was a VTC day which means we had a 15 min time slot to see & talk with Shawn over video conference. I had my dates mixed up & thought it was today so we completely missed it. He waited for us for nearly an hour before calling to see if I was coming. He understood with us having been sick and all but still, I was sad. He was really looking forward to 'seeing' us and they had it scheduled because of Father's Day today. He isn't upset at me so I need to get over it but I'll be crossing my fingers they have another one soon.

Stir Crazy

Well I hope everyone had a much more relaxing day yesterday than I did. I'm not complaining, just wishing better for you all. I was in my sweats all day but by no means lazy. I cleaned almost every area of this house and it felt great. Though now that I've put that down in black & white I guess I have no more excuses for the future - darn productivity! Anyways so I was cleaning to get the house ready for hubby. Of course I should have kept the kids outside or in their rooms all day until he gets here if I wanted it to actually stay that way. I'm thinking a picnic table this summer would be a great thing & they could eat all of their meals outside. If we didn't have scary red hornet looking bugs outside I really would do that. Just thinking of how much cleaner the floor would stay makes me sit in aw. As you may be able to tell I'm a little unfocused and well, anxious. Depending on how his flights go I could get a phone call at any minute/hour/day saying he'll be at the airport in ONE hour. The airport that takes me ONE hour to drive to. So I've been obsessively cleaning, pacing and well just trying to keep busy so I don't just sit and watch the clock. And I know that he won't really care what the house looks like, I keep a pretty clean house and he knows that, but I miss him coming home & saying how great things look. I even miss those days he'd come home & ask what I had done all day...those days when I blogged & read blogs more often and things weren't always quite so tidy. I'm excited, anxious & nervous about him coming home. And I'm not complaining because I'm just happy to have him home, even if it's just for a short time, but having a more approximate time would be really nice. I don't like feeling on edge like this. It's like waiting for a surprise that you know is coming. Well I need to get off of here. Lydia is done with lunch which means I have to clean the spot under her highchair again. And I'm sure I'll find other little projects to keep me busy while I wait and try not to look at the clock and figure out flight times...

Thanks for stopping by! I'll post some more recent pics soon.

Hellooooo, Anybody Out There??

Wow, so almost another month has past without me blogging. I don't purposely avoid my blog, I just don't think about it nearly so often - stating the obvious I know. I'm not super busy that I don't have time to blog more regularly but I'm not much inspired or motivated? Not that my posts exude of inspiration but I think you know what I mean. Life has been happening and I've been {for the most part} enjoying it. I'll give you a quick bulleted update for now & maybe one day soon I'll get back to being more bloggy.

• Michael starts part day preschool today - he is very excited and so am I. I will have three hours a day two days a week with only one child in tow.
• Michael is finally potty training, still making progress but he's much more interested than he was.
• I earned another 'promotion' in my business. I can now wear my Red Jacket to meetings & company events and am only one recruit away from my next promotion & commission increase.
• Lydia {mostly} sits still while I put her hair up in one or two little pony tails - so cute!
• Hubby is doing well and should be getting a promotion next month.
• We're getting closer to R&R - though I can't give out specific dates.

Well I guess that's most of the highlights. I've also done some more organizing - still no paint or curtains in the kitchen, I'd like to work on the curtains at least. I have several projects that I'm hoping to finish before Shawn comes home while leaving me plenty to do after he leaves again. I hope everyone is doing well & I'll try to browse around some blogs over the next few days. Thanks for visiting & checking in on me!

And here are some pictures of the paint can I made for my sister's shower. She's using it in the nursery to hold the baby's headbands, brushes, hats - all things related to the head. I forgot to take pictures of the letters so I'm waiting to get a picture from my sis.

So I Had Some Thoughts

"Had" being the key word. I haven't been posting as regularly as I used to or reading blogs so often either. I'm okay with that though. We've been working on getting back into a routine, I've had more Mary Kay appointments and the weather is much nicer some days lately so we've been getting out of the house. On the other hand I do miss my internet 'friends' and do want to check in more than I have been. After the hacked e-mail fiasco I changed the e-mail associated with my blogger account but forgot to change the e-mail that comments are sent to . So I was quite surprised to see so many comments when I looked at my blog one day. I thought any readers I may have left went to find a more regular blogger or one with more interesting things to say - couldn't blame you on either count. So like I was saying the other night watching one of the fluff TV shows I watch before bed I had some thoughts that I was going to share and have completely forgotten them. Seriously, if it's not in my planner or my little notebook I keep with me at all times I don't remember it anymore. Someone has been telling me it's part of the aging process but I'm in denial and blaming it on my children. Instead I'll address some of the comments/questions that have been left for me over the last however far I go back.

First off, I still don't know what motivated the hacker to get into my accounts. The only "logical" reason I can think of is they were hoping to get some financial information and when they didn't find that they decided to harass friends on my messenger for their password information - posing as me of course. I've decided they must have been a very sad person who has no life of their own and nothing better to do. I'm just glad it's over and have tightened up security on all of my accounts.

It's been pointed out that the countdown to see my husband is fast approaching and it is! We still don't have official dates for his R&R but it's closer than it's ever been and I'm VERY excited about that. I am SO looking forward to picking him up from the airport and having him home, even if it's only a couple of weeks. I think we all need a little break of "normal" right about now. I think R&R will greatly help me get through the rest of the deployment - however long that ends up being.

Thank you all again for your sweet comments of support for my husband, myself and my family. It is so refreshing to hear that politics set aside people still support & appreciate our troops and the sacrifices that they & their families make for this great country as ours. As imperfect as it is I am so blessed to live where we have the freedoms to voice our opinion {whatever that may be} and take a stand.

I'm glad so many people like the playlist I put up. I've had fun with it and often listen to it while cleaning house or playing with the kids. And yes, I am still cleaning house even though I haven't been SMART posting. SMARTing is being put on hold for a while. I actually seem to be doing better overall around the house than when I was hyper focused on one or two new 'habits'. I do still want to post Sunday Scrap - whenever I actually scrap again. Time to get some things organized & schedule that time in for myself too.

Okay well I think that's about the longest catching up "hereswhatI'vebeenupto" post so I'll say see ya later. Thanks for stopping by!

Spring is Here!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend with your family & friends. The weather is beautiful in these parts {at least for today} and I'm looking forward to fun activities with the kids. We'll go to church tomorrow and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ and then have a video conference with hubby. Today I have last minute errands to run like getting Lydia a basket that's not as big as her & hoping to find Michael a 'Sunday Best' outfit. Did I just find out it was Easter weekend? No, I'm just a good procrastinator like that. ;) I'll do a little egg hunt with the kids and just have fun with outside as long as the weather is nice. I've got a yummy pot roast left from Thursday but since the kids didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did I'll have to make a little something special for them. Next week I should be somewhat back to my normal bloggy self. Thanks for visiting!

P.S. Did spring & Easter sneak up quickly on anyone else? It's not often that Easter is in the same week as St. Patrick's Day. I found out it has something to do with the equinox & full moon - or something like that. Anyways, next year Easter should be back in April where it belongs. ;)

Edited to add: Today isn't the first day of spring in case I confused anyone. As far as I know the first day of spring was Thursday - I just hadn't posted since it's been official.

and why am i STILL up???

One Year Ago

A year ago today I woke up in our room at post lodging, opened the curtains and took my first daytime look at our first duty station. It seems like forever ago & just yesterday all at the same time. So much has changed since then. This place is starting to feel more like home, even though I still don't totally know my way around - I can now find both scrapbook stores! I think I'm pretty settled into this area as well as Army life - it's more than just my husband's career, it really is a lifestyle. I'm not an expert and still have a lot to learn I'm sure but have gotten used to his inconsistent work schedule, uniforms & pt clothes in the laundry, boots by the door and last minute changes to just about everything. Shopping at the PX & commissary is second nature & even when I'm at Wal*Mart I reach for my ID out of habit. More importantly I have met other wives, made friends and have a few people who I think would be there for me if I needed something. I'm so glad that now I do have a few people I can call to meet up for coffee or take our kids to the park. I remember feeling so lonely in that hotel room all month and feeling like I would never make any friends. While I still get homesick and miss my family & friends back in Cali {along with knowing where pretty much everything is} I don't get sad about it as often anymore. Home is where my husband's boots are and so this is it for us, until we get stationed somewhere else. One thing I'm not quite used to is the unpredictable weather. Do you know that we've had just about all four seasons in the last weekish?? Seriously. It snowed one day, felt like spring the next, we had rain, sun, wind, icy cold temps and it's supposed to snow again tonight & tomorrow {90% chance of 3-5 inches}. We've had everything minus the humidity which I am SO not looking forward to. While it was cold outside I was thinking how great it will be when summer is here, I was thinking California summer - so NOT the same as Kennessee summer. But like everything else I'll adjust to that too.

I still remember thinking that military life was so NOT for me. I had planned to stay in California as long as we could afford to live there, continue going to the church I had gone to since I was 17 and be content in my circle of friends & activities. I never imagined raising my kids far away from family because I had grown up with family close by. Funny how we make all of these plans and just know how things will go and then God says something like "well that's a nice idea but this is what I have in store for you". The good thing is He doesn't just turn our lives upside down and leave us hanging. He really has provided me comfort, support, friendship, a new sense of confidence and a new outlook on my life. So be careful about what you say "you will never do" because you just may find yourself right in that place - and it just may be a good thing.

Summary of Events

I haven't posted much this month outside of weekly memes and I'm not really sure why. Not much outside of the normal run of the mill day stuff going on. Here's a general run down:

• Got my first recruit!
• Allergy problems got worse
• Had a looong doctor appointment for the kids' check ups & shots
• Lost my ID card which means no leaving post or shopping on post = BAD!
• Cleaned & organized some of the house while looking for said ID card
• Found my ID card - a kind soul returned it to the commissary where it fell out of my bag
• Rejoiced over avoiding the possible 2+ hour wait at DEERS {where the system shuts down regularly} to get a new ID card
• Got meds for my allergies and now feeling somewhere between jittery & tired
• Got my new camera!
• It snowed!
• Hit another wall during this deployment - missing my man
• Just trying to keep up with things

So it's been busy and mundane all at the same time. The weather warmed up some so I was able to take the kids outside to play today, they both really enjoyed that. Projects around the house are progressing also - more on that in another post. Now that I have my camera I'll be posting pictures as projects get finished - or at some finishing point. I'll leave you with some pictures I've taken of the kids over the last couple of days. Funny how it goes from a winter wonderland to almost spring in just a day. Thanks for visiting!

SMARTish

I haven't been able to stay focused this week or I've focused too much - I can't decide. I'm feeling very unfocused right now so my apologies in advance. Anyways, I've either been very focused but only on one thing - like for one whole day I'm focused on cleaning the house and I get stuff around the house done but nothing done for my business, personal time or errands. But then other days I keep going from one to another to another without really finishing anything and at the end of the day I'm very tired but it doesn't look like anything is accomplished.

Another example of my focusing issues is this. January's habit was to keep the sink clean throughout the day with emphasis on cleaning it out at night. I did okay. February I decided to start getting my laundry folded right after taking it out of the drier. So this week my sink has been clean. My laundry? Well, there are two loads sitting in the spilling out of the basket on my bed and another in the drier. :sigh:

I think I need a schedule or an assistant or lower expectations. The third would be easier and definitely affordable. An assistant? Ha! But if I had one I can guarantee you they would be doing my shopping, cleaning and errand running. I may even have them write this blog so you sweet people aren't subjected to my endless rambling.

To sum it up, I'm still working on it. All of it, take your pick. Have a SMART week, & I hope it's better focused than mine was. Click on the button above for some SMARTer people and see what they're doing. Thanks for visiting!