Technical Difficulties

We got this new computer to make blogging and other computer activities more convenient, but ever since we got it set up, it's had internet connectivity issues. It's a long boring story and it's still not resolved, but the internet guy is coming Tuesday morning so maybe I'll be more reliably connected after that. It's so frustrating not being able to blog when I want to!

We spent last weekend in our hometown which is always a nice treat. We didn't go for any particular reason and didn't have an agenda. We got our moms early Mother's Day gifts and ate so much delicious food. I hit the gym with my mom both mornings and did a little shopping. It was fun. I was ready for this weekend at home after two weekends away, though! I already cleaned my bathroom and paid bills. Now I am procrastinating on doing a much needed closet purge.

I'm in the middle of a big self-imposed work project. One comment from one student prompted the whole thing. A couple weeks ago I found out that one of my students does not have a toothbrush, but would use one if he had one. That's when my heart shattered for this little boy. It seemed such a simple thing. The irony is that I had a meeting with his mother not a week before where she reported that they had cable and an xbox (all told to me while her cell phone kept going off). There is money for cable television, but not a toothbrush?! Of course.

I marinated on what he told me for a few days. Then I put the word out on FB that I wanted to give all of my students a toothbrush in a goodie bag at the end of the year. That prompted an exchange with my hometown dentist which snowballed into a pile of stuff in my living room. The toothbrushes and toothpaste were donated by my awesome dentist. The rest -- snacks, toys, pencils, stickers, bubbles, chalk -- was purchased by me. The paper goodie bags were snagged from the work room at my school. So, over the next week I will put together about 50 bags full of some really good stuff. They're all even getting a summer speech program to work on at home for some extra practice before next year. It's been a labor of love and I still have a lot to do, but I feel good about it. Maybe one kid will be able to brush his teeth who couldn't before. That's worth it, right? Plus, I can't help but love these crazy kids that I've worked with all year!

Weekend Trip Recap: Firearms and Fur

I am really not a fan of travelling on normal 2-day weekends. Why? Well, because Mondays are always extra rough after being away. It's like I worked straight through the weekend. Not fun!

So, we made it to MeMe's and back. We survived. It wasn't particularly fun, but we both left feeling like we had done something important and nice for someone else. And we left with some new "goodies" to take home.

Brian finally took ownership of two shotguns that had been promised to him for years. They're not worth much and aren't even sentimental, but we have them now. Brian's gun collection is growing. I'll decide later how I feel about that.

What did I make off with? A glass baking dish and a couple rolling pins (Brian's grandmother has quite the extensive collection of rolling pins!). My biggest takeaway, however, has to be the floor-length black FUR COAT that was thrust upon me. Seriously, I didn't have a choice. There is a photo somewhere that Brian took, but I don't have it on the computer yet. It's huge and black and made of dyed rabbit fur. What the heck am I going to do with a fur coat?!?!?! I guess I could dress up as a bear for Halloween?

So, yes, crazy times were had in small-town Texas this weekend. We had two mornings of great hotel breakfast and ate some delicious deep dish pizza at BJ's Brewhouse. I'm choosing not to blame the pizza, but a middle-of-the-night trip to Walmart was required after that to grab some Pepto to calm my stomach. There are few worse things than not feeling well in a place far from home. It wasn't a good night for sleep, but I was feeling better by morning thankfully.

The drive home was easy (probably because Brian did all the driving). We stopped at a Golden Chick and had possibly the best fast food experience ever. You've gotta love small town Texas sometimes! They had hidden candy-filled eggs around the restaurant, offered us free cobbler, and a fellow patron asked if we were from the area or passing through before offering a sincere "if you need anything" offer. The candy in the eggs was even good -- Reese's and Rolos mostly!

There was a threat of rain for most of the drive, so I was glad to be safely home before any of it hit. I took a nap, snacked for dinner, and settled in to watch Game of Thrones with Brian.

It was a good weekend overall. And now, only five weeks of work until summer. Yes, I am totally counting down.

Off to MeMe's

There are two types of grandmothers: sweet and ornery. Brian's grandmother is the latter. She is easily angered and holds grudges. Luckily I (and Brian) have managed to stay on her good side for the last almost-8 years.

Brian and his grandmother at our wedding in 2009.

Neither of us have seen her since our church wedding in 2009. We haven't been to visit her since before Brian joined the Army in 2007. Brian has been pretty good about calling her on a semi-regular basis, but I suppose we're due for some face time.

The thing is, neither of us is particularly looking forward to this trip. I work all day tomorrow and then we have to drive all the way there after that. We'll spend Saturday with her, but we don't have any plans so there's a decent chance most of the day will be spent staring at each other and making semi-awkward small talk.

So this visit may be more obligation than anything else, but it's one of those things you just gotta do. She loves Brian, has been incredibly supportive of his career, and never misses either of our birthdays. I think we owe her.

She also has some impressive collections of random junk. Maybe I can find some cool stuff to bring back with us. Plus, it's never a bad weekend when it is spent in Texas! :)

((Today is my FIL's birthday. Card was sent and received and the necessary phone call was made.))

In closer-to-home news, Brian made a work decision today that pretty much solidified the rest of our time here. There's a better than decent chance that we'll have Deployment #4 under our belts before we PCS. The good news for Brian and his career, though, is that we are officially on the downhill side of this duty station. I know I'll be sad to leave, but I don't necessarily mind. It's an adventure, right?

Christmas 2012

It's been a whirlwind since I got into town on Friday!

As soon as I unloaded the car at my parents' house I ran downtown to visit my Mom and her friends at work. Then it was off to the airport to collect my brother (and avoid the weirdo from high school who was on his flight).

On Saturday my brother and I finally saw the last Twilight movie. We both agreed it was the best one by far. I won't be so ashamed when I add it to my collection. Ha!

On Sunday my brother and I were up and out early to beat the crowds at Target. Our family does "picks" every year (every person has a secret person to buy for at a particular store with a spending limit) and we both had to get our shopping done at Target. I also got a few things for work (I mean, can anyone go into Target and only get what they went in for?) We stopped by the mall after that, but nothing was open yet so we just came home.

Sunday also happened to be Christmas Eve Eve which means we were at Dairy Queen for dinner! We ate bad food and definitely had dessert. Then we drove through Christmas Lane and eventually came home.

Monday (yesterday) was Christmas Eve. We started and ended the day with a walk. In the morning for exercise, at night to look at lights. We ate a traditional late lunch at Red Lobster. We watched The Descendants as a family (thumbs up all around!).

Today has been bittersweet. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with my family, but something - someone - is missing. We were all up by 8:30 and ate a delicious breakfast (french toast and bacon) prepared by my dad. Then we exchanged our "pick" gifts. We all got some great things! Finally we tackled the pile of presents under the tree.

My haul: Phillip Phillips' CD, a Lego set, a Vera Bradley tote, a workout jacket, a "I heart NY" t-shirt, some Hawaiian chocolate, some dark chocolate, more pieces for my nativity (from the in-laws), a western snowman decoration, an Old Navy giftcard, a couple children's books, a stuffed animal, some lottery tickets (all losers), Deadwood: Season 1, and a Jeopardy page-a-day calendar.

Mom just put dinner (baked ziti and garlic bread followed by homemade apple pie) in the oven and we should be eating by 5:30. My brother and I tried to go see Les Mis this afternoon, but every show was sold out until tonight. We didn't want to spend his last night in town at the movies, so we'll both have to see it another time. Bummer! I already put my Lego house together and just finished listening to PP's CD (sounded good!).

I have talked to Brian almost everyday since he left. He is finally in his permanent room and met his roommate. Internet is set up and he can talk to me using his own computer. His room even came with a TV and cable. There were cheese and butter sculptures in the DFAC and he had a good meal. He's doing ok, as am I. We're hanging in there. It's still completely unfair that we have yet to spend two consecutive Christmases together, but that's the Army for ya.

My in-laws are (apparently) celebrating Christmas at my SIL's house. I was not invited. She posted about it on FB. That's how I found out about it. My feelings were hurt. I got sad and down on myself and my mom had to talk me out of it. I just don't understand.

My brother leaves tomorrow. I'll be really sad to see him go. He's my built-in best friend. He's the best shopping partner, too.

Christmas 2012 has come and gone. I can't believe we're already at the end of the year. Where did the time go?

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and were able to enjoy time with loved ones!

Our New Home

With help from my in-laws, everything was moved from house-to-house on Friday. We've been busy since then organizing and unpacking.The kitchen is finished and major progress has been made in the office. We managed to clear out the garage enough to get my car inside and out of the sun/heat. Our bedroom is still a disaster, but it's upstairs so no one sees it. Hopefully I'll have it tackled by this weekend.

I met with my supervisor for work today. We checked out my school, but didn't really find out much. It seems things are a bit chaotic there. Work starts next week, but there are still a lot of things to figure out. I'm trying to keep my obsessive personality in check and let things happen how they happen.

We Bought A Boat

Two weeks ago buying a boat was simply an idea. Something we jokingly talked about. "Wouldn't that be fun?" we would say. At some point, though, we got serious. Brian's parents owed us money and we looked at our finances and started scouring craigslist. We realized we could easily make this happen.

About 10 days later, we were the owners of a 1989 Bayliner Capri. There were a few boats that fell through and we both got really frustrated with the craigslist offerings, but in the end we found one in our hometown that fit the bill. It also worked out that I was down there last week picking up more of my stuff from my parents' house so I could check the boat out with my dad and eventually make the deal.

My in-laws drove it up for us on Saturday and we went straight to the lake.

I was excited to see that it floated!

It even started relatively easily, but smack dab in the middle of the lake it died. I thought we'd have to be towed in or something. After a good 15 minutes she (I like to refer to the boat as a girl...) started up again. Brian drove around for a long time trying to work the old gas through the engine. By the end of the day she was running much better and wasn't trying to die every time we slowed down.

I found that I preferred the back-facing view. Sometimes I get too anxious if I can see what's coming (perceived waves and/or other boats). I'm a much better passenger when I'm clueless.

I even took a turn driving around. I was on boats quite a bit when I was little and I've always been comfortable on them and driving them. It was a perfect day - not too hot and overcast. Rain clouds eventually rolled in so we called it a day before we all got wet.

The boat is Brian's latest hobby. He is always looking up accessories and life jackets and parts on the internet. He loves the outdoors (hiking, camping, etc.) while I'm more of an indoor kinda girl. I think the boat is a good compromise for both of us. I love the water and he loves being active and outside. I'm excited about our boating adventures this summer!

Tuesday

I guess I had nothing to write about in April...

Since I last wrote:

• We moved into our house on post. We love it. We've painted walls and dug up flower beds. There are still way too many boxes to unpack and nothing on the walls, but it'll get there.
• I got a job. Shocking, I know, but it's true. I'm not actually employed yet, but I've been assured the job is mine. I need to submit my application and jump through a couple hoops to get licensed in Oklahoma, but I will have a really honest-to-goodness job in the Fall. It will easily double our income which is hard to imagine.
• We have been shopping around for a boat. I never imagined we would be boat owners. We were owed money from my in-laws and they agreed to apply it toward a boat instead of a motorcycle as originally promised, so here we are. It's a win-win, really. We finally get the money owed to us (it hit the bank today!) and we get a boat to enjoy this summer. We have a lead on one that we'll look at this weekend. Hopefully it's a winner!
• We bought plane tickets for vacation this summer. We are meeting my parents in upstate NY to help them work on their lake house for a week and then heading downstate to visit my extended family. I hate flying, but I can't wait to be in NY again and this time with Brian! I just know we'll have a great time.
• I started making a rag rug for my giant kitchen. So far I've only ripped a bunch of thrift store sheets into 1-in. strips, but it'll become a rug eventually. It's so much cheaper to make one than buy one the size I want. Just call me Martha Stewart.

Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Eve means Red Lobster for lunch with the fam.

The kids (including Keith from 1996).

Our table.

The most memorable moment from lunch was when Mom's purse fell under the table and spilled everywhere. I stealthily slid under the table, returned it all to Mom, and slipped back up. There is photographic evidence of this, but none of them were flattering so I'm not sharing!

Tonight we went to the in-laws' house to exchange gifts and eat dinner. My MIL made really yummy taco soup and cornbread. The soup really hit the spot since I've been nursing a sore throat all day. We opened gifts after that. Brian and I made out pretty good. He got a case for his Kindle. I got a piece for my nativity. He got Homer Simpson PJ pants. I got a beautiful painted ornament of Tiny's face with the years he lived on the back. We both got Nerf guns. (Don't ask!)

Now it's time to get to bed, hope I feel better in the morning, and wait for Santa to swing by.

Merry Christmas Eve!!

2010

2009

R&R, In-Laws, and Looking Ahead

Somehow I blinked and we're a week into June. When and how did that happen?

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. As I've mentioned before, I write to Brian every night which greatly diminishes my motivation to write here as well.

Since I last wrote...

R&R
Brian got to town late on Friday the 13th (of May). We spent the next fifteen days eating, sleeping, watching TV/movies, swimming, vacationing, and just having a wonderful time.

 

IN-LAWS

Brian and I hashed things out with his parents and sister shortly after he got home. I'm not sure what - if anything - it accomplished. I think both Brian and I still have some bitter feelings surrounding his parents accident and how things were handled. Hopefully we'll never be in that position again.

SCHOOL

I completed by first semester of graduate school with a 4.0. I need to get some studying done and get a stupid state exam taken ASAP. Boo! Other than that, I have nothing to worry about until fall.

LOOKING AHEAD

We have about four months left in this deployment which means I need to start sorta thinking about moving back to LA. Next month my parents and I are taking a 3-week vacation to the northeast. Our plans include a week on the lake, a day in Manhattan, visits to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Louisville Slugger Museum, and the Jack Daniels distillery, Wicked tickets, and time with family. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to those 19 days. When we get back it'll be time to head to LA to get a house and move a few things from the storage unit. I swear it feels like I just moved back home. Time has flown by. I'll come home after getting the house to hang out and watch high school football until Brian actually gets home. After that we can start counting down until our big PCS in March of 2012 (more on where we're going at a later date).

Single Digits

That's the countdown until I see Brian again.

It still seems so far away, yet so close at the same time.

I keep catching myself planning the outfit I will wear to the airport. It's worst before I fall asleep.

I'm so ready to touch him, to feel his face under my fingertips.

The last month has been particularly challenging. We have some touchy family drama to confront before we can really start enjoying R&R. I'll be glad when it's over.

Luckily, I'll be pretty busy over the next week so maybe the days will fly by.

I have two finals to tackle. Tomorrow night I'll hang out with my friend Jana. Saturday we're going out for Mother's Day. Early next week I'll clean clean clean. Wednesday Mom and I are getting pedicures and massages (!!!). And then I'll just be waiting for that phone call with the magical flight information.

Three years ago Brian was home for R&R from Iraq. Three whole years. Where did the time go?

I'm Alive

Yeah, I'm still here. Life's been absolutely crazy.

(This gets long...feel free to skip it if you'd rather not read about family drama...)

On the 15th my in-laws were in a motorcycle accident a few hours from town. I found out through the grapevine. When I called my sister-in-law to find out what was going on, she was rude to me. Brian was (understandably) worried and upset...and angry that his sister hadn't called me right away. Both my father- and mother-in-law have been in and out of surgery for the last week. My father-in-law almost lost his foot, broke two bones in his arm, and broke his clavicle and his scapula. He was discharged today, but will need more surgery on his ankle/foot. My mother-in-law had a partially collapsed lung, lacerated liver, and a broken clavicle and scapula. While putting her back together they discovered she had kidney cancer. They refused to tell me what was going on until after they told Brian. They gave me cryptic clues for over 5 hours including "it's not life-threatening." My sister-in-law clued me in after Brian finally called them. When I asked if it had spread or was only in the kidney, she got flustered and put the phone down so she could talk to her dad. I could still hear everything she was saying. It was obvious she either didn't know if it had spread or didn't want to tell me what she did know. She finally came back and told me it was only in the kidney and hadn't spread. Brian had a feeling that they were keeping something from him, so I texted my SIL to ask. She answered "No we have told him everything and he's not out of the loop I promise." (I actually just looked that up on my phone so I would get it just right.) We trusted her when she said this and focused on what was happening to Brian's parents. My FIL had two surgeries on his ankle/foot, one on his arm/wrist and one on his clavicle/scapula. My MIL was slated to have her kidney removed on Wednesday of this past week. I booked a hotel and made plans to go down there Tues-Fri.

Fast forward to Wednesday. I thought my SIL and I were sorta bonding. (We hadn't spoken or seen each other since I moved home almost 6 months ago despite living in the same town.) My MIL made it through surgery and everything looked good on the cancer front. We were all (me, my SIL & BIL, my FIL's cousin and aunt) in my FIL's room waiting for my MIL to return to her room after recovery when my FIL calls me over to his bed and tells me that they basically lied to Brian and me. They have known since Saturday (when the cancer was discovered) that the cancer was also in one of her lungs. It is a small amount of cancer and would likely be easily treated, but still...the cancer was not just in her kidney like we had been told.

I was so shocked that everything sorta slowed down. I looked at my FIL and told him "Brian't going to kill you." He said, "That's fine." He really didn't get it. I looked around and realized that my BIL (SIL's husband) had known this all along. He married into this family just like I did...why did he get to know everything, but Brian and I were left in the dark? I told my FIL that Brian had a feeling something was wrong and I turned to my SIL and told her that she promised that we knew everything. Apparently that was the wrong thing to do because she broke down. She whined about me blaming her (which I was) and then stormed out of the room. My FIL's cousin ran after her. My FIL seemed to think that I was upset because they hadn't told me (which I sorta was), but I was really upset because they lied to their son. He is deployed, working his butt off, worried sick and they thought it was a good idea to lie to him?! I assured my FIL that I was not upset for me. I told him that I had to be Brian's advocate because he is not in the country. He still didn't seem to understand.

I returned to my corner of the room where I frantically tried to get my computer to connect to the hospital internet so I could talk to Brian on Skype. My FIL's cousin returned to the room after consoling my SIL and I asked if she was ok. I got the icy response of "She's just reeealllly tired and reeaaallyy stressed." Um, no shit. But she needs to take responsibility for what she did. I never could get the internet to work, so I had to settle for telling Brian that his father and sister lied to him using the Skype app on my iPhone. It was really annoying, but got the job done.

He was pissed (surprise surprise). He called his sister's phone and made her cry (because he said "What the f*ck" when she answered) and then reamed his dad for a good 10-15 minutes. I sat there minding my own business listening to his dad's side of the conversation. I don't think his dad ever really understood that Brian was mad that they had kept this extra cancer information from him and that Crystal had lied about there being something he didn't know. Brian was annoyed with the way they had treated me and how they refused to tell me anything about the accident or the cancer, but the main issue was how they chose to keep this tid bit from him. His dad just didn't get it. Brian finally got off the phone with him and called me. He sounded so broken hearted. Half his family had lied to him and he didn't know who to trust anymore. All he wanted was reliable information about his beloved mother who had cancer. To him, if they were lying about this, what else could they be lying about? They kept swearing that we knew everything now, but they'd basically said that before and we'd believed them only to find out later that they were full of crap.

After I talked to Brian, I didn't stick around too much longer. I had to get away from them. I think we all calmed down and the next couple days passed without incident. No one ever spoke of the showdown that happened on Wednesday. Brian's mom still doesn't know any of it happened. Things are sorta icy between me and my SIL again. I'm relying mainly on text communication with my MIL (who is doing much better every day). I text or call my SIL when absolutely necessary. My FIL was discharged today and they expect my MIL to be discharged in a few days. They might be home within the week.

Brian and I are in the homestretch to R&R. The deployment was just getting to the point that we were getting on each other's nerves. This accident has brought us back together. We're in sync again. We're more a team now than ever before. I have his father and sister to thank for that.

This month has been crazy. We passed Brian's (and my) 4 year Army anniversary. We're right around the halfway point for this deployment. I can finally count the days (instead of weeks or months) until I see him again. I'm thisclose to finishing this semester of grad school. I have so many things to look forward to in the next few months.

I'm sorry the blog has been slacking. I don't know what it is...maybe my blogging days are numbered. Maybe it's run its course. Or maybe my life is either too interesting or not interesting enough to blog about.

Either way, Happy Easter, Y'all! May you have a wonderfully relaxing Easter Sunday with those you love most.

Down

Nothing quite says "you don't matter" like finding out your in-laws were in a motorcycle accident through the grapevine instead of from your sister-in-law.

They'll both be ok, but they have a lot of broken bones and will be out of commission for quite some time.

I'm hurt and angry and frustrated.
I woke up feeling like I'm hungover, but I haven't had a drop of alcohol.

One day I'm going to break.

What I've Been Up To

I'm finding it terribly difficult to write to Brian every night and still keep up with this blog. I'm not sure what the solution is...or if there even is one.

Yesterday I finally unpacked some of my junk. I've had two sets of plastic drawers for over 7 years and I don't think I've ever cleaned them. They were a little dirty. So, I cleaned them up really good and unpacked some of my clothes. Mainly I got the closet organized and ready for me to bring in and unpack my big box of clothes. I hope it all fits!

Today I had lunch with my MIL. It was about equal parts awkward and comfortable. This is an improvement from the last deployment when I'd say it was at least 75% awkward. Progress!

After lunch I drove straight to the bank and paid off our truck!!! I wrote an abnormally large check and should have the title in hand next month. This means no car payments of any kind anymore! Now if only my pesky student loans would magically disappear...

I've been able to talk to Brian on the computer almost every day since he left. We have a little routine down now. I can't help but compare this deployment to the last one. Every time I make the comparison, I am thankful for how much better we have it this time around. We have fantastic communication and a predictable schedule. I just hope it stays this way.

Also, I got my hair cut yesterday (finally!!). What do ya think? I absolutely love it.

Something Good & Something Annoying

...you can figure out which is which.



I've been a big fat lazy bum today. Wait, I showered....does that count as productive? I haven't done anything for Brian's packages. I haven't unpacked anything. I haven't left the house. I'll start being productive again tomorrow. Sound good?

Also, a big thanks to my MIL for FB messaging me that she made Brian a picture calendar....4 hours after I hit the big "complete order" button on my own calendar. Deep breaths were needed after that message. The poor boy so doesn't need two calendars. Plus, I can't help but wonder what pictures she used. I'll just keep telling myself he'll enjoy mine full of pictures of me, us & the dog more than hers. Then I feel petty. Let the MIL vs. Wife battles begin!! Ha. Really just kidding about that...we all know I always bite my tongue when it comes to the in-laws.

Random Thoughts

1. Stop calling your husband "hubby" in every stupid Facebook status. He has a name.


2. They don't ask "Why?" enough (or ever...) on Lost.*


3. I like all the Twilight books and movies. I'll admit it. I don't, however, own a New Moon shirt. And if I did, I surely wouldn't wear it to the PX. That's only acceptable if you're under the age of 12.









*I started watching Lost on hulu this week. I started at the beginning and have slowly been making my way through the seasons. Sometimes I want to scream WHHHYYYY at my computer.

In-Law Weekend

We had a surprisingly nice weekend with Brian's parents. We went to the zoo. I had an attack of seasonal allergies. We ate at the new food court (without going to Starbucks *gasp*). We had Mexican food followed by Marble Slab. Today we bowled 3 1/2 games and ate bowling alley food. After a dinner of leftovers we took Tiny for a walk.


I was really apprehensive about this visit, but it turned out much better than I could have ever imagined. I'm very grateful that we all had a good, happy weekend.


I actually took a few pictures, but haven't uploaded them to the computer yet. If any are blog-worthy I'll surely post them.


I hope you all had a good weekend!

TGIF

It's just after 10 and I've already run by Starbucks,  picked up a package at the Post Office, hit up Walmart (and scored some pretty flowers!), and stopped by the Commissary. I was super productive this morning! Hopefully it'll carry through the rest of the day.


As I type, my in-laws are on their way here. They should arrive around dinner time.


For the last few weeks the weather here has been fabulous. Sunny and 75. Today I woke up to drizzle and clouds. What is the universe trying to tell me?


Originally I thought we could go out to eat tonight, but then decided to make something here instead. I'm not going all fancy or anything. We're having hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, beans and mashed potatoes. After much searching I found some suitable strawberries this morning so we'll have strawberry shortcakes for dessert. I still need to throw the beans together and make the shortcakes. Did I mention I haven't cleaned one thing in the house yet? Both bathrooms need major attention. The dust needs to be tackled and Tiny's hair needs to be sucked out of the carpet. Oh, and at some point, I need to throw myself in the shower.


I guess I should stop typing, throw on some 80's music and get to cleaning. Doesn't everyone clean while listening to 80's music? Have a great weekend, guys! :)

Ten Things

1. Our new food court opened yesterday. One word: LOVE.


2. I got coffee at Starbucks tonight. I don't drink coffee. I rarely go to Starbucks. But it was there and it was new and it was calling my name.


3. My in-laws are coming to town this weekend. I really need to clean, but I keep putting it off. I've known these people for almost 4 years and I still don't feel totally comfortable around them. Please tell me I'm not alone in feeling this way.


4. Anyone watching American Idol? I'm rooting for Lee DeWyze.


5. Glee and Vampire Diaries: my guilty pleasures every week.


6. I feel so sorry for poor little 5 year olds that still haven't learned their letters and numbers.


7. I just realized that I only have a couple weeks before Brian takes off for some school somewhere. I'll be here alone for most of it. Boo!


8. Still SO excited about Disney World.


9. I need book recommendations. I'm halfway through the last book I have on hand to read. A library excursion might be in order before week's end. Let me know if you've read any good books lately! (Hopefully I can find them at my sorta sad library.)


10. April is flying by.

Let The Marathon Weekend Begin!

Today:
1. Pack.
2. Wait for Brian to get off work.
3. Hit the road by 6 (hopefully).
4. Drive. A lot.


Tomorrow:
1. Arrive in the wee hours in Hometown, TX.
2. Sleep.
3. Exercise maybe?
4. Run an errand or two. (I melted my fav. spatula this week. Oops. Need to buy a replacement.)
5. Shower & get ready.
6. SIL wedding at 5:15. Still not sure if I need to be there early or not.
7. Reception.
8. Crash.


Sunday:
1. Wake up early.
2. Drive another 8 hours back to LA.
3. Wonder where our weekend went.


Wish me (and my sanity) luck.

A Look Back: Welcome Home Ceremony 1/2/09

I don't want to trust my fragile mind to remember that day forever, so I'll write it down instead.

Before this ceremony, my favorite memory was picking up B from the airport for his R&R in May. Of course, I have fond memories of many things that happened before that, but I can play the airport scene over and over in my mind and I never get tired of it. It could have been in a movie. That's a story for another day, however. Now, my favorite memory is the entire welcome home ceremony. I know that this will not be my last welcome home ceremony, but this was my first and I went into it rather blindly. Ok, the story:

Friday, January 2, 2009.

My in-laws (FIL, MIL, & SIL) had arrived from TX the night before. When we went to sleep the official time for the ceremony was 1:15pm. By morning, the time had changed to 2:45pm. Guess we had another hour and a half to kill that afternoon. We all showered, got dressed, ate breakfast and then lunch. Well, I didn't really eat much for lunch besides graham cracker sticks. I had purposely been avoiding the thought of B coming home in my mind. I had no idea what to expect. I was afraid he had changed or I had changed or that we wouldn't be the same together anymore. I had also learned how to live alone for the last year. Would he fit into my life?

B texted me around 2 saying they had just landed in Alexandria. Now, I know that the drive from Alex is one hour and if they were just landing at 2 then there was no way they'd be on time to their 2:45 welcome home ceremony. He offered to text me when they'd been on the road for 30 minutes so we'd know when to head to the ceremony, but I told him not to worry about it. I had been obsessively checking the website with the ceremony times and his had not changed. I told him we'd head up there like we planned and wait as long as we needed to.

We loaded up in both cars around 2:20 and headed up there. I made a point of taking two cars so B would have a good 15 minutes ride to process everything before he had to be social with everyone. The ceremony was taking place in a gym used for youth sports that I had never seen or been inside before. We walked in and it was a gym alright. Along one long wall was about 6 rows of wooden slide out bleachers (ya know the classic gym kind) with 5 rows of chair in from of them. The gym floor had been covered with a big blue tarp thing and there was a large open area in the middle - presumably where the gyms would eventually end up. There were two screens playing a video montage of pictures with music on a continuous loop. Every flag for every state was on display as well as Old Glory herself.

There were people everywhere. Of course there were more women than men and there was an abundance of children of varying ages. We weren't totally sure where to sit so we just headed to the opposite end of the gym from where we came in to be closer to the entrance the guys would come it. We sat on the 3rd row of the wooden bleachers figuring the height would help us see. At 2:45 a guy got on the microphone and made this announcement: "The guys have just left Alexandria. The ceremony will start in one hour." A collective groan rippled through the crowd. We hunkered down for another hour of waiting. Of course I had to pee at one point so all 3 women headed to the luxurious bathroom (HA!) with a whopping two stalls. I used a nice drizzle of hand sanitizer after that little adventure. SIL and I had fun observing others' clothing choices while waiting for the minutes to tick by.

The time somehow went by rather fast. Before I knew it all the guys in uniform were being rounded up for parking lot duty and everyone who was outside was sent inside. (There were alot of people who thought they were so special that they could meet their guy outside and wouldn't have to wait inside like the rest of us.) That's probably when the butterflies started. We thought it was only a matter of moments before they burst through the door. We were wrong. They played a video of the guys getting off the plane in Alexandria. It would have been really cool if all the guys weren't backlit so they were just black blobs. There was no way in heck I would have been able to pick my uniformed husband from anyone else's uniformed husband. It was pretty much torture watching it and there were a TON of guys getting off this plane! It finally ended and the moment I had waited 400 days for was so very close.

I don't even remember now what they said, but this song I'm pretty sure is by Toby Keith started playing and the doors burst open with a flood of sunlight and man after man looking handsome in their ACUs. Everyone immediately jumped up shouting and clapping. I ended up on top of the bleacher in front of me to get me as high as possible without blocking anyone's view behind me. I clapped the entire time even when others had stopped. Every single man in that room deserved my clapping. After a couple rows of guys I leaned to my SIL and asked if I'd missed him cause I hadn't seen him yet. She reassured me that she hadn't seen him yet either. Finally on the 4th row of guys (the rows stretched the length of the gym) my SIL spotted him. Somehow - luckily for us - he ended up on the front row so we could keep our eyes on him the entire time. He wouldn't look up. I sorta knew he wouldn't Some guys were looking around trying to find their families. B's eyes were hidden by his cap the entire time. Everyone was called to attention for the National Anthem and then some guy - couldn't tell ya who he was - gave some speech about something. I assume it was about the guys doing a great job, etc, etc. We had all resumed our seated positions at this point and I was kind of settling in expecting a reasonably long ceremony. I was wrong.

This guy who I don't know who he was talked for maybe a minute or two and then said "This concludes the ceremony. Families, GO FIND YOUR SOLDIER!!" I uttered some profanity, grabbed my SIL's hand and took off. I knew exactly where he had been and it would be a little bit of a treck through people and chairs to get to him. By the time we burst through the first row of chairs, the careful rows of soldiers had collapsed and I was suddenly surrounded by men in uniform. I had a moment of panic. I was afraid I either wouldn't find him or I'd lose him in the sea of camo. SIL spotted him again through the smallest of spaces between people and I beelined for him. He didn't even see me coming. He looked kind of sad and lost. I launched myself on him and locked my arms around his neck for dear life. I didn't care if he wanted to let go. I didn't care who was watching. I wasn't letting go. When I finally released him from my death grip I realized I was crying. Not crazy sobbing crying, just tears slowly streaming down my face. I turned to my SIL and found her crying as well. We then started backtracking trying to find my in-laws that we had quickly left in the dust a few minutes earlier.

We left the gym, took pictures, collected B's bags and headed home. We had a couple days of enjoyable times with his parents and just thoroughly enjoyed each other. Work has started up again for B so I am alone at home for hours a day, but it's ok because I know where he'll be every night - with me.

I'm sure with time my memories of that day will become fuzzier, but I am convince that I will never forget that feeling. There isn't a word to describe it. Those 2 minutes between the order to find our soldier and throwing my arms around his neck were utterly exhilarating and thrilling. Almost - just almost - makes the whole stupid deployment worth it.

S.