To My Hero, On Memorial Day

Two years ago today you came home from the first Iraqi war. What a surreal experience. When you left, I was sure I was going to be a widow, left alone to raise our son. You assured me you would be ok. I watched the news every moment I could. Thankfully, Trey was so young he had no idea what was going on when the other daddys on tv, dressed in desert camouflage, talked about the bombs and firefighting going on. Then, Geraldo told the world where you were. Protesters lined the streets. Yellow ribbons were stolen off people's trees. No one can understand what it's like unless you've been there. No husbands were left on our block. No men shopped in the commissary. The streets were eerily empty. All of our husbands were fighting a war and we didn't really understand everything that was happening. On my 27th birthday, Rumsfield announced it was over. Over! You came home a little over a month later and I never thought we'd be visiting this place again.

Trey will tell anyone who asks that his daddy is in Iraq. Leah touches the image of your face when she sees your picture on the wall. Trey tells me all the fun things you two are going to do together when you come home: Ride bikes, get a pumpkin from the patch, wrestle, and share pudding. Leah will have to meet you all over again. By the time you are able to hold her again she will be running whereas she wasn't even crawling when you left. Will you be ready for tea parties and babydolls? Our little lady is growing up. She took her first steps yesterday. She has pink polish on her tiny toes. She has two new teeth and she finally says mama. Trey is growing by leaps and bounds, his speech perfecting and he's becoming such a thoughtful little boy with a silly sense of humor just like someone else I know.

We are doing ok, day by day. It's been three long months and there are still four to go. We are so proud of you and the sacrifice you make for complete strangers, every day. Do people realize you are covered toe to head while the temperatures rise to 100, 120, 130 degrees? While we sit here, comfortable in our living rooms, with family by our side, no threat of suicide bombs, IED's, or random gunfire, no threat punishment or death for worshipping the god we believe is right, driving, walking without a male escort, VOTING. For this, thank you. May we never take for granted the freedoms we have in our country. Our forefathers have worked incredibly hard to give us the luxuries we have. You, are what our children will learn about in school.

Only eighteen weeks left until we are together again. Bill, you are my best friend, my husband, my hero. So, Until Then...

Music Meme

Apologies to Tammy for taking an eternity and a half to fill this thing out.

Ready? Ok, here we go.

1) Total volume of music files on my computer?
I have no idea but it's a whole heckuva lot since Bill loaded almost all of the CD's we own onto the computer so he could make copies to take to Iraq with him. Over 1000, easy.

2) The last CD I bought was?
Toby Keith: Honkeytonk U

3) Song playing right now?
Absolutely nothing, and it's great.

4) Five songs that I listen to a lot or that mean a lot to me
Only 5??? Dream by Fleetwood Mac, Come Away with Me by Norah Jones, Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton, Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac, I Hope You Dance by Leeann Womack, (and of course the opening credits to VeggieTales!)

Parlez-vous le blog?

Can someone please email me and tell me why in the world I can't get my comments to come up anymore? The silence is killing me!

See for Yourself

If you're wondering what things look like over in Iraq, be sure to check out this page. Of course, I can't personally say, but my husband sure can. Decide for yourself if the media is giving you an acurate picture while silmultaneously smearing our President.

Pamper Me

Tonight I was able to get away for a couple of hours. I dropped my babies off at a friend's house and headed off to one of those get togethers. Yes, I went to a Pampered Chef party. I was a virgin to the actual demo. I've bought things from the company before but have never seen the gizmos up close and personal. Being a consultant for another company myself, I know how to make you think you need certain things even when they're not completely necessary and let you know why you should pay more for them. The consultant did a good job of that. However, she didn't fool me! Yes, her things were cool. Yes, I could picture using them. Yes, they looked like they were better quality than what I had but I'm not about to reoutfit my kitchen. I bought three things and my total was less than $40! I got this since Pfaltzgraff doesn't carry one that matches my dishes, this handy dandy soap pump for the boy. Trey has a foaming hand soap bottle in his bathroom which is great since three year olds don't really know what a little bit means, but it's $5 and I can fill this one with any kind of liquid soap, forever. Granted, it won't have a cute cartoon character on it and smell like sugar induced fruit, but he'll get over it. Lastly, I got this. I have one of their cookbooks already and I LOVE it. I don't think I would have cared if the lady was trying to sell me encyclopedias from 1963. I was just happy to be out.

The hostess of the get-together is a former Head Start teacher and is going to be opening up her own daycare/preschool. She told our Bible Study group this this morning. As soon as she mentioned that she wasn't going to have just babysitting but a curriculum and that she's got education in teaching preschoolers my wheels started spinning and I thought: "I can go to work!" I haven't worked since September 2001. I was extremely pregnant with Trey and all I wanted to do was be a stay at home mom. I've done that now for three and a half years with an at home job which I may have actually spent more money than made, but the IRS doesn't see it that way. What would I do? What's my interest? What am I skilled in? I have a degree but I haven't put it to use since I graduated college pregnant and already working. Do I really want to leave my children with someone else? Do I really want to work? Who knows. She's not opening up her daycare until September so I have plenty of time to think about that. Trey will be in his new preschool by then and I will only have a month before Bill comes home. When the time is right, God will provide. He always has. I guess the fantasy of putting on nice clothes and talking with adults all day set me sailing into the dream of the workplace. Too bad you have to do actual work!

Whose Life is This?

Now, apparently, it's good to be in the sun, sans sunscreen, at least for a few minutes a week. A new story came out saying that vitamin D helps prevent all kinds of cancers and of course the best way to get it is from the sun. What a great excuse to work on my tan. Ha! My English genetics disagree. It's been pounded into my head from the time I could walk that if I don't use sunscreen every day, my ear, nose or some other body part will fall off due to melanoma. Now I'm being encouraged to bask in sunny weather. Who do I trust? Mom or Yahoo! news?

I did try to get out the other day. The temperatures were a strange 80 degrees. It's usually not this warm until July. I wanted to bring the kids' pool out but there wasn't enough time with the other things I had to do for the day so they played on the swingset (covered in spf 45) while I pushed them and tried to get even sunning for the 30 minutes we were out there. THAT was a good day. It was warm and sunny. The kids were in a good mood. My best friend had just called (a rare occurance since she's never home) and told me they'd be moving down here for two months which probably doesn't make much sense to someone who doesn't know her story...more on Shea, later. I'd just seen my step-sister whom I hadn't seen since 2002 and met her baby, saw my dad and the kids were behaving. Things were going great. That was Saturday.

Then came Sunday. Kids wake up crying. Go downstairs to set them up with breakfast. Try to get ready for church. Kids want to be upstairs with me. Bring them upstairs. Set them in front of the toys that I have to keep in my bathroom since I can't do anything alone and at least the toys keep them from getting into things like, my makeup, the plants on the ledge of my tub and the electrical outlet that's strategically placed just at the right spot for a certain 11 month old someone to reach. Almost finished with my shower when Leah decides she wants to be with me and cries pathetically at the door of the shower which isn't frosted glass, but perfectly clear glass so she can see me and try to convince me to hurry up with her puppy dog eyes and little downturned mouth. Can't get dressed for the baby wants to be held. Try to put my clothes on while holding the baby and Trey describing the differences between boys and girls and who, in his circle of friends, is a boy and who is a girl and what they *ahem* posess. Put the baby down to try to do my makeup. She's clinging to my legs and crying. Put Boobah on the tv in my room for the kids to watch. That lasts for two minutes before we're back to Trey wanting to play with my makeup brushes, necklaces, wondering where daddy's razor is and why his toothbrush is in the drawer instead of the toothbrush holder and Leah crying because she's not physically attached to me. Turn the tv off and take both kids downstairs to watch crazy, psychadelic Boobah so I can finish getting ready in peace. Put Leah in torture chamber aka Pack & Play where she cries for the duration of time it takes me to finish my makeup and hair. As soon as I come down the stairs she's not crying anymore. Ugh! Put shoes on the kids, grab the baby bag and head to the car so we can go to church and someone else can listen to them whine for an hour while I sit with adults where no one is grabbing, poking or drooling on me.

Our pastor did an awesome tribute to our military at the end of the service since most of the military takes off on Memorial Day weekend. He wanted to catch all of us before we headed out to play. There were about 50 of us who came to the front of the church (spouses included) where he said he was grateful for a good majority of our military coming home safely but that a select few had returned to Iraq and then he mentioned me and Bill by name. Normally, this wouldn't seem like a big deal, but we have a congregation of over 1000 split up into three services and we were the only ones our pastor mentioned specifically. It was quite an honor. After that, lots of people came up to give me a hug and look at me in wonderment saying, "I don't know how you do it!" Me either. I blog.

We got home later than normal because of this little honor which meant lunch was later and naps were later. My little Leah, who normally takes a two hour nap in the afternoon, slept for 30 minutes. That's it! When she woke up, Trey thought he could get up. No. Go back to bed. Then I hear him playing with his piggy bank. Every little coin he owns is scattered over his bed. I'm about to lose my marbles. Pick up the money, go to bed, NOW.

The rest of the day was filled with cranky-baby-syndrome and not-listening-to-a-word-you're-saying-preschoolerism which leads to crabby-mommy-syndrome. My poor husband spent our time IM'ing "listening" to me rant about my day. I know he'd rather be here being driven mad by our children than out there in Iraq doing whatever it is that he's doing.

Please, Lord, let Monday be better. In the words of Dory the fish: "Just keep swimmin' just keep swimmin'".

Silly Rabbit

My husband is a loner in the blogger world. If you have a minute, go say hi to him. He would really appreciate it!

Random Ramblings

The bad thing about having a salad for dinner is that when I come home from church and put the kids to bed I'm so hungry that I eat more Ben & Jerry's than anticipated while watching some plastic surgery show in E!

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Trey: Mommy! See the clouds?
Me: Yes Trey, they're very pretty.
Trey: Yeah, I wanna eat them!
Me: You want to eat them?!
Trey: Yeah! (giggle) nyarm nyarm (eating sounds)
Me: Hmm, what do clouds taste like?
Trey: Sheep!

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Isn't it sad that I pulled into the gas station and was happy that gas was *only* $2.33? Come on you smarty-pants scientists, figure out a way to turn salt water into fuel already.

I'm IT!

Beth has tagged me (ok, so it was a few days ago, cut me some slack).
From the prompts below, I have to choose five and finish them, then I have to tag three other people.

If I could be a scientist . . .
If I could be a farmer . . .
If I could be a musician . . .
If I could be a doctor . . .
If I could be a painter . . .
If I could be a gardener . . .
If I could be a missionary . . .
If I could be a chef . . .
If I could be an architect . . .
If I could be a linguist . . .
If I could be a psychologist . . .
If I could be a librarian . . .
If I could be an athlete . . .
If I could be a lawyer . . .
If I could be an inn-keeper . .
If I could be a professor . . .
If I could be a writer . . .
If I could be a llama-rider . . .
If I could be a bonnie pirate . . .
If I could be an astronaut . . .
If I could be a world famous blogger . . .
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world . . .
If I could be married to any current famous political figure . . .

If I could be a painter I would paint local scenes of our beautiful county and sell them to the tourists. They would be of the beaches, the missions, the hillsides and old Spanish architecture, farmland and the valleys. I would live in my flip flops and capris, painting the day away and spending the evenings with my husband at local restaurants and coffee shops. My paintings would be so good that we could afford a bungalow on the beach where we would have fabulous get togethers with our very good friends where we would sit outside under the stars listening to the crashing of the waves upon the shore.

If I could be a gardener I would have beautiful flower gardens intertwined with vegetable beds where I would grow luscious produce to give away to all who desire. There would be no tomatoes in my garden for they are horrible! Besides, the birds always go for them first. I would grow my own loofas 1) to prove to people that loofas are a gourd, no, seriously & 2) that they are environmentally friendly unlike the acrylic ones you buy in the store.

If I could be an architect (which I actually majored in for a while) I would design funky, beautiful homes with bay windows and secret retreats. There would be secret shortcuts from room to room that only the holder of the blueprints knew about and there would be plenty of electrical outlets in every room and each bathroom would have a self cleaning toilet. There would be a spot in the laundry room for two washers and one dryer since the wash always finishes first and all of the counter tops would be six inches higher than standard.

If I could be a bonnie pirate I would sail through the Carribbean to search for mermaids and sunken treasure. I would make all of the men to the physical work while I swim with the dolphins and work on my tan. We would sing, "Yo ho, yo ho a Pirate's Life for Me" while sailing from island to island where we would be greeted by friendly natives with tropical drink in hand.

If I could be an astronaut I would find a way to visit each and every planet in our solar system and a few of our neighbors (always been a dream of mine). I would see what life exists where and bask in the wonder that God has Created.

Now, it's your turn: Bill, Andrea, & Angie. Have fun!

I'm a Believer

My orginal post on Friday talked about how I wasn't superstitious. Then my entry was eaten! So sorry, wicked ways of the world, I shall never taunt you and the powers of Friday the 13th again! Here it is again, rewritten, and therefore probably not as good as the original. Sequels usually aren't. The base closure list came out and thankfully none of the bases we're looking at or are currently at have been hit with a closed/cerrado sign. A lot of the bases in our area come up in discussion for closure annually because some people want to put in another airport. We already have a major airport and lots of little ones all over the county. Get over it! Transportation, I'm $ure, is not their main motivation. We've been in the middle of a base closure once before. It was a little strange knowing we would be forced to move and the military would no longer reside in that city. Our cute little house on the base in Irvine, along with the hundreds of others still sits vacant after 8 years and the city still can't decide what they want to do with them.

I allowed my children to eat cookies for breakfast on Friday. Well, not really but had they asked I probably would have let them. They let me sleep until 8:45! That's almost 9:00!! Do you know what a big deal that is?? I haven't slept that late in 10 1/2 weeks and that's a very long time for someone who loves to sleep. They were so good to me that day. Friday was deemed my big domestic day for my poor, neglected house. They kept themselves entertained for most of the day and I got a lot done. There's still a lot to do but it's much better. I think I need to get a job just so I can hire a cleaning service.

To family and friends: my mom finally got the promotion of Queen of all that is Financial, or in layman's terms, Branch Manager! Yay! Congrats mom, you deserve it. It's about time! Can I have $10?

And about my previous post regarding tourists: didja see the irony? Did you? Shooting tourists. On a Minnesota car. In California. Get it? Get it? Or is that Minnesohhhta, Eh? Don't send me any hate mail. I can make fun of the northern accent. Just a couple of generations ago my dad's side of the family immigrated to the northern U.S. from Canada. Well, if we want to go backwards, they came to Canada from Paris. So even though I'm French, which isn't a good thing to be if you're an American, they were smart enough to get out France! Why they came to the States, I don't know, but I'm glad they did. That's probably more family history than you wanted to know so I'm off to get more coffee before I get ready for church.

Lost

My post is gone....

Sounds Good to Me!

Seen on a bumper of a truck while driving all over Creation today:

"If it's tourist season,
Does that mean we can shoot them?"

The truck had Minnesota plates.

Ins and Outs

I haven't felt inspired to post lately. Things have been humdrum around here which is good I suppose. My birthday was fun. Thanks to all you gals who sent me internet wishes. Judy, you're so fancy schmancy! Trey had his last day of school that day so it was just us girls, my mom, Leah and I. We shopped and ate and shopped some more. All in all a good day. I got flowers from my husband, my sister-in-law, and myself! Yes, I bought myself flowers. I've never done that before, but man, they were gorgeous, and hey, a girl deserves pink roses every once in a while, right?

I had a "tour" of a new preschool. This tour is actually more like an interview. Nothing too structured but they want to make sure your kid isn't going to bite the other ones and stick marbles up the blonde girl's nose. I was very impressed. You cannot even enter the school area, which includes K-8, without a passcode or you have to enter via the church office. The teaching style is based on Montessori curriculum and there's different stations set up throughout the classroom. It isn't strictly three year olds or four year olds. They're all grouped together to learn from each other. They have chapel every Friday and say the pledge each day. I think this is great since there's been so much poo-pooing of our Pledge of Allegiance due to separation of church and state blah blah blah. It's part of our country's heritage. Don't like it? Leave. Ok, done ranting. The school has been there for thirty years and one of the teachers has been there the whole time. There's no revolving door with the staff like there seemed to be at the last place. Trey won't start until July so I have to find a way to entertain him in the meantime.

He had his very first t-ball game on Saturday. Can I just tell you how cute it is to watch three and four year olds try to play this game. They have no concept of what they should do. At one point, three boys were running for the ball including the one who hit it. After the initial reservations about playing, Trey had a great time. I did, however, have to bribe him to finish the game by saying that if he stuck with it I'd take him to Burger King. Promises of french fries do wonders.

BUSTED!!!

My husband loves to watch a silly little "sport" called wrestling, or where he's from, wrasslin'. I don't particularly like this soap opera for men. The acting is bad, the machismo is worse and I don't see a point in watching Barbie walk around in two ounces of bathing suit between matches, or rounds, or innings, or whatever it's called. I mean, honestly, if I were to watch the intense competition between two women putting together a scrapbooking layout and Sven, the SuperSwede were to prance out in a thong, he would be a little irked don't you think? So we had an agreement that he would no longer watch this silly show and I would let him sleep in the house.

Last night I had Blue Collar TV on while Trey and I were eating dinner. They did a spoof on WWE where the characters of the show were dressed up in silly wrestling outfits, yes outfits, and running around in the ring bouncing off those rubber bands that hold the whole thing together. Trey was intrigued and then he said, "Hey! That's daddy's show!" Mmmhmm. We made this no WWE agreement way before Trey even came into the world. You are so busted!

Strange Love, Indeed

Does anyone else find it bizarre that Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise are together? She's younger than I am and I wasn't allowed to watch Top Gun when it came out because it was "too mature". Doesn't that say something??

I Love Jake!

Take the Which Character Am I? Quiz

Perturbed

Why is it that when I put the garbage out the night before, the garbage men don't come around until 1:30pm but when I'm running late, and the kids aren't cooperating, and I haven't even finished my first cup of coffee as I'm running out the door to be at my meeting by nine and am trying to get the garbage to the curb in time, they drive by at 8:50?? They also have this trick where either they, or the green waste people, or the recycle truck has timed it so they will roar by exactly when I'm trying to put the kids down for a nap. It could be 11am, it could be 2:00, it can even be as late as 5pm and inevitably they will drive by. Are these people women? NO! They are men.