Wednesday, November 29, 2006

The Bad, the Good and the Great

Things that make me sad, irritated or worried:

I killed the battery in Bill's truck...again
Having to decorate for Christmas without the help of my husband
Not hearing from Bill for three days
My new insurance bill after adding the SUV
Turning my heat on for the first time this season
Hearing that one of my best friends is moving the opposite direction than we anticipated (North Cacilacky instead of back here)
Receiving restricted numbered phone calls on my cell phone

Things that make me smile:

The strange phenomenon the lead four of us at work (out of maybe ten people tops) to wear almost exactly the same outfit yesterday.
Hearing my kids get excited about Christmas
Finding faces of those I once knew on myspace
The blessing that I actually have heat to turn on
Having that restricted call that came in turn out to be my husband.

My cell phone started to do a little dance in my purse at work today. Amazingly I was actually at my desk, my phone wasn't dead and I heard it. Three things that normally don't happen all at once. I picked it up and almost regretted doing so for fear that I was getting a telemarketing call when I heard Bill's voice for the first time in over two months. TWO months without hearing the voice of the man I'm married to. He set his alarm and got up at 3am to talk to me. He's so awesome. Everyone is peachy keen now. He'll get to talk to the kids a little later today.

Six weeks and counting.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

For all the turkeys out there

Today is a holiday that’s full of good memories, good food and for most, good company. I’ve made countless construction paper turkeys, pilgrim hats and cornucopias. My eldest child is beginning to learn the Hallmark version of the holiday. I’m pretty sure things didn’t start out so peachy keen. A small sliver of my family came over shortly after the Big Ship (ie the Mayflower). I was able to trace my roots and the one part that hails from England, fled for religious freedom from Manchester and floated their happy little selves to Plymouth, Mass somewhere during the 1500’s. Pilgrims? Probably not. Ironically, Bill has quite a bit of Cherokee in his DNA so a cute story would be that a Pilgrim and an Indian met and fell in love and had little Pildian’s. However, that was a long time ago and a very small part of me. Much more of it is filled with crazy Germans, yodeling Swiss and snotty French people from Paris, but I digress.

When Bill and I were first married we had Thanksgiving at our house. Just he and I and my mom. An entire feast for three people. Between 1996 and now, we’ve managed to morph our tradition into traveling an hour and a half northeast and spending the day with dear family friends who couldn’t be more polar opposites than we are. If you’ve been reading for any amount of time, or worse, actually know us, then you’re aware that we are conservative politically and faith is the foundation in our lives. Bill hails from the southern Baptist convention which he broke away from. I’m from one flower child with a rebellious heart and a preacher’s kid who has abandoned his God. I had a confusing childhood. My parents used to cancel each other’s vote out at the polls each year. Eventually, my mom changed her tune and came back to the faith that her grandma introduced her to as a child. This year, my mom and I and my two children will be eating Thanksgiving dinner with her best friends from middle school and their family. They are uber liberal, some agnostic, some atheist, one is a college psychologist, one is a pot smoking PhD student, one is a lesbian with a torrid past, one is from Canada. Ok, I’m just joking about the last one, she is from Canada but…nevermind. My point is, we love these people. They are our family. There is nothing we wouldn’t do for them. When they bring up politics, we hold our ground. They don’t talk about religion. We talk about our babies and the price of gas and what the troops are doing and when the heck are they going to come home? They’ll ask about Bill and tell me to tell him they love him and hope he comes home soon. They’ll give gifts to my kids and we’ll talk about the times we got together when we, the newer parents were all small and how I said I was going to marry one of their boys. If you would have put us in a social setting where we didn’t know each other, we would probably make small talk for five minutes, get an underlying understanding of the other person’s beliefs and move on. But they are family. We are bonded regardless of beliefs or actions.

This is one crazy group and I love them to pieces.

Isn’t that what Thanksgiving is all about? Laying aside our differences and becoming one family? It may not have been such a smooth transaction in the beginning but I’m sure thankful for it now.

God Bless.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Put another candle on my birthday cake

It’s my blogger birthday. I’ve been with my silly little friend for two years now. I had a blog…way back when, before Blogger became a household name. I scrapped that when I couldn’t remember my url. I think I’ll go have some cake and make me a big ole wish.

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. I’m going Christmas shopping tonight!


Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Oh hey, is it already the end of November?

Top ten reasons why I have been ignoring my blog

1. Wild turtles have inhabited the yard and although they keep the grass cut, the droppings are another story.

2. Leah has decided to take some calculus classes and learning along with her has taken all of my internet time.

3. Rocket propelled grenades were misdirected from the military base that faces my back yard and blew up my office.

4. Bill came home early and well, who cares about the computer when your husband is home from deployment.

5. I’ve taken up a new hobby: sculpting play-doh into different famous Michelangelo pieces and I’m looking for a kiln.

6. I’ve taken on a second job as an aesthetician and can’t stop playing with all my new goodies

7. I decided to start my laundry for the first time this year and am just now getting to the bottom of the hamper

8. My girlfriends kidnapped me and took me to the Bahamas for a week where we lounged and drank fruity drinks served by someone named Jacques.

9. Trey is the new Doogie Howser, MD at five years old and I’ve been shooing away the paparazzi and assuring them that just because he is a medical genius before entering kindergarten, does not mean he will eventually come out of the closet. That and the fact that there are no Italian boys named Vinny sneaking into his room.

10. I’ve been in a caffeinated coma for days on end and just found out that I missed another weekend.

Ok, so not one of those statements is true. A few of them would be great but life has taken over my addiction to my outlet. Nothing spectacular. I have a couple of random quotes so if you hate mommy blogs, here’s where you can close your window.

“Are you tired, Leah?” as she rests her baby head on my shoulder.
“No. Leah.” But of course, her name is Leah, not Tired.

“Where are you going, Trey?” as he leaves my side to sit on the other couch.
“I don’t need you anymore.”
“You don’t need me anymore?”
“Nope. BWAHAHAHA.” Hm.. Wonder where he gets his cynicism?
***********************************************************************

I’m waiting for the fall to hit. My fabric pumpkins are out, along with my autumn candles and décor. The weather wants to remain around 80 degrees and will not play nice. Is it so much to ask to wear a sweater on Turkey Day?

Do I decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving like I have since I was married or wait? Bill may or may not be home for Christmas. If he’s not home in time, he’ll be back the second or third week of January and we’ll have Christmas upon his return. I don’t think I could handle greenery and ornaments that have gone missing by the swiping of kitty paws for nearly two months. New Years is normally my day to wipe everything clean. Start fresh. White canvas. We’ll see.

This week, for most, is a light week at work. A lot of folks are traveling tomorrow to be with family, eat too much, relax on Friday or shop, if they’re into self inflicted wounds and just do their thing this weekend. I, however, don’t have the luxury of that schedule. I have even more work than normal and there is no pre-school or babysitting this week. I have to find people to watch my kids so I can race to the finish line tomorrow sometime and hopefully not come in on Friday. Working at a church means that everyone else’s holidays are your busiest times. With any luck, I’ll know whether or not the hubs will be home in time for Santa and I’ll be spreading Christmas cheer around my house instead of trying to find something else to do.

I guess the holiday season is officially upon us. Adam Sandler’s Thanksgiving song was on this morning. Turkey for me and turkey for you…

Friday, November 10, 2006

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Watch Out World, I'm Coming to Save You!

I have a friend who is a nurse and one who is training to become a paramedic. I will never ever ever pursue this as a career because I don't think people who need medical help could deal with the gagging and the faces I would be making in response to the gross things that happen to humans. I am just not the medical type. I'll do medical billing, maybe, if it pays enough but that's about as close as I can get. This decision was carved in stone after numerous stories told about patients and just what was needed to 'fix' them. Yuck.

However, I am a medical genius! Or, I just guessed really well. You decide.

Could you make a good Paramedic?

Paragod

Top notch, you would make a great medic!

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