It was cold this morning. Really cold. Like 35 degrees. Yes mom I know it is much colder there but when it was 80 on Sunday 35 is cold. I actually had to turn on my heater. Which is a good thing really because it is hard to get in the Christmas spirit when you still have to use the a/c in your car. I think I miss snow. Not driving in it - and certainly not plowing it, but the way it looks on the trees and the grass. I go outside and look at my little palmetto plant by the door and think to myself - yes, it will be a different winter here for sure.
I hope to get a Christmas tree soon. I really want to put it up to really get in the mood. Because I have to say planning this company Christmas party is really sucking the spirit out of it for me. I am almost done shopping for the kids though. Yay! But my kids are the only ones getting presents and they only get a couple. Everyone else gets cookies and love. Sorry guys - it's all I can do.
I just realized I havent listened to any Christmas music this year. Maybe that's the problem. I need me some Peter. He will be in Tennessee in January, it's only 8 hours away. I wonder if I could afford to go. That would be awesome.
Thats all I have now. Love ya!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I am not even going to mention how long it has been since I posted. I would like to say I was too busy, but since I have the Internet at work that's really not much of an excuse. Honestly - it is just pure laziness. Couple that with the fact that I prefer reading to writing and add in my basic hermitness and that equals crappy blogger. :)
Anyway - let's see what has been happening in the world of the Smith's in Georgia. The heat finally broke. I think we were in October before our heat index went down under 100. It has been a very pleasant upper 70's to mid 80's the last week or two with a nip in the mornings that is nice. Maybe sometime in December I will need to turn my heater on. I don't miss driving in the snow but I have to admit that it certainly doesn't feel like it's almost Christmas. It makes it a little harder to get into the spirit of things you know?
Otherwise - life moves on. Josh had stomach surgery a week before Halloween. He was complaining about a stomach and I just kind of brushed it off. I mean - it was just a stomach ache right? But he kept complaining and said it was getting worse and he started crying. Then I realized he didn't have school the next day so he wasn't trying to get out of anything and I felt bas because he looked like he was really hurting so I took him in to Winn. (The on-post hospital, it has a urgent care in the ER) They said his stomach felt full so they did an x-ray, then they did a cat scan. Several hours later the doctor came in and said there might be something but it was probably nothing but just in case they were transferring us to the Bacchus Children's Hospital at Memorial in Savannah since they don't really deal with kids. I said, um ok. So we rode in an ambulance to Savannah at 4:30 in the morning. When we got there the doctor looked at the cat scan and said his intestine was kinked and we need to do surgery. Now. I said sure and 20 minutes later he was in the ER. I guess all the stuff they did when he was a baby left some scar tissue that grew and stretched as he did until it finally kinked that intestine. *sigh* But after 4 days they said go home, and we did, and now he is fine. Except that the scar he had from before is just a little longer and a little crooked because it swerves around his bellybutton. I told him his old scar was the "cut here" line.
Curtis finally got his braces off last week and I finally made my last payment to the orthodontist! Hooray! Now he better floss those suckers religiously!
I went to Oktoberfest in Savannah. It was awesome. They had all these little booths everywhere (which is really why I go to any festival) and I found two awesome artists. One is photographer and the other a painter. Loved them. Aaron found a life size model of Marylin Monroe and loved her too. A little too much according to some photographic evidence I have. :)
Haven't been to the beach in a while and I miss that, but I did get to drive out to South Carolina to see my sister last week! Yay for family moving close! Well...closer. Within driving distance. Ok easy day trip driving distance. For anyone but my father who probably thinks 10000 miles is day trip driving distance. Anyway - you get the picture. And I get to go back in a couple days for Thanksgiving! Yay for turkey (and Adrian's stuffed mushrooms)!
Now if I could only get all the details of our FRG Christmas party settled to everyone's satisfaction that would be great!
Anyway - let's see what has been happening in the world of the Smith's in Georgia. The heat finally broke. I think we were in October before our heat index went down under 100. It has been a very pleasant upper 70's to mid 80's the last week or two with a nip in the mornings that is nice. Maybe sometime in December I will need to turn my heater on. I don't miss driving in the snow but I have to admit that it certainly doesn't feel like it's almost Christmas. It makes it a little harder to get into the spirit of things you know?
Otherwise - life moves on. Josh had stomach surgery a week before Halloween. He was complaining about a stomach and I just kind of brushed it off. I mean - it was just a stomach ache right? But he kept complaining and said it was getting worse and he started crying. Then I realized he didn't have school the next day so he wasn't trying to get out of anything and I felt bas because he looked like he was really hurting so I took him in to Winn. (The on-post hospital, it has a urgent care in the ER) They said his stomach felt full so they did an x-ray, then they did a cat scan. Several hours later the doctor came in and said there might be something but it was probably nothing but just in case they were transferring us to the Bacchus Children's Hospital at Memorial in Savannah since they don't really deal with kids. I said, um ok. So we rode in an ambulance to Savannah at 4:30 in the morning. When we got there the doctor looked at the cat scan and said his intestine was kinked and we need to do surgery. Now. I said sure and 20 minutes later he was in the ER. I guess all the stuff they did when he was a baby left some scar tissue that grew and stretched as he did until it finally kinked that intestine. *sigh* But after 4 days they said go home, and we did, and now he is fine. Except that the scar he had from before is just a little longer and a little crooked because it swerves around his bellybutton. I told him his old scar was the "cut here" line.
Curtis finally got his braces off last week and I finally made my last payment to the orthodontist! Hooray! Now he better floss those suckers religiously!
I went to Oktoberfest in Savannah. It was awesome. They had all these little booths everywhere (which is really why I go to any festival) and I found two awesome artists. One is photographer and the other a painter. Loved them. Aaron found a life size model of Marylin Monroe and loved her too. A little too much according to some photographic evidence I have. :)
Haven't been to the beach in a while and I miss that, but I did get to drive out to South Carolina to see my sister last week! Yay for family moving close! Well...closer. Within driving distance. Ok easy day trip driving distance. For anyone but my father who probably thinks 10000 miles is day trip driving distance. Anyway - you get the picture. And I get to go back in a couple days for Thanksgiving! Yay for turkey (and Adrian's stuffed mushrooms)!
Now if I could only get all the details of our FRG Christmas party settled to everyone's satisfaction that would be great!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Family Update!
It hasn't been a really exciting couple of months. The boys are doing well in school. Josh makes friends as easy as breathing so he is always over at someones house or has someone over at ours. I wish Curtis had it as easy but he doesn't seem to have anyone he hangs out with. I know a lot of it is because there are a million kids Josh's age around here but just not many Curtis' age. I'm not sure what to do about that. He seems fine and says he is but still. He is doing well in classes but missed to cutoff day to try out for football so he wasn't able to do that. I want to sign him up for Tai Kwan Do or something. We will see.
Josh is playing football on post and is playing pretty well. Aaron is coaching and has decided football is a lot harder to coach than baaseball. Especially dealing with the parents. But I told him you just have to realize that that there will always be unhappy parents, just do what you do. As soon as I get his pictures back I will post some.
Aaron is just doing the Army thing. Which turns out to be a lot more standing around and boring breifings that I thought it would be. They all feel that there is a serious lack of training going on. They still dont have their weapons yet and that is worrisome. They deploy in March and they really need their own weapons to train and qualify with before they go. He goes home next week for 11 days so that will be good for him. Also, he will be in Fort Hood in November for 2 weeks to meet the Brigade they are deploying with. That will be a good thing I hope.
And I'm just plugging along. I am working, which is a good thing. My bosses like me and its an interesting place to be. I work at a Nissan dealership as a receptionist. And I sit on my butt all day so I have gained back 20 pounds. I am very dissapointed about that! I need to do something but it is so hard to get up at 5 in the morning to excercise and I just dont have time at night between football, and laundry and dinner etc. I know these are just excuses but still. *sigh*
Georgia is...Georgia. Hot, muggy, and green. We have in the hundreds with out heat index every day for the last couple of months. 95 is hot at home but its almost unbearable here when the heat index goes up to 111 because of the humidity. Blech. But the wildlife is interesting. Daily you see something running around by the house - armadillos, turkeys, foxes, snakes, raccoons,turtles, vultures, and more squirrels than a disney movie. It's all right here - but I would give a lot right now to see my mountains and fish the UM.
Love to all my family out there!
Josh is playing football on post and is playing pretty well. Aaron is coaching and has decided football is a lot harder to coach than baaseball. Especially dealing with the parents. But I told him you just have to realize that that there will always be unhappy parents, just do what you do. As soon as I get his pictures back I will post some.
Aaron is just doing the Army thing. Which turns out to be a lot more standing around and boring breifings that I thought it would be. They all feel that there is a serious lack of training going on. They still dont have their weapons yet and that is worrisome. They deploy in March and they really need their own weapons to train and qualify with before they go. He goes home next week for 11 days so that will be good for him. Also, he will be in Fort Hood in November for 2 weeks to meet the Brigade they are deploying with. That will be a good thing I hope.
And I'm just plugging along. I am working, which is a good thing. My bosses like me and its an interesting place to be. I work at a Nissan dealership as a receptionist. And I sit on my butt all day so I have gained back 20 pounds. I am very dissapointed about that! I need to do something but it is so hard to get up at 5 in the morning to excercise and I just dont have time at night between football, and laundry and dinner etc. I know these are just excuses but still. *sigh*
Georgia is...Georgia. Hot, muggy, and green. We have in the hundreds with out heat index every day for the last couple of months. 95 is hot at home but its almost unbearable here when the heat index goes up to 111 because of the humidity. Blech. But the wildlife is interesting. Daily you see something running around by the house - armadillos, turkeys, foxes, snakes, raccoons,turtles, vultures, and more squirrels than a disney movie. It's all right here - but I would give a lot right now to see my mountains and fish the UM.
Love to all my family out there!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
I don't Care How It's Made
Have you ever been scrolling the channels on T.V. and you get sucked into a show you really don't care about but find strangely compelling so you end up watching the whole thing anyway? Like the show How It's Made. I really don't care how they make chain link or wodden barrels, and yet here I am wasting an hour my life finding out how. In spite of myself, there are a couple of episodes that really were interesting. You quietly say to yourself - huh, how about that? Sometimes it happens with less informative shows like Say Yess to the Dress (now that really IS a waste of 30 minutes)but mostly with shows from the Discovery Networks. Not to be confused with other shows on Discovery that me and my family love like Deadliest Catch and Mythbusters.
Anyway, I am a big fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. Im an escapist-type reader. With some horror and the occasional biography and history thrown in. But I found myself looking at a book the other day that I have walked past several times, mostly because I liked the sound of the title. Cryptonomicon just sounds cool. But its a complicated book dealing with a lot of math. (Crypography is actually a lot of wierd math and probablities and things I really dont understand.) Math has never been my strong point and is not a subject I look for in the topic of my reading material. But I picked it up anyway, and in the bonus materials there is an article the author (Neal Stephenson) wrote for the magazine Wired in 1999. He talks about...well, wires. The original cables that were laid down for morse code - and later used for telephone wire and the evolution of cables for internet and phone and how and where they have to be placed and made to hold all the data, the poltical power struggle of who owns the cables and how precarious the internet (and long distance telephone calls) really are. And of course - how they are made, from then to now.
In spite of myself, it was really fascinating. Things I had never thought of, and if anyone had asked I would have said I really didn't care. It's something we all take for granted, that this whole world wide web is something that is "out there in the ether" and can't be stopped. But destroying one major connection point (like in Alexandria) could be devastaing to any number of countries. Huh, how about that? The best part of it was the author though. He wrote it humor - knowing his audience is a bunch of techno nerds who are way smarter than I am. Here are some of my favorite excerpts.
About one of the early men who tried to solve the problem of seding information along a wire.
About where one line was being installed outside of Hong Kong:
Now there were a lot of fun and interesting things in this article that I would normally never have read. Now I think I need to read the book. Cryptography could be just as fascinating.
Anyway, I am a big fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. Im an escapist-type reader. With some horror and the occasional biography and history thrown in. But I found myself looking at a book the other day that I have walked past several times, mostly because I liked the sound of the title. Cryptonomicon just sounds cool. But its a complicated book dealing with a lot of math. (Crypography is actually a lot of wierd math and probablities and things I really dont understand.) Math has never been my strong point and is not a subject I look for in the topic of my reading material. But I picked it up anyway, and in the bonus materials there is an article the author (Neal Stephenson) wrote for the magazine Wired in 1999. He talks about...well, wires. The original cables that were laid down for morse code - and later used for telephone wire and the evolution of cables for internet and phone and how and where they have to be placed and made to hold all the data, the poltical power struggle of who owns the cables and how precarious the internet (and long distance telephone calls) really are. And of course - how they are made, from then to now.
In spite of myself, it was really fascinating. Things I had never thought of, and if anyone had asked I would have said I really didn't care. It's something we all take for granted, that this whole world wide web is something that is "out there in the ether" and can't be stopped. But destroying one major connection point (like in Alexandria) could be devastaing to any number of countries. Huh, how about that? The best part of it was the author though. He wrote it humor - knowing his audience is a bunch of techno nerds who are way smarter than I am. Here are some of my favorite excerpts.
According to legend,in 1876 the first sounds transmitted down a wire were Alexander Graham Bell saying “Mr. Watson,come here.I want you.”Compared with Morse’s “What hath God wrought!’’this is disappointingly banal— as if Neil Armstrong,setting foot on the moon,had uttered the words:“Buzz,could you toss me that rock hammer?’’It’s as though during the 32 years following Morse’s message,people had become inured to the amazing powers of wire.
About one of the early men who tried to solve the problem of seding information along a wire.
In the Victorian era was an age of superlatives and largerthan-life characters,and as far as that goes,Dr.Wildman Whitehouse fit right in:what Victoria was to monarchs, Dickens to novelists,Burton to explorers,Robert E.Lee to generals,Dr.Wildman Whitehouse was to assholes.He achieved a level of pure accomplishment in this field that the Alfonse D’Amatos of our time can only dream of.The only 19th-century figure who even comes close to him in this department is Custer.
About where one line was being installed outside of Hong Kong:
It’s a hot day,and kids are swimming on the public beach,prudently staying within the line of red buoys marking the antishark net.Handley remarks,offhandedly, that five people have been eaten so far this year.A bulletin board,in English and Chinese,offers advice:“If schooling fish start to congregate in large numbers, please leave the water."
Now there were a lot of fun and interesting things in this article that I would normally never have read. Now I think I need to read the book. Cryptography could be just as fascinating.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Lillith - Blenders - and Time
Ok, so this post is mostly just trying to organize some thoughts that have been floating around my head. I have read several good books lately and like all the good ones they make you think about them for a while. And as I thought about them I start thinking to myself - well what if?? And you reorganise some ideas in your head and those ideas shoot off into tangents. Then they decide to go onto several different hikes and these ones head down the scenic byways while some other ones go straight up and yet others lag behind to chill in the shade. This generally just leads to a crazy mess in my head because they all end up getting hot and tires and losing their hiking buddy and no one can make sense of anything when they all get home.
You know?
So anyway - I have been thinking about mythical creatures. Vampires, angels, and everything in between. Yes I am a Twilight fan. I think because she made them new. I know a lot of people hated them for that very reason but personally I liked it. So there. Another series I read was called the Mortal Instruments trilogy. The good guys carry the blood of angels and are the "police" of the "downworlders". Which are the vampires, werewolves, fairies, witches, warlocks, etc. All of which carry the blood of demons. This was a great trilogy and I recommend it. What was interesting in all my readings of various books involving the mythical and night creatures was how many references to Lilith there were. Even in C.S. Lewis' books he mentions her as Adams first wife.
Now this is the first I have heard about it. So I looked it up and there is oodles of mythology about her. Apparently she was not as submissive and meek as Eve. Also it seems she was very strong and somewhat powerful (power of the angels its hinted). God deemed her unsuitable and cast her out of the garden. Now her children from Adam were also powerful, but cursed because of their parentage. Mostly its only vampires who are associated as children of Lilith, but in other stories all magical creatures and faries are descended from her. Hmmm. Now that time in Eden and the immediate aftermath would make an interesting story yes? And with vague biblical references (and really what other kind are there?) to her, a nod from C.S. Lewis, is there any kernel of truth to a story of Adams other wife??? Hmmmm.
Of course, I am not sure that I buy that reason for Lilith for being unsuitable. Or at least that being the only reason. I just don't picture Eve as being meek and submissive. She had to have a lot of courage and strength and, well, gumption to do all she had to in her life. If you think about all of those "night children" including the faeiries, maybe especially the faeiries, they all have a touch of capriciousness and cruelty. Some more than others. This is attributed to Lillith which seems like a much likelier reason for her being unsuitable for Adam. Humanity needed less power and more compassion? I know I would prefer Eve for a mother.
Another fun topic for me lately has been time. The Hourglass Door started a very fun new story for me about what time is and does. Eric was a fun story that had a section where they travelled in time that is forming a story in my head greatly influenced by my husband. Time I decided is NOT like a river. Thats too linear. Time is whirlpool, every eddy touches the other circling endlessly around. A rock thrown in one eddy will not disrupt the whirlpool but will cause ripples radiating out the edge of that eddy and into the adjacent ones causing unknown problems in both the past and future from that moment! Chaos! Sounds fun! I mentioned this to my mother and she told me it sounded more like a blender. Swirling around, faster at the bottom, and if you push the wrong button everything shoots out the top into squared space making a complete mess of things. I like that too. I think that needs to be a conversation in my story.
Anway this is way too long but I needed to get it out of my head. :)
You know?
So anyway - I have been thinking about mythical creatures. Vampires, angels, and everything in between. Yes I am a Twilight fan. I think because she made them new. I know a lot of people hated them for that very reason but personally I liked it. So there. Another series I read was called the Mortal Instruments trilogy. The good guys carry the blood of angels and are the "police" of the "downworlders". Which are the vampires, werewolves, fairies, witches, warlocks, etc. All of which carry the blood of demons. This was a great trilogy and I recommend it. What was interesting in all my readings of various books involving the mythical and night creatures was how many references to Lilith there were. Even in C.S. Lewis' books he mentions her as Adams first wife.
Now this is the first I have heard about it. So I looked it up and there is oodles of mythology about her. Apparently she was not as submissive and meek as Eve. Also it seems she was very strong and somewhat powerful (power of the angels its hinted). God deemed her unsuitable and cast her out of the garden. Now her children from Adam were also powerful, but cursed because of their parentage. Mostly its only vampires who are associated as children of Lilith, but in other stories all magical creatures and faries are descended from her. Hmmm. Now that time in Eden and the immediate aftermath would make an interesting story yes? And with vague biblical references (and really what other kind are there?) to her, a nod from C.S. Lewis, is there any kernel of truth to a story of Adams other wife??? Hmmmm.
Of course, I am not sure that I buy that reason for Lilith for being unsuitable. Or at least that being the only reason. I just don't picture Eve as being meek and submissive. She had to have a lot of courage and strength and, well, gumption to do all she had to in her life. If you think about all of those "night children" including the faeiries, maybe especially the faeiries, they all have a touch of capriciousness and cruelty. Some more than others. This is attributed to Lillith which seems like a much likelier reason for her being unsuitable for Adam. Humanity needed less power and more compassion? I know I would prefer Eve for a mother.
Another fun topic for me lately has been time. The Hourglass Door started a very fun new story for me about what time is and does. Eric was a fun story that had a section where they travelled in time that is forming a story in my head greatly influenced by my husband. Time I decided is NOT like a river. Thats too linear. Time is whirlpool, every eddy touches the other circling endlessly around. A rock thrown in one eddy will not disrupt the whirlpool but will cause ripples radiating out the edge of that eddy and into the adjacent ones causing unknown problems in both the past and future from that moment! Chaos! Sounds fun! I mentioned this to my mother and she told me it sounded more like a blender. Swirling around, faster at the bottom, and if you push the wrong button everything shoots out the top into squared space making a complete mess of things. I like that too. I think that needs to be a conversation in my story.
Anway this is way too long but I needed to get it out of my head. :)
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Why I love Grace
I have been watching a TV show on TNT lately called Saving Grace. I love it. I really really love it. I know it is rated TVM. I know it is not appropriate for my kids, maybe not my mom either (even though I think she would like it and maybe I will get her to watch it sometime anyway) but I still love it. Here is why.
EARL
Earl is an angel. He shows himself to Grace in the first episode. He looks like a middle aged 50 something guy. He always has a new T-shirt on under an unbuttoned flannel shirt. His hair always needs to be brushed and he is kind of a red-neck. I think he is perfect. I think if God is going to send an angel to someone he will send them in a form they will understand and accept. He is kind and compassionate and dedicated. He is a "last chance" angel. His job is to get Grace to come to God, accept him and help her to help herself. I think its interesting that there is no particular name or form of God that is "better" for him. Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Islam - Earl doesn't care. In fact when one of the other characters converts to Islam he is surprised Earl is still his angel, thinking he was only a Christian angel. Earl just laughed and said " You humans - thinking a name makes any difference." I loved that. He cant force her against her will but he sure messes with her and pushes that as far as he can. But he loves her, every good thing about her. And he sees good things in everything about her that others might not. He worries about her and cares for her. If I were to have an angel looking out for me - I would want it to be Earl.
GRACE
Grace is a mess. A serious crazy mess. She is a homicide detective with the Oklahoma City Police Department. Her sister was killed in the bombing. Her nephew was 10 days old at the time. She has dedicated a lot of her time to her nephew. She loves him with a crazy protective passion. I think that's the word that really describes her. Passion. She puts it into everything. Her work, her dog, her nephew, and just her life. Everything she does she is determined to do to the fullest. She is a loyal friend and a fearsome enemy. Her laugh and her happiness is infectious, her anger and stubbornness would shame a bull. She drinks way too much and sleeps with everyone. And yeah I mean pretty much every guy she meets. She has a really hard time believing in any type of God. This is a little understandable given that starting at age 9 to 12 she was repeatedly sexually molested and raped by her family priest. Even with her drinking and her sex life though - there is still a feel of trying to find as much zest in life as she possibly can. Her pain is real and you feel it with her as are her joys. She is a strong and capable person that those who know her cant help but love even when she makes that difficult. I admire her and all her quirkiness. I want to smack her and tell her to stop being such a stubborn fool. I want to hold her and tell her its going to be ok and I want to go dancing with her because I know we will have a damn good time.
I know with all her faults I still love her and still think she is strong. I like that she doesn't have to be perfect to be strong. I love everything Earl says to her, everything he tells her about whats really important. These are a few of the reasons I love Grace.
EARL
Earl is an angel. He shows himself to Grace in the first episode. He looks like a middle aged 50 something guy. He always has a new T-shirt on under an unbuttoned flannel shirt. His hair always needs to be brushed and he is kind of a red-neck. I think he is perfect. I think if God is going to send an angel to someone he will send them in a form they will understand and accept. He is kind and compassionate and dedicated. He is a "last chance" angel. His job is to get Grace to come to God, accept him and help her to help herself. I think its interesting that there is no particular name or form of God that is "better" for him. Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Islam - Earl doesn't care. In fact when one of the other characters converts to Islam he is surprised Earl is still his angel, thinking he was only a Christian angel. Earl just laughed and said " You humans - thinking a name makes any difference." I loved that. He cant force her against her will but he sure messes with her and pushes that as far as he can. But he loves her, every good thing about her. And he sees good things in everything about her that others might not. He worries about her and cares for her. If I were to have an angel looking out for me - I would want it to be Earl.
GRACE
Grace is a mess. A serious crazy mess. She is a homicide detective with the Oklahoma City Police Department. Her sister was killed in the bombing. Her nephew was 10 days old at the time. She has dedicated a lot of her time to her nephew. She loves him with a crazy protective passion. I think that's the word that really describes her. Passion. She puts it into everything. Her work, her dog, her nephew, and just her life. Everything she does she is determined to do to the fullest. She is a loyal friend and a fearsome enemy. Her laugh and her happiness is infectious, her anger and stubbornness would shame a bull. She drinks way too much and sleeps with everyone. And yeah I mean pretty much every guy she meets. She has a really hard time believing in any type of God. This is a little understandable given that starting at age 9 to 12 she was repeatedly sexually molested and raped by her family priest. Even with her drinking and her sex life though - there is still a feel of trying to find as much zest in life as she possibly can. Her pain is real and you feel it with her as are her joys. She is a strong and capable person that those who know her cant help but love even when she makes that difficult. I admire her and all her quirkiness. I want to smack her and tell her to stop being such a stubborn fool. I want to hold her and tell her its going to be ok and I want to go dancing with her because I know we will have a damn good time.
I know with all her faults I still love her and still think she is strong. I like that she doesn't have to be perfect to be strong. I love everything Earl says to her, everything he tells her about whats really important. These are a few of the reasons I love Grace.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Moving Part 2
Well after they sent him on his way - I went home to figure out the best way to move. Now that I finally had orders I could call and set up the mover people and he could set up housing. We decided to live on post. It was most cost effective and we felt it would put us closer to anything we might need with the Army. He was having problems getting some things done though so I flew to Georgia to help him get it settled. We found a house, found the kids schools and got the movers settled so after a couple days there (and a visit to the beach) I went back home. But not to pack. The army was in charge of that. Which is weird. Its very different to see someone packing your things while you just sit there and watch. My dad and some very nice ward members helped me find a car and get it running so that it would get us to Georgia. My dad was awesome and said he would go with me. Which I was grateful for since he did almost all the driving. And you know - the drive was nice. A lot of sameness. Here are some things I learned between my bus trip and my drive to Georgia. Wyoming and Kansas are a lot of nothing. And I mean nothing. Oklahoma is pretty. Tennesee all the way to Georgia is pretty but most of it felt like driving through a long green tunnel.
Anyway my dad was awesome, we listened to a couple of book by Terry Pratchett which I highly reccommend. It was hard to say goodbye. We got to our home and our furniture was supposed to get there about 6 days later. So we borrowed some sleeping mats and dishes. Finished all the paperwork to get the kids in school. And saw about settling in. It was a little weird to live with my husband again - but it was in a completely new place where we both had to get used to new routines so it was easier to settle in than I thought. Actually I think it has been easier for me than for him. The kids are doing pretty well. Curtis hates the dress code at school but he's hanging inthere, :) Josh is playing baseball and Aaron is coaching his team.
It will take some time to get used to being sticky and sweaty all the time and the rain actually makes it hotter rather than cools it down. There is not a lot to do in town or on the post but if you are willing to drive for a bit there is lots of fun stuff to see and do. The beach is only about 45 minutes away and there is a little science center with a little aquarium in it. There is a sea turtle refuge on Jekyll Island, an awesome zoo, dolphin tours (which someday we will go on), not to mention fishing and alligator watching. Usually the alligatoirs ruin your fishing though. :)The wildlife is interesting, on our street we have frogs, turtles, armadillos, red foxes and deer. There is probably more but thats what we have seen so far. It is pretty here. I miss my family of course - we all do - but I think we will be just fine. :)
Anyway my dad was awesome, we listened to a couple of book by Terry Pratchett which I highly reccommend. It was hard to say goodbye. We got to our home and our furniture was supposed to get there about 6 days later. So we borrowed some sleeping mats and dishes. Finished all the paperwork to get the kids in school. And saw about settling in. It was a little weird to live with my husband again - but it was in a completely new place where we both had to get used to new routines so it was easier to settle in than I thought. Actually I think it has been easier for me than for him. The kids are doing pretty well. Curtis hates the dress code at school but he's hanging inthere, :) Josh is playing baseball and Aaron is coaching his team.
It will take some time to get used to being sticky and sweaty all the time and the rain actually makes it hotter rather than cools it down. There is not a lot to do in town or on the post but if you are willing to drive for a bit there is lots of fun stuff to see and do. The beach is only about 45 minutes away and there is a little science center with a little aquarium in it. There is a sea turtle refuge on Jekyll Island, an awesome zoo, dolphin tours (which someday we will go on), not to mention fishing and alligator watching. Usually the alligatoirs ruin your fishing though. :)The wildlife is interesting, on our street we have frogs, turtles, armadillos, red foxes and deer. There is probably more but thats what we have seen so far. It is pretty here. I miss my family of course - we all do - but I think we will be just fine. :)
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Moving - Part 1
As usual, I haven't posted for forever. I've been busy so suck it up! :) Well, after my husband came home for Christmas (which was awesome) I had to send him back. But I was on the last half of the separation so I was good. There were things to plan for, like moving and deciding when and where we would live and all of that. We still didn't know which post we would be stationed at. I personally was really hoping for Italy. I mean really - how cool would that have been? But of course that didn't happen. Eventually we found out we would be moving to Georgia! I wasn't really sure how I felt about that. I'm still not. I didn't know anything about Georgia except my gran gran was from there. And it was hot and sticky. I saw a Survivor Man episode where he was surviving in the swamps of Georgia and that didn't make me feel much better. But hey - it's where we were headed so lets make the best of it! I know my family struggled with it. It was suddenly a little more real. The kids were divided. Josh was happy because we would be close to Jacksonville (where his favorite football team is from) and by the ocean. He decided he wanted to learn how to surf. Curtis was not so thrilled. Im not sure anywhere we went he would have been though. He just wasn't thrilled about moving at all. Much less someplace that has all kinds of "beware of alligator" signs up.
The hard part was the waiting. I knew where I was going but we didn't have written orders yet so I couldn't arrange for housing or travel or anything until we had those. Grrrr. One of the lessons of the military. Hurry up and wait. Dont make plans - or at least make very flexible ones. Very flexible - you know like those girls in Cirque de Soleil who canmake themselves into little pretzel boxes. Anyway - it wasn't bad. I mean I didn't have to pack or anything. The army was in charge of that. Which was really wierd.
Before long (and I never thought I would feel like it was going by quickly but man those last few weeks flew!) it was time for Graduation Day!! I bought greyhound tickets because they were a couple of hundred bucks cheaper than flying. Wow that was the wrong choice! I don't recommend it! Ever! 41 hours on a bus REALLY sucks. But hey - lessons learned. I finally got to St Roberts (the little town around Fort Leonard Wood) and checked in to my motel. I was so excited to see my husband the next day I thought I would never sleep. And promptly zonked out. :) Then I got to go pick him up! For 6 whole hours!! I didn't think I could look at him enough. It was awesome. I had to take him back that night for curfew. The next day was graduation! It was really impressive. Really. Then they put him on a bus to Georgia. Right after. I mean, within 45 minutes he was riding away. I just needed to go home and see what we could arrange for us to meet him!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Have you ever had that dream?
You know what I mean.
I have very vivid, colorful, and strangely bizarre dreams. I always have. So I am used to it. In one of my most vivid dreams as a kid I was in the middle of a war. The bad guys were Nazi toy soldiers. They had these giant lunch boxes that moved like tanks and would open up to let out killer Hi-C fruit drink boxes and Christmas trees with Uzi's. We had robots that would transform into pizzas and neener neener bombs. Seriously, thats what they would say when we dropped them on an enemy "Neener Neener Neener!" I know - but I was 14, everything was weird. :)
This morning Josh woke up and said "Mom, I had a really weird dream." I just laughed.I said I know son, I have them a lot. What was your strange dream about?
He tells me he dreamed he was the kings heir but the bad guys were trying to kill him and threw him in the dungeon of a castle. The castle my parents house, and the dungeon was the basement. Which is ironic because that's what we always called it. Anyway - he said the only way to be free was to try to make it to the throne room to talk to the king. The throne was the family room and the king was my dad who was playing Apples to Apples with the knights. Well the only way out of the dungeon was a tunnel through my brother Alex's room. Somehow the tunnel was about 50 miles long. He said he kept thinking to himself "this is stupid - his wall is only like 2 inches!" I laughed and said honey, dreams almost never make sense. He said he woke up before he got there, but that he thought it was weird that all the bad guys and soldiers guarding him were the puppets from Labyrinth. Oh well maybe we wont watch that before bed. :)
"Have you ever dreamed that were standing on top of a pyramid wearing sort of sun-god robes surrounded by thousands of naked women throwing little pickles at you?"
"No"
"Why am I the only person who has that dream?"
- Real Genius
I have very vivid, colorful, and strangely bizarre dreams. I always have. So I am used to it. In one of my most vivid dreams as a kid I was in the middle of a war. The bad guys were Nazi toy soldiers. They had these giant lunch boxes that moved like tanks and would open up to let out killer Hi-C fruit drink boxes and Christmas trees with Uzi's. We had robots that would transform into pizzas and neener neener bombs. Seriously, thats what they would say when we dropped them on an enemy "Neener Neener Neener!" I know - but I was 14, everything was weird. :)
This morning Josh woke up and said "Mom, I had a really weird dream." I just laughed.I said I know son, I have them a lot. What was your strange dream about?
He tells me he dreamed he was the kings heir but the bad guys were trying to kill him and threw him in the dungeon of a castle. The castle my parents house, and the dungeon was the basement. Which is ironic because that's what we always called it. Anyway - he said the only way to be free was to try to make it to the throne room to talk to the king. The throne was the family room and the king was my dad who was playing Apples to Apples with the knights. Well the only way out of the dungeon was a tunnel through my brother Alex's room. Somehow the tunnel was about 50 miles long. He said he kept thinking to himself "this is stupid - his wall is only like 2 inches!" I laughed and said honey, dreams almost never make sense. He said he woke up before he got there, but that he thought it was weird that all the bad guys and soldiers guarding him were the puppets from Labyrinth. Oh well maybe we wont watch that before bed. :)
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Holiday Catch up!
It's been busy!
It has been different with my husband gone. I knew it would be but it's been interesting to see HOW it's been different. I am used to him going out of town for a week or two at work, but this was different. It took a week or two to really miss him because of that - but man, miss him I did. Mostly his voice. I missed talking to him. The mail can be slow so sometimes when I ask him a question it is 8 or 9 days later before I get an answer. Sometimes I will call my voicemail on the home phone just to listen to him talk. Is that pathetic? I do not miss the constant text messages, just his voice. :) I would lay in bed sometimes staring at his side of the bed thinking of how much I love him. That whole "absence makes the heart grow fonder" thing? It's true. Mostly because I can sit and dwell on all the things I love without him there to irritate me and ruin it. :) But I do love him, more than I ever thought I could. And I miss him terribly. More than I thought I could. And I can't tell him that. I can't tell him that I miss him so much it hurts. I can't tell him that in the shower sometimes I cry for no reason. All I can say is that I love him and everything is fine. Even if it wasn't fine I say it is. He can't worry about us right now, he has to focus on what he is doing.
And man oh man, the stuff he is doing. He came home for Christmas on December 18th. YAY!! I was giddy as a schoolgirl to go see him! I just hugged him and hugged him. And brought him a pepsi and king size snickers bar. :) He looked so good in his uniform! Well he just looked good! We picked up the kids from school, went to dinner, and then went to go see Avatar. (which by the way was awesome! The story is ok, the scenery is beautiful.) It's what Josh wanted to do since it was his birthday. The next day was his party at the nickelcade. It was a fun cheap party. And best of all - I didn't have to clean up! Then there was a major fight with my worthless ex-husband that I wont go into. Let me just emphasize the worthless part. Ok - moving on! We pretty much did a lot of nothing, and it was really nice. We visited family, went to dinner, snuggled on the couch. It was great. My ex had the kids from the party until Christmas Day, so we went to the Christmas Party at my moms without them. It was still fun to see all my family. We traded cookies! Except for Gennee and Adrian. Adrian made this to die for chocolate caramel pretzel thing.MMMMMMM! He is now ordered to make me more for my birthday every year. :)We also went and picked the kids presents up. They were awesome! We found some people cleaning out their basements and found a full size pool table, air hockey table, and foosball table for about 100 bucks. How awesome is that?
So Christmas morning I went and picked up the kids at noon, and had a family day! First my mom's then his. It was 11 by the time we got home so the 26th was Christmas part 2! I wanted a Christmas morning at my house so thats what we did. It was great! And we went to the Jackson's for dinner, Nate and Kimber and her sister and her sister's boyfriend came over after dinner and played rockband. Man you haven't seen anything until you have watched Kimber play rockband! She is totally invited to all future rockband events!
Then it was just more nothing. Ahhhhh. I love that. Then came New Years. I took Aaron to Joe and Meshayla's to hang out with his girlfriend Amber, and I took the kids to my sisters where we played games, and rockband, and watched most of Wolverine. Still need to see the end though. Relaxed New Years Day and took him back to the airport at 8am Jan 2nd. *sigh* It was different to say goodbye to him this time. I didn't get enough time. It was like lethargy set in. I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself all day. And now - I miss his voice again. I know he graduates in 2 months and then I can go see him. It's not any longer than he has already been gone. If he gets deployed soon (which is most likely) then he will be gone a lot longer than 2 months and I really just need to suck it up. Its part of being an army wife. I know that.And I am ok - I really am - it's just ....I don't know. It's all good. I just wish for that good night phone call you know? Even a 30 second one. Just a hey babe - everything is fine, I love you kiss the kids, bye. Even just that. But if wishes were fishes. Anyway, not that anyone really wanted my holiday play by play - there you go anyway. :)
Love you all!
It has been different with my husband gone. I knew it would be but it's been interesting to see HOW it's been different. I am used to him going out of town for a week or two at work, but this was different. It took a week or two to really miss him because of that - but man, miss him I did. Mostly his voice. I missed talking to him. The mail can be slow so sometimes when I ask him a question it is 8 or 9 days later before I get an answer. Sometimes I will call my voicemail on the home phone just to listen to him talk. Is that pathetic? I do not miss the constant text messages, just his voice. :) I would lay in bed sometimes staring at his side of the bed thinking of how much I love him. That whole "absence makes the heart grow fonder" thing? It's true. Mostly because I can sit and dwell on all the things I love without him there to irritate me and ruin it. :) But I do love him, more than I ever thought I could. And I miss him terribly. More than I thought I could. And I can't tell him that. I can't tell him that I miss him so much it hurts. I can't tell him that in the shower sometimes I cry for no reason. All I can say is that I love him and everything is fine. Even if it wasn't fine I say it is. He can't worry about us right now, he has to focus on what he is doing.
And man oh man, the stuff he is doing. He came home for Christmas on December 18th. YAY!! I was giddy as a schoolgirl to go see him! I just hugged him and hugged him. And brought him a pepsi and king size snickers bar. :) He looked so good in his uniform! Well he just looked good! We picked up the kids from school, went to dinner, and then went to go see Avatar. (which by the way was awesome! The story is ok, the scenery is beautiful.) It's what Josh wanted to do since it was his birthday. The next day was his party at the nickelcade. It was a fun cheap party. And best of all - I didn't have to clean up! Then there was a major fight with my worthless ex-husband that I wont go into. Let me just emphasize the worthless part. Ok - moving on! We pretty much did a lot of nothing, and it was really nice. We visited family, went to dinner, snuggled on the couch. It was great. My ex had the kids from the party until Christmas Day, so we went to the Christmas Party at my moms without them. It was still fun to see all my family. We traded cookies! Except for Gennee and Adrian. Adrian made this to die for chocolate caramel pretzel thing.MMMMMMM! He is now ordered to make me more for my birthday every year. :)We also went and picked the kids presents up. They were awesome! We found some people cleaning out their basements and found a full size pool table, air hockey table, and foosball table for about 100 bucks. How awesome is that?
So Christmas morning I went and picked up the kids at noon, and had a family day! First my mom's then his. It was 11 by the time we got home so the 26th was Christmas part 2! I wanted a Christmas morning at my house so thats what we did. It was great! And we went to the Jackson's for dinner, Nate and Kimber and her sister and her sister's boyfriend came over after dinner and played rockband. Man you haven't seen anything until you have watched Kimber play rockband! She is totally invited to all future rockband events!
Then it was just more nothing. Ahhhhh. I love that. Then came New Years. I took Aaron to Joe and Meshayla's to hang out with his girlfriend Amber, and I took the kids to my sisters where we played games, and rockband, and watched most of Wolverine. Still need to see the end though. Relaxed New Years Day and took him back to the airport at 8am Jan 2nd. *sigh* It was different to say goodbye to him this time. I didn't get enough time. It was like lethargy set in. I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself all day. And now - I miss his voice again. I know he graduates in 2 months and then I can go see him. It's not any longer than he has already been gone. If he gets deployed soon (which is most likely) then he will be gone a lot longer than 2 months and I really just need to suck it up. Its part of being an army wife. I know that.And I am ok - I really am - it's just ....I don't know. It's all good. I just wish for that good night phone call you know? Even a 30 second one. Just a hey babe - everything is fine, I love you kiss the kids, bye. Even just that. But if wishes were fishes. Anyway, not that anyone really wanted my holiday play by play - there you go anyway. :)
Love you all!
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