Home.....And Back Again

Kids are home!

So after may delays, my kids are home! Yay, sort of. :) No just kiddingg, its a Yay. On the plus side - my lawn finally got cut and my garden weeded. On the down side - I actually had to go to the grocery store again. Silly kids - actually insisted on having breakfast stuff, and not liking living off of a pot of soup for 3 days. However, they were also there to carry it all in, so there is that. I only had to yell at them once yesterday for not picking up while I was at work, but then they cleaned up right away and Josh and I made dinner. We made rice with a vegetable mix and sliced teriyaki pork. Yum! Even with having to compete for the TV again, its oddly comforting to have other people in the house. Dont get me wrong-it was cool to know I could drag out my craft table with my fabric everywhere and know no one would mess with it, but it was really nice when I went to sleep knowing my kids were home. The house felt.....right. :)

Now...just waiting eagerly for my husband to fill in the rest of the gaps. :)

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th everyone! Did you have an awesome holiday? I did. I had a crazy fabulous weekend! Ok, not crazy but still fabulous. I went to Charleston to visit my sister (and baby-sit for her anniversary). It was great fun. My nephews were silly and we got to play and hang out and fall asleep to Wall-E. Then Sunday I got to Skype with my husband! Yay! I haven't been able to that for a couple of months. Phone calls are great but man I love being able to see his face. I cant wait until he gets to come home for R&R! I asked him if they were doing anything for the 4th over there and he paused for a minute and said,

"We don't really do fireworks in Afghanistan honey. Usually rockets and booms here are not a good thing. We will just do cake".

Huh. Well that makes sense. And then I felt like a total idiot. :)

We had a lovely lazy Sunday at my sisters. Adrian BBQ'd and all I had to do was enjoy. Those are the best kinds of meals don't you think? Someone else cooks and cleans and all you have to do is say please pass the grilled corn. Seriously now - there is just no better way to eat corn I think. Sweet corn grilled in the husk is just awesome. Both Adrian and I had to work Monday so we skipped the fireworks since it's a 2 1/2 hour drive home to Ft. Stewart.

I was mad at first when I was told I had to work on the 4th but then I realized I got paid double time for it. Yay! If I have to be there I might as well get a bonus out of it. Instead of being the receptionist for the day though we went on post and volunteered at a lunch for soldiers and their family. Nissan had teamed up with a BBQ place and we wrapped and passed out 4000 pulled pork sandwhiches. It was crazy! I worked my butt off! I was ever so grateful for the shade tent we were working under though. I tend to lobster pretty quickly in Georgia's sun. I was exhausted after - but I felt pretty good about having done it. It was nice to volunteer and feel like I was helping.

They had a Zach Brown concert that night but I was too worn out from heat and stuff so I stayed in. For some reason that was the first time during the weekend that I really started thinking about the 4th, partly because I was watching 1776 (which I really truly love). It's different now, kind of like listening to things like America the Beautiful, or the Star Spangled Banner. I always loved them but.....I think I never really thought about all the people who served and sacrificed to make it all possible. Them, and their families. When your loved one is serving - is away fighting - it is just different now. More. So I watched 1776 and cried. I looked at my flag on the computer and cried. I don't think they were sad tears, just.....feeling tears. Thank you - to all those who serve, those who ever have, and those who will. And thank you to their families, their friends, and all who support them. Thank you to all who support me as an Army wife, who listen to me when I am afraid, who put up with me when I am lonely, and laugh with me when I call them crazy happy because I got a phone call that day. :)

America is my home. Faults and all. She is not perfect and her government can sometimes be a bunch of cantankerous squabbling chickens. She also has some beautiful vistas and her people can pull together in an amazing show of love and solidarity in times of crisis. She is part of me, part of my life and I am forever grateful to be born here, in this country where I am free to become whoever I choose to be. I don't have to be frightened of bombs, guerilla fighters, and ethnic cleansing or a host of other problems in the world today.

No - she isn't perfect, but I am proud to be an American. Happy Birthday!

Fiddle Faddle

Ha! You thought I was going to talk about the treat!Well I'm not. Actually I have never had it so I can't tell you anything about it - except it's fun to say. Kind of like one of my favorite Dr. Who quotes that says "People assume that time is a strict progression from cause to effect but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff." Ha! Now that's fun to say. :) Wibbly wobbly timey wimey gets stuck in my head all day sometimes.

I had a great weekend. I went to a pot luck for the FRG and surprisingly we had a bunch of people come! Normally when I plan things I just dont seem to get a lot of response so this was very nice. We had good food, and a lot of laughs. It was supposed to go from 1-4 but we ended staying until about 8:30. It was great fun. I made chhesy potatoes (funeral potatoes) and everyone loved them. Normally at home you would bring a pan and people would be like "great - thats our fourth pan" but not here. Here no one has ever had them before so I got to be there person with the cool new food. Score one for me!

Sunday I went to church and then went to Savannah with my friend Dawn. We found a Torrid in the mall there and that was great fun. I love that store. I know I am not a size 10 - but I still want cute clothes and this store is perfect for that. My husband had been begging me to buy a new pair of jeans for a while now. He thinks once I have to patch them that they aren't any good anymore. I beg to differ - but I decided to get some new ones for when he gets home. I can't wait for that!

I got to talk to my husband twice on Sunday! Once in the morning and once before I went to bed - so that was super cool. I also was able to Skype with my kids. They went to Scout Camp with my dad and apparently had a fabulous time. This is always good news - it IS possible to have fun while not pugged into something electronic! Ha! I couldn't beleive the pictures my dad sent me. They are getting so big! Who told them they could grow up?

I gave the gogs a much needed haircut. Poor max was getting so fuzzy he had this lion mane thing going on and I couldn't put his collar on anymore so I took the buzzers and tamed him. I didn't shave them - that would be mean, but I definitley could have made a sweater with everything that came off them. Hopefully that will help out with this crazy heat.

Then I decided I was going to sell candles and stuff. They are a pretty cool company that does everything boi-degradable, eco-friendly stuff. Candles, soaps, household cleaners, lotions, warmers and cubes, and OAM stuff that it kind of like the scent cones and air fresheners but better. :) I promise not use this to sell it though. Just mentioning it. We will see how it goes. But I will give the adress to my site - just this once. :) www.samanthas.foreveryhome.net

Other than that - just hanging out and being groovy as my husband likes to say. :)

Scattered.....

Today I am scattered. Not frazzeled - I feel pretty good actually, just scattered. I brought speakers to work and I am listening to my newly discovered pandora staions. It could become a serious love thing I think. So I am bouncing around my seat and waving my flower pens in the air orchestrating the music while the salesman look at me strangely but walk past without asking.

I wrote Happy Birthday to my father on his facebook page but he is at scout camp so he wont see it. I wonder if I can call him up there - or if I should wait until he gets home so as not to distract him. I am still not done making his father's day/birthday present even though I started a month ago. I just keep letting myself get distracted.

It has been nice and quiet in my house with my children gone and I am enjoying my time alone. Except....you know those times you are watching something, or reading something and you just want to talk to someone about it? Or you need to talk about your day? Or even when you just did something stupid and want to tell someone so you can both laugh about it? All these little simple things you don't even think about and totally take for granted when you have someone home to tell it to. I have called my sister a million times in the last week. *Sigh. I miss my husband.

Celibacy does strange things to your mind. Ha ha I know that sounds funny and it is really. It's only been 3 1/2 months but when you have someone with you all the time and now you can't even hold their hand or even see their face very often - its hard. Not hard as in "I couldn't help myself I had to go find someone else to fulfill me" kind of BS (and that is major BS in my opinion) just hard as in "I just wish I could at least look at his smile because I miss him so much it hurts" and "I miss feeling him sleep next to me and listening to him breathe" and "I would kill to have him hold me right now". Ok maybe thats all more loneliness but still - I have started to crave physical contact. Nothing dirty - just....like a hug you know? I cuddle with my blankets. My dogs know it because they have to always sit on my lap or next to my legs. Its both cute and annoying.

I have started looking up all kinds of random trivia. My sister unfortunately gets to hear most of it for when I feel I simply must share it. :) Love ya Genn. Wikipedia and Google are my friends.

I cleaned my house day before yesterday. It's still clean!

My tomato plants did not survive - but my pepper plants are doing awesome.

My kids are having a fabulous time visiting family and are currently camping instead of playing video games. This is a fabulous thing. All the stuff I said I would get done while they were gone I haven't done yet. Ah well, I have three more weeks. And I admit I miss them too and will be happy to see them when they come home.

I am trying not to count down the days until I get to see my husband for r&r since I was told it was bad luck and makes it go by slower - but I can't help it. I know the day he gives me is just an -ish, since there are always unexpected delays or bumps or whatever but still.....I cant help it.

I love my husband. I love my children. I love my parents and my siblings and - well all my super cool family. They are all totally awesome. I am a damn lucky woman. *sigh now if I could just manage to get us all together and away from these evil, awful, nasty biting bugs. :)