Random Questions

A girl friend of mine posted this tonight so I thought I would go ahead and use it. Her answers were hilarious - mine won't be... so much.

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
Gah I am getting old.

2. How much cash do you have on you?
Change in the wallet.

3. What's a word that rhymes with "DOOR?"
Whore.

4. Favorite planet?
Uranus.

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
Misti.

6. What is your favorite ring on your phone?
Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO.

7. What shirt are you wearing?
Grey and burgundy Redskins hoodie.

8. Do you "label" yourself?
Yeah - I am a nerd.

9. Name the brand of your shoes you're currently wearing.
Zigs.

10. Bright or Dark Room?
Bright so no matter what, I can read!

11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
She is amazing. She battles with so much every day and is an inspiration to me.

12. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Reading.

13. What did your last text message you received on your cell say?

SwagCodezAlertz: SBCodez Alert: Swag Code 24/10/11 http://t.co/GYT2XJHI

14. Where is your nearest 7-11?
183.6 miles NorthWest - In Missouri

15. What's a word that you say a lot?
Goodness.

16.Who told you he/she loved you last?
Jenn - on the phone.

17. Last furry thing you touched?
My cat.

18. How many drugs have you done in the last three days?
None. Well, I smoke cigarettes... does that count?

19. How many rolls of film do you need developed?
3. Yes, 3 rolls of film. They are about 8 years old if not older.

20. Favorite age you have been so far?
29.

21. Your worst enemy?
Self doubt.

22. What is your current desktop picture?
It is a black background with all of The Twilight Saga Books and their reflections. Yes, I am one of those people, but not near as bad as some of those people.

23. What was the last thing you said to someone?
"I don't know what I am watching. You left the tv on this channel... (Grab clicker and check) Skin to the Max. Thanks for leaving it on soft porn for me Babe."

24. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be?

The money :(

25. Do you like someone?
Depends. lol

26. The last song you listened to?
Family Guy theme on tv.

Something off of The Throne when we were in the truck.

Changing Bases, Faces and Time

I finally have a block of time to sit down and write about my adventures thus far. Moving from Fort Drum NY to Fort Campbell KY has been an experience, to say the least.

We left out of Fort Drum on the 19th of June. We were supposed to get on the road early, but didn't end up leaving until around 3:30pm. Seems even though we bought a Hitch Haul for our truck (cargo hitch rack) we didn't actually do a load up to make sure that everything would fit. James managed to make it work though, and so we were off!

Our first day we drove to Conneaut OH. Just over the PA/OH State line. The hotel we stayed at was conveniently located right along the interstate. We went to dinner that night, literally, and the restaurant had already turned itself into the bar/tavern/night club of the area. It gets better! We ordered some food and the waitress actually let me order off of the kids menu. (See, I have a small appetite and can hardly finish any meal I order at restaurants, so kids portions are always the best for me.) We are eating and having a beer, when these two ladies came in the bar and sat at the table next to us. No big deal. Or was it???

I am proud to say that James got to see a Transvestite in person for the first time!!! LOL  It was nothing new to me, since my hairdresser from years ago is a one. I finally said something to James after they moved to the bar, and James said something to the effect of "She has a bigger Adam's Apple than me!" lol My poor Baby.

Saturday rolled around and we hit the road again. The only thing we missed seeing in Conneaut was the covered bridges. We thought about going, but then decided to just get on the road and get done with the traveling. We stopped in Jeffersonville OH at the outlet mall, walked around trying to find James some Fibram 5 finger shoes to no avail. We got gas, and rolled out heading to Cincinnati/Newport.

We made it and were completely surprised to find that the hotel I had booked was right on the riverfront! We could see the Cincinnati skyline, Reds Stadium... everything. We ventured out that night and walked the Pagan's Pathway bridge to Cincinnati. Craziest thing I have ever seen? Someone rented the ENTIRE bridge for their wedding reception!!! (A fool and their money are soon parted.) We tried to check out the aquarium, but it was too late to entire. We found Hooter's and so we went to eat dinner. BEST HOOTER'S EVER! It is on a barge in the Ohio River. And the women were actually nice to look at. I mean, most are pretty from the neck down, but these women have pretty faces too! lol

We went back to the hotel, slept and then got ready and on the road Sunday.

Sunday morning was gorgeous and warm! We hit the road heading to our destination: Fort Campbell. We were stopped on I-71 for a while. We aren't exactly sure what happened, but we did see a burned up cargo box from a transport, and the road and grass was scorched pretty bad. At any rate, we continued on our way. We were planning on stopping in Louisville in order to see about getting James his Vibram shoes. Going up one side of a mountain, our trucks cruise control rev'd super high, the wrench light came on, the ABS light came on and the Slip Control light came on. GREAT! But after about 3 minutes or so, the lights all went out and the truck continued on as if nothing happened. Ok?

We made it to Louisville and found the Running Store we were looking for. We parked, went inside, bought James his shoes finally, and then went back out to the truck. As we backed out of the parking spot, the truck made a grinding noise and slowed us down. I asked James what it was and he said "You felt that too?" GREAT! We tried to drive and anything over 5-10 miles an hour, the truck would grind and slow us down again. We managed to back into a parking spot and then we called USAA. Roadside assistance should be good to go...

Tell me How The Heck we don't have roadside assistance on our policy???? Really??? We never called them and removed it, James made sure it was in the policy when he went with USAA 10 years ago!!!! Needless to say, I am ticked right off, James is not impressed, it is Sunday and we are calling around for hotels and a tow truck. Thankful for the website I had been using - I called my Girl Michele and she took my credit card number and booked us a hotel for at least 2 days. The hotel was only about a mile and a half from where we were stranded. Then we called several cab companies. Finally found one that was willing to take the animals and us to the hotel. We checked in and got settled, then James and I walked back to the truck to wait for the tow.

The tow truck came, loaded our truck up and took us another mile and half in the opposite direction to the Ford dealership. We dropped it off, not relishing the fact that we were now going to have to walk about 3 miles to get to the hotel. Our tow truck driver decided he wasn't going to let us do that, so he drove us back to our hotel. Of course, I slipped him a little bit of cash for doing us that favor. ;)

Great. We are at the hotel, no vehicle and we are starving. Back to heel and toe express. Need I say that our hotel was conveniently located across the street from yet another Hooter's? LOL We walked in that general direction then headed further down the street hoping to find someplace to eat. We walked about a mile, turned around and headed back. We were going to eat at Subway, but apparently Subway in Louisville/St. Matthews closes on Sunday's at 6pm. Ugh. So we cross the street and head to Denny's. I am not a fan, but at least they had meal deals so dinner didn't cost us an arm and a leg.

We get back to the hotel and pass out. In the morning James' cell rings and it is dealership. They tell him that it is our front left wheel speed sensor (if I am remembering correctly) and the total cost will thankfully be under $1000. We tell them to go ahead and fix it. We got up, got dressed and headed back to Denny's for breakfast. After that we decide to walk over to a little strip mall we saw the night before. As we are over there, James receives another call telling him that the truck is fixed and ready to go. w00t!!!

We head out on foot again, back to the hotel to change shoes, then the walk to the dealership. We walked about 10 miles in a day and a half! We get to the dealership, get ready to pay and we find out that we have an  Anonymous Angel. See, through this whole experience I was keeping family and friends apprised of our situation through facebook. Apparently by my doing so, I gave enough information for this Anonymous Angel to lend a helping hand. We will forever be grateful!! And we will be sure to pay it forward.

We stayed one more night in the hotel, because we had already paid for it and it was well past checkout time. Tuesday morning brought gorgeous weather and we were on the road again. We made it to Fort Campbell in a thunder storm, went to our hotel room, unloaded a bunch of stuff and finally went to The Bandy's. They are amazing people too! They are housing our animals until we get a place to live ourselves.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent looking for a place to live. What an experience! No one in the area wants to house animals over 25lbs and if they do they want a decent pet deposit. No problem there but the issue always seemed to be that when we called about seeing a place, it had conveniently just been rented. Just our luck!!! The whole experience was a giant pain. I decided that on Friday, we were going to housing on post in order to make sure we were on the list and what our wait would look like.

We were told anywhere from 2 months to 4 months for a house on post. UGH! Can this be any more useless? Over the weekend, we scoured the internet, AHRN and local ads still trying to find a place. We went back to housing on post and told them that we did in fact want to be on the list because at this rate, we were getting no where. Amazingly, a lady that works there offered us a house!!!!!!! She told us the address and we went and checked it out. It is 2 bedrooms but it has a double garage and a fenced backyard. It is a corner lot so the front yard is huge! Of course, we said we would definitely take it! The catch? The current resident doesn't move out until the 19th of July, and then there is a turn around period for maintenance to go in and fix anything that might need fixing. We have been told that we might be moved in by the 3rd of August. Irregardless of the time - we still have a house!!!

So now James has to go see about extended temporary lodging. No worries because if they say no, our amazing friends, The Bandy's have told us we could probably crash in the room that our animals are currently inhabiting. Of course, we are not going to take advantage of them, so we are trying to figure things out so that we don't have to stay there and inconvenience them. As well, The Son leaves NY on or around the 7th of July to come to us, so we will have to figure out where to put his butt too.

At any rate, we are currently in Fort Leonard Wood MO. Why? My girl Michele and her husband are here. They were supposed to come down for the long weekend, but instead they offered to help us save money by having us come to them and stay here. I could never ask for a better lot of friends than I have right now!!!

oOo and we are in Central time again!!

My frustration with the 'not so true' rants of some Soldiers and their Spouses.

If you are looking for me to tell you about the butterflies and rainbows seen every day as an Army Spouse... you might as well stop reading this blog right now. I am not going to paint a picture that simply does not exist. However, I am not going to paint a picture that is solely negative either. Actually, the picture I am going to paint is the one that I see and read and hear about every day. The rants and raves of other Army Wives.

You might question my grounds for writing this blog, which is within your right. But I will not remove it or change anything I am putting into it. These are my viewpoints. Mine alone. You don't have to agree. You don't have to disagree. As I said, you have the right to close this blog right now.

Choosing to read on? Sweet.

My personal viewpoint? I love my life as an Army Spouse. Of course it isn't always pretty. We have seen our share of ups and downs, as anyone does I am sure. However, I knew who my husband was before I married him. I knew he was a Soldier before I married him. And I knew what that meant... before I married him! All of that was a pretty easy task to accomplish before getting married. I asked questions. He either had the answers or didn't. If he couldn't answer them, he found someone who could. He loved me enough to make sure that I had all the information before agreeing to become his wife and thus, an Army Spouse.

It isn't the easiest thing to do. Army Spouses, IMO, have to have that certain something in order for them to remain steadfast and strong. Our Soldiers are gone anywhere from a month (for training) to 12 months or more (for deployments). On top of that they travel for school, they train in the field, sometimes they even have to deploy at home for Disaster Help. Furthermore, they may be late for dinner or you might miss out on that BBQ you wanted to go to, because your Soldier has to go to work in order to help other Soldiers. If our Country needs them, our Soldiers go. That is what they signed up to do. Army Spouses are some of the strongest Spouses I have ever met!!!

Our Soldiers have to do certain things for the Army in order to stay in and keep their positions such as: 1) stay out of trouble; 2) pass their physical training tests; 3) maintain their weight; and 4) progress in their MOS (specific area of expertise) accordingly. Not really too much to ask since the Army pretty much covers everything for the Soldier. Health Coverage, Dental Coverage, Basic Allowance for Housing... these are just a few things provided by the Army for the Soldier and their dependents.So, to me, it isn't too much to ask of the Soldier to meet the specific guidelines set out for them.

Knowing this, I strive to help my Soldier husband maintain what he has to in order to remain in the Army. My husband is a Soldier for life. I knew this before I married him. I accepted this and so it is now my duty to reflect my husband. That's right. My Soldier husband is a direct reflection of me, as I am a direct reflection of him. Anything I say or do can directly affect him. What I put out for everyone else to see may affect what others think about him - even though it isn't him saying or doing it.

So now, having been an Army Spouse for as long as I have, I have witnessed some of the most intolerable acts of other Spouses. I have heard the outrageous tales of other Spouses. I have read the ridiculous statements of other Spouses. I feel sad for the Soldiers of these Spouses, because the actions of these Spouses changes how others look at them and their Soldiers.

*Start rant* If your Soldier is being put out of the Army because of RCP and failure to progress - don't blame the Army! The Soldier knows what they have to do in order to rank up or in order to maintain their position. This isn't Kindergarten for them. No one is going to hold their hand and guide them through like a free ride. All Soldiers have to meet certain guidelines and if yours isn't or refuses to then perhaps they shouldn't be in the Army. If your Soldier is being put out because they are overweight and have had ample opportunities to get their weight under control but didn't, don't blame the Army or pretend that they chose to get out. Other Soldiers meet their height and weight requirements every single day. It isn't something new! If you do not know what an FRG is, or have never been contacted by your FRG, that is most likely because your Soldier has put you on the Do Not Call list or they have put their cell number and their email address as your contact information. The FRG is there but can only reach you through the information provided. It is NOT the FRG's fault that your Soldier chose to fill out your information form for you. Furthermore - FRG meetings CAN BE MANDATORY! As long as the meeting is on the training schedule, the Soldier must be there. It is part of their training. If you are always in the dark, not knowing what is going on with the Unit or why your Soldier is late getting home, and when you ask your Soldier they barely know what to answer... ask for a Training Schedule. They are created roughly a month in advance and should be able to tell you what is going on and when. Keep in mind though, that nothing is ever set in stone. The training schedule is simply a guideline for what might/could/will happen. No two Soldiers are the same. Saying "Well so-and-so did this" or "why did he get to do that and you didn't" doesn't help your Soldier any. Your Soldier is informed daily. You not being kept informed is their failure and yours. You are your best source of information. If you choose not to ask, not to understand or not to help your Soldier, that's your choice. But do not for one second blame everything on the Army. And of course, always remember, if the Army wanted your Soldier to have a family - they would have ISSUED them one. *end rant*

I could, of course, go on and on all night, but I am sure at some point I have already ticked people off. I guess I just get tired of reading and hearing how horrible the Army is, when in fact it is others failure to understand or ask questions that leaves them complaining or sitting in the dark.

But then again, I get myself in enough trouble asking questions. Apparently, I ask too many! LOL But it is better to be informed than know nothing at all.

*sigh*

Daisy and the Skunk - To the Victor goes the Spoils!

Having never encountered true skunk spray, I had no idea that it smells like burning rubber and garlic. To be sure, I always associated the smell that you encounter along the highway or when camping to be the true essence of skunk. Well, I am writing to tell you that we have all been misled.

Yes, tonight, Daisy decided to tousle with a skunk.

I do not know the exact details of the situation, nor do I know what was going through my stupid dogs mind, when she thought she would undertake a battle with a skunk. I suppose battle might be the wrong word, since Daisy was in a fenced yard, and I am sure that the skunk was outside of the yard. Regardless of where either animal was, I heard Daisy kick up the biggest ruckus EVER!! I was watching the basketball game and reading at the same time when I heard her go off.

I got up and went to quiet her, because Janet and Alexis and Little John were all asleep. I opened the door in the garage and was hit with what I recognized at the time as skunk smell. I figured Daisy had startled the skunk, forcing it to spray. So I brought Daisy into the garage and checked her over. She looked fine aside from her hackles being raised and she sneezed a couple of times. The sneezing should have been the key indicator!!!

A few minutes later, Janet yelled down to us that she hoped Daisy hadn't been sprayed, because she could smell it all the way upstairs. Next thing I notice is a smell, like something is burning although I couldn't figure out what. I went back out to the garage, to find the smell doubled, heck - quadrupled in there!!! I couldn't for the life of me figure what what it was. It smelled like Garlic and onions, but like they were burnt and mixed with other spices. Weird. I went outside and couldn't find anything, nothing was burning in the house....

I looked up online about getting rid of skunk smells, because obviously outside still smelled like the 'normal' skunk smell I recognize. Lo and behold - I found that the actual skunk spray smell is in fact GARLIC, ONION-Y and BURNT rubbery!!!!! AARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! My stupid dog did in fact get sprayed!!!!!

Keeping in mind that it is around 10pm, I make my homemade bath soap for Daisy and proceed to take her outside to hose her down. Yep. Hose. Her. Down. It's 50 some degrees outside and the water from the hose is freezing cold! My poor dog! Amidst her yipping at me and struggling to get away, I manage to bath her with the dial and vinegar mixture. She hates me of course.

Then I tackled the garage.

Hosed the garage down and then poured Pine Sol everywhere. Used the shop broom to push it all over, just trying to get rid of the smell. (Not to mention that I also had to throw the clothes I was wearing and Daisy's dog bed in the washing machine with vinegar.) ~sidenote: tomato juice might work but it stains everything RED. I do not want a red dog nor my white hoodie, red.

Scrubbing it down took the better part of an hour with Daisy sitting on the front porch as far away from me as possible. I finished it though, and of course I have left the pine sol and broom out in the garage because I am sure I will have to tackle it again in the morning. I guess James is going to go to walmart in the morning too to try and find something to get the smell out of Daisy, in case my homemade crap doesn't work.

So now I am sitting here waiting for the laundry to finish so I can switch it over to the dryer.

And I am going to take a shower.

Daisy might have won against the skunk - but the 'spoils' are not always what the victor had in mind!

Gah - I love my stupid dog.

Shave and a haircut... 2 bits!!!

What a flippin' week I have had.

Monday started out with the packers showing up late - 10am when they should have been there by 8 - and they packed my entire house. I get that things happen and they were delayed, so it was no biggie. They managed to finish by around 8pm. My dog and cats were in an uproar, with Raf, the fat cat, hiding under the sofa the entire time. Boxes littered my house! Who knew we had so much stuff, even after I managed to sell a lot of it or give it away??!!

Tuesday was brutal! The driver called and said he was having battery trouble and was going to be late. They showed up around 1030am - again, they were supposed to be there around 8 - and they proceeded to load all of our belongings. Took them to about 7pm or so, and then they took the truck to weigh it. Turns out, all of my household goods weigh 9280lbs!!! For hubby's rank, we are only allotted 9000lbs, but a good note is that all of his TA-50 (Army gear) doesn't count against our weight - so we lose 500lbs for that! Whew! We are under and don't have to pay any extra. ;)

Once everything was out of the house Tuesday night, hubby and I started cleaning. Now, I know that when you live somewhere that isn't yours, you obviously have to clean in order to avoid charges etc. when you move out. Well, here on post, it is completely different. And the standard isn't followed by each residential community. What one does, the others don't. Not really fair, but James and I knew we had our work cut out for us. Yep - we cleaned. (I did have a lady booked to come and clean for us, that way she was guaranteed to pass inspection and she would have been there the day of inspection... unfortunately, she called to cancel because her mother fell and either broke her hip or dislocated her hip. Either way, my thoughts and prayers went out to her.) And so with such short notice, there was no way we could get a cleaner to come in at the same or close to same price we had been quoted.

So, we tackled the cleaning like a couple of champs! Learning from other people, and going to the housing clearing brief taught us that each community center judges things differently. Our friends Misti and Durwood - cleared with no problems. Our friends Ana and Ralph - Good Lord, they were given a hard time! So, we started out with the things that would go quickly. James tackled the windows and cabinets while I motored around the house with my friend Colleen's vacuum. Colleen - she is a life saver! She helped us so much, I don't know if we are ever going to be able to repay her!

Wednesday we woke bright and early and headed back over to the house. Colleen met us there and we went to town on the bathroom and kitchen. Now, to be fair, I clean a lot normally, so there wasn't a whole lot of extra to do - we just had to make sure that if they came in with white gloves, that we would pass the inspection. We hit one small bump... I placed a rubber sheet in the bottom of my bathroom cabinet - the kind that is holey and bumpy... anyway, when I pulled it up, most of it stuck to the cabinet! Ugh! So I grabbed the backs from our 3M hangers and started scraping the crap out of the cabinet. Colleen got in there with me and we got most of it up, but alas, some of it remained. No matter, we finished the bathroom and moved on to the kitchen. Colleen and I hit the fridge next. She gave me all of the pieces to clean while she worked on the inside, then we traded out and I did the freezer. We knocked it out of the ball park!

Colleen then took me around to drop off my frozen goods at Janet's (where we are now staying) and then what didn't fit we took to Colleens. Her husband Matt is so funny! He said he didn't need to grocery shop now because of all of the food we gave them!! Haha

After that, I went back to the house to finish off the little bit that was left, while James drove the steam cleaner around the carpets. They were our biggest worry. Learning from Ana and Ralph, Rhicard Hills are arse's about the carpets. So James hit it good with the steam cleaner. Another late night for us!

Thursday - Clearing Day!
We got up and went to the house to do a final once over before the ladies showed up to look at the house. We were ready to go. A thunderstorm rolled in and poor Daisy had to stay in the truck. She couldn't come in the house after we had already did the carpets! How ridiculous would that have been? lol So finally, the lady showed up and started the walk through. She opened all of the blinds, turned on every single light in the house and proceeded to look through everything. We were worried about one spot on the carpet in Mike's room, but James covered that up by standing on the stain and acting like he was texting.

Finally, the lady turned to us and said "Everything looks great. No charge!!!" w00t!!! We are actually getting money back! Pro-rated for the last 4 days of the month! We are sooooo excited. haha! (Note my sarcasm) lol

So yep, now we are crashing at my friend Janet's house, driving her insane, making her wish she never agreed to this. Oh - and we have proof because she locked us out yesterday afternoon!! Not intentionally of course. Force of habit has her locking her doors, just like I do. ;)

Now we are waiting out our time to leave the North Country.
I wonder what trouble we can get into? lol

I almost forgot - last night James' Platoon took him out for dinner in order to present him with a plaque from Maintenance. We all went to TGI Friday's. It was a great time!  When they presented James with the plaque, James blushed. Ventura said a little speech, so did Malik. Then SSG. Lemon stood to say something about James and I was choked up. Her words made me so proud of my husband. I love Maintenance... and you can answer every single question with Maintenance! We Bust Nutz!!!!

Bowling, Bar-B-Que and a Fat Lip

I had a great weekend.

Saturday morning started with an early rise and shine to make sure that the house was presentable because Dad and my youngest sister Rhonda were coming in for the weekend. James also rose early to help out. I love my Man.

They were supposed to leave around 8 in order to be here by 10... I received a phone call a little after 9. It was Dad. Car trouble. Seems the curb protector on the underside of the car decided to come off and drag along the highway! So they were at the dealers getting it put back on or taken off or something. They were finally back on the road and heading this way with an ETA of 11:15am!

They made it safe and sound, and with enough time to spare before we had to run out to a bowling tournament put on by the MWR. It was a doubles tourney, so of course James and I were partners. I bowled a 197, 115 and 196. Dad blamed me talking to him and Roo instead of paying attention to the 2nd game. I think it was because my head wasn't in the game and so I wasn't trying to even figure out the lanes. Either way, I improved once Dad told me to go pay attention! lol

We came home and hung out for a bit, then James, Roo, Mike and I headed to the commissary in order to get grub for the nights dinner. Bar-B-Que Baby! Steaks for the guys and burgers for Roo and I. Corn on the cob, potatoes and carrots with garlic on the grill. Fabulous dinner. I don't know why, but I could live on potatoes and carrots in butter and garlic on the grill! For real. I wouldn't need anything else. Then of course it was all followed by mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert.

After we cleaned the kitchen, we were all feeling pretty stuffed and just hanging out with a movie on. Mike fell asleep on the floor, and of course I managed to snag a couple of paparazzi photos of him! James was having a hard time keeping his eyes open, Dad - he was content, and Roo - well, she wanted to french braid my hair. So of course I agreed. It is a rare thing for me to have my hair played with, and I absolutely love it! I tell people that you would think I am into S&M because I love the knots to be yanked out of my hair. Seriously! There is no better feeling that a comb or brush in my hair - as long as it is held by someone other than me...

Ok, anyway, Roo made me wet my hair down and she proceeded to do crazy stuff. She decided against the braid, so instead she did some funky ponytail thing. Then she said she wanted to straighten my hair. I go ahead and plug in my flat iron. She gets to working on my hair while I am desperately holding onto my ears for fear she will burn them off! Haha! Of course she didn't, but I wasn't taking any chances! Then she wanted to curl my hair, so I plugged in the curling iron. She put a couple of spirals in my hair... then she was done. Poor thing.

I gave Roo my flat iron. I don't use it and anymore I only use my big fat barrel curling iron - that is if I even let my hair stay down. And she said hers wasn't all that great - so why not? It isn't a Chi - heck, I am not that rich! lol

About 6 years ago I bought Roo a Cabbage Patch Doll. Haha! It looked exactly like her so that's why I bought it, but at the time she wasn't really into girl things (She is a tomboy like me) and she probably would have just ruined it. (She agrees) So I kept it in the original box. I finally gave it to her last night and she immediately opened it. She loved that it looked like her and even had her dimple. I also gave Roo all the clothes I bought her for Christmas... yeah. I should have wrapped everything because then she would have taken it with her. But out of all of it, she took one shirt. The one from Hollister. Go figure. But it's ok because Tara is coming this weekend and I will give them to her. ;)

Then Roo and I were outside talking, and I tried to convince her that she needs to try out for the Jr. Boys Football Team. She is already on the wrestling team, so I figured why not? I also tried to explain to her that her shoulder pads would be completely different from the boys, because she would need extra protection over her chest. Well, that turned into me acting silly and telling her she would have bullet proof titties! Hahaha! We laughed for a good 10 minutes straight, and then giggled even more for the next half hour. We were coming up with some of the stragest things that could be bullet proof for a woman. Let's just leave it at that! I am surprised we didn't wake dad up because we were laughing so loud!

We finally went to bed. I was awake by 6:30 this morning, so up I got. I scared the crap out of dad. He looked like he was still sound asleep, which surprised me, so I said to him "Daddy-O"! I startled him so bad, he jumped about an inch off the mattress! Haha! Dad got up and of course Roo and I wanted 'cottage' for breakfast. What is cottage? Oatmeal. Yep, oatmeal. So dad made it for us, we had toast and such. Good morning.

Then Roo and I were on the sofa, and for no reason at all, she decided to kick me in the kidneys! What a punk! So I decided to get back at her by tryin gto give her a horse bite. It was working out for a while, but Roo is ticklish real bad. Next thing I know, I get Roo knees in my chin and I bit my lip!!!!!!!! Ugh! Beat up by my baby sister!!! lol

Finally we took pictures, gave hugs and Roo and Dad were on their way back home.

All in all it was a fabulous weekend.

(Bowling tourney - when we left Saturday, we were in first place, but there was a second set, so as of right now, we don't know what place we finished in. Will update when we find out!) ;)

Melatonin is Evil!

Last night I took melatonin in order to go to sleep early and wkae up early. Dad and Rhonda are coming in today, so I wanted to be sure I was on top of everything. For those who don't know, melatonin is produced in your body through your central nervous system. It regulates the sleep/wake cycle. So by taking the herbal form of melatonin, you are giving your system a natural sleep aid - and you do not wake up feeling groggy and sluggish.

Anyway, I took one melatonin last night. No big deal right? Ugh. WRONG!

I went to bed around 10:30 and was just about asleep, then all of a sudden I was wide awake. I laid there for probably another half hour, if not longer, then finally had to lull myself by rubbing the tops of my feet along the bottom of the mattress...

Good enough.

Not quite.

I swear I was awake every hour on the hour! And it wasn't from dreams. See, melatonin has the ability to make your dreams very vivid. Bright colors and extreme circumstances. I did dream, but they were average dreams, nothing too exciting. But it seemed that with the end of each dream, I awoke. I can't even tell you what the dreams were, I know my husband was in one, my sister-in-law was in another, but there wasn't a single significant thing about any of them. So why wake every hour?

Who knows? I have taken melatonin before and never had this happen, so perhaps it was my anxiety of family coming that had me awake every hour. Perhaps because I wasn't really tired and was forcing myself to sleep was an issue. I really don't know. But I can tell you that I feel great today. I only wish I could remember my dreams... LOL

More on melatonin:
Melatonin on wikipedia

Fly Paper and Packing Tape

I have been sitting on this blog for a few hours, trying to compose sentences that will make some form of sense to myself. So much is going on right now that I don't think I can pinpoint each and every thing. Busy busy busy.

As you know from a previous post to my blog, my older sister had been found. Well, since then I have learned a lot. I would love to share some of the information, but again because it isn't my story, I refuse to divulge. However, it seems that she has decided that it was too much, too fast and so she has stepped back from the reunion - so to speak.

Frankly, I don't blame her one bit! She went from having her normal life with her family, to all of a sudden finding that she has a birth mother, a birth father, 5 birth sisters (3 from mine, 2 from birth mother's side), 4 siblings husbands and an unbelievable number of nieces and nephews. Heck - if it were me, I would do more than step back! I would probably hightail it in the complete opposite direction! I can't imagine for one minute what it must be like for her. My heart truly goes out to her and if there was a way, I would honestly like to let her know that I am ok with her decisions.

Well, I know that sounds horrible. Saying I am ok with her decisions... what? Seriously, they are her decisions to make and it doesn't matter what any of us think! She has to do this in her way and in her time and there is nothing any of us can do to change that. She doesn't know any of us, we are virtually strangers to her. I know for certain that 'Lifetime' has gotten it wrong time and time again. Family reunions are NOT always hearts and tears and bubblegum. There are so many hurdles to get over or around, I will not be surprised if in a year from now I still haven't spoken or emailed with her.

Yep, I have had no contact with her whatsoever. At first I will admit I was jealous because Teresa and my dad were emailing with her, then dad talked to her on the phone. But I have started to look at it from a different perspective. See, when you come in to our family, you 'get' the family but you also 'get' the flaws. No one is perfect obviously, so that's just how it is. Me? I am a little bit OCD, I am a partial mysophobe, I thirst for knowledge and I am a geek to the core. Dad? He is at times impatient and wants the outcome of any situation immediately. Tara, she is just busy. You would be lucky to catch her on the phone without making an appointment with her first. Rhonda, she is the baby and as such, she is spoiled. Yes, I said it. So? lol

The one thing I am most certain of though is that once my sister entered our family, even the partial way that she has, whether there is any future contact or not, she is stuck with us. Let me clarify this though... I can only speak for myself, My heart is like Fly Paper and she is a fly. She came close and got stuck in my heart. She may not know me, and may never know me, but I will carry her with me from here on out.  <3

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The packers/movers will be here on the 23rd of this month to pack and load all of our belongings. I have been working over the past couple of months to get rid of unwanted things. Things we haven't used since we moved here, things we don't use now that we used to and things that are simply just taking up space. What a trial it has been. Going through everything with a fine tooth comb is tedious and a giant pain in the arse. I know it has to be done though, because when we moved up here we were overweight, and if we move overweight again, we have to pay the difference. That is definitely not an option.

So, I have had a lot of stuff for sale and free - using facebook as a tool to help get rid of stuff. I can honestly say that I have gotten more hits from it than craig's list or kijiji. And to be honest, I prefer somewhat knowing who is taking what or coming to my house to pick something up. Craig's list creeps me out that way - emails are one thing, but giving out your address to complete strangers - yeah, not up my alley.

Starting tomorrow, I will be putting aside that which I am keeping for our travel. Clothes, laptop, personal hygiene etc. Can't keep a whole lot though because this time we aren't renting a uhaul trailer. If we did, it would be well over a grand for the number of days we need it, and the Army is only going to pay us for 3 days travel. Yep - that's it. We get paid to go from here to Ft. Campbell and anywhere else we go in between is solely on us. Makes sense to me. 

But here is the kicker:

James and I in the truck with the dog, 2 cats, our luggage and the 32" flat screen. James is insistant on keeping the small flat screen so that when we stay at our friends place for the 20+ days before we leave, he still wants to be able to play his xbox and watch his netflix, blah blah blah. What a big baby! So yeah, all of us crammed into the Mountaineer! How are we going to do it? I have no idea, but I am sure it isn't anything a little packing tape can't fix. ;)

Head Lice... Eww!

Funny how events can spark memories of your childhood. Over the past couple of days, I have done nothing but relive old memories. From getting in trouble for swimming at the Pump House, to being run over by a 10 speed because I couldn't leave boys alone - I was quite a handful for my parents. But I am sure they loved every minute of it!

One memory that is simply crazy to me is the time I contracted Head Lice.

I was in 5th grade. I had to ride the bus to and from school. No biggie! The bus also had kids that went to another school further downtown. It seemed like I was the only one on my street that got off at the first school - I really didn't like it at all.

At any rate, one day the nurse's office called my mom at work to tell her I had head lice. Mom left work, picked me up and took me to the doctor's. Yep, I definitely had lice. Off we went to the pharmacy to get the nasty shampoo and then home where, for 2 days, Mom constantly washed my hair and sat there with the crazy fine comb, pulling the dead lice out of my head. She also used our Filter Queen vacuum on my head. Apparently it's suction was 'amazing'! lol

Finally, mom took me back to the doctor's and we got the "all clear" and I could go back to school. Off I went...

Less than 48 hours later, mom got another call that my head was packed right full of lice again! She was MAD! Good Lord she was mad. I thought she was mad at me, but that wasn't the case. She was yelling that she was going to clean me up again and I was switching schools and she didn't care what the boundaries were for which schools and what areas! I don't think I had ever seen my mom so angry!

We didn't stop at the pharmacy this time on the way home. Instead, mom went into a hardware store and came out with a brown paper bag. I thought she had to pick something up for my dad so I didn't ask any questions. We got home and mom told me to go down to the bathroom.

I was waiting patiently, when mom came in with a face cloth. She soaked it in cold water, rang it out and then handed it to me. She said: "Here. Put this over your face and no matter what do not pull it off". I did and next thing I knew, my was spraying my head with her hairspray! I didn't know what the heck she was doing, and every time I tried to ask her she told me to hold still and breath in the face cloth.

She was finally done and told me to go out in the living room and to not move from one seat. I did. I must have sat there for a good 3 hours. Mom brought out the vacuum cleaner again and had me sit on the floor in front of her. When she started vacuuming my hair, there was this crazy sound. I couldn't explain it at the time, but now I would say it sounded like she was vacuuming cake sprinkles out of my hair. We sat like this for probably a good half hour or more, then mom sent me in to shower with the nasty shampoo from the last time.

She checked my hair that night before I went to bed and then took me back to the doctor's the next day. The doctor was amazed at how quickly mom got rid of the lice. Said he never knew it could be done and asked what mom did. To my horror mom answered: "I bought a can of raid, sprayed her head then vacuumed them all out".

RAID!!!!!!!!!!!!! ON MY HEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The doctor about had a fit and told mom she was lucky that my hair didn't all fall out, to never grow back, or worse that I might have ingested it. She calmly explained to him what she had me do and it solved the problem, my hair is fine, so no worries. LOL

The doctor gave me the 'all clear' again but instead of going back to my school, mom took me to the school that all my neighborhood friends went to! From that day on, head lice has never bothered me. They must have heard their buddy lice screaming in pain from my head and have decided to never bother me again!

Haha!

The Fabric of Our Lives

Where to begin?

The past two days have been slightly insane for me. So much so, that I decided it was time to sit down and actually write in my blog. It seems like forever since my last post - and yet nothing much had changed... until yesterday.

I guess a little bit of the back-story is necessary in order for you to understand, so I will start with high school.

When I was in high school, circumstances brought me to the realization that I have an older sister. She is my dad's daughter, one he wanted but was unable to keep. (There is a lot of information concerning this - but it is not my story to tell.) As it turned out, my sister was born and put up for adoption. The words 'put up for adoption' seem so crass to me, however I can't seem to find words that are more fitting... At any rate, that is what happened and of course, I have never known her personally, I have only ever known her in spirit.

About 10 years ago I decided I was going to try and find her - to no avail. I did everything that I was capable of. Well, to be honest, I did everything I was able to on what information I had. I was going by what my father and mother had told me, which wasn't a whole lot when I look at the scope of it now. Even at the time, I knew if I really wanted to find out, I could try and contact my sister's birth mother for information. This is where I faltered. I didn't know who she was, I only had a name, and I wasn't sure what kind of reception I would receive. Would she want to know her daughter? Would she be willing to give me the information I needed? Would I be stepping on her families toes if I pursued it if they didn't want me to?

I got as far as birthing records and found nothing. I didn't know what hospital she was born in, the date of birth - I only had the year - and because my sister's birth mothers name never appeared, I figured I was way off track. I figured my sister was concealed with a different birth mother name. When my efforts proved fruitless to me, and after spending the money for the birthing records that amounted to nothing, I accepted defeat. Of course, I had other people telling me to "let sleeping dogs lie" and to "not stir the pot", that "she will find you if she really wants to". After hearing that as much as I did, I guess I felt I was doing  something wrong in trying to find her. What if she really didn't want to be found? Or further - what if she didn't even know?

So I failed myself. I gave up my search, but not for one day did I ever forget that I have an older sister.

A few weeks ago, I received a message on facebook from a lady I didn't know. She asked me a question about my dad, but she called him Joey - haha! I have never heard my dad called that! But seriously, I am a skeptic and I don't trust people easily - let alone someone who messages me on a social network asking questions. I didn't think about anything at all. In fact, I didn't even reply to her! How callus am I?

Yesterday, I woke to find a message from my dad. He said that he received a message from the same lady who messaged me, but asked him a different question. The question she asked him was the key indicator that my sister might have been found!!!!!

Of course, Dad and I were calling each other back and forth all day yesterday. We were speculating and investigating. It is actually quite funny now that I think about it. It's like we were two super sleuths trying to get to the bottom of a big case - but we were still way off track! Dad messaged the lady back and left it open so that questions could be asked - and we both waited for a response...

The response came. This lady isn't my 'blood' sister, but she is in fact the younger sister to my older sister. (Have I lost you yet?) lol

Teresa (I hope she doesn't mind that I have used her name) is the daughter of my older sister's birth mother. And Teresa has found my older sister!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My excitement could not be contained yesterday. I talked to my dad several times, called my sister Tara to fill her in, because how inappropriate would it be for her to read about it in my blog, called my closest friends to let them know and of course I said a few prayers of thankfulness for Teresa and my older sister.

I now know my older sister's name, I know her birthday and I know where she lives. I personally haven't had any contact with her. I am ok with this. Teresa is being the sole contact, and for that I can't thank her enough. Any information is better than what I had last week.

And I can completely understand my older sister guarding herself from us. I can't even begin to imagine what she must be going through or how she is feeling. For me, I have known for well over 20 years about her, but if she just found out about us - it can be nothing short of overwhelming. And she has a family she needs to protect as well. I get it. I have to remember that it isn't my life that has been turned upside down. I can't expect her to want me with open arms, unconditionally. I am a stranger to her and so I have to allow her to guard herself, to get used to the idea of me if she wants. I am a patient person and can wait forever if need be. That being said, if it turns out that my older sister is content with her station in life and she decides to not pursue me, I will be ok with that too. Just finally knowing of her is all I can really ask for - and I have already been granted that.

Finally, Teresa... I know I have said this many times, but I feel I have to say it again. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reaching out to me and giving me this information. Even when I didn't respond, you didn't give up. You are irreplaceable, unforgettable and now forever a part of my family. Much love

TamTam