Sunday, May 30, 2010

Hey Soul Sister

Do you know this song??

How about this?



Yes, my 2 year old (almost 3) is singing Hey Soul Sister by Train. I'm not quite sure where he learned it but he's been singing it all morning!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

From A to Z

I saw Sara over at Welcome to the Blog of an Army Wife and Lindsey over at Just Another Milspouse had posted these get to know you better ABC's. I starred them in my reader and kept meaning to do it but time has just seemed to get away from me! I guess better late than never. (And it gives me something easy to post in advance since I'm visiting with my parents!)

Anyway, here are my ABC's.

A. AREA CODE: 443
B. BED SIZE: Queen - but it sits up high like a California King
C. CHORE YOU HATE: Can I say all of them? Scooping poop has to be the worse though and normally that is hubby's job!
D. DOG'S NAME: Klondike. (yes, he's all white and no, we didn't name him - he came with it.)
E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY" ITEM: Dunkin Doughnuts Iced Coffee. (I've been trying to be good and only get it once or twice a week lately though...stupid diet!)
F. FAVORITE COLOR: I don't have one.
G.GOLD OR SILVER: Silver
H. HEIGHT: 5'1 1/2". (Yes the 1/2" does matter!)
I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: I tried the violin when I was 9 or 10. It was horrible!
J. JOB: I work at an elementary school with 3 and 4 year old special needs students. I love it and it's very rewarding!
K. KIDS: Three.
L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: The five of us plus the dog in a house that I can't wait to move out of!
M. MOM'S NAME: Kathy.
N. NICKNAME: AJ or Aimers or Shithead (yes, my husband and I have odd terms of endearment for each other, his is Shitface - but we like them!)
O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: four nights for a c-section for our youngest.
P.PET PEEVE: I have many of them (thanks Dad!) but one of them has to be shutting the shower curtain when you get out.
Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: I am horrible with this stuff! I don't remember actor/actresses names or names of movies, let alone quotes from movies.
R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY: Righty
S. SIBLINGS: Older sister and younger brother.
T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: The alarm goes off at 6:20am. (I rarely can drag my ass out of bed at that time though!)
U. UNDERWEAR: Really? People really want to know that?? If you must know, I wear thongs.
V. VEGGIES YOU DISLIKE: Wow - that could be a really long list. Mushrooms, asparagus, brussel sprouts, peas, lima beans.... just to name a few that pop into my head.
W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE: What mom of 3 kids is ever on time? By the time I run around and get the three of them ready, there is no time for myself - and hells if I'm going out looking horrible all the time!
X. X-RAYS YOU'VE HAD: Many. Most recently on my foot again. (And the MTF wants to send me 2 hours away to go see a podiatrist! Are you kidding me?!?!)
Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: One of my favorites is this dish. And it's healthy!
Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: I feel bad for them all but I still like the elephants and monkeys.

Hope you've learned a little something about me. (Even though I'm sure you really didn't care to begin with :-)

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Update On Goals

So way back in the beginning, when I started posting again, I came up with a list of deployment goals. Since deployment has officially begun and he was at the mob site for two months prior to that, I figured it was time to revisit those goals.

1. Read at least 12 books. I'm already on track for this. I'm not really sure why I set the goal so low though. I've read the following so far:

An Ocean Between Us
Separated By Duty, United in Love
Chicken Soup for the Military Wife's Soul
BrainPower, Game Plan

And I'm currently reading:

My Sister's Keeper
The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half

We'll see if I keep up with this pace since school starts again soon. I'd love to have recommendations if you've read anything good lately.

2. Complete at least 4-5 classes towards my graduate degree. I finished my spring class and I've registered for 2 classes for this summer. (Yes, I do know I'm crazy!!) Still hoping to only have 3 or 4 left when he comes home.

3. Take a picture a day. I have actually been doing this. Not in the way I originally intended though. (Although I have gotten really good at bringing my camera and taking pictures almost every where we go.) One of the things I do, is take a picture a day of me with my phone and either text it to him (when he was in the states) or email it to him at least once a day. He says it makes his day to see my face when he gets them.

4. Lose 10 pounds. While I haven't actually lost 10 pounds yet, I have been working on it. There is a group of us at work that is doing the biggest loser. I was hoping the cash prize would help to motivate me...and it does if I'm alone. The second I have people over the diet is forgotten! But I've also started by at the YMCA again since we have the free membership during deployment.

5. Send B (ako Girl) to Operation Purple Camp. Unfortunately, this won't be happening. I received an email in the beginning of May that stated that she was placed on the wait list. I still don't know what criteria they think she didn't meet because I know I registered her 5 minutes after registration opened. I've emailed them twice and still have gotten no response. I'm disappointed....

6. Plan at least 6 outings/day trips during the summer with the kids. This is still in the plans. I'm working on details already for some of them. I'm sure I'll post them as they happen.

7. Pay off as many bills as possible. This has been started too. Even with no "extra" money coming in yet, we've been able to save and start putting money towards bills. We also got rid of my Explorer since we have no need for two trucks and two payments when there is only one of me. The extra money from that all goes towards paying off bills! Yahoo!

8. Finish at least one home improvement project. I'm still hoping for this to come true. I think I'll need to enlist the help of some friends/family though.

9. Decide on paint color for the kitchen and PAINT it! The color has been decided. Now it's actually just finding the time to do it. Hopefully over the summer!

10. Visit my parents WV Place at least three times. This is in the works as well. Our first visit will be over the long memorial day weekend. We're all excited!

11. Going skiing/snowboarding with my brother and sister at least once. This hasn't even been mentioned anywhere but here, but in my defense, my sister is still half-way around the world!

12. De-clutter! This has begun as well. I sold a bunch of stuff on Ebay and made over $100 in the process. I've also thrown away and given away umpteen bags of stuff as well. This is an on-going project though and I need to get the kids out of the house to really have a go at their rooms.

So there you have it, an update on my goals. So far, I'm even fairly impressed with myself. I'm beginning to think maybe I didn't set hard enough goals!

Did you set goals for yourself? Or are you going to?

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

You've Got To Be Kidding Me....

A while ago ABW wrote this post about the things people you say to you while your husband is deployed. I read through her stories as well as the stories of my own but didn't have anything to add at that point.....

Can you tell where this is going?

There is this woman at work who on last Wednesday (mind you this was the day my husband actually left and I was already a mess) asked me if my husband had left yet. Of course, because of OPSEC, I wasn't going to tell her that yes, he was leaving that day so I just said yea he's been gone. (Since he had been at the mob site for a couple months already.)

She then proceeds to ask me how long he was going to be away. Here is basically how the rest of our conversation went:

Me: A year
Her: WOW! That's a really long time!
Me: silently: No shit!
Her: Well my husband is currently gone too. He's in France right now painting (yes, I said painting) for two months.
Me: Nice.
Her: Yea, it's really hard. I miss him so much. Things are just so hard on me right now.
Me: silently: Are you fucking kidding me?
Me: silently again: Are you seriously comparing my husband going to war for a year to your husband painting in France for two months!!

Luckily for me, I have a close friend who was standing there and while she didn't know exactly what was going on with me that day she knew I wasn't all together with it and assumed it had to do something with my husband leaving. She kindly takes over the conversation and I back out.

Literally five seconds after their conversation ends she comes back over to me.

Her: Wow! A year is a LONG time!
Her: How are you going to do it??
Her: It's a really long time!
Her: Wow. A year.
Me: silently again: You've got to be fucking kidding me!! Do you have to go out of your way to keep reminding me how long it is? Don't you think I already know how long it is. I'm the one who is living it remember?

Again, I silently bowed out of the conversation and left the room for a bit to unwind.

I truly was in shock at what she was saying. I know in my heart that she didn't mean for it to come across the way that it did and I know far worse things have been said to people. I'm sure she just didn't know what to say. But for the love of God, if you don't know what to say - than don't say ANYTHING at all!

Has anyone else had experiences like this? Or experiences like those that were posted at ABW? Maybe you've had nice things said or done for you? I'd like to hear what you guys have experienced.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

From The Mouth Of.....

I've been having a hell of a time trying to get my 2 year old to stay in bed recently. (I know it's just a stage and he'll outgrow it - I'm not worried about that) Like all kids he does the typical:

I need a drink
I need to go potty
I wanted to tell you I love you
We forgot to brush my teeth

As well as some of the newer ones:

Is Daddy on a boat?
Is Daddy on an airplane?
Is Daddy sleeping on the boat?
Why is Daddy on a boat?

Well last night when I put him to bed, I made sure his teeth were brushed, he went potty, we said our love yous and I told him Daddy was on a boat and yes he was sleeping. I then asked, "is there anything else?"

He laid there starring at me and I could see the wheels turning in his head....

2 year old: Mommy, why is today Monday?
Me: What!?! Because yesterday was Sunday and that makes today Monday.
2 year old: But why?
Me: Because that's the way it works - GO TO BED!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Breaking the Silence

I didn't go silent on purpose. It's just been a rough week with my husband actually finally leaving the country. While he's been at the mob site for 2+ months, the realization hit really hard that he was actually leaving the country and I'll admit, I lost it on more than one occasion.

On that same token though, I look at it that now that he is actually gone, I can finally start counting down the days til is return!

I have lots of blog ideas running through my head these past few days but I needed to get past the emotions before I could actually post anything and make any sense out of it.

Hopefully by tomorrow I'll have my head clear enough and have gotten enough sleep tonight in order to make sense out of all the jumbled topics in my head right now.

Sorry I don't have more for you now - but I just wanted to check in and tell you all that I'll be back to posting regularly soon. (I hope)

Friday, May 21, 2010

It's Official....

He's there. On the boat. More to come later....

For now, I gotta get some sleep.....

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Damn Bulbs!

So as every military wife knows, things just seem to go wrong when our spouse is gone. Whether is for training, TDY or deployment. Things just never go smoothly.

Take for instance at our house: Our basement has flooded not once, but TWICE while my husband was gone. The dog had to have major surgery while he was gone. I can't begin to tell you how many plumbing issues we've had while he has been gone. Our water heater stopped working while he was gone. A tree fell on our fence while he was gone. I've caught the microwave on fire while he was gone.

So you get the point. I'm sure I could list more if I really thought about about everything over the past several years - all of the above are just within the last three - almost four years!

So I've been feeling pretty lucky (knock on wood) so far this go round - with nothing major happening as of yet. (yes, I know I still have 10+ months....) But the one thing that seems to be going wrong - I think I've practically replaced every single light bulb in this house within the past two months! Seriously!

The lamp bulbs, the vanity bulbs, the overhead bulbs, the outside porch bulbs - you name it, I'm sure I've replaced it recently. The final straw today though....I got pulled over on post.

Not for just one bulb either. I got pulled over for having both a headlight and a tail light out at the SAME time! This would never happen to anyone else! And I know they were fine just several days ago - so they both literally had to happen at almost the same time. Go figure...

So it looks like I'll be off to Auto Zone during my lunch today to replace those bulbs too.

I guess if this is as bad as it gets this deployment, then I'll be good. Keeping my fingers crossed that this is the worse that happens.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Randomness

My heart aches.....

As my husband says though, "I'm not saying goodbye, I'm saying, I'll see you soon."

I'm so glad I have real friends (as opposed to those in my computer) who I can text and they'll be over in a moments notice to spend the evening with me so I don't have to sit here alone after the kids go to bed.

Did I say yet, that my heart aches....

Sunday, May 16, 2010

From The Mouth Of.....

I use to do a regular from the mouth of post since my 6 year old is forever saying the darnedest things. And my 2 year old is right on his tail with the wittiness these days. Maybe I'll start posting more of these again but for now here are a few:

Husband: "Welcome to my world."
2 year old: "Welcome my world. I here all the time."

Husband: "I'm sorry, I don't want to go either but it's my job and I have to go."
6 year old: "Well doesn't the captain care that your kid is crying."

And here's one more retold to me from my mom when she was here watching the kids:

My mom: “Come on, [2 year old], Let’s get your PJs on and get you ready for bed"
2 year old: “My want shower"
My mom: “No, Mommy said you don’t need a shower tonight. Let’s get your PJs on.”
2 year old: “No. My want shower.”
My mom: “Mommy said no shower tonight, buddy.”
2 year old: “No Mommy NOT. My. Want. SHOWER.”

I'm glad that they are able to keep me laughing through all of this. I don't know what I would do without them!





Friday, May 14, 2010

Emotional Ride

I had a wonderful time with my husband during his pass from the mob site. It was like he was never gone and we just fell back into our normal routines. It just seemed like he was coming back from any other extended TDY that he's had over the past several years.

It all didn't really hit me until Tuesday night though that I actually had to take him back the following day to the mob site. Watching him say good night to the kids for the last time for a year broke my heart. Listening to my 6 year old cry about not wanting Daddy to go, broke my heart. Listening to my 2 year old tell Daddy he didn't want him to go back on the boat, broke my heart. Watching my 9 year old be braver and stronger than any 9 year old should have to be, broke my heart.

It's been a rough couple days since he's been gone too. Walking into our bedroom, his scent is still there. I dread the day when I realize I can no longer smell it. Picking up his clothes and shoes and putting them away was painful knowing I wouldn't be doing it again for a year. Folding the last of his laundry for the next year brought me to tears.

I'm sure all these emotions are normal. As usual though I'm trying to stay busy and put on a strong front for the kids. I know that I need to be strong for them.

I'll post more about his leave in a few days and I know I have a few updates to give and even a blog award to recognize and pass on! Right now though I'm just trying to adjust.....

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Thursday Morning Meme

Perusing through blogs the other day, I found this meme and decided I'd save it for a day when I was not up for blogging. Which happens to be today.... So here goes:

1.How long have you been a Military Wife? It will be 4 years this August. We have big plans to celebrate our 5 year anniversary when he gets home!

2. How many deployments have you gone through? This is our first one.

3. What do you like about being a Military Wife? I've learned that I'm a much stronger person than I ever gave myself credit for.

4. Do you live on base? No and I miss it.

5. What is your favorite base so far? We haven't been to a ton of them but Ft. Belvoir would have to be my favorite of the ones we've been to.

6.What's the hardest part of the military life? The constant coming and goings.

7.Do you go to the grocery store or commissary? I use to shop at the commissary but since I started couponing I shop weekly based on ads at the grocery store.

8. Do you prefer Dress Blues or Dress Whites? Dress Blues.

9.Do you have a lot of Military Wife friends? Not a ton. There are a few and a few who had prior service but I wish I had more.

10. Do you prefer wal-mart or the BX/PX? The PX here sucks! And I hate Wal-Mart. I'm a Target girl all the way!

11. So how did your Husband propose? When we got home after a long day of helping my parents on their house in WV. He had asked my dad's permission.

12.Did you marry him after he joined or before? After. Although we've known each other since we were 14!

13.How long have you two been together? Goes back to the last question...we're going on 16 years on and off! Back together for 6 years.

14. Any kids yet? Yes. 3.

15. Any kids yet to come? I hope not. 3 is enough.

16. Is your husband one of those (I am army hear me "HOOAH"/ I am Marine Corps hear me "OOHRAH") kind of guys? No. He is a family guy and his family comes first.

17.Have you ever done combatives with your husband? No.

18. How many bases have you lived at? One. But we've been to many others just haven't lived there.

19. If you could change one thing about the military what would it be? That AGR soldiers don't get screwed with everything!

20.Do you like military balls? I've never been. We've had dining outs - but that's not really the same.

21.Where does your family live? Maryland.

22.Do you have a job? Yes, right now I'm working part-time at an elementary school with special needs kids.

23. Have you ever gotten in a fight with a CPO's wife? No.

24. Name one thing you do when your husband is gone? Blog.

25.Do you think other wives do that too? Yes, probably everyone who is reading this!

26.When you see movies about the military, do you notice when things aren't right? Sometimes but I do it with all movies. My husband does it sometimes too.

Hope everyone enjoyed. Let me know if you decide to do it as well, I'd like to see everyone else's answers too.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

We Have a Visitor

Please excuse my lack of posting and commenting for the next few days as my husband is home on pass from the mob site for a couple days. I'm going to soak up as much of him as I can while he is home since all I'll have soon is Skype and email.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there but most importantly to my mom.

My mom is:

Strong
Kind
Intelligent
Compassionate
Talented
Giving
Hilarious
Loving
Patient
And best of all, she is my MOM!


While we may have gotten off to a rough start all those years ago, you are now one of my closest friends. I love you with all my heart Mom.

Happy Mother's Day!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Medicine Recall

Just wanted to make sure that everyone is aware of the recall on Children's Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl and Zyrtec products. I had seen this a couple times within the past few weeks but it wasn't until today that I actually made time to pull everything out of the medicine cabinet and check.

While we have mostly generic medicines in our cabinet (that's what our self-help on post gives), I did actually find a couple of affected products - one of them even from the army clinic.

So please check the medicines if you have them! Through this website, you can either request a high value coupon or a refund of the product to have it replaced.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Help/Suggestions Appreciated

I need help and suggestions for my 6 year old son. Since he was 4, I've had suspicions that he may be struggling with dyslexia. (I know everyone says you can't diagnose dyslexia that young but there are many more symptoms besides the reading/writing aspects and it also runs in my husbands side of the family)

Coupled with my concerns of dyslexia, he has had some fairly difficult behavior problems that only seem to be present at school. At home, he is a good kid minus the frequent squabbles with his siblings.

I'm at such a loss because he can go weeks without having a bad day and all of a sudden they are back with a vengeance. He'll tell me it's so easy to be good at school and then all of a sudden he's telling me it's too hard and he can't do it.

Many, many people have suggested that his behaviors are because of my husbands deployment, but I'm going to have to say I don't agree. He is actually normally better behaved when my husband is gone than when he is home (which makes no sense to me). And these issues have been on-going for a couple years not just since my husband has left.

Does anyone else have a child who has similar characteristics? Or worked or known a child like this? Do you have any suggestions on what to try? Or what the root cause may be?

We've tried many different discipline techniques, behavior plans (which I found out yesterday that his teacher was NOT doing correctly), speaking with counselors and psychiatrists and administrators at the school, and even yesterday I requested for him to officially be evaluated by a special educator.

I'm at a loss. I don't know what else to do to get him the help that he obviously needs....

Saturday, May 1, 2010

What Was He Thinking?!?!

Please tell me why my near 3 year old has insisted on coming to get in bed with me almost every morning for the past week and a half. Normally he doesn't come down until about 6:30am - which I'm completely fine with because I should be awake by then anyway (although I rarely am).

But seriously, two times in the past two weeks, he has come down into bed sometime in the wee hours of the morning and climbed into bed with me. I know...that doesn't sound that horrible...

BUT - both times, it's been because he's peed in his bed! Do you think that this sweet child of mine, would bother telling me - hey mom, I peed in my bed, I'm soaking wet and I'm about to get into your bed? Of course not, why would he do that.

Then not only do I have to change his sheets and blankets but than I have to change all of mine as well. This is not exactly what I want to be doing at o-dark thirty when I should still be getting those last few precious hours of sleep. (Oh how I miss having Daddy home to help out with these times.)

And the kicker to it all - after the first time, I thought he had peed in my bed when he climbed in sometime in the middle of the night. And I said, "Mommy is not happy that you peed in my bed!" And with the biggest smile on his face full of pride he says, "Mommy I peed in MY bed too!" That's when I realized what was actually happening.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has a child that does this.....

OBSCENITY ALERT:

This Blog is my outlet. It's where I share my thoughts and feelings. It's a place where I can vent. Not everyone thinks alike. People don't always share the same religious or political views. Some people (like me!) occasionally think in more “colorful” terms than others. Sorry, but I'm a big girl and can use cuss words and talk about not-so-mainstream stuff if I want to. If you find that sort of language offensive / shocking / annoying, you may want to stop reading now. Life as a military wife ain't always pretty. It's my life, though, so don't say I didn't warn you.