It Finally Happened....

It has finally happened -

I've turned 30!  

Sunday, March 1, 1981 at 8:10am, I was born.

No big celebrations for me tonight.  I had some girlfriends over to celebrate with me on Friday.  We had a good time but I can't wait till my husband comes home and we can have our big joined 30th birthday party!

Since I have nothing else exciting, I'll leave you with some jokes my grandma sent me in my birthday card:

" A soldier in my National Guard platoon became concerned when the Army insisted that he sign up for direct deposit.  'It's not going to work for me,' he said, panicked.  'Why not?' I asked.  'Because I use my Guard pay for spending money.'  'So?'  'For the past ten years, I've been telling my wife that I serve for free!'"

"Louie and his wife are listening to the radio when they hear the weather report:  'A snow emergency has been declared.  You must park your cars on the odd-numbered side of the street."  So Louie gets up and moves his car.  Two days later - same thing.  'A snow emergency has been declared,' blares the radio.  'Park your car on the even-numbered side of the street.'  Louie gets up and does what he's told.  Three days later: 'There will be a foot of snow today.  Park your cars on the ...,' and then the power goes out.  'What should I do?' a confused Louie asks his wife.  'This time,' she says, 'why don't you just leave the car in the garage?'"

"I bought a new toilet seat recently.  On the label was a suggestion on how to clean it.  Although nice to have the option, I doubt I'll take advantage of it.  My toilet seat, it seems, is 'Dishwasher Safe.'"

Weigh In Friday

Yes, I know it is not Friday but my weekend has gotten away from me.  I was nervous to weigh in this week because I knew I ate like crap at the baby shower on Saturday.  I also didn't get to go to the gym on Monday because schools were closed and the kids were home and then didn't get to go on Tuesday either because schools were closed with the stupid snow.  


I was actually preparing myself to gain a pound or two.  


So here is where I currently stand:

Starting Weight  ???  (I was afraid of the number so I didn't weigh in till the end of week 1)
Week 1  ???  (145.6)
Week 2  -3 lbs  (142.6)
Week 3  -2 lbs  (140.6)
Week 4  -1 lbs  (139.6)
Week 5  -1.4 lbs  (138.2)
Week 6  -3 lbs  (135.2)
Total loss so far 10.4 lbs! 


Yup!  3 pounds!  I was SO excited.  I think the loss maybe due to the fact that I started running again this week.  It's the first time since my surgery...and I still hate it just as much as I did before.  Lol.  

It's Getting Closer

Right now we are 321 days into this stupid deployment.

And this deployment is finally ALMOST over!

And I can't wait!

I don't have definite dates yet but my hubby did give me a date to have his cell phone turned back on.

That's a start....right??

I'm getting excited - can't wait to have him back in my arms!

Confession Time

Back in November I finally broke down and bought a new vacuum.  This is something we normally have to do every few years.  It sucks but I figured it was just life with a huge white hairy dog.

After talking it over with my husband though, we finally decided to take the plunge and get a Dyson.  This one to be exact.  I was so super excited to get it - but to be honest - I haven't really been too impressed.

I mean, it does suck up dirt and dog hair and it does maneuverer around easily.  And it is easy enough to empty out and clean the filters but....

the release mechanism for the handle is horrible!  The pin is constantly popping out if you even so much as slightly step on the release unevenly.  The only way I've found to fix this is to unscrew a bunch of pieces and use enough pressure (that makes me think I may really break it) to pop it back into place and then put all the screws back in.  This is a major pain in the ass!

The other thing that urks me.  I don't know how many times I've pushed the release button for the dirt canister only to lift it up and the bottom flip open and all the dirt to spill all over me and the floor.  It's somewhat amazing that the canister hasn't gone flying across my house yet.  (Maybe that huge price tag is the reason).

I was so excited to get a Dyson and couldn't wait to rave about it like everyone else I know - but I'm just not that impressed.  I find myself rarely admitting that to people though - I feel like I'm committing a sin if I say I'm not in love with it like everyone else does.

Am I the only one who feels this way?  (Please tell me I'm not.....)
Do you think maybe my Dyson is just defective?

Award

I received an award from Misty Marie.

Thank you!

Here is how the award works:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 8 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact the bloggers and let them know about the award.
So, here are 7 things about me:
1. I don't sort laundry - ever!
2. I kinda sort of wish I had some sort of money saving blog.
3. I'm thinking of going darker with my hair (details soon).

4. I am an organization/list maker freak!
5. We're almost finished with this stupid deployment.

6. I'm married to my high school sweetheart.
7. I'm gonna be 30 soon.  (In like 6 days!  Yikes!)
I wish I could say I had new bloggers to pass this award to; but I don't.  I really have been a bad blogger lately.  I'm sorry.  I'm just trying to keep up with my day to day life.  If you are a regular reader here and don't have this award - please feel free to take it!

 

Android Apps

After several weeks of researching phones, I finally got my new phone on Friday.  I decided to get the Samsung Transform.   It is taking a lot of getting use to (and the weekend hasn't left much time to actually play around with it) but I think so far I really like it.  The touch screen is probably the hardest for me to get use to.

I use to have a Blackberry and I thought I loved that phone - but I didn't know all that I was missing until now.   I always heard people talk about apps and yes, the Blackberry does have apps but nothing near what this does! In my little bit of free time this long weekend, I've been downloading and playing with various apps.

One of my favorites so far is the Calorie Counter by Fat Secret.  I used this app on my Blackberry so it was one of the first I downloaded but it is by far better with the android phone!  I can simply scan any bar code of something I've eaten and it adds it into my daily calorie intake diary.  No more searching forever and finally settling on what seems to fit best.

Another one that I downloaded tonight that I think I'll love is Key Ring.  You scan all of your rewards cards into this app and then you have them all in one place.  You simply show the cashier your phone and there is the bar code.  No more lugging around all those rewards cards.

So I'm looking for your suggestions.  Do you use android apps?  Which ones are your favorite?

I

Weight Loss Journey

I know I've mentioned several times that I want/need to lose weight.  The amount I've wanted to lose has also fluctuated quite a bit as I seemed to of gained quite a few pounds towards the middle of  this stupid deployment.

I've decided that I'm finally ready to really lose this weight, so I can be super sexy when my husband comes home.  The other thing I've been contemplating is actually discussing numbers.  I was already to discuss the number of pounds I've lost but what my actual weight was took a lot more convincing on my part.

It wasn't until last week that I finally told my husband what my true weight was!  And now I'm finally ready to share with everyone else too.

I know most people weigh in on a Sunday or Monday but I've decided to do it on Friday's.  I know that I generally "cheat" more on the weekends and don't want that Monday number to discourage me.

So here is where I currently stand:

Starting Weight  ???  (I was afraid of the number so I didn't weigh in till the end of week 1)
Week 1  ???  (145.6)
Week 2  -3 lbs  (142.6)
Week 3  -2 lbs  (140.6)
Week 4  -1 lbs  (139.6)
Week 5  -1.4 lbs  (138.2)

Total loss so far  7.4 lbs!

I know this isn't a huge amount but I feel good about it.  I'm not starving myself and I'm still treating myself to one Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee a week and generally one meal at a fast food restaurant during the course of the weekend.

I have 13.2 more pounds to loose but at this rate, I'm hopeful that I'll almost be where I want to be when my husband gets home!

(P.S.  In case anyone is wondering - I'm short - I'm only 5'1")

Proof I'm Raising a Target Snob

Setting:  Driving down the road with kids in tow.

Boy 2: pointing out the window at building.  What's that?  

Me:  Wal-Mart

Boy 2:  Ewwww!  Yuck!  We don't like Wal-Mart.  Only Target!

What can I say, the boy has his mamma's taste.

Note to Self

Do not EVER volunteer to co-host a baby shower (or any event for that matter) again!

Specifics:

Co-host is in charge of invites.  Only puts herself as the host when she sends invitations out.

Co-host wants to spend $2.49 per cookie for favors.  That's over $50 for cookies alone! Ridiculous!  (And that doesn't include the cost of the cellophane bags she wants to put them in!)

December Part 4 (The Good Part)

So December was a very stressful month if you didn't get that from my first three parts.  And then there was Christmas too.

The holidays were good considering my husband wasn't here.  We did get to Skype with him Christmas morning so he got to see the kids open all their gifts.  And then him and I were able to open gifts together like we do every year as the kids sit around and play with new toys.

Oddly enough though, Christmas wasn't as depressing as Thanksgiving was for me.

What made it bearable though was this:

Yup, you guessed it!  R&R.  Three days after Christmas my hubby returned home for his two week R&R.

December Part 3 (A.K.A When the Medication Began)

Way back in the beginning of the summer I started discussing the issues we were having with Boy 1.  I know I made mention several times that we were almost to a point where I felt we would have a definitive diagnosis.  We finally received that towards the end of November.

We have had four professionals (the psychologist, the psychiatrist, the intake worker and his weekly therapist) all agree and all diagnosis ADHD.  We are still looking to rule out a possible mood disorder and possibly depression but that is something we will closely monitor with time.

However, we now had an official diagnosis and we had been seeing his therapist weekly for just about 6 months; and while there had been some improvements in some areas - there were still some major struggles going on.

The final breaking point for me was when Boy 1 came close to getting suspended from school.  Basically, in a fit of anger and rage, he threatened to kill one of the student teachers.  We all knew that he would never act on it and it was just something he said because he was angry - but the fact that he said it at all was bothersome to many.

It was right around this time that I made the decision to go with the psychiatrists recommendation for medication.  I had held off on it for so long as my husband and I have always said we did not want to medicate him at such a young age but instead we wanted to be able to teach him the skills necessary so that he would be able to cope with it.

However, after many many sleepless nights, and watching the effects of his behavior not only on himself, but on Girl and Boy 2 as well as myself - I came to the conclusion that the best thing to do at this point in time was to begin the medication.

We began Boy 1 on this drug and we all instantly saw an improvement.  Yes, he still may get angry.  Yes, he still calls out.  Yes, he may still refuse to do something.  But really - what 7 year old boy doesn't do these things.  The difference is, while these things once use to be to an extreme, they are now not.

This was a very difficult decision to come to on my own as my husband was not here.  He ultimately told me that because he was not here, I had to make the best decision I could.  He trusted me to make this decision without him - and that alone was a ton of pressure.

Boy 1 has been on this medication for almost two months now; and I still standby my decision.  Until my husband gets home he will continue on the medication; when he gets home we will revisit the situation and come to a conclusion together on what the next step is.

Blog Redesign

A week ago I asked everyone for some suggestions on a new blog layout.  And I got so much better than that!

Jeanette over at Crafty Hippo Design offered to redesign by blog for FREE as she is considering opening her own business and I got to be her guinea pig.  How amazing is that?

I absolutely love my new design.  What do you all think?  I'm sure Jeanette would love any constructive feedback you may have to offer.

Also if you check out her blog and you use blogger; she is offering free redesigns for the first 5 people that contact her.  (Please note at this time, she is only working with blogger.)

Thanks again Janette!  I enjoyed working with you and I love my new look!

December Part 2 (A.K.A. The time CPS was called)

So this next section of December I've contemplated posting about at all.  I've written and re-written this post several different ways trying to give enough detail without giving all the intimate details of my children, who I often try to shelter on here.

Basically what it boils down to is discipline.  Before I go any further, I understand that this topic is and can be touchy with some people.  However, the way that my husband and I see fit to discipline our children is our decision.

Now with all that out of the way...I'll continue....

One of my children decided to mouth off to me one night and they consequently got smacked in the mouth for doing so and grounded to their room for the week.

What I never imagined happening next, did.  My child went into school and apparently told several people that I hit them.  Now let me back up a little bit.  Everyone at my children's school knows who I am.  I worked there full time last year and have been substituting throughout the school this year.

So when I found out that basically one of my co-workers reported me to CPS (child protective services) I was beyond angry.  I get that child abuse needs to be reported and I don't think it is nearly enough, especially at our school - but seriously for smacking my child for talking back??  My child has never gone to school with so much as a bruise on them and this co-worker felt the need to report me??

Since when did corporal punishment become illegal?  Oh yea, that's right.  In this state, it's NOT!

Of course all of this happened on a Friday (and a week before Christmas at that) and so I spent the remainder of the weekend and several days after that, stressing out over what was going to happen - even though I knew I did absolutely nothing wrong. This has got to be one of the worst feelings a parent can go through, even worse when the other parent is thousands of miles away.

As of this point in time, nothing has come about any of this.  My husband and I did sit said child down that night and via Skype discussed the severity of the situation.  We explained to said child the difference between discipline and abuse.  We told said child the possible consequences of their actions - not only to themselves, but to us as parents and us as a family.

I think they get it now.  At least I hope they do.

As for my co-worker.  I know which one it was.  I haven't confronted her yet - but I do plan on it.  I'm trying to wait a while and try to become less angry about the whole situation.  And I'm just not there yet.

On a side note, if you feel the need to report child abuse - please do so.  But before you do, please ensure you have spoken in detail with the child and even contacted the parent for their side if you are unsure.  Please don't put a family through the hell that this woman has to us.

Deployment Goals Revisited

Way back in February of last year I came up with a list of deployment goals.  I revisited them once before here but since deployment will be coming to an end soon, I figured it would be time to revisit those goals.


1. Read at least 12 books. This accounts to at least one book a month. Shouldn't be too hard but we'll see what happens with my course load. I also want to try to integrate some self-help type books into that mix as well...   COMPLETED.  I don't know how many I've actually read but it's been way more than 12.  Since Christmas alone I've already read 6 books.  


2. Complete at least 4-5 classes towards my graduate degree. So far I've completed three and I just enrolled in my fourth. If I complete 4-5 next year, I'll be more than half way done my degree.  ALMOST COMPLETED.  I am half way done with my master's degree but I took this semester off.  I figured with homecoming and family vacations coming up I wouldn't want to worry about school.  


3. Take a picture a day. My ultimate goal with these pictures would be to email one picture a day to SF.  FAIL.  I was really good at first about taking pictures all the time.  My camera was attached to me.  But that only lasted about 2 months.  I do send my husband a nightly photo of me - does that count??  

4. Lose 10 pounds. This has been an ongoing goal. We'll see how it goes.  FAIL.  If my goal was to gain 10 pounds, I'd be good.  However, I've gotten back to the gym and have already started losing weight.  Maybe I'll still be able to lose 10 before he comes home but then I'll still have another 10 to lose.

5. Send B (ako Girl) to Operation Purple Camp. While the locations of the camps have not yet been released - I would love to be able to send her for a week. I'm also not sure of the age limits either but if G (ako Boy 1) meets the age limits I would consider sending him as well.  FAIL.  We sent the application within hours of registration opening and she was not accepted.  I still do this day have no idea why.  I've tried emailing and calling them several times and I have never gotten a response.  This is one program that I've been highly disappointed in.  I wanted to be in love with it like everyone else - I guess that just wasn't in our cards.  

6. Plan at least 6 outings/day trips during the summer with the kids. I don't plan on the older two being in summer camp at the CYS all summer because I want to be able to do things with them too. I'm thinking they'll be in camp at CYS for four or five of the eight weeks...  COMPLETED.  While I know I don't remember all things that we did over the summer - we did do a lot.  We did many day trips to different places in the area that we had never been to as well as many days spent at the pool.  

7. Pay off as many bills as possible. I'd love to be debt free, except for the mortgage and one truck payment if at all possible - but those goals maybe set too high, especially since I'm not sure how much "extra" money we'll be getting.  ALMOST COMPLETE.  It looks like it's gonna happen after all.  By the time my husband gets home we should only have a mortgage payment and a cadet loan!  We are so excited about this.

8. Finish at least one home improvement project. God knows there are MANY that are not complete! I'm not sure which one I want to tackle yet though.  COMPLETE?  I've done a lot around the house.  Have I finished the drywall or baseboards that I'm sure I was referencing in this, no.  But I've done plenty else to say/feel that I've completed this one.  Everything else can wait until the professionals come in.

9. Decide on paint color for the kitchen and PAINT it! This goes along with goal #8 but this will be a new project not a half finished project waiting to be completed.  COMPLETE.  Not only did I paint the kitchen but I also got all new decor and a new dining room table and buffet.  Months later, and I still love it.

10. Visit my parents WV Place at least three times. I know that doesn't sound like many times but it would be way more than I've gotten there in the past few years.  NOT QUITE.  I've been twice.  Maybe I'll be able to get one more visit in during spring break with the kids?  We'll have to see about this one.  And my kids have all been a handful of times too without me - does that count?

11. Going skiing/snowboarding with my brother and sister at least once. We had so much fun the last time we went. Maybe this time we could make a whole weekend out of it.  FAIL.  Although this isn't my fault.  The whole surgery thing kinda screwed me up.

12. De-clutter! I'm tired of all the useless crap we have around the house. It's time to get rid of it and what better time to do it when there is no one that can object.  COMPLETE and still working on it.  I have donated a ton of stuff so far this year.  And I just sold almost $300 worth of stuff on E-bay.  And I'm planning a yard sale in March so I've been saving all of my normal donations for that.  I think I've done an awesome job of this so far.  Although I'm sure I'll still find even more.


So there you have it.  If you ask me, I've done a pretty good job on most of these.  Some of them failed because of reasons that I couldn't control, so I don't feel bad about those.  Some of them failed just because life got in the way.  Such is my life though.  

December

So with December, brought it's own issues.  Some old, some new.

I was still technically recovering from surgery.  I still wasn't suppose to be driving but decided to anyway.  I tried to take it easy - I really did; but life just sometimes didn't allow that to happen.

After about 4 weeks; I was allowed to start wearing a tennis shoe again.  But ONLY tennis shoes, with ties.  Do you know how limiting to your wardrobe it is to only be able to wear tennis shoes?

Luckily since I had planned on still being on crutches for the entire month of December, all of my holiday shopping was done.  Of course that didn't stop me from buying more things here and there; but for the most part I was done.

But with the shopping done; it only left wrapping to do.  Of all of the things holiday related - I least
expected wrapping to be one of the most depressing for me.  Let me see if I can explain.

My husband and I have this kind of ritual.  We sit down together to wrap presents several times throughout the month.  My husband; he tries; but he is a very slow wrapper.

Wrapping is one thing I am definitely better at than him (and Wii Tennis) and I like to rub it in as much as possible.  So at the end of each of our wrapping sessions; I like to tally up how many presents each of us has wrapped.  It's normally something like 22 to 9!  LOL!

Since there aren't too many things to boast about being better at than him; I take full advantage of this opportunity - especially since it only comes once a year.

But he wasn't here for any of that this year.

There was one night that I begged my friend Tiffany to help me wrap (and her wrapping tendencies are very similar to my husbands).  We had fun but it just wasn't the same.  Nothing can ever replace my husband.

To be continued....

Layouts

I want a new blog layout.

Does anyone have any suggestions where to get one for FREE?  In the past I've spent countless hours searching sites and finding and losing layouts that I like and then finally getting fed up because it isn't working the way I want it to in my head.

Is this just a part of doing a redesign?  Or is there an easier way?

November Part 2

If you missed the first half of my recap of the month you can find it here.  

By that weekend (I had surgery on Wednesday); the kids had gone with my parents and I was on my own to take care of not only myself but my dog.  Even though my doctor told me I could walk on my foot - it was unbearable.  I spent most of the weekend either hopping or crawling to where I needed to be.  That made things like filling the dogs water bowl pretty complicated.  Lets just say he drank a lot of bottled water that weekend as that was the only way I could do it without spilling water everywhere.  

I think it was probably Tuesday (not even a week) before I begged my friend Jamie to come pick me up and get me out of my house.  I just couldn't take being cooped up any longer.  She did of course and we went to Target; our favorite store!  I don't remember the last time I laughed as much as I did that day as I rode around in the motorized scooter bumping into things left and right.  It was definitely what I needed to get out of my funk.  

The kids were back home for two days (Monday and Tuesday) before I sent them off to the other grandparents house for the Thanksgiving holiday so I could attempt to finish recoup-orating.  I was probably the most depressed I've been this whole deployment during this time.  Again I was home alone with the holidays approaching and not only was my husband deployed but my kids were gone too. 

I decided to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with friends instead of family.  My thought process went like this: if I didn't have my husband and my kids - I didn't want to be around any family.  I was depressed enough as it was and I was sure that being with extended family would only make me miss MY family even more.  

While no one came right out and said it, I got the feeling that my family was a little upset about my decision not to join them.  They just didn't get my reasoning - they kept saying they were MY family.  Then again; none of them have had a spouse deployed, let alone deployed over the holidays - so I didn't exactly expect them to get it.  

I pretty much spent that entire week planted on my friend Jamie's couch with her and her husband.  They would come pick me up every morning and take me home every night so that I could still care for my dog.  They also fed me an awesome Thanksgiving dinner!  They did everything and anything I asked of them - and I truly don't know if I will ever be able to repay them.  

The whole not driving thing lasted for about 3 weeks before I had had enough and started driving again.  I got tired of feeling like I had to constantly entertain because there was always someone here.  It was nice at first but after being on my own for so many months; it started to get old.  I just wanted to be alone again!  (I know that sounds crazy).

So that brings us up to December.  Stay turned for another post with December's high points and low points.  

Operation Paperback

I first learned of Operation Paperback from ABW.  She mentioned it on her blog and I immediately went to the website to check it out.

Basically they are an organization that collects and sends books to not only deployed soldiers; but also to military and veteran hospitals and USO centers at the airports.  They have also recently started sending books to military families of deployed service members too.  You select the ages of the children and your own reading interests and they will send a variety of books out.  And on top of everything - it's all free.  They even cover the cost of shipping!

I love finding organizations that support our soldiers and their family members during deployments and hard times.

If you would like to sign up your soldier to receive shipments you can do that here.

And if you would like to sign up your family; you can do that here.

Happy reading!

November

Wow!  November seems like such a long time ago.  And believe me; I do not miss it!

As I'm pretty sure I mentioned November was the month of my surgery.  I had a bunionectomy.  Again.  (Even though blogger thinks I'm spelling it wrong, I'm not!  It's my third one; I'm pretty sure I know how to spell it by now).

I spent the first half of the month stressing out over if I was making the right decision to have surgery while my husband was deployed and trying to make sure that there was going to be someone here to help every day for eight weeks with getting the kids to and from school/daycare and sports; as well as grocery shopping and things around the house.

And yes, I said eight weeks!  I was preparing to be on crutches for eight weeks and be unable to drive for the entire time as I was having surgery on my right foot.

Unfortunately during this time, I learned a hard lesson as to who my real friends were.  It's a hard lesson to learn on its own and even harder when I didn't have my husband here to lean on.

Turns out though, when I woke up from surgery, I didn't need crutches at all!  I guess at the last minute he decided to do a different procedure; I'm still to this day not sure how it all came down to what it did.  I of course still wasn't suppose to drive for several weeks so I still needed someone here at my house to help out.

The day after surgery was the worst!  I called my doctor in tears.  I took so many pain pills that day.  I was only suppose to take 1 every 6 or 8 hours and I was taking 1 every 3 to 4.  Luckily it caused me to sleep most of the day but even then the pain was still horrible.  I don't remember being in so much pain after the first two surgeries.

This story is apparently way longer than I anticipated - so I'll continue another day....

Am I Returning?

Hmmm.  So where to start?

I'm not real sure why I haven't blogged in forever.  I mean, yeah I've been busy (really busy) but it seems like lately I come up with all these blog posts in my head and then they never get out.  I don't really have a good explanation.

I want to blog, but something is holding me back.  I'm just not sure what it is.  Part of me thinks it's the pressure to constantly come up with stuff on a daily basis - so don't expect anything daily out of me.  Lol.

Over the next few days, I'll try to get you all caught up with our happenings over the past few months.  (That's really if any of you even care or are even still reading my poor neglected blog.)

Even my poor husband said last month he still checks my blog daily hoping for something but knowing there won't be anything here.  I wonder if he's still checking?

And in case you're wondering - we're still in the midst of deployment.  But it's almost over!  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.