For:

• My husband being HOME, and not in some desert being shot at.
• My family, both my small extended family, and my HUGE amount of really awesome In Laws!
• That I am no longer living in a place I hate, and get to enjoy living in a place I love.
• All my awesome friends, near and far, new and old, online and off.
• The ability to stay in touch no matter the distance thanks to blogging, facebook, twitter, tumblr, and cell phones
• The opportunity to get a college education (Thanks Hunny!)
• That my children are all around good kids.
• Not having to cook this year!

Wishing everyone a wonderful day full of good food, good company, and safe travels!

On Being Thankful brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

Tweet

I had a nice Mother’s Day.  Even with Hubby gone, and one kid grounded for life, the other at a friend’s house all day after church. Shocking right?

My youngest daughter, while I was searching around post for something, took it upon herself to make me a card and vaccuum the living room, dining room, and hall. She the proceeded to make dinner later that evening.

My oldest who was home for all of 15 minutes, brought  with her a vase of yellow tulips and the above plate of cookies.

My husband, who isn’t HERE at least called. And if you knew him you’d know that for him to suffer through talking on the phone requires an act of God. Or a holiday. He also, though I did the actual ordering, and just told him about it, got me my World of Warcraft plushies.

As for how I spent my day? I treated myself to something I haven’t done in AGES. I played WoW allllll day. I even stayed up late, laughing and running dungeons with my guildies. I didn’t get to bed until almost 2am. I completely forgot the dogs hadn’t been out since arounmd 6pm. So for Mother’s Day even the dogs gave me a gift by not complaining and not peeing on the floor.

And a shout out to Shianti, my favoritest healer! Because my hunter and her pet pulled some really dumb shit last night and she kept us alive!! And my Apologies to twice, whom I may have led some hungry tigers to. What can I say? they crave dwarf sometimes?

They Like Me A Little brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

Tweet

@N04/4960388219/">

Relax! brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

Tweet

There was the Briefing From Hell, in which I learned that I’m totally doing deployments wrong.

There was my major epiphany that relieved alot of my stress.

And my Minor Epiphany, in which I stopped faking it.

There were adorable pictures.

There was FEAR but…

Then there was HOPE.

There was pride.

There was Self Acceptance.

And there was Silliness.

With 2010, there is only one thing that matters. THIS is the year my husband comes home. It may still be months away. But 2009, even before he left, started as the year he was going to leave. It was a cloud over our heads that remained there all year, and just got steadily darker. Now, it’s slowly getting lighter, and fading a way. One day at a time.

That’s all I needed for a Happy New Year. That, and a new computer.

Welcome 2010! brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

Tweet

Jess: i wanted to send ya stuff over there but thats just more ya gotta pack to bring home

Hunny: true

Jess: besides this way i have til R&R to get you some "toys"

Hunny: ohhhh like a redrider bb gun?

Jess: you'll put your eye out!

Hunny: ohhhh mom

Well, as most people know, I'm a bit of a smartass. So I hopped on over to Amazon and ordered exactly that. It should have been delivered Christmas Eve, however UPS decided that it was going to be delivered somewhere else. I don't know HOW, considering my house number and our NAME is right there on the house. But it was delivered up the street, to someone who'd been away. When they came home they found the box, and she brought it here yesterday. The box had been torn open, likely by the local teenagers  looking for a free ride. Luckily the contents were still inside.

One 1938 model, Red Ryder BB Gun.

I couldn't wait til R&R to show him. So I showed him on webcam today and he got a big laugh out of it. Which is of course what I was aiming for. It makes me happy. Besides, he'll have plenty to smile about while he's here on R&R. I thought it was a better thing to give him a giggle over there.

You’ll Put Your Eye Out!! brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

Tweet

Now, I’m not a fan of buying high priced stuff normally. Especially purses, to me having "Coach" displayed on your purse is just another word for "Mug Me!". And I know I’m not the only woman to change purses on a fairly frequent basis. But wallets, I’ll use one of them for ages. So I decided to look at Dooney and Bourke. And I found one I just loved. Unfortunately it was twice as much as I had. So I went home.

Around this time Hubby was online checking out the Steeler game (we won!! Haha!!) and I told him about my shopping trip. I swear I heard his eyes rolling all the way from Afghanisuck. But he said he can’t use the money in his deployment account anyhow, so I could swipe the extra from there. Do I have the most super awesome man or what??

So, I made my one and only, high priced small item purchase for this deployment. The last one I purchased Ralph Lauren sunglasses, which I’m proud to say I still use. This time…

One Dooney and Bourke purple wallet. Which I totally didn’t need, would never have bought any other time, and will last me for years.

That’s what Christmas money is for right?

The girls spent theirs already. The youngest buying all sorts of art stuff and headbands, oh and a pair of shoes she liked. The oldest, bless her heart bought two new Sim’s Xpacs. Yes, video games. I’m so proud

Christmas Money FTW! brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

Tweet

Yesterday we waited until he got online, only he called instead. So the kids opened their presents while I talked to him, then they each got a turn to talk with Daddy. My youngest immediately made her bed after that, since Santa brought her a full set of Hannah Montana bed stuff. Then they took off for a friends house.

That’s something that wouldn’t happen if we weren’t an Army Family. But the sad fact is, they never know how long a friend will stay here. And it’s important that they get time with them while they can, including Christmas. This particular friend was the first one they met. He’s a great kid, always included the youngest, even though my oldest was the one he started out friends with. His family treats them like their own. And he’s leaving in a couple months. So is my youngest daughter’s close friend.

I spent most of the day working on this here website. Simplifying the theme, moving in some older posts. I accidently spammed my Twitter feed in the process…ooops! I still have some posts to move over that didn’t quite make it somehow. I didn’t get pics of the girls opening presents, since I was enjoying the sound of my husband’s voice at the time. But the dogs had some interesting moments…lol

Daisy says: RAWR!! My Toy!

Shadow Says: They’re MINE!! All MINE I tell you!!

The girls playing Super Mario Wii. A future generation of gamers in my family?

And Santa brought me a couple games too. Wonder how he got my Steam info…hehehe

The Day After brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

Tweet

From Me To You… brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

Tweet

I am thankful, that even though my husband can’t be here, that I have a great marriage. One strong enough to handle this and any other deployments that come our way. Having the kind of security we have is something that only comes with time, and alot of couples aren’t as lucky as we are. They are still learning to be married (it doesn’t come with instructions) at the same time they are learning to deal with the Army, and deployment.

I’m thankful that my kids are old enough to understand everything that comes with Hunny’s job. It makes dealing with everything so much easier. They understand his job comes first, and that he can’t always be there for the concerts and plays, birthdays and first dates. And they never complain.

I’m thankful to have company this week. It makes the time pass faster.

I’m most thankful for my Husband. He’s stood by me through thick and thin. He’s always worked his ass off at any job he could find to take care of us. He joined the Army to partly give us a better life, but he also enlisted to fight for our country, because he felt it was right after we were attacked, knowing full well the sacrifices he’d be asked to make, and trusting me to be able to handle things at home. 

It’s a brave act to put that kind of faith in your spouse, while putting your life on the line at the same time. So I’m thankful he has that kind of faith in me, even if I don’t always have it in myself.

I’m thankful that next year, he’ll be here with us.

Being Thankful brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

Tweet

The kids are doing ok in school, youngest is now playing two instruments, heaven help me. Somehow she decided along with violin, she needed to play the clarinet. The oldest is still in Chorus, with an upcoming holiday concert.

The dogs are as bad as the kids. fighting over toys and parental attention.

hubby, as I posted earlier has finally made E6. It should be official next month. About time, considering he went to BNCOC (the school for E6) a year ago, and has already served his squad leader time as well. Too bad he can’t get backpay for that:P

I’m doing ok too. I guess I haven’t updated since my ultrasound, but I finally got the results. My gallbladder is fine, no stones, nothing. The final diagnosis was Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I think I’d prefer gallstones, but I think I finally have it under control. Activia yogurt is a wonderful thing.

Well, that wasn’t real exciting now was it? Guess I need to work on that.

Soooooo.. brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

Tweet