The Chaotic World of Kristi

Customer Service

2007-01-31T16:00:00.000-02:00

Have you ever called a company and gotten a representative that you could not hear or understand?

I think that in order to work a phone job you should have a LOUD and CLEAR voice. I have gotten to the point that I do everything over the internet so I do not have to deal with talking to people. I got a deep fryer for Christmas and something on it is broken so I call Rival the company that manufactures it and you can hardly hear the people, I know that it is not my hearing. Then the girl comes on the line, she is quiet and timid. Although I can hear her breathing in the phone as she is looking up my part I have to basically squish the phone inside my ear to hear her speak.

Then to beat everything, they do not have my part and I need to call back in 2 weeks to see if they have it, so I get to go through it all over again!

Bargains

2007-01-07T14:51:00.000-02:00

I love Christmas Clearance shopping. I went to Target on Friday and bought so much stuff at 90% off. I am set on wrapping paper, bows, boxes, and lights for next year. Every year we have a real tree but I just found out that hubby will be gone next year and I figure I will probably travel at Christmas just for the sake of being around family. So I purchased my first Fake tree. I am so anti-artificial trees, I love the real tree, I love everything about it. But when I was in target they had a prelit, 7 ft tree for 8.99 I just had to get it. I also got one for my friend hers was a little different and it was 1.60. I love a good bargain, don't you!!

My New Years Resolution

2007-01-03T20:19:00.000-02:00

Well it has been a month since my last post and I do feel very neglectful. My resolution is to be a better blogger this year. I seemed to have lost time to blog for the last half of last year.

Today is the hubbys birthday, he is 29. I just made him a birthday cake from scratch, thats right people no cake mix or frosting from a can. I got the Paula Deen, Just Desserts, Cookbook for Christmas and this is the first thing I made from it. The batter tasted good and so did the frosting so we will see how the whole thing comes together at tonights presentation. We are going to out local Japanese steakhouse for dinner, per hubbys request. And my friend Alison and her beau are going with us too. My husband loves sushi and I just cant seem to stomach it, I guess it has to do with the fact that I do not eat anything from the water anyhow.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all a proseperous new year.

Back from Jamaica

2006-12-03T17:26:00.000-02:00

I know it has taken me awhile to post since my return from Jamaica.

I do not know why my poor husband and I just can't catch a break, I must have horrible Karma!
We left our house on Friday afternoon to drive 5 hours to Atlanta to meet the in-laws. I could feel that I had a scratch throat but blew it off. I had my teeth cleaned the day before and thought maybe the dental hygenist may have jabbed something. Well we had to be up at 3am on Saturday morning and leave no later than 3:30am. I woke up at 2am, the sore throat was horrendous, I looked closer in the mirror, oh no, I had enlarged tonisls covered in lovely white spots, could it be strep throat. We proceeded to the airport and got checked in and to our gate by 4:30am the flight left at 6:50 better early than late right. I needed motrin and a drink and none of the stores opened until 5am. Oh My God, that was the longest 30 minutes of my life. I finally took 800 mg of Motrin and got a King Sized diet Coke from Burger King, I was set to go. The first part of the flight was good, but I was so tired and my throat was still hurting. We landed in Miami for a 2 hour layover, I started to run a fever and took more Motrin, it did allevate some of the pain. By the time we reached Jamaica, all I could do was sleep, we had a 2 hour bus ride to our hotel and I felt like someone had hit me with a car. We reached Sandals Resort in Ocho Rios and I felt a lot better, the sleep must have helped. We got all checked in and to our room and I slept again for 3 hours this time, I woke up in time for dinner which I forced down, having eaten nothing all day long. My husband finally convinced me to see the doctor since it was the beginning of our vacation and I would rather feel good 2 days in than sick for the whole 6. Well I went to the Nurse at the hotel and he called the doctor, seems I have strep throat and an Upper Resp. Infection. I was loaded up with antibiotics and decongestants and cough syrup. I woke up feeling better Sunday morning and the sun was shining so beautifully, we went to the pool and had tons of drinks at the swim up bar. Then made our way to the beach and rode those big bicycles that are in the water. Our vacation was off to an awesome start after the minor bumps. Then uh oh, it started to rain, we saw our last little bit of sun on Sunday and it did not shine again until after we left. But hey I felt better. We did have a great time, just being away from the kids was good enough, it was still hot and we hung out at the bar a lot and met a ton of really nice people which we hope to keep in contact with. So there you have it folks, my honeymoon update.

The Countdown to Jamaica

2006-11-15T16:17:00.000-02:00

Alrighty folks, I see my ticker today says I have 4 days left until I leave for my belated honeymoon. 6 years belated. I am so ready. I think the only thing that has spared my kids lives this week is the fact they are going to my mother in laws on Friday!! They are driving from Alabama to Atlanta to meet us and get the kiddos. We are flying out of Atlanta, it was cheaper this way and it makes the kid swap easier. It is only a 3 hour trip for the inlaws and a 4 hour trip for us. We come home on Thanksgiving night and will have to drive 3 hours to my inlaws and we are staying there for the rest of the weekend.

I read over on Lori's page that she likes to send and recieve Christmas cards. Oh I do too, I love just the variation of them all so if you would like to exchange addresses for Christmas cards you can email me Kristifuqua@hotmail.com

I will be posting pictures when I get back. I hope you all have a Happy Turkey Day

Good Morning Bloggers

2006-11-08T10:07:00.000-02:00

I am thinking that today is Dr. John's famous marathon, so I will give you all a little something new to read.

Well my hubby is home from sea, after 80 days with very limited communication, he is home. He actually got home on Oct 28th, so he has been home for a short while but we have been really busy since then. It was nice to have him here for Halloween and my birthday which was the 3rd.

Today I want to take the chance to plug a book that helped my marriage, both my husband and I have read it after Quilldancer suggested it in one of my posts. The book is called the Five Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman if anyone out there needs a little boost in their marriage this is the book to read. I bought my husband and myself a copy and he took his underway with him while he was gone. He shared it with 5 other men, so Quilldancer, I want to thank you for suggesting it, because this is the book that got us over our hump. I now understand my husbands language and I was not speaking it right nor was he mine. But by you suggesting it, and us sharing it with friends and family, you have helped them too. My deepest thanks to you. Usually by this point with him being home from sea, we are not getting a long and the newness had worn off but things are so different this time, there was no newness and we are going smoothly, sure their will be bumps along the way but this is nothing like it was before. Usually I would be ready to chop his head off.

I hope that some of you will pick up a copy of this book if you have never read it, you do not have to have marriage problems, it is wonderful for enriching what you already have. I feel that is what it has really done for me.

Last but not least, my counter is getting closer and closer to us going to Jamaica, we leave next Saturday. We are going this Friday to see Ralphie May from Last Comic Standing, that is our date night. I can't wait. But even more I can't wait for Jamaica!!!

Kristi does Yoga!!

2006-10-27T17:39:00.000-02:00

Ok my blogger buds, I have started Yoga, well I have been doing it for a little over a month now, 2 times a week at sunset. We have a class and it is awesome. The teacher lights candles and plays really cool relazing music. At first I was a little skeptical of participating in the class. I have always wanted to give it a try but when it came down to it I had a lot of fears. My first fear, was not being able to get into the positions. And my second was farting in class. I know a bit juvenile but it is still a fear. Well I took my first class at our local gym. Amazingly I was surpised at just how limber I really was. I managed to get into every position with no problems what so ever. As for the farting thing, never happened and I still have not had the urge. Unfortunalty in my first class there was someone who let it rip, I honastly felt bad for this poor sole but apparently it is something that is all too common and no one made any sort of deal about it. I have been a devout Yogi for the past few weeks, not missing one class at all since my start. Until next week that is, Halloween is on Yoga night and I am going to sacrafice for my children. In the course of a month I have noticed definate changes in my body from Yoga, I am stronger in my legs and arms. I also have a greater sense of balance now than when I began. Also I now see people struggle and pride myself in the fact that I can do the pose and hold it in the advanced postion. Last Thursday our instructor worked our quads big time. I felt it for 4 days after class. It was unreal, I suddenly felt muscles that I did not know I had or that I have not felt in a long time.

Update, word on the street, I should be getting a long awaited visitor this weekend. He has been gone for a very long time!! We are all cleaning and making home really nice for his arrival. The kids are especially excited, they have missed him dearly

Have you seen our bikes?

2006-10-20T01:55:00.000-02:00

Alright so the husband is STILL not back yet and things just could not get any worse for me. I discovered that both my husband and my bicycles were gone. Stolen, but why? They have sat in the same place for the past two months, hey that must have been the problem. I live in a quiet neighborhood but within walking distance from a shady area. I guess someone was scoping out my 'hood and noticed some unmoved bikes. I have no idea how long they were missing before I finally noticed. Thank God the kids bikes were still here but now I am forced to lock everything up. I called the police, filed a report, and I am on the lookout. So on Friday of last week I pull out on the main road leading into my neighborhood and there is this black girl on a bike, wait, its my purple $150 beach cruiser. How dare she. I know it is mine, someone has scratched out the lettering on my bike and wrote all over it with white paint and black markers. I ask this young girl where she happened to get the bike and she got all defensive, I got it at a yard sale at a whole different town hours away from here. Right, right honey, I know you got my bike and you need to return it or I am calling the cops. So I turn around and call the cops of course she disappeared. How dare she. I want my bike. All I want to do is ride with my children.
I just don't understand why people have to take stuff. It is so horrible, but now I feel so violated. Someone watched my movements and scoped out my goods and came into my yard and took them.

On a lighter note, tomorrow is my youngest ones birthday, Avery is going to be a whopping 4 years old. It seems like yesterday that I had the little booger. Crazy how fast time flies

update

2006-10-11T17:46:00.000-02:00

I just noticed that my ticker says I have 1 month and 1 week until I am soaking up the sun in Jamaica. I am so excited to go on this trip. I have been planning and planning for months and its a shame that my husband has been out to sea during the whole excitement process. Yes folks I am still husbandless, but hopefully for not too much longer. It really sucks not having anyone to snuggle with at night or talk to when the house is quiet. I can handle all of the other time being by myself but I can only handle so much of truly being alone.

On a happier note, my oldest just turned 8 this past Saturday, boy oh boy I look at him and thing where has the time gone. It seems like he was just born a week a go and just walking yesterday. I guess time does fly when you are having fun. He had a skating party and a Superman cake. I had 11 children show up in all.

Next Friday is my other son's birthday, he will be 4, we have to do a Cars themed party but it is going to be low key. Just some of my friends and some cupcakes. I have been searching Wal-Mart over for those die cast cars from the movie Cars, so far I have found 8 different ones and I am still hunting for a couple more, my ultimate goal is to get him the whole set. I just happened to go to our Wal-Mart the day they got a new shipment and I bought 6 that I did not have. I should have bought them all before the movie came out, when I originally saw them.

I missed Dr. Johns marathon this month, it just so happens that I had another Microbiology test that week and I had to focus on that but I will be back in the swing of things once the husband gets home and he should be here in time for the next one. Its just hard to blog when kids need food and have homework and need drinks and entertainment.

Where has the world gone??

2006-10-03T22:57:00.000-02:00

The school shootings in the past week have really made me think, What is wrong with society? I mean what posesses someone to enter a school and hurt innocent children? Now I have uneasy feelings sending my son to school. Of course I think what are the odds of something like that happening here, but I am sure all of the victims in the past week have thought the same thing at one point in time. Its a shame that we have to now question school, that was one of the only safe places we as parents had to send our kids.

I just wonder what makes people the way they are? Is it nature or nurture? Does it boil down to these attackers were beat or molested as children and this is the only way they know how to channel their angst?

My mother in law always is telling me that they best gift I can give my kids is to be here everyday when they are home. I thought at first, that was a pain in the ass and I needed my breaks. But now I agree, I am doing a world of good being here for my kids. I think that being a latch key kid just might lead to some of these social problems. Kids with too much time and not enough supervision, a recipie for disaster!!

I am Glad October is Here!!

2006-10-02T09:38:00.000-02:00

Well for all of you that were wondering, my dinner for the Ladies on the Boat went great last weekend. It was a hit and everyone left with a smile on their faces.

Now on to a hectic week that I had, 2 Microbiology tests in 3 days, that was mentally straining. But I had a horribly stressful week, there is a wife on the boat that is making trouble for a bunch of other wives. It is a shame because she is 21 and has a newborn baby, but I guess boredom and depression has gotten the best of her. This is what happens to a lot of women when they have to go a month without hearing or talking to their husbands. She accused another wife on our boat of trying to find out military secrets and that this new wife was a security threat possibly being terroristic. That is a shame and someone had to actually go and question this new wife that the allegations were made about. Then this crazy woman making all of the trouble started making more trouble, aparently this time last year she had stalking issues against another wife on our boat and threatened to kill her and her daughter. So crazy wife making all of the trouble now used to have a restraining order on her!! Go Figure. This woman is not sane enough for her husband to be leaving her alone.

This week is my oldests birthday, he will be 8 on Saturday and we are doing a skating party for him. I have to get things together for his party this week!

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update and let you all know that I am still here

yeah I'm still here

2006-09-20T12:57:00.000-02:00

Hello Bloggerland...............
I am still alive and well here in Southeast Georgia. I have been so ridicuosly busy. Between my school, kids school, soccer and Karate. I have very little time for me. I have also been planning a huge dinner event for the wives on our submarine just as a Ladies Night Out kind of deal. All us women need a nice night out every now and then sans children!!! So this Saturday is our dinner and party. I am trying to think of good icebreaker/getting to know you games for us to do. There are going to be 40 currently husbandless women, that is a lot of pent up sexual tension in one room for one night. I have yet another microbiology test coming up and a microbiology lab test. All in one week.....yikes!!!!!! I also have not heard from the husband in close to a month, I keep emailing him but he is not able to email back at this point in time. I really miss hearing from him even if its just to say that things are going the same as the day before.
For all of my friends, I have been keeping up reading your blogs I just have been failing to post comments. Like I said it is crazzzy here. I have been a blogger stalker I guess, just lurking around. Oh and thank you so much Dr. John, for the bird bell. My youngest son thinks that is the best thing since the hot wheel car. He rings it when he comes into a room and then again when he leaves. He even takes it in the car. Your prizes bring such great joy to my kids...thank you so much

2006-09-07T13:08:00.000-02:00

Today I Took my first Microbiology test of the semester and I made an

84.

Yippeee!!!!!

Welcome Marathoners

2006-09-06T01:24:00.000-02:00

Hello to everyone that stops by today as part of Dr. Johns Marathon....I am delighted to have you. I hope that everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend. My town has this huge Catfish Festival from Sat.-Mon. The huge draw is the Catfish dinners but me being a non-fish eater did not benefit from this festival. They also had 2 free concerts, they were country singers, Billy Currington and Craig Morgan for those of you that know them. I watched the Billy Currington concert and he wasn't half bad. It was stinking hot here so I sweat my butt off but it made me not feel as bad for eating that BBQ sandwich!

My mother also came to town this weekend, we went to the beach on Saturday. The water was awesome, so warm but yet refreshing. Then on Saturday afternoon when we got home my kids decided to dump all of the sand and little shells from their bathing suits into the toilet. They flushed and added more trying to flush again while it was filling up. My oldest, who is 7 decided he was going to find out why the toilet would not flush again, not knowing it wouldn't flush until full again. Well he removed the lid from the tank and accidentaly dropped the lid into the tank, cracking the tank. I had a slow leak and a minor flood within hours. So at 8:45 I take off to Lowes to figure out a solution. Arrived at Lowe's at 9:05...they closed at 9. I then went to Wal-Mart and bought plumbers Goop to fill the crack. A temp fix until the hubby comes back from sea in Oct. Well it did not work, so on Sunday morning off to Lowes I go again, I now know they make a Toilet to Go kit, with everything you need to install your new toilet. So this weekend I sucessfully removed and installed my first toilet. It was wonderful, I felt so accomplished afterwards. I have done a many things but this was the biggest in home repair that I have done solo. And for it to work on the first try I was stoked. I am going to rub it in the hubbys face when he gets home!!!! So now I can lend a hand to my fellow Navy wives if they have a broken toilet...thanks to my son!!

Tires and Ernesto

2006-08-31T01:06:00.000-02:00

Alright well I am officially introducing myself to you fully now!!! My friend just emailed me this picture and since I havent seen my husband in almost 3 weeks I need to look at this picture constantly. What better place to put it than on my page!!! Yes this is me, Kristi I am revealing myself now!! Viola!!

Today I went to take my car to get the tires balanced and rotated, my car was making too much road noise. Well come to find out my one tire has the rubbed so much the tread is gone and the wire is showing. So tomorrow after school I get to go out and buy 2 new tires. The car is only 2 years old, I got 2 tires back at christmas and now 9 months later I am getting 2 more. I just hate dealing with mechanics or anything of that nature when my husband is not around.

Plus we have this damn Ernesto coming out way....so I wanted to get all of this taken care of before the rain comes but I am now a little too late for that. I hear thunder outside as we speak.

I am scared to death of bad weather. I hate wind and thunderstorms together. I can deal seperatly but together they are not a good combo for me. When I was 12 we went through a tornado and I have never been the same since. For years and years I slept on the floor in my parents room when the thunder began and the wind kicked up and beings that we lived on top of a hill that was quite often!!! Wish me well tonight for any late night readers.

Busy as a Bee...Or my name isn't Kristi

2006-08-29T09:17:00.000-02:00

So it now looks like this Ernesto fella is heading my way....geee what fun for Labor Day Weekend!! Its a real shame because I don't care if it comes this way but I sure did hold my breath when it was out there near Jamaica. Please do not demolish my November vacation before my very eyes. Whew....safe for now!!!!

Kids and there extra-curricular activities sure are keeping me busy, Dylan has soccer practice 2 times a week and Karate 2 times a week. I barely have time to balance my checkbook, let alone breathe. But it sure has kept my mind off of my husband at sea. I have recieved email from him. Sounds like his life is just fine out there. He is getting adequate sleep and exercise by way of treadmill.

I have also been busy with our Family Support Group, we have events and meeting while the boat is gone for our families to keep us occupied. I am head of a committee planning a big dinner for us. The only problem is collecting donations for door prizes and having fundraisers to pay for it all. Home Depot Government Accounts has been gracious enough to sponsor it for us, I think that this is the first time in history that a corporation has sponsored something for the wives of a submarine so I am quite excited to be part of it.

Shopping is Great Therapy!!!

2006-08-21T10:25:00.000-02:00

This weekend my Pal Alison and I decided to go shopping. Now usually we go shopping for stupid things or for the kids. But not this time, we went solely for ourselves. It is amazing how therapeutic shopping can be, it really can motivate you!! Ususally both she and I never have any luck when we go shopping for ourselves, they don't have our size or they don't have anything appealing but not this time. We lucked up and found tons of clothes and we both even got new purses. That alone was worth the trip. I ended up not buying my kids a single thing what-so-ever, well I bought them a cookie but hey that doesn't count in my book. I geared my shopping adventure more towards clothes I will need on the 6 year belated honeymoon in November. Seek and you shall recieve!!!

I don't know if I told you all where we decided to go, we are going to Sandals Resort in Ocho Rios Jamaica. I have been to Jamaica before without the husband, but we are going together this time and to a whole other side of the island!!! It was nice when he came home for those couple of days because I booked the trip while he was gone for those couple of days so this gave me a chance to fill him in on all of the details and we are so EXCITED. I think I will put a ticker on my page counting down the days until we go.

Things have been busy here, Dylan started soccer and we have been going to practices and our first game was this past Saturday. And with me starting school, I know that is going to be some work right there. For all of my commenters on the last post, I have to retake the math because I made a D and the program requires a C....bummer!!

Well I hope everyone in blogger land has a good day

Brand New Day!!!!

2006-08-18T10:25:00.000-02:00

This picture make me think of my boys...isn't it cute!!!!

Well bloggers I am out of my funk now. I am feeling good and happy....no tears to be shed at the moment. I just got through writing a letter to my husband.

I started back school yesterday, Microbiology. I really am looking foward to this class, it is going to be much fun. I will be growing bacteria for the next couple month...hopefully I won't catch anything!!! Just kidding, we are going to be growing non-harmful things. Everyone in my class is around my age which is nice, considering I took a math class last fall filled with fresh out of high school kids. I could not hack it they knew how to do all of the crap without any problems....I made a D in that class I now have to retake it. I will take it at night with all the mommies and working class folks.

Thank you all for your support and kind words during my funky stage....It really meant alot to me and it did help.

Gone just as fast as he got here

2006-08-16T16:12:00.000-02:00

Well the hubby left again......just like that!! I had two nights with him and it was nice but here I am pouring tears and feeling like someone is standing on my throat. I will be myself again in just a couple days.

.............And my cell phone rang

2006-08-14T16:15:00.000-02:00

Today I was in Wal-Mart and my cell phone rang.......I looked and the number calling was familiar but somehow did not seem right. I answered with a hello and on the other end was......my husband. Apparently something is broken on his boat and he is home for a week. This never happens to me, it happens to other boats but never one that we are stationed on. So he has to work until 4pm and I will pick him up....Yippppeeeeee

The only problem with all of this, he will have to leave again and once again I will have to go through all of my emotions. That is hard. Last night I has a mini-cry session and today I woke up and said alright, you have to deal with the fact that he is gone. Then he calls. I am happy but afraid. Happy for him to be with me but afraid for him to leave again. I sure do love him though.

A Fond Farewell......Kristi Style

2006-08-11T12:26:00.000-02:00

This is an actual picture of my husbands boat.....its not everyday that you can go to the beach and see this site!!!! Well yesterday he left but beings that he had duty on Wednedsday I had to say my goodbye a day earlier. Yesterday I took my youngest son to the beach to watch the boat leave and I was proud I did not get upset at all. There were only 4 other wives there so it was really low key. Back when we were on our last boat you might go to the beach and there would be 20 wives waiting on that damn submarine. I think that me taking the youngest down to watch it leave is good because he has a true understanding that the submarine has left, it is not just somewhere out in cartoon world. He knows that his daddy was on that boat and that it left and went into the big ocean and that it goes underwater and he sleeps on it. Today I am still good, I think I let the emotions get me on Tuesday night and Wednesday but all is calm for the moment. I am sure in a couple days the true lonliness will set in. I have you guys for support and comfort during all of this. You all have been wonderful with your nice comments. Thank you oh so much

Saying Goodbye Really Sucks

2006-08-09T14:28:00.000-02:00

(not an actual picture of my hubby)

Why is it that saying goodbye is always so hard??? I have had to say goodbye to my husband for a couple of months, he must now go do his Navy duties and protect us. How come it still hurts that he is gone. I always go through this process everytime he leaves, first I want to lock myself in the house and not emerge for anything. Now I have to my kids are in school and I go to school next week. So there is not locking anyone inside and feeling sorry. I have friends and my kids but I still feel so lonely when he is gone. I hate doing anything because he is missing out on it, but I have to for the kids sake. I HATE BEING WITHOUT MY HUSBAND. Sure I piss and moan about him when he is here but I would trade this whole military lifestyle just to have him at home all of the time. I really gave it some deep thought and you know in a typical relationship sure one person may have to travel for business but there is still the phone and the trips are not always that long. I can't even hear my husbands voice while he is gone. That saddens me, I can't tell him about my day if it was bad or good and get an instant response. I have to write it in a letter if it is really worth telling him and I have to wait for a mail drop, which happens with little to no notice. Last night I lost it, I could not help myself but I had a good cry, hell I had a couple of good cries. But this morning as I took him to work I held my composure and did not shed a tear until 2 hours later when my friend called me. Sure time will heal my new wounds but they are always there and everytime that boat leaves, those wounds are sliced open again. Being a militay spouse is a special thing but it is emotionally draining. Now, once again, I am both the mother and the father, the husband and the wife, I will sleep alone for the next couple of months. I will not have a heart to heart with my husband or see his face for that long either. Give me a week or 2 and I will be getting back to normal. I will probably be a little slack on my posts too during this time.

The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected. ~Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

A Friday Funny for My Fellow Bloggers

2006-08-03T23:01:00.000-02:00

A New Diet Plan

A woman is in the check-out line at Wal-Mart buying a large bag of Purina dog food for her Labrador Retriever.

The woman behind her askes if she has a dog (Well Duh!!)

On impulse she says "No, I am starting the new Purina Diet again. I probably shouldn't because the last time I did it I ended up in the hospital. I lost over 50 pounds and I had woke up in the ICU with IV's in both arms and tubes in almost every orfice of my body!"

She told the lady that it was essentialy a perfect diet and that the way it worked was to load your pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food in Nutritionally complete so it was worth another try.

At this point the lady in line was horrified by the story and asked the woman if she had ended up in the ICU because of the dog food, was it poisoned??

She told the lady, "No, I had been sitting in the street licking my butt and a car hit me!"

I hope that you all enjoyed that one, I know it gave me a good laugh!!!

Have a Great Weekend Everyone, I will be back on Sunday!!!

Hunt for an Alarm Clock

2006-08-02T00:35:00.000-02:00

Today was the countdown, school starts next Tuesday. I am ready but yet not. By school starting means I have to get on a schedule, I have to be the first one up and the one that makes lunch and pushes everyone else to get out the door. Unfortunatly I have a hard time with this. I guess over the past 6 years of my husband getting up before dawn, I have learned to tune out his alarm clock. For that matter, any alarm clock. I could sleep through a freight train roaring through my house if I had too. I am one of those, "just 5 more minutes" people. My poor son is usually late to school. My neighbor gives me hell about it ( her son goes to the same school) When my husband had a chance he would call me in the morning to make sure I was up and moving. But he is leaving shortly and I will not have him to do that. I don't need an alarm clock, I need a clock attached to a Tornado Siren. Now when my kids wake up in the middle of the night, I can hear them before they intend on me hearing them. I have always been very alert to them. But have someone break in my house and I think I would be shit out of luck.
Take for instance last night was a rough sleeping night, both boys got up in the middle of the night and made their way to my room. They crawled into bed so now my King size bed is playing host to 2 adults and my 3 & 7 year old. I was squished and hot so I moved into the youngest ones bed to get a little more comfortable. This morning when my husband left for work, my youngest crawled into his bed with me and fell back asleep. Around 9 am this morning I heard a door slamming so I jumped up, Avery was still with me. I question was that Dylan? I start looking for him, my room - no, the living room-no!! Oh my god he has been kidnapped or he has left. I open the back door and scream his name, no answer. Then my cell phone rings, oh no!!! its the kidnappers and they want ransom. I answer it, it is my neighbor (the one who gives me hell) she wants to know where I am. I tell her I am at home. Appparently Dylan has gone to her house looking for me, who was asleep in his room. Thank God she was at home, what a horrible mother am I?? Wait I am not horrible, he should have stayed in his room, then he would have woke up and looked in my room. He looked everywhere in the house for me but his room. I was more embarrassed by what had happened than horrified. Boy oh boy what the family therapist will think now. I told him that it was good that he went to Ms. Vanessa's house but that he should never leave our house without permission. I explained to him that I would never just leave him like that.
So this morning I slept through my son looking for me. I guess my 6th sense of being an alert mommy has worn off. Now I am down to 6 more practice mornings before school starts, I am also in need of the loudest alarm clock ever created by man and I intend to find it in the next 6 days!!! This is one of my many challenges.
Open house for the school is Friday night....yea! I will get to meet my sons 3rd grade teacher. It seems like he was just a baby like a year ago. Where does the time go??? I think that is the eternal question. I wonder if there is like a hour glass just filling up somewhere!!!

If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers. ~Edgar W. Howe

Times sure have changed

2006-07-31T11:21:00.000-02:00

Summer vacation is dwindling down for us here in Georgia!!! My son, Dylan, starts back on August 8. The school supplies are bought!!! The school clothes shopping is done!! Now I am just waiting on the big day. It has been a good Summer for the most part. I haven't done everything that I had planned to do but my kids are not complaining and I still have a little bit of time left. I am ready for school to be back in, I know that is a shame but I am ready for a little me time. As it stands the husband will be gone, Avery, my youngest, will be starting back Morning School on Aug 16th and I will be starting my college on Aug 17th. I will have Tuesday/Thursday classes and Avery will have Tuesday-Thursday Classes. Wednesdays are all mine!!!
A while back I told someone that I felt horrible because when the kids acted up I just couldn't wait for school to start back. I said I felt like I was just brushing my ornery kids off on someone else. That person replied, "What else do you have for your kids to do. You can't send them out all day to roam the neighborhood, there is no telling who or what is out there these days." I really thought on this. I guess sending your kids to school is the only other supposed safe environment that you can send them to where you can actually have a break. Now more than ever the role of the teacher has become even more so important than ever before

When I was a kid my mom just sent me out all day long, in the heat, and to just roam around getting into god knows what. Now days, you just can't do that first off, someone will call child services if your kids are out and unattended. Then second you have to fear other people, someone might decide to kidnap them or heck there might even be a pedophile or two lurking around just waiting for an unattended kid.

Things sure have changed from me being a kid, you just can get away with anything anymore. I remember once I was 9 and my mom and I were in the grocery store and I wanted something really bad but she would not buy it so she spanked me in the store, just take that scenario and put it into todays times. She would have gotten like a million dirty looks and there would have been some woman that needed to speak her opinion about child rearing. And then there would be the constant fear, I hope the wrong person did not see me do that and call the cops for child abuse.

I really hate it that I have not been a good blogger, but I hope that everyone has tons of patience with me and I should be back to normal in a couple of weeks when school has settled down and we are in our new routines.

2006-07-27T11:39:00.000-02:00

Ok so booking a vacation/belated honeymoon is harder than I thought!!! I am ready to rip my hair out. I am so confused on where to go and where to stay. We had decided on St. Lucia and I found a nice looking hotel, then I read the reviews!!! Big Mistake, unfortuantly this resort was where the Atlantic Ocean met the Caribbean so the water was full of sea grass and very rough, I want the pretty pristine Caribbean Ocean, not murky sea grass. The reviews said that people could not even swim in the Ocean for the grass but the food was good. Who cares about the food, I want the pretty water, I can eat at home!!!!

I started looking on Expedia.com and they offer packages and reviews and pictures along with distances to nearby things. I think my problem is I want to go to St. Lucia but I need to open my options to other places. I have spent about an hour this morning reading about hotels and now I am burned out. I think that my husband and I need to sit together and read these things together. I am tossing ideas around to myself because he is working like crazy.....I have to hurry up and book it before he leaves, what if he needs a passport then I have to get that situated before he is gone too, I already have mine. When he gets home there would not be enough time to get it situated.

Alright I know its been a While

2006-07-23T02:47:00.000-02:00

So I know it has been a couple of days since my last post but you see I have been so busy!!!

I am now approaching the last couple of weeks with my husband before he is gone for a couple of months. After he is gone I know I will be up on all of my posts again.

Friday night we had date night, since we are in that marriage counseling she recommended that we needed date night every other week without the kids. So Friday night we offloaded the kids and headed to and Irish Pub for dinner. We ate and then they had a live band, he music was nice. We then walked to the waterfront and looked at the boats, it was a wonderful evening. I guess sort of Romantic. Adult conversation with out kids!!! Having kids you tend to forget that these things are important.

We had a 2 hour counseling session this week, we covered a lot of ground and I found out that I am a prisoner of my home/stay-at-home mom. The therapist recommended that I get a hobby or activity to do at least 1 time a week. We realized that I have no outlet other than blogging and cleaning!!! Apparently if I get a hobby I will be less nit picky at home.

Now the problem is to find what suits me best as an activity. My husband has running, fishing, and poker. I have bitching, moaning, and folding clothes......hmmmmm something isn't right here. I really felt horrible when I came to the realization that I have nothing really. Sure I have my family but everyone needs that escape. Everyone says, "Go to the gym." I am sorry that doesn't suit me as a hobby. That is more like a job. I started working out with my treadmill this week, I did 6 days for 40 minutes per day. 12 miles this week. I am happy with that, I am loosing weight to help with my mood and self-esteem. I want to loose a pretty good bit while the hubby is gone since we will be doing the whole honeymoon thing when he gets back.

We are thinking of St. Lucia, if anyone has been or knows someone that has been PLEASE give me some info!!!!
Other than that all is well here in the house of Chaos!!!

Dylan and Karate!!

2006-07-18T20:11:00.000-02:00

How come it always seems there is a problem with the men in my life.....like my husband with the iPod dilemma and now it is my son. I posted about him before and how he is always unhappy with something. Well along with the marrige enriching counseling, we are also doing family counseling so we as a familly can be on the same page.

My latest dilemma is with Dylan my 7 year old son. He has done Karate since he was 4, when we moved here he did not want to do it anymore. So I did not enroll him in the local Karate school. Well after school began last year he requested to join the school, so I did. At first he really enjoyed it and then it started to become more and more of a hassle to get him to go. I started to dread the 2 days a week I had to get him to go because they were always filled with arguing and hate. He hated going or did not feel like going. But I pushed and pushed and threatned to take things away from him if he did not go. Well I have gotten to the point, I am tired of fighting with him. I am tired of paying $100 a month for something that he absolutly hates to do. I want to pull him out and he wants to be pulled out of the program. But I don't know should I just keep him in. He is really really good at it.

Thanks for all of the honeymoon ideas....I think I am leaning towards a caribbean cruise....he'll get the cruise part and I'll get the island part!!!

He got his way or did I just get mine!!!

2006-07-17T13:59:00.000-02:00

I am starting to believe that we women do not have it all figure out. Last night my husband got his way, you know that iPod deal I have been talking about. Well I had it all decided in my mind and I even told him that he was not going to get it. I agreed with everyones posts from the my last iPod dilemma, I should have bought it for him then bought myself something really really nice. Well a couple of days ago I asked my husband if he really needed this iPod that badly. Of course his answer was yes!!! Then I said fine, go ahead and get it but you owe me, he tells me that I can get the wrap I have been wanting to add to my wedding ring set. I said no that is not good enough I WANT and NEED something better. I want something I never had before. He asks what is it.....I replied, I want a honeymoon. Ooooh lay the guilt on him at that point. He then tells me that he doesn't need the iPod and that we should do the vacation thing. You see when we got married, it was over Thanksgiving and he had to be back at work on Monday. We stayed our wedding night at a Best Western, oh the romance was really kicking. My husband told me that he ran out of time because he was going to put flowers in the room and champange. He always does that, tells me what he was going to do when he did not get around to it. Well I left my son with my mother and returned with him to Georgia for our 1 week honeymoon, he went to work everyday and I stayed in a hotel room. I think we went out to eat. Nothing memorable because I can not remember it at this point in time.
Well I have always longed for the honeymoon of my dreams, whatever that really is. I have been on vacations to islands and tropical locations but I want us to go somewhere, me and him. No kids, no friends, no family.
Last night we went to Wal-Mart and they had the iPod in stock, oh my god only 1 left. He got his way, he bought it but I told him he owes me BIG time. He will be on leave during the Thanksgiving holiday which is also our anniversary..Nov 25th. We will have been married 6 years this year. I am getting my friggin honeymoon. My parents in Alabama are watching the kids and by god I am going somewhere, I just need to figure out where. I want to go to the islands because it will be warm. He wants to do a cruise. Why I say he is on a cruise for like 80 days at a time, so what if you do not get to see the sun or the water. So I need some Ideas....I am going to plan it and book it while he is gone.

My Fellow Bloggers, I need your help..........Gimme some ideas Please

99 Things about me!!

2006-07-14T12:07:00.000-02:00

So Everyone out there has done their little lists....100 Things about me, 50 Things about me...so on and so forth. Everytime I get in the mood to do it, someone else comes along and does it. Well I am going on and taking my chances and posting it today. It started out as 50 that is all I could think of but then the list grew and grew!!!

99 Things About Me

I have brown eyes...my mom always said you could tell I was full of shit because of them!!
I have 2 sons...both have brown eyes...now I use the above line on them!!
My boys are the most important thing to me, I want them to grow up and be good people!!
I am a Sailors Wife...husband is in the Navy and has been for almost 10 years.
I have been to sea on a submarine for a dependents cruise......went down 700 feet
I curse worse than a sailor
I am 5'11"......my hubby 6'5"...our kids are going to be tall
My weight is my biggest problem, but my height helps hide it
I was born in New Jersey....and went every summer there until this year and one other year!!!
I grew up in Alabama...moved there at 7
I am scared to death of Tornados....been through one as a child, it didn't touch the house
I have lived in Georgia, twice
I have lived in Connecticut
I have ice skated on a real pond
I have 2 cats....Bella and Trouble....neither one likes my family
I love going to the beach but hate the sand.....makes it kind of hard huh.
I am trying to finish college and have been for 9 years now
I want to be a Nurse when I grow up....when ever that is!!
I once belonged to a CB radio club in High School.....my boyfriend got me into it!!
My first real job was at McDonalds....I lasted 8 hours.
My second real job was at McDonalds...this time I lasted 2 weeks.
My favorite job so far was a Pharmacy Technician at Wal-Mart.
I hate Wal-Mart.....they take all of my money
I have been to Jamaica with my whole family and my son...hubby was at sea
Dove off a cliff while in Jamaica
I have been to England, just went with my best friend on a whim..
Climbed to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral.....500 something tiny steps up and 500 something back down.
I also did the London Eye and drank a beer in Trafalger Square on the edge of a fountain!!
I have been to Mexico, another family trip, 15 total and hubby got to go!!
Got my first stitches while in Mexico, too much Tequila on the first day.....I did not get to climb a single pyramid while there but I hobbled along for the thrill.
My goal is to do Italy or France next...with the hubby this time
I would just settle for the Caribbean at this point as long as he had time off to go!!!
I love camping (tent style)....I wish I did it more
Chicken and dumplings (homemade) is my favorite meal
Christmas is my favorite holiday
I am a clearance shopper.....I hate paying full price for anything.
Thursday night TV is my favorite night for watching.
My favorite show is ER....I hate being interrupted while watching, everyone in the house goes to bed early for my sake!!
Survivor is my favorite reality show
My second favorite is Amazing Race....I would love to compete on this one but I know my teammate and I would kill one another before it was all said and done with
I do not like Racism or Hate
I am trying to teach my children that all people are the same, God just made a variety of us like a pack of M&M's
I have 2 tatoos....a dolphin and a frog.
I want more tatoos but the only thing stopping me is I do not know what I want
I love cutting grass, no one bothers me while doing it!!!
I love sunny hot days.......
I do not like snow anymore, Connecticut ruined that for me!!
I do not wear make-up, I naturally have good colors
I love going out to dance
I think dragonflies are neat
Calla Lillies are my favorite flower
I do not have a lot of patience
I would rather have a few close friends then a bunch of friends...I have a quota
I love new babies........I think they are all cute.....never seen an ugly one
I want to be a Labor Delivery Nurse for that reason
I hit a gas line with my car, natural gas was spewing everywhere, lucky I didn't blow up
I believe in past lives
I think Monkeys are cute and hilarious
I still love coloring books and crayons
I love to clean my house....its rewarding
I love Yankee Candles
My mom-mom is my idol, she is the strongest woman I know next is my mom!!!
I love cooking, I especially love feeding others
My favorite color is blue
I do not like gold jewelry, only silver or platnium
When I was little my aunt convinced me I was adopted because my cabbage patch kids had birth certificates
The same aunt convince me I used to be black, but I drank white milk and changed!!! I believed this and told a black lady in the grocery store while she was with me!!!
My husband is the love of my life, we are soul mates!!!
I actually love my in-laws they are awesome people
I have never been arrested
I have gotten 3 speeding tickets in my driving lifetime!!!
I am a horribe driver, I always hit the reflectors on the side of the road, my friends and family say I drive by Braille!!
The music from Unsolved Mysteries scares the shit out of me
I love swimming
I hate swimming somewhere I can not see the bottom
I am afraid of sharks, snakes, and alligators
I think dolphins are magnificent creatures
I have never met anyone famous
I would love to meet someone famous
I love going to Disney World, I feel like a kid again!!!
I hated rollercoasters until a month ago, rode everyone at Busch Gardens in Tampa....peer pressure, I enjoyed every one of them and have no reason to not do it again
I love to read, I just never get a chance to do it
I always have late fees, at either the library or movie store...I just cant help myself
I am horrible at being on time, always late no matter how early I try to get there
I have horrible eyes, without glasses or contacts I can see nothing
I saw my first concert at 15 it was Duran Duran....I begged to go it was great
I wish I was 14 again, things were so simple and I still had Barbie dolls
I ususally keep my hair in a ponytail, I hate it on my neck
My eyebrows are so horrid I have to keep them waxed
I am part Italian, my paternal great grandmother and great grandfather came over on the boat
I am also part Dutch and German
I have not seen my biological dad since I was 13...no loss there, I have other family!!
When my husband goes to sea I sleep with the last shirt he wore, assuming its not too dirty, until he returns.
I can sleep through a freight train, but if my kids wake up I am wide awake
I love black and white pictures
The sailor kissing the nurse is my all time favorite, because I want to be a nurse and I am with a sailor
I have that picture on everything, a suitcase, a purse, a poster, a framed picture, my blog page
Mimi is my best blogger friends and we used to be neighbors.....I owe my blog life to her
I wish there was World Peace and no World Hunger

Romance...does it really exsist????

2006-07-13T01:38:00.000-02:00

Romance....what is it??? I am not talking about sex, just romance!!!! Thats it, not too hard!!!
Websters Dictionary describes Romance as:

1. A love affair.
2. Ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people; love:
3. A strong, sometimes short-lived attachment, fascination, or enthusiasm for something

Is this something that really exsists between 2 people or has Hollywood poisioned us to believe that Romance is flowers, satin sheets, beaches at sunset, and candlelight dinners?? Is is something that is there after you say I, Do?? Or does is slowly diminish away after time, then you just learn to deal?!! What about after the kids come and you are settled into years of marriage. I think that romance is something that exsists on the Honeymoon and once you leave the honemoon there is no going back to those exact feelings!!!

Sometimes I feel that there is no romance in my marriage, I am sure that is a common feeling among women and men alike. I am not sure that it was ever there, but I have decided that I want the romance thing now. I am not looking for it in any other person than my husband......I am just confused on what it really is supposed to be and if it is really ever there between the normal people. If it was there how do you put it back? I think that this whole having kids and Navy lifestyle has really put a strain on my marriage. We are doing Marriage counsling, not for any specific problem, just as therapy to help any problems that may arise. Our therapist asked what we want out of our relationship, I said Romance. My husband says more sex....of course he does he is a man!!!! Now I have homework to find what I really want and to see if there is a way to get there. I don't want my readers to think there is trouble in Kristi-land. Its always chaotic, the therapy is free through our insurance.....it is more like an enrichment session.

Any feedback will be appreciated.....I value all of my readers comments.

TV MOMS

2006-07-12T12:52:00.000-02:00

My friend and I were talking last night and she asked me,

"What TV mom, best represents your mother?"

So I sit a couple of minutes and think, what TV mom? I am not sure I think that my mom was probably featured in one of those Lifetime Movies!!!!

So I have been dwelling on this for the past 18+ hours.......what TV mom is most like my mom?

Ahhhh I got it, do any of you remember the show Roseanne, well that is not her, that is a good example of my Aunt Carol, my mom's sister. No, My mom is more like Jackie, Roseanne's sister, but just not as neurotic. Maybe more or less is you took Roseanne and Jackie mixed them into one.....yes that is it, that is my mother!!!

Then I got to thinking, what TV mom do I see myself as???? Anyone out there seen the show Yes, Dear!! Well you know the free spirited sister Christine, that is most like me and her husband Jimmy is most like my husband, very laid back and unconventional.

So readers, what TV mom/dad did you grow up with????

And what TV mom/dad do you closely relate too????

Just a little fun for today we could all use a little fun every once in a while!!!!

Pullin at my Heartstrings!!!

2006-07-11T17:07:00.000-02:00

Well today is hubbys duty day here in the land of Chaos!!! That means tonight, I am alone and this will go on every 3rd night for the next couple of weeks. I am actually using my time very well today, I have done laundry, vacuumed, and cleaned the carpets. I am currently on break and will mop floors and fold clothes when I am done blogging.

The other night hubby tells me that he needs to get his underway shopping done. Underway is the period when he is gone on deployment, there are no Wal-Marts under the ocean ya know. This means he has to have enough deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste and tooth brushes, razors...(you get the picture) to last him a couple of months. Then he takes all of the Dvds, his portable dvd player, books, and any other entertaining thing that he can think of. His only personal space is a bunk room with 8 other sailors, they sleep in beds referred to as "racks". The size of the rack is about 3/4th the size of a twin matress, that lifts up to reveal a storage area for clothes. The only privacy is a brown vinyl curtain!!! He lives like this the whole time his is up there. The racks are stacked 3 high and in order to get into the top one you have to hang like a monkey from pipes above and swing yourself in. Inside each rack you have about a foot clearance from the matress to the bottom of the other guys rack. I really have to give him credit, I know I would snap having this little bit of space, I guess that is why he is on a submarine and I am a housewife.

Well my husband informs me that he wants a new MP3 player for this patrol, he wants an iPod. Not just the plain jane one, he needs the one with video capabilities, the $300 one!!! He wants to be able to download his shows from iTunes so he can watch them while underway. Of course it pulls at my heartstings..because he does miss out on life here while gone. But then I think NO. He always gets what he wants, he has more technological gear than he needs. The problem is that every time he comes home they have something bigger and better that they have come out with while he was gone. He always gets new, and better than before. If he gets this iPod thing, then as soon as he returns there will be a better one. I just dont know what to do at this point. Do I let him buy it because he is going away and he can take the comforts of home or do I say no and let that be that and get one at a later time. I never just get things spur of the moment. I am always buying things for my kids or such. Just yesterday I went to JC Penny, he got 3 shirts and I got school clothes for the kids. Did I get anything, of course not. The sacrafice. I am going to go and get a scratch off lotto ticket and if I win I am buying something for myself with all of the money!!!!

I am up early this moring so I figured I would hurry up and post

2006-07-08T09:12:00.000-02:00

Well last night we went to see Pirates of the Carribean, this is the 3rd movie I have ever seen on opening night. Almost all of the shows were sold out but we ended up getting seats to the 8pm showing. We got to the theatre at 6pm originally to see it, so while we waited we went to dinner and Target and came back in time to get great seats. Well the movie was awesome, we had the youngest with us and it kept his attention without really scaring him, he just had to keep peeing during the whole movie which got kind of annoying. At the 2 hour point he finally fell asleep and woke up right as it was ending!!! I highly recommend this movie to all that are thinking of seeing it.

Well I am up early this morning, my husband has to work today and stand his first day of duty so he will be sleeping on the Submarine tonight. He offically has two homes now, he keeps clothes, bedding, and toiletries on the boat now so the move has begun. Before you know it everything that is important to him, with the exception of me and the kids, will be on that submarine. He stands a roving patrol but they stand it in 4 hr shifts and 2 shifts per duty day so at some point he is going to be up in the middle of the night. Tomorrow he will come home and need to sleep for a couple hours, refit has begun!!!!! They are doing turnover today, which means the other crew will turn the boat over to his crew along with all of its problems, and refit is the time during which all of these problems will be fixed. I just thought I would fill you in with a little terminology.

Well I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far, it is supposed to be beautiful here today so I am thinking of making my way to the beach at some point. It has rained for the past 2 days making it really dreary here

Ugh....I just Love the Navy!!!!

2006-07-06T19:25:00.000-02:00

Yes I will admit I am proud of my husband and his Navy career. It really takes a special and dedicated person to do what he does. My husband is stationed in the Submarine Force of the United States Navy. And I do believe that they just love to make the Navy family suffer.

My summer with my husband is officially over, the fun will go on but just without him most of the time. You see his submarine came home today. They have to switch out crews and he will be working late days and sleeping on the boat every 3 to 4 days as "duty" for the next couple of weeks. During this time he will be lacked of sleep, irritable, and testy. It is not his fault it is the boats fault. Last December a guy off of the boat was so overworked and tired that he came home and started some oil for some fries and fell asleep. His family woke up to the house in flames, they lost everything. Everyone survived the fire but they did not have rentors insurance and lived in Navy housing so they took donations and handouts from all of the families off of the boat and other people in the Submarine community!!
Now with my husband, he will just spend most of the time he has left at home asleep, so I will feel bad because he is so overworked and tired that I do not have any expectations around the house, but then I get frustrated because I have to do everything. So by the time he goes, he is ready and I am ready too just so he can sleep and I can get on with everything with no one to bitch about. Then the journey begins, for the next couple of months I am both mom and dad, I am the lady of the house and the handyman. My independance grows even stronger than before and I get in a whole new pattern of things. I only hear from my husband via snail mail, that is if he remembers to take stamps and envelopes. And if I am really lucky I will get some email but 9 out of 10 times they can recieve it but not send it. I hate to tell my husband what is going on with us for fear of upsetting him or making him jealous and all of his letters are about how much he misses being at home and how much he loves us. Then the time comes, he is home...yipee but he is more like a stranger at that point. You see time doesn't stop while his is gone, he will miss some birthdays and possibly holidays. Important things and just stupid things. They get the news but only the really important things never the little things. But you better believe that to make up for missing all of that he is fed the finest of foods and watches movies that aren't even out on dvd yet. I really do not think that is a fair trade. But that is what has to be done. But when he does come back, then we go into a cycle of short workdays and time to spend with one another and the kids.
So with that if I do not post everyday, you know where I will be, spending any little smidgen of time I have left with my husband. I am a Submarine Wife....its the toughest job in the Navy, and someone has to do it!!!!

Where is everyone????

2006-07-03T01:27:00.000-02:00

I have been scanning everyones posts only to find that a few are around this weekend!!! I know that there is a holiday and all but I guess some of us (me) have no life so I turn to blogging...just kidding. I have only had a few moments to get on the computer, my inlaws are in town for the weekend and a friend that we haven't seen in 2 years is in town too so we have been on the go, go, go, go, go!!! Last night we went out drinking and dancing, you see I only get to do these things when my family is in town. I have no nightime babysitter that doesn't mind if I don't get home until 4am. We saw an 80's cover band last night....They were called the Little Green Men. The were awesome and hilarious to watch, the 3 members all wore wigs, green spikey hair, sparkley hair and just spikey hair. After the show we ended up hanging out with the lead singer for an hour or so. He was awesome, my hubby and him talked guitar talk.

Tomorrow we are having a cookout, my husband has invited people from work, I am hoping that they show up, as I have bought enough food for an army. So if any of my blogger buddies are in the area, stop by and I will feed you!!! I am going to make cupcakes too with red white and blue sprinkles....oh the hightlights of my life!!!!

Well I hope that everyone is having a good holiday extended weekend deal....what ever it is. Some people have off and are out of town. Stay outta trouble and don't drink and drive, unless its in a to go cup with a lid.....LOL

Thanks to all my friends out there in Blogger land!!!

2006-06-29T18:09:00.000-02:00

Well I really want to tell you all thanks for you supportive comments on my last post.....Each and everyone of you are right!!! She is a user and always has been, after all look at the whole babysitting dilemma that I was having months ago, that was her. I love being a good friend and I know that you should not expect anything in return for what you do, but sometimes just the return of being a good friend is enough!!

Well on to more exciting things, yesterday we took the kids to Jacksonville to Chuck E CHeese, my youngest acted like he was strung out on crack. He blew through all of his tokens in no time, I belive that this is the first time we have taken him since he was old enought to understand what Chuck E Cheese is all about. Don't worry mom and dad had a great day too, we found an extroidanary liquor store called Total Wine. It has just opened and we went down to see what all of the fuss was about. This was not just any liquor store they had everything imaginable. THey had more imported beer than we knew what to do with. They had a carton for you to build your own six pack. Now my husband loves beer, I stick to the regular old Miller Lite if anything. But he went hog wild, he built 2 six packs and got beer from all over the world. Just recently we had a British Submarine in port and they introduced him to Strongbow for any of you that have heard of it well he found it there so he was in all of his glory. It is a hard cider for all of you that are wondering. Years ago when I went to London we had cider and black current. The black current is so hard to find here, I have yet to discover it in the states. No Total Wine did not have it. So now my husband is on a mission to find the perfect beer, he is starting a project of drinking all of the imports and IPA's and documenting them until he finds his favorites. So any of you drinker out there that have any suggestions please let me know...He is making another run tomorrow with his buddy.

Well we ended last night on a good note and had dinner at Outback, it has been a while since we made it there and it was well worth it. We ate at Longhorn a couple of weeks ago but it is just not the same to us.

Today we took the kids fishing and Dylan my 7 year old caught his first bass today!!! We were so happy for him and he was so happy to boot. It was a great day

All is well in the Chaotic World of Me For Today

A Change of Plans

2006-06-27T22:40:00.000-02:00

Well with that said, I am a little pissed today and this is the only place I can vent and say what it is that I really need and want to say. I WAS supposed to go to Daytona this weekend for a Nascar race. My best friend, Alison, had been asked to go by a guy off of my husbands boat. Well the guy asked if we wanted to go too, but we had a limit on the amout of money that we wanted to spend. Now back to Alison, we set her up with this guy and he is really nice, has a good personality but he is a little chubby. Well she kept telling us that she was not physically attracted to him but she really liked him. She made it a point that I knew and understood that there were no sparks between them. I told her the best thing she could do was to tell him that it would not evolove far from a friendship anytime soon. Well now back to the race situation....we told the guy that we had $200 dollars and we were entrusting him to get good seats. He was gung-ho about it or so we thought. We never talked directly to him it was always through Alison. She made it sound like he was going to be purchasing the tickets soon so we were guaranteed 4 seats together. He was supposedly going to Daytona on Friday to get them and that we needed to just trust him....well he calls her on Friday night to tell her that he couldn't find any good seats for less than 140 a piece. This was fine with us, had he called us we would have ok'd it and we would now be on our way. Well he then told us that he was going to bid on tickets on ebay and that the auction was closing out on Sunday night and that these were awesome seats. Well he lost the auction but did not bother to tell us once again. He bid 3 minutes before the auction ended and never bid again. THe tickets sold for way less than we were willing to pay!!!! Well in between him telling us about the auction and the auction ending, Saturday night Alison decided to tell him that she was not looking for anything serious and that she wanted to be just friends. And she did not talk to him again until Monday. Well of course we think that he is mad at her and decided not to go to the race period. Then we finally go a hold of him yesterday, he proceeds to tell us that you can just get tickets at the gate when you get there on Saturday, that is how he is going to get theirs. Well that is a chance that we just do not feel like we want to take, driving 2 hours to Daytona, just to get cheap crappy tickets because we waited until last minute. But this guy and Alison would end up sitting somewhere nice because he has the money to spend, after all he did ask us to go too. So with that we decided to pull out of the deal last night, I think he was relieved but we were just turned off by all of the bull shit that we were going through. But Alison she is really working this whole thing to her advantage, her "friend" is still taking her, so she is playing the neutral card and going with everything that he has said about the whole situation. He has made us out to be the jerks in the deal and now either one of them do not understand why we were in the rush for the tickets. See she has nothing to loose here, he is paying her way and without us she will get to sit in the better seats. Through this situation she has become the fair weather friend. We do not have the better offer for her so she is going to stay where the getting is good. She has known us for 4 years and him for 3 weeks. I think I see where her loyalty lies. I have always seen that she was never left out of anything but now I am starting to wonder why I did any of this for her. I am really bitter right now, she is now blaming it all on lack of communication, hell we were communicating through her from the get go!!!!! What should I do, How should I be feeling????

I just don't understand!!!

2006-06-26T15:22:00.000-02:00

I just don't understand why it is easier to gain weight than to loose it. How come I can starve myself for a week straight and loose maybe 2 pounds or I can eat myself silly for a week and gain 6 pounds. It just doesn't seem fair. I would rather be happy and gain the 6 than be miserable and loose the 2!!

I just dont understand why society makes women feel like they have to be thin and beautiful. Why, wouldn't you rather live in a country where every woman is happy just because or live in a country with a bunch of dieting women that are always miserable because they just can't eat what they really want.

I just don't understand why I can go into a store and fit into one size but turn around and go to another store and that same exact size won't even button. I thought that measurements were supposed to be universal.

I just don't understand why when I am looking for a particular piece of clothing in a store they never have it in my size. The same with shoes, why should I feel punished because my feet and hips are bigger than the average woman.

I just don't understand why they do not make fat free and low calorie chocolate, they can put a man on the moon but can't simply alter chocolate!!! Go Figure.

Better yet I just don't undertand why scientist have not come up with a pill that just melts the fat away.

My feelings are that overweight people are contantly taken advantage of, why is it we can loose weight but Weight Watchers is going to charge us $12 a week to step on their scale and listen to their meeting. Or we can pay to nutrisystem and get all of our meals delivered to us for one large price just to loose weight. Or Jenny Craig will charge us for their meeting and their food so we can loose weight. It is all a scam. These companies are cashing in on fat people that are unhappy to beging with. Sure we may look and feel better in the end but we will be really broke!!!

I just don't understand, nope I just don't!!!

What do I write??

2006-06-22T22:27:00.000-02:00

So I lost my financial aid for school this year. My husband re-enlisted and the bonus posted on Jan 1, 2005 so when I figured my financial aid that was factored in, making us look like we actually had money. Now I am going to have to pay for my classes out of pocket, which really is no biggie. Next year the 07-08 school year I will more than likely have my financial aid back and be in the swing of things. But the financial aid worker at the college gave me a scholarship form, I am sure that I really would not be a canidate for the scholarship, there are people out there with much better grades and higher needs than I so I figured what the heck....give it a try. Well I have had this form for almost a month and it needs to be turned in by June 30th for consideration. The only thing stopping me from doing the application is the paper I need to attach. I have to write a paragraph about my career choice and career and personal goals and accomplishments, my work experience, and why I think I deserve the scholarship. I have never written a paper all about me. How does one write about themself??? I am not even sure of who I am and what it is that I desire. I know I want to be a nurse because I am a helper by nature. I also feel that I am taking on a great challenge, going to school while being a mom and wife. But how do you put all of that into words??
I have started to write this but seem to have writers block. I have 8 more days something has got to come to me.

By the way we just decided today that we are going to Daytona on the 1st for the Pepsi 400 race. I am excited I have always wanted to go to a Nascar race but have never had a chance. The inlaws are coming to watch the kids and I am going to have a blast.

Its official....I am a college student...yet again!!!

2006-06-20T16:04:00.000-02:00

Well today I had to meet with my student advisor. I am officially back into school and this time I am really excited. I have signed up for Microbiology, this is the class that always seems to be full when I need to enroll. I had to get into this class for the nursing program. I am going to be growing bacteria and neat stuff. I love these kinds of classes. The only problem is the new school I am enrolled in requires more for the nursing program than the school 30 minutes away. I need the Micro class for both schools so I am going to take it and I just might transfer back down to the other school when it is all said and done. According to the college here, I need a literature class, another math, a political science, 3 physical education classes, and something else. But the one in florida I need the micro and a math. Go Figure!!! So I am sure through the fall you will be reading the trials and tribulations of a stay at home mom back in college with kids that were in kindergarten when she was in high school!!!!!
Anyway I had to call a babysitter in so I could go to the school and decided to have lunch with my friend to make it worth my while since I was already paying her for the college thing. I needed the quiet time with out the darn kids and it was worth the money.

By the way for any of you parents out there, what are babysitters charging now a days? My friend had a sitter on Friday night and she charged $5 an hour for one kid. Mine takes 5 for 2 kids or even 3 if my friends kid was here.

My Computer Chair Dilemma

2006-06-19T11:59:00.000-02:00

Well my lesson for this weekend is, I spend too much time at my computer. My beloved chair has broken!!! My husband said my big ass broke the welds. That makes me feel real good!!! Just kidding, he sits here too!!! Now I have to steadily balance myself while typing, this has become sort of a challenge for me. This chair is not that old and it did cost quite a bit. If you look closely at the back of the chair you will see the yellow foam peeking out, this is where my kitty cat, Trouble had the misconception that this was her scratching post. I tried everything to deter her from doing it but in the end she won!!! Yesterday I was at the computer getting ready to blog and I was talking on the phone, I forgot that I could not lean back and I did. My husband had to come and rescue me!! Now I am on the lookout for a new chair, and it has to be comfortable.

Yesterday we went to see the movie Cars. I really enjoyed this one and I can't wait for it to come to dvd. It was 2 hours long but it held my youngest sons attention for the whole thing. My friends daughter was not as interested in watching it she lost attention about a hour into it. But not my Avery, man he was in his zone!! My friend Alison cooked Father's Day dinner for my husband, he has been an acting father to her daughter since she seperated from her husband and moved down here. We had a really nice time. I hope everyone else out there had a nice day yesterday too.

I must tell you a funny story before I go, on Saturday night we were in the garage playing pool and the door opened and smoke billowed out from my house. It seems that my 3 year old son, who wanted to watch cartoons decided that he wanted a piece of pizza from earlier heated back up. He somehow figure out the microwave and cooked his pizza until it started to flame up. When I got in the kitchen the microwave had 5 minutes of cooking time left on it. Needless to say my house smells and it was full of smoke. Has anyone ever burned a bag of popcorn, it was 10 times worse, it took your breath away to smell it. Now the microwave is on the back porch and Avery is not allowed to cook anymore.

Happy Fathers Day to all of the Dads out there!!!

2006-06-18T15:36:00.000-02:00

I have not seen my biological father since I was 13 years old. And that was just by chance, I was visiting my grandmother in New Jersey (his mom), someone told him I was there and he literally ran over. He was barefooted and drunk. All of my memories of my father seemed to have being drunk as a common factor. Somehow over the years he has managed to piss off everyone in his family and no one talks to him anymore. He is married to wife #3 and raising her grandaughter, and get this lives in Georgia now. He is like 6 hours from me. I used to think that he was the best dad in the whole world, I was 8 when I moved away from him and he made me so many promises and kept in touch, it was more my step mom than him, I later found this out. He had 2 more daughters with my stepmom and the youngest one he only saw once at 3 months old, that is the last time any of us have seen him, that is when he bolted to Georgia. I am still close with my stepmom and my sisters. They are all wonderful people and my sister just finished her first year of college for early childhood education. I am sure she would not have been half the person she is now if he was in her life. We have all realized that we were better off with out our father rather than with him!!! I have a good step father, times between us were rough but I have learned to accept him as the father that I needed and he did the best he could considering. I wrote about him in my mothers day post and I was not nice about him. Yes he was not easy to get along with but I am who I am today because of him. My sisters both had a wonderful man in their life too that have helped them become the wonderful girls that they are today!!
For all of you Fathers out there I wish you a Happy Father's Day.

Here is a little history of how Father's Day Became
The creation of a national day for Dads began back in the 1900s when a grateful daughter wanted to express her deep appreciation for her own father. A gentleman by the name of William Smart, a civil war veteran, was widowed when his wife died in childbirth. Mr. Smart raised his six children on a rural farm in eastern Washington State. When Sonora Louise Smart Dodd, one of Mr. Smart's children, was grown she wanted to show her appreciation for her father. He had shown her a great love and strength in raising her and her siblings as a single parent. So, in 1909, she proposed a day to honor her father in June (the month of her father's birth).The very first Fathers' Day followed on June 19, 1910 in Spokane, Washington. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge showed support of this becoming a national holiday. However, it wasn't until 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson officially proclaimed Fathers' Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of June.

From Mermaids to Pirates, I'll settle for a Sailor in the end!!!

2006-06-15T15:42:00.000-02:00

Alright readers, I know I have not been the best with blogging so I am updating on minimal time. There are only 22 more days until the new Pirates of the Caribbean on July 7th. WooHoo. In case you all could not tell I am a huge Johnny Depp fan, I love all of his stuff. The normal and the weird movies that he has made. My most favorite is the Pirate look on him....Mmmmm.......I really need a pirate!!!He played the part of Jack Sparrow so well in Pirates, I think he is an eccentric actor and the parts he plays are the right ones for him. The first movie I ever got hooked on him was CryBaby in 1991, I was just a kid but my step sister and I watched that movie almost every single day that summer, we knew every word. We could talk the lines without the movie on. My mother had taped it off of HBO I think and we wore that copy out. Well it has been awhile since I saw that movie and then it was on HBO like 3 weeks ago so I TiVo'ed it now I will have it forever!!!!! My husband will be nuts from it before it is all said and done. I love all of his movies!!
This was an awesome remake, no it was not like the first one so I can love it on a whole different level. He was a great Willie Wonka. He made the part. Once again totally eccentric. I loved the big glasses he wore in the TV room, once again for those of you that know what I am talking about.
They say that Johnny Depp is one of the nicest actors to meet in public, that he has no problem with autographs and pictures. They featured that not so long ago on MSN and that Cameron Diaz was the worst to get them from. I wish could meet him so much!! I don't think I could say anything to him though, I would be dumbfounded!!
But yes my readers I have had dreams about him too just like my Tim McGraw dreams, only with him I was at his apartment in NYC and we were dating. Then his girlfriend came over to drop off his kids so I knew it was too good to be true he even introduced me to his girlfriend and then he ran off to the subway. Hmmmmm....I could settle for that in a meeting. But by far I love the Pirate, Johnny Depp. I guess I am close enough, after all I am married to a Sailor!!!!! If only they resembled one another a little. Ahhhh I will always have my Johnny in my dreams though!!! And I know I have a date with him on July 7th. I am already deciding what I should wear....LOL

Update on Dylan, he made it through the surgery just fine, the last 2 days have been a little rough on him but I have a feeling it is getting better. He is catching up on TV. I told him he is going to fill his summer quota this week and have to play outside from here on out. Even in the rain.....Just kidding. I think we are going to try some broth today, he hasn't been doing the popsicles and ice cream like I though he would. I guess he'll come around and be starving soon.

Mermaids, Roller Coasters & Now Alberto!!!!

2006-06-13T01:42:00.000-02:00

Well I promised you all pictures from our weekend!!! We had an awesome time, I did not take a whole lot of pictures because I forgot about my camera. This is a picture from the underwater Mermaid show at Weeki Wachee Springs. The did The Little Mermaid, I know how original, but I really enjoyed it!!! During the show there were fish and turtles swimming all around the mermaids, apparently where they perform at is 14 feet under the water. The waterpark was also neat, 3 of the slides emptied out into the spring and the water was cold. It is 72-74 degrees year round and as warm as that sounds it is still frigid!!!
Here is a picture of my little pearls!!! Aren't they darling!!! They really had a good time, I kept trying to convince my oldest that the mermaid was real but he wasn't going for it!!!
We just so happened to stumble upon this mermaid for a photo opportunity, I can't imagine having to learn how to swim in that lycra tail!! You can see the water park in the back ground.
On Sunday we ended up going to Busch Gardens. Thanks to Anheiser-Busch they honor the military each year with free admission into any one of their parks so we chose Busch Gardens Tampa this year. I was a little hesitant about going, I hate rollercoasters and I would have rather went to Sea World. I was also worried about the crowds, anyone know that a theme park in Florida in the Summer is not a good thing, that is when everyone else and their mother is there. Well Busch Gardens was absolutly empty. I kid you not we rode every single ride in the park and some of them multiple times. I hate the roller coasters but I managed to get over my fear and ride every single one. I think it was a little to do with peer pressure!!!!

This is a computer image of the Sheikra, yes I rode it. I did not take any pictures so I had to find this on the internet. This has a 90 degree drop and 70 miles and hour from 300 feet up!!! I did this last because I was scared shitless. Everyone says that I should be able to ride every single roller coaster in the country now. Gee...I am excited now!! We left the park at 9:30 last night and got home around 2am. We are all tired but all in all we had a great time and I am glad that I got the opportunity to go. Tomorrow is my son's Tonsilectomy. They changed our time from 10am to 6am so I should be in bed right now but I promised everyone that I would post.

Now you see after this awesome weekend we just did escape the grips of Alberto. Apparently we are going to see the effects of the storm this week here on the East coast of Florida/Georgia. We really need the rain my baby grass is looking sad but its hanging on.

For all of you that read about my pool dilemma, we are over it now, the pool is nice and clear. I have put so much chlorine in it that I am sure it is safer to drink than the city water!!!!! Hope everyone had a great weekend...........

I can get the Job done!!!!!!

2006-06-09T01:29:00.000-02:00

Alright the latest battle at the Casa de Chaos is a green pool. Not just any green pool but 4,000+ gallons of green, cloudy water. I have been trying to tackle this beast all week and I have had absolutly no luck what-so-ever!!!

Last week the husband vaccuumed the pool out, it is just a 14ft X 3.5 ft, vinyl pool with the ring at the top. Well this is the first time this season that my husband has helped me with the pool, maybe that is the first problem. I left to take my son to Karate and came home and the pool was free of all leaves but a little on the cloudy side. I just figured that it would settle and go back to normal. NO Why would it do that now??? It gradually got cloudier and cloudier and greener and greener. So on Monday I bought some new test strips and checked all of the levels in the water, I went on the aquachem and put my results in and they analyzed my water. I got a nifty printout that told me everything I needed down to how much I needed to put in. So on Tuesday, I bought PH stuff, clarifier, shock, algaecide, and some other junk. Spent all day putting this crap in the pool and no positive results. I have cleaned the filter with the fancy filter cleaner that they sell and nope nothing. The pool is so gross and the kids just want to swim. But I am not going to let this pool get me, nope, I will not be had by a freaking pool. SO I shocked it again, someone else gave me this advice and still nothing, it looks no better, so tonight I cleaned the filter and added a super dose of chlorine, seems I have forgot to put it in since Sunday.....ooops certainly that is not the whole problem. Well I guess I will find out in the morning.

We are leaving tomorrow for Weeki Wachee Springs, It is a natural spring here in Florida and they have the only live mermaid show left in the country. I have never been but it looks to be quite interesting. They also have a water park that is spring fed. So I guess I will not be posting this weekend but I will have stories for you all on Monday. Unless a gator gets me, then you will all see me on the news I guess. Speaking of alligators, here on the Naval Base they have a 9ft gator in the pond by the running track, they had to remove it due to all of the recent attacks in Florida. Those things are not taken lightly around here!!!

My son is going on Tuesday morning to get his tonsils removed. So be thinking of us then. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!!!!

I am Tagging Myself....Pathetic isn't it????

2006-06-08T00:39:00.000-02:00

Four Jobs I’ve had in my life
1. Mommy
2. Wife
3. Pharmacy Technician (Wal-Mart)
4. McDonalds
Four Movies I can watch over and over
1. Mary Poppins
2. Sound of Music
3. Cry Baby
4. Hairspray
Four Places I have Lived
1. Pitman, New Jersey
2. Clanton, Alabama
3. St. Marys, Georgia
4. Groton, Connecticut
Four TV shows I love to watch
1. ER
2. Scrubs
3. Survivor
4. The Amazing Race
Four Places I have been
1. On my roof!!!
2. Jamaica
3. Mexico
4. England
Four Web Sites I visit daily
1. MSN.com
2. Navy Federal Credit Union
3. My Blogger friends pages
4. Ebay
Four of my Favorite Foods
1. Pizza w/mushrooms,italian sausage & onion
2. Chicken & Dumplings
3. BBQ Chicken Breast
4. Thanksgiving Dinner
Four Places I would rather be right now
1. A secluded Carribean Location w/ only the husband
2. Disney World with no other people in the park, just my family
3. On a boat somewhere warm or tropical
4. Paris France

I saw this on Dr. Johns page and I figured that I would tag myself, it always seems I never get tagged. But have been short on time so I think this it a sufficient post for now, I am going to be catching up on everyone's posts and adding more friends links to my page.

A Crazy Week & NO BOATS

2006-06-04T13:04:00.000-02:00

Now that school is out for the Summer, I am not sure where my time has gone. Lately I have been horrible at posting. Everytime I get ready to post, someone needs something. This week we have managed to go to the local waterpark twice, the zoo, and Dylan had his Karate promotion this weekend(he is the one in the red vest in the picture). He is now a yellow belt green tip in Tang Soo Do. He has been in Karate since right after his 4th birthday. We started with Okinawan Karate Do in Connecticut, this was Japanese style. Then upon moving to Georgia they did not have that type locally so we changed to Tang Soo Do, it is Korean. He had to learn new terms and moves for this one but he is flourishing. I think that we are going to let him compete in the end of July.
Well since last weekends excursion on the river my husband has dilligently tried to convince me that we need a boat. When my husband gets an idea in his head he will just about drive you nuts with it. Most of the time I give in and say whatever but not this time. A boat is a lot and beings that he goes out to sea, it would get minimal use. I just do not think it is worth it right now. Maybe in a couple of year when he retires or is on shore duty and has the time to use it. For now we can go to Alabama and use his parents boat and have fun there. He had a boat before when we lived in Connecticut, he loves to fresh water fish and it was a real nice boat, just a little bass boat. He wanted to sell it before we left Connecticut because he would not have time to use it here, and there is not an abundance of fresh water where we are located. So I let him sell it and he did and that is all she wrote. We had a set of jet skis too, this was before we went to connecticut but we sold them because I was pregnant and they would get very little use because the water was so cold. He is always making rash decisions without really thinking them through and I just let him do what he wants. I hate denying him of things that he wants but c'mon now enough is enough. I regretted the whole jet ski thing, I really want them now. He sold them to his uncle so they are in the family still but we never use them, they are in Alabama. I also hate that he got rid of the little bass boat, it served its purpose and it still could be serving. Now he wants a ski boat. NO WAY I do not think so!!! I want a million things but you dont see me getting them. I am protesting the boat. NO BOATS, not now at least. He has even gone so far as to find a local boat on ebay and email the guy about it. Now he is giving the guy false hope and building himself up for a major let down when I say NO!! When is enough, enough???
I am starting to be annoyed by him, I think we have spent too much time together this weekend. Maybe next week will be better!!!

I'm Back from our weekend on the Alabama River!!

2006-05-31T00:12:00.000-02:00

Well here are some pictures from our recent trip to Alabama. By posting pictures I am going to be introducing you to my family. We met up with my husbands family just south of Selma Alabama for a camping trip this past weekend. The camp ground was located on the Alabama River. Now I am not fond of swimming in rivers and all but I had a great time. I have this thing about not being able to see what is around me in the water. My inlaws had their boat and so did my husbands aunt and uncle. So we loaded up about 15 people and headed to this beach in the middle of the Alabama River referred to as Little Miami. There were so many boats at this beach and people had little grills cooking and it was awesome. We took some drinks and the kids all had a blast. Neither one of my sons have gotten to do this with the family due to the fact that we have lived so far away for the past couple of years and that my father in laws health is deteriorating. They have a cute motorhome, I am used to tent camping so this was a real treat for me, like staying at the Ritz or something. My kids ran free with the other kids and were absolutly no problem the whole weekend, we got to see people that we have not seen in years and we even met some new folks. My parents live about a hour from where we were so we stayed with them the night before we came home.

This is Little Miami.......and it was 101 that day so the water was so refreshing, even if it was river water!!!!

This is my Dylan, he had so much fun jumping off the back of the boat. He found a pet clam that we had to bring home, believe it or not he lived and then we dropped him in the river the next day!!!!

This is my captain Avery, he is not fond of getting in water, only the tub so he stayed on the boat but he sure did enjoy driving. There were not other boats on the road at the time...Thank God!! By the way that is my husband standing behind him and in the picture above he is behind Dylan in the water.

This is my Mother in Law. She is the greatest, I think she was feeling good, hey as long as she was happy!!!

This is my father in laws favorite truck, its old and he won't get rid of it, in matter of fact he had it painted like 2 years ago, well my husband ran his uncles truck into his fathers truck while backing the boat down the ramp. See the nice dent on the door. Yup that is courtesy of my wonderful husband. His dad got pissed and had to drive away, it seems that my husband is always messing his stuff up.

All in all we had a good time, and made a lot of memories. We got home yesterday in time for the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill concert. It was really good, we had awesome seats we were so close to the stage that you could actually see facial features. The only thing he did not sing Indian Outlaw. I did not meet him for all you wonderers it would have been awesome. Got home at 1:30 this morning so I have been tired all day, I am heading to bed now. I have some catching up to do on all of my friends blogs. Dr. John I am so behind on Pigeon Falls news. I feel like I am out of the loop with my gossip, also we got the jelly beans, they came the day we left for Alabama and they kept the kids quite content in the car for a bit. Thanks So Much

A little Eye Candy for the weekend...sorry Dr. John

2006-05-26T12:02:00.000-02:00

Ok Ladies, this is the Man of my dreams, literally!! I am going to see this hunk in concert on Monday night. This will be the 3rd year in a row that my friend Alison and I will have gone to see Tim McGraw in concert. The only problem this year he is touring with his wife, Faith Hill, and we are not too thrilled. You see in our minds we are his ONLY women!!! Now we are going to have to share him with his wife!! LOL. While living in Connecticut we went to see him twice at the Mohegan Sun casino. It was awesome both times. Then we found out that he was coming to Jacksonville, how could we pass up this opportunity to see him again. Well because he is touring with Faith Hill the tickets are outrageous, they are 96.00 after tax and facility charges. So we decided that we were going to skip seeing him this time around. Well we got a little confused and thought he was coming in April so the weekend of the 29th we were saddened and we told our story of how we really wanted to go but the tickets were too much and how we felt that we should have done it anyway. Well 2 days later I got an email from Ticketmaster, reminding me that Tim McGraw was coming May 29th. It was a sign, we had to go! So we bought the tickets, as outrageous as they were it was worth it anyway. Well since buying the tickets I have had 3 very odd and different dreams about meeting Tim McGraw and the last one was him sucking my neck....GO Figure!!! Jeez I wish it were true though. Well now Alison thinks that since I have dreamt about him 3 times that we probably are going to meet him. So this Memorial Day I will be looking at my eye candy.....mmmmm!!! I am have one other man of my dreams but I will talk about him later on before his movie comes out this summer!!!!

I DID IT...My green thumb stayed green not black

2006-05-25T00:02:00.000-02:00

For all of my readers that are aware of my attempt to grow grass, I did it!!! Yeah...I was checking out all of the spots that I planted at there it was little tiny patches of fine baby grass. I am so happy, I am currently watering it as we speak, we are kind of going through a dry spell here in Sunshine Central. It has been so very hot and I am looking foward to rain, so are my other plants. We are supposed to go out of town this weekend and I am really afraid to go because I know I have no one to water my stuff. And I do not want to return to the demise of my babies!!
*On another note we are 5 days into summer vacation (when does school start again?) No, actually we are doing alright, kids are happy and content. We had a busy weekend last week and now we are just trying to glide through this week with out spending huge amounts of money. We are supposed to take a trip home to Alabama this weekend for the holiday and return on Monday for a concert. (I will tell more about that later) Although due to timing I am not sure if the trip is actually going to follow through.
*For all of my readers that are wondering of my summer dilemma with watching my best friends daughter, well she is in a Summer Day camp program and I can get her whenever I want to and take her to do stuff with us. I think we are going to all do the zoo next week.
*I had my MRA, yesterday, it was and angiogram of my brain, I thought I was going to have dye injected in me but they did not have to do it so I was quite estatic. The only problem was my sunburned back and I had to lay flat on it for a half hour without moving while being inside of a tube. Can anyone say OH JOY!!! I go to the doctor on June 6th to find out the results of that and for him to check my optic nerves again. So everyone pray for me until then!!

Well that is all for now from the Chaotic World of Me....I will have more for you tomorrow!!!

Me & My Babies...well they aren't babies anymore

2006-05-22T10:03:00.000-02:00

I know that many times I have really vented on how my children and my husband drive me nuts but that is what my page is here for and sometimes I think it is a bit therapeutic for me!!! Anyway.....I took a psychology class a couple of years back and I had to write a paper on the age old debate of Nature vs. Nurture. Are we genetically disposed to become the people we are or does nature mold us to the fine human beings that we become?? I think that my children are fine examples of this. I have the two boys ages 7 & 3, they are 2 totally different people, like night and day when it comes to interests and disposition. Now I have been both of their mother since birth and my husband came into my oldest ones life at 14 months and has been here since then. My oldest son sees his father every other weekend for the past year but for the 3 years before that, while we lived in Connecticut the visits were sporadic and sometimes months would pass before the next visit. I have exposed them to the same things never shielding one and not the other. My oldest, Dylan, is a cautious child and always has been, he never liked being dirty, or playing in the dirt. Never liked playing with cars and trucks always liked bugs and worms and dinosaurs. Now my youngest, Avery, is a risk taking child and has been since birth, the dirtier he is the better, he loves mud and know what to do with a dump truck and front end loader like there is no tomorrow. Now both of them loved trains, and we have more wooden Thomas the train stuff than I know what to do with and it still gets hauled out daily. I used to buy Dylan cars and trucks when he was little. Dylan is a complainer and Avery is a go with the flow kid. Avery really never pushes my buttons but at 3 Dylan knew just how it worked. Sometimes I felt that Dylan was my arch nemesis and we mix as well as oil and water. Until I looked at the big picture, Dylan is like his father and Avery is like his, even though Dylan has grown up in the same house with my husband for the past 5 1/2 years. Dylans father is very uptight and afraid of many situations, he told Dylan one time that there were Ticks in grass, and now when he sees high grass he wont walk through it for fear of ticks. This is the man that when a new sickness comes around he believes he has it, his whole family is like this. Once upon a time he thought he had the West Nile Virus from mosquito's. Now Avery father is a risk taker, never by the book and is happy go luck doing what ever. Doesn't take much to entertain him. Is not afraid to live life to the fullest, his mantra is You can't escape what is going to happen to you, because it will eventually get you in the end. The only things that my kids have gotten from me is my temper and my brown eyes. That is it!!! My mother says that brown eyes, show the world that you are full of shit!!! Gee Thanks mom. Each one of these childrens paternal grandparents have told me that they are exactly like their father when they were younger. I am starting to think that Nature hold water in my case, these kids were predisposed to be who they are and I had nothing to do with it. I wonder if I had a 3rd if it would be like me or not. I do not think that is a chance I want to take, I think I would end up fighting with myself.
This weekend we went to a (AA) Baseball game, the Jacksonville suns, Avery was in hog heaven, he loved it, Dylan on the other hand was ready to go as soon as we walked through the gate. Then on Sunday we went to the beach, this was Dylan's forte, he was in his glory, Avery on the other hand doesn't care for the water and after 4 hours we had to peel Dylan away from the ocean but Avery had been ready to go for like 2 hours!!! GO FIGURE! I don't think I will ever be able to win with these children

JUST STUFF!!!

2006-05-18T10:30:00.000-02:00

Well first off, Mimi, you sure have some guts to do the audio posts!!! I left you a comment today about yesterdays word. I think once you have kids you get words for everything and they make sense to you and your kids even come to use them!!!

Well anyway, yesterday was a blur for me, I had a horrible headache, I though my head was going to literally cave in on itself. I had to have a Tetnus shot on Tuesday, so I do not know if that had somehting to do with it or if it is the effects of my pseudotumor. I am enrolling in a different college here is Georgia, last fall I went to college in Florida, but in Georgia they require you to have all of your shots. Its like being a kid starting Kindergarten again!!! This college is only 10 miles whereas I was traveling 25 to the one in Florida. Plus they offer what I need on the days I need it. Well I had to have a tetnus shot, and I had to have titers done to prove immunity to measles, mumps, and rubella. I had to have the same thing done in Connecticut but apparently the Navy Clinic there forgot to put all of the paperwork and information in my medical file, which caused me to have to have it all redone!!! That is the Navy way, when you need something it is nowhere to be found but the totally useless stuff is in there. Makes no sense to me, but you better be sure I am going to make sure that this test goes in there. Next Tuesday I have to go for another MRI this is a continutaion of my Pseudotumor, but this time they are going to inject me with dye to read the veins and arteries in my brain. Oh Joy!! I am coming up on my 6 month window of being on the diuretic so I am hoping that my Optic Nerves have gone down in swelling.
For all of you that have no clue what I am talking about read about My Pseudotumor

So tomorrow is the last day of school for my son, ahhh Summer has now begun in Georgia!!! Now I have to think of things to do so I can keep what little sanity I have left. There is a water playground here in town and we are members of the zoo so I see us doing that quite alot. THe beach is also 30 minutes away so we will do that too. I am getting the oldest ones tonsils out on the 13 of June. So that gives me 2 weeks of down time! School will start back August 4th and my husband will leave shortly after for a couple of months. But he'll be home for Christmas. Yeah....he was home last year but left 2 days after and I did not see him again until the end of Feb. That is the Navy Life I live I guess.

My House.....

2006-05-17T01:05:00.000-02:00

Sorry to all that expected a post today, therefore you will have it in the morning and it will save me from having to post tomorrow. I was actually a little busy today, believe it or not. I planted grass seed, yet again for the 3rd time. We have a nice sandy back yard. No grass, well I am exaggerating, there are sparce patches but where I want it, it will not grow. We ususally just buy something cheap, but not this time. We went even as far as getting quotes for sod. It is amazing how much they will charge you for a pallet of grass. For my 1/2 acre lot they wanted almost 5 grand for grass. So I bought the $20.00 bag of seed and raked and raked and spread the seed then raked it in and watered. Wish me luck people, someone needs to remind me everyday to water it though. I am horrible at watering the grass, it is just not something you think of. I also got laminate pergo-type flooring for my dining room, there was carpet in there but it is getting ruined from spills and kids so we ripped out the carpet and the hubby and I are laying 108 sq ft of flooring. It is really easy just a little time consuming. We almost got finished tonight but he has to get up at 5 so we quit early!! It is going to look really nice. We have officially been in our house for a year now and we have replace cabinets, countertops, built a deck, painted everything, and now wood flooring in the dining room. I figure if I am paying to live here then I am going to fix it the way I like it!!! Next are the bathroom vanities and sinks. The house had ceramic tile flooring put in before we bought it, the previous owners had just done it and bought all new appliance for the kitchen but failed to replace the way to small cabinets so they were the first thing to go!! They did the floors in the bathroom too but did not replace the cracked sink so I do not know what they were thinking but it is entertaining me for now. Well it is late and I have a busy day yet again tommorrow.

A Funny for all the Ladies!!!!

2006-05-15T12:48:00.000-02:00

I have recieved this in an email from a couple of my friends and I just want to post it because as funny as it is, there is some truth. Let me know if any of these have pertained to you!!!! I need to know I am not alone!!!!!!!!!

When we Girls Drink too much

WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHERE OUR PURSE IS
WE BELIEVE THAT DANCING WITH OUR ARMS OVERHEAD AND WIGGLING OUR BUTT WHILE YELLING "WOO-HOO!" IS TRULY THE SEXIEST DANCE MOVE AROUND
WE'VE SUDDENLY DECIDED THAT WE WANT TO KICK SOMEONE'S ASS AND HONESTLY BELIEVE WE COULD DO IT TOO.
IN OUR LAST TRIP TO PEE, WE REALIZE THAT WE NOW LOOK MORE LIKE A HOMELESS HOOKER THAN THE GODDESS WE WERE JUST FOUR HOURS AGO
WE START CRYING AND TELLING EVERYONE WE SEE THAT WE LOVE THEM SOOOOO MUCH.
WE GET EXTREMELY EXCITED AND JUMP UP AND DOWN EVERY TIME A NEW SONG PLAY'S BECAUSE "OH MY GOD! I LOVE THIS SONG!"
WE'VE FOUND A DEEPER/SPIRITUAL SIDE TO THE GEEK SITTING NEXT TO US.
WE'VE SUDDENLY TAKEN UP SMOKING AND BECOME REALLY GOOD AT IT
WE YELL AT THE BARTENDER, WHO WE BELIEVE CHEATED US BY GIVING US JUST LEMONADE, BUT THAT'S JUST BECAUSE WE CAN NO LONGER TASTE THE GIN.
WE TAKE OUR SHOES OFF BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IT'S THEIR FAULT THAT WE'RE HAVING PROBLEMS WALKING STRAIGHT

Ode to My Mother.......This is not pretty and sweet!!

2006-05-13T23:49:00.000-02:00

Well since Mother's Day is upon us and the growing theme with bloggers is their mother, I thought I would just jump on the band wagon. My mother and I are sort of like Oil & Water at times, it is really a love/hate relationship. Now that I have moved away and I have my own things going on, things are better, however when I visit I have to really set time limits for us to be together or we fight, not like normal people, the claws come out. I have to give my mother a lot of credit now, and I have really come to appreciate her since I have had children of my own. I understand why some of the situations we have been in have happened in the first place. I was born to an alcoholic father and I am not sure what my mother was really doing at the time, I sort of don't ask, don't tell with her past. My father was very very abusive with her, even during her pregnancy with me. They split shortly after my birth but did not actually divorce until I was 3 or so. After their split, we moved in with my mom mom, which to this day she means the world to me and I would not have become half the person I am without her. I was mom-mom's princess, or so that it what I felt like, I have more memories of her at a young age than I do of my mother. My mom worked all of the time, she was a waitress and that meant she usuallly had the 2-10 shift. We lived in a duplex, my mom, mom-mom, and I on one side and my Aunt Carol, her husband at the time, and her stepson were on the other side, I was constantly surrounded by family. Every Saturday night my mom-mom and I would get dressed up and go to dinner with my pop-pop. (They were divorced at the time and still are but they live together once again.) My pop-pop owned a hotel in New Jersey, and it had a dining room, bar, and coffee shop. We would always go to the dining room and my mom worked in the coffee shop so I always got to see her on the Saturday nights. As I grew older, I remember getting off the bus and my mom jetting out the door to work. I mean she had to work, she wasnt getting money from my father. But mom-mom saw to it that I was well taken care of, I was always dressed nice and taught how to act properly. When I was 7 my father remarried and my mom met a man from Alabama, he was an antique dealer that had come north for the antique auctions. I guess they had been together since I was 4 or so but it was like an every 2 week thing that is when he made the trip north. Well at 7 my mother decided to leave her life in New Jersey for her love in Alabama, so we packed it all an moved. She took me away from all that I had known. I had a lot of huge adjustments to go through at that age, my mom-mom was now 1000 miles away and I didn't get to see her or any other family for that fact except for holidays. Well once in Alabama, I do not think my mother really had a clue of what to do with a 7 year old girl full time. She never went back to work, well she did but she worked at her boyfriends antique auction, so she was always around. I was grateful, I was not a latchkey kid. Things got hard for me very quickly, all of a sudden I was expected to say yes mam, no mam, yes sir, no sir. I could no longer sleep with my mom. And of all things when I got in trouble I got hit with a belt. All in the true southern way. My mom basically pawned me off on the new man in her life for the discipline aspect of my life. It is funny how in my mind I remember all of the discipline, I think that is why I do not want to hit or discipline my kids now for fear of repeating the cycle. Was I abused? I really do not know, I would like to say that I was just for a reason. Well they got married 2 years later when I was almost 9. They are still married, he has always been the strict on with me, I think I was more or less a thorn in his side for many years. I always rebelled against his rules and punishments. But back to my mother, she always had an anger problem. My favorite saying of her, " You better shut up before I knock you through the F******* wall." I saw no wrong with this until I was in my teens. She never did knock me through the wall, she hit me many times. But to this day she is still a very angry person even if she wants to admit and accept it or not. When I was 10 my mother gave birth to my brother, he was the apple of everyones eye, including my stepfather's so of course I resented this child, then 16 months later, another brother. Arg...what where they thinking??? My youngest brother was basically put on the back burner for a lot of things, he was always content with himself. The other brother need the attention and even today on his 17th birthday he needs the attention on him still. But he is growing and maturing nicely now. But back to my mother again!! Since the birth of my son Dylan 7 years ago, he has been the apple of her eye and she has been a better grandmother to him than I could have ever imagined. She has never harmed him or yelled for that fact. I think my mother is now playing the role in his life that my mom-mom played in my life. My stepfather is uber laid back now, never yells at my brothers or hits them, that became my mothers job since he traveled all of the time up until 4 years ago when the business went under and they had to file for bankruptcy. My mother and I have aruged many times over all of our relationships and I have so many "Why" questions. But all I can walk away with is that the person I am today is a result of the childhood that I had, she apologized all of the time for being the way she was and my stepfather is too stubborn so we just keep our distance. I am bitter, very bitter. About a year ago my mom told me that when she left New Jersey, she wanted to send me back because I was not happy in Alabama. I often wonder what my life would have been like? I am sure I would not have ended up being as strong as I am. I have learned through my parents mistakes, I know what I do not want my kids to go through. I also feel that my parents learned through their mistakes with me. Sure raising me was not a walk in the park but what kid is. Recently she has found church and God and I think that it has done her a world of good, she is trying to be a better person and she is succeeding at it very well. So has my stepfather. But I think that you have to truly become a parent to understand the trials and tribulations of your parents. Sure I wrote about my Dylan and his problems but I am looking for the cure and the answer rather than beat it out of him. I do love him and I show it to him everyday in some form or fashion. My kids are my life and I want them to grow up having had a healthy life. One full of good memories and experiences. I hope that they will learn from my mistakes. So one the eve of this Mother's Day 2006 I am thinking of all my fellow mothers young and old. Love to you all for what you have done for your children. No my story may not be the prettiest or best memory but it is mine and it made me who I am and I think now that I have got through it I would not really change it. I am who I am for a reason!!!

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh

Five Places I Would Rather Be Than Here Right Now

2006-05-12T16:41:00.000-02:00

Alright, so here I go again with a complaining day. Everything has gone well in the Casa de Chaos until 2pm this afternoon. As I sit here 2:41pm I really do not think that it can get any worse. I have hit my breaking point with my eldest son Dylan right now. Today was PJ day at school, all of the students were invited to wear PJ's, bring pillows and sleeping bags and games to share, next Friday is the last day of school so they are just trying to pass the time away. Well Dylan wore his Star Wars Pants and a blue Tee shirt today and requested that I please pick him up so he doesn't have to ride the bus home from school. So I said ok I will come and check you out of school later today, last I knew he was fine with that. Well at 2pm my husband was out and about so I asked him to stop by and get Dylan. School gets out at 2:30, so he was in luck getting out of school 30 minutes early and not having to ride the bus. Well my husband calls me after he picks him up, apparently Dylan is spazzing out because they were watching a movie and he was pissed that he got picked up early. When he got home I talked to him about what he had requested and that I followed the instructions that were set forth this morning. But he was still mad. This child is always mad, always lashing out at me, especially when he doesn't get his way. I love him so much and I know that it is my fault from letting him get away with so much for so long. He is a bossy kid, remember that kid in school that no one wanted to play with because they were too bossy, I fear that he is this kid. He is 7 and still will cry when you ask him to do something that he doesn't want to do or when things do not go his way. There is so much friction in this house between him and the other members of the family. Sometimes he is just downright hateful. I try, sometimes he just works my nerves so bad I want to lash out at him, I refrain from spanking him, I know it does nothing for him, and I have started taking away things from him at first it made an effect but now I do not think it holds water with him. I know that he is troubled, we have done therapy when we were in Connecticut, he has always been standoffish to my husband, who has been in his life since he was 18 months old. THere has always been friction on Dylans part with him, I think it has part to do with his biological father constantly reminding him who his real dad and who his step dad is. I try to talk to bio dad about it and he gets all defensive. This makes it really hard for me, I need Shalom in my Home. I have got to do therapy again, I can't have my baby troubled and miserable. It hurts me to see him this way and to have to constantly deal with his mood swings. I see more hate coming out of him everyday. Well I have my friends kid here today too and my other son and her are arguing over toys, simple childhood arguments but they get setteled and they move on. I was thinking there are tons of places I would rather be than here right now.

I would love to be on a beach in Mexico with a Stawberry Daquri and a good book
I would love to be at a Spa in the desert somewhere, where no one can reach me
I would rather be on a boat in the middle of a lake with the warm sun
I would rather be pampered by maids right now
Most of all I would love to be locked in my room with headphones and good music.

Happy Mother's Day to Me

Help!!! My kids are destroying the house.

2006-05-10T15:18:00.000-02:00

I believe that single handedly my children ages 7 &3 are going to destroy my house. The house has been here since the mid 80s, made of brick, a very hardy house. Though I do believe that these kids are going to give it a run for its money. By no means is this my "dream" home or the house I see myself in 10 years still living in. My husband being in the military we just moved back to this area a year ago and decided, NO MORE NAVY HOUSING. Mimi, knows what I am talking about! So we bought our first home. 3 bedroom, 1/2 acre lot, 1500 sq ft. I am constantly cleaning this beast. It is all one level which I am so thankful for, but there is always something that needs to be done. Of course God has blessed me with sons so I am always cleaning up pee in the bathrooms. I cant say that my husband is any better. I have a solid plate glass storm door that is always covered in nose and hand prints, and my garage is a catch all for everything. It is very sandy here so they are constantly tracking in sand and I am constantly using the carpet cleaner which I do not think is making a difference anymore. There are always sprinklings of food on the floor or toys. Hot Wheel Cars hurt in the middle of the night. As much as I set the rules and keep the toys contained to one area it just seems to happen the opposite. I am starting to believe that there are little trolls that come out and party while I am out running errands. Laundry is the story of my life, I fold it and put it all away just because if I dont it is shoved everywhere. My oldest son sleeps on the top bunk and it is like his own fortress, he has so much junk up there that I am surprised that he does not have unwanted visitors. I can fill a whole washer with his clothes up there. Although I have heard if you have a clean house you live a boring life, my life is far from boring.

Shrimp Festival and Mothers Day Cards

2006-05-08T22:46:00.000-02:00

Ahhh this weekend we did yet another festival. The Shrimp Festival in Fernandina Beach Florida. I am not a seafood eater so I went along for the arts and crafts. Well I was a little disappointed this festival did not have your run of the mill crafts, you know like candles, purses, and homemade stuff that you would never think to make but really makes sense to have. This was an artsy fartsy kind of festival. Statues, stained glass, and oil paintings. Now don't get me wrong these things were nice, they just were not in my price range or my need for the moment. The OscarMayer HotDog Mobile was there and they were letting people sing the oscar mayer jingles. My friend Alison and I did this, I am sure we looked like total fools, It should be on the internet in a couple of days, I will see what it takes to post it for you guys if it is not too too bad. My inlaws were in town for the weekend, they came down in their motorhome. My father in law is not in good health so he did not go to the festival. He has severe Asthma among a ton of other things. He just went for a sleep study and the found that he has severe sleep apnea, during the study he quit breathing 80 times in 2 minutes and his pulse ox dropped to 47. So he has started on a CPAP machine to help him at night. He is 73 and is going downhill fast so we like to spend as much time as possible with them. But besides the fact that he did not go with us to the festival, he did come to the house and hang out and we hung out at the campground. They left today and the kids were upset but we will be going home to see them soon enough. Today I went to buy cards for mothers day, I spent $17.00 at Hallmark on just cards nothing else, now I have to buy stamps. Cards are so expensive that you really do not want to buy a card and a gift. I should just get a piece of paper and make my own for minimal cost. Well I hope everyone had a good Monday.

My Pal MIMI

2006-05-05T16:35:00.000-02:00

Well I keep checking Cissa's page to check on Mimi's condition. I knew something had to be up when I posted and she did not comment on my page. You see, Mimi and I used to be neighbors in Connecticut. Navy housing for us was a 6 family townhouse and Mimi and I were neighbors. Our stairs and front doors were on the same wall. When you live that close to someone, you really can't help to get to know them. I met Mimi the Summer of 2004, she was prego with her beautiful baby boy. Of course I do not think at the time we knew that he was a boy. Mimi's husband, Durk, was a riot. He loved to listen to all of us wives chatter away. We had camp Michigan Drive out front. My friend that lives here now Alison also lived in the same building and between she and I we had the 3 kids and a butt load of outside toys. We now look back on pictures and we were Connecticut White Trash. We had so much crap and half of it was stuff that other families offloaded before they moved to their next duty station. I really feel bad for Mimi now because she had to move into all of this and she had not yet had any kids, what she must of thought. Anyway, everyday Alison and I were outside with the kids, from sun up to sun down. We knew everyone and stories about them but yet we knew nobody. The mail lady, June, she was so cool, we looked foward to her everyday. She gave us the lowdown on everything and she loved the kids and they loved her. One time we were sledding and after she filled all of our boxes she joined us for a couple quick runs down the hill. Anyway back to Mimi, this was her first move away from home and she was pregnant to top it off so we all knew that there was going to be hurdles for her. I explained different things to her and tried my best to help her if she needed it. I was gone over Thanksgiving and my husband had to work but Mimi and Durk saw to it that my husband had a meal. They fed him other times I was out of town and they kept an eye on him since he was alone. We had some issues with some of the neighbors which she was drug into and did not need to be drug into. But that is what happens when you get a bunch of bored women together. I was there when Mimi had the baby and she had a ton of hurdles with that but I made sure that I was there for her. That was the least I could do for her. I went to the hospital even with the baby not there and I went to the NICU to visit that sweet boy. I cooked a big meal on Mother's day last year to celebrate her first Mother's Day. Then because of the Navy I had to move again. I was ripped away from some of the best memories of my adult life. I haven't seen Mimi in almost a year but we still keep in touch, pretty reguarly. Having the blog pages helps make it easier than before. Now with her in the hospital I hate that I can not be there for her and help them with this. It is absolutly killing me not being able to do anything. She is such a good soul. Mimi, I am thinking about you and I want you to get better, these things only make us stronger!!! You ought to be as strong as an Ox now. I Love Ya Girl!!!

Wealthy Kids Irk Me

2006-05-04T00:38:00.000-02:00

Well here I go again, slacking on my page. I have been reading and posting on everyone elses page but I haven't had anything hit me to write about until today. So I was watching TV tonight with the husband and we were watching My Sweet 16. For those of you that do not know what it is, it is a show about rich kids and their 16th birthday parties. It is unreal the parties that these kids are allowed to have and the attitude that they carry along with it. Just tonight there was a girl whose party cost over 300,000 dollars. Could you imagine, then her dad took her car shopping and she found a porshe convertible that she wanted. It cost 96,000 and she said, "Daddy, its just pocket change." These are the people in our society. He party was in a night club in New York, and she was carried in holding a snake. I mean in 10 years what is this going to have done for you? Its just a shame that the parents have allowed these kids to be like this, you would think beings that half of them have had to work from the bottom up that they would teach thier kids to respect more things and conserve. Lets see my 16th birthday consisted of a homeade cake, my parents, my best friend and my boyfriend at the time. Sure I got a car, but it was a 1979 Ford Mustang hatchback. The ugliest thing on the face of the earth and sure I was pissed that it was ugly and old but I learned to respect it because it was all that I had. But I guess the times are a changin' kids have cell phones and ipods and laptops. Things that were not even around and remotly affordable until after I graduated high school. I just hope that my kids do not expect or demand these things one day. I want them to grow up appreciating things and others. I just hope that society doesn't change them

Chock full of festivals

2006-05-01T00:59:00.000-02:00

Alright so this weekend was the Crawfish Festival in Woodbine, Georgia and yes we attended. Both of my boys were in the parade and they even have a Little Miss Crawfish pageant. I have always wondered what makes a city decide that they are going to hold a certain festival. We live in an area that plays host to more festivals in a 30 mile radius then I have ever seen. In September the town where I live hosts a Catfish Festival, the next town over hosts a Rock Shrimp festival in October, then the county seat hosts the Crawfish Festival in April!! I really did not know that these products were dominant enough in this area to deserve a festival. Now you all must understand that I do not like lake or ocean food. If it lives in water and swims I do not eat it. (I am sure it would all be good but I have texture issues.) My husband is a fan of all of these food so the festival goer he is. The last time we did the Crawfish festival he had Gator on a stick. MMmmmm sounds delightful, and to everyone's surprise he said it tasted just like......You got it chicken. Well we had a good time, the weather was perfect in the 80s with a breeze. The kids had a blast and my husband ate 2 pounds of crawfish, and he even sucks the heads. As appealing as that sounds I will assure you that it was not beautiful. There was a whole family that stopped to watch my darling eat his tiny crustaceans. I think they were travelers and trying to figure out what the hell they had stumbled upon. To the best of my knowledge the south has some of the best festivals around. Georgia plays host to the Redneck Olympics in August. There is also a Grits Festival in South Carolina. And a Rattlesnake Rodeo in my home state of Alabama. There are so many more but those just are interesting. Next weekend is the Shrimp Festival in Fernandina Beach FL. It is only 30 minutes from us and we are defiantly going to that one. There is going to be a Pirate Invasion and all. Although once again I will not be eating the festival namesake, my husband will be in all of his glory. At least this one won't be a messy! Hope everyone had a good weekend!!!!!!!!!!

Wait its about my Weight!!!!

2006-04-27T12:54:00.000-02:00

Well it seems that there is a common theme this week on blogger, weight loss/gain, and children. Well I am going to talk about my weight problem, I have always battled my weight. As a child my mother had to buy me Pretty Plus sized clothes from Sears, this is the equivalent of Husky sizes for girls. I have always been the overweight one in the family and I have all of these cousins who are curvy and beautiful. I really feel self conscience when around them. I mean these girls can wear anything off the store racks. I on the other hand have to shop in the womens department and no offense to my readers but in the womens department there is nothing cute and young. Well it is starting to reach out to your younger crowd. Men really have it great, weight is really not an issue unless they are morbidly obese and not able to move. Women are constantly shunned by society for being fat and/or ugly. When I was in High School, 9th grade I weighed over 200lbs. I look back and wonder why did my mother let me get to this point? Couldn't she have done something to stop me. When I was young she was slim and always exercising. But after 2 back to back pregnancies she ballooned and now those kids are 15 nd 17 and she is coming back down and looks real good. Well my 10th grade year I became interested in boys and got me a boyfriend, first mistake he told me that my hips were wider than your average girls so I started the weight loss plan from hell. I basically starved myself I was 122 pounds and my lowest I am 5'11" and looked deathly my mom threatned me with hospitalization if I did not start eating. Slowly I gained weight I think I stuck around 160 for a couple of years until baby number 1. I gained 60 pounds with this child and I think after his birth I gained 20 more, started working it off I got to 190 and married my current husband but I have constantly had to deny myself of so many things to keep my weight down. I hated eating out because I hated eating. Then came baby number 2 only gained 30 pounds with him but I ended up gaining like 30 more after he was born and here we are 3 year later and I am still trying to get the weight to come off. I am always self conscious of the way I look and I get moody when I start thinking of my weight. I joined weight watcher almost 2 years ago and I have succeeded and failed at the weight game. I have quit and rejoined many many times. Well here I am again, I have been doing the weight watchers thing again for 9 or so months and I have lost 22 pounds now. I have 30 more that I definatly want to lose just to put me under 200. Ahhh there you all know now I am a fat ass sitting on my computer all of the time. My biggest peeve is people that say, "I don't know why I am fat, I never eat." I always want to snap back and say, "Look you did not get that way just breathing." A fellow blogger is going to try and start some sort of weight loss weigh in on Tuesdays, her name is Lori. I am really looking foward to doing this with her and hopefully I will reach my goal before the Summer is out!!

My concert experience

2006-04-26T10:26:00.000-02:00

Alright fellow bloggers I must confess, last night I went to a concert with my friend Alison!! Some of you probably have never heard of the bands but we saw, Hawthorne Heights, All American Rejects and Fall Out Boy. There were 2 other bands but I did not know their names. Each one of the 3 mentioned have had hits that are/were climbing the charts so they are fairly popular. We got tickets back in January and have been waiting for this concert, then it dawned on us, we will probably be the oldest ones there. They are not your teeny bopper bands they are like your high school punky type rock and roll. Well the time for the first act was 6:30 and this is a Tuesday night mind you. So we get there promptly at 6:30. As we pull into the parking lot we notice that there are tons of people older than us but they are escorting their children. Oh my god, we are the oldest ones that are there for the sole purpose to see the concert. So we walk with pride to the arena, decked out in our full party wear. As we are making our way to our seats, there is an older man behind us and I asked him if he brought his kids and he said yeah and that they were sitting down lower and his seat was up high in a whole different section. I would of loved to have this man as my father, take me to a concert with my friends and then sit somewhere else. Well we finally got to our seats and what the heck, the people around us have barely hit puberty, God I feel old now. There are tons of parents, I mean tons and tons. One man there had on his Pink Floyd shirt on and it looked well worn so I am figuring that was his last concert...Ha Ha. But anyway it all got me thinking, my parents never offered or even put the thought out there when I was growing up that if I wanted to go to a concert that they would escort me and my friends. I always heard how my mom went to all of these really cool concerts when I was a kid and before I was born. There were kids at this concert that were younger than my 7 year old. I guess I will just have to let him know that if he ever wants to go I am there for him, don't know if I will sit in another section or not but we will go together. The funny thing is that this row of girls behind us had to be about 14 or 15 and they knew every word to every song of every band. I do not remember having that much time on my hands at that age. But all in all we got to hear out favorites and half of the other songs we did not know and had never heard. A couple years ago Alison and I went to see Journey in concert, again some of you may know them and some may not but we were probably the youngest ones there so I wonder if someone out there blogged about us and how old it made them feel to see us at the concert?

Sending a Little Sunshine...

2006-04-24T15:15:00.000-02:00

Hello friends,
To start the day off, I woke up late, I really despise Mondays. My son was late to school, only by 10 minutes but still he was late. He woke up on the wrong side of his bed, probably had nothing to do with me freaking out for being late this morning. Got the youngest one off to Preschool and ahhhhh......time to myself. My husband has been on leave for the past week, (Military vacation) so today was his first day back, the house was completely empty!!! I need those days to recharge for what it to come later on. Although school gets out on May 19th, that only gives me 15 school days of peace and quiet. I finally talked to my friend about not watching her daughter this summer and she was totally understanding, she is going to find a summer program of some sort for her. She had already figured on doing that before I said something. So now I feel more at peace with her. I think I was getting really standoffish with her because I had that weighing on my mind everytime I saw her.
Well I finally got around to watching Brokeback Mountain this weekend. I have been wanting to see it since it first came out. I really thought that it was good, the story line and all. The tag line for the movie was Love is a Force of Nature and I really do believe that it is weather it is a normal man woman relationship or any other kind. I saw the Movie Rent a couple of weeks ago and I was totally moved by it to, I have the soundtrack downloaded and I cant get the songs out of my head. Now I have the Chronicals of Narnia to watch, I read the stories when I was in school, of course I do not remember them now. I have not had the best luck with reading the book and seeing the movie. THe book is always better. I am currently working on DaVinci Code. I really want to see the movie but my hubby and my friend read the book so they want me to finish so we can discuss. Well I hope everyones Monday got off to a better start than mine and I hope that rest of you day is good

Family Day.......Chaos Free!!!!!

2006-04-23T12:53:00.000-02:00

Well yesterday had to be one of the most relaxing days that I have spent with my kids in ages. I think that it has been due to my high stress level with my other situation. Well hubby and I took the kids to a state park in Florida to ride their bikes. We rode and rode and then went on a nature trail. I was really nice. My oldest son has taught himself to ride his bike with no training wheels and he flies. He has always been that way, I try to teach him something and then he ends up doing it by himself. Taught himself how to swim, to ride a bike, to tie, and to blow bubbles in chewing gum. When I first tried to teach him to ride his bike, we removed the training wheels because he wanted them off and I tried and tried with him, he doesnt have good balance so I did not see him learning anytime in the near future well he got on that bike on the same day I tried and he did it on his own. I was estatic, but yet sad because I did not get a chance to teach him. He is not the independant one, so I never foresaw him teaching himself anything. Now the other one is a totally different story, he is only 3 and he wanted his training wheels off on the same day. I did not do it, he is my child that is going to land me in the ER with broken stuff. Well yesterday they both had fun on their bikes and both held up with the distances traveled, they rode at least 2 miles total. It was really relaxing and they behaved so well that I did not want the day to end. Well we came home last night and decided to start filling our pool, its just one of those above ground ones that are like 3 feet deep and 15 feet wide. But hey when it is hot that booger serves it purpose. I see that all of my friends up north are not seeing the warm temps so I will try not to rub it in when I say I went out side this morning and its going to be a hot one!! The kids have already been in the half filled pool this morning!!! Well I hope everyone has a good Sunday

Thank God Its Friday!!!!!!

2006-04-21T18:07:00.000-02:00

Well the end of the week has arrived, I do not know why but it seems that this was one of the longest weeks of my life. I guess since I just got home from traveling and I have been once again baby sitting. But since the week is over I guess I am now off from my babysitting duties, it ought to be interesting to see if I get paid this week or not!!! Earlier this week we took the kids fishing and the weather was really cloudy so now luck with the fish so I believe that we are going to attempt to go over the weekend. I am ready for some much needed family time, with just my family. Though with the rising gas prices we have to find stuff to do close to home. I think we are one of the cheaper places in the US to get gas and we are sitting at 2.80 a gallon for the cheap stuff. Its getting to the point that its going to cost too much to cut the grass. Speaking of grass, we also got this contraption this week it is called a yard sweeper. There is a rotating brush that flings the leaves into a trailer you pull behind the lawnmower. Makes raking a breeze, where was this contraption while the husband was at sea????

I currently have 6 screaming children in the house all under the age of 8, my son has friends over and the younger ones are getting out of hand!!! Pray for me....LOL

Just Stuff!!!!!!!!!

2006-04-19T16:26:00.000-02:00

Today's blog requires no thinking at all it is just for your entertainment. Lately I have been rambling on and on about my problems and I need a break from them. I saw this story about this fish on MSN today and I thought I would tell you all about it. This fish is called a humuhumunukunukuapuaa, doesn't even look like a real word does it? This used to be the state fish of Hawaii and I guess they are trying to reclaim his title as the state fish again. I am thinking that maybe he lost the title because people didn't want to say that long name. My friend was stationed in Hawaii and I did not realize that they only have 12 letters in their alphabet, 5 vowels and 7 constanents!!!

As for all of you celebrity watchers out there, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had thier baby, yesterday and so did Brooke Shields. I think it is so ironic that both of thier children were born on the same day and Tom Cruise sure did have alot to say about Brooke in that interview last summer when her book about Post Partum Depression came out. That is Karma for him I guess, although for all of you mothers out there just wait until good old Katie Holmes gets depressed and Tom cant handle her either.

Hope to have something a little more interesting for you tomorrow!!!

Hmmmmm...How should this one be handled??

2006-04-18T18:00:00.000-02:00

Sometimes I feel like all I do is Dear Abby myself on this blog but I guess that is what it is here for. Ahhh...yet another dilemma in my life, only this one is really insignificant compared to the other problems that I have had and the other problems in the world!!! Today My friend "A" and I went to tea. You see this is the 3 year anniversary of our trip to England and we try and make it a point to find somewhere to have tea on our "anniversary" I know it is kind of goofy but it is the only thing that only she and I can do and say that we have done together in England. (Yes readers this is the same friend that I have talked about in other posts.) Well we go to the tea shop, such a quaint little place and my friend goes to park and it has moved since I was there last 5 years ago, but she knew where it was, she told me that she had parked there one day and saw the sign, then I said where is the entrance she told me where it was, I said have you been here and she told me that she and some girls from work had been in there to look around. Then I said you ate here before didnt you? And she said well yeah, I was like why couldnt you just tell me this from the get go. We got quite and you could tell that we had just entered a tense situation. I was not bothered that she had been there, what bothered me that there were basically 3 lies that led to the truth. I am hurt that she felt that she had to lie to me, why not just tell me that you had been to the freaking place before. I don't know what is going on but I really think that the friendship is losing its footing. What is it going to be built upon now, lies and deciet? If anything I am happy for her that she is getting out and doing these things and that I am not always the one that does them with her. Yes as friends you need space and I am totally understanding of that. I heard a topic on a talk show one time about guys and when they should break their friendship with another guy and the top reason was petty lying. I wonder if that should apply to women too. I really am convinced that now I am just the babysitter that she used to have a lot in common with, one day she will need me again for friendship and the only thing I can do is be here for her.

Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things. ~Author Unknown

Home At Last!!!!!!

2006-04-17T16:40:00.000-02:00

I think this trip for the last week and a couple of days has been one of the most draining things I have ever done. After the husbands graduation on Friday from Career Counselor school we jetted, 13 hours to Alabama, to visit both our immediate families. Whew...we were only there 2 nights and then we headed home arriving at 1 am this morning. I am sick and tired of the car and I do not think I have ever been so happy to come home to my own house and sleep in my own bed. Although today there is laundry to do and bills to pay. I have to get back in the groove of things. My oldest son is going to be home from school soon and I have not seen him since the Thursday before last. He has been with his biological father for Spring Break. It is so hard to share him now that we live closer to his dad. When we were stationed in Connecticut he only saw him every couple of months and now it is an every weekend thing.
Oh yeah and for all my readers I got to see my brother since he had his accident. My poor 15 year old brother stuck in a wheelchair with a broken leg and broken arm. They just did cast his arm, 10 days after the surgery, they had to wait for the stitches and staples to come out. As for his foot he is still in a boot thing and he is in it for another 6 weeks then they have to go in and remove a screw. All in all he has 2 plates in the arm, 6 screws each, 1 in the leg and 3 additional screws....for a whopping total of 21 screws, wonder if they are flat head or phillips....HA HA.
Well today is tax day and I leave you with this cute poem thing that was emailed to me by my friend in Al.

Tax his cow, tax his goat;

Tax his pants, tax his coat.

Tax his crop, tax his work;

Tax his ties, tax his shirt.

Tax his chew, tax his smoke;

Teach him taxing is no joke.

Tax his tractor, tax his mule;

Tell him, "Taxing is the rule."

Tax his oil, tax his gas;

Tax his notes, tax his cash.

Tax him good and let him know

That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers, tax him more;

Tax him 'til he's good and sore.

Tax his coffin, tax his grave,

Tax the sod 'neath which he's laid.

Put these words upon his tomb:"Taxes drove him to his doom."

After he's gone, we won't relax;

We'll still collect inheritance tax.

Chaos is Calm......for now

2006-04-13T14:04:00.000-02:00

All is calm now at the Casa de Chaos! I am over yesterdays rant and rave. I think also the fact that we are leaving here tomorrow is helping me push through, even though I wanted to get the car and go home yesterday. I was tempted!! Anyway we are leaving after his graduation tomorrow and making our way to Alabama to see family, his and mine. I was not really keen on making the 12 hr trip there and then a 6 hr trip home on Sunday but it satisfys their needs to see us for a while and the pressure to come home will be off for a while. That means that we will be busy at home for the next couple of weeks. I am putting my husband to work on some much needed jobs since he has not been home in a while.

So on to something else, I saw on the news yesterday that Brittany Spears baby fell out of his high chair. Not that I am a Brittany fan or anything. This poor girl she has had horrible luck with being a mother and it making it to the press. I really am starting to feel really bad for her, yeah I know that she has not made the best choices and such in the last couple of years but could you even imagine what it would be like to have your parenting skills constatly criticized by the tabloid and news. Just think everyone baby has fallen at sometime or another but at the time you felt horrible enough just because it happened, just imagine that and then having the local news make a mockery of you. What she does with her kid is her own thing and its not right. Just like her driving with her son on her lap a while back, yes that was uncalled for but I am guilty of taking my kids out of their seats on long trips for bottles, diaper changes, and messes. I have never driven with them I am the passenger when these occurances have happened. I think that the paparazzi has become out of hand. It is to the point where theses stars, who other than being stars are normal people, have no privacy in their lives. If I were that famous I would have to keep my children in hiding just so I didnt screw them up later in life. Like Micheal Jackson, he kept his kids faces covered in public, yeah that is a little extreme but no one knows who they are now do they.

Well it will be a couple of days until I post again, since tomorrow we are saying goodbye to this "house of Pain" I will be back in action Monday.

WARNING: I am about to vent

2006-04-12T15:29:00.000-02:00

Ok here it is Day 5 in the hotel, heck its not even a real hotel, it is a glorified Military Barracks room. Thank God it has a private bath. Let's see, I think I have really lost my freaking mind at this point in time. I have a 3 year old who is not entertained at all by television, I can't stand sitting in a room and we have no vehicle unless I get up at 6am to take the husband to work! Ok so I am bored out of my mind. There is no playground, no pool, no anything, I can't dial out on the room phone and my cell phone is dead and the charger got smashed in the car door 2 days ago. I feel like I have joined, Survivor: Military Wife. I am sick of eating out, I am sick of riding around in the car looking for something to do. I have no adult to talk to when my husband is not around and when he is he is telling me something from his school, that I do not even understand or have the patience to learn about. Well today put the icing on the cake, he called and said I will be to the room in 40 minutes, be ready and my class is getting together at the bowling alley for a lunch thing. So I am like Ok this sounds great, let me get us ready and all so my son and I are ready and waiting, and waiting, and waiting. The 40 minutes plus 40 more goes by and here comes the husband, in such a hurry then he proceeds to tell me that everyone is not going but he still wants to go and get the lunch deal. To me it sounds like we are tagalongs and that is fine, my son is pumped up to go bowling. On our way to the car he says, "Whats wrong?" I said nothing, I am just bored. He tells me that now I know how he has felt for the past 3 weeks, I dont know what it was but it set me off. I told him, that I was here because he wanted me here and then he tells me to rent a car and go home. Instead of taking the argument any farther, I just say I am going back to the room and you take the son and go bowling. A couple weeks ago when we were talking about me coming up I said just what exactly will I do up there and he said the same thing you do at home, sit around and do nothing. Now anyone that knows me, knows I am not a sitter and a nothing doer. He just laughed and said you know I am kidding but for some reason this has just sat in the back of my mind and it has been picking away at my nerves for the last 2 weeks. I now feel like that is what I do sit around and do nothing but I would rather be doing nothing in the comfort of my own home than in some barracks room 10 hours from home.

This trip has had it good times and yet it has had it bad times, there is some tension between my husband and I. I think it is becuase I now have to wait on him for everything whereas he waited on me before. But I chased him away today and I am sitting the the room doing exactly what he says I do best NOTHING

A Unique Dining Experience

2006-04-11T12:09:00.000-02:00

Have you ever notice how when people are on vacation they always come back and tell you about all of the good places they ate at and all of the good things they ate. I guess us as American's we love to eat!!! Well my husband and I had the ultimate dining experience last night. We ventured to this place called The Grate Steak. This was a cook your own steak restaurant. I was telling someone else about this and they said, "If you have to cook it yourself, then why even go out to eat, just stay at home." It the ambiance and experience that made it great. Well you start out by choosing the type of steak that you want and the size, then you go to the salad bar, which was excellent. Then they bring a hunk of raw steak to your table and when you are ready to cook you make your way to the grill room where you prepare your steak over live charcoal. At the grill they have things to put on your steak, like butter, season salt, pepper, garlic, montreal steak seasoning. So you basically have at it and create your own masterpiece. You can take your drinks with you and socialize with the other people cooking, so it is a total interactive dining experience. They also have baked potatoes for you to put on the grill, they are already cooked but you finish them, and then you can make your own texas toast on the grill too. The whole time you are left to do what ever you want and your waitress will come and check on you every so often to see if you need anything. Then when your steak is done, you can take your potato to the potato bar, and make your way to the table. I really enjoyed this and it was right up my husbands alley, he is an avid griller and this was just the experience for him. My son on the other hand, ate fries. That is it, he is just a pickey little thing, I guess he just doesnt know what he missed.

As for this hotel experience, there is absolutly nothing to do, we bought the son a scooter to play on since there is no playground in walking distance. I think I will take him to the track in a bit and let him ride around, and I have to do the laundry too. Hey I thought this was a vacation, but I still have to do the clothes. Thank god I have a laptop and some internet to help me keep my sanity.

Till tommorrow my friends.

A visit to Williamsburg

2006-04-09T10:29:00.000-02:00

Well we decided to go to Williamsburg, Virginia yesterday. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. We made it to the Williamsburg Visitor's Center, I figured we would get the information we needed and see some places of interest. The ladies at the desk we very helpful, telling us about the bus tour for $34 a person or the free walking tour. So we found out that we could walk a 1/4 mile to see one of our Nations most historic cities. So we decided that the walking tour was going to be the choice for us, it did not allow us into the exhibits but there were not so many of them and the closed at 5pm and it was already 3pm so if we did pay we would not get our moneys worth anyway. But we could walk and see the town and then there was shopping. Well we started out the door and it started to rain. So we had a jacket, an umbrella, and we bought my son a poncho. And off we were to the historic town. Muddy and wet we made it, it was really neat to think I was in a place so much history had taken place. We kept walking to the town center where all of the shops were to stay out of the rain. What is this we see, cars and parking lots. The ladies at the desk failed to tell us that we could drive into the city, and park for a nominal fee. We could have skipped the rainy walk there and back. But I always say a Memory was made on this trip, we will never forget our trek to Williamsburg in the rain and our trek back. My son did really well, never asked to be picked up once. We did get to see the drum and fife corp, that was part of the paid tour but some how we were in the right place at the right time. I hate how commercialized America's history has become. I know that they need money to help keep up the places but why so much? Well I wonder what we will do today? It is not supposed to rain but it is real cold and windy. I am thinking something indoors...

Blogging from Virginia!!!!!

2006-04-08T10:59:00.000-02:00

Well I made it to Norfolk, Va on Thursday night and after returning the rental car and getting dinner it was basically time to head to my hubbys room and sleep. I had just driven 10 hours and I really needed out of the car. My son peed his pants in his sleep and my friends daughter threw up somewhere around North Carolina/South Carolina state line. Oh yeah, on my last hour of the trip I got a speeding ticket from a wonderful Virgina State Trooper in a beautiful unmarked car. I was going 70 in a 55. I will admit I was doing it and I was just ready to get out of the car. Well I had my friends daughter with me I had brought her up here to drop her off to her dad. This is where he is stationed at and I ended up watching her Friday morning while he had to work. But he actually asked me "How much do I owe you for watching her" Do you know how long it has been since I have heard those beautiful words?? He asked me if her mother ever compensates for me watching her too. I just said NO COMMENT and looked away. I think he got the jist of it. So yesterday I had these 2 kids in a little room and these 2 love to be outside more than anything. My oldest stayed with his biological father for the spring break week, but he is the one that would be content in the hotel room as long as there is a TV. So I told the kids after I got a shower I would take them for a walk and find a playground. After all I have no car at all, hubby took it to school today. So we leave for the walk, I ask the lady at the front desk if there is a playground anywhere nearby and she just looks at me like my head has been chopped off, of course there isn't after all this is a Navy base with 3 gyms and like 4 McDonalds but no playground. So I just figure a nature walk will have to do, or so I thought. We walked out of the doors and the heavens opened on us. Rain.....now I have to take them back to the room. TV doesn't entertain these 2 children so they ended up playing on the balcony for the next hour before the husband came back and we went to lunch. Tried to find a McDonalds with a playplace, no luck there either. After giving the girl back to her dad the day cleared up and we went to the Zoo and it was a real nice zoo, we wore our son out with walking and then we walked the mall he was ready to go to the room when we got back!!! Today we are heading to Williamsburg but there is more rain in the forecast so we will have to find something indoors!!! Wish me luck. Next week I will take the husband to work just so I have a vehicle to do something with my son. I am a woman on a mission, finding a playground!!!

Whew...I am glad that is over....Now what

2006-04-04T22:42:00.000-02:00

Well my littlest one made it through his surgery today just fine. He had tubes put back in and his adenoids taken out, although it was like nothing at all happened to him. After the surgery they commented on how he was the most pleasant child that they ever had coming out of anesthesia. They sent us to an med/surg room for 4 hours of observation and he never cried once. He was still a little loopy from the drugs when we left. As he was getting out of the car at home and stumbling around the driveway he kept insisting that he ride his tricycle. I could not allow it for fear of an accident. Over the course of the rest of the day he never once complained of pain or discomfort, he requested potato chips and a grilled cheese and ate both. It really amazes me how resilient children are. Next it is me and a MRV for my Pseudotumor, I talked about this in earlier posts! It is a MRI with dye injected in me. Then it will be a tonsilectomy for the older one upon the end of the school year.
I am heading to Virginia on Thursday so my post will be far and few in between for a couple of days, just be patient and keep checking. I so love my readers and their comments. As for all of those that read my post yesterday about my friend and me watching her daughter, I did not watch her today or am I tomorrow. It is a much needed break and I am looking foward to it. I am still contemplating a way to tell her and a time to tell her with out any hard feelings. And I agree with Lori, if my friend gets mad then I really do not need that either. Well I hope everyone had a good day today and I will try to write tomorrow.

An Update & A Dilemma...Help Me Fellow Bloggers

2006-04-03T12:58:00.000-02:00

Well the husband left on Sunday and due to timing constraints his "needs" were never fulfilled. I thought he was a little mad at first but I think he really realized that I just might have had a point there. We got something accomplished while he was at home, we put mulch in the front flower beds so I think I can close the book on Front Yard Beautification. It is something that I have been wanting to do for a while but with him gone he has the truck with him, and I can only carry so many bags of mulch in the back of my Focus.
Well my baby boy goes for his adenoidectomy and tubes tomorrow, I am a little nervous, the tubes are a breeze there is no pain factor there, but the other think I going to be a little painful, not like getting your tonsils removed pain but maybe worse than a sore throat pain. I am prepared with stocks of jello, popsicles, and ice cream sandwiches. I will probably gain a few pounds during his recoup time!!!! He should be back 100% by next Monday. We are going to leave on Thursday to go to Virginia to visit the hubby for the week of spring break. So see for all of you that felt bad for him, his needs will probably be attended to!!! I am taking my friends 4 year old daughter with me, her father is stationed in VA so since I am going to be in the area I volunteered to take her with me to save her a trip. My best friend and her daughter moved down here, almost 6 months ago, upon her leaving her husband of 5 years, my husband and I took them in until she found a place to live and a job. They were with us from the end of Oct to the beginning of January. The have moved to their own place now. We knew them from being stationed in Connecticut, she, Mimi, and I all lived in the same building along with some other families. Well anyway so our family went from 4 to 6 overnight and it wore thin quick on my husband but I promised to be here for her for anything that she needed. I think of her like a sister, and boy oh boy do we fight like siblings too. I have now watched her daughter for almost 6 months everyday after Pre-K. I pick her up, take care of her and feed her dinner from time to time. Much I feel goes unappreciated, although I would love to feel a little more appreciated then I am, in the end it really is not worth it to me. I also get paid on occasion to do this for her, now here is the dilemma I am having. I do n0t want to spend all summer watching her, I do not mind doing it a couple of days a week but I will be going from 3 hours a day to 8 hours a day and I think that is going to become a little wearing on my family. Plus my husband is the type that just likes to pick up and go do something out of the blue and with someone elses kid everyday we will not have that freedom. I just do not know how to go about telling her this, as I know it will probably cause alot of friction between us. Plus I feel that by me watching her all of the time, my friendship with her mother has slowly deteriorated into a friendship merely of convienence. I am just always available when she needs me and I feel really guilty on the afternoon when I say put her in after Pre K care because I have things I have to tend to. But then the realization came to me that when I need child care I have to pay for it and sometimes it is really hard for me to find. I have talked to people about this and they all tell me I need to talk to her about it and that it has gone on far too long something needs to be done and done soon before I am not a friend anymore. But how do you go about telling someone that you can not watch their child, especially when that person is your bestfriend. You think that you would be able to tell your best friend anything without her getting mad at you or you getting mad at her. Our friendship is truly explosive but I love her still!

But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine. ~Thomas Jefferson

Husband is home for a visit & other things

2006-04-01T11:39:00.000-02:00

Well my hubby has come home from school this weekend just to visit us. My 3 year old goes for surgery on Tuesday and I think that he wanted to see him before the surgery. (he is getting the adenoids removed and tubes put back in) Well the hubby gets home at 10 pm last night, the kids have waited up to see him and such and I am happy that he is home but I have a whole lot on my mind (I will go into detail on that later). Well now he is mad at me because the first thing I did NOT want was sex when he came home. Sure it has been 12 days since I saw him last but there are more important things than just that. I want to see him to spend time with him, but yet it pisses me off that I do not think that he thinks the same way. Why does it have to be sex first and time later? I guess because he is male. So I laid in bed and talked to him, something that we have not been able to do to much of the last 2 weeks. Sure I have talked to him on the phone, but I have not talked to him a whole lot because I hate the phone. UGH!!!! MEN.....Can't live with 'em, can live without 'em.
Well on to the subject that was clouding my mind yesterday, my mom called and they were rushing my 15 year old brother to the hospital for a prossibly broken leg and arm. He jumped off the bleachers at school and fell and I guess landed really wrong. I finally got a hold of my mom and she told me that he had broken his ankle and his arm and that they were prepping him for surgery. He ended up with pins and plates in his arm and leg. He is going to be in a wheelchair for the next 8 weeks. But my moral dilemma was my husband was on his way home and I really felt I needed to make the trip to Alabama to be there for my family, as you see nothing this serious has ever happened to any of them. But I stayed here since I realized that there was nothing I could do for them other than take my kids and get in the way, and the boys seeing their father was far more important.

For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness. ~Author Unknown

The Stone Baby....What!?

2006-03-30T19:23:00.000-02:00

I am one for watching medical shows, my husband cant stand them and he does not understand why I can be entertained off of someone's problems or defects. I think that is why I want to be a nurse. I am truly interested in helping people and witnessing these problems and anomolities. The other night I started watching this show about a woman who was basically pregnant for 47 years. It happened somewhere in the middle east, but she had gone to the hospital while pregnant because she was having pains. After her arrival she witnessed another lady screaming for her life and she fled the hospital only to carry this etopic fetus inside of her for the next 47 years. The referred to it as the "quiet baby", she finally returned to the hospital recently to have it removed. Of course now she is a little frail old woman. The doctors went in and surgically removed this baby that had grown into her organs and such. After 47 years it had calcified into basically a rock baby. Can you even imagine carrying that thing around with you for that long. I mean 9 months is really pushing it, but 47 years, she must have really been scared to go to that hospital. Although they said that it was good that she had not went to the hospital in the 50's bacause she probably would have died in surgery because of things that were not known or done then. Boy oh boy I am sure that they will look back at us in 50 years and say the same thing. Medicine is constantly changing.
Anyway I just thought that story was interesting, and I really did not have anything else to write about today, I promise to all of my readers I will do better tomorrow.

I've been neglecting my blog :-(

2006-03-28T18:13:00.000-02:00

I have just noticed how long it has been since I last posted. I am a horrible blogger! Things have been really hectic around here, especially with the hubby gone. I have not had a lot of me time. I had intended to post last night after the kids went to bed but I fell asleep on the sofa shortly after they did. This weekend was relativley calm, until Sunday night. My eldest son was with his dad this weekend and came home not feeling well. He woke up Monday with a sore throat, yup strep again!!!!! What am I going to do with these kids. This is the 3rd documented case for him in 5 weeks. We know the pediatrician and staff on a first name basis. The youngest one was in there last week for yet another ear infection. He is getting tubes put back in his ears next Tuesday and I am trying to get the older one through to the end of the school year so we do not miss anymore days than we need too, they are going to take his tonsils! Sometimes I get the feeling that I can't win or come out ahead. I know that it is not all about me and the health of my children is number one. What kills me is the people that do not take care of their kids and they never get hurt or sick, then you have the protective parents that are always in a battle of some sorts. The other day at the park I watched a woman arrive with her 2 children, they were 4 and barely 2. Once the arrive the mother did not pay them anymore attention. The youngest one took off and I could not help but watch this child wander. She had went so far to the point my husband could not stand it anymore. So I got the lady's attention and told her that they baby had wandered almost to the woods and she said, "That's alright." I was in awe that this woman did not care where her child had gone, I mean sometimes she was not in view, it scared me to think that this child could be abducted and how long would it be before the mother realized. Within minutes the child wandered back over to the play area and then to her mother to hand her a stick then she was off again this time to the bleachers at the baseball field. This little child had climbed to the top and teetered and then layed across the top one and still the mother was not looking. How do people do this and not have a conscience, just let your kids run around unsupervised with a ton of people around. Maybe she figured that she was invincible, I am sure that nothing will ever happen to her kids just becuase that seems to be the way it always happens

A child is a curly dimpled lunatic. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Yearly Re-evaulation of My Life

2006-03-24T02:40:00.000-02:00

Today was a rainy dreary day, so I had a lot of time to think, mostly about my accomplishments. So here is goes, here we are creeping up on the end of the school year and it is going to be 9 years that I have been out of school. Wow, time sure does fly when you are having fun. If you would have asked me 9 years ago, where I thought I would be now, this is not what I pictured. There was so much that I wanted to do upon graduation, and sometimes I feel regretful that I never did those things. I had all intentions on taking a year and traveling, especially to Europe, I had it all planned out! Then I was going to start College, at a real University, not the community college. (Now I am not knocking the community college). And I did not see children or marriage in the near future. I was going to live life and sow my oats. Lets see what did I do instead, a Trip to Disney, I guess I saw Europe at Epcot!!!! Then I took night classes at the local community college, and then I ended up pregnant. Whoa, everything I did not see myself doing had now been done. I was 19 and a mom, a college drop-out, and a pharmacy technician at Wal-Mart. I did the Wal-Mart thing for almost 3 years, then I married a man in the military, (knew him from high school, and no hes not the eldests ones father). But by marrying him, I moved away, and started to live life with him. After the second child I went back to school, I am not stable enough to go full time so I do go part time and it has become an ongoing joke with me and my friends and family that I am a professional student. I decided after the second one was born that I wanted to be a nurse when I grow up. I am actually excited to finish school, but it is just taking so long. Tonight I told my friend that I had been out of school for 9 years and had not accomplished a whole hell of alot, she then reminded me that I had.
I am a mother with 2 wonderful children
I am a wife, with an awesome husband
I am a student, trying to get through with the many obstacles that life has handed me
I have been to Europe, Mexico, and to the Carribean
I am a good person, I have more friends now then when I was in school
I did accomplish alot and things that I did not see myself accomplishing, thank you Alison for showing me that.
I would not now or ever change any of my life experiences, even though many have been obstacles, they have merely made the journey a little more meaningful.

My green thumb always turns black!!

2006-03-22T13:32:00.000-02:00

Well I am telling you all, it is absolutly been beautiful here in GA. Yesterday it was 86 and I was in such a good mood. I decided to plant flowers yesterday and I planted a bunch. I went to the local Wal-Mart and found some pretty hardy plants ( I have a tendency to forget to water). My 3 year old and I planted away. I figure since the hubby is gone at school, I need to keep occupied. Speaking of him, yesterday in Va it was 36, and sleeting. Here I am in this 86 degree weather, it is amazing what 500 miles will do for you!!! But back to the flowers, I have attempted in the past to start seeds and stuff inside and they end up sprouting, molding then dying. My dream is to be a wonderful gardner, every year at my grandparents house they make it look like a tropical oasis, I guess maybe I am setting my standards too high, after all they are in their 70s and I have many years of perfection ahead of me. I would also like a garden, I think that it would be awesome to have veggies readily available. Every year I do a tomato plant or two, but that is for the hubby once again. I don't like tomatoes. He tells me stories about his Mamaw and how she had a garden every year and how they would all come together and pick potatoes and then that night they would have fresh potatoes. That sounds so nice. Maybe that was because that was when times were simpler and there was no hustle and bustle. This was the family that would can everything from beans and tomatoes to jams and jellies and the whole family would get some. My mother in law still cans from time to time and she will send us some muscadine jelly or tomatoes. Maybe I live in the wrong era, I really would like to lead a simple life with a gianormous farm and some chickens or something. I am always kidding my hubby telling him we need a goat or some chickens on our measly little half acre. He is always making fun of me about killing plants and tells me that we'd starve on a farm. I am really not that bad. That is what I will do when he retires, I will move back to the country and live my dream! I will have my huge farm and show him!!!

My husband left again!!!!!

2006-03-20T17:23:00.000-02:00

Well once again, the needs of the US Navy, come before the needs of MY family. My husband has been sent to school in Norfolk VA. Its not as bad as when he goes out to sea, at least I get to talk to him daily. I just hate the fact that he has been home for 3 weeks and now he is off again. It is sort of hard for our 3 year old to understand. My hubby is going to a Command Career Counselor school, basicaly his job will now be to help steer these guys in the right direction of their career. This is a huge thing for him, and he will have more respect than before. Plus a nice $100+ raise every month. The money is going to be real nice. I am sure in his head he has already spent it too. Well we had to get him already for his trip and he has to get his uniforms together and he notices the night before he leaves that the pants he needs Monday morning, there is a huge hole in the ass of them. UGH! Now this mean I have got to either sew or we've got to buy and hem the pants on Sunday morning before he leaves. (The pants come unfinished at the bottom and really really long) He has to be on the road by 1pm and he also said he would fix my neighbors sink. So up by 8am, fixing the sink, then off to the base to get the pants, thank god my grandmother was here to hem them. We got him on the road right at 1pm! Whew...men!! And they think that women have issues!!!!
He is going to be gone for a month this time, so I am sure that I will have stories of my part-time single mom, journies!!!

I need a Motrin and a Nap!!!!!

2006-03-18T22:58:00.000-02:00

Well I partied like an Irish animal last night. I drank my fair share of green beer. Boy oh Boy!!! Went out around 8:30, had my designated driver drop us off (it was nice to have one), and the fun began. Have you ever noticed that when you go out the best conversations and best drama takes place in the bathroom. I swear I went in to pee after about 5 beers and I do not think I emerged until 20 minutes later and I think I had 4 new friends and you better believe that everytime I saw them the rest of the night it was like I had known them all of my life. And somehow everytime I made another trip to the bathroom, there these people were. I met some really interesting people, one lady was hiding out from her hubby, he was jealous that some man had bought his wife a beer, but I look at it as it was a free drink, right!!! Then there was this other chick, and she was leaving her husband but she just had found out that she might have cervical cancer, so she wanted me to hold her hand for a second. It is funny how you become these peoples best friend in just a matter of minutes, and they just want to spill their guts and tell you their life story. Drunk people are fun, and funny at the same time. There was one dude and he was beyond drunk I cant believe that he could even function, he was dancing all by himself and he looked messed up. And I being the crazy one I am made it out there to dance with him, I then drug my friend Alison out there and pawned her off on him. At the end of the evening I fell, I always do it is sort of like my going out tradition, I am a cheap and sloppy drunk. And I swore that I would not fall this time but it happened anyway. We got home around 3:30 am, and I had to spend the day with my visiting family in St. Augustine, and let me tell you, I felt like crap, I looked like crap. I was bloated, and tired. But I stuck it out and I am ready to go to bed now, at 8pm on a Saturday night, is that pathetic or what?! But apparently I met a girl in the bathroom and she invited me to a party tonight, and she even called me today to make sure that I was coming to the party. She must be delerious, I am not party material anymore. I have 2 kids and a house to clean.....jeez where are her priorities....ha ha ha.....ahhhh to be young and free again.
I do not know if I have mentioned Alison, she lived in Connecticut by me and then left her husband when the got stationed in Va and she moved to Georgia. Well she has been really lonely and really has had a hard time finding a date. She has had 2 quick unsucessful relationships since she got here in October. I am stuck trying to find her a guy, we sort of set her up with a guy off of my husbands boat and he was not interested in her and I think that really put her down last night. He really would not make eye contact or converstation with her. He told someone else at our table that he was not interested but he was afraid that he would hurt my feelings. I really did not really forsee that the whole set up would work but we tried and she is not his type. She hasnt divorced yet, she is still in the process and I told her that she needs to take time for her self before she settles into another relationship. She just lets her emotions get the best of her and when she gets down in the dumps, she is down for a while. I keep telling her that she needs to find a man on her own but it is kind of hard when she doesnt go anywhere or do anything. I am married and the single scene is really not for me. But yet I hate to see her sad, what is a good friend to do?

The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live - Elbert Hubbard

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2006-03-17T11:18:00.000-02:00

Well first off, a nice pinch to all of my readers who are not donning their green wear today. Here is a little Irish trivia for you today, Shamrocks have been considered good-luck symbols by the Irish since early times, and shamrocks or various representations of the plant are frequently worn on Saint Patrick's Day. The hop clover is widely accepted as the original shamrock picked by Saint Patrick. The name shamrock comes from the Irish Seamrog, which means "little clover." I am so excited, tonight is the first St. Patty's day since I have been of legal drinking age that I will have the opportunity to go out. Woo Hoo. Start pouring the green beer!!! My grandmother and my mother are in town and going to watch the kids. My husband and I are going to a local hangout where we know the manager and we are meeting a bunch of the people from his boat. My hubby is leaving for Virginia on Sunday, he has a school to attend for a month but it will also come with a pay increase once he has completed so this event of going out is coming at the right time.
I feel that I have really slacked on my blog since he has been home and I hope to be in full swing again soon. I have attempted to post a couple of times and then erased everything I wrote, I felt it was silly or that I was just looking for something to write about. I guess that this blog is sort of like that too.

Happiness is where we find it, but rarely where we seek it - J. Petit Senn

Spring Fever

2006-03-12T12:39:00.000-02:00

It has been so incredibly warm here in Georgia, I guess it is supposed to be this time of year. We have had some awesomely beautiful days the past week. The temps this weekend are in the 80's. I am really enjoying the weather. I lived in Connecticut for the past 3 springs, and spring isn't normal there, I have seen snow as late as April. In matter of fact the picture shown here, I took in England in 2003, after escaping snow just 3 days before in CT. It was freezing cold in CT and balmy hot in London. Anyway, isnt this picture beautiful it is one of my favorites, I took it right by Buckingham Palace. My best friend, Alison and I decided we needed a "mom's" vacation and decided that London was the place to do it. We crammed everything into 1 week and had some awesome experiences to write home about!!!
Anyway yesterday I was outside with the kids, I couldn't take being in the house anymore, it was too pretty!!! But I noticed that all of the bugs were coming out of hiding. I do not care for bugs, we get these huge Palmetto Bugs here, they look like overgrown 3 inch long roaches. They are disguesting and scary at the same time. I can deal with almost anything but them. The problem you see it they occasionally make it in the house and they know how to fly. I have a Palm tree in the front yard and everyone says that is where they come from, hence the name Palmetto. Well last night I had my first of the season, he crawled across the living room floor, I got smart though, I wasnt going to battle him with your normal shoe, or magazine. I took a minute collected myself before the little booger took flight, I got the vaccuum and sucked him up. I then placed it in the garage. I felt that was more humane than smashing his guts on the wall and having to clean it up. It was mess free!!! I think I will call an exterminator, I hate these things and they are my only "bug" that I see here. I guess the fact it looks like one of those cockroaches they eat on survivor and fear factor just freaks me out. We get lizards and frogs but the kids handle them. Or the cats if they get to them first. I found a lizard carcass one day and it was just a body with some teeth marks, no legs, no tail. My cat was the culprit, I guess now that the lizards have reemerged I can cut back on buying cat food...Ha Ha

Till tommorrow, I am going to enjoy the day today

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous - Aristotle

The Poker Table

2006-03-09T18:19:00.000-02:00

Well my husband is trying to become a master craftsman. The key word here is trying. Earlier this week he started his latest project, a poker table. Now he has built these in the past for other people, but nothing like he is attempting for himself. His mother works for a company that deals with some nice wood so on a recent trip to Alabama we returned with some really nice and expensive oak board. I was like, "Alright what are you going to do with them now." He replied, "Make myself an really nice Poker table." Now this means A there is eventually going to be a poker game taking place at my home, and B that this is going to cost us for more materials!! Well he started on Sunday, and I have lost touch with him since then, I believe he has moved into the garage and just naps here in the house. Its been really quiet in here to top it all off. Well this table has some real intricate details and I am fully supporting him. Yesterday he called me on my cell to tell me that he needed 1 more board and it was going to cost $10. Alright, everything is going smoothly at this point. He is in such a good mood. Well he finishes all 8 chip/drink holders and decides to mock them up in the house, that is when in all went down hill. My husband cut the angles incorrectly on $200.00 worth of wood, now thank god that we only paid 10 for the one board but he was furious. He wanted to burn it all and never have a poker table. Now you see, I kept telling him for 2 hours their has got to be some way to fix this, after all I am enjoying you in the garage. No he insists, he is pissed!! After much deliberation, he does it, comes up with a plan, only to cost more money. Why is it when a man starts a project 9 out of 10 times it will fail and then cost more to fix it then the whole thing cost in the first place? But then again, my husband has been sucessful in building small things and he should not have expected perfection in the first big major thing that he has tried. But then again when this hobby is over there will be another much costlier one right behind it. Men get too hyped on new things and then get too burned out too quickly on them. God help me!!!

Energy and persistence conquer all things - Benjamin Franklin

The Wal Mart Experience

2006-03-09T00:14:00.000-02:00

When you are in the store with your kids and they are acting up have you ever taken the time to listen to the other parents around you? Today while in wal-mart, my darling little ones were being a little unruly. As I passed down every aisle I noticed that I had to keep telling them to be quiet and act right. Then the thought occured, what a horrible mother to keep constantly telling your children to act right, are they really being that bad? I then went into sort of a daze as I continued my shopping, I tuned out my own kids and then I honed in on other parents and their children. Alas, I am not ALONE!!! I heard more and more parents spitting out their own petty threats and comments about their own children. Usually I am so focused on what my kids are doing that I never hear the other ones. I wonder, is there a single parent out there that actually has an enjoyable shopping experience, with their kid everytime they step into a store. Not it my Wal-Mart today, I do not think there was a parent enjoying their time in the store. When I lived in Connecticut, the grocery store Big Y had a good thing going, child care while you shopped now, that must have been a seriously annoyed mothers idea. Wal-Mart should do the same, they would make a killing.

Here is my thought for today, I read it on a sign:
Be Content with What you Have but never with who you are!!!
Its a good one isnt it!!!
But what does it really mean for you personally? Take a moment and think about it, I know I have spent a lot of time pondering!!!!

Till tomorrow

The Monster Truck Jam!!!

2006-03-04T12:53:00.000-02:00

I know that I have been promising everyone pictures from the Monster Truck Jam. Well here is a good one of Grave Digger. This is my 3 year old's favorite truck. That is all you hear about. We had a real good time, they did this thing where you could take a ride in a Monster Truck so we waited 2.5 hours to do it and the kids were so happy. All in all it was well worth the wait!! They did the show in the stadium where the Jacksonville Jaguars play and it was packed out, This is like the olympic event of the south!!!! It was like the Opening Ceremonies or something. Well to start there were 12 trucks and by the end of the freestyle event I think only 2 were drivable, it was hardcore. The crowd went wild when the trucks almost flipped and when they finally did flip, oh my god it was the greatest thing. It was amazing how the kids actually were into this the whole time, there was NEVER a loss of intrest. I am really looking forward to next year. The times we have been to see them in Rhode Island were nothing like this, they had the space here to get CRAZY!!!!! After seeing it here RI was like a Joke. Plus it was outdoors here so it was not as loud.

Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday!!

2006-03-02T19:27:00.000-02:00

Well my son came home from school today and informed me that today was Dr. Seuss' birthday. I really liked the Cat in the Hat book and I really did not mind the Mike Meyers movie version. My friends daughter had a Green Eggs & Ham breakfast at school today to celebrate the occasion. I really do not remember ever doing anything that cool. One time in Kindergarten I cut my finger with, of all things, a plastic butter knife while making applesauce. I think that they schools are way more creative now then when I was a student. But I am sure that my kids will probably look back and say the same thing. Kids, they sure do grow up fast, my oldest son is 7 and it is so hard to look at him as anything other then my little baby boy. It is so hard to think of the ways that they used to be, so sweet and innocent. They sure do grow up quick. My mother in law always says, "the first 2 years you spend teaching them to walk and talk, and the next 16 you are trying to teach them to sit down and shut up!" That is so true. My 3 year old is turning into such a riot though, he has a ton of personality in him. A free spirit, some may say. It is amazing how 2 children can come from the same home but be totally different. I do not thing I will have much to worry about when the oldest becomes a teenager, but I see many nights of lost sleep and calls from police with the other one, he is destined for trouble!
Well now that the husband is home, my eating habits have gone to hell, I lost 20 pounds in 2 months without him here and I have gained back 8 in the week he has been home. He brings temptation to every meal. Ugh, What am I to do??? I felt so good after my weight loss and I had and still have every intention to keep it up, but it will just be harder now with him here I guess. He is going to school in Virginia for a month so I hope to bounce back during that time. Keep your fingers crossed. Well I will post monster truck pictures and tell you all about it in the next post. But we had an awesome time!!!!

Curling, Taxes and Monster Trucks!!! What a Combo!!

2006-02-24T13:48:00.000-02:00

So a couple of weeks ago I filed our federal return and it was a glorious moment. We did get back a nice piece of the "pie". Although we live high on the hog all year and pay off our debts at tax time there usually isnt much left when the money comes in. Well I just figured our state taxes and we OWE!!! What how can this be? I guess beings we claim Alabama as our state of residence (military), we make too much for them and they want more of our money. But when I think of the people in good ol Bama, I realize that we are rollin in the money compared to them so we are the upper class. Wow for the first time in my life that has happened. Its just a shame that I cant be there to enjoy it or if I were there I would just be piss poor.
Well I just watched the last Curling match of the 2006 Olympics for the USA and we did it we brought home the Bronze medal. Woohoo!!!!!! Lets hear it for the boys....it was one hell of a Bonspiel!! The man in the center of the picture is the Skip, or captain of the team, Pete Fenson. I have followed this sport so deeply that I feel as if it has become my life sometimes, it was truly addictive. Now that it will not be on anymore I will have to wait 4 more years and probably see a new team at that point.
Well tomorrow we are off to Monster Truck Jam, what a day it will be, they do it at the stadium where the Jacksonville Jaguars play. It is supposed to rain so the field will be extra muddy, we are all looking foward to it. We have been the last 3 years in Providence RI and it was indoors and very loud so I am looking foward to this year. My youngest son Avery is so pumped up about it, that is all I have heard for the last week. And my eldest who hated it in the past is really looking foward to it this year. I will possibly put some pictures up on Sunday, if I remember the camera!!

Olympic Curling and Other Random Thoughts!!

2006-02-22T11:14:00.000-02:00

I must admit, I have become an Olympic Curling junkie. I have watched Curling everyday that it has been on since the Olympics have started. I have even got my 3 year old hooked. I am starting to think he understands it a little more than I do. For those of you that haven't seen it, we are in the semifinals for a medal, the mens team at least. There is something so addictive about 4 men, brooms, a bullseye, and a 42 pound granite curling stone. As I have watched many of the sports, I often question myself, "Who was the first person to think that one up." Some of these things you have to be obviously insane to even think of attempting. Lets see for instance, who wants to lay on a sled and travel, 80 miles an hour down a icy track? Or who, in their right mind thought it was cool to ski off a ramp and "fly" to only land abrubtly at the bottom of a hill. To top it all off is the free style aerials, lets see I want to jump a ramp and see how many flips and turns I can do before landing on 2 thin skis. What are some of these people thinking, they all deserve medals for what they are even attempting!!! GO TEAM USA!!!

He's Home....Yippee!!!!

2006-02-21T21:36:00.000-02:00

Well after many delays yesterday he finally came home. My family exisits in it entirety once again. It has been really nice in just the 24 hours that he has been here. The kids are acting really good and they were so happy to see him. We battled wind and sand gnats for 4 hours to wait for that freaking submarine to pull in. I always feel weird when he first comes home because I am not used to having a man in the house and here one is and he is sleeping in my bed!!! Whoa! Its a lot to take in and get readjusted to, but I manage just fine. This weekend we are going to monster truck jam, that is my youngest ones favorite thing, he passion. The older one could care less what we end up doing. It will be nice too because I have another neuro-opthamology appointment on Thurs and he is going to be able to go with me. I have to go back to that crazy place I mentioned a few posts ago. Hopefully my experience will be a little tamer than before. I am just glad that he is going to get to go with me, I needed him so much throughout all of this but now I am truly greatful that he is coming with me. As the weeks go by I am sure I will have more to say because the "honeymoon" period will soon come to an end and life will be back to its old usual self. I wish that it could stay just the way it is though. I really enjoy the newness

My good news!!!

2006-02-19T17:23:00.000-02:00

Well my darling husband is coming home tomorrow, yeah!!! I am so happy. Now I can go crawl under a rock and hibernate while he takes care of the kids, yeah right!! We are all excited for his return, it has been a really rough patrol, between my eye problems, my sick father in law, and now my boys both have ENT issues. My oldest has strep for the 5 time in 6 months, not good!! He never got it before we lived here and now it has been nonstop. I am sure they will be taking his tonsils out. My little one had tubes put in his ears 2 years ago and they have come out but now he still has fluid in his ears. After a month of heavy duty antihistamines and antibiotics the problem still existis so now they want to put tubes back in because he is at an important speech developmental stage and we do not want anymore delay than what we have already experienced. Maybe I will get them done at the same time so it will be silent around here for a couple of days. As for my eyes the latest, I have a new doctor a neuro-ophthamologist and he said that he is going to keep a close eye on my eyes for the next couple of months doing visual field tests and other stuff to make sure the vision is not deteroriating and that the medication is working properly. So I guess with all good there is a splash of bad.....that is what makes the spice of life!!!!!

Hello again!?

2006-02-15T17:12:00.000-02:00

I feel like I have been neglecting my blog so I have a new addition for my readers, if there are any! The past week has been a little hectic, I have had 3 doctors appointments in the last 5 days all for my eyes. Ophthalmologist says the eye looks the same, the optic nerve is still as swollen as before the spinal tap. Neurologist says I am not responding to the medicine that he put me on and the optic nerves look the same. Next step just may have to be eye surgery...ewww scary! Well the neurologist has referred me out to yet another doctor a neuro-opthamologist, now isnt that a mouthfull. Basically my other 2 doctors combined in one brain. Well today was the appointment, I got there right at 9am, there was a 2.5 hour wait to see the technician and then another hour to see the actual doctor. I spent 3.5 hours in a doctors office I would like to refer to as the pit of the freaking earth. I saw more old people then a field day at a nursing home, I listened to some old man talk about smoking pot. I saw a lady with a hump on her back that looked like a full backpack. Apparently because it is a teaching hospital they have a clinic where people can get their care real cheap. To top it all of I saw a man from the prision being escorted in leg chains and handcuffs. There was also another prisoner in a wheelchair chained up too. Like where is he going to go!!! Well all in all the visit was great, the doctor told me that I have to let the meds work for about 6 months and that he was going to test my visual field for the next 6 months and monitor any changes so I guess I am in the clear for right now!!! Yippeeee

My trip home!!!

2006-02-08T16:00:00.000-02:00

Well I am back from my trip to Alabama, the father in law is doing well. That is great, he got out of the hospital the day we left. I don't know what it is about hospitals but I think that they are really cool. I think that is why it must be my calling. To think that one place carries out all of the journies of life, birth, repair, and death. I think that they science of medicine is incredible. Well while at home I got my hair cut and colored by my most favorite hair dresser in the whole world,(love ya Tammy). She is awesome, she can cut hair like there is no tomorrow. While stationed in Connecticut the only time I got my hair cut was when we came home on leave and she was at the top of my list of things to do. My hair dresser is awesome, she came to my mothers house and did everything. I like to think if it as my own private spa experience. I was well over due for a new doo. Its something about self beautification that just makes your life a little easier for a while. Kind of like my friend Mimi and the new shoes, those little things in life make such a big difference. I took my friend Alison and her daughter home to Alabama with me, she is so cool to travel with we have so much fun. I wish she could have been my sister, heck maybe she was in a past life. Well while in Alabama, I showed her my old redneck stomping ground!!! And my little brother taught he to shoot her first gun, a 22. I think that really made her trip. I like to say we redneckafied her, maybe she has always had it buried down deep inside of her. Heck maybe everyone has a little redneck in them. What is a redneck you may ask, well my definition is a person who knows how to have a good time and not worry about what anyone else thinks, does, or says about it. That sounds good now doesnt it. Now there are different degrees of the redneck but we just wont go there, too much drama!!! Like I have said before I am proud of my roots, even know I was a transplant from the north to the south. I grew up having the best time at everything I did, and I have so many memories, good, bad and crazy. Well we got home on Sunday and I got a letter from my hubby on Monday so it has been a decent week so far. The kids are always driving me nuts, whats new!!! But my husband should be home relativly soon so I am excited and trying to get through everyday, that is just one less than I will have to do tomorrow.

Reflections on my husband

2006-02-03T14:20:00.000-02:00

Well I will not be posting over the weekend, it seems I have to go out of town. My father in law is in the hospital for some blood clots and I really need to take the kids to see him. He is not on his death bed or anything, I just need to go. For the past 2 years his health has been deteriorating. He was diagnosed with COPD in the summer of 2004. He has always been an asthmatic but it is worse now than ever. Then in the Fall of 2004 he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. He did radiation and chemo and sometimes it was touch and go with him. So no when he gets sick we make it a poing to get the kids to see him. You never know. My dear hubby is out to sea still, this is not serious enough to bring him home. In 2000 his older sister died in a car accident and he was pulled off the boat for that during patrol. I think in the back of his mind he is waiting for it to happen again. I have really never had to deal with death, knock on wood! My husbands father is the same age as my grandparents and I just couldnt imagine them going. I mean I know one day the inevidable will happen but I dont want to accept that right now.
Also, I got an email from my husband today, it made my day a little brighter. He said he missed us, when he is out to sea he sort of gets all philosophical on us and re evauluates his role in life. That is when we mean so much to him and he expresses it. Not that we have any problems at home but I have a hard time with emotions and when he writes the way he feels about me and the kids it is easier for me rather than him tell me every day for the rest of my life. I guess it means more to hear it every once in a while rather than everyday. Is that crazy. Maybe I need some therapy. My husband is my balance in life. I am high strung and he is laid back and he knows how to handle me whereas most people do not. I think he understands me more than anyone. I guess that is why I love him too. Have a good weekend everyone

GIRL POWER

2006-02-02T18:37:00.000-02:00

Ok so I have been racking my brain all day thinking "what can I write about" Nothing was coming to me. Well this afternoon I decided to start raking the back yard, I then found my story. Beings that I am a Navy wife, being a single mother comes along with the job title. I am only a single mom part of the year but it still sucks. I end up being the husband and the wife all rolled into one person. Now I do not want everyone thinking that I depend on my husband for everything. I can do just about all of the things that he does and some of them I do better. I was brought up in a family with a independent mother, I also had my mom-mom and my Aunt Carol as role models and they showed me that women can do anything with out the help of a man. I feel bad sometimes because I do not let my husband have the chance to do things because I get to them first. So far since the freaking submarine has taken over our lives once again this fall I have managed to hang Christmas lights on the house and get on the roof to do it. I have also sat on the roof and tried to coax my stupid cat out of the tree, which ended up being a neighborhood rescue. Thank God they are all friendly here. I have raked my back yard not once but twice and burned all of the leaves. I have taken the vaccuum apart and fixed the switch. The list goes on and on, and I still had time to be a mother and do the chores like laundry, fix lunches, doctors appointments, and so on. It scares me though that I am bringing up my boys to see a woman that can do all of these things, will they come to expect it from future women in their lives. I mean I guess I could include them in the chores and work and teach them but it is usually easier for me to do it then have a lot of help. Also being a Navy wife you are more than likely not living near family. So therefore when the kids act up or I am tired and need a break, I have no one to turn to and they have nowhere to go!! These kids are getting to me and I still have a couple of weeks alone left! So therefore I bury myself in odds and ends around the house where I know that they will leave me alone. But that doesnt seem to work either. I am only human and my nerves are only so short!!! But at the end of the day I love these children and wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

My Pseudotumor...the continuation!!!

2006-02-02T01:37:00.000-02:00

Well I ended up going to the neurologist for what I thought was just a consult to set up the spinal tap....Little did I know what was in store for me. Upon my arrival they escorted me to the exam room which had a table, a sheet, and a "beautiful" hospital gown just for me. I said are you doing the tap today and they were like yeah that is what your opthamologist ordered. I was like oh now, I am so not prepared for this. My other doctor told me that the procedure was simple and that I might get a headache and that I would need someone to drive me home afterwards. Well the Neurologist insisted that I would not get the headache and that I would be able to take care of myself. So I called my friend and told her what was going on and my wishes if I were to die, I know I am a drama princess......Well the doctor started the procedure, I was like are you going to numb me and he said no. I was like you have got to be joking, your joking right? Well he wasnt and I had to endure some of the most excruciating pain of my life. It felt like the he was turning me inside out and pulling it all through that little friggin hole in my back. I screamed and hollered at him and then I said stop. They did not reach the fluid yet, oh god what was I going to do. He stopped and told me that I was going to have to go to a hospital in Jacksonville to have the procedure done under fluroscope. It is sort of like a live, real time x-ray. Well a week later I go in for the procedure, scared still from the pain of the last attempt. The nurse asked me what was wrong and I told her what had happened at the Neurologist's office and she could not believe what he had done and she assured me that they would numb me up real good. I went back for the procedure and I did not feel a thing, I even watched them with the needle on the screen and never felt anything. Thank God for Lidocaine!!! My spinal fluid pressure was high, well borderline high. They drained off some to lower it. All of my test came back normal. But as long as the fluid is high, it will put pressure on my brain, like a tumor, only there is no tumor, hence the name pseudotumor!!!!! I am now on diuretics to pull the fluid off, and the side effects are numb hands, and sensitivity to carbonated drinks. Well I have both!!! It didn't kill me, it only made me stronger in the end. I have to go back to the eye doctor next week so find out if the nerves have gone down. So wish me luck. And there you have it the story of my Pseudotumor!!

My Pseudotumor!!!! Sounds Scary but wait

2006-02-01T13:05:00.000-02:00

Well on December 18th, 2005, I woke up and my eye was red, painful and my lid was nice a swollen. My hubby had duty that day and a friend took my kids to a Christmas Party, so I decided that a trip to the ER was on my agenda that day. Now I rarely get sick (knock on wood), but I have had issues with my eyes in the past so I thought what the heck. Well in the ER I was bumped ahead of puking kids and sick adults, I felt a bid wierd but they told me that anything with the eye is serious. Well I saw the doctor and he said I had a corneal ulcer, probably from my contacts and that I needed some drops and to see an opthamologist. Well by the time I got out of there every pharmacy was closed so I figured that I would just get the meds filled the next day. Well I woke up the next morning and of course the eye hurt and it looked worse. So I called the Opthamologist and I needed a referral to see them and I called my doc and they wanted to see me. I flipped and told them, what if I go blind? Within 30 minutes the doctor called me and said that my referral was done and that I needed to be at the opthamologists office by noon. I got to the opthamologist's office and after an extensive exam she comfirmed that it was an ulcer and that I was going to have to be on antibiotic eye drops and oral antibiotics for quite a while. She then told me that my optic nerves were swollen and that she was going to send me for a MRI. I was floored, I had never had anything done like that, what was going on. I was so in shock that I did not ask any questions, well I had to go back the next day for a check up and she told me to get some blood work done and I finally asked what is going on. Well apparently if you have a tumor in your brain it will cause your nerves to swell. Well the next day I had the MRI and it came back clear but my thought were like what if I die, I have two small boys and I want them to know me. Or what if I go blind what will my last pictures be? There were tons of what ifs and tons of tears shed. But I stopped and thought thank God its wasnt a tumor. Well I was diagnosed with a Pseudotumor (False tumor), or also known as Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension. My eye doctor then told me that she wanted to send me to a neurologist for a spinal tap. That another cause of the problem could be high pressure of my spinal fluid. I would need the tap to get the opening pressure and then they would drain off fluid if it was high until it was a little lower. They would also test this fluid for different diseases and other things. Well It was like 2 weeks before the tap and I got to enjoy Christmas but I was still a little down. I hate needles and I just had recurring thoughts of the needle going into my back. My husband was here for the MRI but he was going out to sea for the tap. He was worried and so was I. Thank God for email. I have to go now but I will continue with the tap story in a bit!!!!!!!!!