Oddity of Oddities

This Blog.

2010-04-02T20:28:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone!

Long time, no type :D

I need to do some explaining here, but first I will start with an apology.

Life happens. It gets in the way of things that we may or may not have our hearts set on. Blogging has never been a passion of mine, truly. My passions lie elsewhere; a blog is a time-filler, a friend-maker, a typing tutor even... but not my passion the way I know it is for some.

In light of this, it's difficult to continue something that is not your passion when the interest wanes. This blog is, unfortunately, a victim of this. I find myself less and less interested in putting my thoughts online, and more and more guilty that I have not spoken to my dearest companion, my diary Self, for months now. Because Self is obviously myself, she knows everything that goes on in my life... but like you feel guilty when you haven't spoken to your mother for a few days, I feel bad about not writing to her.

Are you catching my drift or did you leave your boat docked somewhere else?

Now, let me go further with this.

Passions are unending. Interests vary. To keep an interest in something, it needs (for me at least) to be easily accessible, readily stimulating, and something that I am not nagged about on a daily basis.

At this moment, this blog is none of these.

While I wonder often about the lives of the people I've met here, I don't often have the gumption to go through all the steps necessary to read these peoples' posts and blogs. I have two emails. One of them is my older one, at Yahoo, and the other is new and much more mature, at Gmail. My lovely lappy has everything I need bookmarked for me, but to get to this blog, I have to log out of one, log into another, post, then log out again.

Call me lazy, but at 7:30 am, waiting for Andrew to finish PT, and only a few hours before I have to go smile and ask people if I can help them, that's just too many steps. Okay, fine. -I- will call me lazy, lol, because I am and I admit it.

I better bring this to a conclusion, huh?

I am going to be deleting this blog. I'm making a new one, with no promise to keep it regularly, on my email helen.adami@gmail.com so that when I log in, I am fully logged in and can come right on over, post, and go on my merry way.

The obligatory information:

helen.adami@gmail.com

Oddity of Oddities (of course)

http://oneoddcookie.blogspot.com

Monday Mingle! Again!

2010-03-08T15:25:00.003-06:00

Mondays might end up being the only day I get myself on this thing and blog at you.

Well... vlog, I should say.

The questions this week over on EightyMPHMom.com are:

1. Do your kids have chores? Do you pay them to do chores?

2. Were you in Girl Scouts/Brownies or Boy Scouts? Are your kids? Favorite Girl Scout Cookie?

3. Does your family go camping? If so, do you have a funny/interesting experience?

Ta-da!

Look... I told you I was frazzled! That's why I think it's actually a year ago! Do forgive the slip-up. Blame the bird!

Monday Mingle- Vloggy!

2010-02-28T23:43:00.004-06:00

Today is Monday! That means, I get to Mingle!

Okay, so... at the moment, no, it's not Monday... it will be in about 30 minutes, but not yet.

So because Andrew is asleep, I'm not going to vlog yet. I'm going to set up this post to vlog tomorrow. See, look how ingenuous I am at midnight! I should stay up more often.

If you've never done a Mingle, but you really wanna, go to Eightymphmom.com and check out Speedy and her Mr. Linky for lots of Mingling Mavens and their answers.

It's now 9:53 am, on Monday, March 1, 2010, and I am back! I have my Mingle ready and rarin' to go for you, so take a look!

This week's questions were:
1. Do you like to garden? What are your favorite flowers?
2. Faves: Coke or Pepsi? Milk Chocolate or Dark Chocolate? Coffee or Tea?
3. What nationality(s) are you? Or what is the primary one?
4. Do you watch the Winter Olympics? What is your favorite sport?

Friday Recap... on Sunday.

2010-02-28T12:45:00.000-06:00

Is today Sunday?

I haven't the foggiest idea.

This weekend has FLOWN by, faster than most weekends do... I chalk it up to all the time I'm spending with Teresa these days, though. I'm glad we're hanging out... in a few months, I'm going to need her just as much as she needs me now, because by then BOTH of our hubbies will be gone.

So...

Um. I can't actually remember what happened on individual days this week. I worked Tuesday and Thursday, and on Friday, we went out to eat at Olive Garden for lunch with her friend Haley, who is just sweet, and then had coffee and spent too much money and just enjoyed ourselves.

Wednesday was mom's birthday...

And... yup, that's about it. Besides dishes and laundry, and making travel plans and getting ready for Amy's wedding and Allison's baby shower.

Very exciting, huh? Maybe that's why I didn't bother updating on Friday, lol.

Tomorrow! Tomorrow is the Monday Mingle! Tomorrow is also get stuff done day at the house, and grocery shopping XP I hate grocery shopping...

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Birthday Mom!

2010-02-24T07:59:00.003-06:00

I wish I had my mom's baby picture for you, because she was a chunky monkey back in the day.

In lieu of this, I will give you our family: one shot of the three of us from 1989, my first birthday, and one shot of the three of us from 2008, my wedding :)

Oracle, Arizona... May 5, 1989

Tucson, Arizona... October 11, 2008

Mama, you are beautiful!

Gorgeous then, gorgeous now.

I love you.

Happy Birthday.

The Best Chicken Dish I Make :D

2010-02-23T08:15:00.000-06:00

Okay, so yesterday on the Monday Mingle, I talked about the most asked for recipe in this house. I mentioned the entire thing to Andrew, and that we were having chicken for dinner.

His face dropped when I told him I wasn't able to make the chicken potato bake for the third time this week.

So, as requested by the lovely and talented Stefany, here is the recipe for chicken potato bake. It's so easy, I don't really use the measurements any more, but I'll give them anyway.

4 bone-in chicken pieces **Edit: I use boneless, skinless chicken breast and as many as I need for however many people I'm feeding that night, lol

1 1/2 lbs potatoes, cut into thin wedges **I can't seem to get my wedges down pat, so I cut my potatoes into chunks, wedges, slices, scallops... whatever! And about 2 big potatoes is plenty for 4 chicken breasts, unless you really like them, then maybe 2 and a half.

1/2 cup zesty Italian dressing **I stopped measuring this ages ago. See further down for what I now do.

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese **Stopped with this too: keep reading!

1 tsp Italian seasoning ** see past two notations, lol

So.

Preheat your oven to 400. You need a baking dish with a lid, or lacking such, a baking dish and some foil.

Put your breasts (no, no... the CHICKEN breasts, you pervert) in the baking dish. Add enough Italian dressing to half cover them. I like to sprinkle a little cheese here, for good measure. Add your potatoe whatevers... I make the top as even as possible, then add an obscene amount of Italian dressing over the potatoes. When I say obscene, I mean on this one dish, I use about 3/4 the bottle. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A PIG LIKE ME!! Use as much, as little, or even the exact numbers, as you want. No worries :) Last but not least, sprinkle a thick coat of parmesan cheese over it all and a little Italian seasoning on that.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove cover and bake for another 30 minutes.

Dig in :D and make sure you get some of the potatoes and the sauce that they cookied in. Oh, baby, oh baby.

This recipe is so very easy. And quick, too, minus the potato cutting, which only takes me forever because I use a butter knife. I'm a wuss like that, guys. Really.

Monday Mingle- Vloggy!

2010-02-22T13:35:00.003-06:00

So today is Monday! That means, Monday Mingle as promised in a vlog! I had to do it quickly (yes, 7 minutes IS quickly for me) because my goober wants to watch a few movies with me today <3

I should have mentioned that Andrew is also a gamer, but he (and I) game in a lot of ways. Video, roleplay, board, etc... we do all of it and it's a lot of fun, but you're right, Alexes, they do get in the way A LOT.

So, here it is, and good luck, lol!

The questions were:

1. Name your 5 favorite movies

2. What is the most requested/favorite meal in your house?

3. Is your husband/partner/significant other into sports? If so, does it irritate you when he/she watches, or do you join in?

I would like to apologize for the quality. I do this on my webcam and for something reason, it records sounds a lot slower than it records actions. I dunno how to fix this, and any tips would be appreciated. Very sorry :(

Three days a week and the Recap

2010-02-19T12:19:00.000-06:00

Okay... so I've decided to switch around my whole vlogging ideals. It's never going to be a Friday again, lol: I have too much to say.

I've also come to a theory, just this second... I wonder if I can blog/vlog on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and get away with it?

Monday Mingle, with a few Mumbles....Vlog n' Blog!

Wordless Wednesdays, that always ends up being not so Wordless.

And the Friday Recap, which tends to be long and boring.

I could do that. Could you do that? Like, I mean... could you read that much or that little every week and still like coming to my blog, assuming that you actually do like coming now...

It's a thought. And you'd get a lot more that way. I might even be able to do a lovely amount of photography for Wednesdays. I need to get you a picture of 13 1/2 St. is what I need to do...

So let's get on with the Friday recap as I contemplate this whole thrice a week thing.

Monday... nothing special. Tried to make lasagna, forgot to take out the hamburger to thaw.
Tuesday, I worked. Got mad at Andrew because he was grouchy about taking me to work at 9 am, even though I wake up all the time to take him at 4. Laundry was done while I was gone, and the floor was vacuumed, and the dishes done. I think he felt bad. Tried to make lasagna. Had no ricotta cheese. Camp deployed for Afghanistan and Teresa spent the first of many lonely nights alone, poor girl.
Wednesday... nothing special. Played Sims. Drank orange juice. Ignored the laundry on the couch. Tried to make lasagna. Had no noodles. At this point, I was peeved.
Thursday, I worked. Ignored the laundry on the couch. Bought groceries at the commisary and REMEMBERED THE CHEESE, NOODLES, AND HAMBURGER! We ate frozen microwave dinners.

Today:

I AM MAKING THAT DANGED LASAGNA!!!!

So frickin' there.

I'm planning on taking some to Teresa, along with some brownies, because she needs it. I don't know how well she'll take seeing Andrew, so I might leave him home.

Now, let me tell you about this here:

The Incredible Mrs. B is having a) a retro cooking month, and b) a give away today. I want to win this give away. It would be awesome. It's the chance to win a Fantasy Me custom digital portrait from Angelique's Art... and I would LOVE IT. I would love a lot of things, but this... this is awesome. If you dunno what a "custom digital portrait" would look like, go to Angelique's Deviant Art Gallery

If you'll excuse me, I need to go Tweet and follow and follow some more so I can win :)

I leave you with this:

Mattison and Masen, my Ducky and my Moose-moose <3

Masen

2010-02-15T22:07:00.000-06:00

Hello, beautiful little boy!

I love you already and I haven't even touched you yet :)

Masen Gabriel Adami

February 13, 2010 9:24 PM Tucson Arizona

8 lbs, 3 oz 21 inches long

Looks like his daddy <3

His first outfit!

This is him and Megan's oldest sister, Articia.

He looks like a miniature Matt!

Superbowl and the Sims: A Tragedy

2010-02-07T12:49:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had something... a book, a game, a story to write, something... that made it virtually impossible to leave your house? Or, if you were younger, your bedroom?

I have. It happens often, actually. When I was living at home, it was usually a story that had to be written, or a book that needed to be finished.

Once we moved out and had our own place, it was chores that I needed to get done (or avoid somehow) added on top of that.

Then it became a game, then a book again, then a chat site (IMVU) and now, I can see it turning into Sims 3.

Andrew, bless his gooberish little heart, couldn't take the suspense any longer and gave me my Valentine early:

SIMS 3!!!!

I am tickled pink, I couldn't stop kissing him yesterday, and it took all my willpower to let him play it for right now, because I adore that game. I love the Sims in all shapes and forms, in all it's llama-obsessed glory!

I build empires on that game, dang it. EMPIRES. The last time I had a Sim game, I had close to 6 generations of Adamis and my own family graveyard.

So... if you don't see or hear from me for a few days, you know where I am.

Also... Superbowl party today. Yay. I AM NOT PLEASED NOR EXCITED BECAUSE THE COWBOYS ARE NOT PLAYING!!!

If they were... totally different story.

But they're NOT. Gr.

And yet... I will be going to watch whoever it is that beat whoever and the Cowboys to get to the Superbowl... and that means I will spend another 4 or 5 hours not playing my Sims.

Today is sadness embodied.

Friday Recap, vlog style!

2010-02-05T08:15:00.002-06:00

If you are not interested in a nearly 5 minute video of me talking about nothing, skip it, lol. I'll do a text recap of the video of the Friday Recap at the bottom of this post for your sanity.

zqqqqqqqqq2 <<<<<<< that's the kitty's way of saying hello, by the way. She wants breakfast and she won't leave me alone til she gets it.

So, in the video I talked about Easter decorations that would give a child nightmares, and to be honest with you, -I- had a night mare again last night, although it didn't include those nasty rabbits. Those things are awful, though.

I talked about Amy's wedding, which I am SO excited for! It's a) a reason to go home b) a reason to go shopping c) a reason to see Amy and d) a reason to go to the Renaissance Festival! There is NO reason not to be excited! Plus, Masen will be here by then, so I'll get to have some snuggly wuggly time with my nephew who, by then, will not look like an alien!

I mentioned the Super Bowl XXVVISTOPPEDCOUNTING and I guess it was the Longhorns that did all that proposing stuff, but I'll go with the Colts for Morgan's sake, lol.

And Kahlan attacked my 15 of fame, so I gave her a few seconds.

Tell the Truth Thursday

2010-02-04T07:17:00.000-06:00

So I'm starting something new this week in an effort to pull myself out of whatever little world I usually sit in and onto this blog a little more. Let's see if I can actually keep it up. I do great with Wordless Wednesdays, so we'll see.

Today is Tell the Truth Thursday!

It was started by The Redhead Riter but I got it from the charming, vloggy Alexes at One Cluttered Brain. There's a little linky-doodle thingy on The Redhead Riter's page to link up your Tell the Truth Thursday, so jump on board the bandwagon, why don'tcha?

The question today:

If you could have free, unlimited service for five years from an extremely good cook, chauffeur, housekeeper, masseuse, or personal secretary, which would you choose?

Ouch. Tough question that... so I'll do a little elimination.

A chauffeur for 5 years would be an amazing thing, simply because in 5 years time, we would have enough money saved up to buy a second car. Heck, maybe even enough to get me a car AND replace poor old Zeddy-poo. However, our system is fine for the moment, although today is gonna be a squeeze, and that second car should be showing up soon anyway because of Andrew's upcoming deployment.

An extremely good cook.... they would have to be an extremely good HEALTHY cook, otherwise 5 years on amazing fettucine alfredo and I'll look like a balloon. But I enjoy cooking, and I enjoy trying to perfect my fettucine, so this is a definite no. Plus, 5 years from now, I'll have forgotten how to cook!

Personal secretary? Nah, we don't have enough paperwork for that. We've only just started considering a credit card, our very first one, and all of my bills are right here on my lovely lappy. Definite no.

Housekeepers are another matter entirely and I'll tell you no right off the bat. No one will clean my house the way I do, not even my husband, because no one has the same emotional attachment to the space as the woman who spends her time there, who decorates it lovingly, who puts certain things in certain places to make up for vertically challenged self. Someone please read that last half to my husband again, because my flour recently went missing in the back of my cupboard and I had to climb on the counter to get it in the middle of cooking. I will clean my own house, thank you very much. Definite no.

Masseuse. Ohhhh, a masseuse... Now, here I see definite possibilities, especially since my Goober is about to be called Gimpy, he's got so many aches and pains. Long hours logged onto the computer? Get a neck and shoulder massage. A tiring day at work? Reflexology, here I come... No more aching, complaining husband? Marry me, I'm yours!!

So... the practical side of me says chauffeur. Real money saver, that one, if he's got the car and the gas. But if I'm paying for the car and the gas.... No.

Let's go with the masseuse.

Besides, I know three certified massage therapists without jobs right now =D One of which would NOT be touching my husband come hell or high water, but you get the idea.

Say it with me now, "I need a back massssaaaaaggggee...." *flops*

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-03T10:19:00.000-06:00

Yes, he is sleeping.

No, I was not fully coherent when I married him.

Happy Anniversary, guys! And someone shoot that danged groundhog....

2010-02-02T09:41:00.001-06:00

Today is Groundhogs' Day.

And the little ************* decided he wanted to see his *********** shadow.

Insert whatever cuss words you'd like in there, because I am livid.

WINTER NEEDS TO TAKE A HIKE.

I want my tan back. I feel like a ghost.

In other news, today Matt and Megan have been married for two years! Yay!! Here, have a few pics :)

Left to right: Phil, Steve, Matt, Ben, Andrew

Laundry + 7 inches of snow

2010-01-31T12:26:00.001-06:00

Today is Sunday.

Sunday is laundry day in the Adami household, because I'm too lazy to do it on Saturdays and because a certain stinky soldier has to have clean PTs for Monday morning...

Have you ever tried walking through 7 inches of snow in a broomstick skirt with a laundry basket on your hip?

It is NOT easy.

But life goes on...

Thank God for good boots!

Manic.... Thursday?

2010-01-28T07:23:00.000-06:00

Anyone remember that old song by the Bangles? Yes, I realize it's not my generation, but have you met my parents?

Please don't hate me, Mom. I happen to think of that as a very good picture of you. Ya look sassy =D

In any case, it's been playing at work. I have the tendency to sing along when a song I know comes on. I've been getting weird looks lately. Apparently, a girl that looks 17 singing along to "Manic Monday" and the one that goes, "Sittin' on the dock of the bay, watchin' the clouds roll away..." without missing a beat is kinda odd.

Me? Odd? Why, I never. *insert snooty sniffle here*

It's a Manic Thursday, though: Helen style.

"Six o' clock already, I was just in the middle of a dream
I was kissin' Craig Horner by a crystal blue Australian stream
But I can't be late cause then I guess I just won't get paid
These are the days
When you wish your bed was already made"

Oh baby, oh baby.

It's the necklace, and the man curves, and the fact that in this particular photo, he's playing Richard Rahl, who carries a sword and wears leather britches.

Necklace. Man curves. Sword. Leatherrrrr...

I know what Andrew's gonna be for Halloween.

"It's just another manic Thursday, I wish it was Sunday
Cause that's my fun day, *I don't have to run day
It's just another manic Thursday!"

Too much Starbucks.

Too, too much...

((Link for hot guy here, at least the one I found. Thanks, Mr. Ziebert =D ))

Wordless Wednesday, with a twist!

2010-01-27T06:53:00.001-06:00

Musical Chairs

Helen | MySpace Video

To clarify:

Yes, this is my wedding reception, and yes, we are playing musical chairs.
I'm in the one in the white dress. Andrew has a white shirt and a green tie. He's 'conducting'.
My mom is the one with the halter top dress and flowers, my dad has on the brown vest.
Matt is in a black shirt and white tie. Ben's in a blue shirt, Phil's in a white shirt, he's pretty obvious. Mark is recording.

=D

Matt won, btw.

Pouring snow! And other stories....

2010-01-26T10:39:00.002-06:00

Good morning!

It's Tuesday!

I work today!

That is all.

Okay, so no, it's not really, truly all. But I felt like keeping it as short as some people's entries usually are. I am not one of them. I cannot be short... except possibly in comparison to people who are over 5'5".

Today I am particularly wishing for home. I woke up feeling it, and it has yet to go away, although I have to tell you, Carrie Underwood's new song, "Temporary Home" really did some good towards it. It has absolutely nothing to do with homesickness (actually, it talks about foster care, homelessness, and death O.o) but the chorus was what got to me:

"This is our temporary home/its not where we belong/windows and rooms/that we're passin' through/this is just a stop on the way to where we're goin'/ I'm not afraid because I know/ this is our temporary home"

And... it really is. Yes, we're here for now and we need to make the best of it, but eventually we'll be back in the desert where we belong. We've decided that our goal as far as home ownership is a little piece of land outside of a small town, with room for a couple horses, a small garden, and three rambunctious children (not including cousins and friends, lol). I'm trying hard to look at Tennessee as a way to achieve those things. It's tough cookies, I'm not gonna lie... but I am trying.

In the mean time, I will enjoy the snow!

This was actually about a week or so ago, maybe a little more.

If this were rain, I would say it was pouring!!!

I apologize for the blurriness of it, but it was rather a difficult shot to take. You see, I didn't really consider my actions when I ran out for pics. I had nothing under that brown sweater... and I mean nothing! I was shaking like a chihuahua on a caffeine overdose.

And this... this might become a section. Something to rival Where the Hell is Tanner? by the lovely Mrs. B

Nah, probably not! But a cat owner can dream!

Feel free to comment on my reading habits. I was especially mortified when I noticed that the little red book next to my Palm Reading thingy was the Book of Mormon.

Happy Tuesday!

I feel like bragging.

2010-01-22T11:03:00.000-06:00

Bragging about wonderful things in my life, I have come to realize, is good for me.

So I want to tell you about my husband's recent antics and let you decide how cool it was, or wasn't.

We were in the PX (that is, for all you non-military lucky ducks out there, the post exchange, basically a gigantic everything store with food and other stuff in it) and he had just gotten his hair cut. We'd eaten lunch, and we were headed for the GameStop to see if they had a particular game he'd been looking for.

As we walked by what could be termed a candle stand, with the vendor sitting at her cart on the phone, one of the shelves on the cart gave way. Just dropped right off... and the woman's face did about the same thing. Not three seconds after it happened, my husband dear plants his jacket, the bag we have, and both sodas in my arms and begins helping the woman put the shelf back up.

It turns into an ordeal. By the end of it, he's lying on the floor on his back in the middle of the PX, banging on a shelf with his hand. Was I embarrassed? Yes, a little, because I could see his tummy hair for most of it, lol. The woman looked at us with a little bit of shock on her face, that even on a military post where I will say, most men have pretty good manners towards ladies (in public, sober), someone just dropped everything to help her. I smiled at her, held the stuff, looked at her candles and pretty much just let him go.

Because that's how Andrew works. When he sees something that needs to be fixed, when he sees someone that needs help, he will. Right then. No questions asked, no bargains made, no time considerations. He just helps. At one point, she said it was fine and we didn't have to fix it and I shook my head and smiled and said, "Oh no, he's got it in him now. He won't leave til he's happy with it."

I love that about him.

I'm done now :)

Long time, no see: what Powhatan said before he punched John Smith in the face.

2010-01-16T15:37:00.002-06:00

I've been at my computer for the last few days, berating and babbling in turn about not posting something, anything, even a lousy picture here for too long.

Hello, friends. I have returned.

I'm going to tell you a few things about the state of my house right now, and then explain them... because that's what's on my mind, and this is my blog, for bean's sake.

There are cat toys everywhere. Not just cat toys... bits of cardboard from her scratching post, cat food that she likes to take to other places to eat, litter in the hallway from her stinky little paws, and strategically placed cat hairs. Strategically as in, they lie in wait on your cheek until you finally, finally go to lay down for a nap... and then, they POUNCE! Right up the nose, because that was the plan all along. All you cat owners: I'm not imagining this, am I? It's true... right?

A pile of clean clothes awaits me in the bedroom, calling my name, telling me how lazy I am. I have to keep resisting the urge to flip it off, given that a) I don't usually flip anyone or anything the bird and b) it's not actually sentient. But I can hear the moans... all the way in the living room, where I'm sitting a a three day old pair of pajama pants and a nighty I was pretty sure I washed, but still has bits of something on the hip...

Andrew's battle gear in the den is sitting up and flirting with the vacuum. It looks quite gentlemanly, at least as much as a modern suit of armor can look with the camouflaged crotch cover poking out of the bottom and the name tag half off. The vacuum thinks he's dashing and debonair, however... and if I find some little, dirty green Hoovers in there, I am going to be mighty peeved.

We have a new bookshelf! It's one of those dandy, 5 shelf editions, much more versatile than the little square three-shelves-if-you-count-the-top thing we moved into the den to hold Andrew's gaming thingamajiggers. I have filled the new one up already, with stuff and books and more books and a wee bit more stuff, too. Picture is forthcoming. Maybe. Possibly. Don't hold your breath.

There's more. Oh there is more. Like the Christmas presents on the couch and my rearranged kitchen thanks to Andrew dear... and the mound of blankets on the bed because I slept in...

Oh never mind.

I'm gonna go take a bath. With bubbles. And maybe even a candle.

Have a good night :D

My 2010 resolution.

2010-01-03T10:58:00.000-06:00

This year, I'm going to be cracking the whip on myself. I have a lot of goals to accomplish, and for all of them, I need to be more disciplined in one very large area of my life.

Money.

Yes, I know. Don't cringe, I'm cringing enough for three people.

Pretty much, I've decided that every extra penny is going to be put into savings. Bills will be paid, and we will get a certain amount each month for fun, and that's it. No more. No less.

We reached our limit for this month already by a long shot. Since the 31st, we have spent over $200. Only some of it was food for both of us. Some of it was a game for Andrew's birthday, some was a bookshelf that was on sale and I couldn't pass up. And the rest? I honestly don't remember. It's that bad.

So, no Starbucks or Border's cafe for me today. No lunch at the food court. Nothing, Nada. Zip. Zilch.

I'm also starting a new cleaning schedule for myself. Mondays will be dishes and laundry. Tuesdays, I clean the bathroom. Wednesdays, it's dusting and vaccuming. Thursdays, more dishes and a good clean of the kitchen. Friday will be the general pick everything up day, and the weekends, I take a break, lol.

Let's see how this goes, shall we? Wish me luck. I'm craving Starbucks like you wouldn't believe.

Big families mean more posts about them, right?

2010-01-01T08:55:00.000-06:00

So, here at Oddity of Oddities (like it's some kind of important something or other, right?) Christmas posting is still going.

Yes, I realize it's 2010. Hello, New Year. I will blog about you, soon, I swear.

Yes, I realize that Christmas was a week ago.

Yes, I understand that you may or may not be interested in my in law's playing pool and being male.

No, I don't care about any of the above realizations/understandings.

Avast, me hearties! Brothers in law on the horizon!

More later, when I don't have to work... which is very limited this week, so yay!

Christmas Pictures, again!

2009-12-30T18:45:00.001-06:00

I have literally been sitting at the computer all day long, with this tab open, telling myself I am definitely going to post, I am, I am, I am...

And now it's 6 pm. I'm finally posting.

There's not much to tell you, really, besides how much I hate flying, and how much I wish going home meant walking across the road from Meg's to our apartment.

OH and go look at that link over there! The Lantana Ranch link! That's Leslie's new business venture: organic soaps, oils, candles and more!

Here's more pics:

Ben was Santa this year.

He handed out the presents and we open them one at a time.

We're all supposed to wait and watch the next person unwrap... but Mattie's not there yet, lol.

Not my best pic... but it has my roasting pan in it!!

Steve is EVIL with tape. In this picture, he torments Phil as Phil tries to unwrap one of his monstrosities.

(Shortly after this pic was taken, Phil used his teeth)

Heya, hot stuff <3

and Megum =D

Christmas, goober style.

2009-12-27T03:20:00.001-06:00

There is so very, very much to tell you about from Christmas. More than I can put here without killing you with words. So the next few posts might be nothing but pics, although this one is gonna be wordy;

First of all, I hope everyone reading this has had a very merry, lovely Christmas. Mine has been one of the best so far. This year, everyone scrimped and scrapped to afford stuff for people, to make sure everyone got a little something, even if it was microscopic...and we all asked for very little, too, to balance things out.

This year, amidst the recession, the trials, the tribulations and heartaches, and everything else.... we got everything we wanted.

I got pajama pants, socks, undies, and some awesome "coupons" from Andrew; gift cards, candles, knick knacks, and soaps from the guys; mugs, an awesome roasting pan, more socks and more gift cards from parents and girls....

and lots of love from every single one of them.

Did I mention sunshine? I've gotten lots of that too. I think I needed that the most.

And so... some pics:

That's Benny.

Joy is the light brown one, but she's actually white. Zoe is the one to the right and Doc is the one with the blue cover.

Leslie and Chip's front porch.

One of these things is not like the other?

I actually got them to pose for a picture! Andrew, Ben, and Phil, serious:

Andrew, Ben, and Phil, not serious (and a random orange cat):

And last but not least!

Merry Christmas!

I'm dreaming of a brown Christmas, just like the ones we used to plan....

2009-12-21T08:17:00.001-06:00

I honestly don't know why I'm here right now.

I have a QUADRILLION other things to be doing, not the least of which is packing, and there's dishes, and some wrapping, and I should be looking for that missing paycheck in the drawers...

But here I am. I am... here. And I am going to tell you about two things on this morning. My mother would call it, pardon my language, "colder than a well-digger's ass in Alaska".

Yes, it probably is, Mom, aren't you glad you work at Minit Market now?

First thing:
I have a wonderful husband. These are the exact words of the card he gave me in my stocking (we opened on Saturday, my only day off til we leave):

My wife, my partner in love, my companion in pleasure, my soul's truest mate through this journey of life.

(That was the front)

You are my refuge when the day is long, my shelter when times are hard. You are the sharer of my dreams, my support when I am challenged, and my very best friend on this earth.

Yours is the face I want to grow old with, and yours are the arms I want wrapped around me at the end of each day for the rest of my life.

Merry Christmas.

"I Love You. If I was better with words I would tell you this. Andrew"

Yeah. That was my Christmas card.

I love you, too, Andrew.

Mine to him was not quite as sweet this year. It was cute, but not as sweet.

Second!

WE'RE LEAVING TOMORROW FOR ARIZONA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please excuse me for a moment. It seems I have peed my pants.

And I have yet to pack anything but a couple shirts and a pair of jeans. Now, this IS Arizona, and from the wonderful forecast I've seen... that's about all I'm gonna need. At least, according to most people here. I myself am going to need a couple hoodies and probably my fuzzy warm jacket, too, because I hate to break it to you people

FIFTY DEGREES IS STILL TOO COLD FOR MY LIZARDY SELF!!!!

Camp and Teresa are coming over tonight for the key to the apt. and their Christmas present that I bought last night because I'm a dweeb and thought I'd already gotten it and hadn't... Tonight is also the IMVU Christmas party that I'm hosting for my group. Everyone got presents, it should be lots of fun, as long as no noobs come in and spoil it. But I'm booting anyone that's not a packmate on sight... so we'll see.

And laundry. Today, I have to do laundry, so that everything I want to wear in AZ is clean, lol, because it's not right now... and shower, and shave, and wear that sexy little Santa outfit Andrew found in his stocking... O.O Did I say that out loud? Whoops.

AND I NEED TO PACK!!! I might actually go take a look-see about what I can stick in there right now.

OH OH OH OH.

Pictures! I have to take pictures! Of the ride to and from work, and the area around here, and work itself, so I can show everyone there in Tucson and Hallmark, and San Manuel.

The next time you talk to me, I'll be in Tucson. Or maybe in an airport, lol, it depends.

I'm dreaming of a brown Christmas, just like the ones we used to plan, where the cacti glisten and children listen to hear the coyotes on the sand....

I'm dreaming of a brown Christmas, with every Christmas card I write. May your days be merry and bright... and may none of your Christmases be white...

I know his name and his jacket size.

2009-12-16T09:27:00.000-06:00

This year, I talked Andrew into doing a Salvation Army Angel from the tree here in the mall. I wanted to get a baby, because they're easier... and because I wanted to buy baby clothes.

I found Jarrad.

He's age 0, as they put it, and wants a musical toy. His shoe size is 4, and he wears 18 month clothes.

I've spent the last month trying to figure out whether he's actually a little over a year... or just a huge baby.

But I know his name and I know his jacket size... and I hope that's enough to give him a good Christmas this year.

I'll be buying him two pairs of shoes, 3 shirts, 3 pants, a sweatshirt and sweatpants, and a jacket. Some socks, too, and maybe a little beanie to keep his ears warm.

And that musical toy :)

Merry Christmas, Jarrad!

Christmas Presents of the Squished Variety

2009-12-14T10:34:00.000-06:00

So this morning as I was wrapping a couple presents in my lovely penguin giftwrap, making the bows all pretty out of ribbon, trying to make sure there were no blunt edges like the good little Hallmarkian I am... I realized something.

These presents are going into luggage. With clothes. And shoes... and God only knows what else.

Why am I making them pretty???

By the way, out of the blue and utterly random as this is, my fortune cookie last night was:

"Your lost possession will be found within the month." In bed. (You ALWAYS add in bed.)

However, in or out of bed.... My bracelet can pop up any time now. Okay. Go.

No, really. Helloooooo, bracelet?

Or perhaps... perhaps something that needs to be "found" as in a second line or one less word... will pop up within the month.

Or I will have "found" out something awesome, miraculous, and very, very small...

Then again, maybe I'll just figure out where we lost Guardy's brain between here and Tucson.

My Family Needs a Little Help... eye twitches

2009-12-12T09:03:00.000-06:00

It is my sincerest opinion that they need to add more variety to their pets.

I had to improvise.

Poor bird.

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com

In other news, we went bowling last night! It was fun, and I enjoyed it, although everyone was drinking and that was really quite annoying and gross. I hate alcohol, in all forms. It makes smart people stupid, and nice people mean. It is very, very possible to have fun without it... but it's not easy to have fun when it's split in half, some drunks, and some intelligence.

We brought Eirich home with us, which I wasn't especially pleased about. He sleeps on our air mattress and eats our food.... how is that anything cool or fun?

Today, we're going to a birthday part for Jen's little boys, Eric and Johnathan at around 3 or 4, and then after that, we're going to head to one of the civilian guys that works in the Armory, too, for a bbq potluck thingy. I'm going to do dishes and make Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich for brunch, and then, I'll take my camera and get some pics.

I want to show you more. I want you to meet Jen, who is beautiful and sassy. I want you to meet Stone, who's a walking stick with the prettiest brown eyes I've ever seen (and I really don't find brown eyes attractive). I want to show you Eric, and Johnny, and Jeffrey, who is adorable. I wish I could introduce you to Addison, who is an angel on earth, but she's still in the hospital, and her mom, Morgan, which is where she got the angelic-ness from, and Young, her dad that did not contribute in anyway to her angelhood, lol, because he's a felon (he rode a 4 wheeler through a cornfield that WAS NOT marked, and the owner, that doesn't live there, got mad... and we now tease him endlessly).

And I would like to give you more Andrew. Just cuz I like him so much. =D

Pioneer Woman: The Most Awaited and Glorified Part Three!

2009-12-11T09:45:00.000-06:00

I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. And then, once my head is back on, and I sit down here at my computer like the happy go lucky not about to be dinner cluck cluck that I am, I'm too tired to bother with typing more than is necessary. I sit on my Facebook with my head in my hands, and pretend to do something productive on CafeWorld.

I am just so tired.

I also have lately had heartburn from God knows where.... and gas... and I'm constipated... and I'm freaking angry at the world.

I think I might be dying of a new strain of the Swine Flu. This one is worse, though, it doesn't go after your lungs or liver or anything else that's not important. It hits your hormones and your digestive tract.

But enough about me! I must tell you about the Pioneer Woman! I left off somewhere around the awesome pasta. After that, I just wandered around the mall a little more. I had several hours left to go. I stopped in the maternity store to look at stuff there... Don't look at me that way. I have several pregnant people in my life. Megan, and Allison at work, and Teresa was... (she lost the baby again, poor dear, 5 weeks this time, but I didn't know that yet anyway) I'll tell you more about the maternity store later, when I feel more prepared to do so.

After that, I went and sat around the bookstore for a while, and waited. Waited some more. Wrote in my new planner. Waited again, and finally, I called my new-found friend Judy! Judy and I met on Facebook after commenting on the same post from Mrs. Drummond, and we struck up a friendship and agreement to meet while we were at the signing. We ended up being some of the first people to get our cookbooks signed. I was the first to give her a present :D Yes, I am gloating, thank you very much.

So, pictures!! They're all really bad. I'll save my favorite for last.

Here's the table before...everything =D

This is Judy DiSalvo. She is awesome! And so, so pretty! Oh, and me, with bad hair.

This is Tara and Renee (from left to right, I think). They were really nice to Judy's daughter and me, and then asked if we could have their books signed for them because they were in the last group. We said sure thing =D

THEE cookbook of all cookbooks and the reason Andrew hasn't starved to death yet.

I was shaking too hard to take a good picture, so I do apologize for the blurriness... and the bad angle, too. Sorry, Ree!

No, that is not a wad of tissues in my hand. I was not quite that overcome, lol, but it IS tissue paper, in which was a cute little Basset Hound keychain, in honor of Charlie <3

Betsey and Hyacinth! I can't even tell you how fashionable and put-together, and just awesome, all three women seemed to me.

Look! It says, Enjoy, Helen! <3 Ree/PW <3

I got TWO hearts in mine. The certain other person whom I bought a cookbook for and had signed only got one. I can't tell you who that is yet. She might maybe read this O.o

And I got a free t-shirt!! The small would have been tight on Mattison, so I got a medium 8)

Look at the pretty details! I love it. By the way, that's the website for Ree/PW. Right up there on the back hip of the shirt.

And last, but not least!

*drum roll please*

My favorite!

Yes, I realize it's kinda crappy. The pic-taking guy had NO idea what to do with my camera. But that's okay, we look like we're in deep conversation. That works for me =)

Ta-Da! And Yay!

And now, I'm going back to staring blankly at my Cafe before I go to work and get tired again.

Pioneer Woman: Part Two of Probably Only Three-ish...

2009-12-09T08:44:00.000-06:00

*pees herself and kicks the bucket simultaneously*

I got my cookbook signed!! I did, I did, and a second one, too, for someone else. For that matter, also a third one, lol, for a nice young woman named Renee who didn't want to wait in line and didn't really mind not meeting her/getting a t-shirt.

Oh, did I not mention that? Yes, I got a t-shirt, too. If I was allowed to wear prints at work, I'd have the sucker on me already. But I can't, and no, I'm not going to take a pic right now. My hair is NASTY.

So let me tell you allllll about yesterday, because holy beans, it was a doozy of a day.

I did my hair (which went flat somewhere around 2 pm) and got ready and posted the first part in the morning, and then left for Nashville at 11:45. It was POURING. It was miserable, and hard to see, even with my brights on, and there were a few times when I considered pulling over, but didn't. I kept my eyes on the tail lights in front of me and drove, and it was just bad. It was so bad that I was driving 55 mph on the interstate, a 70 mph zone, because of the water on the road.

I arrived in Nashville at 1:05 pm. Yeah. It took me that long. NASHVILLE IS NOT THAT FAR AWAY FROM CLARKSVILLE!!! *ahem* Scuse me, sorry.

So, first stop: bathroom. I'd had two Starbuck's frappaccino's that morning and my bladder was telling me I was an idiot. So was Meg, who I called immediately after I got there to gloat that I was in, at least in some portion of, The Country Music Capitol of the World. I stopped on my way to the bathroom because a fur coat caught my eye. It was on sale for $947. The original price was $1,5012. It was a cashmere cloak with a black fox fur trim. I wanted it. I wanted it, I wanted it, I wanted it....but I wasn't that dumb, either, so I dodged the much too persuasive saleswoman and headed to the bathroom... which was out of order.

Eventually, in Dillards, after buying this little dude at Pottery Barn because he begged me in his little chipmunk voice and said his name was Scrat the 800th, and his great times a zillion grandfather was a lovelorn, acorn-tormented sabertooth squirrel:

The mall itself was just gorgeous, decorated for the Holidays, and very clean. I loved being there. I am such a city girl now, because I tell you what... I missed a good mall...

I was talking to Meg on the phone for a while, walking around, and I saw these boots. I looked at them, realized they were supposed to be thigh high, and then I realized that for her and I, and Teresa, they would be crotch high. Her reaction was, "Yes, Helen, that's what happens when people who have no legs like us wear those." Thank you, Mimmy.

I spent a lot of time in the mall, and then after paying with two checks (I left my card here at work in my apron again), I realized I needed to cash my paycheck. So I went to every single bank along the road by the mall. None of them would do it unless I had an account with them, or the check came from them. I asked a multitude if people where the closest Bank of America was and I got about 5 different answers. Eventually, and I was on foot, btw, I just started walking in whatever direction the last person said...and I was pissed. Yes, I cussed. I was pissed because the Bank of America, two hours of walking in circles later, was visible from the mall. Not the sign, mind you, but the back end of it. I could have screamed.

I think I might have.

Did I mention the rain? It was, you know. Raining, I mean, pretty hard and I could see my breath, it was that cold. But I was walking too much, and too danged livid about it all, to feel it. Do you remember those boots I bought a while back? The ones I adored that cost too much? These:

They saved my life. My feet were warm and dry, which is more than I can say for my pant legs by the end of it. I might have had trench foot O.o If you don't know what that is, Google the pics. NOT pretty.

So, after hours of shopping... and no Panda Express...but an awesome restaurant named after Charlotte and Emily Bronte and I had a pasta with chicken and cheese and spinach... It was awesome.

More in the next post....actual pictures!

The Pioneer Woman: Part One of God Only Knows How Many

2009-12-08T11:41:00.000-06:00

I am leaving for Nashville.

And I'm about to wet my pants. Yes, I realize that her signing isn't until like... 7 pm. But I'm unfamiliar with the entire area, more unfamiliar even than I was when we first moved to Tucson. Tucson... was like the attic no one ever goes in. It's there, you know it, you've been there a few times, but you never really explore it until you turn it into a bedroom! Nashville... is more like that creepy scary house down the street. You've passed by it, maybe seen the outside...but it's completely foreign on the inside, and the ghosts think your nuts for getting lost.

Now add freezing temperatures and a ridiculous amount of water falling from the sky, and you've got my present adventure.

Plus, I want to check out a mall that isn't a bunch of crap. You know, with two stories. And a Macy's. And probably a Subway, or a Panda Express. Holy Jesus....I didn't even consider.... THEY MIGHT HAVE A PANDA EXPRESS!!!!! Hello, you beautiful spring rolls, hello hello hello!! And I know for that fact that they have a Carrabas :D Paaaaaaassssttttaaaaaaaaaa.......

So, I need Matt's gift, Phil's gift, and another portion for Steve.

Dad's hat is at the PX, so that's easy.

Wish me luck, and dryness, and...well, yeah, more dryness.

Lumpia is happiness in eggroll form.

2009-12-05T08:29:00.000-06:00

I'm sitting here, ready for work for the most part, with lumpia (awesome Philippino eggroll thingies) in the oven for breakfast, and I don't know what to tell you.

I don't think I have anything.

I suppose I could tell you that I must be the worst housewife on the planet, given that there's two loads of laundry from last week sitting oh so casually on our couch. We don't use the couch, so it's not like it's in the way...but it's still there. I hate laundry, and laundry and dishes are all I ever seem to do.

I know! I can tell you about how I imagine flying home is going to be! The first flight, from Nashville to Houston, I don't give a bean about. It's just going to be more of what I've already seen: green stuff, although I guess it might be interesting to see the stuff we drove through from way up there like that, but I really don't have any clear memories of it. It turned into one big, green blur after Texas.

But the flight from Houston to Phoenix Sky Harbor? Ohhh, I will be WIDE awake for that! I'll be going home. I don't know if I can stress that enough... I'll be going home!

I'll be back to the place where I know everyone, where I can have the conversation I miss so very much:

Oh have you heard of this place? Yes? Oh, that's cool, that's where I'm from...Really, you have family there? Who? Oh, okay, yeah, I know him! Well, hey stranger, how ya doing? Yeah, yeah, my mom and dad are down there still, Vonnie at the Minit Market. Yup, the one with the hair.

Yes, that's an actual conversation that I can have in almost any part of Tucson, and about half the time, people know where San Manuel is. 25% of the time, they remember my mom, who has worked at the Minit Market for over 10 years.

Tucson and the surrounding area is as familiar to me as the sun is. It was everything I needed from the day I was born to the day I left, and even out here where there's so little sun, I still need them both. I want to walk to the store again...I want to know that there's a cactus around the corner. I'm totally going to go to the mall, to Arizona Avenue, and buy myself a cactus kit to send home :D

I can't wait.

Things I Am Considering on a Friday Morning.

2009-12-04T08:36:00.003-06:00

Here are a few of the things I am...well, considering, obviously. They are random, they are snippy, they are not going to make much sense!

Onward!

1) Is my husband actually going to get laundry or dishes done while I'm gone today at work? I gave him the option, to pick which he'd prefer, and yet, I have a feeling I'm going to come home at 5 and have to do both... Dear Andrew, please make me a liar. Do the dishes. Please.

2) What in the name of all that is decent and holy is going on with my hair today? I am considering a freaking bun like a schoolmarm.

3)Where did all the beef go in my beef and broccoli? I didn't finish dinner last night, my mouth got bored again, so I woke up to eat it this morning. I ate some...and now, I am beefless. It's depressing. I refuse to eat rice and broccoli in an oyster soy vinegar sherry sauce if there's no BEEF.

4) Am I the only one that remembers that old commercial? "Where's the beef?" I don't even know if it was a commercial, it's one of those things that your mom tells you about so often that it becomes your own quirky-weird memory. Please help me not feel insane. If you can't do that...do my dishes!

5)I'm considering wearing my boots to work today. They fit the requirements: closed toe, closed heel. But will they look good with these pants? More importantly, will I be able to stand for 6 hours in them and not scream hysterically at the end of the day? Even more importantly...will anyone realize that the socks I have to wear with them are actually pink striped toe socks?

6)This, I am not considering. This, I am sure of. I need that Starbucks! Or else, I need to go back to bed for an hour. Which I could do, actually, it's only 8:45... But NO, I MUST NOT CONSIDER A NAP! If I do, the day will suck.

7) I am considering putting a countdown on here to our trip to Tucson. Okay, countdown reconsidered. I'll just tell you.... 18 DAYS! Eighteen Days, eighteen days, 18d... Woohoo!!

8) I was laying in bed this morning when I thought of taking my laptop on the plane with me. I heard recently about some airplanes offering WiFi in the air, if you can believe it, and I have to wonder...If I get one of them, could I blog while flying? Reading in the car makes me sick, would typing in the plane make me sick? I can watch movies on the road...maybe I can in the air? PW blogs while in her car...Can I do it whilst in ze plane, ze plane?

9) Is the ice going to be melted off my car before I have to leave for work? Dang it, it better be. I hate ice. I hate cold. I hate Tennessee.

10)...how did we end up with the weirdest, goofiest, clumsiest bird on the planet? He's trying to sit on his head again, and making sweet little chirpy sounds while he does it....and there he goes. Off the perch. I knew it was coming, he probably did too...so now he's romancing his mirror. *sigh*

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a nap....ER O.O I mean.... I'm gonna get my Starbucks...

My Little Brother in Laws.

2009-12-03T21:02:00.000-06:00

Ben and Phil are my little brothers in law.

They're both about 6' by now, and according to my sis in law (also, their sis in law) they're getting muscles!

*gasp*

I thought they were still 8...not 16 and 17...

Phil in the gray, arms crossed, with the necklace.

Ben is holding the little Asian girl, Leean.

Dear Santa... Writer's Prompt from Mama Kat

2009-12-03T10:55:00.001-06:00

Ah, Thursday. Day of Writers' Workshops. I was born on a Thursday...they say, "Thursday's child has far to go." Seriously, isn't Tennessee and all of it's odd weather far enough?? The only thing further for me would probably be India...but at least it gets hot there.

But I digress. Brace yourself, this is gonna be a whopper.

Alexes did it.. I bet that if she wasn't having red and green food for Advent dinner, Michelle would do it. Therefore, I am gonna be a follower today and use one of Mama Kat's Famous Writers' Workshop Prompts :D

(Boy, I am just full of linky goodness today, aren't I?)

Dear Santa Claus,

This is not my best year. In fact, this might be the craziest year of my life so far, and given that you see me when I'm sleeping, when I'm awake, when I'm actually supposed to be sleeping but am instead awake doing ungodly things in the middle of the night....*ahem* Sorry, let's continue....you know that life so far for me hasn't exactly been --how shall I put this?-- SANE?

Ere-go, I've got quite the list for you. I don't doubt you can do it, but whether or not I merit it is still in question. I'm not really all that nice. Hence the snarky letter you're receiving atm. (That's chatspeak, means "at the moment". I'm sure you knew that. Mrs. Claus probably texts you like a madwoman when you're out with the reindeer doing whatever it is you do with them on the off season...)

First, though, I want to say thank you. It's been rather a while since I wrote. In fact, I was about 13-ish, and madly in love with Justin. I thought, heck why not? and asked you for a boyfriend that would love me "at least as much as he loves himself". Got that line from a book by Lynn Kurland. She's awesome, btw, I recommend her to the Mrs. wholeheartedly. Well, Santa dear, you delivered. In fact, you old over-achiever you, I didn't just get a boyfriend from the deal. I got an entire lifetime goober! =D Said goober is at work right now, but I'm sure he sends his love. He wants CODMW2 for the 360. (Again, I'm sure you're familiar with all of these acronyms by now. My life seems to be filled with them these days. That one there is Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Like we need another bang bang you're dead game around these parts, right? Because I don't already hear REAL gunfire when I go get a gallon of milk at the commissary, right?? *facepalm*)

So yes. Thank you. I loved him. He came at a weird time though. October? I mean... really? But it's made up for by his original plan to propose on Christmas....too bad that didn't go through. Friggin Army. But thank you =D I'll keep him for a good long while, feed him, all that good stuff. Unlike the Nano Baby that was in my stocking one year. I... *sniffle* I don't talk about Onan often. It hurts too much...*wipes nose on shirt*

This year, Santa Baby, I want a yacht. No, I'm joking. I can't swim. Why would I want a boat??

No, I want to win the lottery. Here is my plan. I want to win the Tennessee Lottery and move back to Arizona. Then, I want to with the Arizona Lottery. With both winnings, I plan to buy a little ranch somewhere around Oracle. Maybe... hmm, maybe somewhere off behind Great Grampa's old house. I wanna get a pair of good, sturdy saddle horses, a mare and a stallion preferably, one white and brown paint and the other a nice deep brown... oh, or one of the tan ones, with the black manes and feet. I'll plant watermelons and daisies and lavender and strawberries in my garden, as well as beautiful tall Ponderosa pines, like G. Grampa did for the Forest Service. We'll get a white Jeep Wrangler, and a nice sports car for Andrew. 350Z should do, dark metallic blue, and makes sure our road is mostly paved so that it doesn't hurt the suspension on it.

And the house we can have specially built. Two stories, with lots of open space and big windows... and a wide, open staircase so I don't have crazy vertigo like at Camp and Teresa's. Wood floors with big, soft rugs (the kind that don't slip, lol, you know me, Santa...) and a big kitchen, with an island in the middle that has a sink. Stainless steel fridge, one of those cool ovens that are stacked on top of each other, like the one in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. But I won't keep guns in mine. Oh, no, they will be fully functional, and fully used. The house will have to have at least 4 bedrooms, but we should probably mark that up to 6 bedrooms. We have a lot of family, and I know that eventually, someone will want to come stay with us. Six bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, a family room, and probably 3 bathrooms. Or maybe 2.5....definitely want one in the master bedroom, with a big clawfoot tub that I could (hypothetically) drown in. I don't really want to drown. I wouldn't be able to enjoy all of this as a ghost.

We could then have our three beautiful children that will have my coloring and Andrew's eyes...but probably need glasses and classes on how to move gracefully. I'll take them with the kids, for that matter, I could use a little extra grace... Oh, and a husky we'll call Hank Jr. and a Great Dane I want to call Clyde. Or Clementine. Cats, too, we need two, not including our lovely Kahlan, and maybe Diddles. But two cats usually turns into 12 cats eventually, so two breedable kitties will do fine.

Yes, Santa. I want all that for Christmas. It doesn't have to be this Christmas. I understand that some things take time, and I can imagine that the lottery, in two states nonetheless, could be tricky. But I'm confident that if we had both lotteries, we'd be able to pull all that off just fine. Oh, one more simple wish, though....could you pay for our schooling? I mean, if the lotteries don't cover it. I want to be a Midwife. Andrew is looking for something, but he would love to be a wolf rehabilitation expert.Then we would be able to afford all of this once the lottery dough runs out.

But... if you can't get me any of that, can you just make Andrew realize we need to move to better apartments? I'll take my life as it comes, Santa, but maybe living somewhere NOT filled with bugs (the crawling ones and the ones that you can fix) would make me very happy.

Merry Christmas.

PS. I know we moved, but if you could please bring our gifts in whatever form to Leslie and Chip's house in Arizona on Christmas Eve, we'd sorely appreciate it. For some reason, Grandpa Cavanagh doesn't want us at his house on Christmas Eve, so we're headed for the ranch instead. Be careful on the road. Grand Pappy Wash is a doozy in the winter time, even if you are flying over it. And remember, it's just after the Chapparel steakhouse on the Florence Highway. See you around when we have kids of our own :D

Not So Wordless Wednesday.

2009-12-02T10:58:00.002-06:00

Today is Wednesday. It is meant to be wordless. I am rarely, if ever, wordless. Therefore, I am going to tell you in vague detail about today.

Today, there is a potluck. I am going. I am eating pizza before I go. Why? Because I want pizza, not potluck food, which with soldiers, is usually a bag of chips and omg, some pizza. But I want my pizza.

I had to make something for this potluck. I was feeling creative (read: stupid) and decided to make something special out of cheesecake. Cheesecake is already special. It should not be tampered with.

I tampered.

Results:

Yes, the cheesecake is green. Yes, that's a bulb in the middle of the green cheesecake. Yes, the bulb, the little thingy on top of the bulb, and the cheesecake itself are ALL cheesecake.

It's really very simple. You make the cheesecake like the package says, then you scoop some out to a little bowl. Big bowl: add food coloring. Little bowl: add other food coloring.

Then use a ziplock sandwich baggy as a pastry decorating thing by cutting an eensy weensy hole in one corner and put the contents of the little bowl in the baggy and squeeze.

Ta. Da.

*grinds teeth*

I hate potlucks.

A new name and some other stuff before work.

2009-12-01T07:23:00.000-06:00

Good morning! It's too early for me to be this cheerful, especially since I had such a trial last night. I couldn't sleep, not even a little. Andrew and I went to bed at 9:30 and I layed there a while, trying to sleep, but I had so much on my mind, I just...couldn't. So I got up to see how my video was uploading to my blog.

It wasn't.

**insert eye roll and facepalm here**

So I gave up, and I am very sorry. It was a cute video, but oh well. You'll just have to see my husband topless, fluffing a fake Christmas tree some other time.

I can, however, offer you a few photos of said tree.

And of our new and beautiful Kahlan Sedona, the cat who has yet to climb the Christmas tree.

I believe she's put off by the bird, who apparently gets the idea and starts freaking out, very loudly, when she gets too close to it.

Not to mention, our tree is only 4 1/2' tall. Not exactly a towering achievement if she did climb it, lol!

Also, if you're wondering what happened, I decided that I needed something.... spiffier than "The Adamis" for my blog name if I'm going to be seeing The Pioneer Woman, in person, in only a week!

Yes. THAT Pioneer Woman. The one with the amazing cookbook. The hunky hubby. The cute kids. The amazing cookbook....oh, wait, I said that. I'm gonna get her autograph! *dances around like a nasty little two year old*

And I'm going to buy Chels one, too, because out of nowhere, we discovered that we'd been reading the same awesome blog. How weird is that? Two sisters in law, on opposites sides of the country, both with very little interest in the food blog world in general...come across the same website on their own, put it on their own iGoogle pages for quick updates, and learn of this coinkidink two days before Thanksgiving when one of them casually mentions a corn and rice dish that the other had been drooling over a few hours before.

Oddity of oddities.

:D

LAPTOP!!!!!!

2009-11-28T22:39:00.002-06:00

IT WORKS IT WORKS IT WORKS IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My beautiful, amazing wonderful fantastic picture holding laptop is working again!!!

I. Am. Happy.

I had a dream that I turned it on and it worked perfectly... so I tried it. It works, perfectly. I didn't take it in to get fixed, it just... works now.

Yay.

Pics like crazy soon. Like... a whole Wordless Week, lol.

I am alive! I didn't fall off the planet, I swear!!

2009-11-23T09:30:00.004-06:00

I just looked at the date of my last post. I feel rather sheepish. November 3rd was a long while ago, nearly a month. I have not posted here in nearly a month.

You have my deepest, most sincere apologies.

So, I'll give you a bit of an update on things, just important highlights and whatnot. First though, something weird just happened...my keyboard gave out. I had to unplug it completely from the back of the tower and plug it in on the front USB port instead. Doesn't make any sense to me, but if it works this way, I'll use it this way.

Updates, right, got it.

Laptop is still in a state of disrepair, although I had a wonderful, amazing dream last night that I turned it on and it miraculously worked. Gonna try it today, I feel ready for the disappointment, lol.

Andrew got a promotion! He is not Private First Class Adami, not just Private Adami. That means a new little symbol on his chest, and new embroidery on his Class A's and helmet... and a little extra moola in the bank for us!

I got a job! I now work a few hours a week, and those hours are steadily increasing as Christmas gets closer, at the local Hallmark! Yay! You know, the more I work there and learn about Hallmark in general, the more I like the place. And oh, the holiday stuff. I love the holiday stuff. For instance, I recently turned my fridge into a snowman, with magnets. How cool is that? I would show you... but my laptop doesn't work. Every single penny from this job is going right into our now very low savings account. We live fine and well off of Andrew's income, but we have a few large purchases that we need to make (read: CAR), so we're stepping up the saving up.

We adopted a cat! We went to Petsmart recently, on a whim looking for something for Guardy for Christmas (yes, my bird gets his own stocking, complete with birdy toys and treats), and ended up adopting one black and orange calico they called Yoko Ono. We changed the name immediately. She's more black than orange, with green eyes, and she's a year old. She's had one litter of kittens, but is now spayed and has all her shots. We named her Kahlan Sedona Adami. Guardy promptly disowned us.

We're going home for Christmas!! There are a few bugs left to work out, because I was stupid and bought tickets for too early in the day, but it shouldn't be too hard. We leave the evening of Dec. 22 and come back to Tennessee on the 29th. I have a whole lot of people to squeeze into a week, let me tell you. Everyone that got a Thanksgiving card... plus some. It should be interesting, and it's important to see them because there are a few old friends of mine that I may never see again if I don't do it now. Amy and Danny especially, because they're getting married and moving away in the summer, and I can't just let them leave :( I am so excited to go home.

We're almost done with the shopping for everyone, just about 4 more ppl left.

I am still, perhaps worse than before, addicted to Facebook games.

I am still, probably a little less than before, addicted to IMVU.

I can hear Kahlan in the other room, attacking things. She got a wild hair up her butt this morning at about 3 am, went running around the whole house, knocked the bird off his perch, then jumped up on the bed and attacked my toes with every ounce of ferocity in her chunky little feline body. I bought her a mouse when we got her. It's fuzzy and brown and when you touch it, even slightly, it squeeks. She loves it. I can hear the random, slightly terrified squeeking as I type. Cracks me up, I tell you.

Lately, since I started working, my housekeeping has gone severely downhill. I think the laundry in the living room as been there for a good two weeks, and I can't really give you a good reason why... I can give you an excuse, though.

My laptop failed me. Without it, I have no desire to sit in the living room, and therefore, I do not see the messiness of it on a daily basis. No see = no fix. That's my reasoning. Plus, I can't play my music, my stories are null and void, and IMVU runs like snail on here.

Andrew says Lappy will be fixed for Christmas. Darn tootin', it will be, if I have to go get it done myself.

I'm gonna get him a wireless mic and keyboard thingy for the Xbox for Christmas. He's also got lots of little things coming to him in his stocking, including, of course, Swedish Fish. The boy would die without them, I think. He's supposed to be filling my stocking this year, too, for the first time. I'm worried, to be honest. I have a feeling that I'm not gonna get much in my stocking this year, because he's going to forget, or he's going to claim he doesn't have time. I work, too, and I take care of the house, and I take care of him, and I find time. It's a matter of sacrificing things you would do for yourself in order to give to others, and that includes time on the XBox. We'll see.

In other news, I need your help. Young, one of the guys in Andrew's Armory, has a little girl named Addison. She's about a year and a half... and she's in the ICU right now. She has severe pneumonia; she isn't breathing on her own. Her mother's name is Morgan, and I can only imagine how she feels, knowing that her baby is on a breathing machine in a hospital, and not home safe.

So if you pray, pray for them. If you send good thoughts and empathy, send it their way. If you cross your fingers, cross them, and your toes, too. Put everything you can towards this baby getting better, if for no other reason than because no child deserves to die.

Thank you.

Well, that's just dandy.

2009-11-03T07:50:00.004-06:00

I woke up in a really good, energetic mood today. Yes, I realize how strange that sounds coming from me, the laziest person on the planet. Yes, I too am wondering how long this energy will last. Probably until I look in the utility room and see that pile of laundry again.

How do two people go through that much laundry in two weeks? How? Someone please explain it to me.

In any case, I'll give you a few little tidbits of my day so far. It's 8:00 am, which used to be 9 am, but my heart is still set on it being 7 am, because if it were 7 am, I would be back in Tucson.

So, let's number this, shall we? Like Monday Mumbles by the infamous, pant-unbuttoning Tooj.

1) I had a dream about my emerald ring last night. Not my wedding ring, which I can promise cost a lot more to obtain, lol, but my 24k gold emerald ring that my aunt gave my mother because it's my birthstone, and my mother in turn gave me. I dreamed I lost it. That would break my heart. So now it's on my right index finger, feeling awkward, because I haven't worn it in over a year.

2) There's a weird sounding siren outside right now that I'm trying to ignore, because I was just outside and it was clear as a bell. So it can't be a tornado siren, because tornadoes need two very different air currents, and that only can happen when it storms. Please don't tell me otherwise. I will panic. It won't be pretty.

3) They are making a movie of the video game "Prince of Persia", with the guy that directed Spiderman, Sam Raimi, and the main actor is Jake Gyllenhaal. Oh yeah. Awesome, awesome game to watch so I can't wait for the movie.

4) Andrew asked me if he looked bigger yet. Bigger as in, more muscular. I made him flex... then I punched his booby and said, "Ow. Yes."

5) Ever since I was a little girl, my bladder has been immediately and immensely effected by the sound of the shower running. Andrew is no exception: I now have to pee.

6) If my husband can remember to go to the commissary when he gets off work, I'll be making lasagna tonight. If he can't, he won't be eating, dang it. I want lasagna!! The only thing standing between me and it is the ricotta cheese I somehow managed to... misplace (or maybe possible kinda sorta didn't remember to buy...). LASAGNA!!!

7) I've been playing CafeWorld on FaceBook. There is no hope for me. I am addicted. I've even been setting alarms on my phone to tell me when something is done, so I can run to my computer and serve it...

8) Today, I need to do dishes, clean up the bathroom, and take the bird out of his cage for the first time in over a month... and then vacuum, because there will be bird seed everywhere.

Cards to buy this month: Nov. 5-- Mom and Dad celebrate 22 LONG years together
Nov. 10-- Ben turns 16
Nov. 12-- Amy turns 21
Nov. 26-- Thanksgiving cards for: Grandma and Grandpa Adami, Matt and Megan, Mattison gets her own :D, Steve and Chelsey, David and Rachel, Harmony gets her own :D, Grandpa Cavanagh, Mom and Dad, and Leslie, Chip, Ben and Phil.
Total: 12 cards

Beans. I'm gonna go bake some cookies.

Lots to do, lots to say, with a very somber ending.

2009-10-30T10:11:00.007-05:00

I have loads of things to put into this post today, so I'm going to color code them.

For the Blogging Party hosted by the amazing, intellectual Alexes from One Cluttered Brain: Purple!

For the give-aways and other awesome things about Mrs. B, the Pagan Soccer Mom:
Orange!

For just the regular old Helen stuff, we'll go with....:
This color! LOL.

For the Blogging Party, I need to answer these questions. Alexes will then read them and match me up with another blogger... and I have no clue what happens from there, lol, that's all I understood. But I'm one of those learn as you go kinds of people, so I'll figure it out.

1. What is your favorite thing to snack on while you're blogging? I'm not much of a snacker... heck, as much as I truly love food, I'm not really much of an eater! Andrew and I are drinkers, lol, we could pretty much live off liquids. I drink chocolate milk while I blog :)

2. What is one thing you wouldn't want to live without? You know, I would have to say, I wouldn't want to live without running water. Not really for any particular reason, except that unless there's an actual, well-built outhouse, I can't get my squat down pat. Some article of clothing always gets wet... so I couldn't live without that wonderful toilet, which would be impossible without running water!

3. Beach, Mountains or Farm? Where would you live if you had a choice? Mountains. Put me in a cabin in the mountains...but that's out of those three. If I had a choice truly? I want a sprawling ranch house in the middle of the desert, with horses and dogs, cats, chickens, and a BIG aviary full of cockatiels!

4. What's your least favorite chore/household duty? Laundry. I hate laundry. 'Nuff said.

5. Prefer parties and socializing or staying at home with the fam? I love going to family get-togethers, either all of our family or my family with other people's families. I love it!

6.Favorite movie? The Long, Long Trailer, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

7. Do you sleep in your make up or remove it like a good girl every night? I don't wear enough make-up to worry about, so I usually sleep in it. I mean, cover-up and mascara? The worst that can happen is a dirty pillow and some clogged pores.

8. Where is your favorite place to shop? I like Kohls a lot... and Borders or Barnes and Noble!

9. What's one thing you'd do more often if you had more time? Write. I would write if I had more time and more inspiration to do so.

10. Are you a big spender or frugal? I spend too much, too often. It's always little stuff, but little stuff adds up FAST.

So now, let me tell you a little about the give away going on at Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom. First off, I don't know how she does it. She managed to do a give away EVERY day of October, but I couldn't even get my butt here to BLOG once a day this month for NaBloWriMo. Seriously. Mrs. B gets my utter admiration.

Today, she's got several give aways and I'll link all of them here. There's the book from Quirk Classics, called Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. There's a subscription to Circle Magazine. Last but not least, she's giving away a spooky keyring from Carioca Witch.

I'm crossing my fingers for that book. I read a little of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and it was both awesome and hilarious!

The wind is blowing like crazy outside and freaking me out more than a little. I watched some leaves going left, and then others were going right and I was thinking, "OMG, the wind is going in two directions... or maybe it's going in the same direction, but in a circle??" and then I freaked out even more because the words "wind circle" translate into "tornado" to me. Andrew's not home, he's in the field, so it's just me and the feathered menace.

Because I don't know if I'll be able to do it tomorrow, or the day after, I want to tell you about what happened one year ago on Halloween night.

Last year at this time, Andrew had been gone for only a few weeks to basic training. I was still in that guest-nice-do-it-all period with David and Rachel at the apartment, I was working 5 days a week in a brand new job, and not getting much sleep because Harmony cried if you looked at her funny...oh wait, she still does O.o.

Gramma took a bad turn just after the wedding, as though getting out of the house and to the ceremony took everything she had left. They put her in a place called Pepe's House, on the back side of TMC (Tucson Medical Center, where I was born), and every day that I had off, I went to see her. I saw her as often as I could...most days, she just slept. Some days she knew who I was and why I was there, but not often. Mom and I visted together a few times, but usually, it was just me. If she woke up, I would talk to her about Andrew, or I'd show her pictures of the wedding. She told me a few stories of younger days, but she ran out of wind fast.

Pepe's House was good to her. They had a harpist come every day and play in the halls, and it was beautiful. Gramma loved it, and so did I. They brought her what she wanted to eat, not what was good for her, and made sure she was as comfortable as she could be. She was dying of lung cancer, with COPD, and only about 10% of her respiratory system was functioning. When they examined her earlier that month, before she got so bad, the doctors were shocked and amazed that she was still relatively mobile. We knew better. If she'd have had enough reasons, the old woman would have held on another 100 years for spite.

On Halloween day, before work, I went to see her. It was a Friday last year...I held her hand, and I told her I loved her. I told her I would be back to see her on my next day off, and that she wasn't allowed to run off with any cute nurses or anything while I was gone. She was lucid, in good spirits, and she told me she would be there. When I left, I drove past an elementary school on recess. There were little witches and a mermaid on the swings. The mermaid was being pushed by Batman, and I smiled and wished I was that little again for a hundred reasons, but mostly so I could dress up and play on the playground, lol. It was exactly 20 days after our wedding.

I spent the night on 4th Ave in Tucson with a friend, having a wild time, enjoying myself until way too late. The next morning, I got the phone call from my Aunt Shelly...Gramma had died sometime that night, probably a little after midnight. I was the last person she saw other than a nurse, but they said that the harpist had been there that evening. Aunt Shelly, my mom, and my aunt and uncles all agreed that she had been holding on to see my wedding day, and now that she had, she decided it was time to let go...

I tried to get ahold of Andrew, but there was no way other than a letter. He didn't know until almost two weeks later. And I cried. I cried for a long time, I cried often, and I'm not done crying yet. I'm crying now, and I was crying in bed this morning and last night.

When I think about it, I see the playground. I see them happy and playing, all dressed up, and I hope that was how Gramma left: happy. I like to think she left us still hearing the harp in her sleep, with my wedding pictures on her nightstand, and her beautiful, hard-working hands finally at rest. I don't know for sure, but that's what I like to think. I miss her.

Halloween has always been quite the night for me. It's the night Andrew told me he loved me for the first time, the night when my friends and I could be ourselves and not be called weird, and the night I lost one of the most important people in my life.

Happy Halloween, Gramma.

Wordless Wednesdays: Anniversary Pictures

2009-10-28T09:33:00.005-05:00

Andrew

+

Helen

=

Yay!!

The shpiel is very, very important.

2009-10-26T12:12:00.003-05:00

I've decided to go a little deeper with my blog than I have before. Not necessarily today, but in the long run, I want to put more than my complaints, troubles, and daily happenings here. Why? I don't have a reason why. I don't even have a specific audience in mind, although I notice I tend to lean towards Mommy Blogs more than anything, even if I'm not a mommy.

My problem is that deeper means longer. Longer means no one is going to take the time to sit and read my mind. Maybe if I intersperse it with pictures and jokes, it won't seem so long...but it will still be long.

And I can't intersperse. My laptop was read it's last rites a few days ago and this desktop hates my very existence. It blames me for the virus that took it's brain.

I plead the 5th.

However, as I said, today is not necessarily a deep day. Today is a bread-making, laundry-folding, eat-the-last-corner-brownie-on-the-pretense-of-needing-to-wash-the-pan, celebrating kind of day.

Why do I need to celebrate? Let me explain. I got a phone call this morning from a place called Kirlin's Hallmark. Ah, yes, do you know of my adoration of Hallmarks in general? No? Mwaaahahaha! Why do I adore them? Let me list the reasons: Kristal, Amy, Anne, John, Julie, other Julie... ornaments, Christmas cards, Snoopy, WillowTree... I could go on and on. I loved working there, more than any place I've worked yet!

I start work at Kirlin's Hallmark tomorrow at 11:00 am, in a solid colored collared shirt, solid colored pants or skirt, and tennies, for minimum wage at about 25 hours a week.

You have nooo idea how happy I am. I am getting the heck out of Dodge, people, I am gone like a freight train, like the Seminoles around the Ocochobee... I am done staying here in this house day in and day out!! And I'll be making money for not being bored out of my mind.

Hi, welcome to Hallmark. What special person or occasion can I help you shop for today? Let me know if I can be of any help, get you a box, whatever you need, okay?

Sorry... I was practicing my shpiel.

I don't even have a title....

2009-10-23T14:52:00.002-05:00

My laptop is dead.

Yesterday, I had to take Zedd back to the car doctor and on the way there, I had to stop very, very suddenly at a red light. It was either that or be a) photographed and sent my ugly mug in the mail and b) pulled over right then and there because there was a cop next to me.

Laptop went flying.

Not even 30 minutes prior, I was on it fine and dandy, typing up my Thankful Thursday post which I saved to finish at Borders while I waited on the car, so it had to be the brief flight it made from the passenger seat to the passenger floorboard... The screen does not work. Nothing. It turns on, makes all the right sounds like it's brought up my desktop; but I see nothing but black on the screen.

And I loathe this desktop. I hate being stuck in this little room, at this slow computer. It won't run IMVU and what am I gonna do there? I have a pack to take care of... I can't play CafeWorld on Facebook, and that breaks my heart...

Andrew says we'll get it fixed as long as the price of fixing the screen does not exceed the price the we paid for the computer itself. If it does... we'll just have to look into getting another, albeit cheaper and less awesome, computer.

*sigh*

Add that up with a ruined awesome purse (ink catastrophe), Chip being taken to the hospital for emergency gall bladder surgery, Bennie with a broken wrist due to free running, cramps like my uterus wants to jump out of my body, and various other minor thingies, yesterday was darned fantastic.

But what I'm thankful for on Thursday was/is: I am thankful for a husband that I can laugh with. I blew a huge raspberry on the part of his arm right above the armpit, that tender little skin there, and he called me a butt bubble. I think we laughed like 5 year olds for a good 15 mins, lol, over butt bubbles and armpit raspberries and the entire fact that we were laughing about them...
<3

Tagged!!

2009-10-21T14:05:00.003-05:00

"Sacre bleu! I meesed one!" Well, no, in this case, it would be, "Sacre Bleu! I've been tagged!" Little Mermaid on the brain, I suppose... anyway. I was tagged by none other than the Domestic Diva herself. And she's right: this was fun :)

1. Where is your cell phone?
In the bedroom, on the nightstand, where I left it when I got up this morning

2. Your hair?
Needs to be washed, lol

3. Your mother?
Is in Arizona, probably at work.

4. Your father?
Is also in Arizona, probably on the couch.

5. Your favorite food?

Italian... or chocolate... or anything that resembles food...

6. Your dream last night?

Totally not going to go there...

7. Your favorite drink?

Chocolate milk! Or creme soda... or hot chocolate

8. Your dream/goal?

To be a happy, and good, mother

9. What room are you in?

The dining room, kinda sorta

10. Your hobby?

I'm a certified professional bird taunter.

11. Your fear?

I'm afraid of being that person no one wants to talk to because everything that comes out of her mouth is negative and hurting.

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?

Wherever Andrew is, with at least 2 kids and a dog, and this same stupid bird

13. Where were you last night?

Dead to the world lol

14. Something that you aren’t?

I can think of a whole lot of things that I currently am... OH, I 'aren't' playing Viva Pinata :D

15. Muffins?

Yes, please.

16. Wish list item?

Hyundai Accent... a little powder blue one with a black door stripe

17. Where did you grow up?

San Manuel, AZ

18. Last thing you did?

I used the bathroom :D

19. What are you wearing?

My black broomstick skirt and a cowl neck blue shirt with longsleeves

20. Your TV?

Is really big and in the den where it belongs

21. Your pets?

I have a feathered menace.

22. Friends?

Are all very far away, except for Teresa, who is busy often

23. Your life?

is amazing and fantastic compared to everyone else's in this world

24. Your mood?

Not bad, kinda hungry... really thirsty.

25. Missing someone?

Andrew, actually.

26. Vehicle?

Zedd.

27. Something you’re not wearing?

Earrings lol

28. Your favorite store?

I really like Kohl's

29. Your favorite color?

Pink, green, white and purple

30. When was the last time you laughed?

Yesterday maybe?

31. Last time you cried?

It's been a while.

32. Your best friend?

Megan :D

33. One place that I go to over and over?

STARBUCKS!!!!

34. One person who emails me regularly?

My mother -_-
35. Favorite place to eat?
Longhorn Steakhouse

I am going to tag.... all of you: Michelle, Clover Lane, Tooj, One Cluttered Brain, and Cassie

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-21T10:23:00.003-05:00

As always, a little less than wordless.

I can't seem to get a good copy of the video, so indulge me and click .

It's a video of Mattison, somewhere between 6 months and 12 months, I'm thinking about 7 and a half actually. She's eating a pear and staring out the bedroom window :)

This is Megan, me, and Chels at my bridal shower. Meg's holding Mattison and the wee little blondie in the back there is Jana. Other than Jana, and Leslie who didn't come (yes, that's right, my mother in law didn't come to my bridal shower, because she had other things going on and couldn't find the time), those are all of the Adami girls so far!

I've decided that October can go NaBloWriMo itself.

2009-10-20T11:06:00.005-05:00

I would like to give all you bacon lovers a word of warning:

Do not wash your hands and then get next to a very angry pan of bacon while your hands are still wet. It hurts a whole helluva lot more than just regular grease spatter, I promise. Want proof?

That's me, and my hand... and those three, odd-shaped red marks are blisters. Yes, BLISTERS. How often does one get burn blisters from spunky bacon grease?? Thankfully, they don't hurt much now and I heal fast.

In other notes, it appears that Ben has broken his wrist again. I think it's Phil...and here we are on the other side of the world. I realize that no, we're not really that far. But the differences in people, and culture, and lifestyles, and everything else between Tucson, AZ and Clarksville, TN might as well make it another country. Do you know how I found out, though?

Facebook. Megan posted something on Facebook. No one called to tell us, no one mentioned it, nothing. The same way no one in his family mentioned our anniversary, even thought they were all there... the same way I had to call and find out that the bun in Meg's oven is a Masen, not a Mia.

I do believe we have disappeared from their radar.

NaBloWriMo: I lost my groove...

2009-10-19T11:03:00.003-05:00

So yesterday. Let's address it here and now. I did not blog.

I DID NOT BLOG.

I have failed the NaBloWriMo Challenge, but I'm not gonna stop. I might still have a chance. This is now, NBWM Day 19 and my 18th post this month. If nothing else, it's making me look like a serious blogger with that big old number of posts I see every morning. I'm on 44 now, since either August or September.

I had a really nice day yesterday, so I can't say I regret not blogging. Andrew and I stayed up too late, as usual, and I woke up just in time to get ready to go grocery shopping. We'd made plans a day or two before, Teresa and I, to go together and get good deals, so I went and picked her up at 11 and we spent hours in the commissary. We literally did not get home until about 4 pm, and then we picked up Andrew and went to the apt. she and Camp are now sharing with some friends.

We ate a quick lunch and spent most of the time we were there in the kitchen. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to be back in the kitchen with another woman. There is something so very basic about it, something very much like a need, to be sharing the creation of good food with another female human being. I haven't been able to cook with another woman since I left Megan behind and I didn't realize until I was given the opportunity again how much I missed it.

We made buffalo wings and a cooking base her mother uses called sifrito. Yes, it's probably misspelled, but it smells divine. It had garlic, cilantro, onions, Sazon Goya seasoning, Adobo seasoning, and I want to say something else in it, and I have a little in my freezer. I think I'll use it when I brown hamburger meat :)

Does anyone understand this, though? This strangely communal feeling from cooking with a female friend, rather than say, a husband, or even a child? It felt a little old-fashioned...but it was wonderful. We're repeating tonight with pot roast from this amazing, awesome woman who's cookbook I have going to buy the day it comes out: The Year of the Pot Roast.

NaBloWriMo Day 17: Eye candy and a movie

2009-10-17T10:24:00.010-05:00

Okay, so: Paranormal Activity. It's good. It's slow to start, but you get pulled into it anyway, start feeling worried for the characters. Some scenes are a little predictable but not as to what's going to happen... just that something... WILL happen. It built up to the freaky stuff heavily, with lots of little not too scary stuff happening, and then WHAM: you jump sky high! The end was kinda easy to figure, but if you weren't really worried about figuring it, it'll catch you off guard. I would honestly pay to go see it again. It was pretty awesome, but I think the best part was the audience. The comments from the peanut gallery (half of which here were drunk soldiers) were hilarious. Everyone jumped at some point, EVERYone. OH, that's what else was really good about it... the couple in it is really normal. Like it's two college-age people living together, not married, she's a student, he's got a job and they act like a real couple...stupid flirting, a little bickering, he keeps trying to get her to do him on camera which is hilarious and the language is realistic, no scripted out fake dialog between them, it feels like a real modern couple....the f-word is her favorite word, I think... but seriously, if you're even remotely aware of young adults today, that is how they talk, (note I did not say WE. I do not talk that way. You have to tick me off to the point of no return before you hear that f-word come out of my mouth)not all of them, mind you, but a good portion. It was very honest in that factor, and I liked how there was no music. Nope, not even a little bit. No soundtrack, nothing to focus on except the screen. There were also some parts that were just plain funny. No lame jokes, just funny stuff, stuff you would laugh about if you saw it happen to a friend or if it happened to you, even.

Okay. I'm done.

GO SEE THE MOVIE!!!

But don't eat popcorn...the people next to us actually threw theirs when they jumped O.o

Got this from Alexes at One Cluttered Brain :)

1. FAVORITE DRINK: Creme soda, oh yeah!

2. MY HOMETOWN: San Manuel, Arizona... and boy, do I miss it!!

3. FAVORITE SHOW: Legend of the Seeker

4. OCCUPATION OR WHAT YOU ARE IN SCHOOL FOR: Eventually, I'll be a midwife. Starting school hopefully in January

5. FIRST CAR: 2001 Chevy Cavalier... and Zedd doesn't look this good, sad to say :(

6. FAVORITE FOOD: Fettucine Alfredo *drools*

7. CELEBRITY YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD YOU RESEMBLE: Mandy Moore... I was told by a girl I reminded her of Jamie from A Walk To Remember. Sure, I'll take that, lol.

8. CELEBRITY ON MY "TO DO" LIST: Craig Horner, as in the lead actor in Legend of the Seeker *drools some more*

9. FAVORITE CHILDHOOD TOY: Make-up brushes!! I wanted to be an archaeologist, so my best days were spent in the dirt, carefully sweeping it away from pretty rocks.

10. ANY RANDOM PICTURE YOU CARE TO SHARE: Because I can... *has a puddle of drool forming on her table as she types*

NaBloWriMo Day 16: I may pee my pants.

2009-10-16T17:46:00.001-05:00

I'm going to post this now, so that it counts for today, lol

BUT!

I'll edit it tomorrow, kinda.

We're watching Paranormal Activity tonight.

'Nuff said.

Wish me luck!!

NaBloWriMo Day 15: Thoughtful Thursday

2009-10-15T09:05:00.004-05:00

Hello, everyone!

Yes, I am much too chipper for the kind of day it's going to be, but I'm instituting a new day here at my blog, since it seems that I'm going to a) make it through NaBloWriMo if it kills me and b) keep this sucker up and running for a while.

Introducing *drum roll*...... Thoughtful Thursday :D

So here's how it goes. I give you 10 random thoughts in my head. When you comment back, you give me one random thought and/or expound on one of mine. Whatcha think?

No, you don't have to. I'd like you to, but you don't have to.

Therefore, let us begin:

1: I told Andrew this morning that, given the high for tomorrow is 48, if he even so much as took my hand to get me out of the house I would yell rape and divorce him on the spot.

2: My bird slept in this morning. What happened to early birds?

3: The only thing this digital ACU camouflage actually blends in with is itself... and this couch.

4: My toes are numb.

5: Due to the way condensed vegetable beef and cream of mushroom soup smell when mixed, I'm going to call my potato-beef casserole "Dogfood" from now on.

6: I'm having leftover Dog Food for breakfast, as a matter of fact.

7: There's something calling itself Gertie growing on the bottom of my shower curtain. I made friends yesterday.

8: I am not ridding myself of Gertie because I'm too addicted to Viva Pinata to care. My garden MUST be better than Andrew's! MUST MUST MUST!!!

9: I considered posting a vlog. Then I reconsidered.

10: Sirens freak me out now. They wake me out of a dead sleep... because I am absolutely terrified of tornados. Yeah... if there was a phobia, I would have it. Tornadophobia. Totally.

Thoughtful Thursday is apparently full of rather shallow thoughts, but oh well. It's entertaining, at the least... I think. O.o

Wordless Wednesday and NBWM: still going strong, kinda...

2009-10-14T13:38:00.001-05:00

I don't remember where this came from... but thank you to who's ever it is!

And... I just have no words for this. Except I wanna scoop him up, kiss him on the head, and send him on his little conquering way <3

NaBloWriMo Day 13: Reaaaaaally late post

2009-10-13T19:39:00.003-05:00

As opposed to all my other posts which are in the morning and really long, this one is going to be now, at nearly 8 pm, and rather short.

I got a phone call yesterday from Hallmark, asking me to come in today for an interview!!! Finally!! My first since I started actively looking for a job, and I'm rather pleased that it's going to be somewhere that I really enjoyed working at when we were in AZ.

The interview was at 2:30 today and it was quick and painless. It went really well, I was comfortable talking to the woman and it was just a good experience. It felt similar to home, too, which was nice.

So... maybe by this time tomorrow, I will have a job :)

NaBloWriMo Day 12: It's definitely a Monday.

2009-10-12T10:54:00.003-05:00

Good morning! Let me tell you a little about things, shall I?

Yesterday was pretty awesome, I'll tell you that. We did nothing, all day, just sat around and played video games and drank chocolate milk. It was nice. We found a few games for cheap on the Xbox 360 that we really loved, and he bought me Viva Pinata for our anni. I bought him the first book of the Forgotten Realms series, because he absolutely loves Drizzt, the main Drow character.

Yesterday was not without it's un-awesomeness, though. About 9 am I crawled unwillingly out of bed and decided I was going to do some dishes. I had made pancakes the day before and not really cleaned up, so it was getting kinda scary in the kitchen. Andrew followed me out and got a glass of Gatorade and as he turned around, he smacked a glass and it busted in the sink. It was a clean break, though, so we didn't have to worry about glass anywhere, and I kept on with what I was doing.

Well, I started the water and dumped out my mixing bowl, which was full of water too, and whoosh! All the water came gushing right out of the bottom and splattered all over me. I yelled for Andrew, who immediately came running thinking I'd cut myself (and with good reason was he hurrying, I pass out if I see my own blood usually), and water was just everywhere in the kitchen. So I called the emergency number to get the maint. man to come... and he never did. Our sink is still full of dirty dishes, totally not functioning.

Then later, after a fairly uneventful day (I tripped and fell, but that's normal), I was sitting in the chair in the den with a glass of orange Gatorade on the footstool we use as a table next to me. Andrew was in the bathroom... and suddenly, whoosh! again, the Gatorade went everywhere. Thank God for industrial strength stain master carpeting and the apartment complex's that are smart enough to use it. We got ALL the Gatorade up so well, it was pretty much dry when we were done.

There are now three soggy towels in the bathroom, drying out before I toss them in the dirty clothes.

In other news, today is NBWM Day 12 and I haven't missed a day yet! Also, Andrew recently had a contest at work for how fast he and his unit could disassemble, reassemble and function check a variety of weapons.

Andrew can completely disassemble, reassemble, and function check an M16 blindfolded in 1:24.

That's 1 minute and 24 seconds.

Blindfolded.

Wow.

NaBloWriMo Day 11: Happy Anniversary, my love!

2009-10-11T10:19:00.002-05:00

If you thought this was going to be a whopper of a post like always, you're wrong. I'm totally not gabbing like a madwoman on my anniversary.

We're just sitting home today, we might go catch a movie. Last night we ate at a steakhouse, because that's where we always end up, no matter how hard we plan for elsewhere. I married a carnivore, what can I say?

This morning, I came out to get a few dishes done because they were taking over the sink...and the pipe underneath busted. I called the emergency repair number. We'll see what happens. Probably nothing until tomorrow...

This apartment complex SUCKS.

So yes, and tomorrow, I will have pictures for you, including but not limited to Andrew topless (like usual), my sink explosion, and my battle cry-face :)

Have a good day! Sorry, I'm not going to SITS or NaBloWriMo today...

NaBloWriMo Day 10: Today.

2009-10-10T09:41:00.004-05:00

I decided last night that today, I would tell you exactly what was going on on this day one year ago... and seven years ago.

Seven years ago today, my father was in jail for child support on a boy who eventually admitted he was in no way blood related to my father.

Seven years ago today, I was a freshman in high school and had attended my first pep rally. I had joined Matmaids and watched the boy that would eventually be my brother in law sing and also wrestle in front of the entire school. Seven years ago today, I was already Megan's sister in heart if not by law.

Seven years ago today, I spent the day with a boy I had come to adore. We made plans for Halloween, and I spoke to every friend I had about what we should do that night, the first Halloween I would be going out without an adult.

Seven years ago today, I took a long, hot bath and while I did that, I talked on the phone to my crush. His brother stole the phone from him and asked me, why I wasn't going out with him already? I told him very plainly that my crush hadn't ask me yet... and the boy that I had seen sing and wrestle told me that I should ask.

Seven years ago today, sitting butt naked, wet, in cold bathwater with the handset to our telephone about to die after a two and a half hour conversation, I asked my crush if he would be my boyfriend.

Seven years ago today I was Helen Bernice Jorg.

Seven years ago today, I was in love.

(skip forward 6 years)

One year ago today, I was busy on the phone, making last minute preparations. I was running in and out of the apartment, I was going here, going there, and I was three steps from crazy. David, Rachel, and Harmony were there and so, Andrew and I got little sleep because she was at the scream constantly phase. I was shaking for most of the day.

One year ago today, I was kicking my boyfriend of 6 years out of my house for the last time.

One year ago today, I went to bed with all girls in my house for the first time in a long time, with my niece and my sister in law in the bed with me.

One year ago today, I was Helen Bernice Jorg.

One year ago today, I was in love.

Today, my father is not in jail and that kid who claimed to be his son is nowhere in our lives.
Today, I am 21 years old and the boy that I watched wrestle and sing is Matt, my brother in law, married to the sister of my heart, Megan, who watched right along with me and never realized she was looking at her future husband.
Today, I am spending the day with the man I adore, who once was a boy who told me he loved me on my first free Halloween.
Today, I am going to make pancakes and take a long, hot bath so I can look happy and clean for pictures. I don't plan on being butt naked and cold, however.
Today, those special girls are over 1000 miles away. I am not shaking, and I have no boyfriend to kick out of my house.

Today, I am Helen Bernice Adami.

Today, I am in love.

Happy Anniversary, Andrew.

NaBloWriMo Day 9: Appreciation

2009-10-09T12:51:00.004-05:00

For those of you just joining me along this trip, this is day 9 of National Blog Writing Month. I've committed myself (yes, finally, off to the Funny Farm for me 8P) to writing here every single day in the month of October.

Whoa, doggy.

So far, so good and today, I have something worthwhile to say. Before I start, though.... I honestly tried, Tooj, I did, I tried reeeaaaly hard to make this shorter. Nothin' doin'.

First, let me ask you something. What do you really, truly appreciate in nature? What are you thankful for when it happens, truly thankful and pleased that it's occurring? What in nature makes you so very, very happy that you want to dance?

Now let me ask you this. What annoys you about nature? What is something, that when it happens, you moan and groan and think to yourself, "Omg, again?" What makes you want to shake your fist at the world and go crawl back into bed?

If you ask most people in many parts of the world, the answer will be, for both questions, RAIN.
RAIN makes full-grown adults want to dance.... or moan and groan. The difference is in location.

I've seen both sides of it now. I grew up in a world where rain came about once every two months, maybe even once a month if we were lucky... and then during monsoon season, a few times a week. When water is rare, it becomes precious. It becomes something wonderful, something joyous and celebratory. I've seen grown men run outside into the rain and stand there, happy as a clam, because it's beautiful, life-giving water. I've done it too... in fact, I've made it a tradition to go outside on the first monsoon rain of the year, and let myself be utterly drenched in the water falling from the sky (followed by a nice, hot shower inside, lol). I missed out on that this year, because we left not even two weeks before the storms came.

And now we're here... and I hate it. I have never, ever, in my 21 years been so tired of rain. I hate it now. I wake up to the sound of it and put my pillow over my head. I go to sleep to the sound of it and sing to Andrew mostly to drown out the constant drumming sound outside. It's been raining for two days...the water on the roads is so heavy that my poor Zedd sways on the way through and I can barely see. The moments where, were I home, I would be laughing, I'm now grumpy-faced along with everyone else.

Example: I was standing in the entrance of Border's today with a gentleman, watching as it poured sheets and sheets of rain outside. We were joined by a lady, and in Tucson, we would have been giddy with the rain. It would have been some bemused laughing, a little disbelief... but an enjoyable outlook. But not these people, not this time or place. I said, with my usual Arizona-brand amazement, "Wow." and the man next to me glared at me and said, "Yeah. Wow." in the most sour, grumpy voice imaginable. The woman looked outside and said, gruffly, "Ugh, I guess we're waiting, then." Both of them, though, felt like nice people. They looked kind, and friendly, and generally good-natured... but the rain turned them crochety in a split second.

What I'm getting at here is this: people who never see it, who never have that precious gift of water learn to appreciate it when it comes to them. People that have it always see it as an inconvience... but in truth, it is a blessing! It's an amazing thing, and it's under-estimated constantly.

I want to go home. I want to go back to the place where water is seen as a miracle, not a curse. Where people feel rain drops and exclaim with excitement, and take their toddlers outside to dance in the pretty, pretty puddles. I want to go back to being grateful for water falling from the sky, back where I hear thunder as I go to bed at night and feel comforted by the knowledge that my world will be green and fresh by the time I wake up, not soggy (and smelling like a fishtank, because FYI, it does).

In my opinion, one cannot appreciate fully that which is always at hand. It's in the absence of a necessity that we truly understand how necessary it is.

NaBloWriMo Day 8: Something New Because I'm Lazy

2009-10-08T09:57:00.004-05:00

Okie doike then, oh random people who are reading my life story via blog! I'm about three steps from tired of this NaBloWriMo thing...but you see, I made a commitment. I won't stop unless it's a dire emergency. More than that, dang it, this is a competition! I may not seem the type, but I hate losing. I hate it. I hate it. I HATE IT.

I've gone too long without breakfast. The temper tantrums are coming back, with the CAPS LOCK key in tow.

So I've decided that today, I'm going to put up a nice little survey. Enjoy :)

100 Fun Questions Survey from Quizopolis.com

Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? - I sleep with them closed... very tightly closed O.o

Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel? - *shifty eyes* Yes, as a matter of fact, I do...

Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out? - We don't use sheets, just a comforter.

Have you ever stolen a street sign before? - It wasn't STOLEN. Dad worked for the trailer court and it wasn't usable anymore...

Do you like to use post-it notes? - Yes! I like the pink ones!

Do you cut out coupons but then never use them? - I see this survey requires honesty. So.... yes.

Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees? - Bees o.o I'm snack-sized for a bear, are you kidding?

Do you have freckles? - Yep, all across my nose, but they're worse in summer.

Do you always smile for pictures? - No, sometimes I take pics of myself and that requires concentration: no smiling!

What is your biggest pet peeve? - At the moment, it's rain. I hate rain.

Do you ever count your steps when you walk? - I used to! I used to count how many it would to take from the cafeteria to the playground in 6th grade

Have you ever peed in the woods? - *crosses out woods and puts desert* Indeed I have.

What about pooped in the woods? - Not in the woods, or the desert, sorry

Do you ever dance even if theres no music playing? - Yes, because I have music in my head.

Do you chew your pens and pencils? - Not anymore, but I used to!

How many people have you slept with this week? - Um, just the usual one, unless there are creepy people sneaking into our house and sleeping with us O.o

What size is your bed? - It's queen-sized. We don't need much more than that.

What is your Song of the week? - "Whispers in the Dark" by Skillet

Is it okay for guys to wear pink? - NO! It's not! It's not a good color for guys, bleck! No!!!

Do you still watch cartoons? - No, I don't watch any tv.

Whats your least favorite movie? - Snakes on a Plane or Napolean Dynamite. I can feel my brain cells die with those pieces of idiocy.

Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some? - Somewhere along the San Pedro.

What do you drink with dinner? - Milk or chocolate milk... or creme soda!

What do you dip a chicken nugget in? - Ketchup, of course!

What is your favorite food? - Hashbrowns!

What movies could you watch over and over and still love? - Fern Gully, Beauty and the Beast, and A Walk To Remember

Last person you kissed/kissed you? - Andrew <3>Were you ever a boy/girl scout? - Yes, I was a Girl Scout. I made it to Junior.

Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine? - If I wasn't married, and if I had the body (and height) for it, yes.

When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper? - Yesterday... I need stamps!!

Can you change the oil on a car? - No, but I can check it and then drive it to WalMart :D

Ever gotten a speeding ticket? - Nope.... no tickets.

Ran out of gas? - Nope.... I pay better attention than that.

Favorite kind of sandwich? - Turkey, bacon, Swiss, sprouts and honey walnut cream cheese on a plain bagel from Bruegger's.

Best thing to eat for breakfast? - Leftovers :D

What is your usual bedtime? - About 9 or 9:30, but not on the weekends.

Are you lazy? - Yes. I am actually very lazy, in my opinion.

When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween? - A princess, a tiger, did a year as the Little Mermaid (not my best idea), a she-devil, a faery...

What is your Chinese astrological sign? - Um.. Dragon?

How many languages can you speak? - I speak English, but I am pretty fluent in American Sign Language

Do you have any magazine subscriptions? - We have GameInformer.

Which are better legos or lincoln logs? - Legos!!

Are you stubborn? - Yeppers, I certainly am and you won't change my mind :P

Who is better...Leno or Letterman? - I don't watch those.

Ever watch soap operas? - I used to when I was little, lol.

Afraid of heights? - Yes.

Sing in the car? - Oh yes... obnoxiously.

Dance in the shower? - Let me think about this... slippery + no balance+ dancing? Do you WANT me to die?

Dance in the car? - No... again, do you want me to die?

Ever used a gun? - Yes, and I hope I never do again.

Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer? - Um. Image Shots for my senior pictures.

Do you think musicals are cheesy? - No, I love them...

Is Christmas stressful? - No, the time UP TO Christmas is!

Ever eat a pierogi? - If I knew what it was, maybe, lol.

Favorite type of fruit pie? - Apple, definitely apple

Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid? - Archaeologist, ballerina, firefighter, author, and interior decorater o.o

Do you believe in ghosts? - Yes.

Ever have a Deja-vu feeling? - Often, actually.

Take a vitamin daily? - No, although I know I should...

Wear slippers? - No, I don\'t even own slippers. I wear flip flops.

Wear a bath robe? - Sometimes, if I feel lazy or cold.

What do you wear to bed? - Not a whole lot, actually :)

First concert? - HANK WILLIAMS JR.!!!!!!!!

Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart? - WalMart :D

Nike or Adidas? - Neither, they're too expensive.

Cheetos Or Fritos? - Cheetos

Peanuts or Sunflower seeds? - Peanuts.

Ever hear of the group Tres Bien? - Yes, but I don't listen to them

Ever take dance lessons? - I had ballet when I was about 7 or so.

Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing? - You mean, is there a future profession I picture my spouse doing? Either the military or law enforcement.

Can you curl your tongue? - *tries* Yuth uh than

Ever won a spelling bee? - No, lol, but I won a geography bee, lol

Have you ever cried because you were so happy? - Of course

Own any record albums? - Nope.

Own a record player? - Nope

Regularly burn incense? - I used to, actually, but now I have a candle warmer

Ever been in love? - Currently, thank you!

Who would you like to see in concert? - Taylor Swift or Dolly Parton

What was the last concert you saw? - HANK WILLIAMS JR.!!!!!!!!

Hot tea or cold tea? - I hate tea.

Tea or coffee? - Coffee! *aches for Starbucks*

Sugar or snickerdoodles? - Snickerdoodles

Can you swim well? - I doggy paddle like a pro, but that's it.

Can you hold your breath without holding your nose? - Yes.

Are you patient? - I try to be, but I know it's all a lie, lol

DJ or band, at a wedding? - DJ, because bands don't know every song.

Ever won a contest? - Yes! I got third place in a Halloween costume contest once

Ever have plastic surgery? - No, and I never will unless it's necessary.

Which are better black or green olives? - Green olives!
Can you knit or crochet? - No, neither.

Best room for a fireplace? - Of course in the living room... but wouldn\'t one be awesome in the bedroom, too?

Do you want to get married? - Not again, no thank you, sorry, beans...

If married, how long have you been married? - One year this Sunday!!

Who was your HS crush? - Andrew <3 style="font-weight: bold;" face="lucida grande">Do you cry and throw a fit until you get your own way? - I can honestly say I have rarely, if ever done that, even when I was a little kid

Do you have kids? - Not yet.

Do you want kids? - Very much so.

Whats your favorite color? - I like pink, green, white and purple :D

Do you miss anyone right now? - Yes. I miss my Ducky, and my Squirt and my SIL very much.

Did you watch, Next Great American Band on FOX? - What part of, "I don't watch TV" did you not understand?

Take This Survey at Quizopolis.com

Also, before I forget, don't forget to stop by MrsB's confessions and look at her latest Halloween Give Aways. Even if you don't like them yourself, they are GREAT Christmas ideas! I've got my eye on the Colonial-style Earbobs from Penniwigs and the Kaleidoscope Kat Halloween Glass Tile Pendant
from Wicked Mama's Emporium.

Go look!!

NaBloWriMo Day 7: Wordless Wednesdays

2009-10-07T11:00:00.009-05:00

I realize this is supposed to be wordless, but I have to tell you... NBWM has made me undyingly grateful for Wednesdays. I don't have to say much!

Halloween!

Ignore the shiny-ness, lol ^^^^^^^

Cobwebs for Halloween!

NaBloWriMo Day 6: A very special post.

2009-10-06T10:55:00.005-05:00

Today is October 6, 2009.

I know for most of the world it's just another day. Some people have anniversaries on this day, some have work, some have a party to go to, some are blogging, or sleeping, or washing clothes... and some people have birthdays on this day.

So I want to tell you about a certain little someone who was born two short years ago today, at 5:00 in the morning, after of night of long and involved labor. Now, I'm sure her mama tells this story differently, but I am Auntie, not Mama, although for a little while I was Mama-Auntie :)

It was about 1:00 in the afternoon on the 5 of October when Andrew and I were told Meg was in the beginning stages of labor. We were also told there was no rush really, but we should get there as soon as possible. At the time we were living in San Manuel, with my parents, with no car, no drivers' licenses, nothing. We called out of work and my mom flew us to Tucson. We went 80, I think, the entire way and someday, my bloggy buddies, I will give you a picture of the curves leading to San Manuel so you can see why 80 was probably a bad idea. But we got there, nonetheless, and Meggy was only just starting.

It was a long night. Mattie was already a week or two late, and as we had told her about 100 times, if she didn't hurry it up, we were coming in after her. Well... we had to go in after her. Meg was given pitocin, which brought on the contractions, which brought on the birth of a beautiful little girl. Now, I was not in the room. There were too many people, too much happening, and I ended up going with Andrew to Steve and Chelsey's to get what sleep we could. Andrew at the time was the asst. manager at Subway and was unable to call off the next day. So, he had to work at 8 am the next morning. We watched a scary movie, Steve, Chels, Ben, Phil, Andrew and I, and I slept on the couch between Andrew and Ben's feet O.o
At about 3 am, we headed back to the hospital to wait for the arrival of a certain little someone, and it was another two, torturous hours before Matt came out, beaming, and sweaty, and beaming, lol and said that she was here and she was beautiful, and that two people could go in at a time.

Andrew's dad was going to take him to work, an hour's drive from Tucson, and come back, so Chip and Andrew went in first. Besides the people in the delivery room (Rita-Meg's mom, Leslie-Matt's mom, Megan and Matt) Andrew was the first person to hold her. All of the boys held her, and we all melted right away. She was amazing, she was beautiful... and she was REAL. I don't think any of us really understood that yet. She was REAL, and she was hungry. But given that my dear sister in law was a 32DD with milk, she wasn't hungry for long.

I came in last, because I wanted everyone to be done with cooing and aww-ing and everything else. If everyone was done, they wouldn't care how much time I spent with her :) I held her last. I cried. I cried as hard as she did, I think, and as she laid there in the little rolling, plastic bassinet, wide awake, totally alert, and completely calm, I tickled her foot.

She kicked me. I tickled her foot again. She kicked me again, and gave me as mean a glare as a 2 hour old baby could muster.

That was two years ago. It was love at first kick, albeit differently for me than for Meg.

Happy birthday, Ducky. I love you as much as if you were my daughter, not my niece. I've loved you from the moment your mom got two lines, not one, and you are more special to me than anything else on this earth. I know that I'm far away, and I know that you might not remember me very much when I come home, but I miss you every second that we're away and I can't wait to see what a big girl you are when we come to visit for Christmas.

Love, Auntnie Helen

NaBloWriMo Day 5: Zedd the Car is Screwed.

2009-10-05T11:35:00.003-05:00

This is new for me.

I am sitting in a coffee shop, with my lovely little laptop in front of me, blogging away. Yes, okay... so what if the coffee shop is Border's? It sells coffee, it has WiFi, it has tables. Ta-da.

I feel very hip and cool today. I'm wearing my favorite baggy brown sweater, I should post a pic one of these days, lol, and my old jeans and the tennies that I had to dig cactus out of to put on this morning, so I look fashionably boho-grunge, LOL, and I'm...

Yeah, who am I kidding? Hip? Not so much on this end.

So it was pretty awesome yesterday. I stopped by NBWM to check out my next blog and there was a post by Not Hannah mentioning me! Me! Of all people! I was pretty excited to see it, I've never been mentioned before. It rocked my world. Thank you, Not Hannah!

I guess I better get this out, because I am about to cry. My car is screwed. Poor Zeddy! There is SO much wrong with him! He's got lots of work and we don't have the lots of money to get it done, but we're doing the brakes (90% used!!), the brake roters and the wheelbearings. It's going to cost us a lovely $675 to get it all done... and that's only a portion. The whole of it would have been closer to $1400, and that's a whole paycheck, so uh... No.

But it has to be done. We simply CANNOT go without brakes. I told Andrew what I had picked for us to get done and he agreed, brakes were a priority. I just wish it wasn't soo sooooo much.

This might be either a very lame or a very non-existant Halloween party :(

I need more coffee.

And maybe a nap.

I'm off to the bathroom, Halloween Express, and the rest of the mall for a while. Window shopping and people watching, ahoy!

NaBloWriMo Day 4: Also Cholla... Choy yuh :)

2009-10-04T09:22:00.007-05:00

I'm sitting here trying to think of all the things I want to say to you and... I've got nothin'.

I mean, I have stuff to say but I don't really want to write it. What I want to do is go curl right back up in bed where it's warm and snuggly and not get out. Oh, and bring Andrew with me, dang it, because then it's even more warm and snuggly, the man's like a danged heater.

I am sitting here, and I am cold. I don't know that temperature is inside but says that it's 51 outside. I wonder if these people that live in Tennessee all the time realize that 51 degrees Fahrenheit is WINTER in my world. This is not FALL. This is WINTER. It's a beautiful 62 in Tucson, kinda chilly, but by noon it will be in the 80's or 90's The high for Clarksville?

Mid-60's.

Someone please take me home. I'll hug a freaking saguaro at this point, just get me back to Tucson!!! For those of you Eastern people or even those not American people who do not know what a saguaro, I shall post a picture. THAT, the huge green thing Rachel and I are standing next to, is a saguaro cactus. They live hundreds of years and they get as tall as trees, although in my mind, trees get as tall as saguaros. *EDIT: for further reference on the size of this ancient old man, I am 5 feet, 3 inches tall. It takes about 50 years for a saguaro to reach 4 feet tall, and another 50 to 60 for every arm. Consider this one's age.*

Also, say this with me now:

Suh wah row... or, with my accent, Suh wore roh.

In the words of my mother, "Ya did good, kid."

Um, there's not much else I can tell you. Tomorrow, we are taking Zedd to the shop to get him the works. Zedd is our car, so named for his AZ license plate, which was something or other ZDD. Yes, I still know it. No, I won't tell you. His name is Zedd, named so well for his license plate AND the remarkable Zeddicus Z'ul Zorander of the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.

AMAZING SERIES. Simply awesome.

But taking Zedd to Firestone is going to be the highlight of my day. He's in desperate need. Lots of squeaking and clunking and chug-a-lugging going on, and none of it's good, let me tell you. Dad's pretty sure, from my expert impressions of noises and symptoms, that it's the timing belt, possibly a spark plug, and maybe the catalytic converter. I was supposed to check the amount of heat coming into the converter and the amount coming out. They needed to be the same or the converter was probably plugged, and that can lead to blown heads.

Blown head gaskets = MEGA BUCKS to fix.

Andrew made me scrambled eggs this morning. I asked him to, because we have two dozen eggs in there that need eating immediately. Andrew also made me chocolate milk this morning, and I didn't ask him to. He just wanted to hear me say he was wonderful again.

Andrew, you're wonderful!!!

I am so done for the day. Off to other NBWM posters.

Toodles.

NaBloWriMo Day 3: Cobwebs! Must have cobwebs!

2009-10-03T09:37:00.006-05:00

So last night, Andrew and I went out to eat, but the conversation deciding such things went like this.

Andrew: What's for dinner tonight?

Me: I dunno, it's Friday.

Andrew: Oh... well, maybe we could go eat somewhere.

Me: Maybe, yeah.

*Andrew sits down at the table with me. I am still chatting away on IMVU*

Me: Let's go out to eat. I REALLY don't feel like cooking.

Andrew: Okay.... Are you asking me on a date?

Me: *giggles* Sure. *puts on sexy voice* Hey there, hottie, what say you and me get outa here and go eat?

Andrew: *laughs* O.K, love. Where do you wanna go?

Me: *same sexy voice* I was thinkin'... Arby's.

Follow this with utter cracking up, and me having to BRB on IMVU because I can't type, I'm laughing too hard.

Me: Isn't it the guy that's supposed to suggest fast food for a date?

Andrew: Yes, and sometimes, love, you make me wonder with the things you say!

Me: Like what? What do you mean? Wonder what?

Andrew: *still laughing like a hyena* Sometimes I feel like checking my chest, like "Okay, I don't have boobs, I'm still the guy here right??" Because there are days, hun...

Me: *not laughing now* I'm...sorry...... *pause* We can still go to Arby's, right?

Andrew: *more laughing reminiscent of hyenas*

The worst part? That's a usual conversation for us. A little dumb, some laughing, and maybe a fake insult one way or the other and then we go on our merry way.

So, during this lovely trip to Arby's, which then became a trip to a store called Hastings, and then GameStop, I asked him what he would think about having a get together for Halloween. A costume party, since that's how grown-ups celebrate Halloween, right? Instead of trick-or-treating, they go to "costume parties". Yeah. But I want to do SOMETHING. I love Halloween, it's right up there with Valentine's Day and Christmas. Andrew shocked the beans out of me by saying that yes, he'd like to do something like that.

Not, "If you want to, love." Or even, "I guess we could." Not even the patented, "Whatever you want to do, my love."

It was a full-fledged, "That sounds like it would be fun. I'd like that."

I about wet myself.

So, we're going to have a Halloween party! It's not going to be very big, though. I'm thinking mostly his friends from his unit, Camp and Teresa, Eirich (that's Jeff, if any of you are wondering from previous posts, I've given up on not using last names). So... Stone, Coward, Young and his wife, Morgan, Sgt. Porter maybe, with his wife, Hearn and his wife, and yeah, that's about it.

But my house is not Halloweeny!! I need cobwebs, STAT! I'm thinking cobwebs on the fan, in the hallway, on the standing lamps... hang a few bats from the ceiling, oh and some webs on all the doors, especially into the utility room O.O! I can make it look like no one ever goes in there! Pumpkins in strategic places, some more leaves, skulls... oh, and lots of candles, too :)

AND CANDY!!!!

I'm so excited now! *rushes off to Halloween Express for goodies*

NaBloWriMo Day 2: My handsome husband...

2009-10-02T10:20:00.004-05:00

... and his wrinkled pants.

Please ignore said wrinkles. Wifey cannot accomplish everything, you know. Not after picking up his jump boots (not pictured, he drove to work in flip flops because he didn't want to scuff those darn boots), buying various gadgets like single ribbon backers and blousers, and having his rank sewn ever so expertly onto his shoulders while I waited. Add this to baking an emergency casserole in less than two hours, looking well-dressed and pretty at a surprise potluck after baking aforementioned casserole, doing what looked like 3 days worth of dishes, getting 4 hours of sleep for some ungodly reason I have not yet been able to fathom, lacing those same stupid boots, and various other details that my handsome husband forgot....

Yeah. Screw the wrinkles.

But he is handsome, isn't he? *is head over heels and rather disgustingly in love*

<3

In other news, today is the second day of NaBloWriMo and so far so good. I'm starting to realize that I have plenty to say and no one to say it to. I'm also starting to realize that I may take a mini siesta from some of the things in which I am enrolled...

But not today! Today I have to tell you about the awesome, amazing, active Halloween Give Away at Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom. She's got a link to a shop called Custom Zombie and there are some wonderful Halloweeny things to check out there. Also, a few things I saw mentioned Cthulu, which has a Munchkin game based on it... anyway. GO LOOK!!!

Not to mention, me telling you to go look is one more entry for moi :)

Andrew is taking me out on a date tonight, and rubbing my feet, in exchange for all the beans worth of crap I did yesterday. Awesome AND handsome. Oh yeah.

NaBloWriMo Day 1: Halloween Give-Away... and stuff

2009-10-01T08:44:00.007-05:00

GO HERE FOR AN AWESOME HALLOWEEN GIVE-AWAY

Mrs. B's 31 Days of Halloween Give-Away and her blog, Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom

It's pretty cool, she's got some amazing things there. My mom in law would be enthralled with her portion on Domestic Witchery. And I have tears in my eyes because I was laughing so hard at her cat, Tanner. It reminds me of all those lovely years when my Diddles was young and frisky. (She is no longer young, or frisky, or mine. I had to leave her when Andrew and I got our own place, because a $350 deposit for a cat that pees everywhere is not reasonable when you work in food service -_-)

So, as for the rest of my blog today, let me tell you a little about what's going on.

Today is the first day of October and October is National Blog Writing Month. Me and some other awesome bloggers have decided to dedicate a piece of our day, every day to a post here in honor of NaBloWriMo. Yeah, say that again and see who stares at you, it's a doozy, but it's a bean better than typing the whole thing out.

Military life and blogging: the two fastest ways known to womankind to induce compulsive acronym-making.

But seriously, it's gonna be quite the struggle, and I think I can do it. I'm on here pretty much every day anyway, I just need to remember to blog something. The toughest days are going to be the 10th and 11th, though, because those are the days I celebrate with Andrew for:

The day I asked him out.
The day he said yes.
The day we were married.

But that does give me an idea. Maybe I will type up the whole story for you and just post it that morning, so I don't have to worry about not spending time with my hubby on our 1 year/ 7 years anniversary :)

That would totally count. You cannot dissuade me of this. IT COUNTS IT COUNTS IT COUNTS!!!

I need a nap. I'm starting to throw temper tantrums again. I was up, and I mean WAY up, at about 4:00 this morning because I heard sirens wailing in the distance. I never really understood that saying, "sirens wailing", until this morning. Laying there, half asleep as I was, they really did sound mournful and lonely and like they were, well... wailing. They also sounded awfully long and close, which freaked me out. This is Tennessee, but they've said a few times that there have been tornados here. In fact, it's happened once already, there were sightings on Post. ON POST.

I can walk to post.

Granted, that's just one side. But still, that's much too close and Teresa asks me, "Didn't you hear the siren? I was here (and her 'here' is a 15 min drive from my 'here') and I heard them." We had heard sirens, but they sounded like police cars to me, because they apparently have much longer, drawn out ones here, so we didn't pay any attention, just kept on with our doings. I was terrified that last night was the same thing, those police cars were the tornado sirens on post, and we were going to be brutally swept away from our own bed and never even know!! I was determined to know, I guess, since I couldn't sleep after that. Andrew's alarm went off at 4:30 and I got up with him. It is now 9:30 am and I am not sleepy yet.

Yet, mind you. Yet.

He had road guard duty this morning, which meant he reported, put on an ugly orange vest, and stood in the middle of the road while other soldiers ran past him so as to keep stupid, not fully awake drivers from hitting any of them while they did PT. In other words, he was a traffic cop in Soldier's clothing. <3>

Btw, I ordered take-out Chinese food for the first time ever last night. I'm gonna keep the boxes if I can hide them from Andrew. O.o

Wordless Wednesdays: 1,640 miles away

2009-09-30T10:52:00.004-05:00

The Lovely Blog Award!

2009-09-29T10:46:00.001-05:00

I'm so excited! My blog... this goofy little thingy here... got an award!

*dances around her living room to Mary Chapin Carpenter*

An award, and award, and award! It's called the Lovely Blog Award! It looks like this:

It was sent to me by the fantastic Anitra of If Mama Ain't and I was one of 15 winners.

And so, since I have been awarded said award, I must now go and award this award to other people who are most deserving... of this award!

(I'm totally obsessed with the word today, lol)

Now, I'm supposed to choose 15 more, but I don't have that many blogs followed yet! So, I'm taking looks at lots of other blogs and seeing who's got what going on. I've added quite the number! I can't wait to dive right into all of them, too :D

So, here's as many awards as I can muster:

Blessed Quiver
Circling the Square Table
Clover Lane
Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom
Faith. Hope. Love.
In His Hands.
Incense and Ankle Bells
Lauren and Will
Life of a Domestic Diva
Life with Kaishon
Simply Arizona
The Lilac Grove
Thinking Out Loud

Congrats, everyone. I think you're awesome!

Good Morning, Helen-nam.

2009-09-28T12:50:00.002-05:00

I have come to a conclusion.

Another one, yes. I do seem to come to them often, and it's starting to annoy me, because not only do I come to them, I usually don't see them right away and end up tripping over them, everything goes flying... it's a mess.

This conclusion didn't trip me, though. It stopped me right in my tracks and made me want to run back inside.

You see, my life began in a hospital who's air conditioning sucked and the weather outside was a bright and shiny 105 in the shade. I was MEANT for warmth. Today is not so warm. Let me explain how this conclusion stopped me. I was walking very calmly out of my door in my short-sleeved white shirt and my khaki capris, the usual flip flops on my feet, with my laundry basket in hand. I opened my front door and dropped the basket, grabbed my brown sweater, the one that has gotten me through about 7 or 8 Tucson winters with no problem. It was rather nipply out there, as my loving husband would say.

Armed with my sweater, I figured I would be fine. I should have known better given the ridiculous amount of goosebumps on my legs before I left the doorstep. I continued walking to the laundry and all of a sudden, this.... WIND comes swooshing up and smacks me in the face so hard it took my breath away AND IT WAS COLD!!! It came right through my trusty sweater, right through my t-shirt and wham, I was shivering like a scared chihuahua in seconds. I had to brace myself not to go back in the house, put on a sweatshirt and jeans and THEN come back out.

I have been cold before. I have spent nights in the Arizona desert without a heater. I have spent one long night in a bed in a hotel without heat at Ft. Knox in January (with all my clothes on, and I do mean ALL of them).

My conclusion:

I am not built for Tennessee weather. I don't have thick-enough blood. This lead me to another conclusion.

I'm not leaving my bed until June of 2010. Sorry, everyone. It's for my own safety.

Pics of cute kids.

2009-09-26T12:46:00.016-05:00

The title says it all. They're too cute to pass up, lol.

So, first we have the kids I've adopted as my nieces and nephew, the way I was adopted by their mom and aunts and grandma as family, too. They are Megan's oldest sister's children. This is Cora, she's 9:
This is Makaila, or just Kaila, and she's almost 7:

And finally,Robert, who goes by Bubba. He just turned 6:
Btw, Kaila and Bubba are only 10 1/2 months apart, lol, so yes, they are both 6 right now:

I also adopted Megan's little sister's son as my nephew. His name is Maurice, but we call him Moe. He'll be 3 in July:

We also have the daughter of my friend David, whom I've known since we were about 7 years old, also my adoptive niece, Harmony. She turns 2 in June.

Then of course, Mattison, my lovely little ducky, who is turning 2 in just about a week and a half:

and finally, Masen! He's due mid-February:

(Btw, that is Megan's tummy close to the end of her 5th month)

My super hero power is... bird control! No, no, j/k...

2009-09-24T09:05:00.004-05:00

Here I am, once again. It seems as though I have been blogging more and more lately... Not that this is a bad thing, but I have noticed that most of our towels are dirty, so maybe it's not exactly an awesome thing either? In any case, there's plenty of time for me to get everything done in one day. If God expected us to need more than 24 hours, He would have given us more than 24 hours. Then again, when Mary got to heaven after raising however many children including Jesus, God probably got an earful of just how many hours she actually needed, but by then it was too late. People were too used to the 24 hour thing for Him to change it.

Sorry, I was waxing philosophical for a moment there.

As I was saying, I'm blogging again, but I am blogging for a very good reason. I am going to tell you my super power. Now, do keep in mind that said super power would not be this if I were living happily back in the Sonoran desert where I belong, with all of my friends and family within reasonable driving distance. Oh, and yes, before I forget and go on and on, this Writers' Workshop was found, as usual, on Blessed Quiver, who is today the Blog of the Day for SITS. By the way, I JUST joined SITS, pretty awesome, definitely exciting, totally avoiding laundry...
Michelle at Blessed Quiver got her prompts from Mama Kat at Mama's Losin' It.

1) If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
2) Moxie is defined as the ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage; bold energy. Describe a time when you showed moxie.
3) Write a poem about a loved one who has shown you moxie. What have you learned from them?
4) If you were a super hero, what would your super power be and why?
5) A superhero can save you from what ails you....what is your request?

I chose two. Yes, I know... only ONE, Helen, but I needed to do two. First of all, I will tell you my super power. It is *drum roll* Instant Teleportation!!

With this amazing, wonderful, awesome, stupendous, fabulous, exotic, and slightly creepy super power, I would be able to go where I wanted, when I wanted, for the price I wanted (read: FREE) and of course, by holding someone's hand, they could come with me. This would mean that we could have said YES on the invitation I got from Mypunchbowl.com this morning for Ducky's second birthday, instead of no, which I cried over. we could have been in the room looking at our baking nephew's little boy parts instead of hearing it over the phone. We could be in Sedona for Thanksgiving and back home in time for Andrew to go to PT the next morning, in Tucson for Christmas and New Years', in Tucson for the birth of Masen Gabriel Adami (found out this morning, middle name is Gabriel) in Chandler for Amy's wedding, in San Manuel for whatever else we could think of to celebrate...

Not to mention, Greece, Egypt, Germany, Alaska... everywhere we want to go and can't afford, all we would need was hotel and food money. We could even take the bird, I'd just have to hold the cage!

Instant teleportation to anywhere I could think of... as long as we didn't get caught by Custom's officials in other countries. That could be bad.
"How'd you get here?"
O.o "We teleported."
"ARREST THEM! THEY LIE!!!"
Yeah. Bad.

And the second prompt I chose goes to someone that is not only my best friend, she is my sister in law. Not only is she my sister in law, but she is also, in every way but blood, my sister. Megan has inspired me, angered me, annoyed me, loved me, helped me, and drunk coffee with me for 7 years this August. I wrote this poem about her in 11th grade, when we sat side by side in Mrs. Hawk's Honors English class. Bear with me... I just realized that it kinda sucks.

"Megan"

Small as a hummingbird
Strong as a tornado
Stubborn like a mule
A living journal of my life
On whom I can weep, lean, depend
My confidante, my sister
My very best friend

The letter of the day is M...

2009-09-23T17:55:00.003-05:00

This is just a quick update, nothing long, with a piece of wonderful news!

My sister in law, if I haven't mentioned it, currently has baby number two in the oven and we've been waiting a while now to see whether it's going to be a blue blankie or a pink one that the munchkin is lain on in the hospital.

So Meg found out today! But she didn't tell me, Mattison, my precious little ducky niece, did. Megan says to her, "Tell Auntie what we're having, Mattie." Ducky goes, "AUNTIE!!" There's laughter on the other end of the line, sounds like Matt and maybe Megan's mom, Rita, and Megan tries again, "Say what it is, Mattie, go ahead." Mattie's little voice comes on, shy this time, and I could hear her smiling, "A broooother."

I have a nephew!! Or well, I have a nephew in the making, I suppose. His name is going to be Masen. That makes their family complete, with Matt, Megan, Mattison, and Masen Adami.

Also, I was requested by a certain soldier to post this picture. He says he looks big and tough. This is from Christmas of 2008.

I am so not ready for this.

2009-09-22T09:04:00.014-05:00

Today at two of the seven or so blogs that I frequent, they are posting along the lines of something called a blog carnival, which is apparently where you blog about a specific theme and then link to the original site. After that, you go and check out other blogs and see if you can't find someone you like :D So, although the topic is a little tricky for me, I'm going to put my own spin on it and do it anyway. I love reading other blogs, and I would love to have other blogs reading me! (and then at the end of this, separated by a bold line, will be the other thing I was planning to blog about this morning)

The site for the links to this carnival is called Mayhem and Moxie:

Of course, I also saw it at Blessed Quiver. I see everything there. I honestly don't know what I would do in this great, big blogosphere without Michelle's blog. Lose my mind and never have any readers, maybe... might do that anyway...

Onwards! The topic is vacation. That's where it gets tricky. I've never really been on a vacation. I've traveled to see Andrew at various times, but never really had a "vacation". I've decided, though, that Maryland and my four day weekend there is probably the best bet. Here are the choices:

1) The most outrageous person you met while traveling.
2) The best (or worst) hotel you ever stayed in.
3) Someone on your trip who saved the day.
4) The weight you gained while on vacation.
5) The book that made your vacation endurable.

I chose the first one, and yes, I have pictures. I will even start you off with one.

That is the most interesting person I met on my trip to Maryland. I went there, btw, to see Andrew while he was in AIT. This was at the end of May, the 22nd through the 26th, and I had not seen him since January. It was... a strange experience seeing him again, touching him again, after so many months especially knowing that the Army had definitely changed him. Not in a bad way, but he was certainly a different man than the one I married. It wasn't easy, but we managed to pick up right where we left off. Most of our days were spent in the hotel watching episodes of Heroes, trying local diners, or meeting his friends
from training but one Memorial Day, we decided to have a little adventure. We were staying in Aberdeen, Maryland but not far away was a town called Havre de Grace which was right on the edge of the Chesapeake Bay: my largest body of water seen to date. It was all very beautiful, but for someone from Arizona who doesn't know how to do anything more that doggy paddle like a drowned rat, standing on the dock where that picture was taken was rather... unnerving.

But let me tell you about that interesting fellow up there. If you haven't guessed it by now, he's wax. Yeah. We went to apparently a world renowned museum full of wooden ducks and a couple of guys like him. It was literally the Duck Museum and it was wild. There were videos on how to carve decoy ducks, decoy swans, decoy everything... there was an entire section on what kind of guns were used to kill ducks after they were tricked back in the day and one of them was a good 4 feet taller than Andrew O.O BIG GUNS for LITTLE DUCKS. Crazy, just... wild. So yes, we spent a good portion of our adventure in that museum, looking at various kinds of wooden ducks. I have to tell you, the craftsmanship that went into those evil little decoys is amazing. I can't even begin to explain it and yes, the museum cost about $7 per person to get in and was a little bit weird... but go. You'll learn something you never thought you'd learn about little wooden ducks. And possibly, as I did, you'll learn that wax figures creep you the hell out. As do really big ducks made out of wood... I also learned that if I ask really nicely, my husband will not only stand for a goofy picture, he'l take one of you too!

____________________________________________________________________________________

So my other item today is that in about 10 minutes, I am going to get in the shower, wash my hair, dry it, do my make-up, get dressed and go to the most terrifying thing I have ever faced:

An Army Barbecue.
In a park.
With ALL of the people Andrew works with... and their families.
Yes, you heard me. Families. As in, WIVES.
ARMY WIVES.

I am so not ready for this.

That's all I have time to say. I will be snapping pictures in between fending off demons. Wish me luck. Wish me a good hair day. Wish me no appetite and no bloating.

In fact, don't wish.

Pray.

Interview that borders on Myspace survey O.o

2009-09-18T10:29:00.006-05:00

This is an interview with myself, which was posted by my lovely blog-friend Michelle. She originally took it from a lady who's blog is named Date Girl Diaries. I have nooo idea where she got it from, and I have nooo desire to keep going back to the beginning with it!

Without further ado, my Myspace survey... uh, I mean, my interview with myself. :D

1. What is your favorite item of clothing?

The faux-jean skirt I kidnapped from my gramma when she was still alive. She got it at Walmart and I never gave it back... and by the time I intended to, she was gone. I love it, because it's swirly and comfy and long and it makes me think of her.

2. What are your biggest obsessions?

IMVU is definitely my biggest obsession. Never heard of it? Good, keep it that way. YOU WILL BE CONSUMED!

3. Who inspires you?

Andrew, my husband, inspires me to be a good wife. I want to be and do everything I can to help him, to make him happy, and to love him. My cousins Cassie and Dani inspire me, in their love for God and the devotion to the Word, and in Dani's not having yet gone nuts with two babies and two more baking and a husband and a job and a house and church... *whew*. The women whose blogs I read daily, every last one of them. My mother, oddly enough, inspires me in a twisted way. She makes me not want to end up like her.

4. Who is your favorite designer and why?

Favorite designer...hmm...NOT the Army? No, I actually really like the Apt 9 line of stuff from Kohl's. Does that count?

5. What is your favorite song ever?

Drops of Jupiter by Train. I could listen to that song for an eternity and still love it.

6. What is your favorite song now?

Down At The Twist and Shout by Mary Chapin Carpenter. It makes me happy.

7. If you were a sweetie what would you be?

My husband. He's a sweetie 8)

8. ROGBIV--What words would you use to describe your rainbow?

Roy G. Biv which stands for Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

9. What are your favorite films?

A Walk To Remember
Troy
Beauty and the Beast
Poltergiest
Ferris Buehler's Day Off

I just listed one of pretty much every genre, didn't I? LOL

10. Who is your favorite actor?

Will Smith

and my favorite actress is probably, right now, Emmy Rossum.

11. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?

And by golly, I would jump down and RUN the 15 miles to my parents house! I would, oh I really, really would...

12. What are you three favorite smells?

Okay, here's a weird one for you:
I love the way my husband smells when he's in between clean and dirty. Not just after a shower, he smells like Axe. Not when he's nasty, he smells like sweat. But when it's a been a boring day and he's done nothing... it's very unique and it's very masculine and... yeah, I just do. Call me crazy :P

Also, kitten breath

And lasagna.

Oh yeah.

13. What are you three favorite tastes?

Chocolate.
Creme Soda.
I'm also rather fond of caramel...

14. What is your most treasured possession?

My pictures. All of them. I have so many, but each of them can make me smile or cry or wonder what the heck I was thinking. They're all so many memories, and I can't imagine not having them.

15. What did you always want to be/do when you grew up?

For a long time, I wanted to be an archaeologist, until I figured out it wasn't all digging in the dirt with make-up brushes. :(

16. If you were an ice cream flavor what would you be?

Butter pecan. Creamy, and nummy, and a little crunchy.

17. If someone made a short film about your life, who would play you?

Natalie Portman, and I have to tell you, it wouldn't be short. And if she didn't, then give me a lesson and put me on screen, because I play myself perfectly.

18. What would your perfect afternoon consist of?

Hiking through Sedona with Andrew and then heading back to out tent to... build a camp fire o.O

19. If you were a flower what would you be?

A daisy, one of the little wild weedy ones that are white and perfect on top and rich purple underneath. You have to get past what you see at first to get to all of the niceness of it... and you maybe have to flick off a piss ant, too...

20. Tell me one random thing...be it your favorite line from a song, scene from a movie or quote from a book...or tell me about something you love.

In order to appreciate the absence of pain, the absence of trials, or trouble, or heartache, you have to feel it first.

I have decided...

2009-09-17T11:32:00.001-05:00

I'm going to change the name of this from the Adamis to

ONE LONG BORING BLOG ABOUT BEING BORING

Oy.

Why are all my posts long?? I'm sorry :(

2009-09-17T09:42:00.005-05:00

I never thought that I would be in this place again. This place that is somewhere between hungry and okay, between having just enough and not having any at all. I thought that when I moved out for the second time, when I started living on my own and buying my own groceries and living supplies, that it wouldn't happen anymore and that even if it did, it would only be for a day or two, until I could go shopping and in that mean time, there was a McDonalds or a Taco Bell or something else nearby.

You see, my childhood was an odd one. My life started out as the daughter of a copper miner, a journeyman mechanic at was once the most productive copper mine in the world. See that penny from the 70's in your hand? Yeah, that copper probably came from the ground just outside of my quaint little hometown. My grandfather, my father, my uncle, and every other male in that town over the age of 18 worked in the life-giving Magma copper mine. Look it up. There's a book called Mother Magma and it will tell you everything, if I could just remember the author's name. Something Hispanic... anyway. But that's where my life was from 4 months old til I was about 8 or 9. We lived in a well-kept 2 bedroom house on a quiet street in a town of about 4500 ppl, a quintessential Mayberry. The yard was green, we knew all of our neighbors all the way down either side of the street by name, and the elementary school I went to was only a block away. To the left when you exited the front door, we had Rudy, Esmeralda, Rudy, and Inis. The next house was my mother's older brother, my uncle Timmy and his family, Aunt Belinda, Buddy Dave, Dougy, and Cody. If you kept going down that way, you'd get to a dead end turn that led you up another street to the left and if you turned right onto Ave B, you would get to my grandparents house and across from them, my mother's little sister, Aunt Cindy and whatever boyfriend she had at the time, and her youngest son, Austin. Everyone I wanted, needed, cared about was right there within less than a half mile of my house, my bedroom. It was wonderful.

First, and this is important, there was one bar in San Manuel, Arizona, and I don't remember the name of it then, but it might have been called The Place (very creative, these miners, I tell you... guess what the high school mascot was? Can you? Yep, you're right. The Miners -_-). My Aunt Cindy worked there, and she was very good at it. She was also a 5'7" blond, blue-eyed Barbie doll in those days, so you know...

Anyway, one day, and being as young as I was, I don't really remember the whole story, but my dad got caught with a power tool that he was not allowed to take home in his lunchbox. Now, from what I've gathered over the years, this was a very heavy power tool, but I also remember not being able to lift my dad's lunchbox ever, empty or full, and I can't say as he would have noticed the difference either, but I don't know. Another thing is that he kept it in his truck the whole time, and so after lunch wouldn't have lifted it until he got home. Well, as he went through the gates one day, the guard (by the way, my grandmother was a guard at one of the other gates, he should have gone to that one) said that he had to search my dad's truck. This was highly unusual, my dad had been working there for 8 years and had never been searched for anything, let alone by a gate guard (who, if my 60-some year old grandmother could do it, was not that cool, really). The man opened my dad's lunchbox and found, lo and behold, a very expensive, very NOT my dad's, power tool. I think it was some kind of drill, might even have been a Makita, and if you're familiar, Makita drills are downright awesome... and downright expensive, too. To make a long story short, my dad was accused of stealing it. There were trials, lawyers, and because my dad had refused to join the Union there, ppl were against him. More than that, my dad can be, pardon my language, an asshole. He had enemies, and it was obvious, because my dad was fired. My mother stayed at home. She sold Avon, she cleaned the house, she took care of me and it was happy... but then she had to find a job and she had to leave me with a man that, because of his work, I didn't really know very well. I stopped having birthday parties that year, and I don't think my dad was ever at any of them anyway.

So my mom got a job...but my mom has no high school diploma. She doesn't even have a GED, so she worked as a waitress in a small town Mexican food restaurant and brought my churros every night that no one wanted to eat. God, I love churros. I want one now :( This was in 1996 to 1997. We lived out of meager savings for a while, but my parents had been the average American family: they had money and they used it. I remember the day our brand new white Ford truck was towed away. I watched from inside the screen door and I cried because, even at 8 years old, I knew what was happening. I watched us have yard sales... I watched the food in the house dwindle to almost nothing and I wondered what was going to happen next. Pretty soon, my parents had to make a decision. We were being kicked out of the house that they were renting to own, the only house that I really remembered living in (the one before, we'd moved out when I was 3 and 1/2, so yeah). They bought a trailer in the "new" trailer park (it was built in the 70's as opposed to the old one, built in the 50's) for $2000, pretty much all they had left. The roof leaked, the floor was rotting, and if you layed an egg on the end of the counter, it would roll into the sink. I had a lot of fun with that counter. It had 10 year old swamp cooler on top, and no heater whatsoever.

Dad fixed it as best he could and we moved in. In the windowsill of my tiny bedroom, the one that I did my best to personalize, the one that my cat gave birth in, the one that at one point housed Andrew and I for over a year, there is a tiny engraving. It says, Helen Bernice Jorg Dec. 1997 and then the little symbol I had come up with for my name. It's still there and sometimes it can make me cry. I lived in that house with my parents, a potbelly pig, a bird, a dog, a cat, and three-four fish for 10 years. A decade.

Dad could never hold a job after that. Something always went wrong, or he opened his mouth at the wrong time... there was always something. Mom eventually got a job at Minit Market and it payed a little more. It's the only thing that kept us fed, kept us clothed, funded my years as a wrestling cheerleader and my years of driving to see Andrew every weekend. I didn't understand how she did it back then...but I remember the first 4 years or so. They were hard years. Dad was in and out of jail, but that's a story for another time, and at 9 years old, I learned how to stay home alone. We had no choice. By then, my uncle and aunt had both moved away, and my grandparents with them. We had no money for a sitter for a girl that could take care of herself anyway. Dad showed me how to shoot the .22 we kept in the bedroom and how to take it down if I had to. Mom told me to call her before I attempted to use the stove. I remember being 10 years old, standing in front of a gas stove, making myself fried Spam and noodles for dinner as my mom gave me a hug and left for work.

But that was on a good day. On a bad day, there would be a small pot of buttered noodles on the stove to fill three people. Dad was dad... he ate a lot even on his least hungry days. I knew that. Mom worked... she needed all the strength she could get and strength came from eating well. I knew that, too. So I took smaller portions, enough to keep my stomach from growling and bugging me, but not enough to fill me up. Besides, I figured I had a free lunch and a free breakfast as school every day, why should I take food away from my parents, who got nothing except what my mom was able to steal during the day and pay for when her check came in? And then on the worst days, the ones in summer, when Mom had very little hours and Dad was home, we didn't have dinner. We had maybe some popcorn that we found at the back of the cabinet, or I would use my baby sitting money to buy a few packages of Ramen for the house, but that was all we had. Those were the nights when I couldn't sleep because I was too hungry, so I'd get up and drink some water and go back to bed, get up drink some water, go back to bed... and then peed like crazy the next morning.

*Edit* I told you to remember the bar, but I never brought it back up. I was too swamped in my own hungry misery, I suppose... but Aunt Cindy worked at that bar and she was a great waitress, a great bartender, and a great source of information. About a year after we moved into the trailer, she was working there at the bar and talking to some guy that we all knew. He had worked with my dad. He had hated my dad, hated him for his pretty wife and cute kid, hated him for getting the journeyman job, hated him, hated him. My aunt found this out and came to us crying one day, because this man admitted while he was blind drunk to her that he had put that drill in my dad's lunchbox and then told the guards at the gate to check, knowing what gate my dad went to every day, knowing that he left his lunchbox in the truck after lunch because they ate together every day. But because he was drunk and my aunt was known as a whore, the confession wouldn't hold up in court. And pardon my language, but I have to tell you this the way it is. My dad beat the holy living shit out of that man about a week later after confronting him and getting another admittance and a sneer in the face. I should tell you more about my dad. He's wild. Now, continue...

The point of this post is that's where 10 years of my life was spent, that in-between spot of hungry and not hungry. I didn't want to come back here. I promised myself I never would, even if it meant flipping burgers for the rest of my life, I never never would, not after living with them the last time.

But here I am. And I caught myself doing the same old thing last night with dinner, and today as well: I'm drinking water to stay full because I know that Andrew is the one working and Andrew is the one that needs his strength. I can lay in bed all day, I can sit around and do nothing and keep my strength up. But he's got physical training, and a demanding job, and hundreds of other things, like dealing with Jeff the Jerk all day. It's like when I do laundry: his work clothes first. I can run around the house butt naked with the blinds closed, I don't need clean clothes, lol... him, not so much.

The problem was that they messed up the account number. They added 4 digits at the end where they didn't belong and so, nothing came to us. They put in the change yesterday, but Andrew went back to check today and it hasn't gone through yet. Until it goes through, he can't apply for what they call Casual Pay, which is money from our check sent between paydays to help out. If we get that, we'll get it sometime next week. If we don't, we should get October first's pay, along with all of September's pay, on the first of Oct. Until then, I guess I'm in this place again, but as with all things, it's only temporary. Only temporary.

An epiphany that we can't afford.

2009-09-15T14:36:00.003-05:00

A little while ago today, I had what some people would call an epiphany. That's very likely the right term for it, too, and now, looking back, I wonder that I didn't see it before. I started with the usual little kid, When I Grow Up dreams... a ballerina, a firefighter, an archaeologist (okay, maybe not THAT usual) and moved on when I realized that I liked helping people to a nurse, a psychiatrist, and a teacher. The last one is the one that stuck with me. In high school, I didn't know what I wanted and because I enjoyed English so much, as well as working with people younger than me, I made up my mind to be an English teacher. It was a good plan. My English teacher was thrilled with the idea, lol, and I was going to settle for it.

That was my first mistake: settling.

I worked from my 7th grade year as a Vacation Bible School helper every year until I graduated high school. I loved the little kids, and I eventually found myself working in the church nursery for a little cash every week. I did that for several years and during those years, I got to take care of and play with children ages 0 to 5, as well as babysitting that I did on the side. I loved it. I adored the babies and I worked with the kids, and I just enjoyed sitting and watching them play sometimes. Other times, I wanted to beat my head against a wall and duck tape them to the roof... but that's how life is with preschoolers, lol.

After high school, Andrew and I moved in together. We got jobs, we moved on with life... and I missed working with children. I missed it so, so terribly, but there were no opportunities around for me to rectify the situation until we moved in with my parents again. We coached jr. high wrestling and the girls' wrestling team as well, and I loved it. I loved the fact that my husband to be willingly tossed me around like a rag doll and willingly allowed his younger brothers to do the same to prove that if I, a girl who usually showed up in skirts with make up and curled hair, could be flung this way and that, so could they, by golly. And of course, we were working with kids, so both of us were incredibly happy.

Life goes on, and the motherhood ache started right about then, so... maybe in about the end of 2007 to the start of 2008. It had always been present, but that's when it starting biting me in the... uterus, as it were, lol...

As I've gotten older, I've come to realize that my happiest moments were spent with babies, whether screaming or laughing, and that I've always been interested in the woman's body, the entire pregnancy process and what happens afterward. I can't see my own blood, but my period has never been a problem. I've watched countless marathons of A Baby Story on TLC without cringing, and the idea of bringing someone into this world fascinates me, not just on a motherly level, but as a spiritual human being. Now, I'm not silly enough to realize all of this makes a good reason for a new career and Lord knows, I might change yet again before I take the steps to accomplish it.

I'm considering being a Certified Professional Midwife. I've looked at the classes, the time it will take, the work it will take, and everything in me is saying, I can do that. I can be there. I can help these women and help these babies. The classes would take about 3 and a half years, but it might take a little longer depending on how many births and exams I can attend to in that time. Aviva Institute offers distance learning through online classes and hand-son experience with qualified women in the area you specify. A CPM is not a nurse midwife. They don't have a nursing degree or anything along those lines, but they are allowed to practice in 11 states, including Arizona and Tennessee.

Aviva Institute Homepage

Midwives specialize in home births and natural births, water births and a lot more, including herbal techniques. There are so many resources behind that link, it boggles the mind. The classes are all interesting to me, with the possible exception of using an IV *feels queasy*, and it's something that Andrew supports whole-heartedly as well.

I'm not going for it yet, but I'd like to. I'm interested and I'm excited about it... and I've never been as excited for a career as I am for this. It's something I'm thinking about... but the fact that gets me is, as many times as I've thought about it, I assumed you had to have a nursing degree. To find out you don't is a dream come true and I wonder why I didn't look into it before. Stubbornness? Settling? I don't know. I feel a little like I'm at a turning point, though, a door that opened and showed me a little more of who I am than I've known before.

Now if that door would open again and show me Andrew's TWO (count 'em, 2) paychecks that have not arrived, I would be a happy camper.

Yeah, we're still living out of savings. This is the last month it will be possible. I don't know what will happen if we don't get something soon. We're out of food as it is, scraping the barrel for stuff to make for dinner and I'm drinking water all day so I don't eat lunch. There's still one more bill to pay, but God has blessed us with not having to pay car insurance or internet this go round, so that helps, but on top of all of it, Andrew has a Class A inspection next month. He has to have certain patches sewn onto his uniform, and moreover, specific boots called jump boots that he has to wear. They cost close to $130 if not more, the patches not sewn on are $26, and all of this plus food, rent, electricity, bird food, the car is on it's last half of a leg with no exaggeration... all this little stuff that we are completely fine with when he gets paid is suddenly HUGE. The only help we might have is if we take out an Army Emergency Relief loan that has no interest, but is a small amount and still has to be paid back. How long will even another $1000 keep us afloat, you know?

*sigh*

One year.

2009-09-10T09:34:00.005-05:00

This is not going to be an easy post for me. Please, bear with me. There's gonna be tears by the end of it.

After my post about motherhood and the overwhelming ache that I've been feeling for it, I got some wonderful comments. They were encouraging, and thoughtful, and they were what I needed right when I needed it. Especially yours, Dani... I took all of them into my heart, but yours most of all.

Before I get going, I should explain this. I'm not a religious woman. I believe in God as the Almighty, Jesus as His Son and my personal Savior, and the Holy Ghost as their embodiment in each and every person on earth, but I'm not religious. I have other beliefs, too... I believe that sometimes, for the lessons we need to learn, one life isn't enough and out souls are sent back for another round, maybe even another hundred rounds, until we figure it out. I believe that we were given intuition, empathy, vibrations, and more to guide us in each life we have. I believe in angels that are just as much in our lives as our friends, and I believe that everything I've listed is a God-given blessing. But this post is not about my beliefs, or it wasn't going to be; you need to understand, though, that it has been a long time since I prayed every night, a long time since I spoke to God the way I have been lately, and a long, long time since anyone has actively prayed for me.

Thank you for praying for me, for praying for us, and I'll get to why in a second.

More background for you: my husband is a wonderful man, but he is the epitome of stubborn. Once Andrew's mind is set on something, it literally will take an act of God to change him, he is that dedicated to whatever it is. I've seen it in action: we fought because of it, I've cried a hundred times because of it, and he's been sorry because of it. It's not an easy thing to live with, for either side, but at the same time, how blessed am I to have a man who will stand by his convictions til the day he dies? How many people are like that these days, really? Not as many as there should be. However, that is my love for you: single-minded and set in his ways like an old fart.

We're not very religious, and he's a stubborn, stubborn man, but I've been praying, and you guys have been praying, too, and a few others have been sending good vibes to us: good stuff all the way around.

So, the night before last, we were together in bed and we were about to have a little fun, if you catch my drift, and as I watched him use protection, I whined a little more than usual about it. He tells me that we have to use it, and asks, don't we? And before I can stop myself, out pops the word NO and he looks at me like I've lost my mind for a split second as I redirect myself and tell him, yes... yes, we have to use it *enormous, heartfelt sigh*. Split second finishes and now he's looking at me with those danged gray-blue eyes of his that know me far too well for my own good and we go about our business that I barely enjoy because my heart is in my chest aching and trembling over the fact that I am so, so fertile and he is too, too careful, to the point where not long after I'm in tears from it. By now it's 10 pm and he has to be out of the house by 5:50 the next morning and I can't bring myself to talk about it when he needs the sleep. He asks me if I want to talk and I tell him no, not now, not tonight, maybe later... and we set the date for the next day after he gets off work.

I spent yesterday reading and re-reading and re-re-reading the comments and my post, looking up all kinds of information on babies, costs, what we would need, diapers, everything I could think of to give him numbers if I needed to, and promising myself I wouldn't cry, I wouldn't cry. I spoke to a guy friend on IMVU about it, who gave me a little insight as to how he might be feeling, and he told me the same thing you did, Michelle: no emotions. Guys don't work that way. They need facts, statements, truths, and I saved all of my strength up in order to give him that.

The time came, after we'd spent a good few hours talking anyway (which was nice, it rarely happens these days), to discuss it and for a good period, I did fine. I didn't cry... and then I did, and I got up and left the room. I went to the bathroom and of course he followed me. I told him very plainly that I was trying hard to keep my emotions out of this, please give me a minute, and wait for me in the living room. He did as I asked and I composed myself as well as I could, went back, and we continued. He told me all the things I didn't want to hear, about how we didn't have the financial stability, this and that and this and that, but then I told him how I FEEL, not anything else. I couldn't look at him. I had to look at our garbage can, because if I had I would have cried more, but I told him how much it hurts me every single day, how it's gone beyond a want and become an unending ache in my chest and I think it surprised him. He asked me if I could please try to put it into words and I had to shake my head and tell him no. No because it goes far, far beyond any words I have. And that was the turning point, where he stopped stating facts and started telling me the truth. He told me about how much he wants kids to, but how worried he is because of where we are now. We're leaning on only each other for the first time in our lives, he says, and we have to be sure we can do this before we bring someone else into it. He told me about driving past the elementary school on post and how he sees kids from preschool to high school every day and it tugs at him just as much as it does me, but that he can't bring himself to put a child through what he went through... the moving, the uncertainty, the loss of friends. I told him that it would be 4 years before the child would even realize things were changing. As long as he or she had mommy and daddy for the first few years, life would be fine. He said he wanted to be here for the pregnancy, for the birth, for the child's everything and I understand that, because I want him there too, but how will waiting until later be any different than now? I asked him. He said, the first four years of the military are the hardest. They put you where they want you, you have no choices... you have the lowest quality health care, the lowest quality housing, the lowest quality of everything when you're a private and a private's wife. (which, if you knew the way I grew up, seems like a huge luxury to me. Health care, when I need it? For only a little bit of money out of pocket? Does that make me a princess or what?? Yeah, ask me about my childhood one of these days, it's a doozy) I want us to wait and see how we do here, with everything new, this new job and this new place to live, this whole new situation, before we bring something else new to the equation. Not to mention, we're still new in our marriage. Yes we;ve been together a long time but being married is different, and it's only been a year, most of which I've been gone. Let's have this talk again when my first term is over(we counted and he signed for only 3.5 years. It's been 1 year in October, like our marriage) and see where we are now, because I want to tell them that I'll re-up if they can promise us Ft. Huachuca...

It went on more, but that's pretty much it. The same thing it was before, a no. The only difference is that we came to a compromise that we would talk, instead of in 2 and half more years, in exactly one year. We would see where we were, how we had done in the past year, what the economy was like, and so on and so on. The yearly check up he called it, and I agreed. But I told him that a year from now, whether the answer was yes or no, this ache will still be there, and in fact, it will probably be even stronger.

So that's the results. One year until maybe. One year until we even talk about children again, because I refuse to bring it up any more. It hurts too much to bring it up, even if it's only an offhand comment at the commissary. Right now, a year feels like forever, and I know, in my mind, the same way I know that he's right, that a year will go by before we even blink twice, because they always do. But for my heart, a year is like an eternity. I have to have a plan, and my plan is thus: no more spending. No more getting what I want, when I want it. From now on, I'm going to be saving every last penny I can so that when one year rolls around, I can point to our bank account and say, this is what I've done for the child I don't have yet. So that when one year rolls around, I can point to the second car we have and the first one that runs great and say, this is what I've done in the past year. And I'll do a hundred other little things, things that will put us closer to him being comfortable having a child, even if it means doing things I'm not ready for. We need this... but the only way to get it is that, and I'm terrified of that? Fine, I'll do that, because doing that and getting this might be the turning point next year when we talk about TTC. But even the best plan can't stop my heart from breaking about this.

Taken from Michelle as she's on vacay :D

From Mama's Losing It: Originally posted 2/20/09

The Prompts:
1.) If you were starring on American Idol TONIGHT and HAD to sing, what song would you choose and why.

2.) Take a picture of yourself right this minute without primping and explain to us why it is you have not washed your hair today.

3.) I just asked Pat to help me with a writing prompt so here's his: "What do you think about the NBA All Star game"...blech.

4.) What's your number one pet peeve? Develop a punishment for anyone caught in the act.

5.) Write about something mean you did to a sibling growing up.

Blessings (and Sisco is the other wolf's name)

2009-09-01T10:00:00.003-05:00

So, I've come to the conclusion that my last few posts have been pretty needy. They sound like I'm totally caught up with what I want, what I want, what I want. I want babies, I want flowers, I want to stay home, want want want, like a greedy little child.

Shame on me. With all seriousness, shame on me. I know better, and in fact, I have better. So this is my thanks-giving post. I need to make it a tradition, similar to the complete list I make in my real diary every Christmas of who gave me what, so that I remember to be thankful for the generous, awesome people I have in my life.

So, let me brag a little about what I do have, and how amazingly blessed I am to have all of these things and people in my life.

First of all, I have a wonderful husband. He's thoughtful more often than not, and cares about everything I had to say. He listens to me, and how many women can say that? If I tell him we need to talk, he doesn't get that terrified look in his eyes and want to run away: he puts down what he's doing, comes to me and says, "What's wrong?" He has a bad memory, but he makes every possible effort to remember things that matter to me, to remember things that are important to the both of us, and often writes things down to help him remember. Just this morning, he said to me, "It's okay that I'm running a little late for work. We had a good conversation and it was nice. We don't get to talk as much as I'd like to, we're always busy or sleeping." Yeah. He said that. Does that not count for total awesome husband points?? He tells me thank you for doing the dishes, for doing laundry, for making dinner, for vacuuming the floor as soon as he notices every time... and he rarely fails to notice. He tells me I'm a wonderful woman and a great wife. He protects me from things he thinks will hurt me, and he's usually right about them, he hold me when I need holding, and there are nights when he just needs to sleep. The bird hates his guts... but he's making the effort to be friends with it, because it matters to me. He's handsome, hard working, and his touch sets me on fire. I have a wonderful, fantastic, amazing, gorgeous husband.

Second, I have a home. It's filled with things that are both meaningful and useful, things that make me happy to see and happy to use. It's a place we can go that is just ours, safe and secure, and precious. It's a place to raise a family, it's a place to build our life and there are so many people who do not have the most basic need: shelter. But I do, and I am so grateful for it.

I have beautiful people in my life. I have them online and in real life, I have them here in Tennessee and there in Arizona. I have them in Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Texas. I have them in California, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. They're special and important and smart, and they are the ones I turn to when I need more morale, when I need help, when I just need to talk to someone other than my husband. I have friends, and I have family, and I have acquaintances and more, and I know that most of them would do anything for me at the drop of a hat, the same way that I would for them. They make my life happy and I love having such amazing personalities in my life.

There are a hundred thousand other things that I can put here and explain in depth, but I'll just list them off a little: I'm alive, I have animals around me, the sky is blue, the grass is green (still not used to that, though), and having saved the best for last:

I have a loving, merciful God.

Wake me up, when September ends.

2009-08-31T10:30:00.003-05:00

So, it's about that time of year again, the beginning of September. The start of fall in most parts of the world and the end of summer in Tucson. Last night, I walked out of my house to do laundry and I swear, I almost walked right back in for my sweater, but I decided to buck up and just get on with it. My teeth only chattered a little bit by the time I got to the laundromat (which, I must tell you, for most of my life I have said, "laundry-mat" and I'm about to start typing it that way, too).

But the reason I bring up this time of year is because it gets me to thinking about those long years ago when Andrew and I met. I won't say when we met and fell in love, because looking back on it, we didn't. We fell into crush, and possibly even puppy love, but the love we have now came later in the relationship and I believe it's stronger for the wait. Our relationship is a very long story, made longer by the fact that once I get started, I just keep putting out little random things that I remember, things that have absolutely no significance to our story, but bring me to smiles and tears every time, I loved those moments that much.

About this time 7 years ago, he and I were constant companions. We talked every night, for hours on hours, and I spent my days at the high school hungrily searching the halls on the off-chance that maybe, just maybe, he had to sneak into the general population again for his father and I would catch even the most fleeting glimpse of him as he slipped amongst the public school students. He was homeschooled, but his father taught in the jr. high, which was just an extension of the high school, really, and his father is and was an airhead who forgot stuff regularly. So, since the older boys were actually in public school, Andrew was sent out on his bike to dodge truancy officers, teachers, principles, and ratty teachers' aides to the foreign soil of public education. I, the romantic that I am, with the HUGE crush on him that I still have, pictured clandestine meetings outside a friendly teacher's room, and even though we weren't dating, he would see me and be so happy and suddenly enamored that he'd kiss me right there (let's break ALL the rules with this daydream, shall we?) and then be gone with the blink of an eye... *sigh* Man, those were good days... and the start of fall takes me right back there every single time. If I were at home, I'd be leaving the house in the early early morning to see if I could smell autumn on the air yet with the dew, but here? I don't know what here smells like yet. Maybe in a year I'll recognize the difference in the air, in the feel of things... stop and think about it. Haven't you ever gone outside one day in the early fall or the start of winter or the very first day of spring and taken a deep breath? You can feel the change in the air on your lips, through your nose, in your lungs. It can wrap up your whole body if you let it. Try it. It's an amazing feeling.

Of course, September is also about the time when I start dropping hints. He's got a little over a month to figure out what happens on our anniversary, whether he wants to plan something or not. I have had my idea for over three months now. All I have to do is start setting it up when he's not around, and that's pretty easy: he's always gone during the day. I won't put it here, in case somehow he actually reads my blog (miracle of miracles that would be) and ruins the surprise. I will, though, tell you what I'm hoping for this year and it's a realistic expectation lately.

I want flowers.

That's all I want. He has never ever given me flowers. In fact, the only person that ever has was my mother, for my high school graduation, and it was a red rose and a white rose dyed blue, the team colors, that they were selling for $10 at the local flower shop. I'm grateful, oh very, because they were my first flowers, but it took very little thought on her part. If he could give me a few daisies, even the little wild white ones he picked himself, I would cry like a baby. That is all I want from him for our anniversary. I'll do the rest, no problem, I always do.

So I've been telling him for close to a year that I've never gotten flowers from him and when I went to see him in Aberdeen, he was going to, but couldn't find a flower shop. I'm thinking pretty hard that I might be getting flowers for our 1st wedding anniversary and our 7th year together. And I am going to cry.

Anyway, just a little post to tell you my thoughts on Fall.

Writers Workshop question plus some...

2009-08-30T11:25:00.005-05:00

So, it's been a little while since I posted. I haven't wanted to, for several reasons. Mostly, I guess, it was me wanting a taste of torture. I wanted my last post, the hurting one, to be on top and read most. I wanted the hateful comments, in a twisted way, as much as I wanted the encouraging ones. I got no hate. It was all encouragement, all positive, and if I haven't said it enough, I want to say it again. Thank you, to both Michelle and Life with Kaishon. You don't know how much you've helped.

But, I don't want to dwell on that. Not a fan of lingering over hurts, never have been, regardless of what kind of hurt it is. Therefore, I must tell you a few things. First of all, I linked to a blog for a Writer's Workshop and never did it. So here we go.

4.) How did you break it?

First of all, let me state: I did not break it, per se. It was broken by accident, because I didn't quite understand the way gravity works on the floorboards of a 12 passenger van.

It must have been either freshman or sophomore year of high school and I was completely in love with several things: wrestlers in singlets, Andrew, and turtles, to name a few. I was a cheerleader for wrestling, probably the best choice I made in high school and probably the worst, too. To make a long story shorter, the things that happened in the van were wild some days, but always pretty awesome and special. Well, we went on a looong away trip. If any of you are familiar with the area, we went from San Manuel to Eloy. It's about a 4 hour van ride, full of giggly girls doing hair and make up and talking about boys and, usually, sex, and loads of other things I've sworn never to speak of. It was one of those trips where half of us couldn't go for one reason or another, but I was there, as well as the captains, Kim and Ashlei. Well, we talked our coach and driver, Olivia, into stopping at a Family Dollar for food and as I was walking in and around the place, I found this turtle. He was the cutest thing I had ever seen... I wasn't very hungry, and I loved him. I did. From the minute I saw this turtle, there was no doubt in my mind. I paid about $5 for him, wrapped him tight in a couple plastic bags, and put him on the floor by my feet in the van with my stuff.

Baaaad move.

Olivia should have been fired on the spot, by the way, for the way she drove. She drove probably about 80 or 85 the entire way to Eloy, and let me tell you, it's only 65 on that highway. Well, that highway also is filled to brimming with bumps and curves and rough spatches and all sorts of stuff. At one point, she hit a bump and everything, and everyone, went flying... including my precious turtle, who I thought was safe...

I didn't realize how badly he was broken until I got home and took him out of the bag, happy as a clam to show my mom and dad what I'd found for my knick knack collection, and he was in pieces. I wanted to cry. I think I did cry. Actually, I KNOW I cried because Dad took the pieces from me and put him back together... kinda. If you look at the pic, there's a hole and a lot of white stuff. It's glue, and the piece we never found, and boy, I looked hard. But Dad fixed him as best as he could, and I kept him, through all the places we've lived and everything we done, all the way to Tennessee. I'm interested in seeing where we go next with the poor thing.

That is how I broke it. I laid it on the floorboard of a madwoman's van and it was smashed to bits by ungodly things rolling around under the seats.

Now, in other news, we got our dining room table. I am still so happy with it. It's just the perfect size for Andrew and I, two tables. We've made a few traditions around it, too. If we sit at it to eat, we say grace. We take turns, but it's a must. There must be shirts on at the table, a rule for the guys, and no cell phones, computers, anything electronic or digital when we're sitting there. No reading, either. It's one on one time (and later, one on five lol) so there shouldn't be anything to distract.

I have to tell you, this is my first time ever having a real table to eat at. I mean, we always had one, but it was always covered in stuff and eating together, as a family, only happened on Thanksgiving if we had company. I'm pretty excited to do it, to have something that cements Andrew and I as a family every single weeknight.

With no further ado, pics of aid table:

Bird.

2009-08-22T13:35:00.004-05:00

I thought maybe I should post something more cheerful than an angry post about babies. Because it really is underhandedly angry... anyway.

Motherhood Ache.

2009-08-22T11:44:00.003-05:00

I am frustrated. I am frustrated, I am sad, and I am impatient. Now, I am able to blame this frustrated, sad, and impatient outlook on the fact that I'm a day away from my period, but only a portion of it. The rest is just... well, I am. So there. And when you read the rest of this, you're probably going to call me selfish, you're probably going to tell me I'm too young. You'll think I'm a silly little girl, perhaps, and undeserving of such an honor.

So here I go. Judge as you see fit.
Every day, I go to the PX and the Commissary, and I see lots of people. I see lots of women... and these women have children. They have babies, they have big bellies. Most of them have a child, a toddler, and a big belly. I hate admitting it, but oh, I am jealous. I see these sweet little ones, or the not so sweet little ones, and 9 times out of 10, my eyes fill up and I have to look away because it breaks my heart. I want to reach out and hold one of them, and just pretend for a little tiny second that this little boy, or that little girl, is actually MY baby. There are days when after seeing pregnant woman upon pregnant woman that I go home and stare at my flat tummy in the mirror and wonder, what if? What if there was a little person in there? What would it be like? How would I feel? Would he or she know me? What would Andrew say, how would he react? How angry would he be with me if we were unexpectedly expecting?

There are days when I don't think about it at all. Those are the days when I am too busy cleaning, playing with the bird, or running errands elsewhere to think about having a baby, when I'm not inundated with images of little tiny life and I can't consider how much it's missing from my own. Those days are few and far between. If you talk to him, Andrew would tell you that I'm always pointing out the antics of children, of that little boy in front of us in line at the Comm. that kept bringing back Ding Dongs to put in the cart, and Mom just kept taking them and putting them back. Or the little girl that was staring flat out at both of us at Walmart, like we might have been aliens, probably because we didn't have kids. We don't have kids.

But oh, I want to.

Blogging isn't helping, either. I read these posts from women who have three, four, five little lives in their hands and I think, how lucky they are! How much I wish I was in their shoes! Quiverful families, or my cousin's family... people that are blessed and blessed and blessed and it only serves to make me more upset, more impatient.

You see, as far as I know, I can. We can. We can make babies, we can have little ones, but we aren't. Andrew wants to wait, he doesn't want a child right now. He says we don't have the money, we don't have the room, we don't have the stability. What don't we have? We have him with a steady job, with good security, and extra money building in the account every day. We have a two bedroom apartment, and a 4 door car that runs well. We love each other very much, we have very few minor problems in the relationship (such as when he doesn't rinse the dishrag, I'm going to strangle him, lol). I KNOW our finances like the back of my hand, and I'll tell you, that yes, it will be tough, but it's possible for us to afford a baby right now. I've brought it up to him, and he knows. He sees the look in my eyes when I see a child, he sees the tears... and he looks away. I don't know if he looks away to keep from having to see it, because it makes him mad, or if he turns away because he hates to see me cry, or if it's so that he doesn't have to see me cry over something that is, partly, his doing. I don't know. But he doesn't like to see it. We've talked about it, and now the excuse is he wants to wait until his first term is over to see if he's done, or if he re-ups. And he says, once the term is over, then we can have kids. So I was excited for a while, I was thinking to myself, that's great! Two years! I can wait two more years, right? Yeah, yeah, sure I can... and then he said he's probably going to re-enlist. I thought about that and asked, but if you re-enlist, and you don't want kids in the Army, what does that mean for us? Because if he re-ups, he's going to stay it out and retire... that's twenty years.

I can wait two. I can. I'll make myself. But twenty? I'll be 41 years old, and yes, I realize that's a fine age to have children... but not for me. I want to have the energy I have now, the body I have now, the health, the ideals, all of it, when I have children, not what I'll have in 20 long years as an Army wife.

He says that if he re-ups for the next twenty, "we'll see where we are". Okay, reasonable. Don't really wanna have a baby in Germany, got it, sure, fine. But if we're in the USA? I need answers from him, and he won't give them to me, and God help me, but I'm crying even while I'm typing this, thinking about it.

So I'm frustrated, because I have never wanted anything so much in my entire life as to have my own beautiful child. I'm sad, because the answers I'm getting from the man I love suggest that he may not really want to have children at all, even though we've talked about names and how far apart and everything else, and he was excited then... and I don't think I can live my life and be who I'm supposed to be without having children. They're my life and I haven't even begun one of them yet. I'm impatient, because I've been taking risks, just to try. Days that I'm not perfectly infertile, I've been treating as safe, on the off chance that maybe God has a different plan than my husband, but I'm starting to think they're in cahoots. I'm impatient because even in the best circumstance, two years is still a very long time for something I need more than breathing.

So there. Yell at me. Tell me all kinds of awful things. But now you know why the blogs I follow are the ones that belong to mothers with families. It's jealousy and admiration and the fact that I can't get parenting out of my head long enough to think a sane thought, so much that I look for examples of what I want to do with my own children in others' words. And now you know the thing I don't tell people, too, this motherhood ache that I have, the fact that my biological clock isn't just ticking, it's ding donging in there to get my attention.

See you later.

Acronyms up the wahoo, and Hank Jr.

2009-08-17T13:34:00.017-05:00

This should be a doozy. It's been a while since I've posted.

First, some of the best news: Andrew finally got into his unit! Yay! I can't tell you what it is, but I can tell you that he's finally getting to do something close to his job, which is fixing weapons.... and yes, if he saw that, he'd be saying, "Not just weapons, Hun, artillery too." *rolls eyes* Weapons and artillery. Fine. But it's good news, because he'll start enjoying at least some aspect of the military again, which means he won't be complaining to me about it all the time, and so both of us will be less stressed and happier ppl all around. That's never a bad thing.

Also, although I haven't actually bought the ticket yet, it looks like I will be going back to AZ for my Ducky's 2nd birthday. It was so cute the last time I talked to her. Megan said, "Mattison, ask Auntie where Uncle Andrew is?" And I hear this precious little girl voice on the other end say, "Ann-tee, Uncah Androo?" I just melted all over myself, and then I had to tell her, "Oh, baby, Uncle's at work. He'll be home later and I'll make sure he calls you." Broke my heart, I tell you, at least the unmelted pieces. So that means I'll be staying out there with Matt and Megan probably from about September 30th to October 7th, because I want to be back here for our first anniversary, which is the 11th of October. I can't believe we've been married an entire year, or that we've been together for 7. SEVEN YEARS. That's a long time for any relationship outside of marriage, but one like ours? Wooey.

More good news is that Gardy is finally getting the hang of the idea that the floor is his, my shoulder is his, and his playpen is his... and that's it. Not the air of the living room, not the ceiling fan blades, and not anything past the hallway. I took him out this morning and he did great. He played on the floor with me, and almost got on his playpen. After that, he nibbled my dress for a while, because my clothes fascinate him for some reason, he loves to chew on them. I took him to the couch on my shoulder, and he stayed there while I played on the computer for a while, and I took a video. He's a sweetheart when he wants to be, which isn't often.

Bad news now: Our money still hasn't transferred from our BOTW account into our new BOA account. We're down to very little to deal with until the funds become available. I believe, however, that our savings should be there on the 19th, but Andrew's entire paycheck from midmonth won't arrive until the 21st, nearly a week after it was direct deposited. If you're anything like me, with one income, living from paycheck to paycheck, that week is killer. I'm grateful that the original transfer was enough to get us even this far. Andrew asked me today if I was okay, because he saw the amount of hair in the shower stopper, and I was like, well yes, I'm fine... but we spent too much on groceries this week, we've spent too much this week in general, the car is in major need of an oil change, spark plugs, and probably a tune up from the drive across country, I don't know how much longer than dining room set will be there and I really want it for our home, there's stuff to give to Goodwill, dinner to make, laundry to wash and now we're out of quarters, and a myriad of other things that may or may not be affecting the amount of hair coming off my head. That's pretty much all the bad news though. I'm grateful for that.

So today is Monday, the Monday after Payday, which means I just finished our three week dinner menu. I've decided to make this a bimonthly occurrence, with the invitation that if you see something on here that sounds awfully yummy, leave me a comment and I'll send you the recipe. I'm always trying new ones, because a woman should have a good collection of meals for her family, as sexist as that is. But since I'm a housewife right now, my entire job is to make sure that this house is clean, welcoming, and well-fed. Once I get a job, it's still important, but because I don't have one, and Andrew is supporting me, the least I can do is make sure that when he comes home, he's happy. So, here we go:

Monday 17: Beef Stroganoff
Tuesday 18: Chicken Potato Bake
Wednesday 19: Apple Pork Chops- corn
Thursday 20: Frozen skillet meal
Friday 21: Lasagna
Weekend 22&23: Good luck.
Monday 24: Ranch Chicken- cooked carrots
Tuesday 25: Betty Crocker Boxed Meal
Wednesday 26: Bacon, eggs, and maybe hashbrowns.
Thursday 27: Hamburgers- french fries
Friday 28: Frozen skillet meal
Weekend 29&30: Grilled cheese, maybe?
Monday 31: Banquet Boxed Meal
Tuesday September 1: Hamburger Helper
Wednesday 2: Potato Beef Cassarole
Thursday 3: Tuna Helper
Friday 4: Cream of Chicken Cassarole
Weekend 5&6: Pizza? Sandwiches?
Monday 7: Mushroom Cubesteak- green beans
Tuesday 8: Rice and Roast Beef
Wednesday 9: Frozen Meal
Thursday 10: Restaurant to celebrate another month married.
Friday 11: Chicken Enchiladas
Weekend 12&13: Leftovers, lol
Monday 14: Cream of Mushroom Noodles

Keep in mind that there's two of us. Some days, it's unnecessary to cook a lot so I try to put things that don't make a whole lot next to things that do. It's hard to tell with us about leftovers, because we never know when we'll have company, how much we'll eat, etc. This menu is incredibly flexible: if there's enough of last night's dinner to eat again, I'll put that recipe at the end of the menu and our groceries last us another day. It's a system that has worked for us for almost two years, ever since I started meal planning and grocery shopping by recipe. Of course, things will change once we have kids, but hopefully, this will still be in play even then. I like it a lot.

Today has been nothing but cleaning and blogging, with a little chat thrown in. Andrew was gone for PT early this morning, and for some reason, I slept in. I'm usually awake when he comes home, but once in a while, I get into a good dream and don't get up. Not that it made much difference, it just meant that he had to unlock the door. I probably wouldn't have started anything until about the time he came home anyway.

I still have a few dishes to do, and laundry to hang. The laundry is pretty much all his. I only had enough for one load and with me not really going anywhere, why should I was mine? It's all ACU's and PT's (Advanced Combat Uniforms, dirty looking digital camoflauge) and (Physical Training clothes, black shorts and a gray t-shirt that says ARMY on the front). Oh, here's an anecdote for you. I went to get the dirty clothes from the utility room today, and Andrew missed the basket with a pair of PT socks. So I picked them up and jumped back, because underneath was a big, black spider. Spider was not squooshed, I repeat NOT SQUOOSHED. But oh boy, it was very very dead. Cause of death? Probably the PT socks. I texted Andrew about it. He came home laughing... until I made him get the dead spider :D.

Now, I also have to tell you about the free concert that we went to last Friday. It was pretty awesome. It was part of a biannual called the Week of Eagles here, to salute the troops that have recently returned home and who are leaving soon, and it was huge. They were expecting 10,000 people to show up, as it was open to the public as well, even though it was on post, but no. 75,000 people came to the concert. 75,000!!

I can't even fathom. We got there about an hour or two before the show started... and it wasn't soon enough. It was standing room only by the time we were there, with blankets and chairs and people and food everywhere. The stage was huge, and I wondered to myself, what's going to be so great about this? Then I realized: this concert featured John Rich, formerly of Big & Rich; Hank Williams Jr.; Jake Owen; and Carrie Underwood. Half the crowd was women under 15. The other half were women over 15! Add a little redneck, and a few people that just wanted to see a concert, and there you go: 75,000, quick and easy. So I took as many pictures as I could, mostly of us and of course, of Hank Williams Jr.

It upset me, but Carrie Underwood didn't do as good a job as I was hoping for. She felt very fake on stage, her voice was obviously not in good shape, and all I could think of while she sang was, Stop screaming! I mean, she was good, but I just couldn't enjoy her. I loved Hank Jr. though. He sang songs that I grew up on, and a few I didn't know, but all in all, he was the best performer. He caught my attention and held it, as well as struck a cord in me more than once, and he was very very real. He sang one of Hank Sr.'s songs that I love, Kaw-Liga, and when he sang Family Tradition, I called my mom and let her hear it over the phone. I had so much fun, and of course, Andrew was there and we enjoyed each other's company. We always do. He's everything I need to feel wonderful in life.

We had funnel cake, and sang along, and just enjoyed it. It was my first concert. I won't forget the pleasure it was to watch one of the most talented men in country music play the guitar, then the fiddle, then the piano on stage. Now that was an autograph I would have waited in line for hours for, Hank Jr's.

Oddity of Oddities

This Blog.

Monday Mingle! Again!

Monday Mingle- Vloggy!

Friday Recap... on Sunday.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Birthday Mom!

The Best Chicken Dish I Make :D

Monday Mingle- Vloggy!

Three days a week and the Recap

Masen

Superbowl and the Sims: A Tragedy

Friday Recap, vlog style!

Tell the Truth Thursday

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Anniversary, guys! And someone shoot that danged groundhog....

Laundry + 7 inches of snow

Manic.... Thursday?

Wordless Wednesday, with a twist!

Pouring snow! And other stories....

I feel like bragging.

Long time, no see: what Powhatan said before he punched John Smith in the face.

My 2010 resolution.

Big families mean more posts about them, right?

Christmas Pictures, again!

Christmas, goober style.

I'm dreaming of a brown Christmas, just like the ones we used to plan....

I know his name and his jacket size.

Christmas Presents of the Squished Variety

My Family Needs a Little Help... *eye twitches*

Pioneer Woman: The Most Awaited and Glorified Part Three!

Pioneer Woman: Part Two of Probably Only Three-ish...

The Pioneer Woman: Part One of God Only Knows How Many

Lumpia is happiness in eggroll form.

Things I Am Considering on a Friday Morning.

My Little Brother in Laws.

Dear Santa... Writer's Prompt from Mama Kat

Not So Wordless Wednesday.

A new name and some other stuff before work.

LAPTOP!!!!!!

I am alive! I didn't fall off the planet, I swear!!

Well, that's just dandy.

Lots to do, lots to say, with a very somber ending.

Wordless Wednesdays: Anniversary Pictures

The shpiel is very, very important.

I don't even have a title....

Tagged!!

Wordless Wednesday

I've decided that October can go NaBloWriMo itself.

NaBloWriMo: I lost my groove...

NaBloWriMo Day 17: Eye candy and a movie

NaBloWriMo Day 16: I may pee my pants.

NaBloWriMo Day 15: Thoughtful Thursday

Wordless Wednesday and NBWM: still going strong, kinda...

NaBloWriMo Day 13: Reaaaaaally late post

NaBloWriMo Day 12: It's definitely a Monday.

NaBloWriMo Day 11: Happy Anniversary, my love!

NaBloWriMo Day 10: Today.

NaBloWriMo Day 9: Appreciation

NaBloWriMo Day 8: Something New Because I'm Lazy

NaBloWriMo Day 7: Wordless Wednesdays

NaBloWriMo Day 6: A very special post.

NaBloWriMo Day 5: Zedd the Car is Screwed.

NaBloWriMo Day 4: Also Cholla... Choy yuh :)

NaBloWriMo Day 3: Cobwebs! Must have cobwebs!

NaBloWriMo Day 2: My handsome husband...

NaBloWriMo Day 1: Halloween Give-Away... and stuff

Wordless Wednesdays: 1,640 miles away

The Lovely Blog Award!

Good Morning, Helen-nam.

Pics of cute kids.

My super hero power is... bird control! No, no, j/k...

The letter of the day is M...

I am so not ready for this.

Interview that borders on Myspace survey O.o

I have decided...

Why are all my posts long?? I'm sorry :(

An epiphany that we can't afford.

One year.

Blessings (and Sisco is the other wolf's name)

Wake me up, when September ends.

My Family Needs a Little Help... eye twitches