Crazy Army Talk

The other day Jack Bauer and I decided to go for a walk with the doggies. Of course, he was ready to go in about 30 seconds. I, on the other hand, had about 15 things I needed to do before I was ready, you know, like change my clothes, find my hat, go to the bathroom, check my make-up, put on my shoes. All reasonable things to do.

Apparently I was dawdling. Even though we had no place to be, no schedule, no appointments, no must-see TV. No nothing to rush back for.

As I was putting on my shoes, Jack said, "Hurry up!"

I stopped mid-tie and gave him the most incredulous look I could muster. He immediately apologized and I started chuckling.

Sounds like those newbies I keep talking about also like to dawdle. And Jack just said it out of habit. Good thing I am not a newbie. He'd be telling me to hurry up for the next 50 years.

Oh, and I can't seem to let this go. I keep teasing him about it. Maybe I'll work on that next week. *snort*

Maybe a case of general nothingness

After the excitement of deployment, homecoming, house-selling preparations, and moving 800 miles to a hotel room, well, life has kind of settled down. There really isn't the range of emotions or highs and lows that come with all the excitement. Life is steady for now.

But even better, there is lots of laughter. Jack and I have been enjoying our time together. Even if it is just being silly and talking about how cute our doggies are.

And there have been books. I finished Bright Lights, Big Ass (thank you AWTM) and I have moved on to the last Harry Potter book. Yeah, I know I made a big deal about getting it on the day it came out last year, but I never got around to really reading it. Until now. I like this having-time-to-read thing. Or I suppose it is making time. (For whatever reason, I just couldn't seem to do much "fun" reading while Jack was deployed. I haven't figured that one out yet.)

And there is time for working out. I went back to the BodyPump class yesterday. There were two instructors: one a dead ringer for Katherine Bell and the other looked much more like me. And I gotta tell you, it is inspiring to see someone who is not a size two, muscle-bound, thong-showing, George-Hamilton-tanned college girl not just doing the class, but teaching it. I think I will definitely have to go back.

And there is time for the doggies. We've been getting in lots of walks and naps. Some times it seems like my biggest concern is who has taken care of what business. Yesterday, Bear decided to take care of his business right on the sidewalk in front of the school. Nice. At least I care a special backpack just for picking up doggie messes.

I'll just leave you all with that crappy image. Have a great weekend. I think we're off to visit the home of another founding father.

Nothing exciting

When your day is filled with naps, cooking lunch, trying to not burn down the hotel, doing laundry in a public place, and walking doggies, well, it just isn't that exciting.

We're off to visit the home of a founding father today. Should be fun and educational. Maybe I'll even take my camera.

This Army life is tough

Now we are on to Day 3 of school here in C-ville and Day 3 of my life as a full-time Army wife. Let's see what I did yesterday.

5:10 AM: Wake up and stumble into bathroom wondering why I am awake.

5:20 AM: Walk in the dark through jungle between Residence Inn and the campus with doggies and Jack Bauer. Still wondering why I am awake. Make way across paved plain to the Stairs of Cirith Ungol.

5:27 AM: Huffing and puffing and wondering why I got up for this. Say good-bye to Jack and the doggies and I wander off to explore.

6:40 AM: Get back to Residence Inn. Collapse into chair with cup of coffee. Lapse into coma waiting for Jack Bauer to return to room for breakfast.

7:05 AM: Raid hot breakfast bar. I must appear like a total pig, hot and sweaty, no make-up, hat-haired, piling food high on a single plate. Return to room and give most of the food to Jack, except the yummy cheese mini muffin. Yum!

7:45 AM: Say good-bye to Jack and crawl into bed, hot and sweaty, and lapse into another coma.

11:00 AM: Finally get out of bed, even hotter and sweatier, shower and make lunch for Jack Bauer. He even thinks the wraps are store purchased because they were wrapped so tight, but I had a lot of experience watching Josie, the wrap goddess at my last job, perfecting the tight wrap.

1:00 PM: Finalize grocery list and go shopping. Now the shopping center is literally across the street from the Residence Inn but I need too much to carry. So I drive. Spend the next 2.5 hours buying postcards for the niece and nephews, eye cream from Origins, an incredible butterfly box (see photo, much prettier in person), clothes hangers, a chest of drawers, a lime juicer (a don't-leave-home-without-it item). Oh yeah, and groceries.

4:30 PM: Traverse jungle, paved plain, and the stairs in the humid heat of the day to attend "ice breaker" at Jack's school. Spend next hour making small talk. Nearly collapse on my way back to Residence Inn from exhaustion.

6:30 PM: Make dinner in tiny kitchenette. Spend next 3 hours doing something, maybe cleaning tiny kitchenette, maybe watching super-cute doggies sleep, maybe watching Jack read, maybe read emails. No clue. Obviously I lapsed into another coma.

9:00 PM: Wiggle way into bed and fight for space with Jack Bauer and Moo.

9:30 PM: Win tug-of-war with sheets. Moo loses and heads to the couch to sulk. The much smaller Bear takes her place. Heh.

9:56 PM: Turn off Hannity (hot) & Colmes (not) and read funny book sent to me from AWTM last fall (yeah, I am finally reading that book. Love it! Definitely need it while getting house ready to sell.)

On today's agenda? My first "coffee." Time to really crack open my copy of Today's Military Wife, 5th Edition, so I can find out what a "coffee" is when it taking place at 7 PM.

Up to my eyeballs in paint

I am covered in paint. I've gotten paint in my hair, my mouth (need to learn to keep it shut, heh), and my eyes. Yes, paint in the eyes doesn't feel too good.

I am currently working on the stairwell. It sucks. It is such tight quarters, I keep brushing my butt against the walls. I had to give up last night at 8:30 before my arms fell off. But I got to finish up today and figure out how to get up in the far corner. Tape, a corner brush, and a pole extender just might do it.

Then it is onto the Room of 7 Doors.

Gotta get busy.

And the pic is Carter Oosterhouse, the handyman hunk. Yum! (Yes, Jack Bauer has been gone far too long again.)

Let me ask you this

Is it bad to eat ice cream for lunch and bacon for dinner?

Granted I am in the middle of a move and need to eat up some of the food in the house. And of course Jack Bauer recently left making the ice cream indulgence a must -- it may have come into the house after he left. Maybe. I'm just saying.

Yeah, ice cream and bacon seem perfectly reasonable given the circumstances.

Now only if I could find bacon ice cream at the grocery store ...

Gone but 3 days

So Jack Bauer has been gone for 3 days now.

Flashback to Friday when he left. He packed his car in the morning but did not leave until middle of the afternoon. I tried to relax and take it easy with him, but I was restless. I started getting things ready to paint, plastering holes, moving the fridge. All the while, Jack was following me around the house. I think he just wanted to be with me. And I just kept moving about. I finally asked him if he wanted a project to do. Uh, yeah. That didn't go over so well.

That's when I realized that I was just trying to keep myself busy so I wouldn't have to deal with him leaving again. I mean, I just got him back. It's not fair that he has to leave again so soon. Humphf! So we talked about it.

And then he left.

And I was alone again.

Now while I am feeling like a pouty little girl, I am trying to keep busy. At least I have plenty to do just around the house to make the next 10 days go by quickly. Painting, cleaning, organizing, etc. will take more than 10 days, but that is all the time I have.

And then I will be back with Jack again. And all will be right with the world. Or something like that.

A different way to celebrate the day

Today we are celebrating the 4th of July a little differently. Jack Bauer has been home from Iraq just 8 weeks. But today he is leaving again. He leaving to go from the Army Reserves to active duty. And today we are celebrating that. As he is packing the car. And in between us accusing each other of trying to pick a fight.

So no grilling -- the rusting out Weber is going next to the dumpster in the alley today.

No fireworks -- they having been going off for days and they apparently sound distinctly like incoming fire. Not good.

Just love for each other and love of country. And I really can't think of a better day to start our next chapter.

What are you all up to today? Please tell me someone is making sheet cake decorated with cool whip, strawberries, and blueberries.

Can't a girl get some sleep?

So Jack Bauer goes off to war and I sleep like a baby. Yet, now he is home and I sleeping horribly. What's up with that?

While Jack was in Iraq, there was nothing I could do about his circumstance. All I could do was support him. I came to terms with that.

But now, with the getting the house ready to sell, my mind is racing at night, thinking of all the little things that need to be done. The other night I dreamt that the newly immaculate basement was covered in a layer of dust bunnies and I had to figure out how to get the shop vac to work. Then there was night I dreamt that no matter how hard I cleaned, everything was just dirty again the next day. Oh wait. That one is real.

Moving is 100 big things. As each item is crossed off the list, it leaves behind 10 details. And as those get crossed off, they each leave behind 5 bits of minutia. It is enough to drive anyone to not sleep well.

Off to take a nap ...

Calm amid the chaos

Jack Bauer came home yesterday with news I didn't want to hear. After learning the hard way that the single, nonstandard, bright white drawer front isn't going to be a simple thing to replace, after much cursing of the incompetence of the folks at Lowe's who couldn't tell us that in the first place, after swearing to hunt down the families of these idiots and hanging them from their toe nails, and after listening to Jack Bauer agree completely, I started laughing. And I came up with an alternative solution. It is after all a single drawer front in a simple but bright kitchen that could stand a well-financed remodel (I think it dreams of looking like this picture, or is that my dream?) in a 75+-year-old house. The right paint will have to suffice as a covering.

Jack is leaving here in a few days. Then I'll be on my own for a week before my mother comes to help me finish up and drive to C-ville with me and the dogs. Yep, that's where we are going first, C-ville. Before Jack drives off, I want to have as much of the heavy lifting, power tools-required jobs done, making it so the calls to the handy man and/or other hired people are as few as possible. Thus, the tasks of getting things like drawer fronts replaced has fallen to him. (Power tools could have been involved.)

But his impending departure has got me thinking. It has been 90% business around here with getting the house ready to sell. We've had some fun along the way -- vacation, movies, fancy dinners out -- but for the most part it is focus time on the task of putting on a fresh face to this old bungalow. Business and stressful business at that. And that is just one thing we've got going on.

I scanned the Internet for the most stressful life events. Sure enough, according to this one publication, of the top 50 stressful life events we are experiencing #12 reconciliation with spouse, #13 being unemployed (me), #14 experiencing financial difficulties (how could I deal with #13 and #40 and NOT have be going through #14 as well?), #33 changing careers (Jack), #38 spouse (me) ceases work outside the home, and #40 change in residence. Just 6. Granted no one is ill and no one has died, we are happily living together and excited about our future. But stressful times around here nonetheless.

And while life is stressful and battle-weary tempers can flare with silly frustrations (that would be me, not Jack), we can still see that no one is ill, no one has died. It is still just a simple drawer front. And we can laugh about it even if it doesn't match the rest of the kitchen.

Come to think of it, maybe we should paint it bright red.

Last Day at Work

I am about to head out to work. My last day of work. At three years and two weeks, it is the longest job I've had.

I've been asked many times in the last two weeks why I am leaving. After explaining that I am going to spend more time with my husband and what he is doing, the responses have been nothing but overwhelming support and genuine happiness, hard for anyone to come up with any other reaction when they see my perma-grin and hear the lightness in my voice.

And so one chapter ends ...

Moving along

This getting the house ready for selling thing is hard work. This last week we made some major progress. Jack Bauer got the basement cleared out, cleaned out, and stuff sold on Craig's List, and with the cash we went to see Get Smart (surprisingly good) and a nice dinner at Maggiano's. Got the basement cleaned enough that we painted the walls yesterday. I'm still high off the fumes.

We met with the real estate agent earlier in the week. I brought her into a messy house but she was still impressed with the amount of stuff we had gotten done already. Once we finish in the basement, it will just be a matter of cleaning and organizing and staging the main floor of the house. We got about 25 days to it all in. No problem.

Oh and I forgot to mention. Our grass is beginning to come in. Woohoo!

And one more thing. Just 5 days of work left. Then I am a full-time Army Wife. :D

Knife class

As part of my birthday present, I am taking a knife class this evening. Yes, I know. The idea is to help me avoid another thumb incident and help me get back into the groove of using knives again. I've convinced Jack Bauer to go with me. That way he can spend the rest of our lives correcting my incorrect knife usage.

So where does a butterfly take a knife class? At our local Viking store. Several years ago we took a tamale class there and loved it. Hopefully this 3-hour class on knife basics will be just as good, well, minus the cocktails, the wonderful smells of tamale filling cooking, and the savory and sweet tastes of the tamales themselves. Other than that, I am sure it will be exactly the same. :D

Two-weeks notice

It's official. I quit my job yesterday.

A little scary to not have anything lined up. But I have prepared for this and it should be alright.

The last time I left a job without something else was before law school 9 years ago when I quit my ER nursing job a month before we move from the West Coast to the Middle.

I'm excited about our upcoming moves and taking a break from working full time. But I must admit I am nervous.

You'll like this. (I will preface with my boss is a wonderful, supportive woman without much exposure to the military.) When I told my boss that we are going active duty, she reactively said, "WHY??" I laughed and explained that it is a good move for us and a sense of duty. She assumed that we had no choice in this and I set her straight on that.

Busy, Busy

Been a little busy around here the last few days. Here's the quick run down.

Friday: work from home in the morning; checked to make sure I became vested in my 401k (the 30-year difference is more like $174K); started date afternoon/night with lunch and a little Sex and the City movie (loved it! more on that later); dinner at Ruth's Chris (yum; good story there, too).

Saturday: landscaper arrived at 7 AM and the handy man arrived at 8 AM; yoga; work; nap; supervision of doggies while their backyard was transformed into someone else's backyard; grocery shopping; grilled chicken fajitas for dinner.

Sunday: errand running with Jack; work; thoroughly cleaned upstairs bathroom, got on my knees and scrubbed the floor and everything; called Dad to wish him Happy Father's Day; attempted to remove downstairs toilet seat but wound up breaking the plastic screw (oops!); grilled tri-tip for dinner.

Now that I have that all written down, it doesn't seem like much, but it was sure exhausting. It was very warm and humid all weekend. I don't like the humidity that comes with living in the Midwest in the summer. Can someone please take it away?

Work is highly overrated

... well except for the paycheck.

I went back to work yesterday. There is nothing like vacation to remind me that I would much rather get paid for hanging out with my husband than working in a cube in the middle of a huge room where everyone can hear everyone's everything. I swear they must be reading my thoughts, because now I am being volunteered to work from home on Fridays for the rest of the summer! Of course that is just a few weeks if things go according to our plans.

I think I am ready for a nap. In a hammock. Under a shade tree. Near a shady cove. Where it is not too humid. Who's coming with me?

Season 2

Coming back from a week-long vacation is a major bummer. Lots of little daily things to get back to, like laundry and grocery shopping. And thinking about getting the house ready to sell. But we did together, um, except for the laundry, which I have gladly turned over to Jack Bauer.

After errand running, we got a little organized then had hamburgers and roasted red peppers. Yum!

Then we watched the season premiere of Army Wives. I had tears in my eyes for the entire show. I found that fact to be interesting mainly because I don't recall having that much emotional attachment to the show for the first season. I think the tears come from (besides the good writing of the episode) letting my guard down now that Jack is back.

But some of the tears I think is the coming back to together with some of my battle buddies, the characters that represent different aspects of me, of all of military spouses, that I completely identify with. As we sit in the comfort of our living rooms, relaxed and logical, I am sure we all know that 2 men in civilian clothes at our doorstep means something other than they are there to tell us our husband is dead. But their confusing presence isn't much comfort when we are all worked up with worry in those first days of the first deployment. And some days those pajamas are the only comfort we can find and hanging out in them all day seems perfectly reasonable. It is wonderful to have friends who will point out the obvious -- like the Army will tell you if something has happened to your husband so no news is good news -- and snap you back to reality, even if it is just for a little while.

I didn't watch last night's episode alone. Jack watched too, but it was difficult for him (although he did mention that the uniforms looked pretty good) I think seeing the what Roxie was dealing with. But I completely identified with it. I doubt I am alone on that.

Read Andi's take on the episode over at SpouseBuzz.

R&R & G&B

I've returned to (close to) sea level and I definitely prefer the oxygen content down here. We got as high as the Continental Divide (~10,500 ft).

We rested, we relaxed, we shot guns, we ate beef. Lots of beef. It was GREAT!!!

We saw lots of aminals in the wild. Ducks, geese, horsies, buffaloes, elks, coyote, antelopes, cows, doggies. And we went to a zoo, too, with the niece and nephews.

But best of all was that Jack Bauer and I got to get away and relax for the first time since he's been home. We didn't have to worry about the house selling, the moves, the school, the Army. And since our Internet access was seriously limited, we didn't have to think much about what was going on in the rest of the world. Not being perfect, some of the worries that come with the real world crept in, but we didn't let it ruin our time with his parents.

More to come.

A thunderstorm and fireflies

Those are my birthday whimsical wishes. I didn't have much in the way of thunderstorms growing up and I find them fascinating still. I first saw a firefly when I moved to North Carolina when I was 21. And just about every year we've lived here in Middleville, the first fireflies come out about this time. They are simple and they simply make me smile. And it is good to smile on your birthday.

pity party

I'm still sick. My voice has gotten better but I keep having spasms in my throat that cause me to have violent coughing attacks so bad my eyes water up and my head hurts. I haven't slept well for 4 nights. It is beginning to take a toll. And I am grouchy.

Work has started an hour earlier but finishes at the same time. We call this torture "Summer Hours" and try to make it appealing by working for just 4 hours on Friday. It is only nice on Friday. The rest of the week I curse this schedule.

Waa waa waa!

But of course, the throat will heal, I will start to get more sleep, and I've only got a few more weeks of work. OK. Pity party over. Everyone go home.