Just a Random Memory...

...My mother was a very practical but proud woman. Back in the early 1990's when "car phones" first made an appearance I remember her saying, "I hope I NEVER think I'm so important that I have to have a phone everywhere I go." Thinking about that kind of gives me the giggles now. She died in 1993 WAY before the mobile phone craze had gone...well...crazy. Today we can choose from phones that do everything but our laundry from phones that are just that phones. Most of our children are connected so we can stay in constant contact with them. Gone are the days of keeping a quarter so we can access the pay phone if we are running late on curfew. Now we just have to make sure our mobile devices have enough charge and if they don't that we have a charger handy just in case. I'm thankful for the technology. It keeps me in contact with my children and my children in contact with me. I still have to wonder which one my mom would have chosen if she had chosen one at all...I think she would have though ;)

Good Sunday Morning!

So far it is beautiful here in Georgia, but I can already tell that it is hot. The A/C is running and it is on 76, and it is 10am. Not a great sign as to what the rest of the day will be like, but this too shall pass. I stayed up late last night watching "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest," so I didn't go to bed 'til around 2am. I slept later than normal and woke to a couple of icy kitty stares. What else is new right?

Gotta love the little furry beasts though! They want nothing more from me than to be fed and petted, and I am more than happy to oblige them both. They bring me the greatest joy and are more than happy to lay around with me when I'm not at my best. No judgements from them just snuggles and purring.

So today is a lazy day with the kids. No big plans. LOL, no little plans for that matter, but that could change.

My life is fabulous, and I wouldn't change a thing. I have been blessed beyond measure!

To the Asian People....

......that answer my posts. While I appreciate your interest and you taking time out to comment, I have no idea in hell what you are saying. Actually, I would venture to say that none of my other readers know what you are saying either unless you are using blogspot to plan some odd military coup and are using us unsuspecting bloggers as a conduit. I'm assuming that if you can READ English, that you can also WRITE English. Please start doing so. It is like being in the damn nail salon and having the workers speak in their native tongue while performing their service, and I find that very unnerving and rude. End of rant....

Friday Morning....

It's 8am, and I have 4 days off from work. I am thankful. 4 days to spend with my kids, but I am sad that my husband is not here. He has been gone since last Saturday, and he won't be home again until next Sunday. He has been texting me nightly. Sometimes it is really late, and I wake up to it, but it is still nice to know that he is missing me as much as I am missing him. He is also making sure to text the kids. Poor man, I know he is exhausted, but thank God for modern technology. Had it not been for cell phones who knows when or if we would be hearing from him. He has lots of training coming up getting ready for his deployment. I guess it helps us get used to him being gone, IF you can get used to it. I dunno.

On a lighter note, in lieu of smashing my Blackberry to bits with a hammer I traded it in on a regular phone. I didn't use half of the features and it was driving me CRAZY(er). So, now I have a Samsung Reality and I am happy. I can text and talk and check my facebook without difficulty. It still has a calendar to help me keep up with appointments, so what else can I possibly need or want? PLUS, I don't have to pay the "Smartphone" fees anymore. YAY

I'm not sure what the kids and I are going to get into this weekend. Not too much as our funds are limited, and Kendra has to babysit tomorrow night, but whatever we do it will be together as a family. Thanks to all who read!

And THAT'S When it Hit Me....

...Riding home from Petco yesterday my phone makes the little dinging sound that it makes when I have a message. I check it and sure enough I have a picture message, and it is from my husband. This is the image that I received.


That is when it hit me. Him going back to the Middle East is going to happen and it is happening soon. His official "retraining" has begun. This training session is 2 weeks long, and he will be home on July 31st. He will be leaving again sometime in August for another 3 weeks, September for 5 weeks (obviously going into October), and he will be going to Ft. Bliss Texas on October 25th and from there he goes to Qatar.

While this picture makes me proud of my handsome soldier it also evokes a profound sadness of memories that will be created that he will not be a part of, tears that will be shed that he will not be able to wipe away, warm baby hugs he will not wake up to, and bad 8yo boy jokes he will not be the butt of.

It will be hard for us left behind, but it will be so much harder for him having to go and missing out on so much....

Shhhh, Don't Tell Anyone.....

......yesterday, I had fully intended on resting after working the entire weekend. After writing my blog entry yesterday morning, I went into the bathroom and glanced in the mirror. Most of you know I keep my hair very short, and it had grown just a little too long for my liking, so I decided to call my hair dresser and see if she could fit me in and low and behold she could. We also needed a few groceries, so Kendra said she would go while I was getting my hair done if I made her a list, so I did. She is such a good kid and ALWAYS willing to help. SOOOO, then after that was all said and done, we decided to drive to Tiger Town to go to Petco to buy a different container to put Izzy's meal worms in. The other container allowed them to escape, and they ended up crawling all over the enclosure. (gross)THEN, Kendra and I made another feeding box for Harley. She had outgrown the other one. So then I did 2 loads of laundry, cleaned out the litter box, unloaded the dishwasher, and wiped down all of the kitchen counters. Wonder how I'm going to rest today??????

Monday Monday...

Well, another weekend has come and gone. I spent mine in the ER working. It wasn't a horrible weekend all in all, but the combination of doctors wasn't great. Oh well, it is over now. Today is the beginning of a new week. The kids and I don't have too much planned for today. We have got to go to the grocery store, because we are out of the basics. No milk, bread, or sandwich meat. LOL Staples in our home. I have also called in my prescriptions to be filled. Hahaha, I feel like a granny. I put all my medications in a basket. Pretty damned pathetic huh? I'm working on that one though. I'm hoping the more weight I lose, the more meds I can QUIT taking. I've lost about 15lbs since working in the new ER. I think it is a combination of healthier eating, because I take my breakfast, lunch, AND snacks, and we walk about a million miles a day. I dunno, but something has got to give. I want to see my kids grow up and have kids or not have kids, but be successful in whatever they choose to do.

To my loyal readers who do pray, two of my friends need prayers. The specific need doesn't need to be spoken aloud, just pray for their physical and emotional healing and peace please. Thanking all of you in advance.

Whatever Creepeth the Earth...

....most of my followers know that I am a "Crazy Cat Lady," but I am also a reptile fan. I do NOT like amphibians. They look slimy, because they ARE slimy. So, I want no part of them. Reptiles are cool. We have had a Kenyan Sand Boa for a couple of years now, and she is way cool. We have spent the past two days upgrading her enclosure, and we took her smaller enclosure and decided to expand our reptile family by adding a Leopard Gecko. Petco was having a 50% off sale, so Zac picked out the perfect Gecko. Zac named him Izzy, and he settled in and began eating right away. I think he will have a great home with us, and I am in love with him already! The worst thing about reptiles is their choice of food, but I can get over that unless they want to share with me. LOL

I Tumble for Ya...

Soooo, last night, my husband comes home late. He is exhausted and frustrated and says, "Let's just get out of here and go sit down and eat somewhere." Zac and I had already bathed and were in jammies, but the look on his face prompted me to get up and slip into some clothes and off we went. We decided on IHOP, because it wasn't too crowded and it is relatively inexpensive. So, we eat a decent meal, have some nice calming conversation, and have some laughs at Zac. We get ready to leave, and I go to exit the booth, step on the back of my own flip-flop, and go down like a felled tree landing HARD on my left knee. I popped up like a jack-in-the-box and nearly ran out of the restaurant passing my husband. If he HAD hair I'm sure I would have created enough wind to have blown it back. He said, "What in the world is wrong with you?" I answered, "You didn't see me FALL out of the BOOTH?" He said, "No" and through his laughter asked, "Are you alright?" I pointed to the nice carpet burn on my left knee which made him laugh harder, and I said, "Other than this carpet burn, and my pride, I am fine." Well, I made IHOP truly IHOP.....

Days Gone By...

I must thank Tim York and our silly facebook banter for bringing to mind very real memories for me....

I was fortunate enough to have a very close family when I was a small child. I suppose I was about 3 or 4, but I remember bits and pieces of the vacations we would take AS a family. Mom, Dad, my 2 sisters, me and my maternal grandparents WOULD load up in the station wagon with the fake wooden sides and head to the beach. I'm not sure which beach. It would take forever it seems to get there. I remember we always had a hotel ON the beach though, and we would all share a room. My parents and grandparents would sleep on the beds. My sisters and I would sleep on pool floats on the floor covered in sheets. I remember my swim ring that looked like a big Lifesavers candy, and my granddaddy rolling up the legs of his khaki pants and jumping waves with me. I don't think he owned shorts. It was on one of these trips that I learned to swim, developed my love of the sea, and my hatred of sand. I still love the smell of tanning oil and the taste of the salt air...

Thanks Tim

I DON'T HAVE A MUSTACHE!!!!

.....and so it begins....yesterday, I went for a pedicure at the new nail salon in Wal-Mart. Friends from work had given it RAVE reviews, so I talked hubby into treating me to a "me" morning. I made sure I was there at 10am when they opened. They were VERY friendly and all greeted me with smiles. "Tina" a petite oriental girl introduced herself and asked me what my name was. I told her and she led me to a pedicure station complete with the most bizarre massage chair I have ever seen. It actually gave butt and thigh massages. Kinda nice though. I digress. "Tina" proceeded to give me the BEST pedicure I have ever had complete with a sea salt calf scrub, hot stone leg and foot massage, and parrafin wax foot wrap. After my nails were all cute she asked if I needed my eyebrows waxed, and I said, "Actually, I do, can you do it?" She assured me that she could and led me to another station....

So, there I was blissfully getting my eyebrows groomed when "Tina" says, "How about your mustache?" Taken quite aback I sat up and stated, "I do NOT have a mustache." Tina looked at me sweetly, handed me the mirror, and said, "See, you have mustache." So, I swallowed quite loudly, looked in the mirror, and sure enough, I have a little blonde mustache at the corners of my top lip......Horrified, I told Tina, "Rip that sucker off" and so she did. Then she made up for TELLING me that I had a mustache by saying, "See, NOW you look beautiful." Bless her heart. I only had to pay her a total of $50 for the great pedicure, eyebrow wax, lip wax, and that BIG FAT LIE......

Honestly, I thought the whole thing was hilarious! If you can't laugh at yourself, you have no right to laugh at others, and I do PLENTY of that!!