It was time to take my "furbabies" to the vet to update all of their shots. I was kind of dreading the bill since Dave and I are essentially jobless at the moment, but since we didn't have the vet actually look at them we only had to pay for the shots. Between the two of them we spent $98 on shots. Last year when we took them to the vet and had them looked at by the vet it was $300. (Yes, they're only cats...I know.) We opted out of the vet checking them and determined we'd take them in if something serious pops up. Today it was just shots...but you would have thought we were doing something more torturous to them.
Zeke and Zeus started acting up before we ever left the house. I tried to tackle them and put their harnesses and leashes on to get them out of the house. They weren't having any part of it. (We put them on leashes because they are too heavy for the cat carriers we bought for them when they were smaller...the bottom sags once you put a 12-14 lb cat into it. BTW, we weighed them: Zeus was 12.4lbs and Zeke was 14.5lbs....fat cats!) I finally tackled them and put harnesses and leashes on them. I took Zeus to the backporch while Dave brought the car closer to the door. I went back inside to get Zeke and when I opened the door, zoom, Zeus was back inside. So much for having them ready by the door. I should have known better anyhow, Zeus hates being outside. I take Zeke to the car and he instantly hides under the seat. I go back to the house to get Zeus. Zeus is clinging to me and growling the minute we walk outside the door. Did I mention he's a yellow tabby and shedding like crazy at the moment? I pry him from me and stick him in the car as well. I get in the front seat and look down...I might as well be wearing a fur coat, but I know I might as well not worry about it because there will be more fur before the trip is over.
We arrive at the vets office, about 10 minutes late do to the "getting out the door" ordeal, and take them inside on their leashes. Zeus immediately starts whining and growling. Zeke is bellowing as well. I talk to them for a minute or two and they calm down slightly. Dave and I are sitting on a bench, each with a cat on a leash on the floor. Zeus is content to wander the floor within the range of his leash. Zeke decides he wants to wander to a chair and promptly hops into it to sit down. He apparently needed his space and thinks he is part human. We're sitting there waiting and the next thing we know Zeke is slobbering all over the place and acting like he's going to puke. Dave hurries up and takes him outside, but all he does is slobber some more. Zeke was just worked up about being there I guess.
Finally, they call us back to the examining room. Zeus starts his growling again and Zeke is just glaring at us. The vet assistant goes and gets the shots ready. Zeus whines a bit as they stick him, but puts up no big fuss as Dave holds him while the vet assistant sticks him. Zeke decides he isn't happy the minute I pick him up to get his shots. He wouldn't let go of my shirt and let me set him on the table. Then when Dave goes to hold him he jumps up the minute the assistant gets near him with the needle. They try this about twice and then the assistant goes to get help. The vet comes in and gives Zeke his shots as Dave and the assistant hold Zeke down.
Whew, we're done with that. We go to the desk to pay for their shots. Zeke is still glaring and Zeus is totally fine. (Zeus is usually the whiny one.) Zeke has spent the majority of his time awake today giving us the evil eye. I talked to my mom, or Grandma Brenda as I call her around the cats, and she said to tell the boys she was sorry. I said, "Sorry for what? That we took them to get shots so they stay healthy and don't get some crazy illness?" Ugh. I was worn out after our vet visit...and covered in yellow fur from head to toe. Yeah, I'm still not ready for kids because I know the vet trip was only half as traumatic as a visit to the doctor can be. (Doctor's waiting areas are usually full of other kids...typically upset ones, frustrated parents, and who knows what else.)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
~It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year~
I'm humming that song right now. I know Christmas is still several months away...and I really could care less about that. Two things happen in the month of July that I just absolutely adore! The first being the 4th of July. I love the colors, the food, the fireworks and sparklers. It's waaaayyyy better than Christmas if you ask me. The second thing doesn't happen on any magic date, but suddenly in retail stores everywhere the best items start sprouting up. BACK to SCHOOL Supplies and Clothes and all sorts of fun things! I ventured into Wal-Mart today and magically the back to school aisle was filling up. There were notebooks, pencils, folders, scissors, erasers, glue sticks, crayons, colored pencils, and so many other wonderful gems. The best deal of the day were scissors on sale for 60 cents. Last year I paid 98 cents for the same kind of scissors. The only thing that saddens me at the moment is I have no good excuse to buy supplies just yet due to no teaching job in sight. You should have seen my cart last year! Loaded to the gills with stuff. I managed to use nearly all of it too. I had some leftover notebooks at the end of the year, but notebooks don't expire. Dave has to restrain me whenever we pass the "back to school aisle" because I just can't help myself. I can wander and look for hours. Hopefully I will get a teaching job and find an excuse to buy more supplies. I love them!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Arriving in "Sweet Home Alabama" & Crazy Dreams
To say things have been busy this past month would be a huge understatement. I somehow managed to finish up my second year of teaching without any major issues. I did indeed manage to pack up my classroom and an entire townhouse full of junk in the same two week span. It wasn't without its problems, but the moving thing finally happened. I have a few stories to share about the drama of moving.
Story #1 - Mechanical Problems
As part of the military reimbursement for moving (since they pay to move us) we have to have certified weight receipts of the truck & trailer with an empty weight and a full weight. (Dave's rank allots him 8,ooo lbs that they will reimburse us for moving.) Well, my father-in-law drove down and arrived on a Friday evening with the truck and borrowed trailer, which saved us a ton of money not having to rent one. So the boys get up Saturday morning to go get the trailer weighed and the truck won't start. Moving is at a standstill at this point while they work on the truck all afternoon. They ended up replacing a starter, but not before all the certified weight scales were closed for the weekend. I'm still furiously packing boxes, but they are not moving to the truck because they need to weigh it empty. Finally Monday arrives and they were able to get the truck weighed and the loading process began. ...I was still trying to shove things in boxes, not many things...but enough things. They get all 5,600 lbs of stuff loaded by around 3:30pm. The boys have a half hour to get the truck 3 mi down the road to get it weighed for its full weight slip. I jump in the shower because we were going out to dinner since the kitchen was packed and closed for business. I get out of the shower and have just put on my dinner clothes when I get a phone call. Dave says I need to go pick him up from the scales place, uh why? He replies, "we have a flat tire on the trailer." Ugh! So I pick him up and we head around town to find a replacement tire. Apparently the brand new car hauler that we were using as a trailer (the kind they haul nice racin' cars in) had a screw that went all the way from the inside of the trailer in the wheel well through to the outside where the tire rubs. The screw wasn't a problem when the trailer was empty, but as the trailer was weighed down and the tire expanded it became a huge problem. The boys filed off the end of the screw and put on the new tire and we were back in the moving business. They left for AL the next morning and arrived that evening without further delay.
#2 Wendy's Travels to AL
I did not leave when the truck with out stuff left. I stayed in good ol' J-ville a few more days to get the place cleaned up, the carpets cleaned, and to have it treated for fleas. All of those things were part of our rental agreement as things we needed to do when we left. Upon leaving J-ville, I made a slight detour to Myrtle Beach where my father, his children, and his wife were vacationing. It was a pretty good time to spend two days at the beach with dad, my sisters (all 2.5 of them) and my half brother. The kids are cute at ages 2 & 4, but it reaffirmed the fact that I am NOT ready to be a Mommy. Nope, can't stand the constant noise. Then after two days at the beach Katie and I traveled to AL...
#3 Katie and AL
Katie came to visit me for a week in Alabama. I LOVED having her here. Dave and I keep trying to talk Katie into coming to AL for law school. We've offered to let her stay with us for a small, small rent fee for the duration of law school and beyond. So, as part of that we took her to visit two different law schools in the vicinity. The first stop was Birmingham School of Law, which is rather small and would be good only for practicing law in the state of AL. The second stop was Sanford. We were lucky enough to spend some time talking with an admissions counselor there. She shared a wealth of knowledge with Katie and I about the process of applying to law school, ways to prepare for the LSAT, and some things to think about as far as an application for law school goes. We were both very impressed. Katie said she might like to really go there. (Of course I rooting for it too!) Katie left AL on a Saturday to head back to Athens, OH for school. She needed to move out of her apartment from last school year and into her new one for the upcoming school year by July 1. Katie is about 2 hrs from school when we get a phone call about a problem with her tire area. Dave determines it is Katie's wheel baring and it must be replaced asap during the diagnostic phone call. Katie is a a ways off from the next exit in Owensville, KY when this even occurs. Katie was blessed with the presence of a young couple that stopped to help her out. The gentleman of the couple had his wife get out of the car first so that Katie would feel safer when they stopped to assist her. He also said that they were good church going people when he first talked to Katie. Good church going people they were indeed! They drove Katie all over to assist her. She visited the shop to get it towed and they said they probably wouldn't be able to get it fixed until Monday. They then took Katie to get the part she needed and drove back to drop it off. Then to the hotel to check-in to a room. Then back to Katie's car to get some clothes and her laptop and then back to the hotel. The couple invited Katie to church with them the following day where the gentleman's father was a minister. Katie ended up going to church with them and then ate lunch at a dinner thing they were doing at the church after the service. The couple dropped Katie off at the hotel again and gave her a variety of phone numbers at which they could be reached if she needed anything else. Katie got the call on Sunday that he car was done so they came along later and took her to her car. God is good. I felt so blessed to know that Katie was taken care of even though she was technically stranded. She arrived back in Athens on Sunday evening without further delay.
Ok, on to the crazy dreams story. To say moving was stressful would be another gross understatement. I ended up with a lot of burdens while my husband didn't seem to have nearly as many. I've also been frustrated with our plan to live temporarily with my in-laws (I HATE being dependent). I just wanted to move into a place that was ours again. However, I rationally understand the wisdom of waiting til we both secure jobs and figure out what we can realistically afford. Irrationally, I want what I want. The stress and frustrated feelings left me feeling very angry with my husband. I was rather grumpy to him most of the first few days here in Alabama. We even had a little talk about it one night before going to sleep. That very night when I was so irritated and angry I had a dream. I dreamed that we had packed up our entire house in J-ville and we set to leave the next day when Dave told me that he wanted to re-enlist and would be deploying the next day instead. Talk about crying!!! I cried and cried and cried in my dream. He just up and left me for deployment to Iraq instead of moving to AL. I woke up from that dream and snuggled up to my husband. From that moment on I've been grateful to be here instead of saying yet another good-bye to my husband as he travels into a world of uknowns for several months. (Do you think God may have been trying to remind me of how much I Love my husband?) We're slowly working our way back to the relationship we had prior to deployment. It's been a struggle with some give and take on both ends. He needed to unwind and realize I'm his wife and not a fellow Marine. I needed to realize that even though I did everything while he was gone and am capable, that I need to let him be needed. I also need to get used to actually having him around instead of being alone all the time (ok, with two furbabies all the time) and not just talking to him for a few minutes at a time sporadically.
Another tidbit: I am SUPER excited to spend the 4th of July with my husband. My husband who is no longer an active duty Marine, but who will always be a Marine. .oO(I'll always feel like a Marine's wife as well...) I think the 4th of July is better than Christmas! I love fireworks and sparklers and parades and whatever else the 4th brings. If I had decided to have a big ol' fancy weddin' I would have planned it for the 4th of July and of course had red, white, and blue as my colors. On this 4th of July as I am enjoying life as a civilian, not a military dependent, I will be thinking of all those brave men and women who volunteer to endure hardships, spend the majority of their time away from family-in the US and in other parts of the world (combat or no combat), and be thankful for their willingness to sacrifice, and pray for their safety so their loved ones can welcome them home with open arms. I'll also be thinking about 4th of July's from the past...actually seeing the fireworks in Washington, DC (I hope to make it back at least a few more times), and the 4th spent with Marines preparing to deploy who were setting all kinds of things on fire at my house and making lighted watermelon boats. (See last year's post about the 4th if you'd like to see some pictures.) I hope you all have a happy and safe 4th of July and take a few minutes to think about those who help protect our freedoms and Independence that we celebrate.
Story #1 - Mechanical Problems
As part of the military reimbursement for moving (since they pay to move us) we have to have certified weight receipts of the truck & trailer with an empty weight and a full weight. (Dave's rank allots him 8,ooo lbs that they will reimburse us for moving.) Well, my father-in-law drove down and arrived on a Friday evening with the truck and borrowed trailer, which saved us a ton of money not having to rent one. So the boys get up Saturday morning to go get the trailer weighed and the truck won't start. Moving is at a standstill at this point while they work on the truck all afternoon. They ended up replacing a starter, but not before all the certified weight scales were closed for the weekend. I'm still furiously packing boxes, but they are not moving to the truck because they need to weigh it empty. Finally Monday arrives and they were able to get the truck weighed and the loading process began. ...I was still trying to shove things in boxes, not many things...but enough things. They get all 5,600 lbs of stuff loaded by around 3:30pm. The boys have a half hour to get the truck 3 mi down the road to get it weighed for its full weight slip. I jump in the shower because we were going out to dinner since the kitchen was packed and closed for business. I get out of the shower and have just put on my dinner clothes when I get a phone call. Dave says I need to go pick him up from the scales place, uh why? He replies, "we have a flat tire on the trailer." Ugh! So I pick him up and we head around town to find a replacement tire. Apparently the brand new car hauler that we were using as a trailer (the kind they haul nice racin' cars in) had a screw that went all the way from the inside of the trailer in the wheel well through to the outside where the tire rubs. The screw wasn't a problem when the trailer was empty, but as the trailer was weighed down and the tire expanded it became a huge problem. The boys filed off the end of the screw and put on the new tire and we were back in the moving business. They left for AL the next morning and arrived that evening without further delay.
#2 Wendy's Travels to AL
I did not leave when the truck with out stuff left. I stayed in good ol' J-ville a few more days to get the place cleaned up, the carpets cleaned, and to have it treated for fleas. All of those things were part of our rental agreement as things we needed to do when we left. Upon leaving J-ville, I made a slight detour to Myrtle Beach where my father, his children, and his wife were vacationing. It was a pretty good time to spend two days at the beach with dad, my sisters (all 2.5 of them) and my half brother. The kids are cute at ages 2 & 4, but it reaffirmed the fact that I am NOT ready to be a Mommy. Nope, can't stand the constant noise. Then after two days at the beach Katie and I traveled to AL...
#3 Katie and AL
Katie came to visit me for a week in Alabama. I LOVED having her here. Dave and I keep trying to talk Katie into coming to AL for law school. We've offered to let her stay with us for a small, small rent fee for the duration of law school and beyond. So, as part of that we took her to visit two different law schools in the vicinity. The first stop was Birmingham School of Law, which is rather small and would be good only for practicing law in the state of AL. The second stop was Sanford. We were lucky enough to spend some time talking with an admissions counselor there. She shared a wealth of knowledge with Katie and I about the process of applying to law school, ways to prepare for the LSAT, and some things to think about as far as an application for law school goes. We were both very impressed. Katie said she might like to really go there. (Of course I rooting for it too!) Katie left AL on a Saturday to head back to Athens, OH for school. She needed to move out of her apartment from last school year and into her new one for the upcoming school year by July 1. Katie is about 2 hrs from school when we get a phone call about a problem with her tire area. Dave determines it is Katie's wheel baring and it must be replaced asap during the diagnostic phone call. Katie is a a ways off from the next exit in Owensville, KY when this even occurs. Katie was blessed with the presence of a young couple that stopped to help her out. The gentleman of the couple had his wife get out of the car first so that Katie would feel safer when they stopped to assist her. He also said that they were good church going people when he first talked to Katie. Good church going people they were indeed! They drove Katie all over to assist her. She visited the shop to get it towed and they said they probably wouldn't be able to get it fixed until Monday. They then took Katie to get the part she needed and drove back to drop it off. Then to the hotel to check-in to a room. Then back to Katie's car to get some clothes and her laptop and then back to the hotel. The couple invited Katie to church with them the following day where the gentleman's father was a minister. Katie ended up going to church with them and then ate lunch at a dinner thing they were doing at the church after the service. The couple dropped Katie off at the hotel again and gave her a variety of phone numbers at which they could be reached if she needed anything else. Katie got the call on Sunday that he car was done so they came along later and took her to her car. God is good. I felt so blessed to know that Katie was taken care of even though she was technically stranded. She arrived back in Athens on Sunday evening without further delay.
Ok, on to the crazy dreams story. To say moving was stressful would be another gross understatement. I ended up with a lot of burdens while my husband didn't seem to have nearly as many. I've also been frustrated with our plan to live temporarily with my in-laws (I HATE being dependent). I just wanted to move into a place that was ours again. However, I rationally understand the wisdom of waiting til we both secure jobs and figure out what we can realistically afford. Irrationally, I want what I want. The stress and frustrated feelings left me feeling very angry with my husband. I was rather grumpy to him most of the first few days here in Alabama. We even had a little talk about it one night before going to sleep. That very night when I was so irritated and angry I had a dream. I dreamed that we had packed up our entire house in J-ville and we set to leave the next day when Dave told me that he wanted to re-enlist and would be deploying the next day instead. Talk about crying!!! I cried and cried and cried in my dream. He just up and left me for deployment to Iraq instead of moving to AL. I woke up from that dream and snuggled up to my husband. From that moment on I've been grateful to be here instead of saying yet another good-bye to my husband as he travels into a world of uknowns for several months. (Do you think God may have been trying to remind me of how much I Love my husband?) We're slowly working our way back to the relationship we had prior to deployment. It's been a struggle with some give and take on both ends. He needed to unwind and realize I'm his wife and not a fellow Marine. I needed to realize that even though I did everything while he was gone and am capable, that I need to let him be needed. I also need to get used to actually having him around instead of being alone all the time (ok, with two furbabies all the time) and not just talking to him for a few minutes at a time sporadically.
Another tidbit: I am SUPER excited to spend the 4th of July with my husband. My husband who is no longer an active duty Marine, but who will always be a Marine. .oO(I'll always feel like a Marine's wife as well...) I think the 4th of July is better than Christmas! I love fireworks and sparklers and parades and whatever else the 4th brings. If I had decided to have a big ol' fancy weddin' I would have planned it for the 4th of July and of course had red, white, and blue as my colors. On this 4th of July as I am enjoying life as a civilian, not a military dependent, I will be thinking of all those brave men and women who volunteer to endure hardships, spend the majority of their time away from family-in the US and in other parts of the world (combat or no combat), and be thankful for their willingness to sacrifice, and pray for their safety so their loved ones can welcome them home with open arms. I'll also be thinking about 4th of July's from the past...actually seeing the fireworks in Washington, DC (I hope to make it back at least a few more times), and the 4th spent with Marines preparing to deploy who were setting all kinds of things on fire at my house and making lighted watermelon boats. (See last year's post about the 4th if you'd like to see some pictures.) I hope you all have a happy and safe 4th of July and take a few minutes to think about those who help protect our freedoms and Independence that we celebrate.
Friday, June 6, 2008
No Time to Write Lately
I have had absolutely zero time to write lately. Things are crazy busy at the moment. There have been severeal things I have thought about including in my blog, but haven't been able to stay awake long enough to blog...
#1 State Testing
We completed our state testing in math and language arts for our particular grade, there are other tested subjects depending on grade level. I tend to get very nervous during test time. I'm always worried that the work I've put into teaching my students throughout the year will not be reflected on the test. I also worry that I will mess something up during the administration of the test and will cause my students to have to complete a retest. (Not something a Principal or the students would be happy about.) During the test we also have to have a proctor in the room with us to ensure that we do everything "by the book." Last year we received our proctors straight from SOI (School of Infantry - the next place young Marines go after bootcamp)....which means it was an interesting time having these young men who were training for war and around Marines 24/7 come into a middle school. Needless to say there were some issues and the school decided that they were not going to use Marines as proctors this year. There is a huge difference between having a Marine as a proctor and having a civilian. It was brought to my attention this year when on the first day a civilian volunteer was in my room. He wandered the room and was happy to leave at the end of the testing session. The second day I had a Marine friend of ours in my room. He started the testing session no problem...after about a half hour of wandering my room he started "police calling" (it's when Marines pick up all the trash around a place and straighten it up) my classroom. Every little bit of paper he found on his trips around the room he picked up. Once he had found all the trash I could sense the boredom. He started to appear almost as a caged animal. It reminded me of a joke about putting a Marine in a round room with three ball bearings for awhile. When you return one of the ball bearings will be lost, one will be broken, and I forget what will have happenned to the third, but it is a very true joke. Having a Marine in my room reminded me of all the funny quirks unique to Marines. Quirks that I am sure I will miss once we leave the Marine Corps version of Monopoly.
#2 A Husband Without a Purpose
I Love my husband dearly. That is important to point out. He picked up his official paperwork (his DD214) from the Marine Corps on Sunday. He is once again a "free" man and a civilian. This transition has only just begun and I am sure it will be trying at times. The man is a Marine without a mission....ladies who know and love Marines know that this is never a good thing. It leads to the aformentioned boredom problem. My darling husband is now home by himself all day all week while I am taming the lions and lionesses of the 6th grade for a few more days. He calls me on Tuesday at 3:20pm and says "what are you doing?" My reply, "I'm driving home, but I have to stop and get gas first." His response, "well hurry, I'm bored." Ugh. He has been packing a bit at a time, cleaning my car and taking it to get an oil change, and cooking dinner nightly--but the man is still bored. We have about a week left until his Dad comes with the moving truck to entertain him... I'm hoping my husband finds some sort of job quickly once we get to Alabama so he will once again feel like he has a purpose.
#3 End of the School Year
It is a bittersweet time right now. It is yet again the end of the school year and I am looking forawrd to it, but I will be sad to say good-bye to all my wonderful colleages here at JCMS. They have been an amazing group of teachers who have guided me through the uniqueness known as JCMS and my first two years of teaching. I've blogged about only a few of the many joys and sorrows of the first two years of teaching. This group of 6th graders will always hold a special place in my heart for helping me journey through a deployment and a school year (from beginning to end). I am looking forward to new oppurtunities, but am also wondering...will I find such great co-workers elsewhere, will technology be so readily available in a new classroom, and a myriad of other things.
#4 Moving
I hate moving. That should sum up the whole ordeal in that one sentence, but the English teacher in me feels the need to elaborate. I am excited about the new possiblities the move will bring. I hate trying to put all of my belongings into neat little boxes. Most belongings don't fit neatly into boxes, you have to carefully wrap them in paper so they don't get damaged. A pain. So far I have packed two boxes. I need to pack a ton more before I will be ready to load the trailer in a week. Too many belongings and not enough time...
So I'm off to work on packing a classroom and a house all in the same week.
#1 State Testing
We completed our state testing in math and language arts for our particular grade, there are other tested subjects depending on grade level. I tend to get very nervous during test time. I'm always worried that the work I've put into teaching my students throughout the year will not be reflected on the test. I also worry that I will mess something up during the administration of the test and will cause my students to have to complete a retest. (Not something a Principal or the students would be happy about.) During the test we also have to have a proctor in the room with us to ensure that we do everything "by the book." Last year we received our proctors straight from SOI (School of Infantry - the next place young Marines go after bootcamp)....which means it was an interesting time having these young men who were training for war and around Marines 24/7 come into a middle school. Needless to say there were some issues and the school decided that they were not going to use Marines as proctors this year. There is a huge difference between having a Marine as a proctor and having a civilian. It was brought to my attention this year when on the first day a civilian volunteer was in my room. He wandered the room and was happy to leave at the end of the testing session. The second day I had a Marine friend of ours in my room. He started the testing session no problem...after about a half hour of wandering my room he started "police calling" (it's when Marines pick up all the trash around a place and straighten it up) my classroom. Every little bit of paper he found on his trips around the room he picked up. Once he had found all the trash I could sense the boredom. He started to appear almost as a caged animal. It reminded me of a joke about putting a Marine in a round room with three ball bearings for awhile. When you return one of the ball bearings will be lost, one will be broken, and I forget what will have happenned to the third, but it is a very true joke. Having a Marine in my room reminded me of all the funny quirks unique to Marines. Quirks that I am sure I will miss once we leave the Marine Corps version of Monopoly.
#2 A Husband Without a Purpose
I Love my husband dearly. That is important to point out. He picked up his official paperwork (his DD214) from the Marine Corps on Sunday. He is once again a "free" man and a civilian. This transition has only just begun and I am sure it will be trying at times. The man is a Marine without a mission....ladies who know and love Marines know that this is never a good thing. It leads to the aformentioned boredom problem. My darling husband is now home by himself all day all week while I am taming the lions and lionesses of the 6th grade for a few more days. He calls me on Tuesday at 3:20pm and says "what are you doing?" My reply, "I'm driving home, but I have to stop and get gas first." His response, "well hurry, I'm bored." Ugh. He has been packing a bit at a time, cleaning my car and taking it to get an oil change, and cooking dinner nightly--but the man is still bored. We have about a week left until his Dad comes with the moving truck to entertain him... I'm hoping my husband finds some sort of job quickly once we get to Alabama so he will once again feel like he has a purpose.
#3 End of the School Year
It is a bittersweet time right now. It is yet again the end of the school year and I am looking forawrd to it, but I will be sad to say good-bye to all my wonderful colleages here at JCMS. They have been an amazing group of teachers who have guided me through the uniqueness known as JCMS and my first two years of teaching. I've blogged about only a few of the many joys and sorrows of the first two years of teaching. This group of 6th graders will always hold a special place in my heart for helping me journey through a deployment and a school year (from beginning to end). I am looking forward to new oppurtunities, but am also wondering...will I find such great co-workers elsewhere, will technology be so readily available in a new classroom, and a myriad of other things.
#4 Moving
I hate moving. That should sum up the whole ordeal in that one sentence, but the English teacher in me feels the need to elaborate. I am excited about the new possiblities the move will bring. I hate trying to put all of my belongings into neat little boxes. Most belongings don't fit neatly into boxes, you have to carefully wrap them in paper so they don't get damaged. A pain. So far I have packed two boxes. I need to pack a ton more before I will be ready to load the trailer in a week. Too many belongings and not enough time...
So I'm off to work on packing a classroom and a house all in the same week.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Odds and Ends
First Story: I'm the proud mommy to two furbabies. They're pretty good most of the time, but if their behavior is any indication of what any kids we may have will be like then we are in for an interesting (read: troubling, very troubling...my kids will be grounded....or if they respond like their father does to grounding we'll have to figure something else out) time of parenting. Last week we were almost out of the expensive (as far as cat food goes) Science Diet Hairball Control formula they have been eating for awhile now. We had a bag of Science Diet Adult formula we picked up one time when we couldn't find the other stuff. They didn't really enjoy it, but we decided we would try again to see if they would eat it. (Last time they knocked their bowl over and fished out the regular food - we were mixing them together to try and wean them off the old stuff.) Surprisingly, they ate it. I bought a bag of the regular stuff and put it into the launry room (closet basically). Every day when I came home last week the laundry room door had been knocked open, but I didn't think much of it. I just thought they were being ornery and knocking it open while they were playing. Wrong! I went to open the bag of the Hairball Control formula on Saturday when they finally were out of the other stuff and noticed...hey, there are holes chewed into the bag! Those bad little kitties had been opening the laundry room door and snacking on their favorite food while Mom and Dad were at work all day. Rotten, totally rotten is what they are. (They're also going to be very upset if they have to go on a "poor kitty" diet if Mommy doesn't get a decent job in Alabama...can you say "Meow Mix?")
Second Story: The past two weekends have been hellish. My stress level has gone through the roof. It's a mixture of a bunch of different things all mixed together at once to make me totally nutso. Too many unknowns at the moment. My job is to plan, when I don't know the plan I tend to get ticked. I dealt with it for the Marine Corps, but it soon will not be the Marine Corps that my plans rest upon. Faith, I just need faith, I know. It's always been tough for me to have faith though. On the surface I look like I'm put together and have faith (and parts of me do have faith), but most of me spends the time waiting for the other shoe to drop. If things are too good to be true, instead of totally enjoying it I spend my time partially enjoying it and partially bracing myself for the undoing of all the great stuff. I have a wonderful husband who I know I only met him because somebody bigger than me wanted us together. I'm grateful for that. Only he could deal with me when I'm stressed and still Love me the way he does. (I'm kind of a big b if you know what I mean when I get too stressed.) Plus, he loves my insane family. It truly takes a special guy to love my insane family too. He's a keeper. .oO(I do remember a weekend visit approx. 3 years ago that he was stuck in the middle of the back seat, in a car full of girls, where he was cowering and saying "what did I get myself into?"....mwuahahaha...wonder what he thinks after 3 years in the family....maybe I don't want to know, LOL.)
Third Story: I voted in the NC primary/spring election. I voted on a whole 3 things...the presidential primary, a sales tax for NC, and school board. Sadly, I didn't pay attention to the details of the other candidates. So I stink as a voter and I didn't answer all the "questions" on my ballot (bad teacher), but I didn't want to add my vote in an uneducated way. I didn't want to just pick one to pick one. Plus, the things that were going through my head were terrible! I've spent too much time with Marines, way too much time. Here's an example that may not make me lose my job...one of the candidates for NC treasurer was named Wiesel and thought...hmmm he sounds Jewish. If he's Jewish maybe he would be good with the state's money. When I realized my decision process I thought...yeah, I should just stop now. Then I went to scan my largely incomplete ballot into the electronic machine and it had an error. I made a stray mark on my ballot. I had to give my ballot back to the nice ladies at the table, who had to have looked at my democratic primary ballot...saw my vote and probably wondered...she voted for him?! That's surprising. I figured my vote should count since I am "unaffiliated" and chose to take a democratic ballot since I don't think the republican primary really means much. Guess there's no secret who I voted for now. (P.S. I can't really respect Hillary. Way too many reasons why at this point...) We'll see what my options are for the fall election. Maybe I'll do my homework on the local issues in Alabama next time too. (Or wherever we end up.)
Fourth Story: This one is closely related to the second story. Bivins (Dave) wants a dog. Badly. Not just any dog, but an Australian Shepherd (sp?). He decided that today while he was on duty he would serch the animal shelters in Alabama for dogs. He found more than one that he fell in love with, but two in particular. He calls me at the end of my school day to tell me about the furry darlings he has found. I have to firmly remind him...uh, we don't have a place to live yet (besides your mom and dad's house) and while I know they love animals, we've already got two we have to feed, litter, and immunize. He tells me "wait til you see the picture, you'll fall in love," Uh, no! I'm going to be the meanie here and say no you can't have a dog...yet. This is similar to how the argument went when we were first talking about bringing home our baby Ezekiel (Zeke). He went to Wal-Mart and bought all the stuff for a cat. Then came to tell me, pick out a cat. Ugh, No! I don't want a cat to clean up after. I'll have fur everywhere and I'll have to clean up a litter box and it will stink. Not to mention fleas and the possibility of moving (we were in DC at the time). Needless to say my resolve lasted overnight and I couldn't say no to his sad little face anymore. We ended up with lil Zeke. Then right before we moved we bought Zeus at the pet store, literally a week before we moved to NC. We are NOT, I repeat NOT going to add another kid to our family until we are settled. (Let's hope I stay firm on this....adding to the family every time we move is a very bad tradition to start.)
Three bananas left to eat for the week! Now I better not lose my marbles with my students or I won't have to worry about looking for a teaching job. That thought alone is what keeps me sane sometimes when I get those particularly trying children.
Second Story: The past two weekends have been hellish. My stress level has gone through the roof. It's a mixture of a bunch of different things all mixed together at once to make me totally nutso. Too many unknowns at the moment. My job is to plan, when I don't know the plan I tend to get ticked. I dealt with it for the Marine Corps, but it soon will not be the Marine Corps that my plans rest upon. Faith, I just need faith, I know. It's always been tough for me to have faith though. On the surface I look like I'm put together and have faith (and parts of me do have faith), but most of me spends the time waiting for the other shoe to drop. If things are too good to be true, instead of totally enjoying it I spend my time partially enjoying it and partially bracing myself for the undoing of all the great stuff. I have a wonderful husband who I know I only met him because somebody bigger than me wanted us together. I'm grateful for that. Only he could deal with me when I'm stressed and still Love me the way he does. (I'm kind of a big b if you know what I mean when I get too stressed.) Plus, he loves my insane family. It truly takes a special guy to love my insane family too. He's a keeper. .oO(I do remember a weekend visit approx. 3 years ago that he was stuck in the middle of the back seat, in a car full of girls, where he was cowering and saying "what did I get myself into?"....mwuahahaha...wonder what he thinks after 3 years in the family....maybe I don't want to know, LOL.)
Third Story: I voted in the NC primary/spring election. I voted on a whole 3 things...the presidential primary, a sales tax for NC, and school board. Sadly, I didn't pay attention to the details of the other candidates. So I stink as a voter and I didn't answer all the "questions" on my ballot (bad teacher), but I didn't want to add my vote in an uneducated way. I didn't want to just pick one to pick one. Plus, the things that were going through my head were terrible! I've spent too much time with Marines, way too much time. Here's an example that may not make me lose my job...one of the candidates for NC treasurer was named Wiesel and thought...hmmm he sounds Jewish. If he's Jewish maybe he would be good with the state's money. When I realized my decision process I thought...yeah, I should just stop now. Then I went to scan my largely incomplete ballot into the electronic machine and it had an error. I made a stray mark on my ballot. I had to give my ballot back to the nice ladies at the table, who had to have looked at my democratic primary ballot...saw my vote and probably wondered...she voted for him?! That's surprising. I figured my vote should count since I am "unaffiliated" and chose to take a democratic ballot since I don't think the republican primary really means much. Guess there's no secret who I voted for now. (P.S. I can't really respect Hillary. Way too many reasons why at this point...) We'll see what my options are for the fall election. Maybe I'll do my homework on the local issues in Alabama next time too. (Or wherever we end up.)
Fourth Story: This one is closely related to the second story. Bivins (Dave) wants a dog. Badly. Not just any dog, but an Australian Shepherd (sp?). He decided that today while he was on duty he would serch the animal shelters in Alabama for dogs. He found more than one that he fell in love with, but two in particular. He calls me at the end of my school day to tell me about the furry darlings he has found. I have to firmly remind him...uh, we don't have a place to live yet (besides your mom and dad's house) and while I know they love animals, we've already got two we have to feed, litter, and immunize. He tells me "wait til you see the picture, you'll fall in love," Uh, no! I'm going to be the meanie here and say no you can't have a dog...yet. This is similar to how the argument went when we were first talking about bringing home our baby Ezekiel (Zeke). He went to Wal-Mart and bought all the stuff for a cat. Then came to tell me, pick out a cat. Ugh, No! I don't want a cat to clean up after. I'll have fur everywhere and I'll have to clean up a litter box and it will stink. Not to mention fleas and the possibility of moving (we were in DC at the time). Needless to say my resolve lasted overnight and I couldn't say no to his sad little face anymore. We ended up with lil Zeke. Then right before we moved we bought Zeus at the pet store, literally a week before we moved to NC. We are NOT, I repeat NOT going to add another kid to our family until we are settled. (Let's hope I stay firm on this....adding to the family every time we move is a very bad tradition to start.)
Three bananas left to eat for the week! Now I better not lose my marbles with my students or I won't have to worry about looking for a teaching job. That thought alone is what keeps me sane sometimes when I get those particularly trying children.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Some People Count Days, I Count Bananas!
Ok, by the title you know this has to do with counting days vs. bananas. What does that mean? Well, if you know me, then you know I am NOT a morning person in the least. I hate waking up and getting out of bed before noon. I am a night owl in nature. By now you're probably wondering how I ended up as a teacher. As long as I wake up and can take my good ol' time getting ready in the morning and go through my routine without being rushed then I am ready to talk to people by 7:30 am when I get to work. If I wake up late or am rushed, it throws off the whole day. I also love to wait until the last minute to wake up and crawl out of bed. That means I eat breakfast in my car every morning. I was eating Pop Tarts on my way to work...until I realized that I was consuming 400 calories on essentially sugar every day and my pants weren't fitting anymore. So about two weeks ago I switched to eating a banana in my car. It leaves me with another fun problem - what to do with the peel. I now have a "banana bag" as I'm dubbing it, to collect the banana peels. I was excited this evening to see that there are only 3 bananas left on the counter for this week=three days of work left. I only but enough bananas for the week and I have to choose some that are ripe and a few that are very green. If I don't get a mixture then my bananas at the end of the week are a little overripe. So anyhow that was my long explanation as to why I count bananas and other people count days.
Random Thing That Irks Me: Why are churches in the business of "selling" their church on their darn message board outside? The churches here in J-ville end up with some stellar sayings, and by stellar I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible. One church in particular actually ticks me off instead of making me want to visit their church. Latest example "Cell phones useful, Jesus' words priceless" What? I get it, but it is a bit of a stretch here people. However, there are sometimes sayings that make me laugh. One of the latest that was posted was "If Jesus had a fridge, would your picture be on it?" My charming husband's reply was "if Jesus had a fridge, my beer would be in it." I had to laugh. When I mentioned this to my mother another phrase I came up with in response to the ones that irk me..."don't smother me with your Jesus."
Good News: My husband was able to sell my 22" rims to someone. I now have extra cash and no longer have the rims that make my car look like I should sell drugs instead of teach.
Illogical Marine Corps: Dave has a little over a month until he gets out of the Marine Corps. They have decided they are moving him to another unit tomorrow. What? Are y'all aware he has only xx amount of days left? Marines can find their way out of the middle of the woods in the dark and take over a village, but they sure don't make sense sometimes. He's moving to 3/9 if anyone cares.
Random Thing That Irks Me: Why are churches in the business of "selling" their church on their darn message board outside? The churches here in J-ville end up with some stellar sayings, and by stellar I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible. One church in particular actually ticks me off instead of making me want to visit their church. Latest example "Cell phones useful, Jesus' words priceless" What? I get it, but it is a bit of a stretch here people. However, there are sometimes sayings that make me laugh. One of the latest that was posted was "If Jesus had a fridge, would your picture be on it?" My charming husband's reply was "if Jesus had a fridge, my beer would be in it." I had to laugh. When I mentioned this to my mother another phrase I came up with in response to the ones that irk me..."don't smother me with your Jesus."
Good News: My husband was able to sell my 22" rims to someone. I now have extra cash and no longer have the rims that make my car look like I should sell drugs instead of teach.
Illogical Marine Corps: Dave has a little over a month until he gets out of the Marine Corps. They have decided they are moving him to another unit tomorrow. What? Are y'all aware he has only xx amount of days left? Marines can find their way out of the middle of the woods in the dark and take over a village, but they sure don't make sense sometimes. He's moving to 3/9 if anyone cares.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Freedom & Relief
Today was a day of freedom and relief. There are a few reasons I felt this way today. The first reason for freedom is that I signed my letter of intent that says I "do not plan on working in Onslow County for the 2008-2009 school year." It was freeing knowing that I will be moving on to another place for the next school year. (Hopefully I'll still be teaching, just somewhere new.) I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that there is one less thing on my list of things to do before the end of the school year. And there is only one more school day left to survive before Spring Break begins (when I can hopefully cross a few more things off the list).
Another reason for relief is that I had my "summative evaluation" for the 2008-2009 school year and I was marked "at standard" in all of the areas listed on the evaluation form. It was exciting to know that I am doing a good job so far. I received a nice compliment from the Principal as well about how much progress I have made since last school year. For my second year in the business, I feel good.
I'm also looking forward to a new beginning. A new beginning at a completely new school district in a completely new state where I can have a fresh start. My reputation and record starts over in the new school and I can stand on my own without the mistakes of my first year of teaching ever looming over my shoulder each time someone evaluates me or my classroom. I've made a lot of gains this year. I feel a lot more confident in my abilities. Granted, I still have a lot of learning and several more years of experience to gain, but I feel good where I am right now. I'm looking forward to working in a school where I can invest myself whole-heartedly in my lessons, my students, and the community. A place where I may feel disconnected at first, but will gradually create my very own niche in the school and the community. A place where I can see siblings pass through and get to know the families of the students I teach. In a perfect world, they would be families that are involved and encourage their students to do their very best in order to be successful in life. We don't live in a perfect world. Unfortunately, there will still be students struggling to overcome their background, their homelife, their role in the community, and a myriad of other issues in order to be successful. My job will be to help them in any way I can, within reason and the limitations of my job.
Cheers to the beginning of the resolution to this particular chapter of life. Cheers to the introduction of a new chapter!
Another reason for relief is that I had my "summative evaluation" for the 2008-2009 school year and I was marked "at standard" in all of the areas listed on the evaluation form. It was exciting to know that I am doing a good job so far. I received a nice compliment from the Principal as well about how much progress I have made since last school year. For my second year in the business, I feel good.
I'm also looking forward to a new beginning. A new beginning at a completely new school district in a completely new state where I can have a fresh start. My reputation and record starts over in the new school and I can stand on my own without the mistakes of my first year of teaching ever looming over my shoulder each time someone evaluates me or my classroom. I've made a lot of gains this year. I feel a lot more confident in my abilities. Granted, I still have a lot of learning and several more years of experience to gain, but I feel good where I am right now. I'm looking forward to working in a school where I can invest myself whole-heartedly in my lessons, my students, and the community. A place where I may feel disconnected at first, but will gradually create my very own niche in the school and the community. A place where I can see siblings pass through and get to know the families of the students I teach. In a perfect world, they would be families that are involved and encourage their students to do their very best in order to be successful in life. We don't live in a perfect world. Unfortunately, there will still be students struggling to overcome their background, their homelife, their role in the community, and a myriad of other issues in order to be successful. My job will be to help them in any way I can, within reason and the limitations of my job.
Cheers to the beginning of the resolution to this particular chapter of life. Cheers to the introduction of a new chapter!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Change of Plans...Again
The Marine Corps has taught me one thing...flexibility. I was pretty flexible prior to marrying the Marine Corps, but I've been stretched a bit more since then. So far, we've gone back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and, well you get the idea, about where we are going to live once active duty life is over. We kicked around the DC idea, the AL idea, and the where else should we think about idea. We've gone from gung ho Alabama to gung ho DC and are now back to the gung ho Alabama idea. I am resigned to the fact that I will live far from my family in Ohio. I knew this when I graduated high school and decided to become a teacher. Teaching jobs in Ohio are scarce and I really am not a fan of winter, snow, and cold. I wanted to move south. I've always wanted to move south, always. I didn't think I would end up as far south as Alabama, but it is looking like Alabam will be the place..for now anyhow. I am ready to move somewhere with the possibility that I may not have to move to another town or state in 9 months, 2 years, or whenever the Marine Corps decides it is time. The future is always an unknown, so it may be that I move again, but the thought of willingly moving isn't something I want to do at the moment. I'd like to live somewhere long enough to unpack all my boxes and be there for every holiday in the same calendar year.
Ok, Alabama is what we're looking at right now. They need teachers in Alabama, hopefully I can find a job. There are job possibilities for Dave as well, which is always good. I'll be living in the south so hopefully the winter doesn't get too cold very often. I like to see the snow occassionally, but not all the time. We'll see how it pans out... Just thought y'all would like an update on where we're fixin to live. (I cooked up that southern sentence just for you.)
Now I can spend my weekend putting in teaching applications, updating my resume, requesting copies of official transcripts, looking for other jobs in case teaching doesn't pan out at first, and the list goes on. Things will fall into place, I just need to be patient and trust that it will all be ok.
Ok, Alabama is what we're looking at right now. They need teachers in Alabama, hopefully I can find a job. There are job possibilities for Dave as well, which is always good. I'll be living in the south so hopefully the winter doesn't get too cold very often. I like to see the snow occassionally, but not all the time. We'll see how it pans out... Just thought y'all would like an update on where we're fixin to live. (I cooked up that southern sentence just for you.)
Now I can spend my weekend putting in teaching applications, updating my resume, requesting copies of official transcripts, looking for other jobs in case teaching doesn't pan out at first, and the list goes on. Things will fall into place, I just need to be patient and trust that it will all be ok.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
No Place for Combat in the Classroom?
I heard an advertisement on the local radio station for a news segment that caught my interest. It takes a lot to catch my interest where the news is involved. I'll blame it on the fact that I have a Marine for a husband who was deployed not so long ago. A Marine wife's nightmare is played out on the news daily...lots of "bad" news about IED's, combat casualties, insurgent attacks, etc will make an already restless night worse. Ok, side tracked for a moment...back on track now. This news segment was advertised as the military spending money sending numerous "recruits" to Parris Island. What makes this so significant? Well, they are sending educators to Parris Island. You can view part one of the story here http://www.wnct.com/midatlantic/nct/news/local_news.apx.-content-articles-NCT-2008-02-21-0056.html I watched the segment to see that millions have been spent over the last 20 years to send teachers to Parris Island to give them a taste of what recruits go through in the process of becoming a United States Marine. Apparently some say that this should not be happenning because there are recruitment centers and schools should not be one of those places. This sent me into a mental rant! I paused for a moment to ask my Marine husband...what do you think of this? He's slurred something not so nice about "liberals" and tree hugging hippies. We agreed that this thought process didn't make sense.
There are several reasons that this statement of teachers seeing what the Marine Corps does to create a Marine was wrong bothered me to the core. As an educator it is my job to think about the welfare and future my students will have. I am to do all I can, within reason, to help prepare them to "be productive citizens in the 21st century" (a direct quite from our school mission statement). In order to do this it is my job to educate myself on possible careers for my students. It would be a good time to point out that I currently educate 6th graders, but would like to move up to the high school age group. I remember having several different business people come into our classrooms to talk about their careers throughout my own k-12 education. How is a teacher learning about the process of becoming a Marine any different? Is it because it has to do with the military? The military is a business, just like any other...except their "employees" literally sign over years of their life. If some high school student decides this is a good option for them, then I don't see how an educator being more informed about their student's possible career choice is a bad thing. Another thing I seem to remember occurring a lot is regular visit from recruiters to our high school during lunch hours. They were there on a weekly basis. Let's face it, we live in a world of turmoil. Someone needs to be brave and willing to step up and say "I'll make a sacrifice so others can be safe." The average age of an infantry Marine is 17-22 years old, according to the Marine I married. You find recruits in high schools, not just for the Marine Corps, but for all branches of the service. If I learn more about what it takes to become a Marine I don't think that will lead me to persuade anyone to become a Marine. You don't sign a contract like that unless you want to do so. I know a lot more than the average civilian about Marine Corps life, I think if anything I would encourage my students to think very carefully about whether or not to join the military. It requires sacrifices of all kinds to be a member of the military. Things like doing without some of the luxuries of life (both during deployment and being stateside), living far from family and having limited contact with them at times, saying more "see you laters" than "hello's", moving-a lot, biting your tongue when someone says something ignorant about what you supposedly do when all you want to do is fight back, staying up late and getting up early, and many other things.
I think you get what I'm trying to say at this point. I just don't get how teacher's becoming more educated on something could be wrong. Maybe I just don't get it because I'm a Marine's wife and I grew up in rural Ohio. A large percentage of the military population comes from Ohio (if you didn't know). Why? Because there isn't much else industry wise and as farming is dying out people are seeing the military as a way to pay for college, have a steady job, and/or get out of Ohio. As a sidenote, I think I may be checking into this oppurtunity to see another side of the Marine Corps. I think it would be super cool to spend a week there "playing a recruit." My husband would probably laugh at me and say I had it easy. We both know he's right. They may be giving educators an inside look at bootcamp, but only those who have survived to become Marines know the reality of bootcamp and I love them for it.
There are several reasons that this statement of teachers seeing what the Marine Corps does to create a Marine was wrong bothered me to the core. As an educator it is my job to think about the welfare and future my students will have. I am to do all I can, within reason, to help prepare them to "be productive citizens in the 21st century" (a direct quite from our school mission statement). In order to do this it is my job to educate myself on possible careers for my students. It would be a good time to point out that I currently educate 6th graders, but would like to move up to the high school age group. I remember having several different business people come into our classrooms to talk about their careers throughout my own k-12 education. How is a teacher learning about the process of becoming a Marine any different? Is it because it has to do with the military? The military is a business, just like any other...except their "employees" literally sign over years of their life. If some high school student decides this is a good option for them, then I don't see how an educator being more informed about their student's possible career choice is a bad thing. Another thing I seem to remember occurring a lot is regular visit from recruiters to our high school during lunch hours. They were there on a weekly basis. Let's face it, we live in a world of turmoil. Someone needs to be brave and willing to step up and say "I'll make a sacrifice so others can be safe." The average age of an infantry Marine is 17-22 years old, according to the Marine I married. You find recruits in high schools, not just for the Marine Corps, but for all branches of the service. If I learn more about what it takes to become a Marine I don't think that will lead me to persuade anyone to become a Marine. You don't sign a contract like that unless you want to do so. I know a lot more than the average civilian about Marine Corps life, I think if anything I would encourage my students to think very carefully about whether or not to join the military. It requires sacrifices of all kinds to be a member of the military. Things like doing without some of the luxuries of life (both during deployment and being stateside), living far from family and having limited contact with them at times, saying more "see you laters" than "hello's", moving-a lot, biting your tongue when someone says something ignorant about what you supposedly do when all you want to do is fight back, staying up late and getting up early, and many other things.
I think you get what I'm trying to say at this point. I just don't get how teacher's becoming more educated on something could be wrong. Maybe I just don't get it because I'm a Marine's wife and I grew up in rural Ohio. A large percentage of the military population comes from Ohio (if you didn't know). Why? Because there isn't much else industry wise and as farming is dying out people are seeing the military as a way to pay for college, have a steady job, and/or get out of Ohio. As a sidenote, I think I may be checking into this oppurtunity to see another side of the Marine Corps. I think it would be super cool to spend a week there "playing a recruit." My husband would probably laugh at me and say I had it easy. We both know he's right. They may be giving educators an inside look at bootcamp, but only those who have survived to become Marines know the reality of bootcamp and I love them for it.
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Longest Day & Love
I have been thoroughly enjoying the fact that my husband has finally come home from deployment and in fact have been too busy, until now, to write about the actual homecoming. Dave was scheduled to come home Jan 30th. I took the day off from school because he was supposed to get home around noon, which Marine Corps time is like 1, but still worth taking off the day from school. Our friend Amanda, whose boyfriend "Doc Rob" was deployed as well, had come the night before to stay so we could count down the hours until our guys got off the boat. Our morning starts off okay. We're up and getting ready so we can head to base around 11am or so just to be sure we get there in time to see our guys. We get our first phone call to tell us they have been delayed due to some high waves. They'll be at least two hours late. Ok, that puts us at 2 pm (really probably 3 or 4 USMC time). We're getting ready to think about leaving a second time when we get another call...it's looking like 5-7pm. Ok, rather annoying because I probably could have gone to work and had something to keep me busy all day. Then the last call comes in...9pm. What?! So we leave the house to find something to do because at this point it's only 2pm or so and we still have several hours left to wait. (Remember, if they had come in on time we would have already been reunited with our boys by this time...we're not thrilled.) We go to Target, we go eat some ice cream from Coldstone, and we meet up with my teacher friend Anna who says..."go to the school and do your sub plans for tomorrow, just take the day." So we go to the school to do my sub plans, which I doubt I'm going to use. Right as we are leaving the school I get another call that says they'll be in around 8pm. So we leave to get back to the house and to retrieve our "Welcome Home" stuff and go to base.
I should mention at this point that I spent the night before cooking and baking for "my boys". I knew that "my boys" who are like my adopted children would not have family there to welcome them home. I decided they would need a home cooked meal and a few supplies. I bought towels, wash cloths, and travel size toiletry items for them. I also made lasagna and brownies and put them in "to go" gladware comtainers. Each of my boys received a "Welcome Home" bag of goodies to help them survive their first night back. It turned out to be a great thing I did this because after being up at the crack of dawn and then being delayed several times the boys were hungry by the time they ended up back on dry land.
Ok, so we get to the base and begin the final, "final countdown" until the time we are reunited with our guys. We get there at about 7pm. We finally see them get off the bus about8pm back at the armory. Which we know means more waiting while they turn in weapons, the single Marines need to receive their room keys, and they have to have their blood drawn to be sure they didn't pick up any disease while there. Finally, around 9pm we hear them coming (they march in formation to the "reunion area") and the excitement is high. Their formation stops just short of where the crowd was standing, trying to wait patiently. I immediately spot "Bivins" and go running towards him as soon as they were dismissed. Poor guy, I told him to look for the turtle poster I made and instead I attacked him. He said all he saw was this big turquoise blur coming at hime. I bear hugged him and then began sobbing, just a few quick sobs, and then I was smiling. I completely forgot about anyone else around me and was lost in the moment of "getting my arms around him." You know I was certainly excited because I ran right into a big mud puddle...in my nice jeans and dressy shoes...I hate dirt/mud! Then we grabbed his bags, helped the other guys locate their bags, and we finally left the base around 10pm. I ended up taking the next day off from school. I needed a day to spend with my husband. It was a very long day for both of us and we were happy to be back with each other.
My in-laws came the first weekend of Feb to spend some time with their son. We had a great time going to the beach, going to the shooting range, and eating good home-cooked food. They left on Tuesday morning and we have been slowly trying to get back into some sort of routine. Dave has been on leave so he hasn't had to work, at least not for the USMC. I left him a list of chores each day that he needed to do. (His seabags had been located in the living room for a week at this point, partially unpacked...HUGE mess in an already small living room.)
This past weekend we were supposed to have our DC friends come visit, "The Martins", but traffic out of the city was worse than normal and they ended up not coming. It turned out alright though because we have spent a lot of quality "Wizzel-Bivins" time, which has been much needed. Today is the three year anniversary of the "Airport Rendezvous Weekend". We celebrate this day instead of Valentine's day for a few reasons. #1 I'm not big on Valentine's day because I don't think you need to prove your love by spending a ridiculous amount of money on something that has had its' price inflated for this one day. #2 It's a day for flower shops, restaurants, jewely stores, and card stores to make a lot of money and they're super crowded. #3 The first year we were "talking on the phone" (dating) we couldn't be together for V-day, but I flew to DC for President's Day wknd because we could have some extra time since he had an extra day off work. The night of my arrival was the 18th because I flew out on a Friday afternoon. It was the first time we would see each other since we started talking (we had supposedly met before at Bootcamp graduation, but don't remember this very well). We both knew this weekend would be "make it or break it" time for our relationship, but were confident that it would cement the fact that we were serious about each other. We gave each other a huge hug at the airport and that was the beginning of the weekend that would alter our lives in ways we couldn't have imagined. Today we are celebrating three years together since that crazy, wonderful weekend. We're being lazy, staying in our pj's, watching movies and listening to the rain outside. We plan to get "dolled up" and go out to dinner at our favorite restaurant here in J-ville, Duck's. We're in Love, yeah it's great.
I should mention at this point that I spent the night before cooking and baking for "my boys". I knew that "my boys" who are like my adopted children would not have family there to welcome them home. I decided they would need a home cooked meal and a few supplies. I bought towels, wash cloths, and travel size toiletry items for them. I also made lasagna and brownies and put them in "to go" gladware comtainers. Each of my boys received a "Welcome Home" bag of goodies to help them survive their first night back. It turned out to be a great thing I did this because after being up at the crack of dawn and then being delayed several times the boys were hungry by the time they ended up back on dry land.
Ok, so we get to the base and begin the final, "final countdown" until the time we are reunited with our guys. We get there at about 7pm. We finally see them get off the bus about8pm back at the armory. Which we know means more waiting while they turn in weapons, the single Marines need to receive their room keys, and they have to have their blood drawn to be sure they didn't pick up any disease while there. Finally, around 9pm we hear them coming (they march in formation to the "reunion area") and the excitement is high. Their formation stops just short of where the crowd was standing, trying to wait patiently. I immediately spot "Bivins" and go running towards him as soon as they were dismissed. Poor guy, I told him to look for the turtle poster I made and instead I attacked him. He said all he saw was this big turquoise blur coming at hime. I bear hugged him and then began sobbing, just a few quick sobs, and then I was smiling. I completely forgot about anyone else around me and was lost in the moment of "getting my arms around him." You know I was certainly excited because I ran right into a big mud puddle...in my nice jeans and dressy shoes...I hate dirt/mud! Then we grabbed his bags, helped the other guys locate their bags, and we finally left the base around 10pm. I ended up taking the next day off from school. I needed a day to spend with my husband. It was a very long day for both of us and we were happy to be back with each other.
My in-laws came the first weekend of Feb to spend some time with their son. We had a great time going to the beach, going to the shooting range, and eating good home-cooked food. They left on Tuesday morning and we have been slowly trying to get back into some sort of routine. Dave has been on leave so he hasn't had to work, at least not for the USMC. I left him a list of chores each day that he needed to do. (His seabags had been located in the living room for a week at this point, partially unpacked...HUGE mess in an already small living room.)
This past weekend we were supposed to have our DC friends come visit, "The Martins", but traffic out of the city was worse than normal and they ended up not coming. It turned out alright though because we have spent a lot of quality "Wizzel-Bivins" time, which has been much needed. Today is the three year anniversary of the "Airport Rendezvous Weekend". We celebrate this day instead of Valentine's day for a few reasons. #1 I'm not big on Valentine's day because I don't think you need to prove your love by spending a ridiculous amount of money on something that has had its' price inflated for this one day. #2 It's a day for flower shops, restaurants, jewely stores, and card stores to make a lot of money and they're super crowded. #3 The first year we were "talking on the phone" (dating) we couldn't be together for V-day, but I flew to DC for President's Day wknd because we could have some extra time since he had an extra day off work. The night of my arrival was the 18th because I flew out on a Friday afternoon. It was the first time we would see each other since we started talking (we had supposedly met before at Bootcamp graduation, but don't remember this very well). We both knew this weekend would be "make it or break it" time for our relationship, but were confident that it would cement the fact that we were serious about each other. We gave each other a huge hug at the airport and that was the beginning of the weekend that would alter our lives in ways we couldn't have imagined. Today we are celebrating three years together since that crazy, wonderful weekend. We're being lazy, staying in our pj's, watching movies and listening to the rain outside. We plan to get "dolled up" and go out to dinner at our favorite restaurant here in J-ville, Duck's. We're in Love, yeah it's great.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
The Adventures Never End
I had every intention of having a nice, quiet weekend...my last as a "single" wife. My teacher friend Anna and I had our Friday night date planned, which usually consists of going to the commisary (that's a grocery store on base) and then getting dinner and watching tv. We started our date night just fine. Went to the commisary and had no problems. We ordered chinese food on the way home. We got to Anna's house and she asks "do you remember me grabbing my keys?" Nope, sure don't. We were locked out. Well, her neighbor has a key to her house, but Jake was on his way to Wilmington to get his wife from the airport. Ok, no problem still. We call and drive to meet him to get the key to his house so we can get Anna's key. We're on our way back to get our chinese food and my car doesn't sound quite right. We stop to get the chinese food and when Anna returns to my car it sounds pretty bad. We start to go and we hear a grinding noise. Grinding noises are never good. We decide to keep driving because we really aren't far from her house and what else could we really do? We're about a 1/2 mile from her house, driving down the road and we hear "chink" as something falls from my car and hits the pavement. My heart sinks and I'm thinking..."Oh hell what do we do now?" We keep driving because we are close enough to Anna's house that I'm pretty sure we can make it there. And if we can't then we can get close enough to walk to her house and figure out what to do next. So I go to turn onto her road and I have to use all my might to turn the wheel. I have NO power steering. Not good. We finally make it to her house and by now the battery light is on and my car temp has shot up and the hood is steaming. I'm thinking the worst that the engine is quitting, the transmission, or that I did some stupid girl move and forgot to do some scheduled maintenance or something and have ruined my car. Anna and I unload the groceries and go inside to eat our chinese food. A bit later we call Jake to ask him some questions about what it could be. He sends us out to look under the hood. We looked and the serpentine belt was loose. Jake thinks it has to be something with the belt and nothing more. Anna and I then check all the fluids and are poking our heads around trying to figure out if we can see anything else that might be wrong. We even take a pic of us with my camera and our heads under the hood. I had just pulled the camera out from under the hood and BOOM! The hood slams shut. Anna is like "OMG, that could have been my head! It's time to go inside now." Jake comes home, he's the friendly neighborhood mechanic, and looks at my car. He determines it just needs an idler pulley. Apparently that is what hit the ground because it is totally gone. It shouldn't be too expensive to fix, which is good because when you hear part of your car hit the ground you instantly think "please don't let me die and how much is this going to cost me?" It rained all day so no fix today, but hopefully tomorrow we'll get it back in working order. I seem to have not so good luck with my vehicles. I think I better move back to "the big city" where I can take public transportation a lot. I will never forget the sound of something falling from my car and hitting the pavement as I'm driving. Thank God it happened just as it did though because this could have ended in a totally different way. I could have been stranded or hurt or left to figure out what was wrong all on my own.
Please can we just get my husband home asap before I have to suffer through any more adventures? It won't be too much longer at this point, but still. An interesting side note: He had called while I was driving to the chinese restaurant and had just hung up the phone with him when the trouble started. Thank goodness he wasn't on the phone as I heard my car go "chink" cause I can only imagine what he would have thought or heard. Poor guy would have been left on the boat wondering what the heck happened. Only a couple more days. I am SO excited to have my husband back home. I'll probably follow him everywhere that first day.
Please can we just get my husband home asap before I have to suffer through any more adventures? It won't be too much longer at this point, but still. An interesting side note: He had called while I was driving to the chinese restaurant and had just hung up the phone with him when the trouble started. Thank goodness he wasn't on the phone as I heard my car go "chink" cause I can only imagine what he would have thought or heard. Poor guy would have been left on the boat wondering what the heck happened. Only a couple more days. I am SO excited to have my husband back home. I'll probably follow him everywhere that first day.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Almost the End!
I'll start with a family update. My Pap seems to be doing much better. His second surgery he ended up having a blood clot that caused the issue. They put him on meds and my Nana and Pap are hopefully enjoying their winter in Florida. So family stress is gone at this point.
I am trying to wait patiently for these last few days of the deployment to end. I have plans this evening for my last "Friday Night Date" with Anna, another teacher friend whose husband is also deployed. I think we are going to put together bookshelves! I'll be joining her for a few more dates before her husband is home, but she may have to endure hanging out with some of "the boys" as well. Saturday plans are up in the air at the moment. May head to Wilmington, may not. Sunday is a day of rest, yeah right! I'll be doing last minute cleaning, lesson plans, and bathing the cats. They're getting kind of stinky since their last bath before Christmas. They're boys, I should expect that by now. Then another week of teaching begins. Most likely I will be missing a day to pick up my husband!!!! Woooohooooo! I am more than ready to say goodbye to being a single wife. I really can tell the end is in sight because when my husband called this morning to ask a few more questions from his "list." I wasn't excited, I was annoyed. It was good to hear his voice, but I'm like....can this not wait x amount of days til you get home? Silly man needs more to do than sit on a ship in the middle of the ocean with time to think. His wife is at home with many other tasks to fill her days. I predict a grumpy Wizzel next week 'cause I probably won't get much sleep when he gets home. He'll be all rested and ready to run all over town and then I'm used to sleeping all by my lonesome...he's noisy. I didn't sleep well when we first moved in together...not for at least two months. Oh well, I sound all doom and gloom, but I really an excited and happy. I promise I am. :)
I am trying to wait patiently for these last few days of the deployment to end. I have plans this evening for my last "Friday Night Date" with Anna, another teacher friend whose husband is also deployed. I think we are going to put together bookshelves! I'll be joining her for a few more dates before her husband is home, but she may have to endure hanging out with some of "the boys" as well. Saturday plans are up in the air at the moment. May head to Wilmington, may not. Sunday is a day of rest, yeah right! I'll be doing last minute cleaning, lesson plans, and bathing the cats. They're getting kind of stinky since their last bath before Christmas. They're boys, I should expect that by now. Then another week of teaching begins. Most likely I will be missing a day to pick up my husband!!!! Woooohooooo! I am more than ready to say goodbye to being a single wife. I really can tell the end is in sight because when my husband called this morning to ask a few more questions from his "list." I wasn't excited, I was annoyed. It was good to hear his voice, but I'm like....can this not wait x amount of days til you get home? Silly man needs more to do than sit on a ship in the middle of the ocean with time to think. His wife is at home with many other tasks to fill her days. I predict a grumpy Wizzel next week 'cause I probably won't get much sleep when he gets home. He'll be all rested and ready to run all over town and then I'm used to sleeping all by my lonesome...he's noisy. I didn't sleep well when we first moved in together...not for at least two months. Oh well, I sound all doom and gloom, but I really an excited and happy. I promise I am. :)
Friday, January 18, 2008
Choices, Coming Home, & Family
There are several things that have happened since my last post. I hadn't realized that I haven't written since November. The month of December flew by so fast. I'm thankful for that, but it made me a very tired Wizzel.
The first thing on my mind is how much Jacksonville, NC has been in the news as well as the Marine Corps in relation to the murder of a female marine. If you don't know about it, turn on CNN or google it. I guarantee you will find much more information than you really ever thought you needed to know. I won't give much of an opinion on this case other than the fact that there is still so much we just don't know/aren't being told at this time. I agree with Onslow County Sheriff who stated that the ending to this story would be bizarre. Personally, I think the wife of the accused knows a lot more than she is telling and was pretty involved in this somehow. Some say the Marine Corps was in the wrong in their actions and I won't agree or disagree on that. The Marine Corps has a way of releasing information on a need to know basis. Those who need to know do and those (the general public) who don't need to know everything right now don't. I respect and admire Marines for just simply doing there job, because as a wife of a Marine I know some of what it really takes for a Marine to do their job. I also will say that everything both good and bad that I have ever heard said about Marines is true. It's not all true for every Marine, but there is a Marine that falls into each category. It doesn't change my respect for them, or the love I have to those Marines that I hold very dear in my heart.
In relation to this newsworthy turn of events I have heard rumors that the Westboro Baptist Church will be coming to hold a protest here in Jacksonville to show us just how "godless and lawless" Marines and those who love them really are. If you don't know who the WBC is they are the rather small group of radicals that go around protesting fallen warriors funerals, anything homosexual, and pretty much anything else they deem "godless". (I'm purposefully using a lowercase G for godless because the God I know doesn't discriminate amongst his people.) If you would like to view further info their website is www.godhatesfags.com I'm left feeling a mixture of emotions at this turn of events. I know I'm supposed to love my neighbor, but I'm finding it very hard to even think about being remotely respectful to these people if they choose to come to this city. They are more than unwelcome in this town, at least from the consensus I've heard. My first reaction was to be part of a planned counter protest...and then I thought about it a minute longer. I think it would be wise for me to stay far, far away from these people. I'm never sure what radicals will do and I know any Marine or Marine supporter that comes into contact with these people will have a lot to say to them. I'm afraid that if there is a confrontation it will only add to the WBC publicity and the fact that we are supposedly godless. The Marine Corps has passed along a letter stating that Marines should avoid these people and recommending that the wives stay away as well. There has been some uproar with some wives about the Marine Corps not having a right to recommend this because their husband signed the contract, not them. While I as a wife did not sign a contract with the Marine Corps, I did sign a marraige license with a man who has. As a wife it is my job to support him in what he does and respect his career choices. If that means staying away from a protest, even if I really had wanted to go, I would in order for him to be free from reprimand. I am subject to altered "rules" as a result of my marraige to him. It isn't so very different from a civilian standpoint. My husband is subjected to different rules as a result of marrying a teacher. As a teacher I am placed in the spotlight as a role model to students. While that image has evolved greatly the last few years there are still many things I choose not to do and ask that my husband not do in order to be that role model for my students. I don't want to be a teacher of questionable character. I dont' want to be the wife of a Marine with questionable loyalty either. I'm hoping that our wintry weather forecast will keep these radicals at bay this weekend and by next weekend they will have moved on to some other issue.
The next thing I have been planning and preparing for is my husband's homecoming. He should be home by Super Bowl Sunday. I have been working on homecoming banners, cleaning the house, shopping for groceries to make his favorite foods, and many other things. I can't believe the end of this deployment is so close. There were times when I never felt like it would ever end and other times that I have felt like time has flown by. I've managed to keep busy with the help of the other wives, some very special friends, and my students. The months and weeks of counting are almost done and he will be back home with me where he belongs. We end our phone calls with the question "where are we going?" (for our date in our dreams) and I said this last time "home" and he asked "where is home...DC...AL...NC...?" and I replied that "home is with me, I'm in NC so you're coming here." It made me start thinking back to when I realized that home was really a feeling and people, not a place or a building. I discovered that shortly after my parents divorce. I had lived in one house for the majority of my life (it was the only house I remembered) and the time came to move out of it after the divorce. I was heartbroken. It was my "safe place" to at least feel ok when the rest of my world as I knew it was falling down around my ears. It took awhile, but I eventually came to realize that as long as I had the people I loved around me then I was always "home." When I moved in with Dave in DC I was home. Even though I was so far from the rest of my family and friends, home was with him. It's probably the one reason I have been able to survive moving so many times already in life. I've lived in countless places at this point and it takes me a minute to think up my address and home phone number. In my defense I've had a new address almost every year for the past 5 years. Between moving from northern Ohio to southern Ohio, moving around the OU campus, and then moving to DC (for a whole 9 months) and then to NC my brain is now having trouble remembering what the current one is sometimes. Anyhow, I digress, the point is Dave will be home soon and I can hardly wait. I've been waiting for a very long time now for a healing hug from him and boy do I need one right about now...
The last part of the title is family and mine is making me crazy towards the end of this dpeloyment. The deployment started with Dave's shoulder issue and he may need surgery upon his return to dry land. Probably should have had it instead of deploy, but he didn't and the deployment is almost over now anyhow. Then fast forward several months to my Pap. He had a heart catheterization on my birthday where they put in five stints. A week later he decides they are going to Florida for their annual 3 month stay and starts driving. He gets to SC and has chest pains, they end up doing another surgery, and he is ok at this point. I think this has caused the most stress because my Pap is the rock in our family. He is a man of few words, but the ones he does say are wise and well chosen. He is a man I respect. And after talking with my sister I realized that the two of us do not use our father, like most women, as the "perfect man" that any future mate is measured...we compare them to Pap instead. When my dad called to wish me Happy Birthday I barely let him get the phrase out before I asked if he had heard anything about Pap's first surgery. My other grandfather has been through a few heart surgeries several years ago, but for some reason Pap needing surgery was more worrisome to me. I guess it is because I feel like my Pap should be invicible. I know he really isn't, but I'm just not ready to think about him not being around. Then my mother in law had some scary health issues crop up the week after Pap's first heart surgery. Scary enough to throw our future plans in a tail spin. The health issues have since then been lessened and we're waiting on one more round of test results before we can breath a sigh of relief. Pap and my mother in law combined led to a stress meltdown for me. I was so stressed after talking to my husband that I couldn't sit still and I was shaking. I haven't been that stressed in a very long time. I can't even remember the last time I was in such a state. That's about the time I decided to purchase the elliptical machine from one of my teacher friends. Tonight is the first night since purchasing it that I haven't been "running" on it. I was just too cold and tired after this week to get on the darn hamster wheel. I'll be back on it tomorrow though.
So, that is only a portion of what has been going on lately. I'll be cleaning house tomorrow and staring at the calendar wishing I could fast forward the days just a bit. I need that hug and the comfort in knowing he's home. It won't be long now though...
The first thing on my mind is how much Jacksonville, NC has been in the news as well as the Marine Corps in relation to the murder of a female marine. If you don't know about it, turn on CNN or google it. I guarantee you will find much more information than you really ever thought you needed to know. I won't give much of an opinion on this case other than the fact that there is still so much we just don't know/aren't being told at this time. I agree with Onslow County Sheriff who stated that the ending to this story would be bizarre. Personally, I think the wife of the accused knows a lot more than she is telling and was pretty involved in this somehow. Some say the Marine Corps was in the wrong in their actions and I won't agree or disagree on that. The Marine Corps has a way of releasing information on a need to know basis. Those who need to know do and those (the general public) who don't need to know everything right now don't. I respect and admire Marines for just simply doing there job, because as a wife of a Marine I know some of what it really takes for a Marine to do their job. I also will say that everything both good and bad that I have ever heard said about Marines is true. It's not all true for every Marine, but there is a Marine that falls into each category. It doesn't change my respect for them, or the love I have to those Marines that I hold very dear in my heart.
In relation to this newsworthy turn of events I have heard rumors that the Westboro Baptist Church will be coming to hold a protest here in Jacksonville to show us just how "godless and lawless" Marines and those who love them really are. If you don't know who the WBC is they are the rather small group of radicals that go around protesting fallen warriors funerals, anything homosexual, and pretty much anything else they deem "godless". (I'm purposefully using a lowercase G for godless because the God I know doesn't discriminate amongst his people.) If you would like to view further info their website is www.godhatesfags.com I'm left feeling a mixture of emotions at this turn of events. I know I'm supposed to love my neighbor, but I'm finding it very hard to even think about being remotely respectful to these people if they choose to come to this city. They are more than unwelcome in this town, at least from the consensus I've heard. My first reaction was to be part of a planned counter protest...and then I thought about it a minute longer. I think it would be wise for me to stay far, far away from these people. I'm never sure what radicals will do and I know any Marine or Marine supporter that comes into contact with these people will have a lot to say to them. I'm afraid that if there is a confrontation it will only add to the WBC publicity and the fact that we are supposedly godless. The Marine Corps has passed along a letter stating that Marines should avoid these people and recommending that the wives stay away as well. There has been some uproar with some wives about the Marine Corps not having a right to recommend this because their husband signed the contract, not them. While I as a wife did not sign a contract with the Marine Corps, I did sign a marraige license with a man who has. As a wife it is my job to support him in what he does and respect his career choices. If that means staying away from a protest, even if I really had wanted to go, I would in order for him to be free from reprimand. I am subject to altered "rules" as a result of my marraige to him. It isn't so very different from a civilian standpoint. My husband is subjected to different rules as a result of marrying a teacher. As a teacher I am placed in the spotlight as a role model to students. While that image has evolved greatly the last few years there are still many things I choose not to do and ask that my husband not do in order to be that role model for my students. I don't want to be a teacher of questionable character. I dont' want to be the wife of a Marine with questionable loyalty either. I'm hoping that our wintry weather forecast will keep these radicals at bay this weekend and by next weekend they will have moved on to some other issue.
The next thing I have been planning and preparing for is my husband's homecoming. He should be home by Super Bowl Sunday. I have been working on homecoming banners, cleaning the house, shopping for groceries to make his favorite foods, and many other things. I can't believe the end of this deployment is so close. There were times when I never felt like it would ever end and other times that I have felt like time has flown by. I've managed to keep busy with the help of the other wives, some very special friends, and my students. The months and weeks of counting are almost done and he will be back home with me where he belongs. We end our phone calls with the question "where are we going?" (for our date in our dreams) and I said this last time "home" and he asked "where is home...DC...AL...NC...?" and I replied that "home is with me, I'm in NC so you're coming here." It made me start thinking back to when I realized that home was really a feeling and people, not a place or a building. I discovered that shortly after my parents divorce. I had lived in one house for the majority of my life (it was the only house I remembered) and the time came to move out of it after the divorce. I was heartbroken. It was my "safe place" to at least feel ok when the rest of my world as I knew it was falling down around my ears. It took awhile, but I eventually came to realize that as long as I had the people I loved around me then I was always "home." When I moved in with Dave in DC I was home. Even though I was so far from the rest of my family and friends, home was with him. It's probably the one reason I have been able to survive moving so many times already in life. I've lived in countless places at this point and it takes me a minute to think up my address and home phone number. In my defense I've had a new address almost every year for the past 5 years. Between moving from northern Ohio to southern Ohio, moving around the OU campus, and then moving to DC (for a whole 9 months) and then to NC my brain is now having trouble remembering what the current one is sometimes. Anyhow, I digress, the point is Dave will be home soon and I can hardly wait. I've been waiting for a very long time now for a healing hug from him and boy do I need one right about now...
The last part of the title is family and mine is making me crazy towards the end of this dpeloyment. The deployment started with Dave's shoulder issue and he may need surgery upon his return to dry land. Probably should have had it instead of deploy, but he didn't and the deployment is almost over now anyhow. Then fast forward several months to my Pap. He had a heart catheterization on my birthday where they put in five stints. A week later he decides they are going to Florida for their annual 3 month stay and starts driving. He gets to SC and has chest pains, they end up doing another surgery, and he is ok at this point. I think this has caused the most stress because my Pap is the rock in our family. He is a man of few words, but the ones he does say are wise and well chosen. He is a man I respect. And after talking with my sister I realized that the two of us do not use our father, like most women, as the "perfect man" that any future mate is measured...we compare them to Pap instead. When my dad called to wish me Happy Birthday I barely let him get the phrase out before I asked if he had heard anything about Pap's first surgery. My other grandfather has been through a few heart surgeries several years ago, but for some reason Pap needing surgery was more worrisome to me. I guess it is because I feel like my Pap should be invicible. I know he really isn't, but I'm just not ready to think about him not being around. Then my mother in law had some scary health issues crop up the week after Pap's first heart surgery. Scary enough to throw our future plans in a tail spin. The health issues have since then been lessened and we're waiting on one more round of test results before we can breath a sigh of relief. Pap and my mother in law combined led to a stress meltdown for me. I was so stressed after talking to my husband that I couldn't sit still and I was shaking. I haven't been that stressed in a very long time. I can't even remember the last time I was in such a state. That's about the time I decided to purchase the elliptical machine from one of my teacher friends. Tonight is the first night since purchasing it that I haven't been "running" on it. I was just too cold and tired after this week to get on the darn hamster wheel. I'll be back on it tomorrow though.
So, that is only a portion of what has been going on lately. I'll be cleaning house tomorrow and staring at the calendar wishing I could fast forward the days just a bit. I need that hug and the comfort in knowing he's home. It won't be long now though...
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