Almost a Month??

Wow, I just realized it's been almost a month since I posted last!

Yea, a lot of stuff going on.

Softball, softball and more softball. My oldest did not make all-stars, but then again she didn't want to, so she didn't try as hard either.

I'm still involved in all-stars however though, as I am the uniform coordinator. I also decided to run for Secretary for the board next year (oh, but NO more uniforms, no way)

99% of the time I love bein on this softball board. The other 1% I fucking hate it. You get people who are on the board, but feel that they need to put their nose into everything by providing an opinion, yet do nothing to help the situation. That's the part I hate.

On a lighter note, I had my birthday about 2 weeks ago. It was nice, got to go out to dinner with some friends.

Now that my job on the softball board is almost over (until I take over as secretary in August), I can focus on repainting my living room and bonus room and redecorating some of the things in the living room as well.

Oh, and work on the changes I was talking about earlier.

Just A Ride

A beautiful mermaid posted a link to this for me to watch after I had commented that I had had a particularly horrid and stressful week. It is something that I watch frequently when I've had a bad day to remind me that it is, "Just A Ride" and this too will pass.

Thank you so much McCabe!!

Trying VERY Hard Here.....

4 years ago on December 19th, was probably the worst day in my life. That whole week was probably the worst week in my life.

When my mom died.

Christmas? Yea, not so much fun AT ALL.

But I vowed that I would not let her death ruin future Christmases for me, considering it IS my favorite holiday.

I LOVE decorating the house, both inside and out. I LOVE getting presents for people. I love MAKING presents for people. I love to see the look on their eyes, or hear it in their voice when I get them something that they wanted, or didn't expect or love.

I LOVE the whole month leading up to Christmas. I LOVE baking Christmas goodies. I love getting the Christmas cards out. I LOVE receiving Christmas cards and find out how loved ones are doing and what they did this year. I LOVE waking up Christmas morning and seeing the anticipation on my girls faces for when they can come out and see what Santa brought them.

I LOVE the ornament exchange that my email moms group does at this time and how we almost always end up having a crazy chat conversation on the computer and laughing.

I LOVE going to look at Christmas lights. I love how the house is so warm and toasty during this time (that is when it's not 85 degrees outside).

4 years ago, I couldn't wait for Christmas to be over. Instead of the excitement leading up to Christmas that last week, I was wishing it would be over as soon as possible. Oh, I tried my best to put up the best front I could that morning for my girls, trying to smile and be happy, but it just wasn't there. And it wasn't there for my sister. We were both faced with the wrapped presents that were under the tree for us from our mom. And the presents that were under there from us for our mom. We did get through it, with the help of hubby, who suggested we each other's presents that we had given to mom the night before, that way they wouldn't be sitting there Christmas morning.

This year circumstances are really testing my love for Christmas again.

Last week we had some heavy rains, and not that we haven't had heavier rains prior to this time, but this time we thought we had it all covered. A new roof, new rain gutters, we thought we were set.

Well, apparently the rain gutter guy didn't install the downspout in the proper positioning, because with as much water that came through the one downspout, it has seeped into the oldest's bedroom and totally ruined her carpet.

So the bonus I got for being Employee of the Year? Now has to pay for a new carpet. We have contacted the contractor who installed it and he, so far has said that he is not responsible for it.

He has yet to talk to me though.

I will be calling him in the next couple of days and try to get him to understand that he is responsible and should do the right thing and pay for it, to avoid going to small claims court.

So in the meantime, hubby has pulled up the carpet to get ready for the new carpet. The oldest did a fabulous job emptying her room for that. It's amazing the nooks and crannies I can find in this house to store her "room".

So he pulls up the carpet and what does he find? Linoleum. Linoleum??!! In a bedroom??!!! WTF?! But then we're thinking okay, maybe that's not such a bad thing. It probably protected the slab.

So hubby goes in there (after putting fans and heaters in there to dry it out) and finds the linoleum loose. So he starts pulling up a few of the tiles.

Yes, water under there!

So now he has to pull up the whole floor (carpet tacks around the edges and everything) so we can dry out the slab. Which pushes back the installation of the carpet by quite a few days.

Because you don't want to put new carpet on a damp slab or an seemingly dry slab, you've got to wait until a few days after that.

When did all of this start you ask?

December 18th & 19th.

The same time my mom had her stroke and died, 4 years ago.

So of course it's bringing back all the feelings of dread and doom and despair I had 4 years ago.

I'm fighting like hell to try and keep my spirits up and push forward to have a wonderful Christmas.

I told hubby last night that I don't want to know all the details anymore. Just let me know when the room will be ready for the carpet.

I want to be in denial on this one.

A First...

Okay, so I'm at Michaels on Sunday, doing some craft shopping (actually I was buying frames, because I'm switching out all the frames I have) and so I go to my car and open up the door.

All of the sudden I'm having severe pain in my right hand and I'm like, "OWWWWW!!!" So I shook my hand because I think I felt something on it and this BIG BLACK THING gets shooken off my hand onto the seat on the inside of the car. I'm thinking, "HOLY SHIT, I just got bit by a Black Widow spider!" And then the thing flies off. Yikes!! No, I did not get bit by a spider, I got STUNG by a bee! (Oh yea, and I was screaming about it and there was a car next to me, but did they do anything? Oh, no....they just drove off!)

Okay, now for all of you out there who are saying, "Okay, big whoop, you got stung by a bee".......well, I'm 40 years old and this was the VERY FIRST TIME I have EVER gotten STUNG by a bee!!! So it's a little traumatic for me, give me some leeway here people.

So automatic reaction happens and I squeeze it and the little stinger that it had popped out. Whew! But of course that freaks me out too! So I start searching through my car for the first aid kits. Yes you read that correctly, KITS. Plural. I think I have like 2 or 3 in there. Hey, I just haven't gotten around to condensing them into one. And you'd think that with all the first aid kits I had in there there would be SOMETHING for insect stings. Was there? Oh no, of course not.

So I have this "cleansing wipe" where I got stung on the inside of my hand, and I'm getting ready to call hubby when I see that he's calling me. So I answer the phone and start going off on how I got stung, and then I had to remind him that I had NEVER been stung before. (hey people, I suffer from anxiety, so I'm freaking out a little, worrying that I'm allergic or something). And THEN I start cursing, dropping the F-bomb everywhere because I'm FORTY YEARS OLD and I've gone THIS long without being stung, WHY NOW? So not only am I in intense pain, but I'm pissed. I'm pissed that this stupid ass bee stung me and ruined my perfectly good record of never have been stung.

So since you're reading this, and I'm not dead, it's pretty safe to say that I'm not allergic to bee stings. Not that I want to go out and get stung ever again......

You Want Fries With That?

This evening we were on our way to get something to eat for dinner. Now, the youngest calls every kid's meal a Happy Meal. Doesn't matter if we're at Burger King, Wendy's, Carl's Jr., Jack In the Box, etc. (not that we even go to these places very often, in fact, before today, the last time we went to one of these places was well over a few months ago).

So we're on our way and I tell her, "Do you want a Happy Meal?" (I just call them that anyway so as to not confuse here and then go into a big long explanation that will take me forever)

And she says, "YES! I WANT A HAPPY MEA-! Wait, does it come with a toy?"

A girl's gotta have her priorities...........

Oh, and don't even get me started on ordering through the drive through. I couldn't figure out if she was saying "Banana" or "Vanilla", because I think she said both! I finally had to S-P-E-L-L it out and then when we got to the window it still wasn't right.

Waiting For That Last Link On The Chain

And then he'll be home.

I miss my hubby.

I want him home.

We're not even 1/2 way through his deployment yet.

Sometimes the kids drive me bonkers.

Especially the youngest today.

She's in one of her non-stop talking moods.

At least I get a break on Saturday when I'm going scrapbooking with my friends.

Another friend is going to watch my girls.

I hate the way my body feels on the first day of my period.

Like today.

It makes me cranky.

And sometimes towards my girls.

I don't like that.

My cat likes to chew on cardboard.

Very weird.

My dog still likes to try and hump the cat.

Very, VERY weird.

I enjoy the fact that my eldest and I like watching certain shows together.

Like General Hospital.

And Dancing With The Stars.

And America's Next Top Model.

My youngest makes some of the cutest facial expressions.

It makes me smile and laugh.

It sucks that hubby is going to miss all of our (and his) birthdays and our 15th wedding anniversary this year.

But we deal with it.

That's Navy life.

It seems like a lifetime ago when we went through this for the first time 14 1/2 years ago.

This is our 6th time doing this.

And it's probably not going to be our last.

I'm rambling, aren't I?

Oh well, I'm in one of those moods.

If you don't like it, bite me.

That's one of my favorite sayings.

Bite Me.

I want to put it up on one of the walls in my scrapbook area.

I already have a "NO WHINING" sign hanging in there.

Time to get the youngest one in bed.

Ta.

Decompressing

All day today I've felt like I am just going to burst or blow up or yell or scream.

Do you ever have one of those days?

Where nothing "specific" actually happened to foul your mood, but you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I guess?

It started off waking my girls up. My eldest is usually a bear to wake up, but when I told her she had an email from Daddy, she hopped out of bed in an instant. I mean that's great and all, that she's excited to get an email from Daddy, but it also made me feel like the gum on the bottom of the shoe.

Then my youngest is starting to follow suit with her and waking up in crabby moods as well. She used to wake up all nice and cheery and loving. Not so much anymore.

Plus work is work. No fun.

Don't mind me, I'm just whining today.

I Think I Need An Exorcism Performed

On my house.

There is a dark cloud over my house right now and I don't know how the hell it got here or how the hell to get rid of it!

Since this year started, I have had to have the refrigerator serviced, because it quit working, had to get a new water heater, along with a gas leak scare (no damage, fixed fine though, although my nervers were shot), had to replace the washer and dryer, and then yesterday was the kicker. Hubby replaced the kitchen sink faucet because it was corroded and making funny noises, and then our TV went out (that was only THREE YEARS OLD, for crying out loud!) and now hubby's truck is making a LOUD noise when the engine is started. So yesterday I bought a new faucet, a new TV and had to rent a car.

Yea.

No fun.

And THEN, today we had blustery winds, so the accordian door that was on the closet that hubby made to protect our new washer and dryer that's outside blew off and we had to replace THAT!.

My house and my nerves have had enough.

Maybe I've got some bad mojo in my house somewhere, or it's not Fung Shui. I don't know. Whatever it is, it needs to be fixed ASAP people!

Can You Hear That????

Silence.

There are no human sounds in my house right now.

It's even quiet on the animal front too.

And it's DAYTIME!

My wonderful hubby came home today from being out to sea for over a week, and took the girls to the park to go bike riding.

He knew I was getting stressed out. He could tell when he called me today and I was at the Commissary From Hell. SO many people at the military base grocery store today! AND I had both kids.

AND I've been running on hyper-speed since Wednesday.

Yea, it hasn't stopped.

Until now.

And even now I'm not fully stopped, I'm uploading pictures to the yearbook website while I'm doing this.

Multi-tasking.

That's my life.

So the 3 of them are at the park, riding bikes, and when they get back, I still get to be by myself, because I get to go out and do errands ALONE! YEA!!!

Well, I DO have to get some stuff for the girls' easter baskets while I'm out, but I HAVE to do that by myself, for obvious reasons.

I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO needed this though!!

I was telling hubby that if I didn't get to "de-stress" soon, I was going to have a burnout MAJORLY and that wouldn't be good.

We are going to Disneyland in a couple of weeks, so I have to find a hotel for that, get the dog a reservation at a kennel, and I want to finish this yearbook by then. I want to go away for a day with my family, knowing that I don't have a deadline. I want to get this yearbook done, so that the principal can proof it over and I can have time to do any changes I need to, without being completely rushed. I want our family to have some GOOD family time together, and what better place to do that than Disneyland!!

Wow......I can actually hear the birds chirping outside. Beautiful, baby, beau-ti-ful.

Whatever....

Okay, my hectic Tuesday decided to not rear it's ugly head on Tuesday. Instead it decided to delay it's appearance until today, Wednesday.

Well, partly it's my fault too.

I'm not saying I'm to blame, but I decided to add another ingredient to the mix.

I needed to take pictures at eldest's school of the dance troupe for the yearbook.

Since I would be at the school later, and I couldn't leave Burbank alone at home for over 8 hours (I just don't like doing that. I mean sure, I'm sure the dog could hold his pee for 9 hours if he really had to, but I don't want to do that to him), I came home after picking up the youngest at preschool to let him out to pee and offer him some "token" people time with us.

Then I went back to work with the youngest, bribed her with a slurpee so I could be in a meeting (which incidentally she ended up sitting in it with me), and rushed out of there at 3:30 so I could get to the eldest's school to take pictures.

Once I was done with that, it was off to Wal-Mart for some ::::ahem::::: personal "women" things I needed (yea, and as soon as we went by that aisle, my eldest and her friend decided they need to go look at the fish instead).

Oh, and then since I was getting dog treats for the dog (I SO spoil him with dog treats! I just love buying them! Hubby once saw us giving him his daily treats and he was like, "Damn, how many treats do you GIVE him??" Yea, it's a lot. But to be fair, he IS a big German Shepard) we were right by the toy aisles and of course, if you're by a toy aisle and you have kids, it's like a magnet where they HAVE to go over there.

Now my youngest is totally into Strawberry Shortcake (okay, I admit it, I like smelling the dolls, especially Tea Blossom, she smells like Grape) and we saw one of the dolls she wanted. But I just can't give in and give them every toy they want, so I said, "Maybe the Easter Bunny will bring it to you in your basket". In the meantime, I'm thinking, "Damn, they only have ONE of those dolls, I sure hope it's there when I need to come back and get it to put it in her Easter Basket for the Easter Bunny!" Maybe I can have my friend pick it up for me tomorrow and I'll pay her back.

So after some kicking and screaming our way out of the toy aisle (at this point I don't even CARE if people are looking at us while she's having her fit, it's just too damn exhausting to worry about that), we headed on towards the exit.

The checkout.......

Whoever invented putting all those little gadgets or candy at the checkout aisle is probably a billionaire right now. Because that's all the kids see. The parents? They're looking to see which checkout line is the shortest so they can get the hell out of there, and to hurry things along and avoid another kicking and screaming episode, we say, "Only ONE thing! And hurry up!"

Yea, so by the time the cashier has scanned all your items (some of which mysteriously appear in the cart without YOU putting them there), you've had to pay another $3 or so for those "checkout items" as well.

Whatever.

Here's my money, just take it and let me get the hell out of here.

Rain, Rain....

....Go Away.....

I've never been one to care for rain. Oh, when it's been extremely hot for a long period of time, I don't mind the rain to cool things off. And I don't even mind the occasional rain here and there. A day's worth of rain? Sure, that's fine.

Two days? That's when it starts to get on my nerves some.

Three days? Forget about it!

And let me rephrase that, I don't care for rain when I have to go OUT in it. If I don't have to go anywhere? Doesn't bother me much at all.

I've NEVER liked driving in the rain. I remember the first time I did it and my mom was in the car. I slammed on the brakes (obviously not a good thing to do in the rain) and locked them and was swerving here and there. So my first experience driving in the rain? Certainly not a good one!

I don't like that your feet get wet, or the bottoms of your pants, or sometimes your sleeves too (I always carry an umbrella in the car, although I need to get a newer, better, larger one).

That's why I could never live in Washington. I know it's beautiful up there, but it just rains too much! We probably could have easily moved up there via the Navy, but I couldn't do it. Those people who get depressed living up there? That would be me. I need the sun. I'm not a sun worshipper by any means, but it does brighten up my mood. I have friends who live in Washington and they love it up there. I'm not knocking Washington by ANY means. It's just not for me.

We lived in Tennessee for about 8 months and talk about rain there too! Geez!!

I guess I just don't like living in places where it rains a lot. But that's just me, and to each his own.

I like where I live just fine now, thank you.

Huh? What? Say That Again?

Ever since yesterday morning my left ear has been bothering me. I feel like I'm all plugged up in that ear. Yesterday it also hurt like a son of a bitch.

Went to Target and got some Earache Drops.

At least the pain went away.

I'm still all plugged up on that side though.

Called the doctor's office to get an appointment to get it looked at.

Their first available appointment?

Friday morning at 8:00 a.m.

Nice.

Maybe my eardrum will rupture in the meantime and I can get seen sooner?