My ramblings-Jul 08

31 Jul 08-What a fun but busy day. Today, Harmony and Miles and myself flew to California for my brothers wedding. I am so tired today as I did not get much sleep at all thinking about everything that needed to be done. The kids were so excited to fly and did surprisingly well through the 2 flights. I had forgotten about a car/booster seat for Miles so my parents had to go buy one for him and ended up being an hour and a half late to pick us up. I just wanted a shower and a chance to relax before the rehearsal which I did not get but no biggie. After we got settled and after the rehearsal, we headed to the rehearsal dinner which was really nice. My folks were hosting it so they had to be there a little bit early. I found out at the dinner that I like margaritas! LOL I had no idea that I would. I guess that could be dangerous. Ryan and Juliet were so cute and they had put together gifts for the wedding party. Miles and Harmony got cute gift baskets with markers, bubbles, a book, a beach ball, etc. Harmony's was an adorable butterfly basket, that I told her I would have to steal from her, and she also had a diary and some Tinkerbell markers. Miles' basket had baseballs on it and he had some squirt guns and Cars markers. They were both really excited about that. I got a heart shaped compact mirror that had my name engraved on the lid and a nice frame with their engagement picture in it. Everything turned out really nice and it was great to get to sit and talk with family and get to know some of Juliet's family. I put some pictures up on the site and will have a ton more tomorrow for the big day!! I finally got to take them to the hotel pool late last night too. We finally went in about 10 p.m. so we all got to bed late again but they loved being in the pool (indoor). They can't wait to go in it again tomorrow too.

30 Jul 08-I had a fantastic day today and I am so excited to share it with everyone. I had my interview with the Command Chief and honesty, I've never felt so good walking out of an interview. I had no idea that you could dance in the ca while driving but it sure can happen. I did it all the way home and people looked at me like I had lost my mind. LOL Who cares though. I had a blast. I definitely rocked the interview and I should find out today or tomorrow if I got the job or not. The most surprising thing is that the job starts on Monday and that I was not prepared for. I will definitely keep you posted on that. I had so much stuff to do today. I went to the doc in the morning and then came home to get Bella for her vet appointment. After we took Bella to the vet, I stopped and grabbed lunch for Cody and I. We came home and got Bella settled and ate our lunch and then headed to Target so I could get a swimsuit for my trip adn then off to Petco so I could get a mouse for Ali because I knew that Chris sure wouldn't be feeding her. Then I came back home and started getting ready for my interview. I just decided to start from scratch. I was so glad I did because I felt like it gave me the confidence I needed. Tomorrow I am off to Cali and I am sooo excited!!

29 Jul 08-Wow! What a day today! I am in packing/leaving mode for sure and boy did I have a big surprise thrown in on me. I got a call today that my interview appointment was made. However, it was originally scheduled for Thursday when I was going to be gone. Thank God they were able to reschedule it for tomorrow at 1630 but that put me half in panic mode. I am scared to death but so excited at the same time to know that I finally get to go show off my stuff. I felt better after talking to my mom today as well as Michelle. I really needed to talk to both of them for some support and encouragement. Apparently, the person currently in the position is leaving for the NCO Academy on Monday so that means jumping in head first for sure and I will have to definitely learn some things but I am up for the challenge. The Command Chief will be making his decision very shortly as to who will take over the position. I just pray that whatever is supposed to happen, happens. I will definitely be posting when I get home from the interview to share my feelings on how it went. I could use all of the positive thoughts I can get for tomorrow.

28 Jul 08-Whew! That was some kind of bug. I'm not completely back to normal yet. I am still only about 70% but it's nice to be up and moving around again. The last couple of days, I've only gotten up to eat and it's been horrible. I am so needing to get better so I'm not miserable on my way home. Nothing would stop me from making it but I definitely don't want to be sick. I was going to go back to the doc today but I am feeling better and my ear has almost cleared up. I ended up with Strep throat, a sinus infection and an inner ear infection. If my ear is not completely better tomorrow, I will go back in and get on another round of antibiotics but we'll see. I had all 3 of the kids home with me today so it would have been difficult to try to go today so we'll just see how things are in the morning. Tomorrow, it's just me and Cody so it will be much more manageable. Obviously because I've been so sick, there hasn't been much going on. Thankfully I am on leave this week so I have been able to be at home to recover. Thursday and Friday last week at work was brutal. I felt awful and just had to be there at work. I am looking forward to this week of leave and seeing my family very soon! I am sooooo excited to be back in Cali and watch my brother tie the knot, even if it's only just for a few days. It will be so nice to actually take leave and go somewhere instead of just sitting around the house. Sorry I haven't posted. I just have not been feeling up to it.

23 Jul 08-I haven't posted in a couple of days because there really hasn't been anything "blog worthy" going on at all. It's been a quiet couple of days. However, I am pretty sure that I have strep. If it's not, it's a really bad sinus infection. I am going to sick call in the morning to find out. Good thing about it is that I'm getting it out of the way so I won't be sick when I go home for my brothers wedding. It's definitely better to have it now although I hate being sick.

21 Jul 08-There isn't too much to report today. My commander kind of let the cat out of the bag about the job that I applied for. He mentioned it in the middle of my shop and no one in my shop (other than my shop chief who is TDY) knew about it. I must have gotten a look on my face that said I didn't want that information shared. I asked him if he wanted to step in the hall so we could talk about it and he apologized for saying anything. He told me that he knew I'd be an asset to that job and he was sorry to have to let me go. It's been so nice to hear that. He had also asked me if I had heard when they would let people know so I told him that I didn't have any information. It was a good thing that he came in to the office and brought it up because now he's going to look into it for me. :)

20 Jul 08-We went to the nursery today and bought Oleanders to put on the side of the driveway. We had Rosemary plants but we decided they weren't serving us any purpose so we ripped them up. Boy was that a chore for poor Chris. Hopefully they will grow quick. (The main reason to put them there was to hide the eyesore.) That's about all for today. :)





19 Jul 08-Today was a good day. We all went out shopping today. Our neighbor, Frank, just got new bulbs for his porch light and Chris just had to know what they were. Turns out they were energy efficient bulbs and they are BRIGHT! So, he asked where he got them from and they were from Bed, Bath & Beyond so we headed there today to get some. They are awesome! I also picked up something kind of like a cappuccino maker today but a lot cheaper. It does hot chocolate and stuff and I'm so excited to have it. LOL I was a busy girl today. Chris headed to his friends house at 3 this afternoon to play cards. I decided to clean out the fish tank, I pulled some more weeds in the garden, fed the snake, did load after load of laundry, played the Wii for a bit, sprayed down the driveway because of all the mud that came off of his truck, made dinner for the kids, etc. It was nice to be busy. Now I'm just hanging out and relaxing and watching the storm. The satellite dish went out because of the storm so it is quiet in my house (besides the thunder). Thankfully Miles fell asleep fast but the other 2 aren't sleeping very well. It is right on top of us. There's no break between the lightning and the thunder. It's nice to have the rain but hopefully the rest of it passes soon. Chris got the doggy door put in yesterday as well so here are some pictures of it. The dogs like it and it's so nice to have 2 sliding doors that we can use to get in to the backyard!




18 Jul 08-Bear with me. This one is going to be long today but I would really appreciate you taking the time to read it. It's been a crazy week. So, earlier this week, I was presented with a job opportunity that I had to do a lot of soul searching about which I mentioned yesterday. Well the job was made publicly available and after talking long and hard with my mom, my supervision and 2 great friends, I decided to go for it and put my name in the hat for it. The job is the Executive Assistant to the Command Chief for the Wing. It is a HUGE responsibility and a HUGE job but I think I'm up for it. It's amazing what you learn about what people think of you when you present something like this to them. I am so honored to know that people think so highly of me. The select few that I discussed this opportunity with told me that they would be sad to lose me to the job but that they thought I would be perfect for it. I'm so glad that people have faith in me because I don't always have the most in myself. People that know me, know that I don't take compliments well. The best way to embarrass me is to compliment me. I am a humble person. Anyway, I do not have any details about how the process works or what the time frame is and I don't know if I have a chance at actually being selected but it was a big deal for me to even get the courage to apply. It was hard for me to consider leaving my ammo family although the job won't be forever. It will only be 1-2 years. I considered my troops, my shop, my supervision, my family, even my custodians. I did not come to the decision lightly and it was really hard for me talking to my chief today but he was very supportive. I made it clear that I did not want people to know that I had applied unless I got the job. I don't want to make people feel like I am "jumping ship". I have to look out for myself and my future with the Air Force and this is an excellent way to do it. Please keep me in your thoughts that whatever is supposed to happen, happens. Either way, I'm just proud of myself for getting the nerve. Here is the job description:

Job Requirements/Qualifications Needed (must have/be):

Highly motivated
High energy level
Be able to do multi-tasks
Outstanding organizational skills
Computer related skills (Outlook calendar, Email management, Word,
Excel, Powerpoint, Hardware/software capabilities, etc.)
Have an insight to protocol experience
Have outstanding military bearing, and a keen sense of custom and
courtesies
Have superb image
Be able to work long and often odd hours
Be savvy on most Air Force programs (i.e. DTS, GTC, IMPAC, etc.)
Plus many others too long to list

Key duties, tasks and responsibilities:

Responsible for the overall management of all administrative functions
in the office of the 355 FW Command Chief Master Sergeant, guide the
command chief's demanding daily calendar; all travel, lodging, and
transportation arrangements. Coordinates with the Group Chief's, Unit
First Sergeants, First Sergeant Council, Top Three Association, First
Six Advisory Council, and several on- and off-base agencies, for all
kinds of people business (i.e. annual awards banquet, quarterly awards
ceremonies, monthly induction ceremonies, commander's calls and special
DV visit's from start to finish. Types, edits, reviews, dispatches, and
quality controls incoming and outgoing executive correspondence, senior
enlisted performance reports, awards and decorations, special awards
being submitted for wing commander/higher headquarters consideration,
and all enlisted personnel packages. Also Davis-Monthan focal point for
four Enlisted Leadership (Chief Suites) Business suites. Also web page
maintainer. Plus any other assigned duties as needed.

**Click here to read the Command Chief's bio

17 Jul 08-What can I say about today? Today was kind of crazy. I laughed... A LOT! That was mostly towards the end of the day but it was the hardest that anyone has ever seen me laugh at work. At one point, I was squatted down against the wall because I just couldn't move anymore. The reason we were all cracking up was completely inappropriate and probably not be funny to anyone who wasn't there so I'll spare you. Just know that I'm a little hoarse now from laughing so hard. Anyway, I was faced with an opportunity yesterday that is weighing heavy on my heart and mind. There will be more to come on that later if it's what I choose but I am definitely struggling with the thought of it. I know it will be awesome if I do choose to do it but for now, it's something that I'm discussing with Chris, my Mom and a friend. Just pray for me to make the right decision and that all goes well if I do.

16 Jul 08-I was quite irritable today. I haven't been sleeping well and I think it's finally catching up with me so I don't have anything interesting to report today or even anything to babble about. I am off to hopefully get a good night sleep.

15 Jul 08-Today was just the silliest of days. I don't know what got in to me but even the captain was camped out in the office today for a bit for a morale boost. It started with me throwing the football at the guys one at at time. I got Roy in the back of the head while he was on the phone with the CAS help desk, then I got Todd square in the back of the head while he was on the phone. After that, I threw it at Charlie and it hit his keyboard and locked up his computer. Oops!! Everyone was just dying laughing though. Then we got our toner in for our big printer and it came with those big "poppers" and Jason put them in them in his shirt and I had to take a picture. Of course I turned around and e-mailed it to the whole shop. We just had a long day of cracking up and it was fun. I also got to go out and visit my favorite custodians at the shooting range. Those guys are a barrel of fun so it always makes my day to go out there. Other than that, we're just tinkering around with more stuff at the house and it's fun.

14 Jul 08-Happy Birthday to me! :) Today was definitely bittersweet. My kids started school today. For those that don't know, our school district is year round so they got out the end of May and started back up today. It was bittersweet because my baby started Kindergarten today. They both had a great time though and I was so proud of them! Miles was just such a big boy and we had a nice proud parents moment when the first thing we heard the teacher say was to Miles about what good eye contact he had. It was so great to go at the end of the day and pick him up. It was all I could think about today. Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes today. I really did enjoy my day even though it was an emotional one.

13 Jul 08-Today was hard for me. It was kind of a lazy day but then we were in the garden pulling weeds and stuff. Chris uprooted the lemon tree and moved it to the other side of the yard. We had a very nice storm too. The hard part was packing Miles' backpack and making his lunch. Tomorrow is going to be a huge day! Harmony and Miles are both super excited to start school. I'm excited for them too but sad at the same time because I will officially have no more kids not in school. :( They grow way too fast!

12 Jul 08-We had a good day today. It was exhausting but it was fun. I'm not the kind of girl who likes to shop a lot. I just don't enjoy it. However, today was fun. Being that we're homeowners now, we got to have some fun getting some stuff for the house that we wouldn't have if we were renting. We bought new locks for the house and I actually did one of them myself and was proud of myself for being able to do it. Chris joked that I can now change the locks on him one day while he's out and I told him that's why I wanted to learn how. LOL We also went to look at trees to put on the side of our house to block the eye sore camper next to us. Everything is so expensive though so I'm not sure what we're going to do. It appears as if we may have to go with Oleanders but we'll see. Everything else is not hearty enough or we'd have to buy too many that are too expensive. We need to do something though. I don't want to look at it anymore. We also had to get more grass seed because we're extending the grass in the back yard all the way out to the wall. It will look really nice when we're done. We went to the nursery today out by where we live and I fell in love with their pond that they have. I would really like to do it so we're going to consider it. First we have to figure out where to do it and if we can really afford it but it was just beautiful and peaceful. I could have sat right there for hours and watched the fish and the turtle and listened to the running water. It would be so nice to sit outside with a book and listen to it. We all went out to lunch too which was a treat for us. I also had to buy some toys for Bella as she is our first dog that actually cares to play with toys. It was a good day. Here are the pictures of our rain water collection point. It's awesome! We bought the tabs to keep the mosquitoes away and everything.




11 Jul 08-We got our final paperwork today that said we are home owners! It was awesome to get that. I came bounding out of the title company. LOL I have so many things in my mind that I want to do around the house. I came home today to find that Chris had started moving rocks and getting ready to extend our grass. It's going to look so nice when it's done. I am on this serious going green kick and I printed out instructions for Chris on how to set up a container to catch and use rain water. Much to my surprise, and delight, when I came home today, Chris had used the directions and had the container all set up. I was thrilled to see it! It's the coolest thing. He's so funny because I had mentioned to him while he was gone about my reusable shopping bags and he just kind of rolled his eyes at me. Well, he was watching something on the TV and said, "Do you know how many plastic bags it saves when you use your bags?" Well duh honey, why do you think I got them?? I'm glad he's paying more attention to things like that now and hopefully it only continues with the changes I want to see around here. It will probably be a slow process but I would definitely like to keep introducing more "green" things to him to see if he runs with it as well as the container for collecting rain water.

10 Jul 08-I was completely shocked today when Chris got a call for us to come sign the paperwork for the house. Apparently my gentle "shove" about the increase in insurance was enough to make them call it quits and finally let us buy the house! As of around 5 p.m., we were officially HOME OWNERS!! Thank the Lord it's all over!! We don't have to make a payment until 1 Sep either so that was a nice bonus. Chris has been anxious to start his "projects" throughout the house now that it's ours. I just ordered the in wall doggy door yesterday so we'll be excited when that gets here. As of now, I am just drained and so glad I can finally say the saga is over!

09 Jul 08-Ugh! Just one more nightmare in the house saga today. My bank called to say that the lender was trying to increase the amount of our insurance. Arizona state law says that they cannot ask us to insure more than it would cost to rebuild the house and they were trying to increase it by $60,000. I had had enough by that point and I called them on it. They changed their tune when I called and I expressed my concerns about how out of hand this was getting and why we still hadn't closed. I let them know that no one is explaining things to us, we're not feeling like we're getting any first time buyer "benefits" or anything. All we want to do is close on this house and make it our own. I'm afraid that I won't even care about this house by the time it's finally ours. The lenders are 2 hours ahead of us so we won't be getting an answer back today so now we have to wait until tomorrow to find out when we close and I'm just plain irritated. Please keep your fingers crossed that we can close this week. Luckily, the property manager is fantastic and we are not having to pay rent this month. Anyway, I did have a good day minus the house drama. Michelle called me to tell me that she had a promotion/birthday present for me and I met her before heading to my "pee duty". Look at what that sweetheart gave to me!





She was the one that continued to tell me to be positive and that she knew in her heart that we had both made rank this year and she was completely right. That woman is just amazing. I've never met someone like her before and I know I never will again. She is everything that I could only hope to be. She's more talented, driven, positive, etc than anyone I've ever known and I just love her! On another note, I had to laugh at the guy that runs the "pee duty". He is just a riot. Well, him and the head guy were commenting on how I looked like a celebrity to them and I just figured it was Sharon Stone because that's always what everyone says. Well, as it turns out, it wasn't. Turns out they swear that I resemble Tippi Hedron. I had to go look her up to see who she was. I don't really see it but I don't see Sharon Stone either. I just thought it was cute of these 2 men to be staring at me and comparing me to a movie star. They said it was the eyes. They now simply refer to me as "Blue Eyes". LOL

08 Jul 08-Today was the first day of my urinalysis duty and boy was it boring!! I actually wrote 15 pages in my journal today just because I had nothing better to do and my hand was actually cooperating and allowing me to write. It was slow for the girls so that was nice but I'd much rather be at work. I am beyond exhausted. I did not sleep well because of Bella. She was a hyper little thing last night. Other than that, today was kind of a blah day. We got a new plan for our cell phones. We've been looking at ways to reduce our monthly bills to help us better afford our mortgage. We talked to the mortgage consultant today and the papers are done and they were working on one more thing and we will be closing FINALLY within the next day or two (granted the entire world doesn't blow up in that time). I am so happy to finally be getting this done. Chris is on leave with kids this week since the daycare at the school is not open the last week before school starts so he's getting things done around the house too. I still need to upload this weeks installment of garden pictures but it is amazing! I cannot believe how fast they have grown but we've had some great rain lately as well as the watering system on a timer and Miracle Grow. We'll have plenty of veggies soon. Those who know me, that's really not all that exciting for me because I don't eat them but I'm excited to be able to feed the lettuce to my lizard!

07 Jul 08-Today was a lazy day. None of us really wanted to do much of anything. That could be because Harmony and Cody both had someone sleep over last night and we didn't even do lights out with them until 11 and they still didn't go to sleep right after that. Oh well. They had a great time and that's what matters. I did, however, finally pick up a Ped Egg today and that thing is amazing!! I was so tired of wearing tennis shoes and socks but my feet dry out so darn quick if I wear sandals. I finally decided to try it and boy am I glad that I did. It took me quite a while and I realized there was more damage than I thought but after I was done, my feet felt awesome!! I would recommend it to anyone! We'll see how often I have to do it but after my first time, I'm happy! The rest of the day was spent downloading music and updating my IPod. Every time I do that, I immediately break out my headphones and lose myself in music. I hadn't been listening to music as much lately. I'm not sure why, just hadn't but every time I do that, I remember just how much I can lose myself in it.

06 Jul 08-I ventured out with Bella today. I needed to take advantage of the BOGO sale at Payless so I took Harmony and Miles to get them shoes for school. I was worried that they wouldn't let me bring Bella in there but she's so small, they didn't care. Man, shoes are expensive! Anyway, I headed to Petco afterwards to get some puppy food for Bella, a mouse for Ali and a collar and leash for Bella as well. Everyone just ooh'd and ahh'd over her. It was so great. Who doesn't love a little puppy?? It is another hot one today (like I expected it to be any different) but the humidity is also up today. Yuck! The kids are not on their best behavior so I decided to give Chris a break and get the kids out for a while so he could relax. Now we're just hanging out and waiting until dinner. It's a "grilling weekend" so we're having burgers and dogs again tonight. He's been marinating steaks for a couple of days as well so those are going to taste yummy! I'm thinking of having Chris move the Wii into the bedroom so I can actually play for a little bit. Since we got the Xbox 360 fixed, it seems that I never get to play the Wii so it would be nice to disappear for a while and play especially since we have the Wii Fit now and I LOVE that game! The bedroom is also the best place to do that too since we have the a/c unit in the window. :)

05 Jul 08-Today was just a blah day. I don't know if it was the garbage I ate yesterday or if I took my vitamin too soon after eating this morning but I got sick and spent half the day in bed. I feel better now, just worn out. It's been that way for the last few days. I just feel like someone has sucked the life out of me. I don't know what I need to do to fix that either. Anyway, I've just been hanging out on the computer and waiting for the storms to roll in. We're supposed to get hail and stuff tonight but it's been moving in slowly. Chris stopped by a 3 family yard sale this morning, on the way to take Cody to his mom so he could go fishing with his grandpa today, and came back with a neat popcorn maker and a container with some colonels in it. It had the recipe for kettle corn on it and so he made some tonight and boy was it yummy! No more spending $4 on a bag from the stand! I have been on the hunt for an affordable but nice cappuccino maker. I can't remember if I told this story or not but I had to complain to the general manager of AAFES because 2 days so far, there have been ants in my cappuccino that I've bought from the shoppette. It happened on Thursday week before last and on this past Tuesday. I was so mad and while it only costs 99 cents for a cup, it makes me wonder how many other times I've drank ants and not known it! I'm supposed to go in this week and talk to the manager of that shoppette. Anyway, the reason I told the story was to explain my "need" for a cappuccino maker. I figure if I can just get one and make the flavor I like at home, then I don't have to worry about what I might be drinking. It sucks to have to do that but I don't feel like they're taking me very seriously and I'm very upset that I can't just go to the other shoppette. The don't have the flavor I like (English Toffee). That's enough rambling for one day. I'm off to get the kids their giant glow sticks to play with for a bit and then I'm off to bed to try to get my energy back.

04 Jul 08-Happy 4th of July all!! We went to a BBQ at Joey's house today with people from my shop. I made my chicken biscuits as usual today and we had a really nice time just hanging out. Then we headed to the base for the annual festivities. Things did not go as planned. We had storms roll in from 3 different directions and when the lightning was within 3 miles, they finally evacuated us. Thankfully the kids were able to play in the water. They must have realized how big of a hit the fire truck spraying water out was last year so they did it again this year but with a fire hydrant. The kids were soaked but the really enjoyed running around through it and of course were soaked. Oh to be a kid again and and be able to enjoy it. Anyway, they evacuated everyone to the enlisted club but it was just too many people and we finally decided to leave. The kids were bummed but they didn't seem too broken up about it. Once we finally heard one of the shows start from home, we headed down the road a few miles to just watch from the truck. It was fun for the kids because they were already in their PJs but they got to sit in the back of the truck so the night wasn't a total loss. We were not the only ones who had that idea. There were probably at least 15 other vehicles out there as well. It's almost tempting to do that every year. It was nice to just sit without having to fight crowds to get out when it was done. The pictures that I was able to get are on the website.



03 Jul 08-Thank God it's Friday!! (Okay, it's Thursday but it's my Friday!) We have the next 4 days off and boy do I need it. I did all sorts of running around today. This morning, I had to sing the National Anthem for a POW/MIA vigil/run. It was pretty neat. It was outdoors on the base parade grounds and I think I did well. It was the very first time that Chris and Harmony have heard me perform. Harmony came home with a "Great Job" ribbon which I thought was adorable. She really seemed to enjoy it. After the ceremony and they started their runs, I came back out to the house to pick up Harmony's lunch and take her to daycare. After that, I headed to my orderly room to attempt to get some paperwork signed. Every so often, my squadron has it's turn to do urinalysis duty and next week is our week. I was lucky enough to have my time come up again for this duty. NOT! I hate, hate, hate that detail. All week long, I have to watch girls pee in a cup. It's not glamorous by any means but it's part of my duties as a NCO. Hopefully by the time my name comes up in the rotation again, I will be a MSgt and won't have to do it! LOL After that, I had a dental appointment to make sure my mouth guards that were made for me fit. That was quite the experience and so not what I was expecting. I figured, they had taken a mold of my teeth so all they had to do was make sure they fit and send me on my way. Not the case! They had to fit it, have me bite, grind my teeth, etc and then file the stupid thing down so my bottom back teeth wouldn't touch my top back teeth. He had to put that thing in and pull it back out about 20 times. Each time he filed it down and then had to blow the "dust" off, I could see it flying in front of me so of course it was in my mouth as well. Ugh! Hopefully they will do the trick and I don't ever have to go through that again! After that, I headed to work for a bit only to find out there was still nothing going on. Then I went out for lunch. After lunch, I came back to find out that there was STILL nothing going on at work but thankfully after the 1300 meeting, we were released for the day. I still had to go back to my orderly room to pick up the paperwork blessing me to perform my "pee duty" next week. Now I am finally at home and ready to relax. I am so sleeping in tomorrow!!!

02 Jul 08-Whew! What a couple of days we've had. The termite guy came yesterday and blessed the roof and the roofer came today and blessed it as well. So, Chris talked to the mortgage consultant and made sure that they had gotten the notification that everything passed and to see if they could contact the lender to get on the paperwork. It would be great to close tomorrow so we could put in the doggie door this weekend but I doubt it will happen. We can hope though. Otherwise, we should close on Tuesday. Keep your fingers crossed for us! It has continued to be miserably hot. I was so excited for the summer to get here, now I just want to go back a couple of months to where it was comfortable! The storms have been few but they have been nice. We definitely need the rain for our garden to save us on our water bill. We're going to have to penny pinch. I want to collect the rain water as well. That should be fun! We finally broke down last night and gave Miles his first mohawk. He'd been begging us for it for a long time. He looks so adorable with it too. I did, however, explain it to him that it's only temporary. I don't want him with a mohawk for my brothers wedding. Ha ha! I know there's more stuff going on but I'm officially brain dead and can't remember right now!

My ramblings-Jun 08

30 Jun 08-The house saga continues... We will still be buying it, just not this week. I don't remember if I mentioned the termite inspection. Anyway, we had to pay to have a small termite tube treated. Well, as it turns out, the termite guy wrote up the rotting wood on the back patio and didn't mention to us that he was doing so. The mortgage consultant called today and told Chris that he had written it up and we are now required to fix it and have him reinspect it as well as a roofer. Ugh! We have to pay the roof guy to come out and look at it as well. The earliest he can come is Wednesday so now with the upcoming holiday, we won't close until next week. Chris got some wood, water seal and paint and fixed the stupid thing. It cost $32 to fix it and will cost $50 to look at it!! Anyone else want to nickel and dime us?? Seriously, it just gets worse and worse. Please, please, please let this be the last bit of nightmare we have to endure before this house is finally ours. I am not going to want to talk to, look at or deal with any of these people ever again. The only person that I will care to have any kind of relationship with is Willie, the real estate agent/property manager. Anyway, enough about that before I pull all my hair out! Today was miserable at work. Our air conditioner was frozen so I was very hot and sweaty all day. I was so glad to actually get out of there to go to commanders call. Ha ha! On another note, I finally downloaded the picture that Chris took of me prior to heading to Leah's wedding. It was nice to get to wear my dress that I'm wearing for my brothers wedding and make sure it was going to be okay. Also, my music FINALLY came in today. I was going to go look around some more but then I had gotten the notification that it shipped so I decided to wait. Fortunately, it's going to be great so I'm glad I waited!! I just want everything to be so perfect for him and Juliet! The only thing I'm waiting on now is the jewelry that I had my friend Zelma make for me. It's gorgeous! Anyway, here's me in my dress and below is a picture of the jewelry that Zelma made:





29 Jun 08-This has been a great weekend! I went to Leah's wedding last night and she was such a beautiful bride as I knew she would be. I am so happy for her and Nate and wish them the best of luck for a wonderful lifetime together. I was so honored to finally be able to meet her mom. I felt like I knew her already from all the things that Leah had told me about her and she felt like she knew me as well from keeping up with my blog while Leah and I were deployed together. It was definitely an emotional moment and one to be cherished! Today all of the long nights finally caught up with me. The pup, who now finally has a name is officially ours now and stayed with us for the first time last night. Of course she didn't sleep well in her new surroundings so I didn't sleep well last night either. I was up about 9 this morning and then back in bed after breakfast. Bella came to bed with me and I didn't get up until 3 this afternoon. I'm sure I'll be headed back to bed before too long. It will be nice to finally feel caught up on sleep and feel back to normal this week at work. Thankfully it is a short week as well due to the 4th of July! (Mom, if you don't hear from me today, it means I did in fact go back to sleep and I will call you this week.)

27 Jun 08-I am beyond exhausted today. I think finally everything is catching up with me. I'm definitely going to be sleeping in tomorrow! I got to catch up with more old friends over e-mail as good news spreads like wildfire! I sang for a retirement ceremony for one of our own today and the emcee, BK (if you remember me posting about him while I was deployed) announced me as Technical Sergeant Select Naylor before I sang. Ha ha! It was too funny. I got some good face time with the new commander. It was the first time he's heard me sing and my seat was actually right next to him for the ceremony and his comment to me was that my singing was awesome! He even commented again on how great it was after the ceremony so I was pretty excited about that! This has definitely been a fantastic week!

26 Jun 08-SAY HELLO TO THE AF'S NEWEST TSGT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll post more later. Just wanted to get in out there for when my mommy checked my blog!!! :) Chris did not make it though :(. **Okay, now that the day is over I can post a little bit more of it. By the time I had gotten into work, I had 26 congratulations e-mails so thank you to all of those who were thinking of me and e-mailed me to say congrats! I was so thrilled. As it turns out, something really cool happened with my line number. For those who don't know what that is, it tells you where your place is to sew on the rank. So, there were 7115 promotees and so the line numbers go from 1-7115. Each month, the publish what line numbers actually get to start wearing their ranks. Well, my line number is 714-my birthdate!! How cool is that? We had a promotion party this afternoon to which I had to pay $40 to help offset the cost of food and alcohol. It has been a fantastic day!!

25 Jun 08-Today would have been the day we were closing on the house but they are drawing up all the new paperwork and we're supposed to sign on Friday. I'm kind of glad it's not today because the only thing on my mind right now is TSgt results!! 11 more hours until we find out and I don't think I've never been this nervous!! We really need this right now and I need to be getting paid for the work I do! I had my second day off today and it was nice to be able to relax. I went and bought my shoes for my brothers wedding. I get to "give them a test drive" at Leah's wedding this Saturday. They're not really my favorite shoes but it was all I could find that matched my dress. Hopefully I don't fall on my face! LOL The monsoon season started last week but today is the first day that we've seen more than the threatening clouds. We actually got a little bit of rain and it looks like there's more to come so that's nice. It was so humid today I could barely stand it. I don't know if I could survive somewhere that actually gets true humidity. The wildfires burning here are crazy and I saw the most wicked sight last night where the mountain looked like what I could think a volcano would look like. Pretty creepy stuff and it made me think of my parents and hope that they are finally taking care of their fires. Anyway, in closing for today, I will try my best to remember to post a short update in the morning as soon as I find out results otherwise I'll post when I get home. However, Mom you will be hearing from me as soon as I think it's not too early to call!!

24 Jun 08-Everything is still on track today but we got some bad news about the taxes being included in our monthly payment. It's quite a bit more than we were expecting to have to pay and it's going to be tight. Hopefully once we get our credit report, I can get it cleared up and we can refinance after a year and get a payment more like we were expecting. It's going to hurt for a while! Ouch! They still think we'll close by the end of the week. Let's just pray that we both make TSgt so we can get that raise. I would probably sew it on the first of August so that would be really nice. Thursday morning at 6 a.m. can't get here soon enough!!

23 Jun 08-Thank God we got some great news today! It's going to put us in a little bind financially but it will all pay off. We are going to close on the house this week. I just hope there is nothing else unforeseen that comes up. The property manager met with the sellers today and everyone decided there was just too much time and effort put into the whole deal already to let something like the appraisal stand in the way of us buying this house. So, that being said, we're having to contribute our security and pet deposits as well as our earnest money toward the closing costs. The sellers are also contributing $3K out of their pockets (which I feel is only fair since we have paid their mortgage and then some for the last 3 years and they haven't taken that into consideration) and the property manager is also donating a portion of his commission! I was absolutely in awe of that man. They have just been so wonderful to us over the years. I expressed to him our gratitude for continuing to find ways around all the snags so far and I told him I would definitely make sure to continue to refer people in the market to sell, buy or rent a house to him. Him and his wife have just been amazing and I'm so thankful that we've established the relationship we have over the last 3 years. He is hopeful that we will be able to close this week (maybe not by Wednesday as originally scheduled but this week)! I will definitely continue to update as all of this finally comes to a close. It still doesn't feel like our home but shortly, I hope I can change that feeling! It was so nice to get a good phone call instead of the usual bad one from the mortgage consultant who has been less than helpful. I don't want to have to buy another house for a LONG time!

22 Jun 08-Today was just a nice relaxing day. It was still another scorcher and we thought we might get some rain but no such luck. It kind of felt groundhog day a bit. The kids played, I visited with the puppy, it was hot, etc. Ha ha! Chris cooked the best steak that I've ever had and I had to get far, far away from it! I almost can't wait for lunch tomorrow! I have been feeling sick to my stomach today in anticipation of this huge week. We'll know for sure whether we can still buy this house or if we're going to have to move. That is a huge thing. We really just want to stay. Once Thursday is over and results are out, I can finally relax. For now, I just have major anxiety. It's a good thing I'm off work Tuesday-Thursday because I know I will not be sleeping well.

21 Jun 08-Wow! What a hot one today! It was just too hot to do anything outside, that's for sure. I just dropped the puppy back off. She climbed up on my shoulder and took a nap across my chest. It was just the sweetest thing. Of course, I had to take one with her. I hope to be able to bring her here every day until she's officially ours so the dogs can get used to her. Well, so the boy dogs can get used to her. Jade has taken to her just fine although she seems a little annoyed with how hyper she is but she still stays right next to her. Chris is getting ready to make burgers for dinner and then I'm just going to hang out and relax. I didn't sleep well last night so I'm ready for bed already. This heat just takes it out of you some days!

20 Jun 08-It was so nice to have a day off today. However, I had to start it off by getting up early and going to the dentist. I made an appointment for sick call because not only do I grind my teeth in my sleep, but I also have what's called a tongue thrust. Go ahead and laugh and get it out of the way now! It really is painful though. Basically, due to stress is what they say, when I sleep and throughout the day, I press my tongue against my teeth and hold it there. This obviously causes a shift in my teeth and also makes for a very sore mouth in the morning. I had finally had enough after dealing with this for quite some time now. After my appointment, they were going to schedule me to have impressions done so they could fit me for a mouth guard to sleep well. Well, as it turns out, they had a free appointment 20 minutes later so I took that one. Thankfully impressions are a lot quicker and less icky since the last time I had them done. Hopefully the mouth guard does the trick. I know that Chris will be happy not to have to deal with me grinding my teeth in my sleep. Of course, if it were my choice, I'd just rather not have all the stress in my life...

Anyway, we had some bad news on the house today. As it turns out, what I was originally told about the appraisal being just a formality in the home buying process was incorrect. Due to the appraisal, we can only get approved for a VA loan for the price of what they appraised the house out. We do not have the money for closing costs so they were all going in the amount of the loan. So now, we have to wait on the owners to see if they're just going to suck it up and take a $6K hit on the house so we can buy it. If not, we're back to square one and out about $1K because of the appraisal and earnest money. This just sucks. We are supposed to close on the house on Wednesday! As if I needed something else to stress about. The owners are on their way back from England so I just pray that they contact the property manager on Monday so we can find out if we're moving or not.

Sadly, I've committed to this dog already. We brought her home today for a little bit so the other dogs could meet her as well. Jade surprised me when her mommy instincts kicked in to a dog that's not even hers. She became very protective of the puppy and would not let her out of her site. When the boys (dogs) would come near her, she would growl. It was rather amusing. Jade is 30 times her size and yet she followed her around and batted at her and even tried to nurse from her at one point. It was all just so fun to watch. She really is a cute dog!


19 Jun 08-I had a fantastic day today! It was slow AGAIN but I got to go visit with a new family member last night. Mom, if you're reading this, sorry you're finding out here but I said we were probably going to do it. We're getting a new dog. The timing was right and a great opportunity presented itself. Our friend Steve, who is also a neighbor, one of his dog just had puppies. I went to see them the other night and fell in love with the "runt". She is just the cutest thing! We haven't picked out a name yet but I get to bring her home for "visitation" tomorrow. They're still feeding from mom so we can't keep her yet but it will be so great to see how she acts in what will be her own environment. She's a half Sheltie/half Chow Chow and she is just beautiful! She is already so spoiled by me as we have been visiting her the last 3 days since we met her and picked her out. Best of all, she's free! Of course she's only free to take home. Anyone that's owned an animal knows they're not free but that's okay. She will be well worth it and a nice addition to even out our dog family. Now we'll have 2 boys and 2 girls. Here she is!!



18 Jun 08-I had one of the silliest days today. I don't know what the deal with today was but I just could not stop laughing. I love days like this although my make-up is definitely a mess from crying because I was laughing so hard! Another day spent trying to forget that TSgt results are around the corner, however, that didn't happen again. I just hope they post the cut off scores soon so I'll have a little bit better of an idea or feeling. I missed it by 20 points last year which is horrible but I almost made that up in EPRs, time in service, time in grade, and a commendation medal. Let's just hope I tested well enough. Thankfully next Thursday when results come out is the last day of my 3 day pass. So, at 6 a.m. when I look online to see if I made it, if I didn't, I can just stay home! LOL I'd rather HAVE to go in though!! This will consume me for the next week for sure!

17 Jun 08-Today was just kind of a blah day. Work was pretty slow but I did manage to find a project for myself which always keeps me content. However, my back is hurting me really bad today. :( I just wish they'd fix me because I hate days like this where it just makes the entire day feel like a waste. I'm back to taking my meds which obviously are not helping. All they do is make me feel groggy the next day. They announced promotion rates today and I was quite alarmed to find out that only 18.55% of all eligible Staff Sergeants were going to be promoted to Technical Sergeant. That was not very promising for me. Nine more days to stress over it!

16 Jun 08-I am exhausted today! Miles decided to start getting up at 1 a.m. and kept that up for a couple of hours. I have no idea why his internal clock decided to go off so early but hopefully that thing is broken tonight! I need a good night of sleep. Work was very boring today. I found a project to work on but when that was done, I was bored again! The appraiser came to the house today so that's good and hopefully we can actually close in 9 days like we're supposed to so we can start doing stuff that we want to the house. Of course, I had to shell out even more money but we're supposed to be getting that back too. I can't wait until we get all of the money back. I still need to buy Chris his plane ticket home with me next month.

15 Jun 08-Today was a HOT one! The humidity was up and everything and we've got storms in the area. Bring on the monsoon!! (I love the monsoon season when I'm at home watching it, not when it's time for me to drive home from work and it's pouring. LOL) We were out planting seeds in our new garden this morning about 1030 and I wasn't even there but a minute and had sweat pouring off my face already. Yuck! The rest of the day was good. I had to go get my hair trimmed and the stylist taught me some tricks to keep my hair a little softer so I will be trying those out. I don't think I could ever grow my hair long again. I just love it so much short and I think I'll even keep it short enough during the winter to leave down when I'm in uniform. Boy will that be different for me. I talked to my dad for quite a while tonight and that's always a treat. Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there!

14 Jun 08-We had a great day/night yesterday. I got out of work a little early which is always a bonus. I got to eat lunch with Michelle and Holly and that was a nice break from being at work as well. There was a process that was changed at work that has caused some major issues. Used to be, our flightline drivers would call in movements to Control and then Control would process the moves. Now, the flightline folks call them in and Control processes them. Somewhere between the line, Control and our Maintenance shop, we were off on a few different kinds of munitions. It was said that we would have to come in today to fix it while the aircraft were not flying. I volunteered to be one of the two that came in because I hadn't been in on a weekend (at least not in this shop) yet. We had already made plans for last night to go to military appreciation night at Tuscon Electric Park to watch the Sidewinders play. So, we still went even though I had to work today and we had a good time for the most part. I got a little annoyed by some unruly kids but I think that's every time I go somewhere. I guess I expect that other kids are well behaved in public like mine but I guess that's not the case. Anyway, the game went into extra innings and I was exhausted. We were waiting for the fireworks and Chris finally just decided to get me home and they could go watch the fireworks from somewhere closer to the house. It worked out just fine. I got home and go ready for bed and he took Cody and a sleeping Miles back out on the road to watch them. Miles woke up of course and was really excited when he got home so I'm glad that worked out. So, after a late night last night and a long day today, I am off to bed. I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

12 Jun 08-Today was a decent day. I had a lunch date with Michelle since it's her last day in the shop. She got hired on as the assistant first sergeant (or as we call it, the undershirt AKA wife beater!). However, we had to cancel it because the new commander was coming out to meet and greet so no one was allowed to go to lunch during his slotted time. Anyone who knows the military knows that schedules are tentative and he didn't come out until almost 1. My darling husband was nice enough to, at my request, pick up lunch and bring it out to me and the girls. It was so nice of him and he even went grocery shopping on top of driving down to pick up Cody. What a day for him. He's been working hard in the garden too. We're loving all the stuff that we will now be able to do to OUR house even though it's not officially ours yet.

11 Jun 08-So today was pretty much just a ho hum day. I didn't do much of anything at work. I got to joke with a couple of my favorite custodians but that's about it. I find that the more I delegate, the less work I have! Amazing how that works! LOL I need to find stuff to do to keep me entertained at work. Other than that, nothing to report today. Just hot as hell here!

10 Jun 08-So I realized today (after Lora commented on my blog) that I had not updated this one or the main one on my site. Oops! For those that read this and may not know, they canceled Chris' deployment so he is home now!! Wow! What a shocker! They called me while he was on his way to Baltimore, his last flight before he headed to Kuwait for more training, to ask me to have him call ASAP because he was to turn around and come home! Boy were we surprised. He spent the night in Baltimore and came home the next day. Talk about crazy but we are so glad to have him home! It's been nice to have some help around the house but there's something about that man that just sucks all the energy out of me. I seem to be much more productive when he's not around. I think that is mostly due to the adrenaline rush when it's just me doing everything so I'm working on that. Work has still been great but very, very slow! I briefed my first commander on his responsibilities of overseeing a munitions account. I was very nervous and made it known to the person he had set the meeting up with that I was nervous. Michelle as well as this guy told me that I would do just fine and that there was nothing to worry about. They were right! I kicked butt and was told that I really impressed the commander and I was so happy that I did well. Next time I have to brief a commander, maybe I won't be so worried about it. I often underestimate myself. I don't know why I do that. It's one of my many flaws but I guess the first step in correcting it is realizing that it's a flaw!

My life while Chris is away

11 May 08-I am going to try to my best (after repeated attempts from friends and family) to share in my daily life while Chris is deployed to Iraq. It's hard to actually think about sitting down and taking the time to type it all out. This is definitely your unusual role reversal. This is Chris' first deployment since Saudi in 98 for 3 months. It's a whole different world now and I'm going to miss him but I'm thankful that he's getting the opportunity to experience what I've experienced on my multiple trips to "the war" as our son calls it.

Life has been a lot busier since Chris left as I am the one to do it all now but we're managing. It wasn't until this weekend that I finally felt the stress of him being gone (after 2 weeks). Miles got sick Thursday night and I took him to urgent care on Friday morning and he was diagnosed with strep. Now I'm pretty sure I have it but I can't do anything about it because I'm too busy taking care of the kids. Harmony is pretty run down and is showing signs of it as well. Her throat doesn't really hurt though so I'm not sure if this is just early signs or if she's got something else. I'm trying to nurse us all back to health and I'm ready to Lysol bomb the house! LOL

Since Chris left, I have found a routine that works well for us. I've been able to manage surprisingly well and I hope that continues. It's not fun having sick children and I have definitely learned a new found respect for single parents (or those that don't get much help from their spouse).

I will try my best to put my daily activities and ramblings here. It hopefully will give me a good outlet to just vent when I need to so I don't do it to him. He has enough on his plate right now and doesn't need to hear when I am down...

13 May 08-Today was a nice day for the most part. It rained and I just love the smell of wet desert although the guys at work would disagree with me. It was so nice to come home and open every window and door in the house and not worry about having the air on. It is a cool 48 degrees here. I don't think I'll have to worry about turning my window fan on tonight. Hopefully I will sleep well. It is much needed. I just feel drained and exhausted. I haven't been sleeping well and I'm not sure why. I am sleeping enough but I just don't feel like it's very restful.

14 May 08-So much for my restful night. Miles was up at 3 a.m. for no apparent reason but he was ready to play and never did go back to sleep. Then, I had an appointment at the vet for the dogs to get their shots. Things were fine until we got right next to the vet. I had to go pick Miles up because he wanted to go with me. Just as I got next to the vet, Scrappy decided to play Superman and jump out the window of my van!!! That was a high drop and he hurt his leg. He's okay but his leg was already injured and it just aggravated it further. While I stopped in the middle of the road to pick up my poor pup, the other two idiots decided that they would burst out the door and run off on me!! Thank goodness there were a couple of contractors working next to the vet that the dogs went to but I had to get in the car, pull in the parking lot of Miles' school and leave Scrappy in there to go wrestle the other 2 back in the car by only their collars. Rascal was not thrilled about that at all and kept choking himself and ended up puking because he was fighting me so hard. I was furious at this point and they're all lucky I didn't really choke them! Thankfully I got Miles and got them to the vet. Scrappy is 48 pounds, Jade is 90 and Rascal is 60. That was definitely an outing I don't care to repeat. So, after a very tired mommy and $83 later, I finally was able to head home with the mutts. Calgon take me away!!!

15 May 08-Today was another day from hell. I went to sleep about 10 p.m. last night and Miles woke up after a nightmare a 10:30. I finally got him settled and back in bed and back to sleep by 11. Then at 1 a.m. the puking marathon started. Miles is congested and it made his poor belly upset. I put him in my bed while I stripped his bed down and started laundry. While I was doing that, he got sick in our bed too so I had to strip our bed down as well. So, needless to say, I have been up since 1 and I am very tired today. I took him to the doctor and they basically said there's nothing they can do. So, I just pray that he feels better tomorrow and that we can all have a restful night.

16 May 08-Thankfully the kids are feeling better and life seems to be getting back to normal. I had a dinner tonight that was put on by the 50 biggest supporters of our base and it was a very nice event. It was completely free and they even had a demonstration from the Desert Museum and they brought hawks with them and that was just the coolest thing. For those that know me well, you know how much I am just fascinated with hawks. They are such beautiful creatures so it was awesome to be able to sit and look at them up close! I had a scary event happen on the way home from there though. They had a DUI checkpoint set up close to where I live and that was the first time I'd ever seen one except on the news. They were not kidding when they said they're set up so they just sneak up on you. I am night blind so it was rough to go from no lights to tons of flashing lights. They stopped everyone that came through and asked if they had anything to drink. I told them that I had a drink at 6. This was at 9:45 p.m. so no worries there. I would never drive after more than 1 or 2 drinks and enough time in between anyway but it was still very scary to me to even be in that situation so that is not something I will ever do again. Even if I was given a sobriety test, I would have passed but just to think of faulty equipment or any other variable was enough to make my career feel like it was flashing in front of my eyes. The guy shined the flashlight in my eyes, saw I was in uniform and obviously not intoxicated, handed me a pamphlet with a survey and sent me on my way. It took a while to unwind after that experience when I got home. My girlfriend Elise was watching the kids for me. She lives 3 houses down so I grabbed the kids and was walking home when I stumbled upon 8 teenagers toilet papering the house across the street! It freaked Harmony out something awful and I had to explain that's just something kids do and they think it's funny. She thought it was really bad and was scared they were going to do something to our house. I assured her they were just stupid kids and all they were doing was pulling a prank so that when they woke up the next day, they would have to clean up a toilet paper mess. I will show her in the morning that's all it was and hope that she doesn't have any nightmares.

17 May 08-Today was a busy, busy day for me. The base has a program called Hearts Apart. It was designed so that families who have a deployed member have a chance to get out once a month and meet with other families in the same situations. This month, the outing was to a place called Celebrate. It's a bunch of jumping castles indoors. The kids bounced for an hour, then had lunch and did some crafts. It was nice and short but they had a good time. I decided since we were out already that we would go grocery shopping. Thankfully it wasn't extremely crowded as it usually is on payday weekend. It was nice to get in and out of there in 45 minutes. I also got to use my reusable shopping bags for my big grocery shopping and it was the highlight of my day. Sad, I know! I felt like such a dork to be so excited to do that but seeing all my own bags lined up in the trunk of my car just made me smile. No, this is not because I'm a lonely woman with a deployed husband. I'm getting older and I'm changing some of my ways and it just makes me feel good to feel like I'm making a difference in my environment. :)

22 May 08-So much for updating this every day but at least I have a good excuse. I got what the kids had but worse. I spent the past couple of days sick. I am still a little dehydrated but thankfully I was feeling well enough to do stuff around the house. It was horrible being sick and being on my own, that's for sure. I have found out some bad news that Chris will not be coming home between training and Iraq as expected. He has more training to do in the AOR so he goes straight from Wisconsin to there. :( I will write more as my busy 4 day weekend continues with the kids...

24 May 08-Today was one of the busiest days I've had. They had an event at Purple Heart Park today where they had all kinds of vendors giving away lots of cool free stuff so we went to check that out. After we got done there, I dropped Scrappy off at Petco for his yearly hair cut, took the kids to Arby's for lunch, went to Home Depot to get a tree cutter so I could cut a bunch of tree branches that are hanging too low since they're doing bulk pick up and then I attempted to meet with our property manager to sign some paperwork to be sent to the sellers so we can get the ball rolling on buying this house! :) Poor thing, his car broke down on the way here so I went to meet him and we signed the paperwork on the back of his broken down car. It was nice to get the process started. We close on 25 June so just one month away and we will own our first house!! After we got done with that, I went to Fry's to pick up a few things and then headed to get a mouse for my snake, fish food and to pick up Scrappy. Boy was I glad when I finally made it home. The kids were absolute monsters today to the point of almost making me lose my cool with them but thankfully I know when it's time to distance myself. LOL They are definitely testing the waters with me.

31 May 08-So it's been a week since my last entry simply because it's not easy finding time for myself. I don't know if I had mentioned yet but Chris will not be coming home for 10 days as originally planned. :( That really sucks but I guess that's just how things go for us sometimes. He just graduated yesterday and he is living in more of a hotel room style now and is able to wear civilian clothes. Yesterday we got a trunk and a box in the mail from Chris. He sent a bunch of stuff that he does not need and some MREs for the kids to see/try. I don't know if they will try them but it was cool explaining them as Chris and I have both had to eat them at multiple times throughout of careers. The difference is that Chris really likes them and I don't! LOL Yesterday I had the most wonderful day I could have asked for other than him to be home. I received my very first commendation medal and it was read by the Lieutenant that they joke about me being his "mom". That's a long story but it was a nice ceremony. Then, I was called up to receive my 3 day pass from winning the squadron NCO of the quarter, then to receive my plaque for winning that as well. Then, the coolest thing happened. I was put in for another very prestigious award. So prestigious, in fact, that I had forgotten all about it because I figured it would never happen for me. Well... I won!! It's the Lance P. Sijan leadership award (for those that know what it is or want to look it up) and I was beyond thrilled to know that I had won at the squadron level. My squadron commander commented that she was not surprised to see that the name on her paper was me! She is so awesome. With that, I received another 3 day pass. I need to get going on some of these things. With 7 days off total that I have earned and my use or lose leave, it feels like I could take the rest of the year off! Too bad it doesn't work that way! Today was another busy one for me; laundry, grocery shopping, Petco, BX, Walgreens, etc. I am enjoying just being busy in air conditioning because last week, I was doing yard work and burned myself to the point of blisters and I'm still recovering from it!