Did you know?

Did you know that on our first date, my hubby and I ALMOST drove to Vegas to get married? We talked about it, even rode in a horse-drawn carriage that had a "Just Married" sign on the back. We just knew that we were with the one we wanted to spend our life, the one with which we wanted to grow old. We didn't drive to Vegas, mainly because our family would have freaked-out, and I mean FREAKED! I didn't want to cause my mother to have another stroke.
On our second date, he surprised me with a heart-shaped diamond engagement ring. We were engaged long enough for me to move from Minnesota to California (a job transfer opportunity appeared just at the right time) and plan a small wedding.
That was almost twelve years ago. Our anniversary is next month and we will be apart.
We don't usually even plan big celebrations for our anniversary, so I'm not going to miss that. I'm just missing my best friend right now. I miss snuggling up on the couch and watching something stupid on TV.
Usually I'm so focused on keeping everything together and helping the kids cope with missing Daddy, that I don't even let myself think about missing him. Today we missed him together.

Visitors

My sister is in town visiting for a few days. I have barely had a chance to read the blogs that I usually do. I don't want her to find out my super-secret blogger ID. It is so silly, but she's my big and only sister. I don't know what I have to worry about, other people that I know are aware that I blog.
My sister and I are very different. We do not even look like we are related. Personalities are just as different as our appearances. Even though we haven't always gotten along, she has always been there for me when I needed her. She is one of the strongest people I know, a little weird, but strong.
Her 17 yr old daughter is also here. She is almost an adult! I remember when she was the flower girl at my wedding, boy do I feel old.
They both say that they have no idea how I am doing this on my own (the 3 kid/dog/work/house/etc. thing). I really don't know myself some times.
I'll only have my visitors for a few more days...I'm sure time will fly right by...
Sometimes I really miss having family nearby, instead of half-way across the country.
After they leave, I'll need to revert to saying "soda" instead of "pop".

Asking for help

I find it difficult to ask for help. Always have. It was a hindrance in college. I never asked for help, even if I had an extremely difficult time grasping a certain concept. I’ve worked on my car and motorcycle and used only a book for a guide. Work around the house was almost always done by me and Hubby. This was a “fixer” when we bought it and we’ve done a lot.
Since Hubby’s been gone, I’ve learned to embrace the concept of asking for help. I realized that with the 3 kids, 3 dogs, and working in my “free” time that I would snap if I tried to do everything. I hired a gardener; he was already next-door every week anyhow. That was the biggest hurdle. I use to bale hay for goodness sake and now I can’t take care of a yard by myself?! It’s been a load off my mind.
Today, I had help from two friend’s husbands. Each completed a task that I could have done on my own, but now I don’t have to.
One husband took our RV in to have a smog check so I could renew license registration. The battery was dead and wasps had built a nest in the engine compartment. It was a little more of a project than he had anticipated, but he didn’t complain. I’m loaning an outdoor projector to them for their next camping trip. (we use it to project movies onto the outside of the RV)
Husband #2 routed the wires for my new TV through the wall so there is nothing distracting from my new pretty TV. I had him and his family over for dinner and swimming tonight.
I am so grateful to have friends like these that I can depend on. I feel very blessed.
As far as asking for help, I don’t think I’ll ever have a housekeeper. That’s a major step.

Quotes

What I have said today:

-“Don’t run over your brother!”
not as bad as it sounds, it was a toy car

-“dagnabbit! what dog ate the crayon?!”
said when I found a bright pink poo in the backyard. The washable Crayolas dissolve; the regular ones are speckled on the way out. This must have been a washable one.
Yes, I thought I was Yosemite Sam for a moment

-“maybe they don’t like you very much either”
a reply to M2’s statement that she hated raisins

-“who wants a cookie?”
put this one in the “duh” category

-“get down monkey-boy”
E3’s a climber

-“oh crap, I smell smoke”
I live in what the insurance company calls the “fire belt”, smoke smell outside worries me, especially when it’s breezy outside like today. No fire today, the smell dissipated.

all this before noon…
it’s Monday, what’s new?

FRG?

Finally...today I met someone from the FRG (Family Readiness Group). Hubby has been gone 5 months now and I met an FRG leader. Not the one from Hubby's company, but a different one from the same battalion. My Hubby's company is based pretty far away from here, plus they haven't met as of yet. This company is based within 20 miles of my home so I contacted the leader a few weeks ago to introduce myself. One newsletter came out a couple months ago, and in it she stated that anyone could contact her, regardless of the company they're affiliated with, so I did. We went to lunch. She seemed like a very nice woman and has a few plans in the works.
I'm not sure exactly what an FRG does, but I thought that it would be nice to meet someone nearby that had kids. I think the girls would like to meet other kids who's daddy's are deployed. There is picnic scheduled in a month for the entire battalion and we are planning on attending. I hope we meet some people that live nearby. The picnic is about a 2 hour drive from my home so I'm not sure how many families from my area will be attending. I don't mind driving, but it is a hindrance for some people.

The rest of the day went by quickly. The kids and I had a great swim after dinner. The pool was very warm. I had left the cover on for a few days and it was nice and toasty. I need to remove the cover tomorrow or it'll get too warm...then turn the color of pond scum. The chlorine level is impossible to maintain when it reaches too high of a temp. Happened to me once this summer already, and oh what a pain it is to get it back to crystal blue water. It sure is an ego crusher when a chemist can't maintain a pool!

Watched "Army Wives" on Lifetime tonight. I'm really getting into that show. I realize that it's basically just "Desperate Housewifes" on post and there are a lot of unrealistic things on the show, but I'm really enjoying it.

I began reading the book Portraits of theToughest Job in the Army, Voices and Faces of Modern Army Wives. My neighbor told me of a book her friend wrote, so I looked into it, ordered it from Amazon, and now I find myelf being interrupted every time I pick it up. Yes, I could read it right now, but as soon as I'm done typing, I'm back upstairs typing on my other computer so I get paid. Work is a little busy, I just needed a 10 minute break. I'm enjoying it so far, I'll write more when I am finished. One thing I don't agree with is the title. I think Hubby has it MUCH tougher. He misses me, the kids, home, good food, and people are trying to kill him.

Tomorrow's Monday...

He said "if"

When I spoke to my Hubby last, he said "if he gets to see the new TV", "if" he comes home, not when.
I said "when, not if". He agreed, I think it was just a slip on his part.
I have a feeling that he's had a lot of close calls lately, maybe that's his version of anticipatory grief..

My Dream Car

I’ve seen the same new car in my neighborhood a few times this week. Someone bought a beautiful new yellow Ferrari. (I don’t live in an especially affluent area, it’s rather eclectic, houses range from $300K to $2mil+, remember it’s LA, $320K is listed right now for a 1BR 600sqft fixer). Back in the day, I was a nut about cars. I was the only girl I knew with subscriptions to Road-n-Track and Motor Trend. My first car after college was an Eagle Talon AWD 5 speed turbo. It was a great little car for the money. I had lots of fun racing around the cloverleaf in that car. Eventually I drove a company car. Plain Jane, but free.
Now I have my Dream Car. We bought it shortly before my husband deployed so he wouldn’t have to worry about my car having issues while he was gone. It’s “platinum” color (dark charcoal grey), automatic and seats 7 comfortably. It has built-in DVD and I use the headphones in the back for emergencies. It’s a living room on wheels. I store cases of water, first-aid kits and tennis equipment in the floor storage bins. The seats flip up and down and 3 kid car seats are relatively easy to install.
It amazes me how much my definition of dream car has changed in the last 20 years. I’m sure it’ll change again in the next 20. I just need something that fits 3 kid car seats for a while. Maybe not a Ferrari, but I saw a beautiful Lotus a couple months ago…but I’d need to sell the house first and I don't know how comfortable in which the car would be to sleep.