14 wonderful years

Stuntman enjoyed the anniversary gift that I gave him today.
Even though we rarely give gifts for our anniversary, we always sit and watch our wedding DVD and have a nice dinner together (if we happen not to be apart for work or war reasons).
The 14th Anniversary is the "Ivory" anniversary and he liked his bar of soap.

Decisions

Three choices for the accent color in the kitchen;
1. Armored Steel
2. Greenland
3. Windrock

The main color of the dining area and living room is called Desert Suede.
I'll give you one guess... what was Stuntman's choice for the accent color?

Dreams and Ice Cream

Yesterday, the cabinetmaker and his guys installed most of the doors and the crown moulding. It is now officially my dream kitchen. It would be fine with me as is... but I'm sure that it will be even nicer with the walls smooth and painted and the floors something other than old vinyl or sub-floor.
E1 and I were admiring the kitchen when I said that I must be dreaming. She reminded me that if I was dreaming, everything would be back into the cabinets. Soooooo, I spent a few hours deciding where everything belonged and filling the cabinets.

During our hail storm yesterday, just after all of the workers left, the contractor stopped by with a few quarts of ice cream from Mashti Malone's. He had told us before of their rose water ice cream, so he decided to bring us a gift for Easter. Seriously, what a nice guy. The ice cream was delicious. I had never heard of the place before, but I'm sure that I will be visiting in the future. He brought rose water ice cream and also faloudeh. The two flavors together along with a splash of lemon juice on top was delicious. I think the faloudeh is a sorbet, it doesn't say on the package, and it isn't on their website. It tastes a bit like tapioca pudding.

Stuntman is home. Life is good.

I almost cried a little

Now my kitchen, although it has no running water, is officially nicer than any kitchen that I thought that I would ever have.
The fabricators arrived today with my countertops and they are gorgeous. I am so glad that I didn't listen to everyone... and I mean everyone, when they said "why don't you just get granite?" The soapstone is perfect. I love the feel of it. The top photo is what it looks like dry, and the bottom photo is after a coat of oil. No nasty, toxic sealant needed. Just an occasional coat of food grade mineral oil to bring out the color and hasten the natural darkening of the stone.

The garden is full of tiny sprouts. E3 assisted me with transplanting the baby radishes today. The seeds sprout in clumps and need to be spread out in order to grow, so we did that today with dozens of tiny little radishes. All the while, E3 talking to the little plants, putting them in their "dirt bed" with a "dirt pillow".

Yesterday, E2 spent a couple hours sobbing and missing her daddy. E1 was a wreck the night before he left, but it took a few days for it to hit E2. E3 just thinks that daddy is in his office on the other side of the house half of the time. This is the first time Stuntman has been gone for more than a day since he redeployed and it's breaking his heart to be away from us, even though it's only for two weeks. One down, one to go.

Only one night

I hadn't realized that it had been so long since my last post. I guess the day to day excitement around here has kept me entertained. The nonstop hilarity of getting the kids to school, volunteering at the school, housework, diaper changes, cooking, cleaning and working has been keeping me away from my blog.
Tonight is the first night that Stuntman is away since he returned from deployment. He's had several late nights at work, but tonight he will not be home. He's only in San Diego, but it still hit a chord in me. As I was closing up the house for the night.... double-checking the doors, turning off the automatic sprinklers (it's raining, whoohoo!) and setting the alarm for the morning, I had the same empty feeling that I had every night when he was away at war.
I so love that man, and I wish that he was home... I don't want to wait until tomorrow.

Still got it

While at the beach today, I saw a cute guy walking on the sand toward me.
"Nice abs and chest", I thought.
Then I realized it was Stuntman :)

Apricots

I hadn't been to that corner of the yard for a couple days... ALL of the apricots were ripe. I guess that's what happens when the afternoon temps reach over 100 degrees for two days in a row. Speed-ripening.
All of the plums ripened as well.
I picked a million apricots, give or take, and just as many plums. The trees look as if they haven't been touched.
I'm in the process of making a batch of apricot sauce and a batch of plum-apricot jam.
My favorite is apricot sauce over vanilla ice cream...mmmmmm.
I have a Kerr Jar recipe book that was published in the 1940's. I need to scan it because it's falling apart. My mom canned and/or froze everything she could get her hands on. I remember fondly the assembly lines in the kitchen.
I don't remember canning anything last year. It was at the beginning of the deployment and I was barely holding it together. Later, I got into a groove.
I can't wait for a nice bowl of vanilla ice cream with apricot sauce later tonight. I emptied my desk of work last night, so I am free to snuggle on the sofa with Stuntman and eat ice cream. I'm sure we can think of a way to burn the calories.

Date Night

Stuntman and I went to a movie last night, together, alone, for the first time in nine years.
yes, nine.
We never really went on "date nights" like other couples do. We have gone out to dinner a couple times alone and had the kids watched by Grandma. We've been married almost 13 years, were married more than 5 years when we had our first child, and never really felt the need to go out by ourselves. Our "date nights" were usually snuggles on the sofa watching TV and eating Stuntman's awesome popcorn. He makes awesome popcorn.
Our neighbor had offered to sit for the kids, so we took her up on it.
We saw Iron Man. It was great. Robert Downey Jr was perfect for the role as well.
At the beginning of the movie (actually 10 minutes in, we were late), there is a scene with HumVees, and one is hit by an IED. Stuntman leans over to me and says "great movie... great one to get away and relax."
I said "should we walk over to the Zohan movie?"
Stuntman said "no", with a smile, and we really enjoyed the rest of the movie.
Afterward, we stopped at a local bar, had a drink and dinner.
We'll need to do that again.

a new ride

Stuntman looks pretty hawt in his new truck.
I sold his old one while he was gone. That sounds horrible when it's said like that. We planned on selling it eventually. It was going to sit idle for 15+ months and depreciate while doing so.
He bought the same truck, just a model 17 years newer. The last one worked great, on and off-road. Especially off-road, which is where a pickup truck of Stuntman's spends most of it's time.
I HIGHLY recommend Overstock.com for purchasing a new vehicle. The price we paid was almost $5000 less than the sticker that was on the truck's window. Minus an additional $1000 dealer incentive. We purchased exactly what we wanted without the offer-counteroffer-I need to check with my manager-WTF!-just sell me the damn car already! garbage that you usually need to go through when purchasing a car at a dealership. We were in and out of the dealership within an hour.
*stock photo from toyota.com, but it looks almost exactly like Stuntman's

So Soon :)

I received my daily note from the Universe today.

It said:

You know that dreamy look of deep, soulful love you've sometimes seen in the eyes of another as they gazed into your own, Susan?
Expect a lot more of it.

Whoooooooohoooooooooooooooo!!
The Universe

How did the Universe know?
:D

Stuntman would have said it

E3 was standing on the ottoman (a very low, large ottoman) and decided to jump off of it as he had seen his big sisters do so many times.
As he jumped, I yelled out "feet and knees together!"

huh?, did that just come out of my mouth?
Stuntman has said it many times.
I almost followed it with "lower jumper has the right of way!"

one more reason I love him...

I sent an email to Stuntman, telling him how much I love him and am proud of him. I received this reply:

“It is not a hard thing to be out here. I think your job during this deployment is harder and I am the one that is proud, proud of you and my kids for being there when I needed you. The words, the care packages, the pictures, the love that I needed. love, Stuntman”

Eggs and sprinklers

The kids are outside running in the sprinklers.
It's 90 degrees. On Easter.
At least I didn't need to worry that they would be too cold in their dresses this morning.
The day has gone very well so far.
We made it to mass in plenty of time to get our regular seats (ones that are near the door in case E3 acts up).
Came home to an egg hunt, had breakfast, bachelor Uncle joined us.
Now I'm sitting here with the hams warming in the oven, surfing the net a bit, waiting to go to the cousin's house.

I really miss my husband today.

There was an email from him today... he received his care package with the Easter egg in it. Just in time.

different years

I was at the gym, pedaling my ass off, literally, and watching CNN. They were doing a video montage of the last 5 years of the Iraq war… and it hit me.
Here I am, in my middle-class suburbia life and the love of my life is… there.

It’s not as if I haven’t seen video of the war before…
or thought of the current differences of our two lives…
but for some reason, I became weepy, right there in the gym.

I’ve never doubted that when this deployment was over, that we would just pick up where we left off… that our relationship would be the same… that we would be the same… that we would be the same together.
I’ve read about reintegration issues and problems, but I never thought that those would apply to us. We’ve always been two halves of the same whole.
It’s not as if his time home on leave gave me any doubts. We were “us” again.

… but for some reason, seeing those videos of the war hit home today. Stuntman has seen things that I can only imagine, and things that I don’t care to imagine. We’ve discussed some of the things he’s seen… some of the places he’s been… but I’m still so naïve.

I’m sure he’ll still be my easy-going Stuntman… But I know he will have changed somehow. How could he not?

Just a dream?

Good thing that I took so many pictures... or I wouldn't believe that Stuntman had been here. It feels like just a dream... a very good dream.

Like it should be

Late last night, Stuntman and I were cozy on the sofa, watching a replay of the Daytona Supercross. It was a great race to watch. The torrential rain had soaked the track and the riders were barely making it through the mud and muddy lakes that were once a supercross track. It reminded us of a dirtbike outing we had years ago. We rode in the rain and were covered in mud from head to toe. The bikes were so full of mud that we could barely hold onto them or load them into the truck. We laughed hysterically. It was such a fun day.

E3 woke up part way through the race last night and wanted to watch one of his shows on TV. He snuggled between us and he watched the race with us. It must be in the genes. I remember when I was in my hospital room, E3 was hours old, and I was watching motorcross on TV when Stuntman came back to the hospital with the girls. Maybe E3 remembered that :)

We were hungry

Stuntman has been home for 1 week and tonight was the first time I cooked him a proper dinner.
We've been sick and not in the mood to cook or eat.
I've really missed cooking for him. I like to cook (and eat), and cooking for the kids just isn't the same. I swear the girls live on air, and most of E3's food ends up on the floor or in the dogs tummy.
I grilled steak and potatoes and had a green salad. Nothing fancy, but it was delicious. I grilled a couple extra steaks and I'll use those for fajitas tomorrow.

E1 and I spent a few hours this afternoon selling Girl Scout cookies outside of a grocery store. I'm rid of over half of the cookies I had in the storeroom. Hopefully we'll sell the remaining ones next weekend. My van was seriously loaded down when I picked up the cookies last weekend... just minutes after Stuntman arrived home actually. Somehow the timing was perfect.

It is crazy windy here right now... has been all day. It wasn't windy at the grocery store, and it's not windy at the end of the block, but here, it's I-think-the-house-is-going-to-lift-off-of-the-foundation windy.

So far, the kids R&R to-do list:
Disneyland
snow
Legoland
beach

Army training

Stuntman has gone from being an amateur back-seat driver, to being a professional back-seat driver.
He's earned it with his Army training and many miles on Iraqi roads. He's said "you should see me drive backward". I don't care to see that right now, but maybe someday, when we're on a dry lake bed or something.

I had heard stories of soldier's arriving home and driving erratically, or aggressively, so I was worried before Stuntman arrived home. After driving and riding with him, I have no more fears. He's always been a good driver, but his time in Iraq has taken it up a notch. He is more alert, and he did point out a few things on the freeways that would have bothered him if he was driving in Iraq... roadside trash, bridges, other drivers, etc., but I feel safe with him behind the wheel on the SoCal freeways.

sleep-deprived

I barely slept at all last night...
and not because of the usual reasons...
I wasn't up all night worried about Stuntman's safety, wondering if he's OK, wondering if I'll have another phone call, or worse.

I was up all night with anticipation. Just like a kid on Christmas Eve.

Stuntman is on his way home.

beer, beef and bras

Checklist for Stuntman’s R&R

Beer. check. (a few good ones are in the fridge, but they didn’t have his favorite at Whole Foods like usual, so I may need to visit BevMo)

Beef. check. Natural-grown rib-eye steaks are in the freezer and the grill is ready.

Bras. check. Visited the lingerie store for a new every-day bra for me and picked up a little something nice for the “honeymoon”.


I told Stuntman that I was making sure that I had all of his favorite snacks in the house while he was here. He asked me to forget a few things so that he would have to make a trip or two to the store. He misses just being able to run to the store for a twinkie or whatever if he wants it. He misses the freedom to come and go as he pleases and the vast selection of things to do and buy. He’s described it as “prison, but without the cable TV”.

*update*
to answer Buck's question.
Stuntman's favorite is Reutberger Export Helle
but there are a few Blue Moon and a few Pyramid Hefe Weizen in the fridge