Hot n Cold

Argh! I wish that I was talking about Katy Perry's hit song.... The weather has really messed me up. One day it is 80's here and then next it is in the 30's. Today happens to be a 30's day and I can't get warm. These are the days that I wish that I could cuddle up in bed all day and just read or veg with the TV. Either I am cycling or coming down with something. Alas, I must be a responsible adult and get back to Homeschooling Connor. Antonyms and Synonyms here we come.

let the games begin.....

If I smother my daughter do you think anyone would notice? Ha. I know that the crap hits the fan every time the husband leaves but I thought I would at least have a grace period. Not so.
Sunday morning I slept in late because I hadn't slept much the night before. There are just some nights lately that I have extreme insomnia and that doesn't work so great when you have to get up and function for 3 children the next day. Anyhow, I was thanking my lucky stars that church didn't start until 1pm. Usually, I hate that time slot, but it was working in my favor this Sunday. So I rallied the troops....Connor and Gavin(with a bit of grumbling) got dressed and ready and fed themselves some lunch. I got Laurel into her dress and tights and went into the bathroom to do her hair. When I walked in, I thought..."i should put my contacts on so I can really see what I am doing". My glasses are an old prescription. I hardly wear them so I haven't updated them in a long while. I opened up the cap on one side and couldn't see the outline of my lenses floating in the liquid, so I stuck my pinkie in. No contact. I looked at the lid......no contact. Okay, maybe I was tired last night and put them both in the same cup. So I open the other side. No lenses there either. AHHHHHHH!!! Come to find out that Laurel poured out both my lenses and put in new liquid. She was only doing what she has seen me do a 1000 times before....only she didn't realize that there was anything in the liquid. The crux of it all is that I have no back up pair. I am left with weak glasses that are scratched to all heck. So, we stay home from church....bummer. It's okay, I think, cause I can go tomorrow to Walmart and get a walk in appointment. I get through my morning of teaching Connor. I made it a short lesson day so I could cram in the appointment and some other important errands. I get the the Dr's office and fill out paperwork only to find out that they won't see me after all. My Tricare health insurance was never changed to this region so they won't pay for any medical stuff. Are You Kidding Me?????? I called Tricare and found out that Tim changed his stuff but none of the rest of the family's. I am sure it was an oversight on his part.....he probably thought the form he filled out changed it for everyone, but IT DIDN'T. I have to go find the office now and fill out forms. In yucky geek glasses in which I can't see that great in.....Yay! It could have been worse...my glasses could have been broken, like they were for many years, with only one ear piece. That would have been cool.

362 days and counting

Is it too early to be counting down to when Tim comes back? Ha. Saturday was his send off. We woke up at leisure....at least I did. Tim woke early and watched the last of his fishing shows on the DVR. He was trying to convince me to tape a few for him while he is gone and keeping them until he gets home. Don't think so. We did some last minute checking to make sure he had what he needed which turned into "let's go to Walmart..." So we got everyone ready, into the car and then went to the PX. It was closer. After that we picked up some BK lunch and picked up his Chaplain and I dropped them off at their first of many lines to stand in for the day. He had to draw a weapon(both a handgun and a rifle) and get accounted for. They wanted to make sure it was really him and not someone taking his place(I would like to meet the person who can get away with that...Ha.) We didn't stay for all that cause we weren't allowed into the building so we went home and sat around until he called us around 3pm. We could go to a gym to hang out until they loaded up onto buses to go to their flights. Walking in, there was a sea of BCU uniforms huddled into groups with civilians hanging near by....some hugging,some laughing and talking,and almost all of them taking pictures. It smelled of hot dogs and packed in bodies....not my favorite smell. Anyhow, we hung out with Tim for about an hour. We talked a bit, ate some picnic type food(source of the hot dog smell), was introduced to others and took some last minute snapshots ourselves. Then he walked us out to the sidewalk, squeezed us all 2 or 3 times a piece one last time(I got a couple of kisses too) and with a few last word to the kids on how he wanted them to act while he was gone, he turned and went back to start the loading process. I felt a little lost the rest of the day, but it hasn't hit me really that he is gone.....FOR A WHOLE YEAR...again! I will be fine though.

We didn't make it to church the next day. Laurel was up and down all night with every excuse under the sun. I am sure that she was just echoing what I was feeling internally. I was going to go anyhow, but when Connor woke up and told me that he had thrown up too, I threw in the towel. Monday was a relax at home kind of day and then we went to the neighbors and hung out until way too late. Today, instead of cleaning or watching the inauguration(I am such a bad example,but politics really bore me no matter who is involved), I was on the computer helping Gavin work out some issue with his DS lite for most of the morning and a couple of hours past lunch. I have to give my self a huge pat on the back for figuring it all out and becoming the hero of the afternoon for doing so. We then ran some more errands which bored my kids to tears and to reward them for their patience went to a movie-Hotel for Dogs, ate and came home. All in all, not bad for my first extended weekend without the hubby. I hope all of them are this smooth....yeah right. But if they aren't I am thankful for bedtimes and heartfelt prayers that I know are heard.

It's a BOY!!

No, I am not pregnant and just now announcing it to everyone. But my niece had her baby this morning! I am now a Great Aunt for the 4th time. He is a sweet baby boy named Emmett Thomas and he was a little over 9 pounds. Wow....I never got big sumo babies like that. A quick funny connected to his birth: Meg got checked by the nurse and she was totally dialated. She said she would go talk to the DR. about pushing so to kill time they called me. She was on the phone talking to me and when the nurse came back in and told her it was okay for her to push(I had no clue any of this was happening). She just nodded and continued to let me talk for another couple of minutes when she handed off the phone to my sister, her mom. My sister then informs me that they were trying to get her to push and she was putting them off cause she was on the phone with me. Oops. She should have just told me. Ha. Modern drugs are a wonder.....Well, Congrats again to Meg and Jared on their beautiful baby boy! Love to you all and big hugs all around.

Happy New Rear

Okay...so it is the beginning of a new year and we all seem to hyper focus on resolutions-big goals that most of us never even begin to attempt. Usually my resolutions go something like: I will lose weight this year....no really I will and to do that, I will cut out sugar and exercise more and find a well balanced healthy way to eat to obtain this goal. A week later after researching all the latest greatest diets, I abandon the thought all together. Not because I don't want to be in shape(hey, I have one of those, it is just the wrong shape....it is more of a blob than anything) but because it takes too much brain power to remember that I can eat that but not this and I have to eat it every X amount of hours and then I have to strain to put my body into unflattering clothes to sweat in. Whatever......But once again, I find myself at the point where I am going to try to attempt this once again. Who knows-maybe since I proclaimed it to all of blogdom it will actually happen this time. I even got a book to go with my new fortitude....It is called the Abs Diet for Women. I figured that was a good place to start since I have NO abs to speak of.....they are WAY buried under a layer of jello and stretch marks. It is basically a way of eating that I don't have to calorie count(if I don't want to) and I won't starve in the beginning while my body readjust to this new way of eating. There are a set of "super foods" that you try to incorporate at least a few in every meal, you eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day, and you exercise at least 30 minutes a day and you get a cheat meal once a week to eat whatever you want. It claims that by eating this healthier way with the super foods interspersed, that your body will learn to burn fat(and not just any fat but the hard to burn stuff on your belly)all the time and not just when exercising. I was horribly cursed by the Miller Family genes that were passed to my from my Maternal grandmother. After having children, we never look unpregnant again. Well, not with out support hose or a LOT of dieting and exercise. So here it goes.....Wish me luck and from time to time, bug me about whether or not I stuck to it. I am almost finished with the book so by my estimation, I will begin the torture....I mean diet....sometime next week.
In other news, I am quickly approaching my 36th birthday and wondering when I aged. Not that I think I am old....I certainly don't feel old, but when did all the signs of aging begin to sneak up on me. I mean, where did this weird(and random) old lady witch hair come from that sprouts from my chin from time to time. And coloring my hair for fun is a thing of the past.....although I blame my grey hair entirely on Tim's multiple deployments. Ha. The nice thing is that when most people who don't know me find out my age, they are surprised and think that I am younger than I am. Maybe my immature way of acting helps out in the long run.....kidding. I still see myself in my own head as the 19 year old that married Tim oh so long ago....with a pre-baby body. Say that 3 times....pre-baby body, pre-baby body, pre-baby body. Tim has told me that he has some surprise for me around my birthday. I am trying not to hype it up too much in my mind. His surprises can go either way. I hate that he told me now though cause now I feel like the kid wanting to sneak in and look through the Christmas gifts before they are wrapped. Ha. I will be fine....I only have until the weekend after my birthday(Jan. 8th for all of you who don't remember). And then after that, we will slip right into me being abandoned once again for a year long deployment to Iraq. Dang, I am starting to hate these things. It wouldn't be so bad except that I don't know many people here to do babysitting so I don't know how often I will be getting a break. Especially since I also teach Connor during the week and Laurel's primary class on Sunday....oh well, good thing I love my kids....there is no escape in sight.....Really, I do love them. Really.