Day 103

Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to our Montross friends today.  We all slept til about 10:00 (except for Taryn, who slept til probably almost noon).  We putzed around for a while, then Liz was nice enough to make lunch for everyone...pancakes and bacon - yum!  Once lunch was over, I started packing the truck back up for the trip home.

The plan was to leave the Northern Neck no later than 2:00, but it was about 2:45 by the time we actually pulled out.  We made good time on the way home.  We paused once to go through the drive thru at McDonald's for dinner; otherwise, I drove straight through.  We got home around 7:45, only to discover that our air conditioner had kicked the bucket over the weekend and it was 85° in the house.

Today's picture was taken after we got home (and after I marked off the last four days):

Yay...another full month down!!  Only eight more full months to go (and one of those doesn't really count, because he'll be home on R&R for half of it).

Pressing onward to day 104...

Day 102

The last full day of our trip, and we made the most of it.  We got up at what we considered to be a much too early hour, but that was only because we went to bed so late.  We managed to get seven people up, moving and out the door for Sunday school and church...quite a feat, especially when five of the seven people are kids.

After church we decided to head up to Fredericksburg for lunch and shopping.  Brian had asked me if I could meet up with him at some point while I was in VA; he was up in the area for training, and had accidentally taken Lacy's iPod with him.  After I rescued the iPod Liz and I took the kids to lunch at CiCi's Pizza, then headed to the mall.  The boys wanted to putz around at GameStop, and I took the girls to get manicures:

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but Michaela's nails are neon orange and Taryn's are navy blue.  Then we headed back to Montross and hung out with everyone some more.  Yet again, we stayed up too late...par for the course when you get all of us together.

Onward to day 103...

Day 101

We had a lot of fun today.  This morning I went over to our house to meet my new tenant, then I went across the street and talked to my old neighbors for a while.  I miss being able to sit around and jabber with them; luckily, I have neighbors here that I can do the same thing with.

Then in the afternoon, we went out to another friend's place for their son's birthday party.  We got to see lots of friends that we've missed, and I got to eat food that I didn't have to prepare...lol.  The kids had fun playing with friends they haven't seen in a while, and I had fun hanging out with adults!  Here's a picture of the birthday boy opening one of his presents:

Off to wax poetic about day 102...

Day 100

Yay...the days that are behind us now number in the triple digits!!

Today was "rush around and get ready for our trip" day.  The kids' stuff was already packed; I packed all my clothes and stuff while they were at school, then had it all stacked up in the living room in preparation for dragging it all out to the truck.  My plan was to have everything packed up and ready to go so we could leave as soon as Gabriel got home from school (around 3:30).  We didn't quite make that particular goal, but we were out the door and on the road by 4:00.

We made pretty good time...didn't hit any traffic at all.  We stopped twice; once to eat and once just to stretch, and hit the Northern Neck around 9:40.  We ended up staying up until around 2:00am gossiping; par for the course, since we haven't been up that way since last October.

In commemoration of our trip, here's a picture for today:

And now I'm off to add day 101...

Day 99

In all honesty, I got so far behind that I don't really remember what I did today.  I know I had the kids pick out what they wanted to pack (and in Taryn's case, pack it) for our trip tomorrow.  I started packing, but didn't make a whole lot of headway...maybe because this is what happened as soon as I opened my suitcase:

Off to day 100...

Day 98

Oh, wonderful Wednesday.  Gabe gets out of school early on Wednesdays, but he seems to have a hard time grasping the whole 'early' concept.  It usually never fails that he gets home on Wednesday and asks me why Taryn is late (since she's home before him the other four days of the school week).  So for the umpteenth time, I explained to him that Taryn wasn't late getting home - he was early.  Maybe one of these days he'll get it.

Not much happened around the house today.  I did laundry...woohoo.  I also managed to get the trash can out for pickup before it was completely and totally pitch black outside, which is quite a feat in my world.  In about five hours we'll officially mark 14 weeks down.  That means our 'weeks to go' count is in the 30s.  Somehow it seems a lot shorter when you say it than it does when you actually look at it on a calendar.  It's all good, though.  We're a quarter of the way done; before I know it, I'll be saying we're halfway done, then three-quarters done.

Wednesday also means chain day:

The chain is still hanging doubled on the hanger; if Taryn were to let go of the loose end, the last three or four links would be laying on the floor.  I swear...my mission for next week is to find some other way to hang these things up...lol.

And on that note, I'm going to go get ready for bed.  Off to wait for day 99...

Day 97

I am now back in possession of my poor little laptop.  The one thing I've always hated the most about getting a new computer is having to set it up.  While this isn't a new computer, it might as well be.  I don't think you really realize how much stuff you have on your computer til you have to go hunt it all down again.  I'll get there eventually, I guess.

Other than that, it was pretty much just another boring day in my life.  Taryn was kind enough to fix dinner for everyone tonight...scrambled eggs and toast, by request of Gabriel.  I figure any night I don't have to cook is all good...lol.

Today's random picture is a frame I found at Walmart or some such place:

I really want to find a better picture to put in it; not that our ball picture isn't a good picture, but it's not really a "love" picture.

And with that, I shall take my leave until day 98.

Day 96

Happy Monday!!  I spent a chunk of today cleaning.  We're going to be heading up to Virginia for Memorial Day weekend, and I didn't want poor Lacy - who's a bit of a neat freak - to have a heart attack when she comes by to check on my kitties.  I still have some things to do before the weekend - laundry, last minute cleaning, etc - but I got a lot done.

I have a friend who works on computers, and she took my laptop this morning to see if she could do anything with it.  Unfortunately, my hard drive was pretty much a total loss.  We still have no idea what happened to it (though we're leaning toward thinking it was a virus), but whatever happened corrupted my hard drive.  I can't complain too much...I've been pretty lucky in that it's the first time I've ever had a computer completely crash on me.  It's partly my own fault, as I didn't have the computer backed up.  Oh well...you live and you learn.

I registered my mom and I for the national Race for the Cure.  I'm not going to be able to make it up for the actual race, so I signed us up to do 'Sleep In for the Cure' instead.  Basically you pay the same registration fee as if you were going to do the race, but you don't actually go.  Plus, you get this cool race bib (instead of what would normally be a number):

I love it!!

And that was my Monday.  See everyone on day 97!

Day 95

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!  Mine was pretty good.  The kids and I went out to breakfast this morning, then came home and hung out with our neighbors for a little while.  After that, we pretty much just chilled around the house.

The only black spot on an otherwise lovely weekend was the fact that my laptop crashed Saturday night.  I walked away from it for five minutes, and it was locked up when I came back.  After trying every trick I could think of to make it come back, I ended up powering it down...and then it wouldn't power back up.  Luckily, I have a neighbor who knows way more about computers than I do, and it's currently in her capable hands.  I'm hoping she can at least retrieve the stuff that's on my hard drive.  If she can't bring it back to life, I can try taking it up with HP...the darn thing is only 10 months old, so it's still under warranty (though I'm already prepared for them to take the "It's something YOU did, so we aren't fixing it!" tack).

Last but not least, today's picture...another cat in a box:

She seemed pretty pleased with herself.  Of course, she's also fairly easy to amuse.

I shall return on day 96...

Day 94

Today was a very hot day, but also a very fun day.  This weekend is 'Maynia' on base...there's a carnival and a kids area and a craft show, and who knows what else.  We went up there with our neighbors; they ended up leaving a little earlier than us because their kids are younger.  My kids had a blast; here they are on the Spider:

I got sunburnt on my arms and face because I forgot to put sunscreen on (duh), but we all had a lot of fun.

Other than that, not much happened today.  We got to talk to Ben for a little while on Skype today; it's a nice thought, but the internet connection over there sucks.  It gets very frustrating...but it's better than nothing.

And on that note, I'm going to head off to bed.  Be back on day 95...

Day 93

Sorry this one is late.  I forgot all about it last night.  Not much went on yesterday, anyway.  I went to a town hall meeting for the spouses of Ben's unit and one of the battalions deployed with them, and it was pretty much a waste of time.  Most of the information that was covered was stuff we learned at the predeployment brief, and the guy giving the brief seemed to forget that he wasn't just talking to battalion spouses.  Oh well...at least I got out of the house for a little bit.

Today's picture is the plants I planted around Easter time...I finally repotted them:

And that, folks, is all I have to say for today.  Til day 94...

Day 92

I am happy to report that the great gods of all things medical must have heard me ranting and raving yesterday.  The clinic where Taryn gets seen called me this morning to tell me they had a cancellation and could get Taryn in today.  That's a load off my mind, as I was really afraid I wasn't going to be able to get her physical done in time.  Now she's almost good to go - there's a page in the packet I have to get notarized, and then I can mail it off.

Other than that, not much went on today.  Harley decided to decorate my face with his tail:

We were going for the mustache effect, but it didn't quote come out that way.

This is an intersting place in which I live.  It's almost 11pm, and I'm sitting here listening to someone blowing the crap out of something somewhere.  If Ben was here, he'd probably be able to say at least what kind of ordnance it is.  But he's not, so I just know there's a lot of booming.  The funny thing is, you rarely hear the booming during the day - unless it's raining.  Yep...you hear it most on rainy days and at night.

In any case, I'm going to head off to bed now.  See everyone on Friday, also known as day 93!

Day 91

Today started out kind of icky...I woke up to the sound of rain absolutely pounding on the roof.  Luckily, it had mostly cleared up by the time the kids had to leave.  Of course it started again while we were at the bus stop, but we all had umbrellas (and for once, the bus came *before* 8:00).

I attempted to get some constructive things done today.  I tried to make an appointment for Taryn to go in and get her physical for camp.  Unfortunately, the first available appointment they had was June 23rd - and Taryn's going to camp the 13th-18th and the 20th-25th.  So, I asked if I could switch her to my PCM off base.  The clinic said that was fine...that all I had to do was call Tricare and tell them I wanted to switch the PCM.  So, I did.  The Tricare lady looked up Taryn's info, then informed me that it's mandatory for Taryn to be seen on base and that I'd need a waiver to change her PCM.  So, I called the clinic back, and they gave me the name and number of the person to call about the waiver - and her voicemail informs me she's out of the office until Friday.  I think that in the meantime, I'm going to call Tricare back and ask why they would make it mandatory for my daughter to be seen on base (especially since the PCM they assigned me is off base).

On a better note, I got to talk to my husband today.  He called, and then he went back to his tent and we got to talk online for a little while.  They finally got their wifi this past weekend, but it's still kind of hit or miss because communications get shut down so often.  It's all good...I'll take what I can get.

Last but not least, it's Wednesday....

The loose ends are now as long as the rest of the chain, so it's time for me to come up with a new plan of attack for them. 

Look for me on day 92...I'll be the one writing the goofy blog!

Day 90

First and foremost, today is officially...

Not the greatest picture in the world, but it does get the point across.  On one hand, it seems like it's been more like three years.  On the other hand, it doesn't seem like it's been three months already.  Oh, the wacky ways time flows during a deployments.

I went and volunteered at LINKS today.  I think the lovely ladies I work with there are going to be a big part of what's going to help me keep what's left of my sanity over the next nine or so months.  Even if I don't always feel very useful when I go over there to volunteer, just being able to spend time with other adults is wonderful.

And now, I'm going to get off here and start mentally preparing myself for everything I want to start getting accomplished tomorrow.  Til day 91...

Day 89

Not much happened today, so this will be short and sweet.  Today was a fairly nasty day, weather wise...rain, and thunderstorms, and wind (oh my).  It's supposed to clear up a bit tomorrow and stay clear through Friday...we shall see, I guess.

Today's picture is soda I shouldn't be drinking:

This is one of the three new Mt. Dew flavors.  I've tried all three, and honestly I'm not impressed with any of them.  And actually, I only had a couple sips out of this can...Gabe drank the rest.

And on that note, I'm going to take my happy butt to bed so I can stop yawning and start sleeping.  Night all...see you on day 90!

Day 88

Another weekend behind us...only another 39 or so to go.  Today was a slow day.  Gabe spent most of the morning outside playing with his friends, and I did laundry.  Talk about excitement.  Today's picture is actually from yesterday, when I *finally* took Gabe to get his hair cut:

Around 4:00 or so, we went to pick Taryn up.  She decided she wanted to go to a bookstore, so her dad and his parents drove her down here...I just had to go meet them at Books-A-Million (and honey, you'll be proud of me - I walked into a bookstore, and walked back out without buying anything).  They had already eaten dinner, so we stopped at IHOP so Gabe and I could eat dinner. 

Once we got back home, I finished up the laundry and got the kids bathed.  Sadly enough, that about sums up our day.  Here's hoping day 89 is slightly more stimulating...

Day 87

Today was another really good day.  The weather was gorgeous - a little muggy and a little hot, but not nearly as completely yucky as I know it will get by the end of the summer.  I figure it's all good, though...no matter how bad I think I have it, I know Ben's got it worse.

Gabe and I went to our neighbors' foster daughter's first birthday party today.  Everyone had a blast, though I don't think the birthday girl was sure what all the fuss was about.  One of her presents was a sandbox; her brother and Gabe were more than happy to help her test it out:

Once the party was over, I took Gabe to get a long overdue haircut, and then we went to the commissary to get some things.  That was about all the action we had today...once we got back home, we just chilled around the house.

And now I'm going to make my escape before I bore everyone to death.  Til day 88...

Day 86

Friday, finally!  I get to sleep in tomorrow!!

Today was another day spent out and about.  I got my mini monster on the bus, then went and put gas in the truck...painful to the wallet, but necessary.  Then the plan was to go get my oil changed.  However, I pulled up at Jiffy Lube only to be told that they were short staffed and that the wait would be over an hour.  Since I had better things to do than sit around Jiffy Lube, I left and decided to hit the other one on the other side of the road on the way back through.

So, I headed off to Walmart to look for some things for Ben.  I will freely admit though that not everything I bought was for Ben.  I don't think he'd have much use for the carpet cleaning machine I bought, for instance.  However, I'm hoping our little carpeted room will thank me (once I get the thing out of the box, anyway).  I then went over to Staples, where I discovered that they don't sell plain old Staples brand index cards in quantities less than 500.  I got so distracted by that that I forgot to look for the other stuff I wanted to look for while I was there, and now I don't remember what that other stuff was.  Oh well.

Shopping completed, I headed to the other Jiffy Lube in town.  Luckily, they weren't as short staffed as the first one - plus, they have the distinction of being located right beside a Dunkin Donuts.  I went and ate lunch while I waited for them to finish up my truck, then I headed off again.  My last stop was one I should have made a week ago - stopping by the imaging center to pick up my mammogram films.  Unfortunately for me, I took too long to come get them (and they never bothered to call and remind me), so they've been mailed off to Fredericksburg, VA.  Now I have to remember to call up there and ask them to turn around and mail them back down here.  Fun stuff.

A little while after the kids got home from school, we were off again...this time to Beaulaville to drop Taryn off with her dad for the weekend.  I was very quickly reminded why I try my best not to leave base between 4:00 and 6:00 pm.  I believe we left around 4:15, and it was after 5:00 by the time we finally officially made it off base and onto the highway.  I find this a very sad state of affairs, since I only live 2-3 miles away from said highway.  Ah, the perils of being stranded...I mean stationed at this monstrosity of a base.

Today's picture is courtesy of Gabriel, sort of:

His school does this thing where the kids can get a bag of popcorn each Friday.  They can either bring a quarter to school with them, or the parents can purchase a 'Popcorn Pass' when it first starts - $8 for your child to get popcorn every Friday for the bulk of the school year.  However, today is a sad day for popcorn fans, as it was the last 'Popcorn Friday' of this school year.  I think we'll live, though.

And now, I'm off to bed before I fall asleep and get another sore neck; I'm still working on getting rid of the last one.  I shall return to regale you with my tales on day 87.

Day 85

Happy Thursday to all my blog readers!  Believe it or not, I actually have things to blog about today!!  Even better - for the first time all week, it has nothing to do with being sick.  Other than a little bit of stiffness in my neck, I seem to be over whatever weird illness I had.

Once I got Gabe onto the bus, I headed over to LINKS to sit in on a parent's workshop.  Let me tell you...parents can come up with some interesting questions.  For the most part, they just want to know the stuff their kids don't think to tell them.  A Marine not thinking to volunteer information - go figure!  I'm hoping that if I do enough observing, some of the other ladies' wonderful presenting skills will rub off on me.  I'll have to let everyone know how that goes.

Once I got home, I got to talk to Ben for a little while.  We've been having the worst luck lately as far as phone calls go.  He tries to call every few days, but the phone lines have been down a lot in the past week or so.  He actually tried calling this morning, but I was already gone.  When we finally managed to catch each other, the phone lines went dead less than five minutes into the conversation.  Luckily he was able to call back, and we got to talk a little longer than five minutes.

Taryn had her final band concert of the year this evening (she's the second kid from the left):

I probably would have enjoyed it more had I not misplaced my keys.  When we first got there, we chose to sit relatively close to the band, but at the top of the bleachers.  I couldn't get the regular lens on the camera to work right (I later discovered there was something jammed and it was an easy fix), so we moved farther away so I could use the telephoto lens.  I heard my keys fall onto the bleachers, but Gabe took off when I said we needed to move and I forgot to pick them up with the rest of my stuff.  When I realized that, I went to get them - and they were nowhere to be found.  The realization had struck a couple songs into the concert, so I had to sit and stew a while before people cleared out so I could go look again.  Turned out that someone had picked them up and given them to the principal.  Another crisis averted...lol.

And now, it is well beyond my bedtime.  So, I bid you all a fond farewell until day 86...

Day 84

Thanks to everyone that's been thinking happy thoughts for me for the past couple days.  I'm mostly all better, except for a really stiff neck.  I'm hoping I just slept wrong last night, and that it'll go away by itself.

It's Wednesday...chain picture day:

Yes, I know...I still have yet to find somewhere other than the closet door to hang these things up.  I figure it's a system that's working for now...lol.

And on that note - it's off to bed for me.  Goodbye til day 85!!

Day 83

It's day two of whatever strange illness I have.  It's simmered down a little bit...now I just have the headache, a stiff neck, and one heck of a sore throat.  This has been my constant companion today:

I've been drinking lots of tea and honey to try to make my poor throat feel better.  I figure it could be worse; at least this lovely illness chose to strike after the weekend was over.  That meant I didn't have to cancel any plans, and my poor kids haven't had to put up with their sick mother for a whole day.

Hope everyone is having a great week!  Be back on day 84...

Day 82

Sorry I skipped out today...as Lola (from Charlie and Lola) would say, I was really ever not so well.

I woke up with a little bit of a stomach ache; it went away, only to be replaced by a headache, a fever, and a whole lot of body soreness. Needless to day, I spent most of the day laying flat on the couch. Those of you who know the hours I generally keep during a deployment will be shocked and amazed to know that I was in bed by 9:30, and out cold by 10:00.

And now I'm off to post about day 83...

Day 81

I hope all my fellow mommies had a wonderful Mother's Day! I didn't get what I *really* wanted, but I'll have it by next Mother's Day. I did, however, get some beautiful roses from my kids:

They had a little help in the procurement department, but said help shall remain anonymous.  Taryn cooked me scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, then we lazed around the house most of the day. I also got a gorgeous bracelet from my husband, but for some reason I am having the hardest time getting a good picture of it. As soon as I figure out where I'm messing up, I'll show it to everyone.

Today was our monthly regimental activity.  We had a wonderful dinner catered by MCCS (Marine Corps Community Services, for those who don't know the lingo), and the kids decorated picture frames to send to their dads.  We had a lot of fun, and I brought home three plants (sorry, honey!).

I actually forgot to mention, I've been feeling kind of lucky these past couple days.  At the dinner last night, I won two door prizes.  One was a pin - a yellow ribbon with an eagle, globe and anchor on it - and the other was a pretty little round picture frame.  Today, I won one of the plants in a raffle (the other two I just kind of ended up with).  It's kind of nice, since I usually never win anything.  Now if I could just win the lottery - though, I've heard you have to actually play the lottery to win it.  Oh well.

And so ends my Mother's Day.  Tomorrow is another day...day 82, to be precise.  I'll be back then!

Day 80

Today was a fun day. I had thought about going out shopping, but I just couldn't seem to get moving this morning. I figure I'll go either tomorrow or Monday (probably Monday, since it means I can shop kid-free). I know I need to get a move on, since I've been telling my husband that I'm going to send him a care package for a week or so now.

I went and got my hair cut today. For those of you who know me well, it was time for my every other year 'chop it to my shoulders' haircut. I went to a salon that was recommended by a friend, and they were really great. Now if I could just remember to go every eight weeks like I'm supposed to.

I got all gussied up tonight, and went to the LINKS volunteer appreciation dinner. It was a formal affair...a Monte Carlo black and white masquerade. There was food, and alcohol, and gambling...a good time was had by all. Ben even went with me:

Yes, that's right...I took Taryn's daddy doll as my date...lol.  I'm not sure he had much fun; he just sat at the table all night and refused to talk to anyone.  Oh well...maybe he'll have more fun next year.

And on that note, I'm going to head off to bed.  Day 81 beckons from the other side of a good night's sleep...

Day 79

First and foremost...

I hope at least a couple of you had your spouse remember to say how much they appreciate you.  Today should have been a phone call day for us, but I think communications are down over yonder.  It's all good; I know I get to talk to Ben a lot more than some of my fellow military wives get to talk to their husbands.

I was supposed to go to a baby shower this morning, but Gabe stayed home from school today.  He had a stomachache this morning, which I think had more to do with the fact that he didn't eat dinner last night than anything else.  We made it up to the bus stop, but I could tell he still wasn't feeling good so he ended up coming back home with me.  By midday his stomachache was gone, but he had a fever.  I think it's all pretty much cleared up now, but I guess we'll wait and see how tomorrow goes.

When Taryn got home, I headed off to her school to sell lots and lots of pizza to kids who were there for a dance.  Honestly, I think most of the kids spend more time sitting in the cafeteria eating junk food than they spend in the gym dancing.  Taryn has never wanted to go to any of these dances; I felt kind of bad that I was there and she wasn't.

Tomorrow promises to be an interesting day.  I have some shopping I want to get done, and I'm hoping I get a phone call at some point.  Then tomorrow night...well, I guess you'll all just have to come back tomorrow to find out!

Onward to day 80...