Day 133

Today Gabe and I had a lot of fun spending time with good friends.  We went next door this morning so I could watch Lacy's kids while she took her mom to the airport...and we ended up not leaving til about 10:30pm.  Our cable and internet were out pretty much all day, so we decided to keep each other entertained.  They were gracious enough to let us stay for dinner, and then we all just hung out and talked. 

One thing I didn't do in all the time we were over there was take a picture. =(

Next up, day 134...

Day 132

I'm back!!  Did anyone miss me?  Nah...didn't think so.  =)

I went out and did some running around today.  First I met up with my fellow LINKS hospitality manager at the commissary so we could buy a few things to help restock the LINKS larder.  I was going to go meet up with some ladies from the message board for lunch afterwards, but they ended up eating really quick and I couldn't get there in time.

So, Gabe and I went shopping instead.  First we went to Sam's Club...a place where it's really easy for me to spend way too much money.  Luckily, I don't go there that often.  After that, we headed to Walmart to pick up some things that Ben asked me to send him.  If anyone can think of a way to ship crayons to Afghanistan without them melting, I'd love to hear it (and no, honey - I didn't buy any crayons...yet. heheh).

As is the norm here in North Carolina, the evening brought in some storms.  Here's a picture of some of our lovely storm clouds:

Even though I don't always like what the clouds drop on us, they're really very pretty.  I believe there are more sitting on us right now, as I just heard the boom of thunder...sigh.

I'm out of here til day 133...

Day 131

Woohoo...I actually left the house today. I'm a member of a message board for Marine wives, fiancees and girlfriends; it's been a great way to meet people (and meant that I already 'knew' people when we moved to NC).  I got to meet a couple more of the ladies from the message board today; unfortunately, one of them will be leaving for Okinawa a little later this year.  Such is the nature of military life...you have to enjoy the people you meet while they're still around to be enjoyed!

Today's picture is my wonderful husband.  Taryn didn't take her daddy doll with her when she went to her dad's house, so I reappropriated him for the summer.  Here he is all tucked into bed (though I have to wonder if he wouldn't be more comfortable without his cammies...lol):

See everyone on day 132...

Day 130

There's not much to write about for today, as not much happened today.  Gabe got to go out and play with some of his friends, although I think they did more fighting than playing for the most part.

Oh well...maybe day 131 will be more exciting...

Day 129

Yay...I finally got my blog caught up!!

Today was a good day.  We went and met Taryn's dad so he could take her for the summer; now it's just Gabe and I til mid-August...could prove interesting.  We're used to Taryn leaving for the summer, but this is the first time in a while that it's happened when Ben's not around.

Once we got back, Gabe and I went to "Funtastic", an event designed to celebrate military kids.  They had all kinds of different things to do...the fire department and military police were there; there were military vehicles for the kids to check out; and a lot of the different activities on base had things for the kids to do.  Here's a picture of Gabe 'driving' an MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle):

He had a lot of fun, which was the point of the whole thing.

And with that, I'm off to bed.  Til day 130...

Day 128

Another day, another long drive...to pick Taryn up from camp, that is.  The weather was much better this time around.  The original plan was that we were supposed to get there around 11:30 for an award ceremony, followed by a slideshow and lunch.  Unfortunately, that plan went out the window when Gabe got sick about 20 minutes before we got to the camp.  We ended up staying just long enough for Taryn to get her award (every camper in every cabin got an award of some type from their counselor), then I checked Taryn out and we headed for home.  Taryn was a little ticked at me for that, but she got over it.  Here's a picture of her with her counselor and the rest of the girls in her cabin:

Gabe was fine for the rest of the day, so I'm not really sure what the whole sickness thing was about.

Almost caught up - just have to do day 129...

Day 127

Today was another day spent at LINKS.  We had a workshop for a unit...it meant less work for me, but it was still fun.

Unfortunately, LINKS days don't provide many photo ops, so I don't have a picture for today.

Now to day 128...

Day 126

Today was another one of those lazy days I seem to have so many of...sigh.  The day at least started good...I woke up to Harley all cuddled up behind me:

Day 127 is calling...

Day 125

Today didn't start out so great; for some reason, I woke up feeling kind of yucky. Luckily it passed, because I had things to do and places to go. I had to run to the commissary to pick up some things for LINKS, then it was off to...LINKS...lol.

Again, I have no picture for today...boo me. Next up, day 126...

Day 124

Today was another volunteer day at LINKS. I can't remember if I've mentioned it before, but I was asked to be one of the hospitality managers at the LINKS house. Basically, that involves coordinating meals for all the different workshops, and just helping out wherever help is needed througout the day. This was the first day of this month's scheduled two day evening workshop; I stayed til after dinner was served and cleaned up, then I took off for home.

This was also the first day that Gabe went to the child care that LINKS provides. I was kind of worried that he wouldn't like it, but he had a blast. I'll probably still try to arrange for him to go to friends' houses and such sometimes, but at least now I have a back up plan for when I can't find anything else.

Don't have a picture for today yet, so I shall press onward to day 125...

Day 123

Today it was off to yet another camp.  This one was at the Eastern 4-H Center in Columbia, NC.  The trip was a little longer...two and a half hours instead of one and a half.  I'm sure it would have been a beautiful drive, had we not hit torrential rain both on the way up AND on the way back.  I also managed to get my GPS lost (as opposed to it getting me lost).  Apparently a chunk of one of the roads I took to get there has been moved, so the GPS couldn't figure out where I was.

Once we got there, we had to stand in line for an hour or so to get Taryn checked in.  However, standing in line provided us with today's amusing picture:

You can clearly see that the sign beside the door says "STORAGE ROOM", but the sign on the door of the same room says "NOT FOR STORAGE".  Taryn and I thought it was pretty funny.

Once we got through the horrendous line and the multiple stations it entailed, one of the counselors walked us down to Taryn's cabin.  She staked out a bunk, and Gabe and I took off for home.

I hope all you dads out there had a wonderful Father's Day.  My heart goes out to all the fathers (including my husband) who couldn't have the one thing they most wanted for Father's Day - to be home with their families.  Please know that those of us back home are grateful for what you are doing, and can't wait to welcome all of you back home.

Onward to day 124...

Day 122

Today was yet another laundry day.  I had to get all Taryn's clothes washed so she could pack them back up for the second camp she's going to. 

I'm not sure what I was thinking hooking her up with two camps in two weeks...I guess as long as she has fun, it's all good.

Off to day 123...

Day 121

We have now officially made it through four months, and we're one-third of the way done!  It's the same old story...the days seem to go by incredibly slow, but it seems like the overall four months went pretty quick.  Everyone keeps saying that time will start flying...I'm still waiting for it...lol.

We marked this momentous occasion by....driving to Greenville to pick Taryn up from band camp!  The drive is only about an hour and a half...not bad at all.  I had to check Taryn out of the dorm by 4:30; I think I actually checked her out around 3:00.  We went to IHOP for dinner...yum!  We still had some time to kill after dinner, so we went back to the campus and just wandered around.  Here's a picture I took of the kids hamming it up:

They were in front of this wall that played music and sprayed water as you walked past it.  There was also an archway that played music...all in all, it was pretty neat.

Around 6:00, we headed back to the auditorium where the bands (there were four different bands) were having their final concert so Taryn could change clothes.  Then we sat around waiting for the staff to open the doors and let people in.  The concert intself was about two hours long.  Unfortunately, Gabe chose to sit and behave for every band *except* Taryn's band.  Lucky for him, I bought a recording of the concert.

We headed for home around 9:30, and got home around 11:00...straight to bed for everyone!

Day 122 is incoming...

Day 120

Yeah...day 120 is pretty much lost in the blur that is my life.

Here's a picture of Taryn and Harley:

Taryn was pulling all the dead blooms off my plant; Harley was just hanging out.

Let's try day 121...

Day 119

Today I went out to lunch with some of the lovely ladies from a message board I'm a member of.  One of the ladies is moving away, and was in town for an appointment.  Another of the ladies decided to throw a surprise baby shower for her.  So, we all got together at Olive Garden...good food, good friends, good times!  Here's my little ham, on one of the few occasions he actually let me have the camera long enough to take pictures:

Day 120, here I come...

Day 118

Yet another lazy day in the life of a deployment widow.  I did get to get out and converse with actual adults...one of my neighbors came by and asked if Gabe and I wanted to come over to their house for a cookout.  Since we haven't really hung out with these neighbors for a while, we had quite a lot of fun.

I don't have a picture to go with today...sorry.

Next up, day 119...

Day 117

Unfortunately, I don't really remember much about what happened today.  However, there is one notable memory...Gabe lost another tooth!!

Off to day 118...

Day 116

And it's off to camp number one!  We took Taryn to Greenville to start band camp at East Carolina University today.  Getting her to want to go there was an adventure in itself.  She went to band camp at Virginia Tech last year, and had her heart set on going back this year.  However, I wasn't so enthralled with the idea of driving to Blacksburg to get her there.  She fought against going to ECU, because she had friends tell her it was a lot bigger, etc, etc.  I think what finally pushed her over is finding out that her band teacher here would be one of the counselors at the camp...and finding out that the girls were allowed to use the elevators in the dorms because they're put on higher floors than the boys...lol.

The trip up wasn't too bad...it took about an hour and a half.  I had been in the Greenville area once before due to some bad directions from my GPS coming home from a trip to visit Ben, but I couldn't remember how long it had taken me to get there.  Once we got there, we discovered that parking can be tricky.  Apparently, ECU has no parking that isn't either meter parking or permit parking.  My truck didn't get towed, so I'm assuming they make exceptions for summer programs (or I just got lucky).  We found a place to park not too terribly far from the dorm, then made our way in to get her checked in.  One interesting thing about the ECU program as compared to the VA Tech program is that they don't make room assignments until the kids check in.  Taryn ended up in a room on the 7th floor with a trombonist named Emma.

Once we got her checked in and took her stuff up to her room (where she was happy to discover that the previously mentioned band teacher/counselor was on her floor), we had to go find the campus music center so she could audition for her band placement.  I am proud to report that I only drove past the music center once...and in my defense, it really could be more clearly marked.  We were in for another adventure once we went inside, as they had no signs or anything saying where the different instruments were having their auditions.  We finally managed to find the check-in table, where they were kind enough to tell us where the clarinet players needed to go.  They said that there were plenty of practice rooms where the kids could go to warm up; what they failed to mention is that the majority of the rooms were locked.  We finally found a room for Taryn to use (by virtue of the fact that someone happened to be coming out of it as we were walking past), and she warmed up.  Then we got to go stand in line so she could wait for her turn.  When Taryn checked in, they gave her this slip of paper with an audition number on it; we're not sure why, since the kids just lined up outside the door where the auditions were being held, and the numbers meant nothing.

Taryn was a little upset because she froze on her audition; I can sympathize, since I'm the same way.  The kids were given the choice between eating in the dining hall and having their parents take them out for dinner; Taryn wasn't quite ready for me to leave yet, so I took them out to Sheetz to get something to eat (I know it sounds weird, but we don't have a Sheetz where we live and we've missed it...lol).  We took our food back to her dorm room to eat, and then Gabriel and I headed for home.

Today's picture is the thermometer in my truck (and some short blond kid who was hanging out in my backseat) as we were leaving ECU to come back home:

And that, my friends, pretty much sums up day 116.  See you all on day 117!

Day 115

Today was "make sure Taryn is ready for camp" day.  I took the kids to lunch at Taco Bell, and we took a trip to Kmart to pick up some last minute things that she needed.  Then we came home and Taryn packed and packed, and packed some more.

While we were eating dinner, Lacy texted and asked if we wanted to come over and watch a movie.  She had just gotten the streaming disc for the Wii from Netflix, and figured that using it to distract all the kids would be a good idea.  So, we went over and watched:

It was acutally a pretty cute movie.  I also took my laptop over there so I could burn a bunch of pictures to discs so she could take them with her on a trip back home.  All in all, it was a good night.

And now, off to day 116...

Day 114

Today I had planned to go shopping for the last of the things Taryn needed for camp.  However, it was rainy and nasty out, so I decided to hold off for one more day.

We ended up going over to Lacy's for dinner again, though we didn't have pizza this time.  We had what she calls Poor Man's Casserole...basically chili with cornbread baked on top of it.  Add a little cheddar cheese, and it is soooo good.  We did a little more drinking, though not nearly as much as we did on day 112.  Brian makes this drink he calls Applie Pie...apple cider moonshine, pretty much.  We mixed it with ice and a little bit of grenadine.  It wasn't as good as we were hoping it would be, but we never did get around to figuring out what else we might want.

Here's Lacy with a jar of apple pie:

And that's all she wrote for today.  Now for day 115...

Day 113

Today was mostly spent recovering from day 112's strawberry daquaris.  Neither Lacy nor I were feeling all too hot when we woke up, and we decided not to go with the whole "hair of the dog that bit you" cure theory.  We figured we did it to ourselves, so we'd suffer through it.  This is pretty much what we felt like:

Not much else to report for today, so forward to day 114...

Day 112

As previously mentioned, today was a very special day for the kids...the last day of school.  I am now almost officially the parent of a first grader and an eighth grader.  I just have to wait to get their report cards to make sure there's nothing they aren't telling me...and actually, Taryn has a book that has to be turned back in to the library before they'll release her report card.  Sigh.

Lacy and I were both having a kind of icky day, so the kids and I went over to her house for dinner and drinks (dinner for everyone, drinks for the adults...lol).  Two pitchers of strawberry daquaris later, the world didn't seem quite so bad...lol.  We had a lot of fun just shooting the breeze and having some much needed girl time.

Here is a completely random picture I took of my legs at some point during the evening:

On to day 113....

Day 111

I actually left the house today...woohoo!!  Gabriel's class had an Author's Tea at school.  They have some kind of printing house type thing set up where the kids can write stories and draw pictures, and the stories get turned into hardcover printed books.  The kids sang a song as a class, then they all went and sat down; they were each presented with their finished book, a certificate and a pencil.  Here's Gabe getting his stuff:

Afterwards, we had cookies and drinks.  Gabe wanted me to take him home, but I told him that he still had a couple hours of school left.  His teacher settled it for him when she reminded him that they had not yet had recess or free choice time.

The kids are getting really excited, as day 112 is a very special day for them....

Day 110

Today was a fun day.  Lacy decided to get her sprinkler out for the kids to play in, and I went over to help her wrangle them.  I took lots of pictures, as Brian has been gone a lot since they got the kids.  That got me in trouble with my own husband, since he doesn't think I send him enough pictures of our kids.  Here's Brian and Lacy's dog playing in the sprinkler (you can't tell in the picture, but he was trying to attack the water...lol):

Other than the fun in the sprinkler, not much went on today.

On to day 111...

Day 109

Not a whole lot happened today.  Lacy asked me if I could come over and watch one of her foster kids; she needed to run to the store, and decided it would be a much easier endeavor if she didn't have to take the one year old AND the three year old.  So, Gabe and I went over and kept the three year old occupied for her.  While I was there, I took this picture of their dog being all pouty and pathetic:

He doesn't seem to think it's fair that he wasn't consulted about this whole foster kid thing; apparently he liked being an 'only child' (even though he has a feline sibling...lol).

Once Lacy got back, it was off to pick Taryn up from her dad.  I think Gabe really likes it when Taryn goes to her dad's house, because it means he gets to eat fast food.  Oh, to be young again...

Off to regale everyone with tales of day 110...

Day 108

Today was the National Race for the Cure in Washington D.C.  As noted on Day 96, I usually try to make it up there to do the race (though we actually walk) with my mom.  Since I knew I wasn't going to be able to make it this year, I registered us to do 'Sleep In for the Cure' instead.  And here I am, looking all lovely in my shirt:

Please pardon how scrubby I look; I was only half awake from sleeping in...lol.

Til day 109...

Day 107

Today was one of those days where I'm kicking myself for getting behind on this blog, because I don't really remember anything worth writing about.  The only thing I go remember is that I took Taryn to her dad for the weekend.

So, we'll see if I remember more about day 108...

Day 106

Today was pretty busy.  I had my monthly LINKS volunteer meeting in the morning.  Right after that, I made a run to the doctor's office.  I had been having some problems with my eye being irritated for about a week; it felt like there was something stuck under the lid, but there was nothing there.  At one point I had rubbed it so much trying to get the non-existant irritant out that my eyelid got all swollen and I looked like someone had punched me...lol.  The doctor wasn't sure what it was; she didn't think it was pinkeye, though she took a swab just in case (I haven't heard anything back, so I assume it came back clear).  She gave me some antibiotic eye drops and told me to come back the next day if it got any worse - not if it didn't get better...just if it got worse.  Whatever it was, the drops helped.

Then that evening, I had my monthly regimental volunteer meeting.  We did a bunch of morale calls to parents and extended family members, making sure they were getting e-mails and phone calls from the unit and that they didn't have any questions.  Boy, can those parents get talkative...lol.

Next up, day 107...

Day 105

Today was a landmark day...Ben and I have officially been married for 9 years as of today.  I sent Ben an anniversary package, but he hasn't gotten it yet.  It would be really nice if they would actually get mail delivered with some regularity, instead of just whenever someone thinks they deserve to get mail.

This is my anniversary present from Ben:

Apparently the traditional 9th anniversary gift is pottery, so that's what the roses are made out of. The picture doesn't really do them justice; they are so pretty. They're now sitting on top of my entertainment center, where I can look at them all the time.

And now, onward to day 106...