I'm not sure who wrote this, but it seems so appropriate today as we get ready to celebrate Christmas without Stretch this year:


I may not always be the one who kisses you goodnight
or sings you songs of carousels and stars shining bright.

But I do not love you any less
even when I can't be there
I need you to remember that
even when it seems unfair.

A military father loves not less
in fact he may love more
because your time's the greatest sacrifice
in the freedom he's fighting for.

Happy Christmas, everyone!

We hit the road today to go to my sister's. I didn't think about the timing of our departure and we hit bumper to bumper traffic getting off the base and out of town. I commented that I'd messed up and forgotten that all the Marines would be getting off at noon today. A very concerned Big Sis responded, "What?! Then who's going to protect us from the bad guys?!"

Here we go again...

It happened again. I don't really want to make it habit. Confronting Marines, that is.

I took the girls to BK on base for dinner tonight since we had to go to Big Sis' basketball practice afterward. There we were, in a nearly deserted BK, trying to eat our dinner. Three Marines sat a few tables away. They were far enough away that I couldn't hear what they were talking about. But they were close enough and loud enough that pretty often I could hear some of the words they were using. One of the Marines, in particular, couldn't seem to take a breath without using a certain word that rhymes with "truck" that I REALLY do not want to hear my 3 year old say*.

The girls weren't paying them any attention, but still... Finally, I couldn't take it anymore, so I walked over and calmly said, "Excuse me, but could you watch your language?" and walked away. Much better than the first time I confronted Marines about their *ahem* language usage. But, seriously, were they blind? Mine were not the only kids in there. There was one other family in there (granted they were further away). And the one who was the worst offender was facing us!

*Big Sis has already used this word. At the dinner table, no less. I was shocked but recovered sufficiently to realize that she had no idea what it meant. I tried to find out where she'd heard it (older boys, either on the bus or in the neighborhood). Then, I calmly(no, really!) informed her that if she ever said it again I would wash her mouth out. That might have been the shock talking. But I really do NOT want to witness her using that word in front of her father.

Hm-m...

Apparently, women have more spine than men according to this. Oh, the implications! Oh, the jokes I could make... but that would be taking potshots... Must control... the urge...

"I'm going fast!"

Okay, it's not really that fast, since I can walk and still keep up with her. But for her, it's super speedy. L'il Sis FINALLY discovered her bike and figured out that whole pedalling thing about 2 days ago. Since then, she's been all about riding her bike. Just another one of those things I wish Stretch were here to see.

***

Following in Stretch's footsteps, Big Sis has started this season of basketball. They had their first game last weekend. She' s fast and has really improved her ability to make baskets. She's not terribly aggressive about getting the ball, though, so she only got the ball once. But then she dribbled it all the way down the court before passing it to a teammate. Of course, being a terrible mom, I have no pictures. But I did remember to take stuff to keep L'il Sis entertained. Hey, I'm not Wonder Woman here! And again, this is an area where Stretch's presence would really be useful. I am zero help to the child in sports. That is his area. So much for that plan.

more gremlins

Deployment gremlins strike again! It seems a power surge killed our TV. The one we bought during our recent tour in Korea. It's a cute little flat-screen. So I called the insurance company (yay for renter's insurance!) to see what I needed to do. Following their instructions, I hopped on LG's website to find the nearest authorized technician to look at the corpse. Turns it out there is only one in the state and it is a mere 4 HOURS away. Yeah, that works for me. In some alternate universe, maybe.

Meanwhile, I borrowed some one's husband for the brawn to move our old boxy TV from upstairs to the living room (where the corpse resided). See? I can so ask for help! Okay, maybe it was the vision of me dropping the TV down the stairs, me falling down the stairs, etc., that prompted me to go elsewhere for the muscle power. Just slightly ironic that we were just talking about asking for help over on SpouseBuzz Radio the other night.

power yoga

Last month, my friend talked me into going to a Pilates class with her. I'd never done Pilates. Just a few minutes into the class, I thought I was going to die and was beginning to hate my friend. I was sore for a week! (Yes, I'm completely out of shape but that is beside the point.)

I'd enjoyed yoga in the past and noticed that the same gym offered a yoga class once a week AND it was at a more conducive time for me. Life got in the way and I didn't manage to make it to the class until today. I convinced that same friend to go, too. Yeah. I didn't notice it was a "power" yoga class. My friend, who is in much better shape than me (mainly because she works out all the time and I, well, don't) kept saying it was worse than Pilates. And whose idea was this, anyway? At one point, amidst the groans and grunts, I had to turn my head toward the woman on my right. As I did so, she muttered, "Jesus!" as she tried to maintain her pose. I don't know if it was a comment or a plea for divine intervention. Either way, it's hard to maintain your breathing when you're laughing.

By the way, "power" yoga roughly translates into "ouch!"

3 year olds playing "I spy"

I drove two 3 year olds to see Santa for their preschool field trip on Wednesday. This is part of their conversation:

Boy: L'il Sis! L'il Sis! Guess what I see?
Girl: America?
Boy: Yeah!

Home again

I'm back from SpouseBuzz Live. Many, many thanks to my MIL for watching the kids for me!

It was great to put a face to some of the voices in my head, those imaginary friends. In addition to meeting some of the SpouseBuzz authors, I met Butterfly Wife and her Jack Bauer, who accommodated my need for a photographer not once, but twice. I also met Stephanie, who was just as tiny as I'd imagined.

And, hey! I even won something! It was one of the ammo cases; stuffed with a book, a hat, a t-shirt, and a fleece jacket!