Monday, September 15, 2008

catching up


Wow, it seems I have some catching up to do. Last week was L'il Sis first real week of preschool here. The week before she was only in the classroom for an hour and a half without me while I attended a parents' meeting. But last Tuesday she attended preschool and Lunch Bunch. So this picture is from her first real day.




Last weekend, we decided to take a trip to the Space Coast. We went
to Kennedy Space Center on Saturday. Although it was a bit warm, it was a great day for it.
There weren't too
many people there so there were no long lines for anything. It's
hard to see in the picture, but there was a space shuttle on one of the launch pads, prepared for a mission scheduled in a few weeks.








Stretch rounded off the weekend by giving me a belated anniversary gift: an Atta Girl! bracelet! I'm wearing it as I type. I'm not a huge jewelry person (I'm definitely accessory-challenged!) but I like the bracelet for a couple of reasons. It is unique. It tells a story. And I love the thought that went into it. It is more than a piece of jewelry. It has meaning behind it, reminding me that Stretch really does appreciate me and what I do.
UPDATE: Someone asked what an Atta Girl! is. So here is my attempt at an explanation. Our service members receive various awards during the course of their service. Often these awards take the form of ribbons that are worn on dress uniforms. Atta Girl! charms use crystals on Italian charms to approximate the look of ribbons and are meant to represent different achievements of family members of service members.
My Atta Girl! bracelet tells my particular story: I'm a military wife, specifically a Marine wife. My husband awarded me both a hazardous duty and a deployment Atta Girl! (both with one star) for surviving his 2 deployments to Iraq with small children, the second one being a year long. I also wear a PCS charm with 5 stars and an overseas duty charm.

6 comments:

Butterfly Wife said...

Nice to see you all doing well! Congrats on the bracelet. You earned it!

Jody said...

Well, Go Stretch!! You have to love it when they put thought into a gift.

Your trip sounds like fun. I really appreciate the family trips we get to take.

I can't wait until we can get Lil Sis and Hannah together. Although I have a feeling I'll be singing a different tune once they combine their creativeness (a.k.a. evil powers). Sounds like she is liking preschool as much as Hannah.

orlane said...

that is so cool, i too am not a jewelry kind of person ... i think im gonna have to change that. can you please explain to me what an 'atta girl' bracelet is?? I dont think ive ever heard of it.

A said...

Boy, even your simple lay-man's version had a strong accent. Almost like Greek to me! :) Sounds quite cool and thoughtful! A treasure! (hmm, Stretch or the bracelet? It's a toss up!)

Amanda

liberal army wife said...

I'm still trying for mine... at SpouseBuzz Live I showed DH a couple of them - with appropriate looks, and tags such as "SEEEEEE, this is what I'm talking about"...

nada. but Christmas and the third deployment approacheth..

LAW

orlane said...

thanks so much for the explanation.... by the way i love reading your blog.