Abigail Adams

We were watching Part 3 of the John Adams miniseries. That man was gone a LOT. During the part where John leaves with their oldest son to go to Europe during the Revolutionary War (leaving Abigail home on the farm with the rest of their brood), I commented that she was a strong woman. Stretch chimed in with, "and grumpy, apparently." To which I could only reply, "She had every right to be grumpy!"

weekend mish-mash

Out of the mouths of babes:
I was cleaning the outside of the kitchen cabinets and our banister the other day (all are white). Big Sis came down the stairs as I was working on the banister and asked what I was doing. I explained I was cleaning (although I thought it was pretty obvious). She replied with, "Why? No one is coming to visit."

*sigh* I know that housekeeping is not my strong suit, but still...

Hmmm:
Stretch returned from his trip late Saturday night. A flight attendant upgraded him to first-class on both legs of his return flights. Now, this has happened before. And I certainly don't begrudge him the extra room. I've sat next to him and know how cramped he is in coach, especially since most of his height is in his legs. (By the way, the next time you fly, you might want to check behind you before pushing your seat back. If it won't go back, it might be because you're ramming your seat into the knees of someone behind you and his knees have nowhere else to go!)

I've lost count how many times flight attendants have taken pity on Stretch and moved him to first-class. But it only seems to happen when he's flying solo. It has NEVER happened while he was traveling with his wife!

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.

Read all about it!

It's here!

HOUSEHOLD BAGGAGE HANDLERS: 56 Stories From the Hearts and Lives of Military Wives

As the editor, Marna Krajeski writes on her website: "...48 wives share their total embarrassments, tragic experiences, and tender emotions as they tackle the daily dramas of military life. By turns touching and hilarious, Household Baggage Handlers opens the door on an often overlooked world, one requiring the independence and survival skills to:

• Move overseas while six months pregnant
• Manage labor, delivery, and a newborn … without a spouse
• Nurse a critically injured husband back to health
• Confront the sight of someone in uniform at the front door
• Shelter five children alone during a tornado
• Cope with bats, blizzards, and broken cars during long deployments

Read all about it in their own words. With anecdotes from WWII to the present, these compelling stories capture a sisterhood forged by extraordinary circumstances. "

Within the covers are stories written by a variety of women such as syndicated columnists Sarah Smiley and Jacey Eckhart, SpouseBuzz contributors Andi Hurley and Ruthie Alekseyev (a.k.a. airforcewife), and ME! Who knows? One of the contributors could be your neighbor! Get a copy now!

Spa Day

We're going to be moving (again!) in a couple of months. It seems like we just got here. Oh, yeah, we did just get here (practically). We'll have been in this house for almost 16 months when we move.

I'm going househunting next week with my mother-in-law while Stretch stays home with the kids. Between all of the recent chaos, stress from the upcoming move, stress from worrying about finding a home at the other end in a good neighborhood with a good school, etc., etc.... Well, I've been a bit stressed lately. Then, add another birthday this Sunday. Yay, me!

I have to give Stretch kudos this year. He did really well. I received my pressies early this year since I'm leaving tomorrow. The kids gave me perfume and Stretch gave me jewelry (always appreciated). Then he also surprised me with a spa package at a local day spa. A massage (pure bliss!), mini-facial (very nice!) and a spa manicure (I would NEVER get this for myself). It was so nice to spend 3 hours being pampered and not feel an ounce of guilt for it. So relaxing!

where's that fat lady?

Over at SpouseBuzz, Andi wrote about her misadventures in trying to pamper her husband and unleashing her inner domestic goddess. I can remember various reunions where I rehearsed our reunion, planned out menus and scrubbed the house. This time, not so much. I haven't planned for a single dish, let alone an entire meal for Stretch's return. In fact, I can't seem to really accept that he is coming home. It just doesn't seem real yet. We have only a matter of days and weeks left and I'm almost in denial about our reunion. Obviously, I want Stretch home. But I'm nervous, too. Other than his R&R, we've spent almost a year apart. We've both changed. The kids have changed.

Plus, I've been doing everything around here. While that sucked, it also meant that everything was done MY way. (hmm, I don't have any control issues or anything) It also meant if something didn't get done, I had no one else to blame. But soon, Stretch will be here. He'll do things his way. And I'll have to remember that it's okay. I'll have to learn to let go and to share again. Not just the little things like the remote, but the big things like parenting, too.

The thing is that reunion still seems so far off. (I know it's not.) It isn't "real" yet. They say it isn't over until the fat lady sings and, so far, I haven't heard her singing.

Ugly Dress Ball

I mentioned before that this past year was the first time since 1998 that I haven't attended a Marine Corps Birthday Ball. Well, I wasn't alone in not attending a Ball. One of our KVs came up with the idea of having an Ugly Gown Ball. We finally had it last weekend. It was a blast, not to mention a blast from the past! One of my friends wore her junior prom dress, complete with mismatched neon socks and jelly bracelets. Okay, the fact that she still had the dress (a pink, off the shoulder Jessica McLintock number) AND could still wear it... Well, it's just not right!

The woman in the gunny sack dress won for Ugliest Dress. You can't tell in the picture, but her tiara, ring and want all light up. This might have been a bit of a theme as another friend wore shoes that lit up. I wore sneakers with my dress because at most Balls, my feet are killing me by the end of the night. But I have to say, trying to do the twist in sneakers and on carpet is not an easy feat. And that pink thing in my hair is a skewer from sampling the chocolate fountain (YUM!).

One of the ladies brought champagne in a can (think the size of a small juice box). They had tiny straws attached to them (again, a la juice box). Between that and the outfits (more than one woman was sporting some electrifying blue eyeshadow, as well), we just couldn't get much classier!

We ate and danced and some even karaoke'ed. A few times I snuck peeks at the few men present (the Family Readiness SNCO, CO and DJ) and wondered if we were scaring them yet, especially when the roll of toilet paper started flying (one piece snagged on a ceiling fan and stayed there for the rest of the night). I'm sure Staff Sergeant was inwardly shaking his head and thinking, "Is this what happens when we go off for a year?"

And to that, I can only say, "Oh, honey, if you only knew..."

Kudos to all the ladies who planned and put the night together. It was a great way to round off this deployment. I'm so glad I was on the same roller coaster as these special ladies.

Looking back at 2007

I didn't want to do a post on resolutions. It seemed a bit hypocritical since I haven't made any resolutions in years. Mainly, because they tend to be a laundry list of wishful thinking rather than any real goals that I'll actually work toward. So, I thought, instead, I would write about what 2007 brought me. In some ways, I'd really like to just write off the year. Stretch was gone for the vast majority of the year, making it the year of putting my head down and putting one foot in front of the other, just trying to make it through moment by moment, day by day, week by week. I'm finally at the point of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and, no, it's not an on-coming train. The deployment is almost over!

But I digress. What did 2007 bring me? Mainly, it renewed my appreciation for my husband. I knew I loved him before, but maybe I didn't realize just how much. I missed Stretch with an intensity that almost surprised me. After 10 years together, I just assumed that I would miss him but that I would get on with the business of daily life. And I did. I didn't need Stretch to take out the trash or help get the girls in bed. I'm not gonna lie, another adult to share the load would have been beyond nice. It's just that those things weren't impossible or overwhelming to me.

Stretch's absence was the difficult thing. I never did get into a good sleep pattern. And he was always, ALWAYS, in my thoughts. Sometimes, he'd be in the background and not in the forefront of my mind but his presence was always there. So many times, each and every day, I found myself wanting to share something with him or thinking how much he'd enjoy something.

I checked my email so many times each day in case he'd found time to send me a line or two. And I found myself emailing him the dumbest stories just to be in contact with him. In an odd way, despite the miles and the ocean between us, the year brought us closer. He appreciates what I do for him and for our family. He knows how hard it can be. I'm so proud of him and what he does. After 10 years together, I can say, after the roughest year of all, that I am even more in love with him than ever.

"Marriage is that relation between man and woman in which the independence is equal, the dependence mutual, and the obligation reciprocal." ~Louis K. Anspacher

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!

SBL3

Woo-hoo! I'm off to SpouseBuzz Live to meet my imaginary friends!