Confessions During Deployment

Okay, it's not like I have anything to bad to confess, I just thought I would own up to some of things I do while home alone with three kids for months. Adam does have a tentative date to return: February 19^th
J

1. I seem to watch A LOT chick flicks. And I watch the same ones over and over. We currently have HBO, gratis I'd like to add, and with that HBO comes HBO onDemand. So, you get a select list of movies and shows to watch whenever you want. I have to admit I have watched Bride Wars, 27 Dresses , and He's Just Not That Into You more than should be allowed. Especially Bride Wars. I am probably close to 10 or more times. Not that the movie is even that great. The more I see it, the more I like it. Hmmm….
   
2. I have not really cooked in ages. I did cook around the holidays and felt a little out of practice. Cooking right now is making a salad or roasting some veggies. Oh, I did make some soups and then froze the leftovers. That was pretty handy. It is amazing that the kids would eat some type of nugget and apple, applesauce or salad every night.
   
3. The kids have eaten almost every meal at the bar on bar stools. I can just hear Adam now, "I'm bringing manners back to this house!" (That was for you, Christine ; ) If anyone wants to hear a funny story about THAT, email me.) Sometimes, the TV is on while we eat.
   
4. I drink a glass of wine almost every night. On bad nights, it is two. Even worse nights like in-laws here, more than two: I won't confess the real number!!!
   
5. I am totally selfish – I have not enrolled Rachel in gymnastics or ballet so I can go to the gym more. I really love my gym too.
   
6. I let the kids watch more TV than they should and go to bed later than they should. Rachel will put herself to bed. Russ is a night owl, although a couple times he has looked at the clock and told he should really go to bed.
   
7. I let Rowan have his bink, aka the 'nink', whenever he wants. I don't even try to have him use it less during the day. Adam is all about the nink going away when he gets back. He can do it and brag about it too. More power to him!
   
8. When Rowan wakes up earlier than I want, I bring him to bed with me to try to get a few more winks in. I usually don't get any more sleep, but now I have created a BAD habit. It is almost every morning and sometimes it is more of a hassle, what's the point?
   
9. We have only picked up dog poop in the backyard like twice Adam left. He's a little dog.
   
10. I seem to never have time to take the kids out to the park or to ride bikes, so I helped Rachel set up her own bike track on the patio in the backyard to ease my pang of guilt.
    

    
     

    
     

Bucket List

Tonja sent me the Bucket List email, so she must want me to do it. I thought I'd put it in my blog…

Things you have done during your lifetime.   (x) Gone on a blind date    (x ) Skipped school.     ( ) Watched someone die     (  )Been to Canada   ( x) Been to Mexico      (x) Been to Florida      (x) Been to Hawaii (X) Been on a plane     (x) Been lost     (x ) Gone to Washington , DC      (x) Swam in the ocean     (x ) Cried yourself to sleep     (x) Played cops and robbers (x) Recently colored with crayons     ( )Sang Karaoke (x) Paid for a meal with coins only.     (x ) Been to the St. Louis Arch     (x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't.     (x) Made prank phone calls     ( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans      (x ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose       (X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue     (x) Danced in the rain      (x) Written a letter to Santa Claus     (x) Been kissed under the mistletoe     (x) Watched the sunrise with someone     (X) Blown bubbles     (x ) Gone ice-skating     ( ) Been skinny dipping outdoors      ( ) Been deep sea fishing     ( x) Flown across the United States alone    ( ) Been in a hot air balloon    ( ) Been sky diving     ( ) Gone snowmobiling     (_ ) Lived in more than one country  - this summer…    (x) Laid outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets       (x) Seen a falling star and made a wish (they are actually meteors!)    ( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Ole Faithful Geyser     ( ) Seen the Statue of Liberty     (x ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle    ( ) Been on a cruise     (x) Traveled by train      (x ) Traveled by motorcycle – short distance (x) Been horseback riding     (x) Ridden on a San Francisco Trolley     (x ) Been to Disneyland (x ) Been to Disney World (x ) Been to the top of an active       volcano and seen hot lava (in a helicopter, so cool!)      (x) Been in a rain forest     (x ) Seen whales in the ocean     (  ) Been to Niagara Falls      (  ) Ridden on an elephant     ( ) Swam with dolphins (x) Eaten just cookies for dinner    ( x) Been on TV (x ) Stolen any traffic sign (x) Been involved in a car accident  (x) Know how to drive a standard     shift car ( ) Gotten a ticket for speeding ( ) Played strip poker      ( ) Danced on a bar or table in a       club Drunk  Favorite hot drink – coffee     Favorite Adult Beverage –  Wine or vodka diet tonic, 2 limes      Favorite Fast food? Burger     Do you love your job? Yes     Favorite Vacation Spot? San Diego, today      How do you see yourself in 10 years? Without a diaper bag or purse full of snacks      Furthest place you will send this message. Hmmm….. You guys fill this one in!

Three Things

One… over the holiday break, I laid Row down for a nap and he looked at his sheet and finally noticed that it has trains, cars, boats and trucks on it. He was pretty sleepy, but I put him down and he put out his arms to be on all fours in his crib and sleepily said "OOoooooh, choo-choos! Oooh, cars. Choo-choos." Just a precious little moment.

Two… Russell is a LEGO-MANIAC! He was blessed with many sets this year at Xmas and he has built all but one – saving the last one for this weekend. When he built them though, he really savored every moment of the process. It was awesome to watch. He had some pretty complicated sets to build and he did them all perfectly. Then he had to show them all to Adam on Skype, pointing out each detail, telling tales of the difficulty and then how fragile some sets are as opposed to others. Legos are so cool. He hasn't really even wanted to play any video games, even his new ones. He is also engrossed with a Lego Star Wars book, "Lego Star Wars The Visual Dictionary". He coveted the book at the book fair, I bought it and saved it for Xmas. He can't put it down.

And three… Rachel almost has the concept of adding. She got a Leapster 2 for Xmas and has been playing The Princess and the Frog game and has to add. She can do small numbers pretty well, but anything larger than 6 throws her off. She's so close, it is fun to listen to her try it 'all by herself!'

“Supermom, I’ve Always Wanted to Meet You…”

I finally met my Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. Kabins, who will now be referred to as Dr. K. It has been a long road, several cancellations on his part and hesitation on mine, but I am glad I went and am on a new path with my back.

I was hesitant to schedule with Dr. K. He has pleaded guilty to a federal indictment involving this lawyer and other doctors in the area and they are dubbed "The Medical Mafia". Yikes, I know. Dr. K is involved in one case that I really don't know too much about nor care to summarize the details of what I've read. It seemed from the paper that they are after the one lawyer. But, who really knows? All I know is that I wanted some answers on my back and if I didn't like him I didn't have to keep him. The fitness director at my gym loves him (but said he was odd) and has been going to him for several years and there are a few gals that I work out with that know him/know of him and they all say good things. So, like I said I planned to go and if I didn't like him I'd make a change.

Well, what can I say other than Dr. K and I hit it off?!? When I fill out forms that ask for my occupation, I always write something like Supermom or something like that just to see if anyone looks at it. Dr. K's paperwork was no exception. He walks in the exam room, introduces himself and starts looking through my file. Right off the bat he says, "Well, you're supermom. You know, I have always wanted to meet you and so does my wife!" Need I say more?

He gave me the run down on my back – 2 bad discs and the amount of the degeneration is uncommon for someone as young as me. (I like how he kept calling me young throughout my appt!! Ha!) I am not in need of surgery now, maybe in 10 or 20 years is his guess. I like that. He's going to send me to a good physical therapist off base. I like that. He changed my pain med to something else. Haven't tried it yet, but if I don't like it I can try something else. He does not want me on narcotics and I like that. I am going to do a nerve damage test to see where I am that. Fine with me. And then I am going to try some steroid type shot to see if that helps me any. I am open to that. He said I was going to really like the pain management doctor and the pain management was REALLY going to like me! Ha! In his little tape recorder he reminded himself to personally call the pain doctor to tell him about supermom.

Then we talked a lot about lifestyle changes and exercises that the physical therapist will recommend. He just kept stressing that if I feel pain or more pain in my back after doing something, even if the therapist said to do it, I should stop. Then all the things around the house like mowing the lawn, lifting heavy things, picking up the baby, all kinds of things I have to start readjusting. That will be the hard part. I think that my gardening days are limited and I am disappointed about that b/c I love to garden. That is kind of a bitter pill to swallow at my age, but hopefully I can find ways to do parts of things I enjoy without being in pain. For example, still prune and make a mess but not have to clean up the mess. Show Adam where I want things planted and then supervise! Maybe this isn't so bad after all! Seriously, that will be hard b/c I am so independent and like doing things.

The appt ended on a positive note – I have my youth working for me, I don't smoke (he said most of patients are smokers and how smokers almost always have bad backs), am healthy and in shape/not overweight (I beg to differ, but as he pointed out that all the people in the waiting room are very overweight and smell like smoke; I could see his point). I walked out feeling like it couldn't have gone much better and there really wasn't anything else I wanted to hear from him. Plus I can now legitimately tell Adam what to do b/c the Dr said ;)

Bah Humbug!

I have to admit, I haven't been quite in the 'spirit of Christmas' this year. Adam and I were so focused on this being the first (and hopefully) Xmas away the kids, that we failed to realize it was our first Xmas away from each other too. Bummer. It was harder than I thought. I really felt like I went through the motions more than anything as far as decorating and doing all the things I like to do to get ready for the holidays. I just didn't get a lot of joy like I normally do. Plus, I had to lug all the crap out and put it all away. That's Adam's job. I just do the fun decorating!!! My whole back issue didn't help either, but that's my next blog entry.

One day Russell told me 'we need some Xmas spirit around here!" He then told me our outside lights didn't look that good. I had to agree. My outside lights were pathetic. Inside the house was great, a little less than last year, but I think less is more sometimes. Then he told me he'd like to have some lighted penguin because that is his fave Xmas decoration. So, off I went one day to find a penguin, a few more lights, found a few other things and we were in business.

Rachel on the other hand has been having a hard time with the deployment. Very moody, easily upset, whinier than she has ever been, it is a little sad. One day after school she was crying b/c she just wanted dad home for Xmas. How can that not tear at your heart, poor thing. So, I don't think that helps me either.

As it turned out, we had a pretty good Xmas. DPA (Dad, Pam, Adelle) came on the 20^th and left on the 28^th. They really helped bring in some Xmas cheer and Aim got a much needed break. Can I just say that Pam is seriously the most patient person on the planet?!? Wow. She was a lifesaver this week. I can't even begin to list everything she did, but she was amazing. She took the baby monitor as promised and didn't give it back until they left. I think she wanted to take it with her when they left. I really appreciated everything she did.

Adelle was a real sweetheart. She dutifully stayed home and helped and I got to go out and do Aim things – finish shopping, go to the gym, go to the Orthopedic surgeon, get my hair done (I met my gay guy's gay guy, he is so cute, but that's a whole other story!). Adelle is 14 and staying home at your sister's house to help with the kids is not high on any 14 yr old's to do list. But, she did it without complaint. We did go to the movies twice. We saw New Moon and Sherlock Holmes. I enjoyed them both. New Moon was fun b/c that one actor has a hot bod and Adelle and I had fun making comments and adding to Bella's lines that referred to his hot bod. Holmes was a fun one. There wasn't a hot werewolf, but we lived. We did so some shopping together too and that is always fun. I have to record for the official record… I bought Adelle a shirt that she loved, but I bought the wrong size – her chest has grown and her shirt size has gone up. We had to exchange for another shirt that wasn't as cute. I felt good that I could pick out something that she actually really liked! Ha!! I also got her some make up brushes and new makeup bag that were apparently perfect. I was on a roll with the teenager this year! Just had to get that on the record ; )

My Dad helped with the kids too, but also did all the stupid things I don't like to do – lock the doors at night, take out the trash, pick up milk; he even took my car and got it detailed.

Santa was good to all at my house and I was apparently especially good this year! DPA spoiled me rotten with all their help, gifts and they took the kids out to shop for me. Russ bought me some latest version of Battleship b/c I told him HE couldn't have, but I guess in his mind that meant that I could have it! (He has like 3 Battleships already) He told DPA that I was going to 'freak out with happiness' when I opened that gift. I laughed of course and made a comment like "You are as good at buying gifts as your Dad!" If anyone knows my clipper story, you understand. If you don't, email me and I'll tell you. Rachel bought me a robe b/c I needed a soft one like hers. The one she picked out is turquoise, which I have been wearing a lot of turquoise lately. What made this robe so funny is that it is like Cookie Monster turquoise/blue and it is fuzzy, soft and kind of looks like Cookie Monster's fur. So, we call it my Cookie Monster robe and I have to sing "C is for Cookie" and say "Mommy want cookie, ararararararararrarr" when I wear it. Rowan got me a massage gift card and I can't wait to use that! Ha! Who knew that kid had such great taste??? I really got a kick out seeing what the kids picked out.

So, now they are gone and my next round of visitors comes on Weds. Adam's mom, stepdad and brother, Morgan, come for New Year's. I will miss Adam at New Year's too. He always gives me such a great kiss at midnight if we stay up that late….

Rowan Tidbits

 

Okay, time to report on all the fun little things Rowan is doing now. Let's see, I guess he is 22 months old, actually today he is 22months. There ya go! I really stop counting months after 18. Anyway! He has really started some of the big 'twos' things. I think that I am really in for it with him….

He is a climber. He can climb anything, he tries to climb everything and has had a few decent spills in the process. He made it out of his crib once and when we went in his room to check on him, (we heard the thud), he was just lying there on his tummy looking up with this look on his face like what the Hell did I just do? We lowered his mattress and now he can't climb out. He will move things around to use as a step to get things he wants. This can be the laundry baskets, toy baskets, chairs, boxes, an ottoman (he moved that across the house to get one of Russell's toys). A couple of days before Thanksgiving he fell off a chair and hit his eyelid on a shelf. So, he had a little cut and black eye for Thanksgiving.

He has mastered saying the word No. He can say just like you'd expect a bratty 2 yr old to say. It is a little scary that he already has picked that up. On the flip side, maybe he'll stop it earlier than the other kids did??? I can hope right? Sometimes he'll say "No, mom" just like a little guy. That one is pretty cute.

His talking is really coming along. He is talking in some full sentences already. "Mom, I want my bink" "Mom, I want to get out. Out!" In the car sometimes he'll just say over and over "mommy" like he's calling to me. It is so cute. Oh, Russ and Rach are in to knock knock jokes right now. Rowan tries to get in on it too. All of sudden he'll start up with "knock knock" and wait for you to answer. That's as far as he gets. But Rachel will sometimes answer with a silly "No one's home go away!" kind of thing and Rowan will just crack up. Then they start all over again. While we are shopping, he'll point out things he sees and names them or tries to name them. He tries to count.

He is singing now too. He would sing Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies" the oh oh part. Now he is trying to sing Twinkle Little Star, The ABCs, Itsy Bitsy Spider, it is really sweet. He'll just start it up on his own too. You just wonder what is going through their minds.

He tries to train the dog. He will get a treat and tell the dog to sit, stay, stay, stay and good boy! Then gives him his treat. Or if Jagger is getting in his face, he'll tell him to get down!

He gets his jammies after bath time. He always gets two pieces, they aren't always a top and a bottom, but he is so pleased with himself.

Rowan really thinks he is entitled to everything everyone else has. This makes ice cream and pizza difficult, as he is lactose intolerant. If he feels like he is being denied his fair share, (which isn't always his 'fair' share), he will let you know. Have I said he can get REALLY loud??

Hitting – not a proud moment, but he has started this phase. We are working on it. Time out is still a challenge, actually getting him to stay in it.

He can jump up with two feet off the ground. He gallops around the house and the yard.

When we go to the gym, you walk in the big doors and there is a huge entry area and music is playing. He always goes in through the doors, stops on the mat, looks up at all the stuff and then gets his groove going to the music playing. The people working at the front desk love to watch him come in. He used to not like going to the gym, but now that he is old enough to play on the big kid side, he is a happy camper. When he was on the baby side, he would stand against the wall and give the girls the stink eye. Now, on the big kid side, he gets right into it.

He likes to play phone. He'll pick up anything that looks like a phone and say "Helwo" and then nod his head and say Yea a lot. But if yo get him on the actual phone, he clams up and wants to press buttons on the receiver.

His understanding of directions is really incredible. He can almost do simple 2 step directions. He is so proud of himself.

And, I'll end with that….

Bring It

Well, Adam has been gone almost a month and let me review some of the fun I've had. The dog, (we got a dog in August), got into a 5lb chocolate bar that was a donation for Russell's school, the wind blew the storage container in the backyard completely apart, we had to decide whether or not to move to South Korea summer of 2010, the shower in the master bathroom had a slow leak that finally showed itself in the downstairs guest closet, and Rachel was jumping on the bed and had to have her front tooth pulled out by the dentist.

I'll start with the dog and end with Korea. We got a Morkie in August, he's a year old, Jagger, and he's as cute as can be. He's a little undisciplined as he came from a home that spoiled him. Well, he got into the chocolate and my wallet. He ate some money. I hardly ever have cash, but apparently he likes to eat $12 and chocolate. I was worried about him getting sick from the chocolate and then after the money thing, I thought, damn, if you are going to get sick and die, just die already, I don't need the stress of worrying. That sounds terrible and I didn't really want him to die, I was just fed UP. He didn't die and he's still just as naughty and cute as ever!

The wind blew apart a Rubbermaid storage container that houses our lawnmower and other backyard tools. I had to put that back together and hurt my back in the process. That was not a fun Saturday afternoon.

About 2 weeks ago, I walked into the guest closet to get out my wrapping paper. That closet is my total junk/storage closet. I opened the door and thought "Hmm, it is kinda humid and musty in here, that's weird." Then I felt something drip onto my head. That's not good. So, long, make that very long, story short; slow drip from the master shower finally shows up downstairs and involves a week of repair, restore and replace. I will say my landlord was awesome, came over the next day and dealt with the company fixing it and made sure that the kids and I were treated well by the crews coming in and out. I appreciated that.

Rachel. I went to a PTSO meeting to help plan out a fundraiser that I think is going to be a flop, but I am being supportive and helping. We were at a gal's house, where her kids rule the roost. Her boys convinced my daughter to jump on the bed, a "no-no" that never happens at my house. She bumped her head on the back of one of the boy's heads and knocked her front tooth loose and the one next to it loose. Mama calls the dentist and the dentist says get over here asap. It results in the dentist pulling the tooth out. It wasn't pleasant, Rachel screamed, we had to hold her down, even though she was numbed up and the whole thing. The result is that she still has a tiny piece of root still left up there. It could either absorb into the gum or become infected. The other loose tooth was not broken at the root like the front tooth, so it will either tighten back up or become loose and it will have to come out too. So, YOU KNOW since Adam is gone that a: the root piece will become infected and b: the other tooth will not tighten up. She will probably not have that front tooth grow in for at least year or two. The thing that makes me the most mad about the whole thing is that once we got over to the house and I saw how the kids just ruled the house, I had a bad feeling. I should have been more proactive with my own children. But the gal whose home we are at is so together, she really is smart, organized, helpful, etc. I just assumed it would be fine. I was more worried about Rowan than anything else. Never ignore the mom vibe. And, Christine, you are absolutely right, at least it wasn't a head injury. I cringe to think how bad that could have been.

South Korea. This could be a whole other blog entry. Basically the deal is this: Adam was promised a certain job when we moved to Vegas and it is not the job he is doing. It started out great; his Commander was terrific and gave Adam a lot to do and a lot of responsibility. Then that Commander left and new one came in. I won't sugar coat this, I think the new guy is a total douche and I thought this a long time ago. All of sudden, visions for the squadron change and Adam has nothing to do. And if you don't know Adam, you should know that Adam takes a lot of pride in his career and work ethic. He works hard and he likes it. An idle Adam is an unhappy Adam and therefore the unhappy Adam gets on Aim's nerves. Ha! When Adam was supposed to go to Afghanistan, the douche could have got Adam out of it if he really wanted to, but he didn't. It got cancelled and we lucked out. Adam really started looking down the line and realized that his career was starting to swirl down the toilet b/c the douche was hooking up his pilot guys. This meant that the nonpliots were getting squat. Adam is not the only person getting the short end of the stick. So, Adam just started working his contacts and a friend hooked him up.

South Korea is considered a remote tour, which is good to get people back on track, but not easy to get when you have a family that needs to move with you. At first, Ryan had nothing for Adam in Korea, but he kept working it an got Adam a 'command sponsored 2 yr remote' which means the AF will pay for us all to move to South Korea and ultimately means we would get the on base housing and the kids would have a secure spot at the school on base AND the services that Russell requires would be provided. (Would you believe that people move their families without it being paid for or guaranteed that their children could attend school??? I can't) The job offer came right before Adam left for Germany. Amazingly, the douche is going to let Adam leave Vegas early, (we are supposed to live here another school year). It takes a lot of paperwork and it doesn't look good on the douche if one of his guys goes early. But, he's going to do it. As we hunted details about South Korea, the school, the job, the lifestyle, we decided to go for it. So, yes, we are moving to South Korea in July/August 2010. I think I'll write more on the move and my feelings about it later. I am a 'glass is half full' kinda gal, so we'll make the best of it.

So, here I am at one month into this deployment and I think it has been a full month, relatively speaking. I have survived a tooth pulling, a plumbing leak, sleep deprivation (my only major complaint), dog poisoning, researched and decided upon a global move. What else can this deployment have on me? My answer is BRING IT.

 

Day One

Okay, so Adam is officially in Stuttgart, Germany. I posted his time zone in my gadgets on the blogger site. It seems he is 8 hours ahead of PST. I am missing him today - the little things the kids did, the report on his family after he left, you know all those things you talk about! The pillow talk.

He officially left Friday night if you are in the PST. Nothing is ever simple here, Friday, was the date of Russell's school's Fall Festival. This is the PTSO's biggest fundraiser of the year. And I am on the board and it is the ONE day I am fully committed to. Which just figures, since these things can never be simple!!! One thing that made life much easier was Adam's mom, stepdad and 1/2 bro, Morgan came for the weekend. They left Sunday morning.

Let me say that my new friends on the Board of the PTSIO have been incredibly supportive. Women I don't really know all that well being generous with their offers of babysitting, thoughts and prayers, and helpfulness. All this time I have dedicated thus far to PTSO has earned me some points!! Ha! Seriously, most of these gals, whom I didn't know until August, have been so good to me; it warms my heart and makes Vegas more fun.

At Fall Festival, I intro'ed the Co-Pres of the PTSO to Adam and she was so sweet. She just basically told him how honored she was to meet him and thanked him for his service and then told him she was keeping her eye on me and told him to email her via the school website if he felt like I needed a break b/c she knows our kids and is happy to babysit anytime. Her husband told Adam the same thing separately. How nice is that? I am really flattered. When I first met her, Faith, I really misjudged her. It just goes to show you can't judge a book by the cover - that is a good lesson for me.

So, Fall Festival... I sort of put myself in charge of the Silent Auction and Raffle. I won't go into details, but I have experience with silent auctions when I lived in OK and worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Those were BIG auctions, like $60k auctions. I feel like when we are in a duty station and I can help community, it is my duty to help in areas in which I can help. So, I took over the the auction and raffe and we made over $3k, which is great when you think we had a total of 58 items. That's like $55 per item. In this economy, that's decent. I worked my tail off on it and told people to help or get lost if they were going to try to tell me what to do!!! Ha! I do feel like it is my responsibilty to pass on knowledge to groups before we move on to a new duty station and when I leave, I hope that I left making them better. And I think that I will make Russell's school's PTSO a better fundraising organization than before I was on the Board.

Okay, so Day One without Adam. His fam left about 10:30am. After they left we had a good day. I made Russ a list of all of the things he needed to do today and then at the end of the list wrote his reward for his accomplishments. He got it all done with pride. Note to self, make Russell a list every Sunday!! We actually have had a good day today. The kids were helpful, Rachel wanted to go to bed early, Row went right to bed, so far, so good. I am sure it won't be this good every weekend!!

I do want to note that Morgan, Adam's bipolar 16 yr old brother, was so much better this weekend than I have experienced in a long time. He helped with the kids, he took out he trash when I asked him to, he played with the kids too; all of which are improvements and I am sure added to the ease of the transition of Adam leaving.

Sooooooooooooooooo.... Day one of Adam being deployed has been a good one. Day two may not be so great, but Day One was good.

Oh, don't worry, I won't report every day!!!