right now

right now

Nov 13, 2010

Good enough to share...


"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!" -unknown author


Nov 12, 2010

Calling all country music songwriters!


In need of some material? We're living it right now. The kids came home Wednesday night to start their 4 day weekend, and I thought we would be able to carve some fun time in somewhere, but the deployment fairy "Jody" has gained entrance into our lives yet again, and it looks like no fun will be had. Up until a few minutes ago I thought it was Sunday already thankfully, but nooooo, it's only Friday. Yep, it's been a long 24 hours.

Yesterday started out well. After starting a pair of socks with some on-farm spun alpaca, I decided it was the most fantastic thing since heirloom tomatoes, and I just MUST go back and buy it all (there were 2 more skeins of that particular hand dyed batch), I have a lot of Christmas gifts to knit! So off we went to the yarn store, and I couldn't believe it - the kids were good! I prefer NOT to take them unless it's a "fiber emergency". One of the gals at the store let them wind the balls and they couldn't stop talking about it!

Finn getting to spin the "thingamajig"

Loch had a "oopsies!" moment and had to untangle

They are pretty familiar with where yarn comes from and even know the difference between synthetics and natural fiber, probably thanks to me being somewhat of a fiber snob.

They did however, want to know what an alpaca was. Loch even asked if it was "like a llama", which impressed me. I told him that it was similar to a llama and showed them a photo.

They liked this one because it looked like Sprocket!

I told them about the reason alpaca wool is superior to other wools, that alpacas are "new" to our country, and also filled them in on the differences between them and llamas, and they were pretty interested to learn that llamas are fierce guard "dogs"! I wish we lived somewhere they could experience them first hand, someday...

Speaking of Sprocket...

this is what happens to a herding dog with no JOB - worthless!

After that, it was all downhill. We had a dinner date with BFF and her kids last night after music lessons. While at lessons, Finn started complaining he was hungry and didn't look too good. We left there and just as we got out of the car at the restaurant I heard the characteristic belch and whipped a bag in front of his face just in time - sick! I have never had to deal with a child vomiting anywhere outside our own home, and I guess my lucky streak is over, and my friends who have are probably laughing at me now. I am prepared, though - every time I have been to the hospital for surgery (which is actually many times!) I snag every one of those blue sick bags and stash them. I've got a stash in my purse and in the car LOL. He actually had to use it yet again on the way home, another first for my car. I am however, very proud of him in that he never missed in the car or the house! When we got home he was so cute, he got the "sick chair" (beanbag) out of the closet, set it up in the bathroom with some books and his little stuffed penguin. He was sick about every 20 minutes from 6 pm until 12:50 pm - I remember the time since I didn't go to sleep until about 3 am for fear that I wouldn't hear him if he needed me, even though he was in bed next to me.

Here he is at about 9 pm, I was thankful he fell asleep but it didn't last long.

I'm not much for coddling my kids, but I felt really bad for him, they don't get sick often, so it really surprises and worries me. Luckily he was better this morning and I was able to get all surfaces in the house sprayed and wiped down, but when I moved on to the laundry...

P.O.S.!!!!! After 5 years of nothing but problems, it's officially dead. I'll be damned if I'm going to spend hundreds of dollars on "gotta order a part" for it to "not be fixed" yet again! This will have to wait for hubby to get back.

Which brings me to this...

The kids thought this was great fun... glad someone liked it. Earlier, I had Loch give me all his quarters and he made me write him and I.O.U., hahaha, but found that apparently laundromats have changed in the past 20 years LOL. Check out the above photo, see the card? Yep, it's a laundry "credit card". I had to swipe my credit card in a machine and it spits out a loaded prepaid "washing card". WTF?? I should consider myself lucky that we found a place in the "good side of da hood" to do our laundry. I had no idea where laundromats were even located at here until this, and lemme tell ya, it ain't good! It's not a college town here, either, so they are pretty much all located in "other parts of town". I guess I should consider myself lucky then that I don't have one in my neighborhood LOL.

So let's sum it up. As of today, we have one bad muffler on hubby's car - rendering it illegal for use, part of the backyard fence is broken, my car desperately needs new tires, washing machine is broken, sick kid, property taxes are due, and a partridge in a pear tree! But for some reason, I'm not freaking out. Last deployment I was beside myself with near panic attacks from all the stuff that broke down.

What's the difference this time? Knitting - and YOU! Seriously, I have been so busy knitting I'm just ignoring everything else, and last deployment, I wasn't blogging yet. I really feel you all have helped me stay connected in what otherwise is basically 7 months of being alone with 2 kids. Not going to get sappy, I'll save that for a post when I'm feeling sappy-ish... but thank you all for your blogging, commenting, and just being out there, it helps many more people than you think!

This time, I'm going to do what every irresponsible person would do: spend money on new tires, and get us home for the holidays for a much needed vacation. To hell with the rest for now!

My new outlook:
The washing machine is broken. So what? The world won't end, consider myself lucky there is such a thing as a laundromat, use it until hubby gets home and either fixes it or we find out how to buy another, cheaper, "old school" kind that actually works

The Forester's muffler is shot. Well, it's hubby's car, not mine. He's not even here right now.

The Outback needs tires - ok, I'll get them, I have over a month to do this, it'll work out.

Sick kid - yay! I'm thinking "better now than on vacation"!

Property taxes are due - yeah, whatever...

Don't feel bad for me, this is a breakthrough, I'm learning to cope! And before you think "what a string of bad luck...", it could be way worse, like last deployment when every major appliance in mine & my tenants house broke, my ceiling caved in (really!), and the siding and fence blew away in a hurricane. This stuff happens to every military spouse everywhere, everything always happens on deployment, I think it's a test of some kind. Well I'm going to pass it, damnit!

Come heck or high water (speaking of we are having tidal flooding LOL), we are going home for Christmas! When people ask "where are you going when you get through deployment?", instead of saying "Disneyworld!" like the commercials, we will reply "we're going to Minnesota!" - where "it could always be worse"... (probably only Minnesotans are going to get that LOL)

One coping strategy that is going to happen in 45 minutes: kids are going to bed early tonight!

So do I have the makings of a good ol' country sob song? :)





Nov 11, 2010

Happy Veteran's Day!


Happy Veteran's Day!

Enjoy...

Yep, that's me! U.S. Navy, Undersea Surveillance
I will NOT answer any age related questions as to when this was LOL! I will give only this, think Desert Storm I, haha, yes wayyyy before hubby was even in!

My husband, U.S. Navy, Attack Fighter Jets, 1999 - current

My brother, U.S. Navy Radar Intercept Officer (navigator) EP-3 Orions previous, also served with U.S. Army ground forces in Iraq,
currently U.S. Air Force navigator, now flies c-130 aicraft

My dad, regrettably I don't have a photo of him in uniform - I'll have to get with mom on that!
U.S. Navy, Nuclear Ballistic Missle Submarine Force
1965- 1977?

In lieu of a photo of dad in uniform, I did find ME in part of his uniform!
1970
Dad, please convey our thanks to all your fellow Legions vets for their service! Below is a photo of the local American Legion back home who hosted hubby's reenlistment ceremony last year.

We had never met them before in our lives, but in true vet fashion, they opened the basement bar after the ceremony and welcomed us as friends.


Above, my brother is 3rd from the left. Although I have no clue who these other guys were, since seeing them with my brother in this photo I would always include them and their families in our thoughts and wishes for health and safety.

These are photos from hubby's last homecoming, his mom was able to come out and see the big event. This never gets old! I won't even try to explain the feeling of seeing an aircraft carrier pull in with 5000 sailors manning the rails...


Here's a video I posted last fall, but thought it serves as a good reminder for how serious we take our oaths.

Cool Factor: this is one brother reenlisting another! My brother was the reenlisting officer for my husband that day.



Please convey my thanks and appreciation to your veteran family members and friends, as well as to the family that supported the veteran - it ain't always easy, but I can't imagine being anywhere else!



Nov 10, 2010

In case you were wondering if I've gone completely insane...


I'll just go ahead and confirm it for you!

FA-LA-LA-LA-LA....

What do you mean it's not even Thanksgiving yet?

even the moose gets a glass ball!

I did stop short of a tree though, it's not that they aren't even available yet, but more that it's a little more fuss than I want since we won't be here for Christmas!

I did however hang tree-like material from the kitchen ceiling LOL!

When you have a husband who has been deployed for the better part of the whole year, it's easy to get carried away with anticipation!

The dogs however, were unimpressed...

Finished 2 pair of socks.

The above pair were supposed to be for hubby. I keep trying to loosen up my knitting - I've used larger needles, tried to drink wine to relax, all to no avail. Doesn't matter what I do, I get ladies' size 6 socks! At this rate I will be the one with the warmest feet this winter!

Finnegan's new woolies:

His feet are so darn cute!

The below lazy dinner is brought to you by: a mom obsessed with knitting socks!

"sssssshhhhhh! wait 'til I finish this round!"

I get to start fresh tonight trying to knit a pair for hubby, the lady at the yarn store suggested valium might do the trick to loosen up those stitches - but I'm afraid I'll end up with a scarf!

WAY too cold, gray & windy again today to garden...

Nov 8, 2010

Life in Neuroticville

Time for my weekend wrap-up! Nothing really blog-worthy, as you will see, but thanks for hanging in there anyway!

I apologize for not replying to all the helpful sewing comments I received on those posts, but the reason is that I was "sew busy" (haha) putting into action all your advice that I kind of got caught up in it all!

I spent Friday night cleaning my machine. No kidding, I really did open that bottle of Jack Daniels and pour myself a cocktail while cleaning the heck out of it. It's never been cleaned in 19 years and it's also never been covered! That may be my first project, a sewing machine cover. My kids were in bed and it was really nice and quiet in here, streaming a radio show over the internet and then followed by an hour of 40's big band music that made the whole project feel kind of homesteader-ish.

The next day things got interesting. I was cleaning out my purse and came across one of the coupons for a craft store here for 50% off, Saturday only! I really needed that grid ruler and they are a bit pricey so I told the kids to hurry and we ran out the door to go buy it at about 4 p.m. - we got it alright...

Half off made it 9.99! Feeling very happy, we drove back home.
As we walked in the front door my son says "mom, you aren't going to like this..."

Sprocket, who shall be referred to as "Charlie's dog" from here on out, had torn up the sock I was working on! She pulled out all 4 bamboo needles and they were in bits all over the couch and floor. I had been in such a rush to leave and save some $$ that I had left the knitting on the coffee table!

Bamboo Needles: $13.99

UGH!

Here's a reminder of our furry family members...

This is Marley, the good dog, MY dog!


and this is Sprocket... hubby's dog!
BAD, BAD DOGGIE... see she's even on the couch while Marley was being her usual well-behaved self.


To top that off, Thing 1 comes home from school today with the below library book and starts in with "can we get a Border Collie, pleeeeeze?"

Yeah, I'll get right on that. Just what this little urban homestead needs, another herding dog with no sheep to herd! To be fair, our choice of pets tends to fit right in with our personalities, OCD, Type A, and neurotic! Funny how that works out...

I spent the whole day cleaning house yesterday, not really the "moving out" kind, but things that really need to be done so they won't weigh on my mind. Cleaned windows, plantation shutters, under the stove and fridge, that type of thing. Hubby will also be happy to know that I have converted the bed back to a bed LOL. Pretty much the day after he left, I put the wide side of the bed up against the wall and arranged all the pillows day-bed style instead, giving me an extra 12 square feet - you laugh....

Organized a sewing area for myself.

Still knitting.

Garlic still not planted.

I meant to plant that darn garlic today, but woke up to 38º and thought, nope! First it rained for a week straight, now we have 30 mph north winds on top of the cold temps moving in! As soon as it gets in the 50's again this week I'll do it. Yes, I'm a northern gal - I do actually enjoy winter, I just don't particularly like digging my hands into 38º cold wet soil in the shade and can't-catch-your-breath wind! I prefer a hike or sledding or watching it from the window!

Wow, a lot of rambling for a not so exciting weekend! Truth is, I'm enjoying the break. Just because I can garden 3 seasons doesn't necessarily mean I always want to!

I end on a sad note. Two of my blogging friends lost furry loved ones recently. Jill from A Berry Good Life-Farm Girl lost their doggy friend Allie, and Chicken Mama of Tales of Chicken Mama, Lady Homesteader (Mama Pea's daughter) lost her beloved homestead cat Annie Blue just today to an incident with wildlife. Take a moment to include them in your thoughts this evening. I know most of us are also pet lovers and have probably been there a time or two, it never gets easier.