VOTE!

I am not going to tell you who to vote for. I'm not going to tell you how I voted. I just want to remind everyone to go out and vote. It is a beautiful day here in Ohio so no excuses involving the weather!

Yoga

We all know how the holiday season can be with stress. Add to that the happy homecoming of a soldier and being a part of the FRG and you have Super Stress!
So I'm trying something new tonight. I'm going WAY outside my box and going to a yoga class. I am a member of our local rec center gym and they have a yoga class twice a week. So we'll see how it goes. It's pay as you go, $3 per class so if I dont' like it, no biggie because no committment.
I was supposed to start last week but my babysitter forgot. I'll let her claim preggie brain, hehe. She apologized and even gave me pumpkin cookies. But I am going tonight and hopefully I'll like it.
Being a stay at home mom of 4 with a spouse on deployment, I don't often get the chance to get out of the house in the evenings without the kids. So that in itself will be a good thing, lol. Plus it will give me something to look forward to every week other than the latest episode of NCIS or ER.
Originally I'd wanted to try yoga on the Wii Fit but I can't find a Wii Fit to save my life right now with the Holidays coming up! So I guess I'll have to do the 'real deal' for a while.

18 years

18 years ago today my husband left for basic training. It was also the day of my friend's funeral. I cannot believe it's been 18 years. A blog post about a rainbow reminded me.

At long last, my baby started Kindergarten today. All 4 kids are in school now. It was very quiet when I got back in the house after dropping them off. They all looked cute in their uniforms. Andy came home with a new pet called Stryker. He's a praying mantis one of his friends brought in for him. Those that know Andy know of his obsession with bugs. And fish. And turtles. He's going to be a Herpichthyentomologist some day. The girls enjoyed their day as well and are excited to go tomorrow.

Zucchini

From the time I was little, my mom always tells about how their first garden in this house grew monster zucchini. I planted a garden this year, a little late but it's just starting to show what we'll be eating fresh here in a week or so.
Yeah. A lot of zucchini, lol. So I'm sure I'll find some inventive ways to prepare it. I'm not a fan of zucchini bread or muffins. I don't like it sweet. I like it with garlic and olive oil or mixed in with spaghetti. Not sure what the kids will think, lol.
I'm making my corn-stuffed tomatoes for dinner tonight and I might try adding zucchini next time. Or stuffing the dang zucchini, lol. If anyone has any other ideas, I'm willing to try just about anything.
And just beware. If you come to visit in the next month, you may be sent away with a gift from the garden, haha.

sniffle, hack, cough

I hate summer colds! It started with a slight sore throat, then a cough, minor laryngitis, and now it's sneezing and blowing my nose all the time. It's a gorgeous day outside. I had things to do today. But today was the most miserable I've been since this all started.
Thankfully none of the kids are sick and they've all been great, playing outside and having fun with their cousins.
Hopefully this goes away soon, been 4 days now. I had about 3 weeks of colds/allergies in the spring and was hoping to not deal with it again this year. It must be stress that is making me more prone to getting sick this year.
What's worse is with my husband gone, I sitll have to do all the housework and yardwork, deal with the kids, and cook. I just want to curl up in bed and watch stupid tv shows all day but I have to stay downstairs to keep an eye on things.

In his own time (but finally!)

My son is himself. He's stubborn. Those that know him, know this, lol. He is almost 11 and never learned to ride a 2 wheeler. He had one with training wheels for a while and rode it all the time. I took off the training wheels, he fell a few times and gave up. Refused to try. So I gave the bike to my friend's son. Too big for him but my nephew needed a bigger bike so Hunter got Robert's, Robert got Andy's.
Well, we've kinda been asking him if he wanted a bigger bike to learn to ride. His best friend has one and rides to school. Andy always rode his scooter around with his friend. I think when I got my new bike the other day, he finally realized he should do it. All 3 sisters know how to ride so he was the last hold out.
Well, I guess after riding his scooter around the block with his two sisters and cousin on bikes, he and Bethy got to work. They secretly had him practicing on Bethy's hot pink mountain bike out back, lol. Well, he got it!! They came running up yelling that he did it. I wish I'd gotten it on tape with him on the pink bike, lol.

So since Daddy is still home on leave they are now shopping together for Andy's new wheels. And now that I have a bike, the 4 kids and I can all go on bike rides together now. I'm pretty excited about this, especially with gas prices. Too bad it's dark out now and we're going to Cedar Point tomorrow. That means no more riding til after Daddy is gone again. Next summer however, all 6 of us will be cruisin around town on our bikes.

This is how it should be

The news is on. My kids are watching cartoons while I make supper. My husband is folding laundry in the dining room. This is normal life around here at 6pm on a monday night.

Mark returned home a few days ago for his R&R from deployment. It has been very nice having him home. We had a big bbq for the 4th and had our families over for that. My parents and grandfather excluded as they are on their annual summer excursion in the camper.

Yeah it will suck next week when he leaves again but we don't dwell on that because it takes away from the fun of having him here. Hopefully we'll still get to Cedar Point and maybe the Toledo Zoo as well. He and I are escaping for some "quality time" for an overnight later this week. Our anniversary was the day before he got home so we're going out to celebrate that. Dinner, movie, jacuzzi room, etc.

Originally when he deployed we were told no R&R so I'm very happy to have him here.

Happy Anniversary

Today is my 13th wedding anniversary. I won't hear from my husband today but that is ok. He's on his way home for R&R and might be here in about 24 hours. Yay!

Update

Still have the eye twitch, lol. I am trying a few things. A friend suggested taking my vitamins more regularly, that helped her when she had the same issue. Another said she had same thing and after about two weeks it was gone. So I'll do both, wait two weeks and remember my daily multivitamin.

What I learned today

I was reading my sister's blog and at the end of today's post she asked "what did you learn today" Oh boy. Do you rreeeallllly wanna know??

1. Husbands can be dunderheads at times. At least he freely admits this and apologized. I fixed the problems his dunderheadedness (is that a word?) caused with much cursing and general pissy-ness. It didn't help I was minorly annoyed with him to begin with when the issues arose. He'll be home on R&R soon and I will make him grovel. (smooch babe)

2. Sisters living down the street can be rather cool. I was stressed out earlier due to number one on my list and my sis Lisa called and asked if my kids could come down and keep hers occupied outside so they could finish unpacking. Hell Yeah. We both were able to get some things accomplished around our houses and the kids stayed out of our way. This could be a good thing!

3. Did you know that having an eye twitch for 48 hours is annoying? It's intermittent and I read that it's a sign of stress. Haha. Cure is either time or a botox shot. I'll pass for now.

4. And I learned that I'm very stressed out. Imagine that. I tend to hide it but after a while if I don't get stress relief, I get short with people and pissy. I've felt rather invisible lately and it just got to me. I hope to be back to myself asap now that I know I'm stressed. No hitting trees or walls or anything like that. Maybe I'll go hit a few thousand wiffle balls to the kids in the backyard tomorrow then spend an hour "testing" my new portable hammock I bought myself. I can lay there watching the kids play and imagine all the fun things I can make my husband do when he gets home. You know, so he can get back on my good side. Hehe.

Neighbor, Part Two

Lisa, Patrick, and I went to look at the house today. Yeah I hope they get it. It's wonderful. Perfect. Fabulous. I'm jealous. Never had a rental look that nice and be so perfect for me, lol.

Eerie

It's amazing the difference it makes when you have one child less. It's rather quiet here. My 7 yo is having a tea party/slumber party at my friend Laura's house. It's something she wants to do with all 3 of the girls on weekends when she doesn't have her son. 7yo got to go first. My son gets to go when her son is home.
It's just so eerily calm here and Maddie isn't the loudest child. It must just throw the others for a complete loop when one of them is gone. Bethy's been reading. On the porch swing til she gets too hot (it's 90 still and it's 8pm already)then on the couch til she cools off. Andy's off counting his transformers or maybe playing air guitar to Bethy's radio. Sarah's just been following the two of them around, being the ever so annoying baby sister, lol.

I do know this is the calm before the storm, haha. Sis Lisa and her children are invading tonight.

Nerf Rocks

I bought a Nerf dart gun for my husband for Father's Day (SURPRISE!) I got it out to see if it worked and all that. Wow this thing is cool. I spent the afternoon shooting the TV and the front window of my house.
I think I need to go get another one for him now, lol.

Coffee Rant

Okay, I know it's not Starbucks, but I happen to really like McDonalds iced coffee. I always get the large Hazelnut through the drive thru. I have an issue with the McD's in our town (both of them) never making it the same way twice. The one by my old work up north does it best. I was at Walmart today and got one as I was headed back home. They didn't even put any sugar syrup or flavoring in it. So I got Coffee and cream over ice.
My coffee MUST be sweet! That's why I buy the iced coffee there. I had popsicles in my car and it was very hot out so I didn't want to go in and complain(plus I was already halfway home). Thankfully when I got home I remembered I had some caramel coffee syrup in the fridge. Now I have a caramel iced coffee that isn't bad at all.
I've worked in the food business too long. I hate when people make stuff wrong. I get pissy. I would think people would be trained on how to make things correctly. My friends know of my aversion to the local KFC. Their customer service is non-existent and they don't know how to be prepared for a dinner rush or place a food order so they dont' run out of things. The manager is a rude person and I've called the corporate number to complain about her store. I don't eat there anymore, btw. Thankfully I can live without fried chicken. I'm not so sure I can live without my iced coffee, lol.

Happy Birthday!!

Just wishing my husband a very happy birthday. Not his birthday yet here stateside, but he's already turned a year older "over there".
See you soon hon.

Sigh

We just had our first ER visit of the deployment last night. My 7 yo cut her forehead on the porch swing. She now knows not to bend over in front of it when her 9 yo sis is still swinging. I took her to the ER because it looked pretty deep. They ended up using dermabond on it. So she has a shiney glue spot in between her eyes.

I know it's not my last visit, lol. When the dr office called this morning after they got their ER report fax, I reassured them she was okay since the hospital paperwork said "head injury". They were happy it was just a minor thing and didn't need stitches.

Now taking bets on how many more trips we will have this summer. My youngest two have been learning to ride two wheelers the past few weeks and so far just scraped knees and elbows.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

My sis and her husband are moving back to town. Into my basement to be exact. Or so we thought??
A few weeks ago when they were finalizing moving down here and starting to look for jobs and such, my brother in law supposedly told my sister that the only way he'd move in town was if they could move to my street.
This morning I discover a "for rent" sign on a house 4 doors down. The price is right and they don't mind Wendy, the cat. Sis and her husband are looking at it next week and putting in an application. I hope they get it! Sis already has a job not far away. That's why they were going to move in with me for a short time as her current apartment is 3 hours away and new job is only 20 minutes.
What is really funny is yesterday there were people there doing some work and I was going to jokingly ask if they had thought maybe to rent it out and that I had someone that would be interested.

Fire Safety

Well, I'm glad they teach fire safety to kids in school, lol. It was still kinda funny. This morning I was blowdrying my hair and the hair dryer decided to spark and flare and blow up on me. Nothing major. Very little smoke and no fire at all, just a few big sparks until I unplugged it.
Well, the smoke alarm went off. While I had Andy go get the stool so I could fan it, I guess the girls had gotten out the door and were on the porch ready to head to the meeting tree I'd always told them we'd meet at. LOL. So, they knew right away it was the fire alarm.
After about 30 seconds of ear piercing screech, I got it fanned and turned off. Good thing I'd already planned a shopping trip today. Except now my hair looks a tad crazy since I couldn't dry it.

A Keeper

So he called tonight. I swear that's reason #5 that I married that man. He knows. He knows when I need to hear his voice. He may not be able to give me a hug from 6000+ miles away, but he knows when I need a phone call.
We won't get into reasons #1-#4 in this blog post. That's just a bit TMI for you all. Ha!

It Was Just A Cookie

I swear it was just a dang cookie. But sometimes having a cookie after two glasses of wine does weird things to a person.
My sister Paula made some cookies with our Grandma Sophie's recipe. (those that have eaten them, KNOW) My sister Bethany brought me a few tonite. By the time I got to eat one, I'd had a glass and a half of a really really great tasting Riesling my dad (sophie's son) had gotten me recently.
I was transported back in time. I was 5 years old again, eating one of Grandma's cookies out of a tin on my parents' front porch. The porch of the house I now own. Where tonite I ate that dang cookie.
Maybe I'm just emotional. It will be 5 years this month since Grandma died. Which I'm sure is why the cookies were made this weekend since it was the 5 year memorial mass at my parent's Church.
I held it together until my sister (pregnant and I know,from experience, probably emotional) and my good friends Laura and Kim left and my kids were in bed. I poured another glass of wine (damn dad picks good stuff) and I'm having my pity party.
I just can't believe it's been 5 years. And I need a hug and my husband, my best friend, is 6000 miles away in Kuwait.

Darth Tater Rides Again!

Those that know my husband know of his obsession with Star Wars and his Mr Potato Head collection. Last time he was deployed, Darth Tater became part of that collection. This week Darth is happily riding along with my husband as he sees his former stomping grounds "over there". I'm hoping to purchase the Spuda Fett one at some point (boba fett).
Newest to the collection is Indian Jones potato head "Taters of the Lost Ark" who is now in transit to Mark via usps. I figure "Indy" will feel at home over there with all the dust and sand. As long as there's no snakes.

So Stimulating!

Haha. So I "stimulated" the economy today. I bought my new furniture. And it was not financed. I paid in full at time of purchase. I have to wait about 2 weeks or so until it's in but I'm so excited! I got the sofa, chair, and ottoman. That will leave room later for either a recliner for Mark, or a glider for me. We will wait til next year when Mark is home to decide.
I also spent money at Kohls, Disney Store, and Godiva. So in one day I spent almost the equivalent of my husband's next paycheck. Now, I did send some money to my husband as well (hey babe, there's more $$ on your card, haha) so I didn't spend it all on myself. Though really the only thing I bought myself was the 3 pieces of chocolate from Godiva.

Military Spouse Appreciation Day

As you may know, I'm a military spouse. I never really thought about it much until 9/11 when my husband started sleeping at the armory a few nights a week after working his regular job. The first deployment to Iraq really brought it home.
I've been with Mark since high school. I still have all the letters he wrote me from basic training. But we were together almost exactly 12 years before I really thought about the military being a part of our life because it was "part time" in the National Guard. His brother is an active duty Marine and I always considered his wife a military spouse. My oldest sister was an active duty army wife for a time in her first marriage.
Sometime in the early 80's, Then President Ronald Reagan decided that the Friday before Mother's Day would be known as Military Spouse Appreciation Day. I never knew about it until 2005 when my husband was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq.
Tomorrow I know my friend's have something up their sleeve. They keep hinting at it. I have to work and work is letting me wear my photo pin of my husband on my uniform. It's normally a no-no but tomorrow is going to be a fun day at work for other reasons so they're relaxing the dress code a little bit.
So, to all the other military spouses out there that may read this, have a good day tomorrow.

New furniture!

Okay, I admit it. I'm not what many would call the typical woman when it comes to shopping. I know what I want and if I don't see it, I move on. Shopping with my mom kinda irritates me, lol. She has to look at everything! I can't do it.

Well, today within 2 minutes of walking into Sofa Mart, I found my new living room furniture. I found it online too and sent a pic of the color/print choice to my husband so he could see it. The online photo only had the style, not fabric choices. So I took a picture on my cell phone and emailed it to him along with the link to what the set looked like.

I had a whole day planned, with several shops to look at, but I decided this was "the" set and I will stick with it. It's soooo comfortable and really looks like a "Becky and Mark" set of furniture.

Now, I just have to go back up there and order it. I'm paying cash, no financing this set. Woot! And no, not with my stimulus check which won't be here for a few more weeks. My husband re-enlisted and got a bonus. So it will hit our account friday, I'll go buy my furniture saturday and can't wait to see it in my house!

My old sofa and my end tables now belong to my good friend Laura. She lived here the past two months while she got back on her feet from a bad relationship. She moved to her own place this weekend with her almost 5 year old little boy. She needed a sofa and some end tables. What's funny is my husband and I originally planned on getting new furniture about this time last year. But for some reason never got around to it. Life is funny sometimes isn't it?

Where's my $$$$???

We qualified for the "stimulus check". With our SSN's it should have been put in by today. We efiled and direct deposited. No money :(
I guess it was too good to be true.

Sahm I Am

I put in my notice at work today. My last day will be May 20th. My manager totally understands and doesn't blame me one bit. Her last day is May 11 so it really doesn't affect her. My new manager was the assistant manager back when I was hired in almost 2 years ago. She will understand too as she is good friends with my manager.
I did not work last deployment and it worked out just great for me. I stayed employed this time because I thought I could handle it. I didn't expect this $5 footlong thing to happen or for 4 other employees to quit all around the same time.
So I will definitely have Memorial Day weekned off, haha. And I'll be a SAHM until my husband returns from his deployment.

My general manager Mike did say when I told him that he would hire me back no problem if I changed my mind later on down the road. I've had about 3-4 discussions with him about this since Mark left and it didn't come as too much of a surprise to him. Though I think per our last discussion he thought I'd stick around a lot longer than I am.

A Breather

Work has been so stressful and fast paced lately that it's been driving me nuts. I had yesterday off and was finally able to catch up on some housework. Today I went in and it was like a normal regular Monday. No massive amounts of customers. People were friendly. My manager and I had a good day and got a lot accomplished.

I don't work tomorrow at all. My stress level has gone way down again. Today is a day that reminds me why I like my job. Doesn't mean I'll stay there after this summer. But I needed a day like today to help me get through the next month or so.

Obsessions

I was reading my sister's post on obsessions (with her fertility) and realized I have one too. I'm obsessed with my computer and cell phone being on and powered up at all times.
My husband left the states recently for about a year or so and I've only heard from him once, via phone call. When he was at training for 3 months, I heard from him daily via call and weekly via email/IM and throughout the day on the text messaging on our phones. I still catch myself wanting to text him during the day. Silly things like the notes we used to pass in the hall way back in high school.

I'm constantly checking the phone to make sure it's charged up. As soon as I wake up, I make sure Yahoo messenger is signed in. I know he doesn't have an internet connection yet but I'm still signing in "just in case". I sleep with the phone beside my pillow. There's so much to tell him that went on this week with the kids and the house and work. 3 oldest all got honor roll and the oldest two got a big award, basically student of the quarter for their grade. The youngest had Kindergarten registration. The flowers in the garden are starting to bloom. The garbage disposal isn't working anymore and our almost 9 yo daughter broke her glasses again.

Well, I did send him the link to my Blog. So even if I forget to tell him any of this on the phone, he can read it here.
So if you're reading this, Babe, I miss you. Love You. Call when you can.

Here's a first

My kids have been attending the same school for 7 years. Today was the first time ever that I had to leave work to get one of my kids from school due to illness.

Last year one kid got sick but my husband was on afternoons and since he's a supervisor, he picked up sick child and went to work late so I could stay at work til my shift was over.

I felt stupid when I walked into the office and the secretary had to laugh at me. I had never picked a kid up during the school day and had to ask where I had to sign him out.

As for the kid, he's fine. We've been having spring allergy issues here and the sinus drainage made him get a little queasy.

I'm so glad a girl from another store was able to come cover my shift today though or I'd not have been able to leave work. I'm beginning to re-think my decision to keep my job this deployment.

Me?

A Blogger?
Well, I guess this is it. I've been tossing around this idea for a few years now. Even did a private blog once but never shared it. I suppose it was my sister, Kris, who got me to seriously think about it again with her blog. Not that I think anyone really wants to read my ramblings, lol.

Who am I? Well, I'm Becky, a 30-something mother of 4. Wife of Mark, my high school sweetheart and best friend. He's a very hands-on husband and father, and a better housewife than I am. I work outside the home a little. Nothing of consequence really, just something to keep me busy now that all 4 kids are in school.

What lead me to the decision of a blog is I figured it would be a fun thing to do. Maybe it would keep my friends and family updated on things going on in my little corner of the world. Maybe it would help me blow off some steam too. Who knows where it will lead?

I sometimes think my life isn't very interesting. But then life likes to throw me for the occasional loop. And that's what I hope to share on this blog. You see, to the outside world I lead a pretty normal life. My husband has a good job, we own a nice house and have good, friendly, normal kids. But then the "real world" likes to creep up on us.

You see, my husband is in the national guard. He has been since high school. I still have the letters I wrote to him in Basic Training. He's on his second deployment and as he put it to me this morning in a phone call, it's kind of surreal this time around. Like we can't believe we're going through this again.

I won't complain about the pay, or the working conditions or anything like that. At least, I'll try not to, haha. I won't get into the politics of this war in Iraq or anything like that either. What I will get into is the daily life of a guard wife and guard kids. And a little about my husband's life over there as well.

I do hope you enjoy my blog.