OK, time to get political again

OK, so now it's time to get political again, my children. I am reading all the peals of praise for Sarah Palin, and after making sure I don't hurl on my keyboard, I'm done with that. The woman may be a nice lady, a decent Governor of Alaska... but she has NO business being my VP! And for McCain to pick her, with the idea that "well she's a woman, women will therefore vote for her" is, quite frankly, an insult to thinking women everywhere. Excuse me, just because I'm a woman, I don't just vote for the reproductive organs of my representative. I vote for brains, not ovaries!

She can't list what she reads? oh, c'mon, name Newsweek, Time, the Anchorage newspaper... anything! She can't list any other Supreme Court decisions? Guantanamo Bay/Torture... ringing any bells? I didn't watch the debate - but I find the winking, folksy "gorsh golly gee whizz" to be rather asinine, juvenile and patronizing of her constituency.

Has anyone else noticed that the McCain ads are mostly 3 -4 word bullet points - not a whole sentence in the lot? again, has the campaign decided that his constituents can't comprehend more than that?

I'm attaching some sites for your perusal, including a rather damning list of his REAL voting record for Veterans.

Big News of the Week:

The MASTER List: McCain's Non-Support for Troops and Veterans

BSF4O in the News!

Military Families Stand Against McCain

While John McCain uses his military service as a talking-point to promote his presidential campaign, many of those who serve and their families remain unconvinced. Blue Star Families For Obama is a nationwide organization of military families who are vocally opposed to the McCain/Palin ticket, and they aren't quiet about it.

Blue Star Families for Obama!

Motley Moose, Vet Voice, October 2, 2008

Our choice to support Obama is not only based on McCain's lack of real support for our military community, but it is also based on Obama's demonstrated commitment to serve us who so proudly serve the country.

Vets: Come to Nashville! 21st Century Bonus Army March!

Vet Voice, October 1, 2008

BSF4O Maura Satchell invites all of us to show our love for our troops and veterans before the next presidential debate. "Time to tell the media and the voting public that Sen. McCain has voted at least 29 times to cut, eliminate or gut veterans' medical benefits since 1990! "

Other Pro Military! Pro Obama! News & Links

Vets Critical of Palin's National Guard Leadership

And although Palin plays no role in national defense activities (they involve the guard, but are under federal command), the Veterans for America, also known as the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, are now questioning Palin's record in taking care of her guardsmen for state matters, too.

Rep. Chet Edwards: If You Look at McCain's Record on Veterans' Issues, It's a Failed One

Think Progress, October 2, 2008

In an interview with ThinkProgress today, Rep. Chet Edwards (D), who represents Crawford, TX and is a leader on veterans issues in Congress, ripped McCain's record on veterans.

McCain Emphasizes Concern for Veterans...So Just What Has He Done About Walter Reed?

Huffington Post, October 2, 2008

So -- in all his infinite concern for our troops and their families -- just what has John McCain since done to rectify the situation at Walter Reed? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. How do I know? Well, as military dependents, my own children were required to begin receiving care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center once we moved within its vicinity in 2006. My young son has battled cancer since he was two years-old and has been to many hospitals. But I wasn't prepared for the conditions at Walter Reed when we arrived.

The record implies McCain hasn't taken care of Veterans

Lake County Record-Bee, September 30, 2008

I came very close to shooting my television set when I heard these words. Then I wondered why Senator Obama let them go without out rebuttal. Two thoughts came to mind, first - never interupt your opponent when he is boldfaced lying and second - actions speak louder than words so let us examine Senator McCain's voting records.

LAW

Support Soldiers' Angels

So you all know Soldiers' Angels, right? If not - go here. Then - go HERE and show your support for those who support the troops. Click on the link - then scroll down... click on Soldiers' Angels and vote!

LAW

Paul Newman - the bluest eyes and a great man

His eyes were legend, his good works, his philanthropy were monumental. His acting got better and better with age. Some of the new crop of actors could learn a lot from that man's life.

LAW

Post Vegas and all the rest of it

Now - let me just preface this with the fact that I don't like a lot of noise, visual stimuli and heat etc., since it tends to make the migraines rear their nasty little heads. So Vegas isn't the best place in the world for me.

Friday - woke up with one of the headaches trying to start, but waited until we got on the plane to take a pill. The TSA folks are just a pain and I didn't want to get pulled over and not be functional. We got to Vegas and holy hannah - it was HOT! Got to our hotel ( quick aside, why does a Marriott that is across from the Convention Center not have an Airport Shuttle??) Nice hotel, a regular old Marriott - I don't like surprises unless it's a nice B&B, and from what I heard about the Sahara - I'm glad we picked it! Picked up the official stuff, and then decided to grab dinner. I had believed that there would be more than one bus to the infamous Penthouse party - but no. After we ate at the Sahara Buffet - not worth it, but one has to try the oldtimey stuff - we waited for the bus, but when it didn't show - went back to the hotel and crashed (the timezone thing..)

Next morning, it was easy to see those that had been at the party... some bleeding eyeballs! I was scared, nervous and worried about the panel, but didn't need to be. Melinda had great questions and made us feel right at home. There was one commentor who asked the same question of our panel and the one before it - wanted a large umbrella "agency??" for veterans so they aren't forgotten. hmmm... think we have one of those - it's called the VA and is about as cludgy and hard to navigate as you could want. (son and dil are both navigating it... appeals etc.) besides, the guy didn't understand that we take care of folks OUR way - look at Chuck Z needing voice recognition software and look at it now - Valour IT was born.

The uniform milbloggers were there so I got to meet some of the folks I read a lot, and finally met one of the co authors I invited to join ParentsZone! Meeting Some Soldiers Mom (who won the parents blog milbloggie YAY) made me nervous too, but she made me very much at ease and it was a pleasure swapping stories of some of the wierd and wonderful things our active duty kids have done.

The Army lunch - well I don't like being told that - or have it strongly suggested that- I make the blogs (mine and PZ) into a recruiting tool. That's a slippery slope I won't be heading down. This blog - because it's mine and I get to say what I want, get to show what life is really like in a military family in our situation. And PZ because it's for information, good and bad and all of the stuff in between. I'm not a recruiter and I won't lie, fudge or conceal anything. I'm NOT saying all recruiters do, so jump off that high horse right now. I'm saying I've heard and seen some real slime who are recruiters - one recruited our kid. We told him the truth and he decided to join up anyway.

Saturday night was wonderful. Dinner at a good Italian Restaurant (I'm told it's a chain, but it's good food!) and it was one of those evenings that we all hope for. Good company (SemperFi Wife with Col. Semper Fi Wife, HF6, Toad and Mrs. Toad and DH and myself) good food - we ordered "Family Style" and it was quiet enough to actually talk to each other. Andi - we missed you! and AFW - answer the phone next time!

Sunday DH and I walked around the Venetian, Bellagio and Caesar's - ooh the shops! Did some looking, no buying... and we did hit the slots - each of us stuck a buck in the quarter slots, walked out with 3.50 profit. OH - if you are in Vegas and want a decent breakfast, the Imperial Palace coffee shop - second floor... great pancakes! Of course, migrained again, but it backed off after drugs and some nap on the plane. Flew home, got home incredibly late - crashed. and got up early for work Monday...walking zombie!

I am glad I went, glad DH met more of my imaginary friends, and very excited that PZ got so much good recognition - lots of folks telling me it's needed and we are all hoping we can make it as useful as possible. (and fun too, we need FUN!)

Namaste. LAW

Goin' to Vegas

Here I am... packing for Vegas - to be a panelist at MilBlog Expo. To say I'm nervous, is a mastery of understatement. I'm going to be surrounded by people who are REALLY big cheeses in the milblogging community, and most of them do not like people who think like me. So - think of me kindly, huh?

DH decided he didn't want to take two small roll on suitcases and one other carry on each. So I'm glad we are on Southwest Airlines - one checked bag won't cost us extra. and the clothes won't need so much pressing either. I'm taking some adult clothes, want to look nice and professional during the panel, ya know. I'm sure they are expecting some hippie in beads! (no, SB friends, I know you don't...) at the last Spouse Buzz Live, I was told by someone who reads my blog that I don't look like a liberal - she was imagining either a hippie with long gray hair and beads, or someone with multiple piercings and tattoos, wearing weird and wonderful stuff... For those of you who haven't seen me - I am accused of dressing like a fuddy duddy - slacks, shirt and conservative jacket. It's fun to skewer the incorrect assumptions, isn't it?

I'm pissed off - the headache study I was in, and in which I was just 7 days from having the procedure - has been canceled! Dammit! There might be another one I qualify for, the same type of device. We wanted to have all this done before DH left in January - but I don't think that is going to be possible. I may just have to go another route. Trying to get our friends at Tricare to cover something like this - well, I'm up for a battle.

time to hit the shower and get moving. I'll try to post from Vegas.

LAW

Milbloggie for Parents Zone

can you believe it? our first year of Parentszone, and we're nominated for a Milbloggie! If you can, and want to, would you vote for us? We'd love to have a good showing!

I honestly didn't know about it, till JUST NOW!! yikes. That'll teach me to go on vacation!

LAW

Spouse Buzz Live

Holy Hanna - actually, she really wasn't that bad - Tropical Storm Hanna... We had a blast as always at SpouseBuzz Live. My DH came with me, since we then moved on to a family vacation (more about that on another post) He was so sweet, came to all the dinners and met my imaginary friends, even went and picked up the ParentsZone cards (I can't show them to you... I'm in a timeshare condo, with no scanner - horrors!) I liked what I saw of Virginia Beach and Norfolk, we even found a nice diner (he'll post about that on his blog Ditherings). Dinner with the SB gang and some spouses/kids - a very fun way to spend an evening. But one of these days we need to go to some little out of the way place, guys... somewhere NOT a chain restaurant! I know, with kids and some folks don't eat this, or that, or are allergic to something else...it's hard.

Met some old friends - Huh? Well, I've blogged with them, but never physically said HI. and saw some old friends again. Every time I go to SBL, I'm both heartened and disappointed. Heartened by the support we give each other - disappointed that we still can't connect with everyone that needs our support, help, shoulder to cry on.

So, now I'm on vacation with my folks. and that's another post!

Later.

Peace for the mind, for the heart and for the spirit. Namaste

LAW

Forsooth - yoikes and away!

Ren Fest- Maryland style. Smaller, and in the woods, and I loved it. And the best part - The Rogues - one of DH's favourite bands.

Lots of food - (but skip the "sweet potato fries" they are some sort of mush deep fried...ick) and I have to say the smoked turkey legs - not so much, they didn't use any mesquite or hickory. But the yard o' fries.. yum. The "Shakespeare Scum" Hysterically funny The Scottish Play in 30 minutes - next time we'll have to see the Romeo and Juliet in 30 minutes... There was another band we enjoyed as well - drinking songs in the Irish vein - The Hooligan Brothers. We'll definitely be going back - I have more shopping to do!!


Now we get ready for Spouse Buzz Live (if Hanna doesn't tromp her way up the coast too much) and a few days with my folks in the mountains. Then... Vegas!

Peace for the mind, the body and the spirit. Namaste.

LAW

well... damn

How do I say this. We're going to be saying goodbye again. DH has been alerted to the fact that he's going back to the Sand. Next year, late winter/early spring.

well... damn.

LAW

so much to say

That I don't really know where to start. On a personal level, all is good.

Gettysburg - we spent a great weekend up there - the hotel was literally on the battlefield, the restaurant sucked, but the bed was comfortable, you could open the windows, the weather cooperated, and I only got one migraine! We walked Pickett's Charge - they mow a large path from the Virginia monument to the stone wall.. that is a damned long walk, and it really brought home the incredible courage those men showed, taking that gentle slope into the storm of fire that was being aimed at them. The music from "Gettysburg" kept running through my head. LOVE that CD. (Thanks, sweetie, for getting it for me!)

Chatham House/Fredricksburg - another great day, battery fire (2 guns) and a group of infantry from New Jersey lead by a hysterically funny Sgt - who really brought home the trials and travails of a ground pounder during the War of Northern Aggression - whoops... the Virginia's coming out there... and I'm only one by marriage.

Migraines - one or two a week. I'm in a study now.. so there is some hope. I don't want to say too much about that here until we know more.

Work - the light at the end of the tunnel isn't the oncoming train anymore! yea. I have made headway on the files from hell, and I think I can start working on other stuff - whew. The boss seems happier since MIMI is gone - although we have found so much important crap hidden in her desk, you'd be amazed!

Politics - oh just shut up everyone! Yes, I'll be voting Democrat - but I'm done with it all. the negative ads, the BS online from both sides. Basta! The stupidity of those thinking Obama is some muslim terrorist in disguise, the ridiculous personal attacks... enough already. McCain isn't the second coming, nor is he the anti christ. I'm NOT going there.

Y'all take it easy.

LAW

Hiatus

That's what I'll call it, Hiatus. I've been on hiatus - like TV shows used to do it... OK, so I've actually just not posted.. sue me.

I'd like to tell you all about Gettysburg and the fantastic time we had out there, or about the bike ride (motor, not pedal) out to Arlington and the interesting history I learned there... but I'm just pissy today. I've had a migraine every other day, I'm not sleeping well and I'm just crabby. Everything I want to do, I either know will trigger another headache, or I can't finish it... I have these half done projects and just don't see an end to anything. Work is driving me nuts - enuff said there.

I'm not good company today - I'll try again later.

LAW

I am NOT Spam!

On Friday - my blog was locked. From what I see, many Blogger sites were locked, accused of being "spam blogs". Seems they have algorithm problems with their automatic spam blogging systems.. Well - as an old friend used to say -- BITE ME! This just pissed me off. Of course, for a couple minutes, I wondered - another rightwing way to shut all the liberals off? nah, they aren't dumb enough to try that one, because we will always find another way to mouth off.

It also made me realize I need to back this up, keep those posts that meant something, or where I said something meaningful and did it in a halfway decent fashion.

So I'm back. I'll actually write something when I get a chance to NOT be mad and/or busy as hell.

LAW

Ins Hofbrau Haus...

We had a reunion! Actually, a unit at the FieldStation DH was stationed at "back in the day" in Germany, had a get together at a German (Bavarian) Restaurant in Maryland. His instructor from School (we are talking late 70s here, folks) was there... I heard a LOT of stories... whoooda thunk it... Painting the tank PINK? having chair races? His rep at work would suffer... he he.

Food was Bavarian/American (my chief quibble, the Rotkraut was waaaay too sweet. ) but the Bier was good, the company was marvelous and we even liked the accordion players, the Austrian woman yodelled really well and of course we sang along where we could... all in all a great time.

A welcome change from work. This week has been a nightmare. I took over a file - with 20 some plaintiffs, from a young "paralegal" (with NO training, just a smart pre law student making some $ before law school) who took it over from another one just like him. Oh. My. God. what a freakin' disaster. File integrity (all documents for one person in one file)? Nah, a piece here, a piece there... and finding interesting records in boxes labeled - miscellaneous.... nothing kept in the separate folders in the document management system - all in "unopened cases" Correspondence... I'm spending a lot of time - in fact until Friday afternoon ALL of my week- just finding/sorting/making folders - making some sort of order from chaos. and finding more chaos because nothing was done properly, records haven't been requested... oh, it's just FUBAR. Majorly FUBAR!

On the good side - I have two divisions of the firm asking me to work for them, one side is actually demanding I stop doing what I'm doing for the other division - told the young associate doing a lousy imitation of a Top Kick (who thinks he's just soooooo wonderful and that his sh*t don't stink) that since the partner in charge gave his go ahead - think I'll just keep going.. he can confront the partner if he wants to.

Yoga is going great - had one of those yoga classes on Thursday that was so amazing, it all flowed, the relaxation/meditation at the end was refreshing... A great one. And the massage I had that afternoon after work - heaven. The back is starting to ease up, the migraines are still slamming me - two large ones last week needing drugs... a couple of little ones that eased off by themselves/coffee/stretching/meditating...

So, my dear blog friends, another week gone.. today is up in the air. I've brought some work home, I need to write a few posts for ParentsZone.org, but if the weather holds, we want to head for Occoquan for a historic festival - from the looks of the sky right now.. not so much!

Have a great week - I will try to post more often, but it will be mostly "that *($(&#$(* jackass... what MORON does THIS... (*(%$))(@*#)(*)@(*#$)(@#*). not so interesting..

Peace for the body, the mind and the spirit - Namaste.

LAW

Happy Birthday, Mandela

this is one of my heroes. A man who survived brutal imprisonmentfor over a quarter of a century, held to his ideals (ok, so his former wife was a mistake!) and has called for the rich to help the poor, works for the fight against AIDS in South Africa when it was considered a taboo subject, and is celebrating his 90th birthday with the world!

Happy Birthday, Madiba!

LAW

Oh, you just WON'T believe this one!

Talking to a young paralegal today..she's about to leave the firm to get her MBA - so you wouldn't think she was a true Twinkie. She was asking me about DH and what he does. She had just had breakfast with a friend of hers who is stationed at Bragg. When I asked what he did... she said he's an officer. "ok.... but what unit/type of unit" Infantry, I think, was her answer - sigh. BUT the best is yet to come, my children. Hearken to this:

She asked where DH was deployed to. I told her Iraq. She then asked:

Oh.. Did you go with him?

No, I kid you NOT! I didn't snap back with something akin to "how dumb ARE you?" I said, thinking she might not have heard me, "I said, he was in Iraq". She asked again, oh did you go? My response finally was - no, it's a WAR ZONE...

sigh... It never ceases to amaze me!

LAW

Happy Independence Day, y'all

Well... I had to go into work this morning, and the tourists have infested DC! the NEA is here too... 15,000 teachers and their families!! The Metro was just UGLY. But now, I'm back home and we are just going to veg.

I wrote a post on Parent's Zone

In addition, I want to thank all of you, the readers who have family in the service, thanks for putting up with the BS, the inane rules, the deployments, the re integration problems. Thank you to those in the service, for the same list, and for putting yourself on the line, no matter what your opinions or ideas on the subject.

LAW

One Year

It's been a year since he got back to the States. One Year. we have been in the same zip code, except for a week or so, since he got home. and it's actually a little weird! I can hear it now.. LAW - how can it be weird to have your DH home?- Easy.. Be Army! We had two deployments, (one was 22 months) two schools, two overseas TDYs (that's what happens when you are AGR) So I got used to having the bed to myself, the TV remote to myself, eating what I wanted when I wanted (cereal for dinner is ok... right? Dairy, carbs...) That all adds up to about 8 months together, in little 2-4 week reunions, in FOUR years.

So this feels like an anniversary - last year we were in Minnesota, he called on my cell to let me know that he was going to be released from McCoy for the holiday (went back for 3 weeks to assist in the inprocessing of returning MN Guardsmen) A friend went down and picked up her DH and mine... our reunion was in the Starbucks Parking Lot... I've never had one of those big hug and kiss wave flags and scream reunion... and I am hoping (against reality) that I don't have to do that again.

So happy Independence Day to all, and Happy Anniversary sweetie!

LAW

She's gone! happy dancing

OK, so I'm being petty....so sue me! but Mimi - the bane of my existence at work, is gone. gone gone gone - and there are a lot more staff there doing a happy dance. The attorneys - oblivious, absolutely oblivious, and surprised that staff members are delighted that she is gone! She quit, wasn't fired, but I think even she realized that no one was going to fight to have her stay. Her direct supervisor may not even have said it, but he wasn't exactly thrilled with her performance lately.

On to even worse. SpouseBuzz has always been my haven for sensible blogging, very supportive and when you said something about military living there, you knew that most of the spouses on there had "been there, done that, had waaaaay too many souvenirs". A posting, done reluctantly by the author, was made about a certain calendar and a military wife/bikini model with spouse living in Katterbach and linked to by Military.com ... and kindness, common sense and any spelling or grammar learnt in grade school - went right out the window. The nastiness, prating priggishness and sheer viciousness went on and on, the last time I looked before it was closed and not available, the comments numbered over 525. Ninety percent if not more, were attacks on the model, anyone looking at it, anyone not understanding that "men looking at such porn (and this wasn't porn!) are cheating on their wives" One comment stated the calendar was "unholy"! OK, so that one made me laugh... Where was the team, the support, the caring in our community? gone, with petty name calling taking over. Now I hasten to add, the "regular" posters, the ones that come to that site daily, were there to add some requests for civility, some calm discourse... the visitors were another story altogether.

Folks, this calendar was no worse than the SI bikini addition, the latest Pamela Anderson sighting, or Victoria's Secret last catalogue. To read some of the comments, no man who loved his wife looks at anyone else... even at the beach. Oh get REAL here! If my husband of over 30 years didn't look at a beautiful woman on the beach in a bikini - I'd take his pulse! If I don't look at a good looking guy in shorts, take mine! It doesn't mean we aren't faithful and loving spouses, it means we are human. My grandmother, the little German Lady, once stopped in a mall and watched a very nice specimen of manhood walk down the walkway. When, as a shallow girl of 25 I asked her "Omi, how can you DO that" - she smiled and told me she wasn't dead yet and that beauty was to be enjoyed in many forms!

Why am I taking time and space for this subject. Because I was ashamed of my community, of the women and girls who were supposedly from the military family I am part of. As one friend said, there were some on there who weren't really milspouses, and like stirring the pot. I take a percentage out, and am still left with a nasty taste in my mouth, that has nothing to do with my morning cup of coffee. I must be getting old.

To the good side of my week - we went to the Twilight Tattoo at Ft. McNair. Great show, lots of marching and martial music, a couple of nice horses, the Old Guard Drill Team flinging Springfield rifles with bayonets about and scaring the whoo ha out of me (that 1st Sgt who stand in the middle of the circle whilst these weapons are flying.. has all my respect), punctuated with periodic cannon fire that made everyone jump 2 feet! It was a lovely evening, not too hot yet. Helicopters from the Marine One fleet were flying around too, making for an interesting back drop, and there were boats on the river next to the parade ground. General Casey was in attendance (jeez, he's a short guy!) Made for a fun evening - had a picnic before the review - now we need to hit the Marine one at the Iwo Jima memorial... gotta check them all out, and they are FREE! nice price. You can get to the locations by Metro and a short walk.

On the weather front, here in the Nation's Capitol... let me just say, I need GILLS! hot, humid and just yuck. The tourists are flocking now, and the Metro is more and more crowded. Gas prices probably have a lot to do with it! over 4 bucks. Our Prius is turning out to be a better and better purchase, and yes, we do gloat periodically.

Time to get ready for work. It's FRIDAY! yay. Plans for the weekend are fluid and depend on the weather. The office picnic at the Zoo - not so much. I know what's going to be there, the suck up associates hanging on the partners' every word, the young paralegal clique will be hanging around either playing silly games or languidly lounging - being JUST too cool for the room... and the old farts like me, no where to be seen.

Have a great weekend, be safe, be happy, and please, be kind. Peace for the mind, body and spirit, Namaste.

LAW

Been a while...

With getting Parent's Zone up and running - Tammy, I can't even thank you enough...- and the insanity of work, salted with the occasional migraine.. I've been lax in posting..

I'm growing gills, I think - I need them to breathe around here. Last weekend's heat wave knocked me for a loop! I used to be able to handle heat and humidity, but age and migraine have turned me into a wimp. These headaches rule my life now, and my husband's time off too.

Yesterday, you may have read that 30 blocks of downtown DC were dark for a long time. I was in our office... in the dark... no AC (remember this, it's important later) and NO COFFEE. the partners waited until about 9:30 (I got there at 7:45) to tell us to just go home. After all... we were looking at 4 hours to get the servers up, even if the power went on... which it did right after most people left. I elected to take work home, but didn't get any done. Thanks to the whole no AC/stuffiness and no coffee.. the migraine hit about 2. I had gone to the shoe stores ... I'll rant about that later... and then to get new glasses, which I desperately need. and then I could feel it starting, so home we went and the rest of the day was a total loss.

Shoe store - tell me WHY they have to have the music up to a decibel level designed to make you want to break things??? and it's weird "world music" too... with unintelligible screeeeeeching and atonal chording of unknown instruments. I can handle that at a decent sound level, but the windows were shaking from the level... I asked for them to turn it down and was told they have no control over it... bizarre. I got a pair of sandals and fled. then off to safe, stodgy old JC Penney for a pair of black small heeled shoes.... no 4 inch spikes, no strange and wonderful coins/chain/strange heel... just boring old black "court" shoes. I fail to understand WHY someone {the Sex in the City dressers} decided we needed spikes again, to make our low backs scream, the toes whimper and the plantar fascia vibrate... I just don't know..

I sound like a grumpy old lady. I'm not, really, I'm not.

Then to the dreaded eyeglasses. Now folks, I've been wearing glasses since I was 8. I have had some true disasters of frames, but now I'm just floored. If the lenses get any smaller, there won't be room for the bifocal I need! and the rimless ones I have now, I will never get again. I'm hard on the things, I fall asleep with my glasses on and "mush" them under the motorcycle helmet and all sorts of silly things. so I got the ones you can basically tie up in a knot. Luxotica brand and many many $$ but they need to last, they need to be usable for at least a year. and NO, no separate sunglasses (I hate carrying around another set of glasses...) so I'll get a few pairs of clip on sunglasses I won't worry about if I lose them...

I AM turning into an old lady... HELP ME!

Later, guys... Later.

LAW

Marine Corps 10K walk/run

Sign up June 4!!! fees 45$ plus processing.

here's the link.

I will be walking for Sew Much Comfort - anyone who wants to join me, let me know. We need to sign up separately, but can meet up there.

Update: Vypergirl and I are signed up... anyone else? Hope we see you there.


LAW

Memorial day again

another view of Memorial Day. Thoughtfully written from the heart. For some of my more Republican friends - you might not like part of it...

LAW

A liberal - but Garrison IS a jackass

Garrison Keillor is a true jackass. His recent opinion piece on Rolling Thunder is twaddle. Absolute twaddle!

First - most of those people (of which I am proud to say I was one!) are either veterans, families of veterans or presently serving. They are NOT " grown men playing soldier, making a great hullaballoo without exposing themselves to danger, other than getting drunk and falling off a bike." They exposed themselves to danger - maybe he should have looked at those ugly vests and seen the patches - Brownwater Navy - 1st Armored - VietNam - KheSanh - OIF - Afghanistan - Desert Storm. There were memorial tags - riding for a dead friend, a missing brother, a buried son.

Second - Rolling Thunder ended at the Memorials. The ones that he just caaaaaaaaaaaahnt be bothered with. Where those balding, ponytailed fat men cried, where the Wall was smothered in cards, medals and wedding rings, flowers, teddy bears and children's pictures.

Third - the WW2 memorial, the "bland insult" was designed by veterans, in the style that the veterans of that time understood and revered. How do I know? I asked my dad, the WW2 vet.

If he wanted to go to the National Gallery and trail his fingers in the lake with Cassat's lady - fine. But don't you DARE insult men and women honoring THEIR dead.

I am, as my blog states - a Liberal. and I LOVED MPR - we used to listen to Prairie Home Companion - although it gets a little old sometimes. This idiotic, St. Paul Uber Liberal Elitist crap is NOT a liberal speaking. Just a nasty little man, who believes his own press clippings.

Just wondering, would he say the same thing to the Patriot Guard Riders... If he does, he better run reeeeeeely fast. I know a couple of General Officers who'd love a chance at him.

LAW

Memorial Day - ROLLING THUNDER

Oh. Wow. It was amazing. We rode in Rolling Thunder this weekend. We just started riding a few months ago, and this was the first big "meeting type" ride... What a way to start!

Saturday we went over to the Pentagon - yeah we were lost, thinking that Thunder Alley was there (shopping zone for all things biker and military) Nope. But we did meet up with some great Michigan folks, who had a GPS and led us to a Harley Dealership in Maryland that was hosting the whole shebang. This was fine... then we realized that we were going on the BeltWay... Now DH has done so before and is just fine out there... lets just say the guys we were riding with asked me when we got to the site "how long you been riding with him?" they were very polite about it, but I suppose the death grip I had on the sissy bar under my seat was a dead giveaway! yikes. But going on the highway with a whole group was actually a great intro to it, after all, no moron in an SUV on his cell phone was going to actually plow into a huge bunch of bikers.. if he wanted to live, that is!

Next morning, off to the Pentagon again. The schedule was - pull out from there at noon, so we got there at 8:30... and the place was already jammed 3/4 full. We found one of the Michiganders again (the potty lines were a great gathering place!) and he said they had been there since 6:45! Met up with Vypergirl and her family.. cute kids and a neat sidecar for them - loaded with lots of Mom snacks. It was hot, but there were lots of water tents, but not NEARLY enough Port a Potties! If you waited until you HAD to... you were in big trouble. We found some shade to hunker down in.. note to selves - next year, camp chairs! Here's me.. with just a few hundred thousand of our dearest and closest friends! (It's a Yamaha V Star Silverado 1100)



Finally, at noon, the Thunder roared. We started our engine at 1:30 and pulled out a few minutes later. Guys - it was AMAZING! the sound was phenomenal, and we rode and rode, across the Memorial Bridge around Lincoln, down to Constitution, past the Memorials, past people waving and clapping. ONE obnoxious guy, with ape hanger handlebars and cored out pipes decided to position himself off our starboard side and deafened us.. At the end, we kept going and ended up somewhere out in Rosslyn! Then we went back, and found Thunder Alley, did some shopping for patches and such.. Motored home, still jazzed! We were going to go back downtown on the Metro for the Concert, but we just figured we'd declare victory and stay home.

Monday - we tried to go to Arlington - No joy there. No bags, no water bottles.. It was already hot and there were lots of folks there - so forget it. We'll go when we can actually see the stones, and don't have to stop everything because yet another VIP convoy has to disrupt EVERYONE. We saw the POTUS motorcade twice - yawn.

Went to the VietNam Memorial instead. and it did it to me again. This place - it makes me weep every time. There was a lot of emotion there today, one gentleman was sobbing uncontrollably and was alone. When he could gather himself, he looked at me and thanked me for the hand on the shoulder.. he said he couldn't handle having his family see him like that. That alone was heartbreaking! We walked around, being deafened by the whirlybird ahead of the motorcade. Then the crowds got heavier, and it got hotter, and we packed up, came home. All in all, what a way to spend the Memorial Day weekend. Remembering. and being so proud of my military family.

LAW

GI Film Festival

um... what to say here.... they really need to advertise it more! not many folks there. had fun at the MilBlogging forum seeing Miss Andi and Joan D'arc and Maj. Z... who had a great long chit chat with DH.

Attendance was awful. not many folks there at all, most of them the film folk - most of whom were there, of course, to sell their movie/idea. Capt Dale Dye was there, with entourage... it was a pleasant way to spend a weekend.

We did get some work done on the Parent's Page. It's not perfect, or any where near done, but we'll get there.

so, another weekend shot. Laundry is presently going round, and the workweek looms. Next weekend - Rolling Thunder (which is why I ordered a seat for the motorcycle, for some extra padding).

Later.

LAW

Bad Voodoo

I was able to listen to the SpouseBuzz Radio Show, and the interview with the creator of Bad Voodoo War. I haven't seen it yet, but I plan to. Her discussion about the comments she has been getting was inspiring. So if you want to, click on the title of this post, and watch. don't forget to comment.

LAW

Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day

to all of us. My DIL and I were talking last night, she has a relative about to marry a Ranger. She was asking me my advice and what to get her. I told her about a couple of books - Married to the Military (yeah, the pink camo sucks, but the book is good) and then Help, I'm a Military Spouse and I want a Life too. DIL said " it's a lot harder being the wife, than being active" She's been both. It was a sweet thing to say, don't you think?

Anyway. Happy MSAD to all..

LAW

Grandbaby is here

My family is in town, my folks from Fla. my son, DIL and the sweetest grandbaby in the world are here. I won't go into how perfect she is now.. just to let you know I may not be on much until Wednesday.

OH - CANNOT forget. Butterfly Wife is a happy lady right now, Jack Bauer is home. welcome home, Sir. and Wife Unit - hope he and Gassy Gussy are happy and well.

LAW

Parent's Page

Is up! well, a small beginning of one, anyway. If you are a parent of a serving military member,go on over,[click on the title of this post] leave a comment and most importantly, leave us a way to get to you! If you don't want to leave an email address in the open, let us know that, and we'll figure out how to get to you. My cohort in this is VERY tech savvy... which is good... I'm not so good!

If you know that your mom or mom in law would like to participate in a meeting place for parents, please let them know it's there. Click on the title of this post to get there or on the link on the right.

thanks.

LAW

Nope- no profound thoughts again

The sun is out. and it's a lovely day. The balcony boxes are looking good, need to buy a few more plants for another planting stacker.. more herbs I think.

The FRG meeting was a bit disappointing. No - not the pizza. the fact that 25 people responded that they were coming.. and only the same old 11 or so (and most of them, the uniformed members/SGM - unit leaders) actually did. Folks - if you want a good FRG, you gotta, GOTTA, take part!!!!!!! Apathy is our greatest enemy here.

DH was out of town for a while, got back Saturday. Mandatory fun picnic today - we'll ride the bike down and hang out for a little while, but have a lot of stuff to do as well. The unit didn't ask for anyone to help, it's all being catered, which is a let down as well. wouldn't it be more fun to have some of the guys flipping the burgers, pot luck on the sides and good desserts from others? a bit more of a get together.... ah well.

Later...

LAW

rain rain rain

I kinda hope the drought is officially over. Because I am starting to wonder if we need a boat. Sunday, it drizzled and then poured. Monday... ditto.

BUT on the good side - whilst waiting for DH to get ferried back from the finishing line of the GW Parkway 10 miler, I spied an ESTATE SALE. Now, I was waiting for him in a rather nice older neighbourhood outside DC... So I went in, and there it was. A black formal gown, very simple but beautifully cut, with the tags still on [Nordstroms.. formal room...]! and the lovely couple doing the sale said - sure go ahead, try it on - and it fits. like a glove. A little low in the front for me, DH likes it.. but it needs to be shortened as soon as I find the right shoes. and only $30!! So. now I hunt for low heeled fancy shoes. HOWEVER, we still don't know anyone else going to the Army Ball, and I hate going by ourselves, lots more fun with a table full of folks ya know.

Then the nurseries.. and I held back. got some lovely stuff, but the 6 large bags of potting soil made DH a weeeee bit crabby. Now, if it would warm up and stop blowing long enough for me to fill the balcony boxes and pots, it would be great. Still need a few more little things to fill a stacked pot, but then.. it will look nice.

I was showing a co worker our house, which is back on the MLS. They have 360 views of it - including my lovely big kitchen, with the acres of counter space, the monster pantry, and I wanted to just cry. ah well, the adventure will continue. Just wish someone would buy the blasted thing!

Onwards and upwards. a new day, maybe the boss will have his head out of his 4th POC... doubt it. and maybe the sun will peep out. on the good side - Yoga class and FRG meeting tonight - Pizza night!

Y'all take care. Profundities lacking again... maybe later in the week.

LAW

motorcycle, 10 mile runs... My Weekend

NO - I didn't nor will I run 10 miles. DH is as we speak doing the George Washington Parkway 10 miler. I don't run, not even for a train.

We had a fantastic day yesterday, went on the motorcycle- down to Old Town Alex the back way (via Eisenhower, for any of you in the area) wandered Old Town, found a super bakery for a decent sourdough, picked up his race packet and took off again. I love Old Town, the streets are lovely and the townhouses are gorgeous. But oh mama - the price of a house down there! YIKES! Then... down the George Washington Parkway. Very little traffic, glorious sunshine, the azaleas, the lilac and all manner of flowering bushes just popping out all over. Stunning, against the backdrop of some jawdropping houses, and on the other side, the Potomac.. Unfortunately, we had to go on US 1. Stunningly awful, traffic was horrible, store after store after store after...... and it was HOT!

today - the plant nursery! After I pick up himself, off down US 1 and get plants, potting soil.. and try not to buy too much, because I have just a teeeeeeeeny balcony.

I don't feel like writing anything profound. Just wanted to talk about a great day.

take care, hope your day is a good one.

LAW

Colonel, I'm ashamed of you!

Today was the day I was ashamed of a man in uniform. The Metro was packed. absolutely sardine like. Then... we had to get off because of a technical problem. so you can imagine what the NEXT one was like... Insanity!

So we squished in... and then I saw it. A full bird colonel, eagles gleaming. sitting. and an elderly woman standing in front of him. and he kept sitting. Now I don't expect him to get up for me. but this woman was white haired and having a great deal of trouble maintaining her balance and holding on to a rail.. and he sat. Officer and a gentleman, huh? Not So Much. and before anyone thinks he was injured.. the way he sprang up, grabbed his PT bag and rushed off when we hit his stop.. No.

LAW

I got tagged

so.. the 5 Things:

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. planning, drawing, getting ideas for the house we ended up building.
2. working
3. getting the house we lived in ready to sell
4. walking the property we had, figuring, planning
5. helping my husband get through school by doing 2.

5 things on my to do list

1. Look for more sites to link to on the new Parent's site
2. email friends to see if anyone wants to do the Marine Corps 10K
3. crochet work on the king size cover
4. look for more books on CD for granddaughter
5. Laundry

5 Snacks I enjoy

1. Goldfish - whole grain
2. Fruit - most any kind
3. Chocolate - milk because dark gives me migraine - Belgian or Swiss/German.
4. popcorn - kettle corn is best
5. dried fruit - apricots, prunes, raisins, apples.

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire

1. Quit work
2. Start my own organizing business
3. look for property
4. Fund my granddaughter's schooling
5. But first, just for me...Buy a Bugatti Vayron, go to Germany/Italy/Switzerland and DRIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 Bad Habits

1. I read rather than do something I should be doing
2. I sleep when I should work out
3. I mess with my cuticles
4. According to DH, I steal the covers
5. I pick on DH for the toilet roll, toilet seat... wet towels..

5 places I've lived. Jeez. I've lived in at least 10 different countries... I'll give you my favourites.

1. Naples Italy
2. Bad Homburg, Germany
3. London and Sussex
4. Washington DC
5. Sydney Australia

5 Jobs I've had

1. Paralegal for 20 years
2. Worked at a plant nursery
3. Kitchen Designer
4. Passport Clerk in a Consulate
5. Secretary

Now - I'm going to be a bad girl. I'm not tagging anyone. sorry.

LAW

You GOTTA be kidding me!

Dick Cheney has outdone himself. he has decided (no, he's NOT the Decider, he runs the Decider) that the one who is truly affected by the loss of life in Iraq is... (drumroll for stupidity, please) the Preznent. Let's recap, shall we?

We were going into Iraq because (pick one, they tried them all...) WMD, Saddam Hussein was going to help AlQuaeda, Saddam had already helped AlQuaeda, he was getting the Bomb. No, we went in because Dickie and George and Rummie and the rest of them wanted to. Now, not ONE of them has a family member in uniform. NOT ONE. Shrub prancing about in a flight suit doesn't count. I may not like McCain, but he DOES have skin in this.

They were warned, we need more men, better equipment. The sheer rage I felt when we heard the "we go in with the army we have...." Now, correct me if I'm wrong... we didn't HAVE to start the conflict in Iraq. we could have waited and had the right equipment, right? No one invaded us. OH PLEASE, I can hear the right wingers now... they attacked us on 9/11. ONE MORE TIME - there were no Iraqis in that group, no proof ever that Saddam Hussein was in any way involved. the secular Baathist government of Iraq was a supremely evil group, run by a true piece of slime, but it was NOT responsible for 9/11.

Anyway - to get back to the subject. So, they were warned, more men, it's not going to be the piece of cake they wanted... the people were NOT going to strew flowers in our path. and the general who warned them, fired. anyone who warned them, gone. Then... oh, it was only a few loyalisssts, and some terrrrrrsts. there's no civil war in Iraq... how much more drivel do we have to listen to? how many more lies? and do they believe any of it??

Now, I don't know how we leave, who do you want to be the last one out? I don't see an end here, and it scares me, and it makes me angry. I look at the men and women in uniform on post, on the Metro... and I worry.

I had some good news today, a woman I worked with earlier emailed me and told me her son was home, from his second tour in the Litterbox. Breathed a little easier! but how many of my blogging friends have boots in the sand right now.. and we breathe a sigh of relief as they come home and dread the next deployment.


For those who got us into this disaster, I hope, oh how I hope, that there really is karma. what goes around, will come around.

LAW

Five Years

Today is one of those days that I really have to think about who/what I am. A Liberal, who has strong feelings against the Iraq war. A Proud Army Wife, who supports her husband, the troops, completely. A Liberal, who thinks the Afghanistan War was and is the right thing to do. A Proud Army Mom, who supported her son during his Army days, and now supports him in his ongoing life as a veteran. A Proud Army Wife, who is active in her new FRG and trying to help some of the younger mil-spouses out there who are a little bit lost in this new military life.

I wrote a blog a while ago "where would I have stood" and I still don't know. A woman I work with, seeing my peace symbol next to my Army Wife pin, asked if I wanted to go to a vigil tonight... and I can't. A woman screamed at me on the train this morning, that I was some sort of traitor... Her exact words " I guess you think we deserved 9/11"... my response - what a fatuous idiotic statement that is...

It would be so much easier to not listen to the two sides of me. Being torn like this makes me wonder, if it wouldn't be easier to forget it all, to not read the news, not watch the Honor Roll on Lehrer, to not respond to the FRG requests for help, to not blog, to not go to SpouseBuzz or any of the other military blogs. I think it would be easier, but I wouldn't be me.

One thing I noticed today - no uniforms. My train goes to the Pentagon, and usually there are lots of men and women in uniform, and I always feel great seeing them. Today, they were in that "civies" uniform, jeans, polo shirt and jacket... That's a shame.

So from me - to the men and women in uniform, I'm so damned proud to be in your family. To the protestors, yes we want peace, but don't forget, your right to protest is protected by those men and women in uniform. Protest the decision, not the ones who are carrying it out. And to my friends, both to the left and the right of the spectrum, thank you for putting up with this two sided confused Proud Liberal Army Wife (especially you, love of my life.)

LAW

Baby shower, daylight savings and other twaddle

Sheesh... been awhile since I posted! No excuses, just busy. and sometimes, just too much to say.

Had a nice little baby shower for WifeUnit, her friend "Aunty Jenn" and the cutest little bundle boy. unfortunately, due to deployment leaving/coming home and illness, as well as some other stuff, we didn't have a big crowd. But fun was had anyway. How much the guest of honour enjoyed himself, I'll leave up to his mommy. I sure enjoyed having him here. But I don't think the cat really figured out what that was, made funny little noises and everyone cooed it it... hmmmm

I'm hearing from the kid, who has to go to work at some unholy hour of 2 am... that daylight savings time is kicking his butt. DH got up to run an 8K race this morning... but it hasn't hit me yet, since I woke up at... well... let's see, OLD time it was 3:30... NEW time 4:30. Whichever, it was waaay too damned early. Ah well. I'll sleep great tonight, after cookie baking with the FRG later.

Elections - I'm mortified by the Dems, absolutely detesting all of them right now, why DO we have to act this way. All we are doing, is giving fodder to the Repubs. STOP IT NOW!! we have BIG problems here, we need serious answers, from serious people. Oh... I miss Bill Richardson!

more later... about the Parent's Page we are trying to start.

LAW

The drivel that Anonymous posted

THIS is the blather that I didn't allow to post earlier. This is what "anonymous" posted. See... I don't usually like to allow jackass dimwit stupid fools...



Let me see. You say you're a liberal Army wife. Impossible. If your husband serves Honorably, he would be smart enough to not marry lib trash. You're a democrat so that makes you lazy, useless, reliant on others for a handout. You support the idiots who got our country nuked, the ones who are going to ruin this country, the ones who are rewriting the Constitution. This country needs Flag flying Americans. Not Flag burning Osamacrats. This country needs honorable people, not cowards like the Bin Rotten Shitons or Osama Bin Kerry. Yes I am in the Military, serving honorably and keeping our country from getting blown up again. Because Liberals despise America, there is no possible way those cowards could serve a day in the Military at all. Libs need to be spit on like Kerry, Hillary, and Osama do to us.

We need to support our troops in the best possible way. That's why the Libtard Terrorist Organizations need to keep Socialist Hitlery Rotten and Raghead Barack Osama away from the White House. We dont need another 9/11. After all, real Americans would never vote Democrat or let Libtrash destroy the free world.

Ok - now then... have at it, folks. This sort of twaddle is just NOT conducive to civil discourse. ooops, to this twerp, I'm sure that sentence is not understandable. hmmm.

LAW

Organizing - and The Stuff

So ... a little history. My mother is a neatnik, so's my dad. They like lots of Stuff, but it's neat and tidy or at least put away somewhere no one can see if it's a mess. I was, as are many children/teens - a total slob. Really bad. food under the bed, clothes everywhere.

So how did I become an organizer, a person who actually went to someones house and helped her clean up - someone who ruthlessly culled all the junk/stuff/things in the basement and who is trying to keep this speck of an apartment neat? CONTROL. I needed to control something in my life. At the time, DH was deployed. I was working, granted at a great firm for a fun boss (who I really miss right now) but I was on a treadmill. get up, go to bus stop, go to work, go to bus stop, come home. Round and round and round. I controlled nothing in my life, The Army controlled the most important part, the kid was in his own family with a wife and baby and didn't need me, the work was controlled by the Court and the boss... and the house was a pit. I had nested into the couch, stuff piled around me, with the laptop on the living room table. I couldn't find anything, I hated coming home to the mess.

The closet had been organized before he left, we designed it well.. and there were piles everywhere now. He's not neat, at all, so it wasn't as if I was somehow mad at him and letting it all go. I lived out of laundry baskets, and didn't really care about how I looked or if I wore the same few outfits over and over.

So I watched one of those shows.. they had an entire weekend of it on.. and I started. I got the closet shoveled first, and then the pantry.. and then the rest of the kitchen. Then - the living room. That took a long time, not just because I didn't take the time, taking apart my nest was scary. Then I took pleasure in the clean - then we listed the house and it was necessary. It was wonderful to come home to clean, neat, tidy, organized. Then the deployment ended. Neat wasn't so important, but the house WAS still on the market (hell, it still IS on the market) Organizing for the move was crucial, and I think it helped, but I will do better the next time.

Control - well the Army still does control a lot of our lives, he's off for a few days down to another base down south and that's not going to be easy (bringing back all those deployment memories) but the house is organized, a little untidy when I'm in the middle of something, but we organized it when we moved in, and that helps. I have a place for the Stuff and a lot less of it.

If you are drowning in stuff and clutter and hate it, pick a little something, a book case, or a small closet and dig in. Promise, it'll help. If you are in the DC area, let me know, I'll spend a Saturday with you shoveling!

LAW

Why is it?

That the first really nasty comments - "you are a liberal - you are a traitor" type of trash... were both from "anonymous"?? With the courage of the vitriolic drivel he/she spat at me, wouldn't you want to proudly proclaim your identity?

OH - Anonymous - this country wasn't nuked, YES my husband is very proudly serving his country, as our son and daughter in law both did, the Constitution has been amended, NOT rewritten, and I do NOT hate America. I am not lazy, dependant on ANYONE for a handout, I am a hardworking and flag flying American... Next???

I don't mind, in fact I encourage, dialogue. coherent, well mannered, courteous discussion, not nasty, denigrating twaddle. OK, so I'll call some politicians names - but that's allowed! So if you disagree with me, fine, say so in the above referenced coherent courteous manner, and have the guts to leave your name/blog sign.

LAW

woohooo!

I'm getting an office next week! Stinky has really made sitting at my desk so uncomfortable, his open mouth eating habit is worse, since he has a sinus problem.. enuff said there.. as well as someone I'll call Mimi (yeah, that's what the makeup looks like... and the clothes...) who insists on yelling at her kids, the school principal and anyone else, at the top of her lungs on the phone, two desks down... between that and her frangipani bath of perfume... I'm soooo happy to be moving into an office, where I can close my door and NOT hear or smell any of them!

So just 4 more days. I can do that easily

LAW

A Day Off

And I plan to enjoy it. doing what? Not much at all! Yesterday, we went to the Band of the Coldstream Guards and Pipes of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.. and if you like the pipes, you MUST go if they come to a venue near you. They seem to be playing University campuses... and they are magnificent! Amazing music, the competition set the pipers played was mindblowing.

Saturday night, Heather came for dinner - our FIRST dinner guest. She's moving close to us.. which is wonderful. she even likes to crochet, and Sarah taught her to knit - it'll be a yarn party! and himself the cat was polite and pleasant, DH enjoyed himself.. dinner worked out well.

work - is fine. weather - chilly but fine. DH - fine. Cat - fine. well.. so what do I have to complain about? nada.

The election coverage IS driving me insane. I'm upset because the thinking person's candidate is gone. Governor Richardson.. but since our election coverage is all about the top 3, and nothing about the ones who aren't- we try to hope that the smart people will come to the fore - but it's the ones with money who surge forward.

One more year. just one more year, as of yesterday. whew. can we do it?

LAW

A few days later

Folks, I am SO glad I'm not in Minnesota right now. Its cold.. really really dangerously nastily cold. Here in DC... we are in the 20s and teens tonight. balmy, my friends, balmy.

DH wanted me to talk about the new car. On our trip, we got about 49.5 miles per gallon. That was amazingly wonderful! It's comfortable, has lots of gadgets (that's important, you know... ) as a matter of fact, the whole CAR is a gadget. So, guess he wins the gadget contest. Oh... just in case you didn't know, it's a Prius.

let's see... not much else here. Green asked about my FRG.. I am hopeful. There were a LOT of uniforms at the last meeting I went to. Since the unit doesn't deploy as a group, but there are individuals who are deployed hither, thither and yon, the troops who are here are involved. The silly rules about fundraising are a pain in the tail, does anyone know if those are going to be discussed/changed any time soon?

Stay warm everyone. And oh, let's cheer REALLY LOUDLY because Mark is on his way home to Jan (author of Standing By... the blog roll has the link)

Talk to y'all later

LAW

Happy New Year etc etc

I know, I know... it's been a while! actually, according to DH, a lot longer than "a while". He get perturbed (another word for pissy) when I don't post...

OH, before we discuss traffic, Christmas, NewYears etc... I actually got a letter from the Hotel that SpouseBuzz Three was held in. I had a lousy room, the front desk staff was truly awful, the lunch set up was mishandled... but the conference itself was superb! I filled out one of those cards and truly ripped the staff at the hotel itself a new one.. and I received an apology from the management. Let's hope they got the hint.

So. We went down to FL for Xmas. and can ANYONE tell me why the Hwy 95 traffic through N. Carolina and S. Carolina was so damned horrendous?????? we ended up staying at a motel at the Beaufort S. Carolina exit (hint... do NOT stay at the Best Western there... just sayin')We pulled off the road after 12 hours, at times at a full stop. An hour later, when DH decided to have his well earned cigar, the check-in desk was three deep with folks wanting a place to stay. We got to my folks house the next day, and had a really good visit. Lots of laughing, DH spent hours with my dad, setting up the new computer etc. I missed the grandbaby, but from the happy giggles I heard on the phone, she had a great time.

The trip north/back home was fine, but the southbound traffic on the Thurs after xmas was just as awful! We will need to find a different route south... anyone know if Highway 301 is a good alternative??

New Years, went to a party at some friends of mine from childhood, met up with other State Dept brats... one of whom is off to the Litterbox and who huddled with the DH for a couple of hours.

I now have an IPod... and DH is trying to teach me how to upload music/pictures/videos.. I'm slightly hopeless so he'll just have to stay around to help me with it!

The new job is going well. I am enjoying most of the people, except for the person I have to sit next too. His nickname - Stinky.. and his eating habits.. erk. Supposedly I'll get an office in a couple of months, yay! DH is happy in his new job as well, and we are getting involved in various organizations, including our FRG.

There ya go! caught up, sorta... I want to wish everyone out there a great New Year. To the deployed and their families - hang in there, and if you need a shoulder, it's here. To my blog friends - Happy New Year!

LAW

Snow & DC = a BIG mess

ok, so it snowed a couple inches... you would honestly have thought we were in the middle of a blizzard! the Metro - I wanted to go "mooooo" when I got on, and got smushed by the folks behind me. I did get a seat after 2 stops. And I always get a seat when I get on in the morning, since I am near the beginning of the line.

The new job - GREAT! I am finally (I hope) out of the orientation cycle. For 2 days, it was reading two large binders of information and meeting with the various heads of department to learn this, that and the other... but you know I won't really learn it, until I have to DO it. My mentor finally took pity on my whimpers and gave me an actual file to work up. No office for me yet, but I'm told it won't be long. the open cubicle stuff would be better, if I didn't have someone next to me with the eating manners of a sloppy 2 year old. He's a nice guy, but listening to him eat - a great diet aid. wonder if I can use some headphones...

Christmas shopping - I'm not done, but then we aren't going nuts.. I can't tell you what I'm giving the family - they read this occasionally. But the Grandbaby - lots of books! some of them are noisier than others.... I also finished cross stitching her stocking. She won't care for the next few years - but I hope it looks nice.

DH and I got up yesterday to use the gym in the complex - I'll try for 3xs a week at first. Unfortunately, one downside of the job is the "no sneakers/trainers" rule. With some foot problems, it's uncomfortable wearing "real" shoes. So I'm shoe shopping for proper shoes that are comfy. And... I cheat... wear sneakers TO work, then change when I'm there. This also affects working out, I don't get on the elliptical or walk, I use the bike. small steps, small steps, soon I'll be going 5xs a week and maybe power walking again.

Green - anytime you are up here in DC, or I get a chance to come down - Cracker Barrel it is! But Dyke Street is a little street that the Tom Tom gizmo Kate was using made us go down whilst searching for an IHOP! SFW has decided we need a song... "on Broadway" tune... I started singing it for DH, he moaned a lot!

We thought we had a buyer for the house, but they only offered 50K under our price, and didn't counter our counter... DH doesn't think they were ever really serious, the wife wanted our house, the husband - a condo in the City. hmm.... bit of a disconnect there!

This weekend.. go down and see the National Xmas Tree, and maybe, maybe, I'll get to drive the new car! We have to hit the commissary, so I'm hoping the DH will be slow to get to the car, I'll get in the driver's seat and voila!

That's about it for here... y'all be good, or if you can't.... don't get caught, Santa is still watching you!

LAW

Spouse Buzz Live

I just returned from a wonderful weekend. Meeting those people, the ones I have blogged with, who have heard me cry and laugh and obsess and fight... was a truly amazing experience. Thank you all for being there, for all that hard work, the traveling, the setting up. Badger, Green, Butterfly Wife.. it was so incredible! Vince, thanks for dinner.

Now the hotel.. that was another matter altogether. But the camaraderie, the laughs, the tears, the "yeah, you get it" ... it was worth every second.

Thank you to SemperFiWife and the other "Dyke Street girls" for the carpool down.. anytime you want another body to hit Cracker Barrel.. I'm game! Biscuits!!

Oh, I just can't WAIT for next year!

LAW

The Cat Rules!

JJ is so clever! Since I am going to work, and we are planning on a few trips, we wanted to get the Cat Litter Box problem taken care of. Yesterday we went and bought the automatic type, the one that rakes by itself. After putting it together - and that takes a while- I put the litter in and sprinkled on some of the litter from the other box. I figured it would take a while for him to get used to it and decide to use it. 40 minutes later, I heard the sound of the little motor. TA DAH! he did it. No fuss, no muss... but it doesn't seem to work as well as I would like. I'll still need to clean it out every couple of days, but the worst of it will be taken care of.

His new bowls - you know, the ones with the reservoir for water and food - he didn't even blink. Of course, his favourite water bowl is STILL the people toilet...I will NOT buy the running water thing.. we had one before and it was just a mess!

OK, so now I have the cat taken care of - we got new lunch bags for both of us, since neither of us eat out for lunch. Clothes - I need to shorten some of my suit pants... Got some nice flat shoes... Need to get some more $ on my Smart Pass for the Metro...

BUT FIRST - SpouseBuzzLive3... I'm getting so excited! I'll be meeting some new friends and carpooling down. Then FUN!

See ya there!

LAW

I gotta JOB!!

Yay, hooray... I will start working at a law firm in DC on Monday! my wonderful head hunter did a great job for me. So if anyone is looking for work in the DC area - not just legal, she places lots of corporate and accounting people too- let me know, I'll get her info to you.

NOW I can go to SBL3 without feeling guilty! and do some clothes shopping, without feeling guilty. whew. It's been a hard slog this time, I guess I had expectations of being in the market to choose between job offers... but it didn't happen that way. This is a good firm, right on the Metro and close to some dangerous shopping! I was hoping to get a Federal job - but the application process is such a nightmare... I applied for a few, never heard anything, then found out from a placement person that I needed to completely rewrite my resume, write KSA's, and wait for months.

So... I'll see you at Bragg!

LAW

burp - Oh 'scuse me!

the meal went well! even the gravy worked out.. and the oven didn't burn everything to a cinder. Before we ate, DH put up curtain rods in the dining area and hung the new curtains. when they get the creases out, they will look even better. Glad we went with that colour. Then he put up shelves in the spare room closet, and moved the hanging rod up in the master bedroom closet and another lower rod as well. For a "day off" he worked his butt off.

Today, can you believe it.... after he gets back from an early morning conference call... we are heading to Michaels and Bed Bath.... Need a couple of things for a project, and one of those immersible mixer wands - the butternut squash was so good, we want to make soup out of the leftunders. -- yeah, leftunders, don't know where that came from, I think our son made that one up. I'm hoping everyone is at Best Buy or something!

With DH's encouragement, I have decided to go ahead and blow the $ on SpouseBuzzLive. Some networking... some fun... meet the people who know more about me than some members of my family - it'll be good.

Job hunting continues.. and dammit, SOMEONE out there needs me! maybe I should also get the "organizing" homebusiness started. If I only knew HOW to get a business started. Any hints gladly accepted!

See you at Bragg...

LAW

Happy Thanksgiving

To all my blog friends, especially those who are celebrating this T'Day without their loved one at home, may I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. This is the first one with DH in a few years, and we are spending it quietly, "at home"... in this case a small apartment with an oven I am not sure of. The turkey will either be done in no time at all, or take all day... hope he doesn't mind eating at the drop of a hat!

As for news... still no job. I finally heard from the first interview firm - had a second interview Monday.. and now waiting.. waiting... waiting. Had an interview and offer from a total nut! Very odd duck, with a desk in HIS office that would have been mine, and when he told me that he had a couple of illegals working in his office... well lets just say I made my excuses and took off. Called the headhunter and told her NO WAY..

I may not be able to get to Spouse Buzz Live - without a job I don't think I can justify the expense... so if I don't see you there, maybe next year..

Lovely weather today... in the 70s. Tomorrow - who knows~!

Y'all be good, eat lots and go into that lovely T'Day coma.

LAW

onwards and upwards

and things go on and on and on.. I went to a good interview, and hoped that it would resolve soon, but so far, nothing. The headhunter keeps telling me that it looks good.... yeah. sure.

and the infection I have been fighting, came back with a vengeance. New antibiotics... and the new doctor (she's very nice) says that this should do it... yeah. sure.

The new doctor does endorse some of the herbal remedies I am trying for other problems... and she's young and willing to listen to me when I tell her there is something not right.. so that's good.

A nice long weekend coming up. Some shopping, some looking for a new car, and maybe a trip to the memorials on Sunday for Veteran's Day. The motorcycle trip may not be possible, too cold and I'm not sure I'm up for it.

So enjoy the weekend folks. Thank a Veteran or two or twenty. Spend some time with one, if you can.

LAW

Job hunting sucks

Seriously sucks. I have 4 headhunters, who need to be called to remind them that "HEY, I'm here, find me something!" Also have a very big Job Fair this week in downtown DC, so I need to copy LOTS of my resumes. I'm not to the point of taking a job at WalMart, but it sure is frustrating.

Spent Sunday at the National Portrait Gallery. We enjoyed most of it, but the modern art left us cold. The price for lunch was an eye opener too! The Kate Hepburn room was great, and the Asher Durand Landscapes were incredible. Of course, we didn't "do" the whole place, and didn't even make a dent in the Smithsonian Art Museum. That will be a great place for a rainy nasty Sunday since the Metro Station is right there and we won't get too wet getting to the front door.
The garage is getting to the point we can find things! yeah! Shelves are neat and organized. The spare room is better, there is clear floor to be seen. I need to get the big closet sorted soon.

Tonight- FRG meeting. I certainly hope it's better than the last FRG. I will go to it with an open mind, and brownies (it's a potluck)

Talk to you soon.

LAW

Marathons of all sorts

First - the BIG Marathon. The Marine Corps 2007 Marathon. Saturday was the Expo and Packet Pickup at the Armory.. lots of people, tiny space... I was disappointed that Military.com didn't have a presence, including SpouseBuzz would have been great. Then home for a pasta dinner (gotta carb up!) The next morning, at 4:30 we were up and getting ready - neither of us could sleep. Got on the Metro with a group of Brit Royal Marines, who seemed to have done the usual training... a few pints the night before, and lots of cigarettes. Got off at the Pentagon and followed the herd, around the Pentagon in the dark and got in line... no, not the starting line, the Biffies!!! DH stretched, I did my job as support.. he got into the starting corrals with at least 20,000 others... and off they went. Support people of all sorts walked from the line across the Arlington Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial and cheered them all on as they ran past. ... for an HOUR!! Walked back across the bridge and up to an old friend's apartment across from the IwoJima Memorial. There was supposed to be a text message to the cell phone way to track the runners... I got his halfway time 5 xs, but no notification of his finish! as for the "family meeting area"... ha! but AT&T had free phones so he called when he finished (26 miles...), we found each other, gave him lots of protein drinks and snacks... and got in yet another line. This one for the Metro. It looked like Ellis Island, a sea of people, runners in sweated through clothes and shiny "blankets" and support people with back packs and goodie bags. Trains were packed and watching sore runners trying to get up, trying to walk down stairs and getting in vehicles .... well I tried NOT to laugh, but didn't succeed. I'm so proud of him, he trained and trained, but having to run in the Sandbox heat was incredibly hard, and PCSing right before was not exactly ideal... and he still did it.

Next day - he was soooo sore. and so was I, the 6-7 miles I walked took a toll on my plantar fascitis.. ice for my foot, warm Thermocare wraps for him.. Thank goodness for the super large jar of Ibuprofen!

The other Marathon - job hunting and trying to get the apartment in some semblance of order... Job hunting is slower than I had hoped, but there was a job fair at Belvoir, met a couple of contacts, including someone whose job it is, to help milspouses get Federal Jobs - rewriting my resume and using all the right buzz words. Have a meeting today with another headhunter, let's hope she can find me a temp job soon! Because.... The Army has fouled up again - no pay... jeeeeez, what is SO HARD!?? Turned in the DITY paperwork - told it could take up to 8 weeks for that to get reimbursed! They really don't make PCSing easy, do they? since we have to pay for all the deposits, turn on fees etc., plus the final payments from the last place... the apartment is still not in any way done, need to find a desk, a sofa... and get the garage shelving done and the boxes out of the spare room!

The marathon of house selling - no news other than some folks who wanted to look at it, but no offers.

Sore and limping - talk to you again soon..

LAW

Settling in - or is that down-

the boxes are breeding! really, they ARE! as soon as I unpack one, more appear. Invasion of the Moving Boxes.... just seems like it, I guess. What is really happening is that I am worn out. I'll find one thing in a box that I need/want, the rest is re-packed for storage. So, unpack/re-pack ...ad nauseum. AND fighting off an infection. SOOOO much fun. On the positive side, I did find the hospital, and the pharmacy (2ce, the first antibiotic didn't work) and the commissary does carry all the lovely European yummies I had hoped, including the coffee (note to self, when they have it in stock, buy 2!) LOTS of retirees, and very very full shopping carts.

Sunday we did what we promised we would do, and left house/unpacking stuff and did something fun. There are a series of nature trails next to post, and we trekked out there and enjoyed the peace and tranquility. Moving into this high density population, from our country living, I miss that. Also drove around post, into the older part, and flag officer country- the Old Army DH and I remember from long ago. In one way, it's comforting to see that not everything changes!

Unit picnic went ok, although after 30+ days of sun, it decided to rain. Not enough to break the drought, but enough to dampen the festivities. Met some of the guys he'll be working with (no, not being sexist, no women in his little subgroup) and also some of the FRG folks. From what I heard from one of the women, this group has the usual problems (5% of the group does 90% of the work, some cattiness) but is still a lot better than the groups I left behind me.

Job related - well, I went for the interview, nice small firm, but it wasn't the right fit. Got a call from my headhunter, there may be a project for me... 2-6 months document review (my last 3 month project lasted a year and a half!) Hope to find out this week.

I am holding those California milspouses in my thoughts, hope that you are all ok, and you haven't lost your homes. BE SAFE!

Time to hit the boxes again...

LAW

Mattress pad - check

bookcase(s) - check. Cat to vet -check. Got a lot done, except that fate, as always, stepped in and urped on my parade.

This weekend, IKEA - found the bookshelves, picked them up at the furniture desk - the third box down says "a piece missing" right on the box... go back in, get another. unpack them in the pickup and schlep pieces up the 3 flights (too heavy to bring up the way they were packed) Spent a few hours putting them up (the piece with the dent is up on top/not visible!) no computer desk. got the foam thingie and had to remember that we now needed new sheets too since the 2 inch pad mean the other fitted sheets didn't fit anymore!

Cat went to the vet, they took blood and he was just the cutie he is, everyone loved him. Then we came home and I tried to get downtown for a meeting - The Fairfax Connector to take me to the Metro didn't come! So I cancelled THAT one. Came home, emailed a couple of resumes answering some ads, and 45 minutes later had an interview lined up! hmm. Then the cat let out this awful sound, he was lying on the carpet not moving, eyes were HUGE and black.. then he wobbled a bit, got up and went about his business. This morning, after eating a lot, urped on the rug (yup I KNEW I forgot something, Resolve Spot Lifter!) and now, sleeping it all off. He scared the crap outa me yesterday.

Today, rescheduled meeting happening and I'll take the shuttle from the apt. complex. So wish me luck.

LAW

A bed - and internet in house - what more could I want

Well, actually, quite a bit! That's why we are heading for IKEA! or will be when the sun comes up and DH wakes up. Yes, chillun (am I gettin' southern, or what?) we have a bed. It's a bit firm for me, but perfect for himself, so I'm going to get one of those "poofy things" mattress pads, with some memory foam.... if he doesn't like it, I'll slit it open, remove his half and stitch it. Why, you ask?? so the thing stays in place! The big builtin bookcase... well it's built in, so it stayed with the house, and we NEED a bookcase in the living room. and a new computer desk, our design table idea is not working out, so that's on the list... and some bins and organizers and baskets.... Glad we have a big pickup!

I don't like being without my own car. He's inprocessing, (which means running all over the post) and since the State of MN was soooo far behind on registrations, the motorcycle registration has not yet appeared and the base won't allow him to ride it without the permanent registration. So, here I am, sans vehicle. Cat needs to go to the vet, to get an exam prior to having surgery on his little gums, so we are playing the "you come home for "LUNCH", we go to vet, you go back, I head to the Metro for a meeting in the District". Time to job hunt too.

I'm getting used to the little apartment, sorta. If I could just get it all organized! hence the need for a good desk etc.

coffee... need coffee. The commissary has my favourite - Jacobs Kronung. and so many other yummies from Germany and England and Italy. shopping... shopping.

Later. Have a good weekend.

LAW

And we made it...

First - we made it safe and sound, after a lot of last minute packing. Since we left the house after noon, we didn't make it to our first stop unitl very late that first night. The cat being the reason we couldn't stop just anywhere, was a pretty good traveler. He did "talk" a lot after being let out of his new comfy box into the motel room, and was put back into the box so we could get some sleep. Holiday Inn in Morris IL... avoid it if possible. The second day was better, except that all the turnpikes in the upper midwest are under construction! Delayed us a bit. Comfort Inn at the Mars/Cranberry exit in PA - Great place to stay. The third day went alright... except I got lost at the 495/395/95 mixing bowl. DH on the other hand didn't. No, I won't live that down, for a while.

Unloading was great! Get Up and Go Movers in this area are fantastic. They were just there to unload, we got 4 guys, and it took 3 hours to get the entire truck unloaded and stowed. They are from Gallaudet and worked like crazy. If you are doing a DITY move, go to emovers.com - can hire folks to just load and unload. not expensive at all. But if you are coming or going from the DC area, go to emovers and get the guys at Get Up and Go. So far, nothing appears to have been broken, course I haven't unpacked it all, there's no place to put it!

Shopping for mattresses - internet/cable - organizing stuff - this is all very expensive! and trying to shove the stuff from a 3,500 sq ft house into this apt... oh my my. I'm losing what's left of my mind. and in this HEAT! On the good side, DH is here.. on the not so good side.. too! Lots of togetherness in a small disorganized box filled apt., and driving around getting lost (oh no one can give decent directions!) and the traffic here freaks me out completely!

To everyone who wished us luck, thank you, we appreciate your good thoughts (and I think it helped!) Back to work now. I am on a slow internet hookup at the "cyber cafe" here at the complex, can't wait to get my own connection!

LAQ

moving day

We picked up the UHaul yesterday, a nice new truck, clean too! and we have a couple of guys coming to help carry the heavy stuff. BUT it's supposed to rain - and DH woke up with a headache that is being stubborn... Now, of course, the NG has decided that they need a form, but the Big A Army has said, they don't. THIS should be fun, y'all.. NOTHING is more stubborn than a Minnesota National Guard fulltimer. Mulish, positively Scandahoooovian.

The phone calls to cancel stuff, start gas, electric... oh I forgot the PHONE! Think of me this weekend....

**** This evening. It went amazingly well. One of our neighbours did a fantastic job with arranging where everything went, he has a great grasp of space and order! my handyman brought a friend, who used to work at the bike shop where we bought the motorcycle.. and was invaluable at loading the bike. It's almost done. We are both so tired! Tomorrow will be packing the last of it, and cleaning with the help of a couple of neighbours. And then, taking the dog to our other neighbour, where she's going to live a happy life with kids to play with and cats to torment. We are going to miss her, but putting this dog in an apartment would NOT be good for her or us (or the new neighbours!) We also went out back and took movies of the back 8 acres in all it's fall colour.

LAW

ORDERS! whew.

They arrived this morning... name misspelled, but still valid. We can move!! Yay!

LAW

Hey, go congratulate her!

http://thoughtsbeforedinner.blogspot.com/

Go to that blog and congratulate Janey on becoming an American Citizen! She's a milspouse whose DH may be coming home soon too. LOTS of champagne over there.

This is a marriage, not a mortgage!

That's what I told someone at work the other day, who asked why I was moving when we haven't sold the house yet. OK, so we'll carry a mortgage and a rent payment, but we'll be in the same zip code! As I tried to explain to this putz, in the last four YEARS I have seen him for 8 months altogether, in little 2 week increments..

LAW

We're back on the frozen tundra

Oh, you think I'm kidding??? Freeze warnings tonight. there was sn-- (we don't say the word for the frozen stuff you ski on until November... just an avoidance for me) in Grand Marais... it is SOOOOO time to leave. We have a fire going in the woodstove and it's nice. Our new place doesn't have a fireplace, so we are enjoying this. One of the apartments we looked at had a wood burning fireplace - and white/beige carpet!!! good grief, who thought THAT one up!

Anyway..... (dumb way to start a sentence) we found an apartment! it's a lovely place, but ladies and gents..... it's tiny, compared to our house (3,500 sq ft) and 10 acres! but, at least I don't need to repaint, as the walls are a lovely cafe au lait with white trim and crown molding. The carpet is cream/beige, which should be soooo much fun with a gray/black cat! Large walk in closets but oh my, WHO designed the hanging area! the rod is waaaay too low, so you can't put another one underneath, so that's getting changed when we get there. The kitchen.. as Paula Deen would say "oh y'awl, this is just preeeecious" very small as compared to our present kitchen. But, if we can cut down on the crap we pack, we'll be fine. We have also rented a garage in the same complex, so storage isn't going to be a problem. GBear, Andi - it's in Kingstown, on South Van Dorn. gated community, quiet and only 20 minutes from Telegraph Rd Gate. We liked the look of the new quarters on Belvoir, but there's a 6 month waiting list, and we just don't want to move from one place to another that soon.

Now... we wait for Orders so we can rent the truck we have reserved and get moving. This weekend - the cat goes to the vet for shots and a check up and a couple of kitty valium, in case the trip upsets him. I got my hair cut really short, so I don't have to worry about it for a while, and then need to start looking for another good cutter.

This weekend is sorting and packing the kitchen. and the closet. I'm sure there's a lot more... but my list is in the other room!!

Later. Talk to you soon. LAW

First Showing!

To give you a picture.... boxes, boxes, tape, newspapers and shredded paper, piles of books to be donated, clothes to be boxed, suitcase waiting to be packed for the apartment hunting trip.. all strewn from one end of the house to the other..... ok, got it in your mind? Now, the phone rings. The realtor - "we have a showing scheduled!" in two days. Now, this house has been on the market for months, never had a showing. For many months, the house looked gorgeous, tidy, semi staged. Although, to be totally honest, for other months, it was a PIT (after the extension announcement it all went to hell). But recently, for open house etc. it was sooooo tidy and all that..

So, instead of packing and such - cleaning! at full tilt. ALL the boxes out into the garage (up on boards), pack up the clothes in a rush, put the books to be donated into the built in bookcase, and get that horrid RedWing pottery out of the to-be-sold box and into the empty china hutch, tidy the pantry again.... the list grows.

Wish us luck, both finding a nice apartment (GBear - we have a couple viewing in Kingstown first thing!) and selling this house! I may not blog for the days we are away, I may be totally insane when we get back.. but you know, it's all part of the milspouse adventure.

LAW

The Bike

Here 'tis.

LAW

Addio, Maestro

The voice went silent for the last time. Now we will hear "Nessun Dorma" until we get sick of it... but that voice will soar over and over again.

Pavarotti was so huge, not just his body, but his talent, his voice, his persona. when he sang with Sting - the Paulus -it was amazing, absolutely stupendous. He made those of us who don't like to sit through an entire opera enjoy Puccini and Mozart's arias, the bel cantos...

Addio.

LAW

Apartment hunting

I have been sending requests for availability, and trying to make appointments to see apartments in Woodbridge, Springfield, Lorton, Kingstown/Alexandria.... and really hoping that some of them are available! There is one across from the Springfield Mall that looks so nice, but then I wonder about the location.... and I keep hoping my trek/commute can be less than the time I now spend driving/on the bus. Sitting on the train/Metro would be great! We are hoping to be in the DC area next week to look at places. I refuse to sign a lease before actually SEEING it.

Rode on the motorcycle for the first time yesterday. It's been over 30 years since I was last on one - so I was a little nervous. One person tells me to sit still, one tells me to lean in the direction of the turn.... But it was soooo much fun! We went around an industrial park which is empty on Sundays. I really enjoyed it... the highway I am not so sure of. Sitting on the back of the bike really gives me a different vantage point (and I am hoping my back gets used to it!)

We took the cat for a ride again today, so he gets used to it. he ended up under my seat! quiet, not getting sick, but still obviously scared. I hope he doesn't spend the entire 2.5 day trip under the seat... Now we need to get hotel reservations for him as well.

Packing - packing...

TTYL

LAW

Oh HOLY COW!! ALMOST ORDERS

It's not in official writing yet... but we are heading for Ft. Belvoir!!!! Our First Choice!!!! whew... So, now the lists start, gotta get to transportation, reserve a UHaul.... well, what about an apartment... oh sooooo much to do!

yay. this has been a long few months..


LAW

Renaissance Festivalitis and computer woes

I had forgotten how much fun the Ren Fest can be. I didn't drink - so migraine didn't rear it's ugly head. DH bought a kilt... NO, I don't have a picture to publish. sorry. And big surprise Janey (her funny blog is on the right, the Brit Milspouse - head on over!) , I didn't eat my head off either!
The people watching was as fun as ever. lordie lordie, the strange ones do wriggle out from under whatever rock they are hiding beneath. hee hee

My poor computer has decided to melt down it's Hard Drive, so the Geek Squad is still hard at it. I am hoping like crazy I don't lose a lot. ALL those bookmarks...all the milspouse ones! I'm hoping I get them back. This is my DHs computer he is letting me use. nice of him.

I am back at work, temping at my last job again for a little while. and waiting waiting for those orders.

anyway... see some of you at Standing By for the Army Wives discussion.

LAW

Another new Grandma!

One of my bestests friends just became a grandma! So welcome, Jayden Christine! We are all thrilled you are here. Your grandma, she's a peach!

LAW

Back home... missing my grandbaby

I'm back. My computer died. or at least succumbed to the cludge. My antivirus software told me it was time to renew... so I did. And it took forever, kept telling me I needed this, that and t'other... and suddenly I couldn't do anything. We were out of town, visiting the most perfect grandchild on the planet, so had to wait until today to take it to the Geeks and get home to use my DH's computer.

Anyway, I tell you that so you understand why I haven't been posting and keeping you up to date on the aforesaid darling child. see... I do these these things for a reason. Since I haven't been able to get on, I haven't checked on any of the other blogs I came to depend on. I'll be doing that tomorrow. Tonight, I have a lousy cold, flying with it was just NASTY.

No, no orders yet. Hopefully soon.....

LAW

MRIs, motorcycles, and such stuff

It's been a busy few days, folks. Since DH is home, we are packing, and going through lots and lots of stuff... lots of it is trash ! We are finding boxes and bins of stuff, and we are wondering why on earth we saved it. We are even finding boxes that haven't been unpacked since the last move, over 9 years ago. Tell me why we schlepped that garbage from the house to the storage locker, to the new house when we finished it and moved it countless times from one side of the root cellar to the other... We will be making our third trip to the thrift shop to drop off stuff tomorrow, these have been full size truck loads! and I won't miss any of it. Now if we could just figure out where to get rid of that Black & White Photo enlarger.....

I've had a pain in my neck (no, a REAL physical pain...not just all the other krep) so the Dr. and I decided an MRI to check on the cervical fusion I had a few years ago would be a good idea. Now these tests are not awful terrible, they don't involve a needle (my criteria for awful terrible) but they aren't fun. Noisy! so I got the results the next morning and all is well, I can have the traction and physical therapy, as well as letting my massage therapist work. Have an appointment with her this afternoon.

And he got a bike. Yamaha VStar 1100 Silverado, used but by an older person. yeah, I AM the one who said no big purchases. So I caved. So.... fine, I'm a weakling. But it was a great deal, and he has time while we wait for those damned orders to tool around and get used to it. And... this is NOT news to him, so don't worry, this is HIS car. Unless we end up somewhere where he can't ride it close to 3/4 of the year, this is his mode of transport to and from work. We are leaving both vehicles up here, selling them for what we can get. Mine has 177 thousand plus miles on it.. not wanting to start paying for repairs, the AC is very bad and the radio sucks. The Big Truck, we won't need anymore, it's over 11 years old and we used it to build the house... besides the mileage is lousy.

And we wait... still don't know where exactly we are heading, they have given us a few options and we are weighing those... but as all of my military readers know, that means diddly squat to the powers that be. WE know where we would like to go, and where we really really don't want to go. They won't give a damn (ok... dream of Rhett saying that to Scarlett..... Gable really was yummmm.... time's up!) and we know it. I'm keeping a good thought and researching housing, jobs, transportation, utility bills etc for all of the places. Makes me feel like I'm doing something constructive!

Time to get back to packing. TTYL

LAW

Packing Hints ( part one of ????)

Get a GOOD heavy duty paper shredder. Take the bills, the duplicate cheques, the duplicate orders... from 1999 -2004. Shred. (took about 3 days, letting the shredder cool down when it quit in a fit of pique and a very hot odour) use the shredded documents as padding for the really delicate "good stuff" crystal and figurines.

Get Space Bags as well as good sturdy plastic bins. space bags are hard to put in the truck so put the bags in the bins. Remember, (unlike this twit "speaking" to you) that even though the bags LOOK small, put enough of them in a bin, the bin is HEAVY!

Make sure your Thrift Shop takes everything else... and keep really careful records of what you donate. (and no shopping while you are in there, although if you DO find that perfect little black dress....what the DH doesn't know won't hurt, right?)

Before you decide to use PODS, make sure they come to your area. We are going to have to either beg for one to come this way, or use UHaul... Best laid plans etc etc.

Ok, that's it so far. As I remember more of my long lost packing skills (Haven't PCSed in a long time) I'll put it down. But if any of YOU have any hints, for heavens sake, let me know.

LAW