Dangerous indoor activities...

I was going to blog today about the nasty weather we've had the past couple days and look to endure for the rest of the week, but instead I thought I would blog about what we've been doing to keep ourselves occupied indoors to avoid the awfulness outside.

Yesterday, Sgt D and I decided that we could warm ourselves up a little by play Wii sports. I turned the game on and sat through the information screens about putting on the wrist strap and watching out for furniture around you. After all I have seen those screens every time we have played this past year, I didn't really need to watch this time. Well...maybe I should have. While I was doing my round of punching the bag on the boxing, trying to determine my Wii Fitness Age, I ended up whacking a wire shelving unit we had stuck in front of our fire place temporarily until we could find a better home for it. I yelped, and ended up with a fat bruised pointer finger on my right hand. Let me tell you, it HURTS! After that little incident we decided to move the shelving unit until we were done playing, but the damage had already been done...

I guess next time I should pay a little more attention to the warning screens on the Wii...and maybe to my surroundings as well...

I hope you are all finding fun ways to occupy yourselves during the nasty bit of cold weather we have had lately, and more importantly I hope you have managed to do it injury free...unlike myself!

Upcoming Road Trip

Sgt D and I are planning a 3,300 mile roundtrip from Lakewood, WA to Salt Lake City, UT (for one night), to Belen, NM to San Mateo, CA, and finally back home. We will be doing the first two legs in 48 hours. I almost think we are insane, but on the upside we will get to see both of our families, which I can't wait for. We haven't seen Sgt D's family since last year at Christmas, and I'm hoping at New Years we will be able to see some friends that I haven't seen in quite some time.

Keep your fingers crossed that our trip goes well...better yet keep your fingers crossed that Sgt D and I can finish our classes successfully before we leave for our trip. I can't wait for this quarter to be over, it has been a really long one!

Bad Blogger Strikes Again!

It has been at least three weeks since my last post. I've been a little busy, what with taking three graduate courses and substitute teaching several days a week.

Today is Veteran's Day. A day for remembrance and also a day to be thankful for the members of our armed forces, both past and present. Today I am thankful. I am thankful to my husband, to the men and women he serves with and I am thankful for all who served before them. Even if you do not agree with the wars our country is currently fighting, I hope you can find it in your heart to still appreciate the men and women who are sacrificing their lives fighting those wars on behalf of our country.

1 year and counting...

Well folks, we made it! Sgt D and I just passed the one year mark in marriage. Yesterday was the official day, but my new quarter of school started last night, so we slipped away last Friday for a romantic weekend in Bellevue, WA (home of Microsoft). We stayed at the Hyatt in downtown Bellevue and we were truly in the heart of the city. Here is a picture of view from our room (we were on the 17th floor).



We got in late on Friday, and had a late dinner at PF Changs. On Saturday, we got up early and walked about a mile to Gilbert's for breakfast. For those of you from San Francisco, it really reminded me of Squat and Gobble, and was absolutely worth the walk. On our way back we stopped at the mall and can I just say it is probably the biggest mall I have ever been to in my life. I mean the Nordstroms had three restaurants in it!!!



Saturday night we went to Daniel's Broiler for dinner and it was probably the best dinner I have ever had in my life. Here is the view from our table on the 21st floor of the Bank of America building.

While we were eating dinner another couple got engaged. We thought that was a good omen, celebrating our one year anniversary and seeing another couple begin their adventure together. At the end of the night another diner was kind enough to take a picture of us, and since we don't have many pictures of us together I was really excited about that!

Here's to many more wonderful and memorable anniversaries to come!

Victoria, BC

I just got home yesterday from Victoria, British Columbia with my parents. We had a wonderful time. We stayed at an amazing B&B that my mom found name Abbeymoore Manor. It was so beautiful. We stayed in the Primrose and Rose rooms. I sadly was without SGT D this trip, he had to stay home for some Army stuff, but he is definitely going to do his best to make it on the next trip up there.

We went to the Butterfly Gardens, Butchart Gardens, The Royal British Columbia Museum, Government House and the White Heather Tea Room for afternoon tea.

Here are Dad & Mom at Butchart Gardens

Here are mom & I at Butchart...

We had an amazing time, our only regret was that Sgt D couldn't join us. Hopefully next time though!

Vacation!!!

This week and next week I am on a two week vacation from school. Although I am substitute teaching for science tomorrow. I still need to make some money...

I have been super busy knitting away. So far I have made a super cute purse for my 7 year old

niece for Christmas and I have finished a pair of socks that I started two years ago.

I also found out my grades today for my first two master's classes and I am proud to say that I have a 4.0 GPA. Heck Yeah!!!

My next blog post will hopefully have pictures of Victoria, Canada, as that is where my parents and I are going next week. So exciting! Sgt. D can't come because of work, but his job is an important one, so he is forgiven.

Other than all that, nothing else new going on here. Same old stuff just a different day.

Math

So a lot of people in my life think I am completely incapable of doing math. I would like all of those people to know that is fundamentally not true. For the record I received all A's and B's in high school, it wasn't until I got to college that math, specifically Calculus, became a struggle and I started to dislike math.

The way math was taught in high school we were essentially trained to be dependent on our fancy Texas Instrument graphing calculators to do all the work, and we never really learned how to solve most math problems by hand. No one told us that when you get to college they take those fancy calculators away and expect you to be able to solve math problems by hand. I have always felt that aspect of my education is where I was truly short changed. I was never prepared for that part of college, and in a way set up for failure. If you have not been given sufficient training on something, no matter how hard you try, you are less likely to be successful at it. (Something I have learned from my Master's in Education classes.)

Well yesterday was a fantastic shot in the arm for my mathematics self-confidence. I substituted for two Algebra classes and one Geometry class and I was able to not only remember how to do the math, but I was able to teach it. That whole if you can't do, teach saying, did NOT apply, because I was able to do as well. It made me feel really proud of myself, and made me feel much better about substituting all subjects rather than sticking with specific ones.

I Survived!

I made it successfully through my first two days of substituting. I covered for a nutrition and health class (x3 periods), two ELL (English Language Learners) classes, steel drums (x2 periods) and concert band. I have now been experienced teaching in the high school and teaching in the middle school. I have to be honest, I preferred the high school. I know that everyone says high school kids are not the ideal age group, but I have to be honest, they are easier to talk to, and I didn't feel that there was nearly as much drama. All the classes I have covered so far, with the exception of the ELL classes, have been electives so that could also be why it has been so great the past two days. The middle schoolers kept me going the entire day, the only time I sat down was at the end of the day to write a note to the teacher. The high schoolers knew what they needed to do and for the most part were very self-sufficient.

I am really looking forward to getting some experience in the core subject areas of history, English, math or science. Just so I can get an idea of what those classes may be like.

Autumn in Washington

Autumn arrived a week early in Washington this year. It was as if the state just decided to hell with summer, we are ready for crisp days, freezing nights and, oh yeah, bring on the RAIN. I'm used to California summers that sometimes last through the middle of October, well let me tell you, I do not have my hopes up for that to happen in Washington.

The leaves have already started to change color, and it has started to rain again. In fact I just looked at the forecast for the next four days, and Google is telling me that it will rain 3 out of 4 days. Although, I guess in a state where if it doesn't rain for a week people think that we are going through a drought, the rain is actually a good thing. I mean after all it hasn't rained here in like what...three whole weeks. Probably the driest I have felt since moving up here.

I guess what all this boils down to is if you are planning a visit up here anytime soon, bring your raincoat, galoshes and perhaps a thick wool sweater for the night time, because you are going to need it!

Say a prayer...

Next Wednesday, Sept 24th, I will be teaching in a high school classroom...all by myself.

I have signed up as a substitute with the local school district in order to get some real life experience in the classroom and also to pay for school (both equally important). My first job will be in a high school music class. I felt pretty confident that I could handle this assignment, after all, I was in the band from the time I was 10 until I graduated from high school. On and off for 7 years, I should be ok...right? There was another assignment open for teaching math at the same high school on different days, but I figured I should play to my strengths and math has never been one of them. I have been learning in all my classes that the teacher needs to be the authority and I do not want to walk into a setting where my students probably know more about the subject than I do, that wouldn't be fair to anyone; me, the teacher I am subbing for, or the students.

I hope it all goes well...pray for me on Wednesday, I'll need a little help. Not to mention confidence!

Allergies part 2

Wheat, Eggs, & Milk...what do these three items have in common? They are all things I am not allowed to enjoy for at least the next two weeks, and maybe longer :(

My new allergist wants to see if the reason I get so many headaches, among other issues, could be caused by these foods. It is seriously depressing, and might I add expensive to find foods that do not contain these products in them. I am, however, giving it the college try, I figure I owe myself that much to figure out what the true cause of all my headaches may be.

Yesterday Sgt D and I made a trip, for the first time since moving up here, to Trader Joes. They are so wonderful there. They let us taste food before buying it, and told us about their return policy, which can be easily summed up "if you don't like, return it, no questions asked." The other thing they did that I really appreciated was taking us on a brief tour of the store to show us some of the items they carry that I can still eat, and they also printed out a comprehensive list of their gluten free products. There are still somethings on the list that I can't eat because they still have milk or eggs in them, but at least it gave me a starting point.

Here is a list of some of the things I was able to find:

• Brown Rice Tortillas (actually pretty good, this is what we got to taste in the store)
• Brown Rice Pasta (last nights dinner, and it tastes just like regular pasta)
• Brown Rice Bread (this one will require some adjusting too, but at least I can still have some form of bread)
• Egg free mayonnaise (thank GOD!)
• Dairy free margarine (haven't tasted it yet, but looking forward to it)
• Wheat free cereal - Puffins Cinnamon flavor (I have the feeling this will become snack food)
• Soy Milk, plain & vanilla flavor (Sgt D said he won't be drinking this, so I'll still be buying regular milk too - I can't expect him to follow the diet too, that would be cruel)
• Wheat free sweet & sour sauce

Sgt D is being pretty wonderful about all this, trying a vast majority of the foods without complaint. He will still have anything he wants for breakfast & lunch, but dinner he (and I) are going to have to adjust to this new diet.

Wish me luck that I can actually stick to this...

Allergies :(

I posted a blog earlier about being allergic to Washington...I wish! Yesterday I went for allergy testing, and of the 50+ things I was tested for, only one came back positive. Wait for it...CATS! I apparently have an allergy to my attack cats, which is why I have been having asthma attacks daily for months and months now. The attack cats are headed back to California to live out their golden years, and I will not be allowed to have anymore of them. The kicker of all of this is that I still have to have allergy shots for cats because I have been having attacks when I'm around other people, which means that my sensitivity is really high and could cause me problems. To say the least I cried....

Promotion!

Cpl D is now SGT D. That's right people he got promoted. It actually happened on Wednesday, but I have been so slammed with school work and taking a CPR/First Aid class that I haven't had time to post about it. I'm sorry.

Here are some pictures of his promotion ceremony. Let's all celebrate with him!!!

And now for some pushups!

A few words from the Captain...

Don't feel bad if you missed out on the ceremony. I did too, I was in class :(

Sad but true...

Cpl D told me a story this morning that made me want to shake my head in shame at my own gender. Apparently during formation yesterday, his battery was lectured on how they need to prepare their wives for the possibility that they may be deployed sometime in the future. This meant "teaching" them the following things: how to drive, where the commissary is located, how to pay bills, etc. I didn't know who to be more disgusted by, these women for not taking a more active role in their own lives and families, I mean seriously, being a full-fledged adult woman and not knowing how to drive, let alone where the commissary is, give me a break! Or should I be more upset with the men, for letting the "little missus" get away with that sort of behaviour.

I can understand how some men like taking care of their wives and how some women really love being taken care of, but at a certain point, you are more of a child than an adult in a relationship, when you don't even know where the commissary is located. (For you non-military folk, the commissary is the grocery store, it is the size of a Costco and rather hard to miss as it is one of the largest buildings on post.) I realize that I am one of very few people in enlisted realm of the army that is pursuing an advanced degree and that being from California I am a little bit more outspoken, and probably in the eyes of some people in the military quite brazen, but I just think that women got the right to drive, vote and do all the things men did a long time ago, and it is a pretty sad state of affairs, when a group of women would rather be taken care of coddled than take advantage of their privileges and rights. It is sadder still that their husbands have to be reminded to teach them how to do such simple tasks as paying an electric bill and finding the commissary.

Sorry for the rant faithful readers, but I couldn't let this one slide...

The Olympics

I am a big fan of the Olympics. I have watched every year for as far back as I can remember. The past few Olympics though have been rocked by scandals of Olympians abusing Human Growth Hormone or other performance enhancing substances. This is beyond disappointing for sports junkies like myself who enjoy watching these games for the sheer fact that some of these sports are sports we played as children and we enjoy watching people who have turned them into an art form. It is also disappointing because the young children of today look up to these Olympians as role models, and what kind of role models are the children of today getting if all they are learning is how to cheat and not get caught.

This year there is a truly inspiring story of 41 year old female US Olympian on the swimming team, Dara Torres. She is in her fifth Olympics and is the mother of a two-year-old little girl, Tessa. Due to all the scepticism regarding her quick comeback after her pregnancy and her age, she is taking part in an experimental drug testing program just to prove that she isn't taking performance enhancing drugs. I find it slightly sad and an interesting statement on our times that she has to prove ahead of time that she is not on any performance enhancing substance. No longer do we live in a society where you are innocent until proven guilty, now you have to go out of your way to prove your innocence before even being accused of a crime.

Considering the sheer number of US Track and Field medals that were revoked earlier this year in reaction to the recent drug scandals that have rocked the USOC, I personally am hoping that the Olympic athletes keep in mind that they compete not only for themselves, but when they put that US uniform on that they represent the millions of Americans at home who are rooting for them and cheering them on. When they fall down, we fall down with them, and we are tired of being dragged down in their drug scandals.

I wish all of the athletes good luck as they begin their Olympic journeys tomorrow. I hope they do themselves and their country proud.

Licorice

I love licorice. Black licorice, red vines, red rope at ball games, and most recently Cpl D was turned on to Australian Style Gourmet Licorice which comes in all kinds of flavors, so far we have tried Green Apple, Black and Watermelon, all of which are delectable.

You may ask yourselves why I am writing about licorice, well, dear readers I am writing about it b/c today, I opened up my new bag of Australian Style Gourmet Black Licorice, yes it comes in a bag, only to find my big fat love of a cat, Patches, standing at my feet looking up at me. You see he heard me open the bag and assumed I was opening his bag of cat treats, which duh, of course meant I was going to be feeding him. How could I resist? I was absolutely forced to open the bag of cat treats, give Patches a few morsels for himself and only after I had done that, did I then help myself to a piece of licorice.

Congratulate me!

I'm going back to school. I am finally getting that Master's degree that I have been wanting to get for forever and a day. Next Monday, August 11th, I will be starting classes at St. Martin's University, Fort Lewis satellite campus and I will be starting my course towards a triple teaching certificate and a Master's in Teaching. I will be the first person in my family to get an advanced degree as well as the first person in Cpl D's family. Talk about big!

Many people reading this blog may actually be kind of surprised that I am going for teaching, but believe it or not, I actually started my teaching credential about 6 years ago when I was still enrolled in college in California, so it isn't as big of a stretch as all of you might think! I will be going for the following teaching credentials: History (of course!), Social Studies, and Humanities. This will give me the opportunity to teach grades 6 through 12 and the Master's degree gives me the opportunity to go into administration if there are not teaching positions available. For all of you who thought that I didn't like children, I bet you guys are all shocked right now!

Now if anyone would like to donate to the "Send Mrs. D to School Fund" please feel free to email me, I am not so proud that I will say no to a little tuition assistance ;)

Patches Bit Me Today!

My big fat love of a cat bit me today! I am a little upset about this but then again he feels like he is being violated and I am the one doing the violating...although it all happens to be for his own good. Anyone who has ever met Patches would say that he has a few issues, he is severely over-weight, he is anti-people, and lives almost exclusively under our bathroom sink. Also, when you put him in his cat carrier he howls and it actually sounds like he is meowing the word "NO!"

His reason for biting me is that he was in a scissor lock between my legs having a pill shoved down his throat. Now all of this I assure you was for his own good. My dear love Patches has developed Hyperthyroidism, which in a cat can be very dangerous and can result in death. In most cats, although not Patches, it can result in severe loss of weight (obvious from the picture above and the severely depressed couch cushion, that he is not suffering from that side effect), depression and an overall lack of activity in the cat. It can also result in liver damage. With the exception of the weight loss Patches has all these side effects.

As of Friday, August 1st, which also happens to be my dad's birthday, Patches has started medication which should hopefully reverse all the side effects, including the liver damage and restore him to full health. Keep your fingers crossed that Patches will get healthy and that I will get to keep all of my fingers in the process of getting him healthy!

Cpl Ds Leave

Cpl D was on leave from June 30 to July 8. We had a wonderful time exploring Peugeot Sound and the Olympic National Park. We went on two amazing hikes - one called the Quinault Loop Trail that was 4.0 miles long and one called Marmot Pass that was 10.6 miles long (we only made it about 8 miles though - it was a long day). We also went on the Seattle Underground Tour, visited the Tacoma Art Museum, the Washington State History Museum and we attended the Tall Ships of Tacoma festival. All in all we had a really fun and relaxing time together.

I am really looking forward to the next time Cpl D has leave - which will hopefully be in October as we are planning a trip to Hawaii to celebrate our 1-year anniversary. In the meantime we have lots of pictures from this time to remind us of the great time we had.

http://picasaweb.google.com/paws7281

Age is a matter of perspective...

When I was 15 years old 30 seemed really old, now that I'm turning 27 in a week and a half it doesn't seem so old anymore. My perspective has changed. Another thing that has changed about age is that before I moved to Washington I used to be the youngest. I was the youngest person in my family being the baby and all, I was the youngest person on my team at work until right before I left and hired my replacement, I was the youngest of my of my friends (give or take a month), I was just used to being the youngest. Now though, I'm the oldest, and there are a few people who seem more than happy to remind me of that fact.

A couple of weeks ago we moved into our new apartment, it is a really awesome place, much bigger and in a newer part of the complex. Most of Cpl D's platoon came to help us move and with the exception of one guy who had been in the army over 15 years, I was older than every person who came over. Including two NCOs and an Officer who outranked Cpl D! Most people don't realize that I'm 27 years old (for all intents and purposes), I can admit that when I don't put anytime into my looks, I can pass for a teenager, but when a 20 year old says to me upon finding out my age "Oh WOW! You're OLD!!!" I have to say I was a bit taken back. I have never thought of myself as old before. My grandparents are old, not me, but as the title of this post says, age is a matter of perspective, and for a 20 year old 30 probably seems old, and as I'm a lot closer to it now than I ever was before in my life, I guess in his eyes...I'm old.

...I can't believe I just said that :)