Never Say Never!

I was watching the weather report on Friday morning and the meteorologist said that there was going to be rain all weekend and (direct quote here) "absolutely no chance of snow below 3,000 feet." Well...this is why weathermen should not use the word absolutely in any sentence. I woke up this morning to snow falling, and falling hard at that! It was absolutely beautiful, but it made me laugh. Why on earth would he say that, all it did was guarantee that at some point this weekend we would have snow!

Silly weatherman should have known better than to be forecasting in absolute terms!

NO Adult Supervision

I started quilting when I was 20 years old. My first quilt was for the birth of my niece. Very simple, in fact the backing was leftover fabric from my rainbow days. My next quilt was for a four year mistake, damn I wish I hadn't wasted the quilt on him! My third quilt was for my nephew, then I made a quilt top for my cousin B, my mom finished it this past year and it was a Christmas gift from both of us. My fourth quilt went to my in-laws and my sixth quilt made it here to my own bed. It turned out beautifully. It is an "Around the World" pattern and while it isn't perfect I absolutely love it.

Yesterday though was a really exciting day in my quilting life. I put together a quilt that I made by myself...With No Adult Supervision (meaning no help from my mom). That was a big moment for me. It isn't 100% perfect, but that is what makes homemade gifts special, the little imperfections. This quilt is for my Adult Supervisor (I like to call her mom though). She has already seen it and knows I'm making it, so I don't mind posting it in a place where she can get a sneak peak of one of her gifts.

(the picture quality isn't the best because I used my camera phone)

Rant Against Scramble!

Written by a very passionate Sgt D!

To whom it may concern:

Your game, however fun it may be for those in this world who find it amusing to play a game with stupid rules, sucks with the force of a thousand black holes. My wife finds your game amusing, even fun, well not even that will stop me from exposing you for what you truly are: 1. Madre is Spanish, so why in God’s creation is it in this game, last time I checked the game wasn’t “Scramble en Espanol”. 2. How about the word Edh? Find that in a Webster’s dictionary. Just because it represents a sound in some backwater Anglo-Saxon dialect doesn’t make it a word. 3. I don’t approve of your use of frowning faces with tears to represent vanquished opponents in your pathetic excuse for a waste of time. I’m in the military and let me just tell you that not even my organization can match the insipidness and lack of planning as your game.

You have wasted my valuable off-duty time with your dunderheaded attempt to compete with timeless games such as Scrabble and Boggle!

Thank you very much for taking away time which I will never get back, time which could have been better served ironing the wrinkles out of a used pair of gym socks!

Unless you are completely lacking in intelligence you will make drastic changes to your useless game, but since I feel that this is a stretch by any means of the imagination, just continue to wander the path of mediocrity that you are currently on.

From a concerned citizen of the world.


P.S. your game blows hard…..REAL HARD! Good day to you.

Looking for a reason to celebrate...

2009 did not start out quite the way I would have liked. During the first week I found out that my husband is being deployed this year, I have sort of known for months, but now it is official. During the third week I found out that one of my dad's co-workers passed away, he was a very nice man and he will be missed by everyone who knew him. Exactly one week after that I found out that someone I have known my entire life passed away, and that one really hurt as it is the lady who taught me to knit and who had an amazing spirit.

I wrote on my Facebook yesterday that I needed some good news and my dad was able to put a big smile on my face when he reminded me that him and my mom will be visiting twice this month. That really cheered me up, and I really needed it.

If you have anything else going on in your lives that deserves celebrating or is in the realm of good news, please let me know because I really could use something happy right now...

Sleep

When I was younger (I know, I know, I am young now, but when I was even younger!), my mom used to get on my case about the amount of sleep I got. In her eyes I didn't sleep enough. I would stay up really late, doing whatever, and then get up relatively early. I was a zombie all day and at times really unhappy or grumpy (there's another word for it, but I won't use it here).

I am finally starting to understand the value and importance of sleep. I am going to school full-time, substitute teaching part-time, and I'm a full-time wife/friend/cook/housekeeper/laundress/daughter/etc. On top of all that I am dealing with the emotional highs and (mostly) lows of being married to someone who is gearing up for deployment. While he is excited about getting maced, tazed, and shot with bean bags, I am sitting here thinking "why on earth would anyone be excited about that!?!" Keeping all of this in mind, I haven't really been sleeping all that well for the last week or so. I've been having nightmares, waking up at 3 in the morning and finding myself unable to fall back to sleep. I reached the point yesterday when I realized that I had done all my reading for my classes and couldn't remember one thing that I had read. That in and of itself is a big problem as my teachers have the expectation that not only will you read, but you will be able to discuss what you read in an intelligent manner!

Last night we went to bed around 11 pm. I know it is late, but I don't even get home on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 10:30ish. I only woke up once last night and I didn't have any bad dreams. I felt wonderful when I woke up this morning. I felt ready to face the day and felt a lot more positive about life than I have felt this last week. Sleep is an amazing remedy for a lot of things and I just want to use this platform to say to my mom, in front of the world (well really the people who actually bother to read my blog)...YOU WERE RIGHT!

Inspiration

I have been having a lot of nightmares lately. Go figure, my husband is getting ready for deployment and I'm not sleeping well. That combined with my stressful class schedule this term, it is a wonder I am getting any sleep at all.

This morning when I woke up, as I was making my bed, the color white caught my eye. I normally don't open my blinds until after I have taken my shower and really started my day (mainly because I live on the first floor and don't really want people peeping in on me when I'm getting dressed). Today though, I opened my blinds first thing, and when I opened them I saw white every where. In the past year I have only woken up to snow a handful of times, and for some reason this time I felt really inspired by it. Maybe because I am trying to find beauty in my surroundings today or maybe because I need a little inspiration to power through.

Whatever the reason, here are the results: I took some photographs of a beautiful holly bush and the plant next to it just outside my back porch. I hope you like them.

P.S. As I write this post it has started to rain and the snow has begun melting away...

Dinner

Four nights a week I am not home for dinner. It bothers me a lot that I do not get to enjoy a meal with my husband on these days, especially in light of his upcoming deployment. Instead of focusing on how much it bugs me, I have started to invest extra effort in the meals that I cook for him ahead of time. On Sunday nights I go through my cookbooks (for the first time Sgt D did this with me yesterday) and I pick out recipes that I will cook during the week and I make my shopping list.

Monday mornings I go grocery shopping, which I find oddly relaxing. I usually have to make two trips, one to the PX (post exchange - kinda like a big Walmart with no food) and one to the Commissary (the grocery store on post). Then I come home and put everything away. Around noon everyday before I make my lunch I start cooking Sgt D's dinner. Today it was a Chicken Tex-Mex Casserole. Tomorrow it will be a beef stew. I try to make things that don't require him to do very much beyond putting something in the oven or turning off the crock pot. He works hard all day and the last thing he wants to do is come home and learn to cook.

It is weird though, I have begun to really enjoy these meals I make for him. Trying to find good recipes that won't require to much work on his part has been fun (if you have any please send them my way). I also like the nice break it provides in my days, which are usually spent doing nothing but homework. It is also a great challenge every week, trying to keep things new, interesting and delicious.

The Washer and Dryer

Call me weird if you want...well most of you already have at some point in my life...but I really love the sound of the washer and the dryer. I do all my laundry while I am doing my homework throughout the week. At least one load every two days, I know this sounds like a lot considering we don't have kids, but Sgt D wears two different uniforms a day and his PT uniforms need to be cleaned immediately or they start to smell something awful! I find the noise the machines make to be relaxing and they lull me into a good working frame of mind.

Maybe it is the rhythmic sound the dryer makes dropping the clothes in a circle and the zippers and buttons hitting the sides, but there is something about it that I find kind of relaxing and peaceful. I'll have to ask my parents on day if I was one of those babies had to be put in the car or on top of a running washer to soothe them to sleep. I know I sleep great in the car, anyone who has gone on a long car ride with me can attest to that fact, but I don't know about the washing machine thing...

Inauguration

There are few moments in our history, where the entire country sat in front of the television, somewhat united and watched an event with bated breath. I am certain that today is one of those days. It is historic. The first person of color is being sworn in to the Office of President of the United States of America.

Not only is this a historic moment, but it is a positive one. The last time, in my short life, that I can remember a moment like this it was 9/11. It was not a positive moment in our Nation's history, but it did unite us as a country.


President Obama has the hopes and dreams of an entire country in the palm of his hands, and he is on the largest stage the world has to offer. For those of us in the military it is a different moment altogether. It is a moment filled with anxiety. There are so many rumors and concerns floating around about pay cuts, scaling back the military, pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan before either country is secure. Some people worry whether or not they will be able to re-enlist, some people are worried that they will not receive the re-enlistment bonuses that they are counting on to pay off debt or to put a down payment on a home.


I would like to wish President Obama good luck in his future endeavors as the president of our nation and I will stay positive, that as a military wife he will try to operate with our best interests at heart, considering the many sacrifices our military has made for this country the past 8 years.

Bums...

Sgt D and I are the biggest bums on the weekend. We get up around 10 am usually, but we don't really seem to accomplish anything until much much later in the day. Today, Sgt D decided to completely rearrange our office in light of all the new gear he got and the lack of room in our apartment. 5 hours later...the office looks pretty good. Let me tell you, it took a lot of compromise to make what few changes we did make, but at least we didn't have any major fights (which is usually what happens when he starts organizing!).

It still looks like a military clothing and sale store blew up in our office, but that should only last a couple of more weeks...I hope.

Tonight we are going to catch a movie, we figure on a Sunday night, how crowded can it really be. Via three day weekends!!!

Orders

Sgt D got orders this week to go Down Range. I can't post anything about it here, other than to let you know that it has finally happened. I fully plan to respect all Op Sec rules regarding this future deployment and want our friends and family to know that we will keep them informed through other means of any developments. I am ok. I had a hard time dealing with it earlier in the week, but we knew it was coming for sometime. Although, even though we had an idea, having it in writing was still a difficult thing to handle.

I am eternally grateful to my family and friends who have listened to me cry this week. I'm sure over the next several months you will get more phone calls from me just asking you to listen. I know that I signed up for this when I married someone in the military, but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with and I certainly do not need to be reminded of that and I would like to thank everyone for not taking any cheap shots at me by reminding me of that fact.

This is probably the first time in my life I have ever looked forward to starting school so much, as it is an excellent distraction. I am also trying to re-pick up my hobbies of quilting and knitting (not that I ever really stopped knitting). I am having my sewing machine serviced and it will be ready by tomorrow evening and my mom is being generous to give me some quilting kits to work on for her, which I am really excited about. Anything to keep my mind from wandering to places it does not belong.

Please keep Sgt D and his fellow soldiers in your hearts and prayers these next few months as they prepare for their deployment.

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!