We're going to do this bullet style due to my lack of brain function at the moment to compose transitional paragraphs :)
--I've been plagued with almost daily headaches--bad ones. I'm running low on my RX medication and am having battles with the military clinic to get more refills. Trying to get headache medicine gives me a headache. I'm a crappy mom and wife when I get hit with these suckers so feel sorry for my family right now. I'm much nicer medicated.
--I'm about to become soccer mom to *two* kids--a first for me and my first season completely on my own--call me nuts. We just found out Jules games will be 30 minutes away and Alyssa's will be 2 minutes down the road. It'll be interesting to see how I manage that every saturday for 2 1/2 months. Needless to say I'll be spending a lot of time in the mini van with balls in my trunk. (that joke never gets old :)
--We just had a very nice visit with Matt's mom and step dad (pics coming soon for those of you logged in to see them). We managed to do a lot although, sadly for them,. they barely saw Matt since he is gone constantly doing chief induction things. He was supposed to only have overnight duty every three days and have two days off but nope--those two days "off" involve him working until almost dinner. So we've all just sat with him to eat and then watched him sleep on the couch.
--Madilyn has been--well acting very twoish. Her personality is getting stronger and strong. She threw the mother of tantrums yesterday--yeah while we were in the middle of a lake trying to canoe. My poor mother-in-law had to try and restrain her and what was your quote, Sue? "You're stronger than me--I would lock myself in the house for the next five years and not go anywhere". I appreciate her acknowledging the current challenges in my life and why I might be a bald babbling idiot once Matt returns from his deployment ;)
--Although I am trying to keep myself in a constant state of denial, it's hard to ignore that in five days I have to drop Matt off at the ship and won't see him again until around March. It's hard not to become consumed with all the things he will miss-all the holidays, all the birthdays, all the milestones. Madilyn will be a completely different child when he returns and I can't promise Alyssa and Jules won't be in therapy. I think there is a lot of things civilian people don't even realize go into these deployments--far beyond that of just trying to make up for the fact that Daddy is missing every major thing in their lives. It also involves being prepared at home beforehand--having the Christmas tree easily accessible in the attic, having all major tools organized and easy to find, having power of attorneys done, getting crash courses in all the yard tools so I don't lose a limb trying to edge the damn lawn. Alot of families make tapes of the Dads reading to their kids or giving them messages and sadly, we haven't even been able to find the time to do those things with his chief induction process. Hell, we haven't even been able to get that life sized cardboard cut out of Matt done like we had wanted to. (Now I have to rethink the Christmas card photo...Hmmm)
--We have no idea what the future holds for us with Matt making chief. There is technically no "room" for him as a chief on his ship but given his quals in air control, they need him--badly. So I have a feeling they will sneak by and keep him until their return. At that point, we were looking forward to two years of normalcy but I have a sinking suspicion that they will THEN take him and transfer him to another command that might be deploying or overseas somewhere--it could mean 1 to 1 1/2 years apart. I told him if that happens, I'll be in a psych ward upon his return. He thinks I'm joking.
--I'm not "allowed" to speak or vent much about the chief induction process but I will say this--we are up to $1,800 in expenses and we're not even halfway done yet. It blows my mind that is is allowed and I thank God that we are financially able to take this on. "They" claim these fundraisers help offset the costs we incur but I have yet to see this happen. However I will say two things--one, I find it laughable that there are meetings and booklets given to tell me how to be a chief's wife. I will write about that on another occasion I am sure, but it provides me much amusement. For the record, I have not attended the meetings but I have leafed through the booklets because they make me laugh and laughter is good medicine. Two, I have found out the chief induction process definitely is not designed for the family man and I have often asked, "Are they trying to make us divorce?!" We just received our list of what is required for deployment and I blew my top--I think it's completely unthinkable because it could potentially leave me screwed financially here at home--oh and yep, I am the one paying the mortgage while he's gone. I've heard the line that families are not issued with sea bags, but I am also here to tell you Matt and I have been together before the Navy and will be together after and it would be nice if they realized he is only still in because of his obligation to provide well for us. They would have lost him a long time ago if we were not around. I do find it funny, however, that they use that seabag line and then turn around and almost demand wives attend meetings and do certain things or otherwise make the husbands feel badly if the wives don't. Oh wait...I thought we weren't apart of this though? Hmmm.
--One thing I have learned during this, however, is how to be a well received navy wife by Matt's co workers--show up to an event that is open to spouses, speak briefly with a smile, drop off donuts (or any food with sugar) and then leave. I have yet to fully attend a fundraising event but found just simply introducing myself, shaking hands and leaving a box of sweets was enough to leave a good impression.
--I am back to kicking around the idea of adding another fur baby to the household. I met with a wonderful rescue organization here in the area (that not only handles cats and dogs but also farm animals) so they could meet our family and see our home. They suggested we foster until we find a nice fit and I agreed. I have not committed fully yet though to do anything because it's been so crazy here with school and soccer getting ready to start and then of course, the preps of the household for Matt to leave. So I definitely need to step back and think long and hard but we're in a position now that we could help save another life so I am sure it's just a matter of time before I take that on.
--It's now taken me over 2 hours to compose this since I have had numerous interruptions but alas, I have ignored the children long enough and need to go run errands. That should be enough of an update for now. I'll post pictures in a bit for those signed in and come next week, I'll be a bit more diligent about posting--I am sure mainly about my trials as a "single mother".
Guess what else we get here in the "country"? Snakes...like snakes that like to sun themselves on your driveway and then slither into your garage when they spot you. <shudder> I'm so not into that. I keep telling myself the ticks, fire ants, lizards, cow killers and snakes will be second nature and not bother me one bit in a couple years but right now I'm not loving that whole part of moving out here. Man oh man, living in the "city" really softened me over the course of 7 years--shame on me.
However, I do love that there are small family owned mom and pop places out here, a post office in a historic building turned bike shop, farms animals all over the place, john deer tractors that serve as directional landmarks for visitors, and the fact that I can go for miles without encountering one stoplight. I haven't missed our old house or neighborhood yet although I do admit to missing the golf course green lawn!
Our new shed is all done and painted! Now we get the task of filling and organizing it with all the yard tools that are taking up valuable space in our garage.
Our new computer desk finally arrived and aside from the large scratch in one piece (which they are replacing free of charge of course), I am absolutely in love--with the desk, with the company we worked with and with the people that delivered and assembled it. Only problem? We now have three large pieces in a very small room with an offset window. Arranging the furniture is a pain so I am sure I'll have Matt breaking his back trying different placements until I can be somewhat content.
We will be finished painting the new shed today...will post pictures once it's done :)
This morning--a couple weeks after I initially reported my suspected neglect of dairy cows at a local farm--I finally heard back from the investigating officer. He apologized for taking so long to get back to me but fully filled me in on the situation. He went out a few hours after my call and found that many of the younger cows were indeed ill--they had parasites. They had even more cows out back that were healthy but the caregivers had them separated. They had papers from the vet's office proving they had been seen although the officer took the extra step and called the vet himself who confirmed that the young cows were, indeed, under his care. The people said they never had dairy cows before and didn't quite know what they were doing--they always had beef cows. They had gotten some way too young, ones that were not even weaned yet from their mothers and the situation just went badly. The officer said he will be checking back in a month or two to make sure they are getting better and offered to keep me informed on the situation. I sincerely thanked him and conveyed my appreciation for his attention to the issue and his kindness in calling me back.
It's good to know the caregivers were attempting to fix the situation and did have the cows under a dr's care. I just hope they do get better and continue to receive the care they need to get them there.
This afternoon we found ourselves already packed and ready to go camping tomorrow morning so we were just sitting around enjoying the backyard. Madilyn was still napping so we had Jules and Alyssa out back playing while we burned off some firewood. I glanced over at our brand new two wheeled wheelbarrow and had a very redneck thought. I giggled to Matt, "We should have wheelbarrow races! How much does that sucker hold?" His face lit up as he exclaimed, "get in!" My ride went just fine, Alyssa's ride went well and then Jules' turn came. Matt took her around as I watched...as I watched Jules get tipped out (luckily she is fine) and Matt go flying over the handles and land on his side. He actually laid there for a moment and caused my laughs to turn to concern, "Are you OK?!" I yelled over to him. He slowly got up. I was thinking his pride was the main thing that was hurt although one of the bolts did catch his arm and caused a very nasty foot long cut. But as time went on, we realized he really hurt his thumb at the base of the finger. He could barely move it without wincing. It was obvious something was very wrong so now he is in the ER getting it looked at. He is, however, staying strong and insisting he can still go fishing and canoing.
Why must someone always get hurt right before a trip?!
*UPDATE* Matt was xrayed--he doesn't have any broken bones. It's a sprain though or basically a torn ligament which they say is as painful as a broken bone. So he is in a splint up to his elbow and is fully wrapped in an ace bandage. He was given 800mg motrin and hydrocodone.
Let's see if he even remembers our camping trip ;p
Finally! Finally we can get the loads of gas powered yard tools, shovels, rakes, etc out of our garage and into proper storage. Our shed is being built today--the guys are on their way out now. This weekend was spent leveling and preparing the site so hopefully installation will be easy. We ordered a cute ranch style complete with window and window box, cupola and rooster weathervane. We will have to paint it but atleast it comes primed.
While out opening the drivegate in preps of the workers arriving, I let Max out back to go potty. He was in a feisty, playful mood and refused to go but rather ran through the fresh dirt and pranced around like a pup. It was cute but I wasn't in the mood this morning and when he gets like that, he could bold so I was standing guard by the open gate. Finally I had enough and told him to go home but he refused. I started to lead him to the door, looked down because he started to put on the brakes, looked back up and slammed my nose into the door frame full force. I am sure the neighbors even heard those curses. I heard cracking although thank God it's not broken--just incredibly sore and now I have a wicked headache. Max ran back out into the yard and laid down with a very sorry look on his face. It took Alyssa coming out to call "her buddy" back inside.
Matt was actually supposed to be handling this one--I had scheduled this all to be done during his leave (vacation from work for civilian readers). He was supposed to be the one up early preparing and talking with these workers--overseeing their construction but nope. There was a Chief selectee briefing/meeting this morning at 8am and he has yet to call to say when he'll be home. I have a feeling they kidnapped him and are holding him hostage on that ship now. So it looks like I gotta strap on a set and handle these construction workers on my own again. Oh how I love that. This is the next to last project we have planned for the near future that requires outside workers--thank God. I am done with relying on other people to do work in my house.
I'll add before and after shots to our new house photo slideshow once it's all built and painting.
Oh the things you find in your backyard when you move to the "country". The above picture is not ours but a picture of the type of insect we found yesterday--a red velvet ant or "cow killer". Add that to the list of "WOW! Haven't seen anything like that in 7 years since I left the woods of NJ". Not only do we have these beauties but also snakes (we have yet to see one but have seen the skins), lizards, ticks, carpenter ants and fire ants. We have laid insecticide for fear Madi stepping on something or investigating and although it took care of the fire ants and ticks, apparently it doesn't cover these beastly creatures (which are actually wasps not ants)
Since finding out the news on Friday that Matt was promoted to Chief, we have:
1) Started to fall asleep on the couch before 10pm
2) Dug and prepared the site for our shed being delivered on Monday
3) Ran errands at Walmart.
4) Mowed the front and back lawns.
We know how to live it up, don't we? :)
I will say this has to be one of the most relaxing weekends we have had in general moods though. We are so lighthearted and walking around with permanent smiles. I even hear Matt whistling once in a while.
