Last post of the year...maybe...

I can't believe that 2006 is almost over. Where did it go. I remember when I was a kid and the time would go by really slow and now that I am an adult it seems to fly by. Looking back on 2006 almost seems like a blurr. We started the year off with the husband being deployed until April. When he came home he finally bought a new truck, which he needed so badly. Then in June we found out that we were PCS to Ft. Bragg from Ft. Campbell. We also found out that our dog Max had cancer. We put him down right before he had to report by August 20th which didn't really give us too much time to get ready to go. The house went up for sale, we took a house hunting trip to North Carolina in July, and by August 17th we were off to our new location. I registered the boys in school while we lived in a hotel for 2 months until we found a house to buy and closed Nov 1st and got our HHG Nov 6th. We did manage to have our first Thanksgiving and Christmas in our new house and here it is the end of December already and the start of a new year is right around the corner. So I ask where did this year go?

So do I dare make a new years resolution? I could stand to loose a couple of pounds,(living in a hotel does not make for a good eating situation) make some new friends, start my workouts again, (I sure do miss them), try to be more patient and understanding, get my last two rooms organized, boy this sounds more like a to do list which I have many of.

I can say that I do miss my old friends, especially the ones from Ft. Drum. I really didn't get to spend a lot of time at Ft. Campbell, only two years compared to Drum which was 11 years. I made some great friends that I still keep in contact with. I especially made some great friends from the PBS TV station that I worked at. As much as I complained about it I really had some fun times and great memories.

So I guess my new years resolution would be to make some more great memories.

May hope, love, and warmth be in your heart’s possessing, and may the New Year bring you and yours many blessings.
Happy New Year 2007.

Added some pictures

First, I like to say that the EAGLES won and have clinch a spot in the playoffs. Second, I have added some pictures to some old posts that I have already posted. Yes I know I should add them as I am posting but I didn't. I added some of the boys at Christmas, the new dog Sa-Mi and Buddy, the Charlie Brown tree, my son N. birthday, the front of the house and one of me and my daughter when she came to visit me. I will try to be better at adding the pictures as I do the post.

Christmas Day...

N. is on the left
J. is on the right


So far today has been a very relaxing day. Except for all the rain today. The boys didn't get up until 10am and then we opened gifts. They acted surprised just for me. Actually they knew everything that they got. I did get a gift that I didn't know about. It was a Harley bear with a stocking attached and inside the stocking was a pair of Harley earings. I was really surprised since I already got Sami the dog for Christmas. All in all it has been a very nice couple of days.

Last night we all including the husband went to church. The church kids were really cute as they put on their play for all of us. Yes it was really crowded but that is to be expected. After that we came home and had some snacks and just hung around in our PJ.

So lets see Santa brought the kids cloths, husband got a cordless drill and a new helmet, can't wait to go riding, I got a dog and earings. Husband made a really nice dinner with turkey and ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn and muffins. We had pumpkin and apple pie and now I am going to sit down and watch the Eagles beat the cowboys....GO EAGLES......

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas....

Friday before Christmas...

Here is it Friday before Christmas. I have to admit that things around here have been pretty good for the last two days. After the blow up on Wednesday, I think he knew that I had had it. I started looking for places to rent. Actually that is pretty funny since I don't have a job yet. But I have to say that I was called the other day for an interview. I don't want to go into details just yet. I was really surprised since I sent my one and only resume out about two weeks ago and thought that it was just trashed. The interview is not until the beginning of the year which is fine with me. It will give me time to finish up some stuff I need to do around here.

It's been raining here all day long. I had some last minute stuff to do...or should I say my husband had some last minute stuff for me to do and then we met for a nice lunch. I have to say it is really nice that the kids are older. I do miss some of the excitement that goes along with the belief of Santa...but it was so nice to go and just have them get stuff that they wanted and be done with the mad rush of Christmas. This has got to be one of the easiest Christmas yet.

Christmas is really not one of my favorite holidays. It is so rushed and people get so cranky. The whole meaning is lost. I am always a Grinch during this time of year. But it's kinda of funny with this move and all the stuff that had to be done I really didn't have time to be a Grinch. So here it is the Friday before Christmas and all is done...the food is bought, the gift bought and wrapped and under the tree, the house is clean, the cookies are made, the stocking are stuffed and hung by the chiming with care in hope that St. Nicholas soon will be here.

So as the big guy in the red suit says....Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Wednesday...

The Christmas vacation started for the boys. One is still sleeping. Teenagers, must be nice. The other one is on his computer chatting away. Me I am taking a timeout from cleaning, filing, and doing wash to post this blog.

Things here are still very stressed. Husband and I got into a hugh fight the other night. I am walking on eggs shells not knowing what will set him off. I don't know how much more I can take. I am trying to be so patient because I know most of it is from his job but I am getting really tired of being the sounding board and taking all the crap.

I can't believe this weather. I know how much I have complained about the snow when we were at Ft. Drum but sometimes I really miss not having a white Christmas and I know the boys really miss not being able to go skiing.

We finally got our tree on Friday. Not the tree I would have picked out. I just wanted a very special one since this is the first Christmas in three years that husband is home but we went to a couple of places and they were closed and ended up at Wal-Mart for our Christmas tree. And yes it looks like a Charlie Brown tree. He likes it cause it was small and cheap. I don't like it cause it was a little too small and all the pine needles are already falling off. Just one more thing to disagree about I guess.

Well I hope all my readers have a very Happy, Healthy, Safe Holiday Season and New Year.

As time goes by..

Here it is Thursday already and today is my youngest son N. birthday. He is 15 years old. Wow, I can't believe it. I took him shopping the other night and he picked up a couple of things and he wanted the rest in money. We will have a cake tonight and sing. He is really turning into such a nice young man.

Husband S. came home a night early. I was so looking forward to the last night by myself to enjoy but he left and was home by 6pm. We actually sat and watch a TV show together..The biggest Loser...how appropriate. Actually it was very nice. He did called a couple of time while he was away which was nice. It has been so distant here. We are on different pages of the book. But I have to say at least we are still in the same book. But this morning was a different story. He started up all over again. How much he hates his job, how he has no free time, how much he has to do and nobody to help him. I am so sick of it. Oh poor him.....Deal with it and get on with your life. The other night I told him to quit his job if he hated it that much of course he had to complain about that too. Who is going to pay the bills, I don't want to loose my retirement and benefits. Well then stop complaining. OK enough of that.

On a good note....I passed my written test today. I was down to number 25 with 5 wrong and had to answer that one correct or I would have failed again. And believe me it was a lucky guess. It was some question about the suspension of the car. Like I even know what that is. That is why they have car shops so they can tell me what is wrong with my car. I went there looking a mess. I decided not to fix my hair thinking that it would give me good luck since I would have to take a picture with messy hair and it worked.

I have the guy coming tomorrow to mark the lines for the hot tub to be hooked up. Soon he will have his hot tub again and that should make him happy. I feel so guilty. This is the first Christmas with him home in three years and I am wishing he was away. All of these deployments, TDY trips and PCS without me sure does take a toll on a marriage. But I have to be positive on this cause I really do want it to work out. And I know marriage is hard work some time it is harder than other time and this is one of those time.

Ok, now I really feel guilty...I stopped at the store to get some cards and thought I would pick one up for my husband so when he got home tonight it would be there. We used to get each other cards all the time. I really miss that. So he opened his card and I was in the bedroom and there was a card for me on my pillow. I guess sometimes we are on the same page.

Wow, it's Saturday already...

Buddy....is on the left
Sa-Mi....is below








Ok, where do I begin...yes the dryer was still broke...not really sure if it is fix yet since I did all the wash with it still broke. It took two cycles to dry the cloths. I called on Wednesday and he came Thursday around 10:30. Of course my husband decided to not go into work that day. We were going to go to lunch but didn't get the chance cause we had to wait for the dryer to get fixed. That was also my last resort. If it didn't get fixed I was going to go buy a new one. So after the dryer guy left he wanted to go for a ride.

We get in the truck and start driving. To my surprise we end up at FAPS (Fayetteville Animal Protection Society) to get another dog. That is what I asked for for Christmas. We sadly had to put our Max, who was only 6 years old, down because he had cancer right before we moved. There were so many dogs there. No puppies at all. We were there for about 3 hours. We ended up with a cute little Collie mix male dog. He is only 11 months old and was born on Christmas. His name is Sa-Mi (Sammy). I was a little worried about Buddy (our Shephard mix). But so far so good. He has really adjusted very well. The girls at the FAPS called him crazy Sa-mi cause he has so much energy. But he is still a puppy yet and Buddy has been playing with him which is a very good thing.

Thursday night my husband went to pick up the bike. Of course, as our luck would have it, it didn't start. So he stayed there to charge it. On Friday, my husband went into work for a little while. He was home by lunch so we had our lunch a day late. It was nice. He went and got the bike and it started so he drove it home. He started packing to go on his TDY trip and he packed his notebook but forgot that he was locked out of it. Me and my big mouth asked him if he was able to get into it and of course all hell broke loose and we had a big fight. So on our last night together I slept on the couch. When I woke up I took him to get his rental car and of course the manager was late getting there and we had to sit in the truch much longer than I planned but as fate would have it we ended up talking and it was really nice. Then we said our goodbuys and off he went. I have to say I really needed this brake from him. We have not been together this long (9 months) in the whole 12 years we have been together. He is either deployed or TDY or PCS somewhere. So I think this week apart will really be a help for both of us. It has been such a stree free day. The boys and I went to church tonight, we hit the mall, we got pizza and all ate at the table and just enjoyed the day.

Tomorrow I start my list of things to do with raking all the leaves in the front yard. But for today I am going to enjoy my last couple of hours laying on the couch with the dogs, reading a book, watching some TV and enjoying life.

It's Wednesday already...

I know I haven't posted in a couple of days. Things here are crazy one minute and sane the next. I have been trying to get my husbands hot tub hooked up. This has become a major nightmare. Who would think that it would be so hard to run an electrical line to the hot tub, but it is. I had everyone mark out their lines but no one marked to the well, which runs on electricity. So I called back and they said that they didn't run the line to the well and can't mark it. So now I have to hire a private contractor to find and mark the lines and I can't find one in the area that I live in. So who ever I hire has to drive about 2 hours to do a 5 minute job. But hopefully when my husband returns from his TDY trip next week most of it will be done.

I had to have the gas man back to fix my dryer. He was supposed to come yesterday afternoon and at 5:30 (which I consider evening not afternoon) he called to ask me if he could come today instead. He did show up on time today and ordered the part and said he will be back tomorrow morning to install it. I will keep my fingers crossed. I did manage to do my boys wash and it only took me 5 hours to do two loads. Not bad huh...

I sent out a resume today. I promised my husband that I wouldn't do that until all the work was done in the house and all the paper work was complete. But I have to say that all the unpacking is all done but it is not all put away. The job sounded too good to pass up. So will see what happens. I can always say no if it is not what I am looking for.

My dad had surgery on his knee yesterday morning. They found that is was worse than they thought. He will be in therapy for 4 weeks not 2 now, which means he will not be at home for Christmas. But he will only be about 15 minutes away so my mom can go and visit all the time.

Things for the past couple of days have been good. I never know what husband is going to show up and with me being at home and not being able to do the things I love to do...workout, tan and have a job...it can get somewhat tense around here. So I am trying my best to keep my mouth shut on some stuff and be thankful that I have a husband home this year for the holidays.

Sunday...

My daughter left today to go back to school in Kentucky. My son is home from his trip to Washington D.C. My husband is drunk and asleep in bed. I am sitting here on the computer again and my virus scan just told me that I have a virus which is in quartine. My dad fell off a ladder and is in the hospital with a shattered knee and a broken elbow. He will need surgery on Monday. My van needs to go in the shop cause my brakes are making a grinding noise. My dryer is not heating up so the gas man is coming back on Tuesday to fix it again. The men who came to mark all the underground lines need to come back cause they didn't mark all of them. My earing hole got infected so I took the earing out and now it is closed up. It was a crapy day outside and ended up raining. And there is only 21 more shopping days until Christmas and I haven't started a thing.

On the bright side...my dining room and living room are all unpacked and put away. Now I have room for our tree and I can start decorating. I get my hair cut and dyed tomorrow. Everyone is healthy and no one has gotten sick. Touch wood. I woke up without a headache today. This is a first in a long time. My daughter made it home ok. My son made it back home from his trip to DC ok. My husband didn't brake anything tonight. My dad is off the pain meds so he is feeling a little better. My husband is off for the week so it won't be an inconvience being without my van. The men who came out to mark our underground lines came out last time really fast so hopefully they will come out again fast. And the gas man asked me to call him on Monday to remind him to come out to fix my dryer so hopefully he won't forget in a day and I will be washing and drying cloths again. My ear doesn't hurt anymore so I guess it just wasn't meant to be pierced in that spot. And I did get to watch football all day long.

Friday already

Here it is Friday already. My daughter came in early yesterday around and my carpet was also installed. But my husband was in such a bad mood that it took away from anything good that happened. First he went to a clinic to get his meds for BP cause I couldn't find him a doctor who would take him any earlier that January. And I also tried to have his old doctor call in an RX but he couldn't cause we were out of state. So he ended up going to a clinic which he waited 4 hours to see a PA. He finally gets in and when he was ready to leave they charge him $95.00. Why I don't know cause the clinic is on our preferred list. So it should have been only $20.00. So today I was on the phone trying to find out why. I called our heath care provider and they said he should have paid $30.00 so I called the clinic and they said that they overcharged him. Hum...and they are a clinic. Then he went to get his license. Again he had to wait finally he got it but he had to go back today to take a test for the motorcycle part of it. So he is the only one right now with a NC license. Then off to work...why I don't know cause he is on vacation until December 9th. He gets into work and there are 75 emails waiting for him. He has only been gone one day. So after all that excitement he was not a happy camper and ended up getting drunk.

So now it is Friday and my daughter and I go and take our drivers test. The first two parts were easy. They were the eye test and the sign test. I did miss two signs cause you are supposed to tell them what they are and what they mean and two were blank. So I didn't know what they were supposed to be. Then off to the written test (which is now on a computer). We sit down put on the head phone and start choosing the answers. I got the first 12 out of 25 right and then it was all down hill from there. I got 6 wrong in the next 13 and you can only get 5 wrong altogether. So yes my daughter and I both failed. We actually laughed about some of the questions and it was fun to laugh. Thank goodness they give you back your old license. The examiner said I can come back once a day. I am going to need a lot of days for this. Not one question on DWI, or seat belts, or speed limits, or driving with your lights on when it rains. I did get questions on how long you loose your license for this and that. So I guess I will be going back on Monday but my daughter just might get her license from KY where she goes to school at.

We did have a nice day. We drove around and I showed her the area. We went to the mall and I showed her where some of the schools were. We had a nice lunch. And after all that driving around my van starts making funny noises. This was after my oil light came on and I was a quirt low on oil so I got an oil change now I thing my brakes are going out so on Monday we are going to drop it off at the Ford place to have it checked out.

My son J. is on a field trip to Washington D.C. this weekend. I hope he is having fun. My dog got away tonight. I dropped my husband off at a friends house with the dog and he got away from them and chased me down the street. I didn't think he wanted to stay there but my husband can be hard headed and made the dog stay. I guess he didn't want to stay with two drunks. Well so much for my exciting two days. I still have one more day with my daughter so I hope it will be a good one. I am going to miss her when she leaves.