the updating thing I mean....
*insert lame ass excuse here that means nothing other than I am a lazy spudge*
Hmm.. Umm well he did get home.. Easter Saturday in fact.
suffice it to say his trip home was indicative of the entire 2 years apart. plane delays in SEATAC, flying into the one airport in the BWA triangle that was LEAST convenient, arriving home at midnight or thereabouts. We can laugh about it now. on that weekend, well lets just say frustration reigned...
Luckily we had a small reprieve for a few weeks. it was in fairly short order that we bought a new car.. one that I can actually get in and out of without too much hassle. and we managed to get a lot of little projects done around the house that have been languishing for one reason or another.
but that soon ended as he was put in limbo while his Clearance issues got straightened out. every 5 years it must be renewed and guess what coincided with PCS? and of course the losing command saw no reason to begin the process so it was shelved until he got back.. which meant he was jobless until it did go through. it's now the second week of june.. he FINALLY 'badges up" next Tuesday. Dear gawd they want to make him a Department Head. in the meantime he's been able to either call in to work and say "hey I am still alive" or just bail at noon. he's done all of that and more. Hopefully by the end of next week we will have a more solid idea of what he will be doing the next 3 years.
ahh the cruise. as soon as I umm.. find the camera( hey still haven't completely unpacked yet. deal) I will post pictures and a review. suffice it to say Royal Caribbean is our new favorite home. for about the same price as Disney was costing us, we got a full suite with all the assorted perks that go along with it.. and better port calls. We booked another cruise while still on board.. and it was HIS idea to go to New England and Canada. But Bermuda was AWE(wait for it) SOME. in fact 2 partial days and one full one were NOT enough. we definitely intend on going back. but the NE/C departs on our anniversary, he wants to see the fall foliage and we wanted to try something different. Might still sneak in one between now and Sept 2013. maybe another short one in the spring. I'd even be willing to drop down to a JS in the interim. or a balcony.
Maybe.
All in all I hope the rest of the year goes a damn sight better than the first half has been.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
well I suck at this apparently
Last year I had all these grandiose plans.. yeah, about them.. not so much with the execution part.
Oh sure I managed to pay off the student loan.. but that was about it.
will I be any better at it this year? prolly not. at least I am honest about it this time. I cold give you all sorts of excuses, and you'll nod your head wisely and say you understand.
the truth of the matter is, I fell apart. About, oh 8 months ago I had a breakdown/epiphany/revelation. and NOT in a good way. I should have gone to see a mental health professional. I didn't. the reasons why don't really matter. well they do, but I am not going to give you my lame ass excuses( all of which had a reasonable counter argument as to why I could not do such and such a thing),
I have been doing this Navy Spouse thing for well over 15 years. as I look back on the last 24 months of my life.. the first 13 years.. were NOTHING. a cakewalk. easy peasy. didn't even work up a sweat.
so what makes this last duty station so damned 'special'? the choices we made.. consciously.
we , DH and I , brought it upon ourselves and we suffered.. personally and professionally, because of it. we tried to convince ourselves that it was worth it, that this was a good check in the box for his career progression, that we could visit each other every 6 months and that would be enough.
We were wrong. does no good now to say we coulda shoulda. it's done. in about 3 months ish, he will PCS and be back here. and then instead of having to learn to live apart, we have to learn to live together again.
Oh sure I managed to pay off the student loan.. but that was about it.
will I be any better at it this year? prolly not. at least I am honest about it this time. I cold give you all sorts of excuses, and you'll nod your head wisely and say you understand.
the truth of the matter is, I fell apart. About, oh 8 months ago I had a breakdown/epiphany/revelation. and NOT in a good way. I should have gone to see a mental health professional. I didn't. the reasons why don't really matter. well they do, but I am not going to give you my lame ass excuses( all of which had a reasonable counter argument as to why I could not do such and such a thing),
I have been doing this Navy Spouse thing for well over 15 years. as I look back on the last 24 months of my life.. the first 13 years.. were NOTHING. a cakewalk. easy peasy. didn't even work up a sweat.
so what makes this last duty station so damned 'special'? the choices we made.. consciously.
we , DH and I , brought it upon ourselves and we suffered.. personally and professionally, because of it. we tried to convince ourselves that it was worth it, that this was a good check in the box for his career progression, that we could visit each other every 6 months and that would be enough.
We were wrong. does no good now to say we coulda shoulda. it's done. in about 3 months ish, he will PCS and be back here. and then instead of having to learn to live apart, we have to learn to live together again.
Friday, November 18, 2011
More new toys
I am the proud owner of a Kindle Fire.
Lots of people have been going back and forth: tablet, smartphone, e reader, Ipad?! they each have their pros and cons. I had a plain ole regular Kindle 3G that I used and loved being just a tad bit obsessive over reading. we probably have 5 full size bookshelves in our house all with double rows on each shelf. and that does NOT count all the books we have gotten rid of over the last 15 years.
My goal was to A: stop buying hard copies of books as I had run out of room ages ago and B to eventually do to all digital format( or at least as much as I could considering many of my books are out of print now. Imagine my joy when I found this entire mega library full of classics.. books I had forever longed to read or had read as a kid.. now available as freebies in the Kindle universe! Doyle, Austen, Stoker, Shelley( Mary, not Percy) Poe.. all of my longtime favorites now available in one fell swoop!
well with ONE teeny exception( yes I bought the Twilight Companion Book in hard copy. so sue me) I am proud to claim full success on Goal A with me picking up eversions of Bourdain's many books( have always wanted to read Kitchen Confidential) as well as some new ebooks written solely for that format. I have even grabbed a bunch for John to read since he is getting my old Kindle now that I have my new toy.
Goal B is muchly more ambitious and I confess to not trying very hard although at some point a few of the ones in more battered condition will eventually be replaced.
Countdown: in eleven very long days I will be on a plane to Okinawa for 2 weeks of Squidspoiling. me being spoiled by the Squid. not the other way around THAT comes in May on the cruise Bwahahahaha Oh the things I have planned for him
get your minds out of the gutter. we are in our 40s and old and get tired easily. sheesh.
Lots of people have been going back and forth: tablet, smartphone, e reader, Ipad?! they each have their pros and cons. I had a plain ole regular Kindle 3G that I used and loved being just a tad bit obsessive over reading. we probably have 5 full size bookshelves in our house all with double rows on each shelf. and that does NOT count all the books we have gotten rid of over the last 15 years.
My goal was to A: stop buying hard copies of books as I had run out of room ages ago and B to eventually do to all digital format( or at least as much as I could considering many of my books are out of print now. Imagine my joy when I found this entire mega library full of classics.. books I had forever longed to read or had read as a kid.. now available as freebies in the Kindle universe! Doyle, Austen, Stoker, Shelley( Mary, not Percy) Poe.. all of my longtime favorites now available in one fell swoop!
well with ONE teeny exception( yes I bought the Twilight Companion Book in hard copy. so sue me) I am proud to claim full success on Goal A with me picking up eversions of Bourdain's many books( have always wanted to read Kitchen Confidential) as well as some new ebooks written solely for that format. I have even grabbed a bunch for John to read since he is getting my old Kindle now that I have my new toy.
Goal B is muchly more ambitious and I confess to not trying very hard although at some point a few of the ones in more battered condition will eventually be replaced.
Countdown: in eleven very long days I will be on a plane to Okinawa for 2 weeks of Squidspoiling. me being spoiled by the Squid. not the other way around THAT comes in May on the cruise Bwahahahaha Oh the things I have planned for him
get your minds out of the gutter. we are in our 40s and old and get tired easily. sheesh.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
new toys...
I finally joined the 21st century. got me a smart phone. had planned on doing so in April when John returns anyway. Apparently my old, plain, basic, flip phone had other plans.
started going haywire earlier in the week. about every 90 seconds or so it would reset itself like it had just been turned on despite having a full battery.
after some initial issues regarding the name the account was under( His) and the fact that even though I was the one USING the phone I could not make any changes to the account as I was never added as an authorized person and a fight with the old one to stay functioning long enough to transfer my contact list I am now the proud owner of a Iphone 4 16 GB. ( no 32 GB in stock although I highly doubt I will ever fill up the 16 GB anyway)
I am pleased and will spend the next few weeks playing with features like adding my Itunes playlist and a few apps. yes I will DL angry birds. just haven't decided if I will spring for the paid version yet. wil hopefully be at least proficient by the time the flight comes..... so I can bug everybody with real time FB updates in airport terminals....
started going haywire earlier in the week. about every 90 seconds or so it would reset itself like it had just been turned on despite having a full battery.
after some initial issues regarding the name the account was under( His) and the fact that even though I was the one USING the phone I could not make any changes to the account as I was never added as an authorized person and a fight with the old one to stay functioning long enough to transfer my contact list I am now the proud owner of a Iphone 4 16 GB. ( no 32 GB in stock although I highly doubt I will ever fill up the 16 GB anyway)
I am pleased and will spend the next few weeks playing with features like adding my Itunes playlist and a few apps. yes I will DL angry birds. just haven't decided if I will spring for the paid version yet. wil hopefully be at least proficient by the time the flight comes..... so I can bug everybody with real time FB updates in airport terminals....
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Petition to retire October
Seriously. next to February( which sucks on general principals for a variety of reasons) October is like..icky..in every way possible.
gone are the pretty sunny days of September. instead we get rain. and not soft gentle rains of April and May but freezing sleety type rain that makes your bones ache.
have to get up at 0600? well in July and August you could at least have the satisfaction that the sun was getting up with you. now? you need every light in the house turned on just so you don't trip over the cat as you stumble into the shower.
Work til 1700? no more early evening walks on the beach before enjoying a nice dinner watching the sunset. you can put away the sunglasses, pal, cuz by the time you get outta the office Apollo has left the sky and the chariot has already been scrubbed down for the night.
and whose bright idea was to have a holiday that requires you to dress up and beg for candy just as the weather turns to crap in a handbasket? when you need to fit a costume over a snowsuit, something is wrong okay? and the solution? really?! trick or treating at 3 pm?! what's the bloody point if you can't get the socks scared off you by having to walk down creepily lighted streets?!
That's not the whole reason of course. and there are one or two redeeming qualities. Today, for instance, we celebrate the US Navy's founding. but overall.. yeah. October has got to go.
gone are the pretty sunny days of September. instead we get rain. and not soft gentle rains of April and May but freezing sleety type rain that makes your bones ache.
have to get up at 0600? well in July and August you could at least have the satisfaction that the sun was getting up with you. now? you need every light in the house turned on just so you don't trip over the cat as you stumble into the shower.
Work til 1700? no more early evening walks on the beach before enjoying a nice dinner watching the sunset. you can put away the sunglasses, pal, cuz by the time you get outta the office Apollo has left the sky and the chariot has already been scrubbed down for the night.
and whose bright idea was to have a holiday that requires you to dress up and beg for candy just as the weather turns to crap in a handbasket? when you need to fit a costume over a snowsuit, something is wrong okay? and the solution? really?! trick or treating at 3 pm?! what's the bloody point if you can't get the socks scared off you by having to walk down creepily lighted streets?!
That's not the whole reason of course. and there are one or two redeeming qualities. Today, for instance, we celebrate the US Navy's founding. but overall.. yeah. October has got to go.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Good news, bad news and an oopsie
Good news: we have a tentative date for John's return!
Bad news: it's NOT in March *wahhhh* his replacement is taking a couple weeks of leave before reporting so he will will not be cut loose until April although he is pretty confident he can fly home that first Saturday in April . hmm Must find a nice 17 month calendar so I can circle that date in big bright orange marker...
the oopsie: This is a PSA to all persons who make payments on cruises and other vacation packages online. When you screw up entering the CC number, Make sure your other fields do not reset
Otherwise, instead of putting a nice manageable $500 payment on your cruise in May, you pay it off. completely. Yes I probably could have called RCI and stayed on hold for three hours and then begged for it to be reversed. then I'd have to wait until it showed up on my CC statement before going back and making another payment attempt. this way was easier I can still pay it off and not have to pay interest.
oh well that's 2 of 4 planned major expenses in the next 6 months already paid off. and we won't be buying a car til April. and I will start the Disney project in January when I get back.
Bonus: I bought/pre ordered a Kindle fire. I have been waiting for them to come out with a color ereader for ages and this just has so many extra features that I may not need to spring for a smart phone next spring after all. John has already claimed the old Kindle and I have begun looking for ebooks that he likes to add to it. hey I can get $50 Amazon giftcards through my CC rewards program. and since I just put a $4000 cruise on the cc, I have enough to redeem several GCs heheheh
Cat Update: Marley seems to be channeling Keke. there has been actual cuddling( although not of Monster levels) and she has taken to sleeping not on the dresser staring down at me all night, but actually at the foot of the bed curled up behind my legs.
Bad news: it's NOT in March *wahhhh* his replacement is taking a couple weeks of leave before reporting so he will will not be cut loose until April although he is pretty confident he can fly home that first Saturday in April . hmm Must find a nice 17 month calendar so I can circle that date in big bright orange marker...
the oopsie: This is a PSA to all persons who make payments on cruises and other vacation packages online. When you screw up entering the CC number, Make sure your other fields do not reset
Otherwise, instead of putting a nice manageable $500 payment on your cruise in May, you pay it off. completely. Yes I probably could have called RCI and stayed on hold for three hours and then begged for it to be reversed. then I'd have to wait until it showed up on my CC statement before going back and making another payment attempt. this way was easier I can still pay it off and not have to pay interest.
oh well that's 2 of 4 planned major expenses in the next 6 months already paid off. and we won't be buying a car til April. and I will start the Disney project in January when I get back.
Bonus: I bought/pre ordered a Kindle fire. I have been waiting for them to come out with a color ereader for ages and this just has so many extra features that I may not need to spring for a smart phone next spring after all. John has already claimed the old Kindle and I have begun looking for ebooks that he likes to add to it. hey I can get $50 Amazon giftcards through my CC rewards program. and since I just put a $4000 cruise on the cc, I have enough to redeem several GCs heheheh
Cat Update: Marley seems to be channeling Keke. there has been actual cuddling( although not of Monster levels) and she has taken to sleeping not on the dresser staring down at me all night, but actually at the foot of the bed curled up behind my legs.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Anniversaries and other milestones
First, a Happy picture. These are the flowers John had delivered to me on Monday, which was our 13th anniversary...despite me saying 14 on FB.. I was counting our year engagement since the only thing that STOPPED us from being married sooner was the fact that.well.. umm.. he was still married to somebody else. Long story, won't bore you with details. It is very frustrating to be told that a delivery IS coming on such a such a date( as opposed to waiting for say Brown to show with a box of stuff you ordered and 'think' may be coming. but yes I waited all day.. LITERALLY all day. they were not delivered until 4:45 pm. The basket was supposed to have chrysanthemums. unless I forget what they look like, I don't see any, do you? I know I know every florist reserves the right to substitute if the desired flower isn't fresh or whatever... Luckily my neighbor across the street kept me company while I fretted the afternoon away. Alas her daughter left Scouting so where am I gonna get my Thin Mints from now?! Arrggghhh.
This, is Keke. Her name comes from the fact that A's youngest N couldn't actually say Kitty. Unfortunately this was taken just before the vet stopped by to put her out of her misery. I only wish I had taken more pictures of her in her short few months with me. This was her favorite spot in the house, on the spare bed close to the window and where she spent her last moments. Luckily you cannot really tell how emaciated she was at the end. Still cannot go in that room.....butI need to get over that. The luggage is in that closet and I have a plane to catch at the end of November.
The Rainbow Bridge has another Traveler.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)