This weekend feels like it has been a long time in coming.
It's nearly midnight and I have laundry to do if I want to have something nice to wear tomorrow. Gotta love that! It just seems like everything I feel like or like to wear is dirty.
M2 finally returned home tonight. We went to dinner with my friend, Andrew, and one of his friends to celebrate the end of bar exam madness. I haven't been to the bar and grill where we ate in a long time. It is one of my favorite old haunts and it was fun to see some of the changes, including some pretty posh new bathrooms!
We have a busy weekend complete with some more days with Neville (easy peasy), open gym at the girls' gymnastics place (where I want to re-enroll them) and a birthday party tomorrow afternoon.
Work is winding down for one of my contracts and that's sad in some ways. I have a ton to do in the next week to be ready to call it a summer, though. Then, it will be gearing up for fall semester, which starts in a couple weeks.
I had a life-changing moment at dinner tonight. My friend, Andrew, who used to work at Williams-Sonoma told me that my Le Creuset cookware that has the enameled insides is dishwasher safe. Not sure how I ever missed this little gem, but I did. This will definitely impact my life for the better! I was so excited about it, I even told Hubs about it during our IM tonight.
Speaking of IM, it kicked him off tonight (without telling me) and he became aggravated enough to go find a phone and call home. It was so good to hear his voice. Sometimes, I feel like I can do this deployment with my eyes closed...just keep plowing forward. Other times, like tonight, I just want to open my eyes and see my husband standing in the living room asking me if I'm about done blogging so we can go to bed.
I am a little surprised it will be August in a few minutes. Someday, I'll be surprised that it's almost spring and time for him to be home.
Today was tiring. I left the house confident all would be well with the canines, but then someone's offhand comment this afternoon (about three hours before I came home) made me start worrying that I'd come home to find my couch shredded or, worse, Neville in pieces. I HURRIED to leave work, pick up M2 and get home.
The house looked exactly the same as when I left this morning.
Phew.
Neville acted like he wasn't going to eat dinner, but he finally did. He has a rawhide bone that he loves. My dogs are not allowed rawhide. We do the Nylabones here. Henry kept trying to take Neville's bone. I turned my back for ONE second and the damn dog had the bone in his mouth and had an end gnawed off already!
Oh, my GOD! I gave him the business. Not only had I told him NO repeatedly, but I had told him to leave it about a BAZILLION times and still...intensely watching that damned bone. Oh, we are SO going to obedience training before M3 comes home. Sometimes, I truly want to knock that dog's block off. SRSLY.
It's been pouring down rain tonight. I see a bunny sitting out front on the curb now (by street light, of course) so maybe it's safe to take the dogs out one last time? Let's hope!
M2 was invited to sleepover at the 'camping' neighbor's tonight. Their granddaughter is visiting still. They also offered to let her stay and play all day tomorrow. I'm guessing someone drove Grandpa and Grandma a little nuts today.
I should have gone to bed when M2 left. I was tired enough. But, I didn't. I logged onto the computer and waited to see if Hubs would log on.
He didn't.
He sent an e-mail telling me he was going to download and try Yahoo Messenger. Like, as if he has it, he can reach out and IM me when I don't even have it on my computer. Goof. I quickly downloaded it, sent him my Yahoo Messenger ID and waited.
Nothing.
I'm tired and I need some sleep.
Taking the dogs out and headed to bed. Tomorrow marks my last staff meeting with my TAs as next week is our last week of working with the summer class of law students. Sigh.
I'm so thankful my hourly wage was doubled by the bar passage office because I think I can find enough to do to maintain a decent wage until I can really go whole hog looking for some kind of job.
He really is much cuter than this photo shows him to be. I took it on my phone in my living room which has HORRIBLE lighting.
Note to self: Never buy a house without good lighting again.
Neville is my friend's dog. My friend and her fiance are headed to Texas for her sister's wedding. Because the whole fam damily is headed to the Lonestar State, Neville has no suitable sitters.
My dogs have no issues with Neville. Annie finds him pleasant enough. She wants to put him in her pocket, I'm sure. She's so docile and submissive, she has no problem entertaining his Napoleon complex.
Henry is a very tolerant dog. He tolerates Neville, albeit with the offended look on his face. Something like, "Dude. Please. Quit trying to sniff my can and please remove your face from my face." It's funny. Once they run around the backyard, roughhouse a bit, and spin around in circles, they calm down enough to rest.
Because I can't allow Neville to sleep in my bed when I don't even allow Henry or Annie to sleep in my room, he is snoozing in M1's bed tonight. M1 is with her dad's family this week. M2 is back from her camping trip (and good and sleepy!) and we will see if they make good sleeping partners.
Should have kept my mouth shut. Just heard the little bugger's feet hit the floor. Took him outside one last time. He's all riled up now. Henry and Annie had a brief second wind and are now looking at him like two, new parents look at a wide-awake newborn.
We could have an interesting night, yes? He likes the couch well enough. Maybe I'll just block off the living room and let them all camp out in here tonight. Not sure.
I had my hair cut and colored today--boy, did it need it! I look much better.
Tomorrow, I know I have to be at work until 4:00, so I'm going to try and go in at mid-morning rather than first thing. That way, the dogs are on their own for less time.
Let's hope they don't teach Neville any bad habits!
All my adoption paperwork should have arrived in Virginia by 4:30 today. Yea!
or glue on my hands. That's how this dossier has been for me. I know you are tuned in yesterday only to read that I'd shipped my dossier to Virginia yesterday. My Tuesday began at 1:30 a.m. immediately after I had finally dozed off to sleep.
I no more than sighed into my first dozing and WHAMMY!
And, I don't know where the thought came from, but I immediately knew..."IDIOT! You sent the wrong Power of Attorney form to Virginia!"
Please don't ask me how that specific thought occurred to me. It, literally, had to be God Himself yanking that thought from my subconscious to deliver it where it needed to be.
You see, I had three documents authenticated in my state capital--three forms with the exact same cover sheet except for the Secretary of State's file number. Two of those documents were Powers of Attorney--one from Brian to me allowing me to complete all the in-country work on his behalf; the other from Brian and me to allow our in-country attorney to represent us in court in this matter.
Yeah. I sent the from Brian to me one.
GAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I fired up the computer immediately, e-mailed the Assistant Stork, told them what I did and then determined I could overnight the correct form in the morning and not lose more than a day. Don't think it also didn't occur to me that I could hop in the car and drive it to Virginia, but that thought was fleeting.
I took the form to FedEx (shh! we must never speak of that again) and put it in an overnight envelope and bid it a fond farewell.
The owner of the Assistant Stork was very kind. She told me they have been having lots of couples with one spouse deployed going through this process and I am far from the first person who made this same mistake. I would like to think she was not just being kind, so I will.
I do think now, finally, that we are done with the dossier. I sent an abbreviated version of the above to Hubs in an e-mail today. He said his stomach dropped to the floor until he read on and saw that I'd handled it. He was also excited when, in another e-mail, I told him I'd sent him and our new adopted soldier a care package. He said, "You're my hero." Aww.
I treated myself to a manicure and then went to a celebratory dinner at a nice restaurant tonight with a good friend. It was a fun evening. When I got home, Hubs was on-line. We had a chance to Skype tonight for awhile. That's always fun when it works. Of course it means I'll be loading the dishwasher in the morning because I'm exhausted and I have to be to work first thing as I'm leaving in the afternoon to go have my hair done.
Let's all hope the dossier is actually done, shall we?
I received a jubilant e-mail from my husband today with the subject line: Sweeeeeeeeet!!! His first care package had arrived and he was very happy about it.
One of the things included in the package was a pretty polished stone the girls picked out when we visited COSI.
There was a basket full or these stones with various words on them. The girls selected the rock that said "Courage."
Daddy liked the stone very much and told me that he carried it with him on his mission today. I wondered when I purchased it if he would do that. I'm glad that he did. And, I'm glad that he sent the photos of him with the rock and with his care package box so the girls can see that the box they helped pack arrived in one piece, full of all the goodies we sent.
I was having a slow morning this morning. I could not shake the feeling that I should just hang out and wait for the mail man's arrival. I tried to pretend I didn't really believe the mail man had my envelope with him today. I mean, I knew it was supposed to take two weeks and it had barely been one.
When the mail man pulled up to the mailbox, I was upstairs getting ready to hop in the shower. All our windows are open so when I heard him cut the engine, I TORE down the steps and threw open the door right as he raised his hand to ring the bell.
I think I startled him.
He recovered quickly, though, asked after my husband and I explained what was in the envelope and why I was so excited to rip it from his hands. He congratulated us and said he'd be thinking about my husband and our family as we do deployment and adoption all at once.
I ran in the house and turned on the computer so I could e-mail my husband to let him know the mail had come. I no more than updated Facebook and BOOM! A huge sound and the power went out.
Awesome.
I'm not showered. My car is in the garage. And, even though the A/C is not on, the fans that keep the air moving are now silent.
Don't care!
I called our power company to report our outage.
I ran upstairs, washed up, put my hair in a ponytail, dressed, grabbed the keys to Hubs' truck and began the gauntlet.
I went to the post office to copy the documents. I then went to the grocery store--they have a branch of my bank and a service desk that sell money orders. I like to get the cash and walk the twelve paces to the service counter--it feels less insecure. Once I had the money order, I went home, assembled the dossier file, wrote three checks, filled out the money order, and readied the UPS mailers.
My dossier should arrive in Virginia tomorrow for the Assistant Stork folks to work their magic and take it to D.C. Pray that everything is in order and that we have no more bumps in the road prior to our submission of our paperwork to Ethiopia.
Once it jumps through the hoops in D.C., the Assistant Stork will use the pre-paid UPS mailer I sent to ship our documents to Washington state to our adoption agency. Once they sign off on it, our paperwork heads overseas.
I am very hopeful that we have paid our dues in the paperwork snafu department. I keep praying that things will smooth out and that we will receive our referral soon too. I just want that information so we can start planning for her to become a physical part of our family.
It was so nice to hear from my sister-in-law tonight! She's expecting her first baby this fall. She is also super excited about having a new niece. We talked a long time about all kinds of mom stuff. Hearing her talk about getting her nursery ready reminded me how much I have to do in M2's room to make it suitable for two active little girls. I can do it. I wish I didn't have to do it by myself, but Hubs says if I take enough pictures and video and share everything as I go, it will be like he's involved for real. I need to find some good bunk bed candidates to run by him so I can have some input. That's a huge decision!
So, our dossier is DONE. It feels AMAZING! My poor red binder is empty. ::Sniff, sniff::
Next step?! Submission of paperwork to Ethiopia when we will be officially "paper pregnant."
I had a wonderful lunch with friends from my hometown today. I count these folks among my oldest, dearest, and truest friends. We had a terrific time telling stories, laughing uproariously and causing a minimal amount of trouble at the restaurant. Near the end, we talked (again!) of taking a trip together. Although we would want a full-scale, all-inclusive, beachy getaway, we decided maybe a long weekend in the coming month would be best. This would help us 1) do the trip we've been discussing for YEARS; 2) take care of biz before a) school starts, b) my daughter comes home and c) my husband comes home. We're thinking of invading the Windy City. Look out, Chi-Town!!
I arrived home in time to see M2 off on her camping trip.
Hubs is on missions, so no IM'ing tonight or tomorrow. Sigh.
I visited the market and purchased some of my favorite things. I also broke into the bottle of Chardonnay that has been waiting on me in the fridge for days. It is marvelous. Very, very crisp and delish.
I'm looking forward to taking apart M2's room this week and readying it for M3's arrival. I have been avoiding the nitty gritty of getting ready because I have allowed the general pessimism of waiting and all that's associated with it get me down. I need to trust in all that I know to be true (not to mention trusting God) that this is happening, and soon. No more acting like I did when I was pregnant with the girls (not packing a bag until I needed to be at the hospital). M3 will have the benefit of my experience.
Nothing really going on tonight. Sorry no excitement to report!
On the agenda for the week: Care packages for Hubs and our newly adopted solider, J. Planning my trip to Chicago. And, I feel it in my bones...that adoption paperwork is COMING SOON!
Two super important adages that used to only help when you walked across the big bridge to get to a Reds game or when you're on the Star Wars simulator after stuffing your face at Disney's 50's Prime Time Cafe. However, I'm finding they have more to do with deployment than I might have once thought.
Take for instance my neighbor's lovely invitation to my youngest to go camping. M2 loves the neighbor's granddaughter and has sleepovers when she visits, etc., so the grandparents (our neighbors) thought it might make the family camping trip more fun for said granddaughter if M2 tagged along. Super!
Unfortunately, I wrote down the dates on a post-it and then promptly threw it away when I cleaned the basement. That's okay, I thought. I know pretty much when all this is happening. I'm beginning to know exactly what AWTM was talking about in her recent SpouseBuzz post.
Even more unfortunate? I thought the kid was leaving yesterday, returning Sunday. She's leaving tomorrow and returning Wednesday. Yeah. That's the same thing. Ack! This, usually, would be no biggie except that I'm leaving in the morning to head north and meet some hometown friends for lunch in a central location. M2 isn't leaving until the afternoon.
No problem.
I just started calling people.
One has not returned my call. (We don't listen to each other's voice mail, so this is not surprising).
The other did return my call, but she has a standing Sunday morning appointment, so she couldn't come.
Then, I e-mailed friends who live a couple streets over and they were more than happy to help me end my Calendar FAIL dilemma...which does nothing to encourage me to pay better attention, write things down (not on Post-Its!), live by my planner as I once did.
Things just rush so fast that, on occasion, I actually do have a real, live date and time obligation to meet and I end up screeching to a big halt. Summertime is especially notorious for this ailment. During the school year, we're all about the school calendar--not that we don't miss things on occasion then too.
Fortunately, this little snafu will work out; now to just explain to the dentist office who thinks it's filling M2's cavity on Monday that she is otherwise indisposed.
Today, M2 spent her own money and became a Sk8r Girl. She has been asking for a skateboard for awhile. I decided we should purchase the My First Skateboard from Fisher Price without realizing (because they don't mention until the box is open and completely destroyed) that it's meant for kids under 44 pounds.
So, she's almost too big right out of the box, literally.
I had visions of broken arms, sprained wrists, cracked skulls, and scraped knees. All of these things are still possible, I know. However, I should have realized that like most other athletic endeavors M2 has engaged in, she'd pick this up just fine and run with it. She is one amazing little person. Luckily, Hubs chimed in on IM tonight and because of a voice over feature on MSN Messenger, M2 could provide her dad with an update on her sports equipment collection.
She also said that when he comes home, he should get a "Daddy board" and they could skate together.
I find Tony Hawk to be a grating creature who needs to grow up. However, if Hubs EVER buys a "Daddy board", I will definitely drag out the video camera and memorialize it on tape. And upload it to You Tube. And post it on Facebook. And submit it to Funniest Home Videos. And turn it into a t-shirt. Well, you get the idea.
In other news, no adoption paperwork in the mail today. (Are you as tired of reading this as I am of having it be reality?)
Also, I went to Sam's and purchased the makings for some care packages. I also purchased what appears to be a lovely bottle of Neutrogena Rainbath in a new Grapefruit scent. I'll let you know how that works--I thought the color alone was worth the price tag.
I'm reading Harry Potter's Order of the Phoenix at the moment--I need the movie I just saw to make sense. I also ordered the Time Traveler's Wife from half.com today--the movie trailer piqued my interest. Next on my movie list: Julie and Julia (and I may read the book first!). I resisted the urge to purchase a Ben Franklin and/or John Adams' book today at Sam's as I need to finish the last two chapters of Mark Levin's latest, I am in the middle of Potter, and Brad Thor is patiently waiting for me. Sigh. So many books, so little time! Speaking of reading, M2 is doing much more of it. FINALLY!
Okay. Enough. I have to get up early to empty the dishwasher, vacuum, and go over M2's pack list one more time. MIA? Her earplugs and her Nikes. Maybe it's better if she wears her cheapie tennies to the woods anyway? But I do wish I knew where the ear plugs were.
Sometimes, I sit and marvel at things around me and wonder, "Whose freaking idea was this anyway?"
First on my list? Dogs with hair that sheds.
Why? Why is that necessary?
Sure dogs without hair look like freaks, but if dogs just, I don't know, HAD hair that they kept all the time, what would be the harm?
For whatever reasons my dogs are shedding like it's their mission in life and among all their other disgusting and non-endearing traits, I'm ready to buy a vat of Nair and have at it.
Sick. Of. It.
I have an awesome vacuum and I use it all the time, but I'm not planning on making vacuuming my mission in life so I'm kind of over the hair. I also think that if I have to suffer through the utterly disgusting job of brushing two very hairy dogs on a regular basis, the least they could do is not shed so damn much!
And, yes, I realize there are dogs (like the Bischon Frise) that does not shed, but I don't have one of those kind of dogs.
Next, up...the Pulse Perfection Vibrating Mascara Brush from Maybelline. Am I the only person on the planet who tries very hard NOT to allow her mascara brush to jump all over the place while applying mascara?
Yes, I know by moving the wand slightly, you can do some neat stuff. But, I can't help but think it's better if my mascara brush does NOT have a mind of its own.
Maybe the person who designed this thing never jabbed themselves in the eye with a perfectly good mascara brush only to spend the next 30 minutes digging flecks of mascara from their eye, removing clumps from their lashes and trying not to smear the flecks under their bottom row of lashes.
Or, maybe I'm just a dork who has no idea how to properly use make-up implements and I'm embarrassing myself here?
Third, there is this:
::blink, blink::
Let me get this straight: You don't have all the facts, but yet, you're willing to go on national television and conclude that something was handled "stupidly." I don't understand why 1) a sitting President is commenting on a matter of local law enforcement; 2) it would come as a surprise to you that in a nice neighborhood where your neighbors know you're on vacation, someone wouldn't call in what appears to be a couple of guys jimmying your lock; 3) if, as a sitting President, you felt the need to comment on this you wouldn't a) read the police report and witness statements or b) wait to comment until you had; and 4) pretending this is about race, when really it's about class--with the police officer on the losing end of the equation.
Whose idea was this? Wouldn't, "You know, because Mr. Gates is a personal friend, I have been watching this case with much interest. However, I was not there. I don't have all the facts. It would be imprudent for me to make any kind of judgment call without having done so and, even then, this is a matter of local law enforcement." Ta-da! Too bad someone can't type into the teleprompter that fast, I guess.
Seriously. As an attorney, you would think someone would have learned how to filter, dodge and weave. Important skills all.
And, finally, a personal fave...
Kidz Bop?! And, we're up to 16 already?! I fail to understand how kids singing a song makes it less dirty, or better. You realize these children are singing TI and Rhianna's "Live Your Life" (which, personally, I enjoy) and Britney Spears' "Circus", right?
On the latest one, they even have "Boom, Boom, Pow" (which, again, I enjoy), but the lyrics?? Um. Okay.
I'm on that supersonic boom; Ya'll hear that spaceship zoom?
When, when I step inside the room, them girls go ape-sh*t, uh
Ya'll stuck on Super 8 sh*t; that stupid low-fi 8 bit
I'm on that HD flat, this beat go boom, boom, bap
Now. Perhaps the kids on Kids' Bop skip the dirty words like the radio clean edits do, but let's be for realz...we all know what they's sayin', right playa?
Songs like "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus are innocuous enough, but really, do we need someone else's kids besides Billy Ray's singing that song? Negatory.
Phew.
I feel better.
Another blogger I read has Confession Fridays. I've now confessed some things that I cannot wrap my mind around comfortably.
If you have a confession you want to make on this fine Friday, toss it in comments!
Sometimes, I wish for more hours in the day. Although, I can hardly deal with all the hours that are currently in the day.
Last night, I received six new photos of M3. An adoptive mom who recently returned from Ethiopia after picking up her two, new daughters sent them to me. They are precious. My daughter is beautiful. She is, in my humble opinion, the most beautiful little person in her group of friends. I could be biased. I really needed to see those photos. What a morale boost.
Today was a horrifyingly horrifying day at the office. I, honestly, cannot blog about it. Sufficed to say, it was dreadful. It was not directly related to me, but so near me that I could feel the blow back. Not sure what will end up happening. It could be nothing; it could everything. It's just one of those "hoooly cripes!" kind of things.
No mail in the mailbox from Hubs again today. He said he sent the adoption paperwork priority mail. That means, once it hits the States it should come to me pretty quickly. Speaking of mail, I know of at least 1/2 dozen people who have signed up for soldiers via Soldiers' Angels after I started browbeating folks. I may need a recruiting pin or ribbon from SA before this is all over!
I had not talked to Hubs in a couple days.
He logged on to IM around 8:30 and that's how I've spent my evening. I want to communicate with him and he needs the boost. I just wish I could do other things while I'm IM'ing him. Luckily, I was home early enough tonight to load the dishwasher and take the trash out before the IM stuff started. I need to vacuum the floors, though. Guess that will have to happen tomorrow? I don't know. I just wish I had a more predictable communication schedule so I could plan effectively. That's not the Army way,though, so I'll just deal and drive on. It isn't like I'd rather be vacuuming than talking to him anyhow! Who am I kidding?!
It's hard for me to hear him sounding so lonely. Through all the restructuring of manpower, he's been taken from his usual band of cohorts and put in charge of another group. So, his running buddies are no longer in his circle and these new guys are not truly buddy material because he has to be Papa Bear. Hard. AFN has been out for weeks so the TV he snagged from the base's version of FreeCycle isn't worth much. I'm planning a couple of fun surprises for his care package going out this weekend that might help him fill some time. We'll see!
M1 leaves for another week tomorrow. She is quite the traveler. M2 is also supposed to be going camping for a few days, I think this weekend. I told the girls that in August, before school starts, we're going to go somewhere for a couple days just to relax and hang out. I was trying to figure out all these fun and fancy ways to spend a few days, but they decided they would like to go to the Aquarium again and stay overnight at a hotel with a pool. Sounds like a plan to me, so that's likely what we'll do. It will be nice to spend some time with them and if I can keep them busy enough that they don't bicker, that will be a big bonus. I'm planning to ship the dogs off to Pet Suites again so they can stay out of trouble and be groomed. They need it.
I have never been so glad to see a Friday in a very, very long time. However, I still have to make it through work tomorrow and that could be interesting in and of itself. Sigh.
I'm not sure what to make of today. Waking up was glorious because it was RAINING. I was so happy to hear that sound. My windows were open so I could hear the sound and smell the great scent of rain taking care of the grass and flowers that have been super thirsty lately. Thank goodness it hasn't been that hot or my yard would be straw by now.
I showered, loaded up the stuff, loaded up the kids and headed to the sitter. I knew today at work could be interesting and with the rain, I wouldn't want to walk anywhere for lunch. I drove to the market and picked up a ready made salad. Then, I finally headed to the office. As I pulled into a parking space in front of my girls' school, it popped into my head that I had agreed on the phone last night to take my oldest to her friend's and let her have a play date and sleepover. I had not told M1 because she was already in bed...
GAH!
I had to drive through downtown again to pick her up, then clear back down by our house to her friend's, then bring the loop full circle to arrive at the office again. I was so disappointed in myself for not remembering to take her to work with me so I could drop her at the appointed time! Ugh.
I had very little gas when the morning started and my plan had been to go to the warehouse club after work to fill-up. I kept that plan, but had to detour when the highway I chose was at a dead standstill and my low fuel light came on. I took no chance because, really, who among you thinks that on the rainiest day of the summer thus far my car wouldn't run out of gas and leave me stranded on the roadway? I only put $10 in, though, and went on to the warehouse club for the discounted premium gas. M2 and I then enjoyed Chick-Fil-A and then hit Wal-Mart for a few select items.
We didn't arrive home until 7:30. It's still raining and all I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep. Work was very draining today and the rest of the week promises to be the same. I'm usually okay with fire dousing, but I'm only semi in the driver's seat so I can't use my patented extinguishing techniques.
Now that my husband is deployed again, I've been re-immersing myself in Soldiers' Angels. Yesterday, there were 777 heroes waiting for adoption. We adopted one and we've already heard from him...twice! He e-mailed me more in the past 24 hours than my husband has had a chance to. He seems young. He requested snacks for him and his buddies to take on patrol. I told him snacks are our specialty and we'd have a care package in the mail by the weekend. He was pleased. I have a sneaking feeling I'm going to be baking LOTS of chocolate chip cookies for Christmas! I hope beyond hope that I have three extra pairs of hands in the kitchen to help me.
Anyway, I posted about the 777 heroes on my Facebook and Twitter status messages. I'm happy to say I had lots of friends with adopt a soldier or at least be in the serious consideration stage as of today. And, at last check, the number of heroes waiting for adoption stands at 644. It makes me really happy to think I had any part in lowering that number! It's super easy to do and will definitely up your feeling good meter, so why not consider visiting the site and clicking the Adopt a Soldier button yourself?
