My husband will be home from AT tomorrow night. I remembered that I'd put together the impossible list of things to do and thought it might be fun to check our progress. Given that I haven't referred to it since he left, I can only imagine how far short we may have fallen.
Let's look it over together, shall we?
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Aside from being hotter than the Devil's oven, this summer has been a hot mess for a multitude of reasons. Did we not already mention that summer is nearly half over & I have yet to do anything super fly with my children? I thought so.
Add in some non-exercise, non-healthy eating habits and you have yourself a finely uphostered hot mama--aka ME. Looking ahead to Vegas in a couple of weeks has me pondering exactly what I will wear because Lord knows I don't do summer skivvies anyhow and there is nothing bearable about this bod at the moment.
It's been decided that the next couple of weeks will be a gigantic overhaul at the house--I'm not sure everyone received the memo, but I'm really the only one who needed it anyhow. I would love to think that M2 would get one board with eating things that don't come in a box or bag more often than not, but that will take some doing, I think. M1 has always been my would-rather-eat-salad-than-fries kid--as a toddler, she once gnawed a raw zucchini through the veggie bag while I was distracted in the produce aisle at Kroger.
Fort Warthman climbs aboard the healthy train with the following meal plan for the upcoming week:
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No married soldier ever deploys without a spouse who has a to-do list of epic proportions. It seems as if things like reading the classics; painting the entire interior of the house; losing 50 pounds; and organizing my entire life fall onto more than one spouse's list. The months pass and a couple weeks prior to the homecoming, the spouse mentally checks the list and decides "shaving my legs" and "buying a cute homecoming outfit" will have to do. Things become real really quickly when you're tasked with being a one man band. For me, if the dogs were alive, the kids clean/fed/breathing and the house standing, it was a WIN.
For National Guard families, there is that magical "2 weeks a year" we always hear about that comes in the summer. The soldier goes to Annual Training (AT) and the spouse is left home with a couple weeks.
You would think by now, I would realize that this falls in my busiest time of year. We are less than three weeks from go-time for my bar exam takers. And yet, after all these years, I still think I will be able to accomplish some sort of list while my husband is off doing Army things.
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Long time, no post! The past few weeks have passed so quickly because we have been so busy. Aside from the final weeks of classes where I work plus graduation and the entrance of our new summer class students, I launched a new line to my home business, we have taken on the State Science Fair and I survived my first half marathon.
Yeah. We've been a bit busy.
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February's blogging theme for those committed to daily blogging is "Relative."
I've been having a taste of that this week. To other people looking in, I'm always "busy." Mostly, though, my usual overbooked, overwhelmed self is just my normal. The past week, though? This is busy even for me and it's a really wild ride.
My boss is one of the hardest working, tireless, hard charging women I know. And, people come to expect that kind of delivery from her. She's been overseas, though, and I've been filling in certain duties for her. She worked to line up some others to take some discrete tasks off my list and only a few of those things have actually come to fruition. This is one time I'd gladly delegate, but there is no one responding to the delegation assignments.
I will be so glad when she's back in the country on Wednesday night! And yet, I'm really glad she could go and that she trusts that the place will still be standing when she returns. I have enjoyed everything I've done in her absence, but many days the back-to-back classes, meetings, copying, organizing, planning, etc. is too much of a good thing. And next week, those we work with who are taking the February bar exam head off to do just that. It's a scary time for some very worn out people. I'm becoming quite adept at exuding positivity and calm even when I just want to crawl under the desk and hide.
There are several things waiting on my to-do list that aren't work related. Pretty much everything outside the office is waiting for my attention. It will be interesting to see what I do with all my "free" time once my boss returns.
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I have landed in a whole new decade. So far, so good. My birthday was quiet this year and so unlike last year. Thank God. We didn't have a chance to go anywhere to celebrate because my husband is working split shifts again, but it was still nice.
My husband purchased a lovely cake from my favorite bakery as well as a dozen red roses. He also gave me a lovely necklace that was just for fun. And, even though in some circles I now qualify as "old", he gave me a gift that pushed my current cool points up a little.
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I am pretty positive that this week has been an adrenaline rollercoaster of sorts. Although I have not felt stressed or anxious, I have noticed a few things that make me think my body is having some issues my brain may be ignorning.
First, I've been waking up during the night at least four times. I go back to sleep, but come on! What is up with waking up for no reason? Second, I've felt like I'm cemented in place--the idea of moving out of bed, taking a shower and doing anything other than rolling over and sleeping another four hours makes me frown. Like right now...my body feels like it's only 10 or 11 a.m., but it's 1:30 p.m. I just feel OFF. Third, my one solace--running--has not happened in a few days. Fourth, I've had trouble processing easy mental tasks (like how to work a copy machine to make it do what I want) or Scentsy business tasks (which I love).
So. What is UP, buttercup!? I'm thinking some changes are in order to restart/kickstart my return to life and this new year.
Continue reading "Intrigued and Considering Such a Change" »
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If this blog were any indication, December didn't exist. That month, for our family, involved entirely too much personal material to be blogworthy. Normally, I might have blogged about it. I actually needed to blog about it. But, after the couple of years we have had, I have learned that keeping things close to the vest is easier, less controversial and more likely to empower us.
I don't think I've ever been more ready to turn the calendar to a new year as I am this time.
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This week has been so awesome because for the first time since the school year started, I didn't have to get up at 6:45 a.m.
I don't have a set time to be at work. In fact, the earliest appointment I have for myself is 11:00 a.m. M1 and 2 don't have to be at school until 8:40. But, because of circumstances beyond our control, the youngest person in the household has not transitioned to her new home yet and she has to be where she needs to be by around 7:00 a.m. That means, my alarm buzzes every day at an ungodly hour, I throw on clothes, put my hair in a ponytail and keep my eyes open long enough to drive a few blocks round-trip.
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Admittedly, I am more of a "mountains" girl. Truthfully, the ocean can be unsettling to me at times. So much churning and vastness and unpredictability. If I had the choice to live along a coastline or on the side of a mountain, I'd pick mountain without hesitation.
But.
There is something very therapeutic about sunshine, a nice breeze, pillowy sand and crystal blue water.
There is something sort of marvelous about opening a sliding glass door in the living room, taking two steps onto a balcony and seeing this.
There is something pretty spectacular about knowing one of those blue chairs on the beach is specially reserved for you during your stay.
That pretty much rocks and there is no maneuvering around that.
These few days in Florida with a handful of my favorite people on this planet have been 100% wonderful. We have had so much rain at home that the daily mood starts depressing and rolls downhill from there.
I took a barefoot run on the beach today and truly enjoyed it. My breathing is deep and relaxed. My head is pretty clear. The only discomfort is from having two too many bites of dessert at dinner tonight. This trip, much like the jaunt to Hawaii, could not have come at a better time.
I spent a couple hours total on the beach today. The first portion running and walking. The second portion with my rear end planted in one of the reserved blue beach chairs.
Listening to the ocean relaxes me...it's white noise, but distinctly its own tune.
I called my husband while I stood at the water's edge so he could hear it too. I've decided we will close out the M3 saga as it began--on a beach. Right before he deployed, we were in Mississippi during his free pass time. So full of hope and promise and excitement about the adoption and dreading his absence. We will bookend this journey by planting our toes in some sand and water once things are finally resolved. He deserves the break too and after all this hard work, we should be able to take such a break together for once.
I also had the foresight to use my phone to record a minute & a half of the ocean rolling in over my toes. I wonder how many times I will need to watch that over the next few months to relax myself? Maybe I should check ebay for a white noise machine in which "the ocean" is a choice of sounds?
Tomorrow, I will leave the condo in the morning and spend pretty much the entire day at the airport. I don't mind. I actually like airports. No one knows me; I can people watch; I can work on things; I can watch people come and go and then go myself.
I'll arrive home after the kids are in bed. M1 will be at her dad's, so I will need to call and chat with her. M2 will try to stay awake until I arrive & then beg to sleep in my bed (and probably be allowed) because her dad has drill this weekend. M3 will have long been in bed, so I can save that little reunion until Saturday.
For all the stress, anxiety and BS the military has put in my path over the last 9 years, I have to hand it to Uncle Sam--I sure would not trade my military spouse friends that I've met because of marrying my husband. Deployments are for the birds, but SpouseBuzz and the ladies (and gents) I've met through it are priceless. With them in my corner, I can do what needs to be done and know that I will still be upright (even if I'm on my knees) when it's complete.
My resolve to return to myself and to provide that for my girls and my marriage grows with each passing moment. It would be terrific if the coming weeks could remain un-ugly. I can roll with the punches (obviously), but I'm kind of over that. Maybe finally having agreed to follow the plan those in the know have suggested to us for months will make this feel less like a rollercoaster? I hope so.
Bye, Florida...sigh.
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