Thursday, August 23, 2007

Home

I am home with Mom. Connor & I came home on Saturday, Aug. 18. DH will join us later. I am so grateful for Mom's Oncologist for her compassion and professionalism, the American Red Cross for sending an emergency message and for the US Coast Guard for flying us home.

I am not sure what I was expecting, but this surely isn't it.

She isn't the same Mom that I left in April. And I am so afraid that our time is running out very quickly.

Her illness has really made me reconsider my perspective on life. The "things" in life that used to matter to me, really don't anymore. I was a really shallow beyotch back in the day. It is funny how much I have changed in the last few years. Take our car for instance...we have a Honda that is 7 years old with no hubcaps. Good Lord, 5 years ago, I would have had a fit if the chrome rims on my (special order) PT Cruiser were dirty from brake dust.

Life is short.

I was hoping to participate in the "think pink" exchange for a Yahoo Group that I am in, but my stitching time is nil and the days keep slipping by me, so in October I will be giving away the little extra stuff that I had planned on sending in my exchange.

Being a semi-only child ( I have step-siblings) really bites my kiester right now.

Peace

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Narrowing the "unofficial" list

I have in my hot little hands an unofficial listing of the places that may be available next year when we rotate. Am I totally insane not to jump at the chance to go to Hawaii or St. Thomas (USVI) for 3 years? I am tired of being hot, sweaty and on a rock in the middle of an ocean. For the love of Pete, I want to wear sweaters and mittens again! I want to teach Connor how to make a snow angel before he graduates. I really want to see my boonie dog (born and raised in Guam) high stepping in the snow the first time she steps outside to pee.





I am disappointed that Sturgeon Bay, WI and Massena, NY aren't on this unofficial list. And we are only looking at the list for DH's current rank. The list for the Chief cut is expected any freaking day now. But, we aren't getting our hopes up...he wrote a 21 on the test which is really awesome (21st out of 98-ish people), but then they take into consideration other things like time in service, time in current rank, etc. and he was bumped down to 51. He can't help it that he is ambitious and is taking the Chief exam after being in only 7 years, and current rank only 2 years. Stinks that it works against him. He is planning on taking the test again next year since advancing more than 50 is highly unlikely. They did 30-something last year.





Anyhoo...we poured over the list tonight, crossing off places that I wouldn't go to (Miami, Los Angeles, Staten Island, etc.) and places that he didn't think he would enjoy working at, and this is what is left:





Juneau, AK


Ketchikan, AK


Cape Cod, MA


Charleston, SC


Savannah, GA


Paducah, KY


Duluth, MN


Portland, OR





The main things that we are taking into consideration are the cost of living, the housing market and DH's commute. If anyone has any insight on these locations, please feel free to comment or drop me a line.





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This weekend was pretty relaxing. We went to the beach today. DH snorkeled and looked for slingstones. Didn't find any. Did see another blue starfish. Connor made friends with 3 very inquisitve girls. "Who picked out his name?" "He has brown eyes, is his Daddy Chamorro?" "Does he have his Mommy's last name or his Daddy's?" "So, is he 100% American?" The one that really made me laugh was, "Where is he going to go to school?" The kid is only 6 months old...we have a while for that. They were cute girls though.





On Saturday, we did more Beautifying of the CNMI. Actually, I kept Connor occupied and Jim did the beautifying. You can see a babelicious photo of the group on Angelo's blog. I highly recommend clicking on the photo to enlarge it and check out my son. He is looking kinda odd. Actually, we are all looking kinda odd in that photo.





I am such a dork, when we got in the car to go home, I said to DH, "So where was this Latte Stone that we were cleaning up around?" He of course gave me the seriously? look. You know the one with the raised eyebrows and the head cocked to one side. He then answered, "Right where we took the picture in the jungle." To which I replied, "Oh", ever so softly.





There are pictures on Cinta's blog from the other time that we did some beautifying...lots of fun family shots. I love them all, except for the one of Connor in the Moby all crooked and wonky. Cinta is such a kind hearted person, I am glad to have finally met her.





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A final though (said without any Jerry Springer-ish tone)...when you think you are having a bad hair day, be glad that you aren't our dog, Lady.



DH decided that she was hot, so he cut her hair. The good thing is that she doesn't shed as much.


Peace

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Stepping back

Well friends, I am going to be offline for the rest of the week. I just need time to step back and think about things for a while. So much is going on in my life, I am feeling overwhelmed.


  • Mom is holding steady. Things aren't as good as she was hoping, and they held off on her treatment for 10 days because she is so tired. I anticipate going home soon, if only for the fact that I want to spend time with her and don't want to get a middle of the night call saying I need to come home that minute. Last minute flights off of this rock aren't cheap.

  • Connor has decided that he no longer enjoys sleeping through the night and has been getting up every 2 hours for the past few days. Joy. We were spoiled since he had been sleeping through the night starting at about 7 weeks old. I honestly don't know what the deal is, if it is teething or what, but I am so pooped. Our day today started at 4:30 am since he wouldn't go back to sleep.

  • The cats have decided that they no longer enjoy living in the lap of luxury and being strictly indoor cats. So, they both live outdoors now. At night they would tear open a screen to get out and roam around. I am tired of being stressed out wondering where they are and having the screens ruined. I know it sounds harsh, but I don't want indoor/outdoor cats. Either one or the other. We are responsible pet owners, so they are both spayed and both still have their claws front and back. We just feel that it is the best route to take in this situation. Of course I am sad and a little scared for them, but the only other option is to close all of the windows in the house at night and that is so not happening.

  • Other random stuff going on right now is really giving my brain a good workout. Family grumblings in the Mainland, wondering what will be on our list to choose from next month in regards to where we are going next year, etc.

I have so much on my plate right now that the overwhelmed feeling is coming back. I promise to post next week with lots of pictures of crafty stuff that I have been working on, including a couple of PIF's. Yay.

In the meantime, if you like to read (I know there are quite a few of you), this is a neat bookworm networking site: GoodReads . If you want to be my friend, this is my profile. Jenn, I hope that you will check it out.

Also, for a neat-o finishing idea, check out this stitcher's book...it even gives the instructions. Wow!





And finally, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Aunt Tamie and Carol. Hope that you ladies have a wonderful day!