I started a post on Jan 17. I tried to upload some pictures to it and blogger wouldn't let me so I just kept the saved draft until I could get back to trying again. Well, a lot of craziness later and I decided to try again on the whole uploading the picture. And it all worked out since now I had a way to put up a better quality of picture.
So I finish the post and publish it. I then look on the blog to see how it looks before signing off. Its not there. That's weird, where is it? I go back to the edit post page and there it is and it is showing that it is published, I click on it and it is there all published. Alright, I go back to the blog and it is still not showing up. I scroll down to the list and it is there but it was put in on the day that I started the post, the 17, not the day I finished it. Why would anyone want it that way?
Who is going to scroll down five or more posts to see if there is something new? It is so bizarre. So my new post is a few post down on Jan. 17 under Sanity Scrapbooking. So I guess no more saving posts and coming back to them later.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Our Prophet
My sister, who lives in Utah, just called me to tell me that the Prophet and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, my church, Gordon Bitner Hinckley just passed away. She actually had a hard time getting through the phone lines to call me since it seems all the Utahans are sharing this information with their family outside the state. He had a very long, very productive life, he was born in 1910. It still seems shocking to me that he is gone. I, like everyone else in the Church, loved this man. The first time I went to General Conference and saw him, I felt his amazing spirit from across the Tabernacle. A few years later, at the conference center, I had the same experience when he came in. I was surrounded by thousands of people but the whole feel of the room changed when he came in and I knew that he had been called to be our Prophet.
Years ago, Dan and I read his biography and it is astounding the things he was apart of. It gave me such an appreciation for him by reading about his life. He was called to be the Prophet when I was in High School. I feel like a member of the family has passed. I am so sad. I know that we will have a new Prophet soon, and the Church will move forward without so much a glitch, but I will miss him and hearing his great conference talks. I am just glad he is with his wife again.
The last sad thing about this to me is on the selfish level. When my sister told me, I could only think of Dan and telling him and having no way to get a hold of him except by email, was very distressing to me. Nothing seems real to me until Dan and I have talked about it and now I don't have that anymore. I hate this. Not being able to call your own husband is very stressful. Alright, no more boo-hoo from me. Lets focus and remember how awesome President Hinckley was.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Its Raining
I definitely had one of those weeks. If Spaz and Spaz II weren't enough I can honestly say that last Sunday through Thursday were actually alright when you compare it to just Friday and Saturday. I didn't think it would get worse but 2 1/2 hours at the DMV will do that to a person and then the 5 hour ER trip the next day, come on, was that really necessary? It wasn't that big of a deal, Bug has Strep, I just knew that we couldn't wait until Tuesday to see the Doctor.
So I have not had my wallet returned. I have to have a military ID but to get a military ID I need a picture ID, so I had to get a new driver's license first. I still had my North Dakota one, I didn't want to get rid of it. So that part was fun, it involved faxing stuff to the DMV in TN from the DMV in ND, but as always the person I dealt with in Bismarck was very nice and enjoyed my sad story like everyone else. So I went to the DMV at about lunchtime, first mistake. I was afraid to go during Bug's preschool for fear that I wouldn't be done when it was time for him to get out. So I waited until he was done, had a friend take him and started the fun. The parking lot was full so I thought I better eat first. Little did she know, that this seemingly innocuous act would change the fate of the rest of the weekend. All she knew was that she was hungry and that she hadn't eaten. So I grabbed some food and went back.
And hour and a half later I was finally called. I produced all the documents that I was instructed to bring and told that they weren't enough, I needed a picture ID. As it happens, I actually brought one, just on a whim, my passport. They did not tell me to bring it. They said birth certificate and two bills proving my address would be enough. I was relieved that I had brought my passport, I saw it next to my birth certificate and thought, what the heck? The DMV lady told me good thinking because she wouldn't had to turn me away. Then about five minutes later she did since I only had a credit card with me. They only accept cash or check. Another thing no one told me. In this day and age, no one said, by the way, we are still in the early 90's here and don't accept the form of payment everyone in America is using. When they answer the phone it should be, "Hello, DMV, we don't accept credit or debit, how may I help you?" She agreed to let me just go and get something and come right back to her, no waiting. It just so happens that I live about three minutes from the DMV so I ran home and got cash from the emergency envelope. Two more questions: What if I didn't live close? My city is not big in population but it is big in size, it can take 30 minutes to get from one side to another. Also, I don't have a debit card, lost remember, I couldn't get cash. What if I didn't keep emergency cash?
So I survived the DMV, with a license in hand, ugly, of course. I survived the weirdos I was sitting by. One E-5 (rank in military) going on and on about his job and getting ready for his fourth deployment. Giving tutorials to the civilian sitting next to him on brigades, companies, units, etc, etc. An Army wife sitting across from them joining the conversation about how that guy and her husband got into the Army off their GED, because they couldn't get in before when standards were higher. What? Keep that to yourself. Then they played the do you know game off a couple that she knew in his unit, one of the largest units on the post, but couldn't remember their last name. Maybe you know them, Pam and Arnold? She looks like...He looks like...What? I was dying. When they finally called my number I almost cried.
Then onto post to obtain a military ID. My friend who had Bug was now going to get the other two off the bus and take them to her house. Now that I had a picture ID, I could get a visitor's pass onto post and then go to the office that I needed to get the ID. The line was long but I wasn't worried I still had one hour and fifteen minutes from when another friend told me the office closed. As I am waiting in this line I am starting to doubt this closing time and decide to call her to double check. She says she'll call and get back to me. She calls and says it closes at 1545, I look at the clock it is 1550. Really? Yeah, that sounds about right. I get the pass anyway and they agree to make it for ten days. I go home in defeat.
That night Bug sleeps with me half the night with a fever but no other symptoms. This is the third time in as many weeks that he has had a fever but nothing else wrong. He just whines in his sleep letting me have none. The next afternoon, he comes to me with "my mouth hurts really bad" and he will barely open it for me. Well, this at least is something I can do. Ship off the other two to yet another friends house, I have a few deployed wife friends, invaluable. And take him in. At the desk they ask me for my ID, I start to panic. I have a TN ID, I can't take that. Okay, I have my husbands orders, a POA, as I start to ramble the filing cabinet that I had brought with me. He must have notice the panic because he is telling me to calm down and that it will be alright they will deal with me in admissions. Now for the second time in as many days I start to cry. The first time was Friday at the gym when I realized I had missed Dan's call. I hadn't heard from him in a longer time frame than normal and was clinging to the phone only to not have the call go through when he actually did call. I was exhausted, stressed, and really wanting to be at home able to call Dan on the phone and just vent. And I felt really stupid, I hate crying in public. Never mind, the weak appearance. My face turns bright red and stays that way for so long that long after I have stopped crying someone will ask me what's the matter and start me up all over again.
I left my house for the ER at 5:30p.m., we all got home at 10:30p.m. Kids in bed in about fifteen minutes with the severest threat of their life that if they wake me up in the morning, they will not be happy. So no church, yesterday. And I really needed to talk to my Bishop about getting my recommend replaced since I actually have child care for this Saturday and really really wanted to get to the Temple. [insert scream here]
So today the kids are off. We are going to go have some fun now. I am going to take them to the movies and get popcorn, just like Jen said. Here's to this week. I have to get my other ID this week and my deployment car replaced still. But I am sure that this week will in no way be as pathetic as last. It just can't. Right?
You all feel much better about your lives right about now, huh?
Just for fun, the one thing I didn't tell you guys about yet, was also this week one of our toilets broke. I got to learn how to snake a toilet!
So I have not had my wallet returned. I have to have a military ID but to get a military ID I need a picture ID, so I had to get a new driver's license first. I still had my North Dakota one, I didn't want to get rid of it. So that part was fun, it involved faxing stuff to the DMV in TN from the DMV in ND, but as always the person I dealt with in Bismarck was very nice and enjoyed my sad story like everyone else. So I went to the DMV at about lunchtime, first mistake. I was afraid to go during Bug's preschool for fear that I wouldn't be done when it was time for him to get out. So I waited until he was done, had a friend take him and started the fun. The parking lot was full so I thought I better eat first. Little did she know, that this seemingly innocuous act would change the fate of the rest of the weekend. All she knew was that she was hungry and that she hadn't eaten. So I grabbed some food and went back.
And hour and a half later I was finally called. I produced all the documents that I was instructed to bring and told that they weren't enough, I needed a picture ID. As it happens, I actually brought one, just on a whim, my passport. They did not tell me to bring it. They said birth certificate and two bills proving my address would be enough. I was relieved that I had brought my passport, I saw it next to my birth certificate and thought, what the heck? The DMV lady told me good thinking because she wouldn't had to turn me away. Then about five minutes later she did since I only had a credit card with me. They only accept cash or check. Another thing no one told me. In this day and age, no one said, by the way, we are still in the early 90's here and don't accept the form of payment everyone in America is using. When they answer the phone it should be, "Hello, DMV, we don't accept credit or debit, how may I help you?" She agreed to let me just go and get something and come right back to her, no waiting. It just so happens that I live about three minutes from the DMV so I ran home and got cash from the emergency envelope. Two more questions: What if I didn't live close? My city is not big in population but it is big in size, it can take 30 minutes to get from one side to another. Also, I don't have a debit card, lost remember, I couldn't get cash. What if I didn't keep emergency cash?
So I survived the DMV, with a license in hand, ugly, of course. I survived the weirdos I was sitting by. One E-5 (rank in military) going on and on about his job and getting ready for his fourth deployment. Giving tutorials to the civilian sitting next to him on brigades, companies, units, etc, etc. An Army wife sitting across from them joining the conversation about how that guy and her husband got into the Army off their GED, because they couldn't get in before when standards were higher. What? Keep that to yourself. Then they played the do you know game off a couple that she knew in his unit, one of the largest units on the post, but couldn't remember their last name. Maybe you know them, Pam and Arnold? She looks like...He looks like...What? I was dying. When they finally called my number I almost cried.
Then onto post to obtain a military ID. My friend who had Bug was now going to get the other two off the bus and take them to her house. Now that I had a picture ID, I could get a visitor's pass onto post and then go to the office that I needed to get the ID. The line was long but I wasn't worried I still had one hour and fifteen minutes from when another friend told me the office closed. As I am waiting in this line I am starting to doubt this closing time and decide to call her to double check. She says she'll call and get back to me. She calls and says it closes at 1545, I look at the clock it is 1550. Really? Yeah, that sounds about right. I get the pass anyway and they agree to make it for ten days. I go home in defeat.
That night Bug sleeps with me half the night with a fever but no other symptoms. This is the third time in as many weeks that he has had a fever but nothing else wrong. He just whines in his sleep letting me have none. The next afternoon, he comes to me with "my mouth hurts really bad" and he will barely open it for me. Well, this at least is something I can do. Ship off the other two to yet another friends house, I have a few deployed wife friends, invaluable. And take him in. At the desk they ask me for my ID, I start to panic. I have a TN ID, I can't take that. Okay, I have my husbands orders, a POA, as I start to ramble the filing cabinet that I had brought with me. He must have notice the panic because he is telling me to calm down and that it will be alright they will deal with me in admissions. Now for the second time in as many days I start to cry. The first time was Friday at the gym when I realized I had missed Dan's call. I hadn't heard from him in a longer time frame than normal and was clinging to the phone only to not have the call go through when he actually did call. I was exhausted, stressed, and really wanting to be at home able to call Dan on the phone and just vent. And I felt really stupid, I hate crying in public. Never mind, the weak appearance. My face turns bright red and stays that way for so long that long after I have stopped crying someone will ask me what's the matter and start me up all over again.
I left my house for the ER at 5:30p.m., we all got home at 10:30p.m. Kids in bed in about fifteen minutes with the severest threat of their life that if they wake me up in the morning, they will not be happy. So no church, yesterday. And I really needed to talk to my Bishop about getting my recommend replaced since I actually have child care for this Saturday and really really wanted to get to the Temple. [insert scream here]
So today the kids are off. We are going to go have some fun now. I am going to take them to the movies and get popcorn, just like Jen said. Here's to this week. I have to get my other ID this week and my deployment car replaced still. But I am sure that this week will in no way be as pathetic as last. It just can't. Right?
You all feel much better about your lives right about now, huh?
Just for fun, the one thing I didn't tell you guys about yet, was also this week one of our toilets broke. I got to learn how to snake a toilet!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Spaz II
Make sure you read Spaz post before this one...
So if I weren't enough of a retard. I went on post tonight for a FRG meeting. I took the kids to the day care place where they watch the kids for free for FRG meetings. Of course, I was running late. I left my bag in the car and just grabbed my keys, phone (I never let it out of my hand for a second, what if Dan calls?), and my wallet (just in case they checked ID).
I hurry and drop them off and run off to the meeting place. I am a few minutes late so I grab my bag and then my stuff. I get out of the car to start putting all that stuff into the bag. Keys into little pocket of bag. Phone on vibrate in jeans pocket(What if Dan calls?) and wallet...must of fallen out and slipped down the side...wallet...nope. I am sure its there, I am late. I'll go to the meeting and search the car later. Meeting over, search car...wallet? Nope. Alright, I dropped it at the CDC, I'll go there and get it. I am doing good, no panic here. CDC people, seen my wallet? Nope. Alright, not feeling so great anymore. I make the kids search the parking lot where I parked earlier while I search the car again. Nope.
Well, nothing to do here. Time to go home. I have to leave post with no military ID, which means I have no way to get back on. I would need my sponsor, Dan, to get me back on so that he could take me to the office that hands out the new ones. I start to cry before I leave post as I realize that I was going to the Temple next Saturday, Super Saturday. I can't get back on post to take them to SS or to the Temple, since my Temple recommend was in there, also. I am now driving through the gate. I even slowed down. Once I leave, I don't know what to do. I can't get back on but the only hope I have is in a Power of Attorney back home. Its 7:30p.m. anyway, what I am going to do, sleep in the car with the kids until the office opens and refuse to leave the post until I have a new one? I guess we could have slept at a friend's house, not sent the kids to school, and sent someone else to my house for the POA. That sounds reasonable, right? I haven't gone round the bend yet, have I?
Dan has been gone three weeks, that's it. 21 days and I am the total Spaz Queen. Are we in for it or what?
So if I weren't enough of a retard. I went on post tonight for a FRG meeting. I took the kids to the day care place where they watch the kids for free for FRG meetings. Of course, I was running late. I left my bag in the car and just grabbed my keys, phone (I never let it out of my hand for a second, what if Dan calls?), and my wallet (just in case they checked ID).
I hurry and drop them off and run off to the meeting place. I am a few minutes late so I grab my bag and then my stuff. I get out of the car to start putting all that stuff into the bag. Keys into little pocket of bag. Phone on vibrate in jeans pocket(What if Dan calls?) and wallet...must of fallen out and slipped down the side...wallet...nope. I am sure its there, I am late. I'll go to the meeting and search the car later. Meeting over, search car...wallet? Nope. Alright, I dropped it at the CDC, I'll go there and get it. I am doing good, no panic here. CDC people, seen my wallet? Nope. Alright, not feeling so great anymore. I make the kids search the parking lot where I parked earlier while I search the car again. Nope.
Well, nothing to do here. Time to go home. I have to leave post with no military ID, which means I have no way to get back on. I would need my sponsor, Dan, to get me back on so that he could take me to the office that hands out the new ones. I start to cry before I leave post as I realize that I was going to the Temple next Saturday, Super Saturday. I can't get back on post to take them to SS or to the Temple, since my Temple recommend was in there, also. I am now driving through the gate. I even slowed down. Once I leave, I don't know what to do. I can't get back on but the only hope I have is in a Power of Attorney back home. Its 7:30p.m. anyway, what I am going to do, sleep in the car with the kids until the office opens and refuse to leave the post until I have a new one? I guess we could have slept at a friend's house, not sent the kids to school, and sent someone else to my house for the POA. That sounds reasonable, right? I haven't gone round the bend yet, have I?
Dan has been gone three weeks, that's it. 21 days and I am the total Spaz Queen. Are we in for it or what?
Spaz
Okay, so I know when I am stressed that I forget things. I mean a lot of things. Important things, appointments, keys, phones, pants. Alright, I haven't forgotten my pants yet, but it could happen. I normally figure out I have too much going on and that I am in over my head when I start forgetting things. I am an organizer, multi-tasker, on top of it, color-coder person. When things get forgotten, I am out of place. The thing I didn't think to count on for the beginning of the deployment was that I would be a spaz.
Examples from the past three days. I fell up the stairs carrying some binders and of course, a platter of black bean hummus. I was in the shower when I put some face wash in my hands and promptly rubbed it in my hair. It has peroxide in it, I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop on that one. I have a massive bruise on the side of my right hand, with no clue how I got it. I was taking Bug to school and drove to Innie and DD's school, they take the bus, I never take them to school. I caught one of my pot holders on fire.
However, I don't seem to be forgetting anything too important. So I still have that. I may be a spaz but I still have my mental capacities. Just not my physical capacities? Is this better?
Examples from the past three days. I fell up the stairs carrying some binders and of course, a platter of black bean hummus. I was in the shower when I put some face wash in my hands and promptly rubbed it in my hair. It has peroxide in it, I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop on that one. I have a massive bruise on the side of my right hand, with no clue how I got it. I was taking Bug to school and drove to Innie and DD's school, they take the bus, I never take them to school. I caught one of my pot holders on fire.
However, I don't seem to be forgetting anything too important. So I still have that. I may be a spaz but I still have my mental capacities. Just not my physical capacities? Is this better?
Sanity Scrapbooking
I go to a friend's house about once a week. Sometimes, we have to cancel on each other but the goal is to get together on Tuesdays or Thursdays and Scrapbook for a couple of hours. With both our men gone it has become a little more important than it was when we started it at our last post. We were at Fort Lee together and that's when we started scrapbooking and then we both came here and kept up the tradition after all the moving craziness was done. Our husbands were actually supposed to go to Iraq together, and they left at the same time, if you remember Dan was gone all summer for training for that deployment. Dan got taken off that mission but her husband still went. So our husbands might not be together anymore but we still need our sanity scrapbooking.
Also, we have a couple of kids the same age. Our oldest are the same and my youngest is the same age as her middle one, so we can get together and the kids can play, too.
So I wanted to show off the work I accomplished last week. Two pages for our extended family books. You know all those pictures everyone sends you at Christmas time and stuff, well, I love them and use them. I have a book for Dan's siblings and a book for my siblings. Today was the Christmas pictures we got this year from Dan's sisters. I finally got a new printer/scanner since we had to get one since upgrading to Vista. Yeah! I've been wanting one, just haven't had the justification. The pictures on the old one were low quality, that's why I wanted a new one. Everything else works just fine, copy, scan, etc, that's why I hadn't been able to get a new one. The printer would work with vista just not the scanner. A scanner is one of those things you do not miss until it is gone. Man, I missed it.
So anyway, here's is my work. I did do two more pages but they are for FRG, I am now the FRG Historian, which is fancy talk for Scrapbooker. I was thinking that I will keep the FRG pages off the blog, none of you will know those people and sometimes there are pictures of people's kids.
Enjoy...
I just wish I knew what to do for my 12 x 12 pages. Wouldn't that be cool if there was a 12 x 12 printer and scanner? Is there one out there that I don't know about and that Dan would definitely not want me to know about? Taking pictures of pages is always so bad. If you use the flash it reflects off the pictures and if you don't the picture it is all dark. I tried to do this post before I had the new printer and took pictures of the pages. There were either fuzzy or dark. So I held a lamp in my hand while I tried to take a picture of the page. Like I really needed another reminder of how I am not coordinated. But the pictures still didn't turn out that good. Any suggestions for how to post my 12 x 12 pages?
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The Metaphor
Such an interesting dream I had the other night. I love the way the brain works. This dream was the perfect metaphor for my life right now and you will all see why. There will be no need for explanation.
I am going through a medical procedure. Actually it is prep-work for a medical procedure. Dan is with me, holding my hand and being all supportive. As I am doing this, I am wondering, why am I doing this? I ask Dan, and he says that he thinks it will help. You think? What is it going to help? I don't know, maybe your headaches. Wait, I am going to let doctors to something to me and we are not sure why? Well, okay. And of course we are not in a doctor's office it appears to be the beach. I am also fine with that.
So the prep-work is done and Dan and I take a stroll down the beach. We are just talking and waiting for the procedure to begin. I am getting nervous and holding onto Dan a little tighter. He just keeps talking. Then a couple of doctors come to get me and say it is time to start. They start leading me to the area where it will be done. I turn around to make sure Dan is coming with me. Dan is no where on the beach. The doctors take me to the room by myself.
I woke up. It was time for the alarm to go off. Time to get the kids ready for school. Time to start another day by myself.
I am going through a medical procedure. Actually it is prep-work for a medical procedure. Dan is with me, holding my hand and being all supportive. As I am doing this, I am wondering, why am I doing this? I ask Dan, and he says that he thinks it will help. You think? What is it going to help? I don't know, maybe your headaches. Wait, I am going to let doctors to something to me and we are not sure why? Well, okay. And of course we are not in a doctor's office it appears to be the beach. I am also fine with that.
So the prep-work is done and Dan and I take a stroll down the beach. We are just talking and waiting for the procedure to begin. I am getting nervous and holding onto Dan a little tighter. He just keeps talking. Then a couple of doctors come to get me and say it is time to start. They start leading me to the area where it will be done. I turn around to make sure Dan is coming with me. Dan is no where on the beach. The doctors take me to the room by myself.
I woke up. It was time for the alarm to go off. Time to get the kids ready for school. Time to start another day by myself.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Super Saturday
The first Super Saturday. It was really cool. I actually didn't take them for the whole time since the older two have swim lessons on Saturday mornings. I am going to try and see if for next time if I can take them during the week so they can go for the whole time 9-5. As it was they only went 12-4:30. So I still got a decent break.
So what did I do with this new wonderful freedom? I went shopping. Spent $9. At a scrapbooking store at least, nothing useful. I ate out for lunch. Then went home to do some work on the kitchen that I had been promising myself that I would get done. I am now at the point where it is only a hundred little jobs to get done and then I might actually be done renovating the kitchen. Then onto the living room, yeah!
Anyway, so all the mighty work I got done in the kitchen. It was awesome. I replaced a switch cover since I removed it from painting sometime during the Christmas break AND I pulled off some painters tape. Two things, yeah baby.
So with all that work done of course I put in a picture....
I did clean the house a little. The missionaries where coming over for dinner. We luckily have Sister missionaries so if you feed the Sisters you can feed the Elders at the same time. So I had five missionaries to feed. I pulled up from picking up the kids the same time they did. You gotta love the crock pot.
So I have got much bigger plans for the next SS in two weeks, Nashville about an hour away. That's where our Temple is, haven't been since June. And they have a huge mall that I have never been to. So no kitchen just fun. Maybe I'll work on the kitchen this week. Ha Ha Ha
Thursday, January 10, 2008
What we have been doing
Well, we have been trying to keep busy here and by all appearances, have been succeeding. The kids went back to school on Monday and I have been so busy this week. There was so much that Dan didn't get around to doing and with his abrupt departure just didn't get to do so that To Do list fell to me. I didn't feel like dragging the kids along on those kind of errands so I waited u//ntil the kids went back to tackle THE LIST. (I will explain the // marks at the end of the post just look to see how many there are and that one I just used doesn't count.)
So I am back. I took a quick 15 minute break to go cower in the basement for our tornado watch. That was fun. Our satellite TV was out but another deployed wife friend that I had just been talking to on the phone called me to say,"We're supposed to be taking cover, just so you know." She even called me when the watch expired, that was so cool. I think I just heard a siren too, that would be a first, for any of the places we have lived. And this is the third place we have lived that gets tornadoes.
Anyway, back to our crazy week, which the above fits so perfectly. Dan didn't get all his legal stuff taken care of, so I have been doing that, almost done. I signed up the kids for a child care program the Army has for deployed spouses for free. It is so awesome. A Friday night a month, for four hours and two Saturdays a month for eight hours. That required me to go to three separate locations and a few hours worth of waiting but I think it is worth it. I am not sure// but with all the paperwork I signed Innie might be promised to enlist when he turns eighteen. I am a little nervous for the first one this Satu//rday. Bug has to go to a younger one than the other two so he will be by himself for the whole day, at least until he turns 5 this summer. And I have never had them in day care before if you don't count the hour or so they go to the Y. But it doesn't matter, they are still going so Momma can keep her sanity.
With all the running around this week came another first. I put Bug into the after care at preschool for three hours. So he was there for six hours. He was mad at me when I picked him up because he didn't want to leave. So I guess he'll be fine at the other care. The woman who does the after care found out from him that his Daddy// was deployed. He even said the country correctly and everything. So she asked him what he did there. I think expecting him to say, "He flies Helicopters." A lot of guys here do. Dan doesn't. We've never explained his job really// to the kids because a.) its too complicated for kid speak b.) we just didn't and c.) he ended u//p not even doing the job he is trained for over there. So when she told me his answer I had a good laugh. "What does your Daddy do there?" Bug,"He saves the world."
Another thing I have been keeping busy with is some weird deployment nesting phase. I have been cleaning and organizing the house like a pregnant woman possessed. My bedroom perfect, that cabinet in my room that Dan hung with push pins? Rehung with screws in the studs, thank you very much. I even dusted. Me. Kids rooms, done. All those little things they ferret away and hide like little squirrels preparing for winter taken care of. I even started on my pictures. My pictures are now all organized chronologically or in the case of our Studio pics in an album all in sleeves dated and within easy reach. I even put Dan's missions pictures in a tu//pperware drawer ready for him to organize when he gets home. The garage, I can park the car in it now, and I do. And my manic energy isn't gone or wasted, so far I have hit the gym or worked out four times this week. One day I went hiking instead of going to the gym. I am a little sore though.
I am pushing myself into bed by 10:30 so I can start to get on a normal sleep pattern. My hardest thing with Dan gone is going to bed by myself. I stay in the basement watching TV until I just fall asleep or realize how bad I am going to hate life tomorrow unless I go to bed now and it could be 1am.
So wish me luck for this Saturday, as of right now I have no idea what I am going to do with eight hours to myself. I think I'll try to hit the temple. Its so crazy, eight hours.
One last thing, I wanted to share my pain of this new computer by inserting those // every time you saw one of those was every time I accidentally touched the mouse pad with one of my thumbs and it caused the cursor to move somewhere else in the post. So I would have to stop and search for where the mysterious cursor had gone and fix all the typing I had continued to do and move it back down and start again. And I am getting much better and keeping my hands up than I used to. So much so that my elbows hurt now. I like having a laptop but that mouse pad, which I never use by the way, it slowly driving me crazy.
I think the post is long enough now, to find out how many of you truly love me to read the whole thing.
So I am back. I took a quick 15 minute break to go cower in the basement for our tornado watch. That was fun. Our satellite TV was out but another deployed wife friend that I had just been talking to on the phone called me to say,"We're supposed to be taking cover, just so you know." She even called me when the watch expired, that was so cool. I think I just heard a siren too, that would be a first, for any of the places we have lived. And this is the third place we have lived that gets tornadoes.
Anyway, back to our crazy week, which the above fits so perfectly. Dan didn't get all his legal stuff taken care of, so I have been doing that, almost done. I signed up the kids for a child care program the Army has for deployed spouses for free. It is so awesome. A Friday night a month, for four hours and two Saturdays a month for eight hours. That required me to go to three separate locations and a few hours worth of waiting but I think it is worth it. I am not sure// but with all the paperwork I signed Innie might be promised to enlist when he turns eighteen. I am a little nervous for the first one this Satu//rday. Bug has to go to a younger one than the other two so he will be by himself for the whole day, at least until he turns 5 this summer. And I have never had them in day care before if you don't count the hour or so they go to the Y. But it doesn't matter, they are still going so Momma can keep her sanity.
With all the running around this week came another first. I put Bug into the after care at preschool for three hours. So he was there for six hours. He was mad at me when I picked him up because he didn't want to leave. So I guess he'll be fine at the other care. The woman who does the after care found out from him that his Daddy// was deployed. He even said the country correctly and everything. So she asked him what he did there. I think expecting him to say, "He flies Helicopters." A lot of guys here do. Dan doesn't. We've never explained his job really// to the kids because a.) its too complicated for kid speak b.) we just didn't and c.) he ended u//p not even doing the job he is trained for over there. So when she told me his answer I had a good laugh. "What does your Daddy do there?" Bug,"He saves the world."
Another thing I have been keeping busy with is some weird deployment nesting phase. I have been cleaning and organizing the house like a pregnant woman possessed. My bedroom perfect, that cabinet in my room that Dan hung with push pins? Rehung with screws in the studs, thank you very much. I even dusted. Me. Kids rooms, done. All those little things they ferret away and hide like little squirrels preparing for winter taken care of. I even started on my pictures. My pictures are now all organized chronologically or in the case of our Studio pics in an album all in sleeves dated and within easy reach. I even put Dan's missions pictures in a tu//pperware drawer ready for him to organize when he gets home. The garage, I can park the car in it now, and I do. And my manic energy isn't gone or wasted, so far I have hit the gym or worked out four times this week. One day I went hiking instead of going to the gym. I am a little sore though.
I am pushing myself into bed by 10:30 so I can start to get on a normal sleep pattern. My hardest thing with Dan gone is going to bed by myself. I stay in the basement watching TV until I just fall asleep or realize how bad I am going to hate life tomorrow unless I go to bed now and it could be 1am.
So wish me luck for this Saturday, as of right now I have no idea what I am going to do with eight hours to myself. I think I'll try to hit the temple. Its so crazy, eight hours.
One last thing, I wanted to share my pain of this new computer by inserting those // every time you saw one of those was every time I accidentally touched the mouse pad with one of my thumbs and it caused the cursor to move somewhere else in the post. So I would have to stop and search for where the mysterious cursor had gone and fix all the typing I had continued to do and move it back down and start again. And I am getting much better and keeping my hands up than I used to. So much so that my elbows hurt now. I like having a laptop but that mouse pad, which I never use by the way, it slowly driving me crazy.
I think the post is long enough now, to find out how many of you truly love me to read the whole thing.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Old Electronics and Recalled Chinese Jewelry?
I read the most thought provoking thing in the Nat-Geo today. I only read four magazines religiously and the National Geographic is one of them. I read it cover to cover every month and this months magazine has some articles on recycling. I am not a recycler. I am not an environmentalist in any sense of the word. But it has been on my mind lately. We live in a city that does not have recycling bins that go with the garbage bins, we just moved from on post housing where they gave you a trash can sized recycling bin. All you had to do was rinse or break down and put it in the can. No separating, no hassle. I like no hassle recycling. Now if I want to recycle I have to sort on my own and take it to a recycling place on my own. I think there is one on post I can use, I am not sure.
Anyway, my bad habits are not the point. This article was about e-waste. All the computers, printers, cell phones that the rich nations are constantly upgrading. We are talking over a million and a half tons of it in 2005. It will probably start growing much larger as the new HD becomes standard next year and all our analog TVs won't get signals anymore. We have to buy new TVs next year? That's crazy. Not that I don't want one, I don't want to be forced to get one. Out of all this e-waste way less than 25% is getting recycled. Bad things happen to this stuff when it gets thrown away. A lot gets just stored by us pack rat Americans.
Here's the worst part. Some that gets recycled or donated to charities for resell are ending up in the third world where they are mined for parts. Just the copper wiring in a computer is valuable. Here's the catch, it is surrounded by plastic tubing. How are these "miners" getting at it? By burning off the plastic. Releasing extremely harmful gases into the air while they are inhaling it themselves. A lot of carcinogens. A lot of children doing this. There was a picture of one man in India melting down circuit boards to get off the lead and other metals in his own homemade smelter. What was his smelter? His kitchen pots that the family will later cook dinner on.
Here's where it comes back to bite us besides the pollution factor. A Chemist from Ohio bought a bunch of that cheapo kiddie Chinese jewelry and ran some tests on it. Not only did it have high traces of lead in it that we have been hearing so much about in the news lately but there was an abnormal amount of copper and tin in there. Not normal for jewelry. Can anyone guess what kind of metal they are using to make this jewelry? Metal burned off circuit boards from our computers that we have thrown away. This lead issue is not just Chinese negligence that we can just pass off, we started this cycle. If we don't recycle our stuff the responsible way where there is oversight and regulations someone else is going to recycle it. Back to our lungs, our children, and our foreign aid packages as all these third world countries start getting even more sick.
Soap box put away now. By the way, Dan was always the one who had to listen to my rants on the evils of the world. He is now safe from me on the other side of the world. Now its your turn, because I am not keeping it in or ranting at Dan when I only get to talk to him for ten minutes at a time. Sorry.
Anyway, my bad habits are not the point. This article was about e-waste. All the computers, printers, cell phones that the rich nations are constantly upgrading. We are talking over a million and a half tons of it in 2005. It will probably start growing much larger as the new HD becomes standard next year and all our analog TVs won't get signals anymore. We have to buy new TVs next year? That's crazy. Not that I don't want one, I don't want to be forced to get one. Out of all this e-waste way less than 25% is getting recycled. Bad things happen to this stuff when it gets thrown away. A lot gets just stored by us pack rat Americans.
Here's the worst part. Some that gets recycled or donated to charities for resell are ending up in the third world where they are mined for parts. Just the copper wiring in a computer is valuable. Here's the catch, it is surrounded by plastic tubing. How are these "miners" getting at it? By burning off the plastic. Releasing extremely harmful gases into the air while they are inhaling it themselves. A lot of carcinogens. A lot of children doing this. There was a picture of one man in India melting down circuit boards to get off the lead and other metals in his own homemade smelter. What was his smelter? His kitchen pots that the family will later cook dinner on.
Here's where it comes back to bite us besides the pollution factor. A Chemist from Ohio bought a bunch of that cheapo kiddie Chinese jewelry and ran some tests on it. Not only did it have high traces of lead in it that we have been hearing so much about in the news lately but there was an abnormal amount of copper and tin in there. Not normal for jewelry. Can anyone guess what kind of metal they are using to make this jewelry? Metal burned off circuit boards from our computers that we have thrown away. This lead issue is not just Chinese negligence that we can just pass off, we started this cycle. If we don't recycle our stuff the responsible way where there is oversight and regulations someone else is going to recycle it. Back to our lungs, our children, and our foreign aid packages as all these third world countries start getting even more sick.
Soap box put away now. By the way, Dan was always the one who had to listen to my rants on the evils of the world. He is now safe from me on the other side of the world. Now its your turn, because I am not keeping it in or ranting at Dan when I only get to talk to him for ten minutes at a time. Sorry.
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