My life, my thoughts, my blog…

So I have seriously been slacking on this thing. It’s been almost a month since my last post.

Things here are great. Austin and I are able to talk a little bit each day and Braden LOVES seeing daddy on the webcam. This deployment has definately been more challanging than I expected. Braden has had a really hard time without his daddy and literally spent the first few days crying. Luckily, we are doing much better now and are just rolling with the punches.

Currently I am filling out a ton of paperwork so I can start college with UMUC this fall. I am going to go full-time student. Once all of this paperwork is done, I will be so relieved. I can’t wait to start taking some classes. I am going dental hygiene and I can get all the gen eds out of the way this upcoming school year so that next fall, I can enroll in a dental program back in the states.

Becca and Meriam have been wonderful and have been keeping me busy & entertained. I can’t thank them enough for all that they have done for us these first few weeks. I think Braden being around all of them has made the transition so much easier. He is always asking to go see “Caedmon, Sara- my friends!”

So I have been on the hunt for Rockband for the Wii….Austin bought it for me! Whenever I get it I want to have a white trash party and jam out :p Haha!

I have been doing ALOT of reading for fun since Austin left. I have gone through so many books lately. I think I am going to start reading more of the classics.

The only bad news we were hit with is that Austin is going to be extended for quite some downrange. Oh well, I guess there is nothing we can do about it. Hopefully he will be back by the end of the year but I seriously am not banking on it. A first extention is always a precursor to many more— at least in this unit.

Anyways, hope everyone is doing well and that you are enjoying the summer. I know we have definately been taking advantage of all the sunshine! Well, off to get dressed- we are going downtown to get some lunch and stop to see some friends who live down there.

Today started off really early for us. We woke up at 5am and were over at the WAAF by 6:20-ish. We all ate breakfast together at the Defac and then before 8am he was gone again. As many times as I have done this, this part has yet to get any easier. Sure in a week or two I will be in routine and the time will go by. In three months or so he will back here and I will find it hard to have to share the bed again, have way more laundry to do, and nor longer will Captain Crunch be considered an acceptable dinner meal. But, for right now, I feel sick on the inside and I am absolutely dreading being alone for so long. I am dreading feeling lonely at night, going to the commissary by myself, and feeling overwhelmed with Braden at times. It’s just this way of life, but at times, it can really suck. I would rather just spend a day or two feeling really sad/mad and be done with it. I am going to ace these next few months, but for now, I am wallowing in self pity and doubt just because I want to.

Anyways, enough of that…Things here are going pretty well for the most part. Remember that kid I watched a weekend or so ago? The one that was sick…Well, now Braden isn’t feeling well. He seems to be getting better- but the timing of it is just too much of a coincidence. I have to say that my neighbor won’t ever be able to rely on me again- its one thing to admit that he wasn’t feeling good (I still would have watched him since she was in a bind) but not to tell me is completely other thing. Alright, I should stop talking about that since it always just annoys me and I am already in a bit of a mood.

We watched “30 Days of Night”. It’s a scary movie- I thought it was pretty stupid. We also watched the new “National Treasure” movie– even though I have never seen the first one, the second one was pretty good. I liked it. I will probably start renting movies alot more now- I really need to catch up on new movies, etc.

I gave myself a little goal to achieve while Austin is gone. I really want to tone up and maybe lose like 5-10 lbs…Not too much- I wanna keep the booty, lol. I am hoping that will keep me motivated- especially since he is quitting smoking (again– but I am still proud of him and hoping it sticks this time) and going to hit the gym alot more. It would be soo cool to have him come back and his first reaction be “Daammn” lol.

Braden and I fingerpainted the other day so Austin take “art” downrange with him. I am going to try to send a letter to him at least once a week- hopefully more. It will probably end up just being a doodle from Braden or a little card, but I want him to know how much we will miss him this summer. Maybe I will even find the motivation to put together boxes every other week or so- since its so hot sending chocolate and stuff is out the question and when in doubt, I always send that :p I will have to find something new.

Since we woke up so early we went back to sleep this morning around 10am- its now 1245 and little man is still out…When he wakes up I am going to get us out of the house. If Austin’s flight gets cancelled and they can’t get on another flight today they are going to R.O or a hotel– and if that’s the case, I will probably just drive up there. Hope everybody has a good weekend and to those of you who have your solider, hug him and remember how lucky you are to actually have him in your arms tonite.

So I went to see the Sex & the City movie on Saturday night….

I don’t think it lived up to the hype at all. With the HUGE budget that had to have for that film, couldn’t they make made sure there weren’t mics hanging into the shots? That was so annoying. I also felt the movie was just too long, it definitely dragged in certain places. I would only recommend that movie to a die-hard SATC fan.

Other than that, not much happening here. Yesterday my neighbor came down and said she had no one to watch her baby and she had to go into work. So I babysat a 3 month old. I figured it would be good practice for whenever we have another…She neglected to tell me he was sick. I spent most of the day holding him upright to keep the boogers from filling up his nose. Braden LOVED having Landon around. He read him books, showed him his toys, and would dance for him. Braden even fed him for me once. I was very surprised at what a big help Braden turned out to be.

Random side note: I have gotten gold stars on 2 guitar hero songs. My hand eye coordination is slowly improving, haha.

Austin leaves the end of next week for a couple months. Normally I just feel ” Okay this is life and he has to go and we’ll be fine” and I know that is true- but I am actually really sad about him leaving this time. More so than other times…Give me a day or two to be mopey and I will be fine. It’s never fun having him gone but hey, at least I get the bed to myself again :p

I watched the movie “PS I love You” the other day…I have never cried so much at a movie EVER. I highly recommend it if you want a sappy love movie to watch. It was such a sweet movie. I definitely want to read the book now. I am sure I will enjoy it much more than the film.

Father’s Day is this upcoming Sunday. Since we thought Austin was leaving at the end of last month, we already celebrated. We got him his own desk (which as turned out to be a sanity saver for both of us), a gaming mouse, and some special keyboard. I also made him a picture book to take downrange with him. Since our families already know I am always late getting things into the mail I don’t feel overly pressured to send gifts– especially since I am still not sure what to get them. I am sure I will figure something out soon though.

That’s all the news for now….The End.

Yes, Braden has officially lost his art privileges for the next week…No more crayons, no more markers, no more finger-paint- Only chalk outside.

Braden lost his markers on Monday when Austin managed to sleep through Braden decorating the ottoman with blue marker. Thankfully the ottoman is washable and needed to be washed anyways- so I wasn’t overly angry about that.

Today, he was supposed to be taking a nap. I went in to check on him only to see him drawing all over the wall above his bed. He was so proud of the spiders he drew. I on the other hand was thoroughly less impressed.

He loves to draw and I want to encourage love of art in him but he is seriously poking at my last nerve. At this rate I am just going to need to take out stock in Magic Erasers…

Well, everything is going well…Austin and I splurged today and bought Guitar Hero for the Wii…And we bought 2 guitars so we can both play at the same time. Its 9:30 at night now and we are STILL playing. Its seriously addicting. Its one of the few games we can play together and not fight about

Monday I leave for Venice with Jackie. I am sure she will post a blog with pictures about it when we get back.

Anyways- hope everyone is having a good weekend…Gotta get back to playing! We are going to rock out to some Pat Benatar- Love it!

The nice weather has brought the majority of my days outside. It is a nice change and Brady is able to run, jump, and climb off all of his excess energy (Which means nice long naps most afternoons).  Today we went to the zoo. I went by the commissary and bought carrots & day old bread to feed the animals with. The elephants go ga-ga over potato rolls- It was really neat. They also seemed to have let a goat out of the petting zoo part on accident as well today :p

Thanks to Jackie, Braden and I are taking a little trip with her to Venice later this month. I am really excited. It is going to be great to get out of Germany and enjoy a piece of Italy. I am sure she will post a nice blog with pictures about it when we get back

Austin is getting ready to go back down to the sandbox. We’re not sure how long he will be gone but we are still hoping to take a trip back to the US mid-September until mid-October. I haven’t seen my dad since July of ‘06…I really enjoy living out here in Germany, but sometimes I can’t help but feel a little left out of the day-to-day of back home. I am also going through looking into dog hotels for Duke. It would cost too much to take him with us and I am sure he would rather stay in a nice place where there is AC and he gets to go on walks & play in fields with other dogs.

I barrowed the book “Deceptively Delicious” from Jess and have been using some of the recipes. I am hooked on a dip that is PB, some cream cheese, chocolate sauce, & puree carrot….Sounds gross, but MAN- Yum! Braden even LOVES it. We have gone through 2 bags of apples in less than a week. Another one he loves is Mac-N-Cheese with squash- I think I now perfer it that way- It tastes creamier.

Well, I am going to go pick up a little around the house. Braden is napping and Austin is on the couch watching tv….and I have a dinner/movie date later.

Okay, its actually just allergies- but sometimes I really have to wonder if they are going to kill me.

It has been one thing after the next here. I have tonsilitis and now my allergies are feeling oddly similiar to bronchitis. Yesterday I had an adventure taking Braden to an eye doctor downtown. Its an eye infection- but its not pink eye. Honestly I couldnt really understand what they doctor was telling me but I understand its not contagious and he gets eye drops for a week…

I now think Austin is starting to get sick…It’s a dominos effect. Oh well, other than that all is well.

The past two mornings there have been mallard ducks in front of my house. Only two, a male and a female. The male appears to be missing part of his left foot. Braden and I have been feeding them and I filled up the little kiddy pool with some water for them this morning. I am calling the male Drake and the female Mallory…Yes, I had to name them. I couldn’t help it. Anyways, its been quite odd to go outside and see ducks in the front yard.

We have been thinking of adding another pet to our family for quite a while now. We’ve gone back and forth between getting a puppy or an older dog. Today when I was checking the stripes, I saw an ad about a 9 year old Saint Bernard. I answered it and we have an appointment to meet Sebastian and his family on Wednesday in Mannheim. He is in good health and he sounds like he would be highly compatiable with our Duke. If we decide we like we him, we would take him for like a week trial and see how he does…How Duke does…How Braden does…But mostly how I will manage with two big dogs and a toddler I am really looking forward to meeting them on Wednesday. I really hope it works out. The only thing I am worried about is how much it would cost to kennel two dogs for a few weeks while we went back to the states. Well I will let you all know how the meet and greet goes! Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far!

Update:

I had to give up the idea of another dog. I thought long and hard about it & Austin and I sat down and talked about all things going on these next couple months and it just seemed like the timing wasn’t in our favor. So for now we are going to be a one dog family.

What I was doing 10 years ago: Hmm, well, I was 11…So I was probably at home with the family- fighting with my sister over the TV. What a truly exciting life, lol.

Five Snacks I would enjoy in a perfect, non weight-gaining world:

1. Smores PopTarts (210 calories for EACH poptart- crazy)                                                         

2. Chocolate Crossiants

3. Guacamole

4. Skittles

5. Mocha Frappachinos

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

1. Pay off my Honda and all other debt

2. Give some money to family to help out.

3. Put aside a chunk for Braden’s future

4. Buy a nice house and furnish it

5. Plastic surgery!!! LOL- nice tummy and perky boobs…Hey, I’m a billionare :p

Five jobs that I have had:

1. I’ve only ever worked at Target and I worked there for years…

Three of my habits:

1. Checking PerezHilton.com over MSNBC News

2. I stay in my jammies if I have nothing to do that day.

3. If I don’t feel like making a “real” dinner- I make cereal or sandwhiches for dinner.

Five place I have traveled

1. Vancouver, Canada

2. Strausbourg, France

3. Germany (obviously)

4. Road trip across the US- From AZ to NY- and back again.

5. Alaska
Five things that can be found in/on my bedside table:

1.  My lamp

2. Ipod

3. Massage Oil

4. Misc toys that Braden has left on there - This morning it was a sticky bug & GI Joe

5. Bottle of water