Procrastination.

It's funny how, when you decide to return to life, things happen.

My almost four year old (3 days from now!) has started school. Everyday, Monday through Friday, half days. She rides the bus. My baby, who is not exactly a baby anymore, is riding the bus. I feel as though I haven't even really begun to understand the magnitude of that statement. My child is going to school. For the next 12 years, my baby girl will be a slave to the public school system. She'll start becoming who she'll be.

Whoa.

So here I am, the mom of a preschooler, ready to write.

And I haven't done anything yet.

Not because I don't want to. But because I've been busy (excuse).

My mom's having surgery on her back, possibly within the next week, and I'm hoping I can fly out to help her for a few days. Which means leaving my girls. That stinks, and if Bob can't get off work a friend has offered very awesomely to help us out...I just hope she's fine after that haha. Everything associated with that terrifies me. My mom. Surgery. Ugh. She's so stubborn she wants to do it herself. BUT IT'S BACK SURGERY MOM.

I decided yesterday to start p90x plus and c25k...because, well. I need to.

I made a chore chart. I made an appointment for family pictures.

I had apples. Dozens and dozens of apples, that needing to be apple sauced and apple buttered and apple pied.

I also had to make cookies. Because...that's what happens when you run out of apples.



But in all seriousness, I am going to do write today.

Or I'm going to have Odin take away my hammer until I'm worthy. Save a hot chick or something.

A fictional, hot chick...

Ch-ch-chaaaaanges...

Yes, I'm aware the title is cliche. But it's the last two months in a nut shell.

The last time I wrote on this thing, Chloe wasn't even six months old. And now she's, well...She's two. And Delilah's four, starting preschool in two days.

Did I mention that we finally moved? I'm sure most of the people who read this will say "duh", but for the random blogstalker, we finally got orders out of California's armpit to the east coast.

Life has been so busy the last two years. And lately, even more so with moving and everything that comes with that. I think I just hit a lull. Why would anyone want to read anything I have to say? I've been ignoring a lot of things, and people (sorry friends). It's not even that I don't want to talk to anyone, its just that I haven't been doing anything that would even remotely warrant a text aside from the "holy cow I made this dinner and it was GREAT!"

And then, something happened.

Inspiration.

I hadn't written, really written, in I don't know, how ever many years I've been married. Here and there, nothing concrete. Then a friend passed along her book. HER BOOK. And it was good. And then another friend let me read hers. Damn. (Cough, thanks Kristy and Nina).

 And it reminded me of what I wanted to do when I sixteen. Write. So I sat down and spouted off something onto note pad, shared it with a couple friends. They said "Actually...this isn't bad." And while my story of a farmer's daughter may never reach the light of day, it's a step in the right direction. It's ten chapters further than I've written before. It's four, five, six more ideas that came along from that, that might be the ONE.

Now, I know this has nothing to do with military. Well, not really. But it still has a lot to do with everything else. Some times in life, you just get so caught up with what every one around you is doing, or growing or watching or whatever, that you don't really take the time to do what you want. I've had no one to blame but myself, and even then, maybe I don't regret it. I should have been fostering my own skills, even if just here and there, but I was watching my baby girls grow. And the grass. Well, the dirt in the desert.  But this is for me now. This is a new starting point.

Maybe tomorrow I'll write about the new base. Maybe I'll talk about an idea I'm throwing around in my head. Or maybe I'll just beat my head against the keyboard and post that. But its something.

The holidays

Its October! Which means the next few months are going to move fast!

I love the holiday season. I like to think I'm a nice person all of time, so its nice to see others doing the same.

And I especially love how people get sentimental about our troops at this time. So many people will gone for the holidays (my husband included!) and seeing others spend a second to think of them fills me with so much pride.

I love this time of year!

Delilah is two!

Yes, I am posting twice in one day. The first is a post related to what my blog is all about, dealing with the military life.

But this post...is pure celebration. My wonderful, amazing, beautiful oldest daughter turned two on the 20th. I'm so amazed at how she's grown so much and who she is growing up to be.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Family = friends

When you are a military spouse, you don't always get to be around your family. I have been so blessed to meet many spouses that I don't just consider friends, but also family. Holidays that you would normally spend along aren't so lonesome when you have people over to share a meal or some drinks. I learned in Okinawa that I LOVE entertaining. I just love people coming together and sharing thoughts, memories and laughter.

I really love staying in touch with people too. I love being some one that other people can rely on if they need it. I recently got a phone call from a friend that we knew in Okinawa for maybe the last 6 months that we were there. And it was so nice being able to talk and catch up. I love it. It was nice that after all this time, this friend came to me for advice. Its so nice to know that even though I don't have all the answers, some one still wants to hear what I have to say.

I am so thankful for Skype, not only because I get to talk to my husband and our families, but I get to stay in touch with the many wonderful friends I've made through out our travels. It helps when our actual families are so many many miles away to know that we have a pseudo family where ever we go.

Life is what happens while you're blogging...

Or rather, blogging is what doesn't happen when you're living. I swore I was going to update this once a week, and what did I do? Slacked the first 3 weeks I had it!

I was going to write about my impending trip to Phoenix, Arizona to see my mom and some good friends. But, of course everything was crazy and hectic like it is with 2 under 2. Then I was going to write when we got back, and we of course got sick. All of us.

Its funny, but I think one of our slogans as military wives is "Of course it happens when they're gone!" because it does. The very DAY Bob left my microwave tried to kill me. Then the kids seem to sense their Daddy is gone and they "attack". All hell breaks loose. This one is crying or that one is crying. All in all, it was pretty stressful.

But its not just me. I have heard countless stories of car issues, black widow scares (hell yes that's scary!), sick children, broken bones. You name it. As if we don't have enough to deal with. We have started to expect it though. And like everything else, we deal with it. We become stronger from it. What can I say? I'm bragging.

Mission comes first.

Firstly, I am a wife and mother. I have two beautiful girls. And a husband who is in the Air Force and plans to be for at least 20. Most of you that read this will know that being an Air Force wife and mother is pretty tough. Today my girls will once again say good bye to Daddy for an indefinite amount of time. Chloe is seven weeks today, so she won't notice yet, but Delilah is almost two. Tonight will be rough for her, as she will probably start begging for Daddy around dinner time. She is at the age now where she knows he is gone but doesn't understand he can't just be here. I used to think it would be better the older she got, but now I think maybe right now is the best time.  She loves her Daddy. She misses him. And in a day or two she won't scream for him any more. When he comes home she will be attached to him like no other, she is such a daddy's girl. But when she's older, there will come the why's. Why is Daddy gone? Why does Daddy have to leave? Why doesn't Daddy get a new job? The answer may or may not satisfy her, but hopefully it will give her comfort to know that her father has done some thing that a lot of us cannot or won't do. He has signed his life over for his country and to protect the people in it. His sacrifice is so great that he can't be with us all of the time.

Its not always fun, that's for sure. But its what we do. And we do it with pride.