Three Months Gone

Today marks three months since Hubby officially left home on his journey to the sandbox. What has happened and changed over the past month?

- I've been waiting for it, and this is the month that the other shoe dropped. I really miss my Hubby. Whenever he leaves, the first little bit is like a mini-vacation. I don't have to cook, the house stays cleaner, laundry is magically cut in half and I get full control of the TV. But before too long, the house and bed are just too empty. I knew that that feeling would be coming along soon, and it would just be a matter of time before it snuck up on me. I knew it would hit like a ton of bricks, and boy did it! We've made it through the first three months…now to make it over the "hump" and into the home stretch…

- Number of meals cooked this month: 0 
  Running total for deployment: 0
  (Note that I do not count frozen pizzas, chicken nuggets or baking a hamburger in the oven as cooking.)

- Really, really, really had to resist jumping for joy when I found out that my new job comes with some perks like a discount at a major office supply store. Seriously…I LOVE office supply stores! Unleash me in one, and I can be happy for hours! I've already picked up those multi-packs of Sharpies!! And STORAGE!!! WOOHOO!!!

- After a slight pause in the festivities, Scrapalooza has regained momentum! This month may have only seen the scrapping of 46 pages, but I have ordered and/or accepted delivery of four hundred and forty seven photos that, when combined with the photos that I already have printed out and on my desk, will bring me through October 2004! I'm getting closer to being caught up!! And wow…I do take a lot of photos!!

- Another little photo project has been completed. I went out and bought some empty photo albums, and corralled all of my loose photos together into them. Photos that go waaay back to 1989! I can't even hope to begin to scrapbook these photos…I'm so far behind already, and looking through all of the pictures, I don't remember the names of half the people in them. Fortunately, at some point in the past, I had the foresight to go through and put a box of photos in something resembling chronological order, in little envelopes with the approximate date and event name on them. That was a big help in completing this project!! In addition to emptying two boxes of photos, I emptied out several magnetic-page photo albums (so very much not a good way to store photos!) and got those photos into the new albums. Archival friendly! I've also located a few additional rolls of DeMolay pictures that are in need of scrapping…from right before I pulled up my roots and moved overseas. MyJody…HELP!! And an interesting little factoid…My Hubby's first appearance in any of my photos? Conclave 1995...Daytona Beach…helping to throw Rhonda Livingston into the pool. I just barely knew him then. Ah, the memories…

- Had to put on my Techno-Geek hat and pull the printer and scanner off of Hubby's computer and install them on my laptop. So very Chloe O'Brien of me!!  Just about killed myself fishing around under his desk trying to figure out which cord goes to what. How in the hell does he function in such a state of disarray? Everything was a giant tangle! After much cursing and other unpleasantness, I managed to get them hooked up to my computer and even tracked down all of the software to get them going. It's a good thing I know how his mind works, otherwise I would never have been able to find the software. All would have been for nothing! Fortunately I'm not totally computer illiterate. Just mostly. I managed to get it all hooked up and working. It was a good day.

- I'm rodent-free! After tiring of my attempts to clear my garage of the rodent that was eating all of our grass seed, I had Terminix come back out and replace the glue boards with snap traps. That night, we caught the rodent. Turned out to be a field mouse…his home having been disturbed by construction in the empty lot next to our cul-de-sac. Now he is gone, and I don't feel the need to tip-toe through my garage any more. Woohoo!! Now about those pesky termites that I found out we have…ah the joys of home ownership…

- Ordered our new "America the Beautiful National Park Pass." We love having this pass, as it allows us unlimited entrances into the threeNational Parks that are practically right at our back door, as well as whatever other National Parks we happen to visit throughout the year. This new version of the pass is also good for various other federal lands, giving us even more opportunities to get out and see the areas around us. I broke in the new pass the day after it came in by taking a friend up to Yosemite, and witnessing the winter wonder of the picturesque valley. All while managing to not slip and fall on the snow and ice covered trails. The most amazing thing from this trip was witnessing ice falling down a waterfall, and hearing the cracking noise echo through the valley when the ice actually broke. Spectacular!

- Bringing me closer to my goal of owning a Jeep in 2008, I started up "the fund." By the end of the year, I should have a nice little nest of down payment that will make this particular dream a reality. 2008...The Year of the Heep!

- One month on the new job has opened my eyes to the number of complaints about animals that citizens can log. Holy cow! And so many of the calls are repeats…there can be one animal in a situation, and multiple people will call on it. Which is touching, really. Until you get a particular animal that a lot of people might not know much about, and they all start calling us to express their concerns. All I can say is that we are very familiar with the status of a particular horse in the city, and he is fine. The horse is OK. Please stop calling about the horse. Oh…and the otherhorse…he doesn't die every Sunday. He just likes to lie down while taking a nap. He is fine, too. Really. I promise. Now put down the phone. Go on with your daily activities.