Lazy Weekend

We've not done very much of anything this weekend. I got my laundry started and almost finished yesterday. It's kind of a pain in the butt because ever since we moved, my dryer's timer stopped working. So unless I set some other sort of timer, the dryer will run for hours on end. Not sure what that's all about... but whatever. Could be worse and just not work at all I guess. We've had that washer and dryer since we got married. Going on 12 years now. Billy bought them for me as a wedding present. Now before you go say... oh how sweet!! You don't really know the whole story. What actually happened was he got himself a set of five foot speakers for the surround sound stereo system in the living room. I threw a big old hissy fit and we ended up fighting about it for a few weeks. Finally, I put my foot down - those ridiculous things need to go!! So, Billy tried to return them and because they were financed, the store would only let him do an exchange. That's how I got my washer and dryer. He did surprise me with them and that was sweet. He could have been a total boy and refused to return his big toys. I remember my family freaking out when I told them we financed a washer and dryer. My rebuttle was that we were paying as much on the monthly payments as we would have been paying at the laundry mat. Good grief, could you imagine me telling them that we were making monthly payments on five foot speakers???!!!??? I have no idea what made my go on this tangent... LOL! But to sum it up, we were married and my argument was we needed to make more grown-up purchases. But trust me when I say, I've let him purchase plenty of toys over the years. Some I have completely gotten sick over and some I actually really love - like our big TV. Which brings me back to our weekend... we've just been watching a lot of TV in between loads of laundry, school projects, potty training the dog, and sleeping and eating. It's just been a great lazy weekend.
To update you on Billy's mission... they basically told them to just be ready at a moment's notice and they don't really know when they are leaving, how long they are going, and many other unknowns. There are pros and cons to this. First, he could be staying with us a little longer. But by staying here, he'll be doing a PT test next week and a 12 mile ruck march the next week. Second, if he goes now he could be back sooner. If he goes later, we don't know if the mission will be a full 30 days which would mean he'll be gone into December. He's supposed to be packed and ready, but if he packs all his gear now - what will he wear all week? Blah. Oh well. What can I do? Nothing but wait. Tis the life of the Army wife.

Coffee Drinking Gals

Well, the kids got invited to a birthday party this past weekend. So, we go. It is the lady on the corner who I stop and talk to from time to time - it's her son. She has 4 little ones (2 of which are very close to William's age). But we go to the party and there were several other mothers there. We ended up sitting on the back porch just hanging out and turns out they are some pretty fun ladies. So they invited me to their morning coffee drinking sessions. Apparently, every morning they congregate at the corner lady's house and all drink coffee for an hour or so and just have some girl chat time. William and I went a couple days this week and I have to say the timing couldn't be better. Meeting some girls right before Billy gets sent away has to be a good thing, right? And the fact that they all have little ones (ages 2-4) is awesome because William gets to have little playdates as well. One thing that won me over was there is a girl there who this is also her first duty station and her husband is already deployed - six weeks after they moved in. That's not what won me over... it was what she said, "I'm glad that I met these gals when I did. They don't put a status on you like 'your husband isn't a high rank and therefore you aren't worth my time.'" It just made me feel like - hey these are some cool down to earth ladies. Most of which are southern gals just like me.
So, anyway... we are on our way over there this morning for some coffee and then I have a day of running errands trying to get Billy's junk together for his mission. We don't have a packing list, but we're trying to think ahead of things he needs. Like his name sewn on his helmet and stuff. And I'm totally going to take advantage of being on post and get some Chinese from the PX food court. YUM!!!
By the way, we do know the dates and unless they give him leave than we won't be spending Thanksgiving with him. I'm hoping they do give him some leave and we could at least drive down there to be with him.

It is what it is

Well, looks like Billy got "voluntold" to go on that mission. Only problem is that he (nor anyone else) knows what this mission is, where it actually is, when he's leaving, when he'll be back, what he has to bring, if he'll get off for some turkey day... basically they told him that he was going and that he'll find out what he needs to know later. So one hundred and ten percent suck.

He tells me this right at the climax of what was already probably the SUCKIEST day I've had since I've been here. I wish I had the patience and lower blood pressure to relive the drama I dealt with today. But I do not. It all boils down to the fact that the family doctor who was giving the girls their shots for school totally screwed me over today and I had a nice big fat meltdown right there in the middle of the doctor's office. Right in front of my kids, God, and everyone. Here's a hint, BENHAVEN FAMILY MEDICAL PRACTICE, do not tell me you have in the freaking Hepatitis A vaccine last week and then tell me I can't have an appointment until the following week only to let me show up on the day you told me to be there and NOT HAVE THE FREAKING VACCINE ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were given a 30 day window to get these shots done and that expires tomorrow. But because we had to wait two weeks for them to get their shipment of shots in, and then wouldn't let me make an appointment for the day they had it in... I knew my blood pressure was going to rise once I got started on this....Anyway, So, Dr. "Has no Clue" sends us on post to the pediatric clinic. We get there at 3:06. The walk-ins side closes at 3:00. Looks like we're spending tomorrow at the peds clinic on post. And trust me, I would have just gone on to this clinic on post to have all this done two weeks ago when I realized this was going to be an issue. However, the guy at the immunization clinic told me they didn't take pediatric patients. Did he share with me the fact that there was a pediatric immunization clinic on the other side of the hospital? Nope. Guess I should have know better and dug a little deeper. Shame on me.

I apologize for my rant.

All this to say... Billy is leaving on some secret mission in the next who knows when and well, it is what it is I guess. No clue what this means for the holidays. I'm not even going to make plans. They're just going to get screwed up anyway.

Yes. I'm fine.

Meanwhile... I'm updating our iPhones to the Cloud at this very moment. I wonder if I'll have anything saved to my phone when this is all done. That's why I'm doing Billy's first. *evilgrin*

Me and my Shadow

Over the past week or so, I've heard of quite a few things that make me a little concerned. Our neighborhood is a gated community and patrolled 24/7 by military police. However, it seems as though we are not immune to petty crimes. Apparently, there have been a few break-ins a few streets over in the past couple weeks. They are pretty sure it's just teenagers up to no good, but they are on the hunt for medicine and I think some electronic things were taken. Well, this has me just a bit on edge. I mean, really? I thought we were going to be a little safer in military housing than off. But "kids will be kids" out here doesn't mean my kid called your kid a brat. So... with the very high possibility that Billy will be gone for a month in a couple weeks, we decided that we needed some sort of protection.
I would like to introduce you to Shadow... our new alarm system.

He looks ferocious, doesn't he?

Boy and his dog

We surprised the girls after school with our new puppy

Fluffy doesn't hate him, but doesn't love him so much yet either.



I'm not going to lie... this dog is not very likely to protect us from much at first. We rescued him from the pound and brought him home. Two flea baths later...we have us a precious, sweet puppy. It took us a whole 24 hours to figure out a name and finally decided on Shadow. I hope he stays as sweet as he is now. 

Zumba

So, yesterday I dropped the kids off at school and William and I went to the Lodge (the neighborhood center across the street)and went to my very first Zumba class in North Carolina!!! YAY! It seriously kicked my butt!! But it was so much fun! I don't know what made it so different from the classes I took back at the Y in TN. But there was some serious shaking going on in there. Maybe the women in the TN class were a little more reserved and that made it a little less exciting. However, the women in this class yesterday... boy howdy! I felt like I was in this big dance club or something. So much energy!! And it just motivates you to shake it a little harder when everyone else is shaking it so well. The cool thing is there is a playroom right off to the side where all the kids play. It isn't supervised, but there is a large window that we can look into and see how they are doing and if they need us, they can flag us down through the window. That was brilliant designing if you ask me. So, William got to have some toddler time with a whole slew of kids. It was a great thing! I'm very glad we went. I can't wait to go again next week. But I'll admit... I'm also glad I have a few days to recoup. I felt some kind of serious old after that one.

Anyway... Billy called this morning and said that during formation after PT his First Sgt asked for volunteers to do some mission in Charleston for the entire month of November. Only seven people raised their hands. Billy didn't know what was going on, so he kept his hand down. But he asked another Sgt later what that was all about. According to the Sgt, it is basically going somewhere to unload a bunch of somethings that just got back from overseas. However, from what the Sgt said, there is no extra pay... not even room and board or meals or anything. So, that's stupid. But anyway, the First Sgt got mad and said, "Only 7?? Well, we'll see about that!!" Now Billy is freaking out that he's going to get "voluntold" since he was the last one to get in the unit. He's the newest newbie. Man, I hope not. That's a month in South Carolina - during Thanksgiving. Um.... yuck. But we'll see. Who knows.

In other news, the weather has turned some kinda awesome cold!! It's gorgeous!! A bit chilly in the mornings but just super nice in the afternoons. I hope to go find a nice little park somewhere this weekend. There is some kind of lake around here (I think on post) that has a bunch of things to do. Maybe we can go spend a family day at the lake this Saturday. It would be a great little outing. Oh and did I tell you I found a bike for myself at a yard sale? Yeah! It was only $15. Billy bought me a bike very similar back years ago and then a month later I found out I was pregnant with William and got too scared to ride it. So it sat in the garage for two years and we ended up selling it at a yard sale. It's kinda like it found its way back home to me! But now we have to find William some sort of trike or big wheel. I'm on a serious mission to find him something. I'd love for all of us to go bike riding together. How much fun!!

So I hope everyone has a great weekend! We're headed to post for some groceries!!

Happy "Us" Day!!

So this one time at band camp.... I know I know I know - Shut up! But seriously, it was the first day of band camp at Middle Tennessee State University. August 1996. My friend and I were sitting on the floor of the band room and doing what girls of the age of 19 do... scope out the new Hot Guys! We had picked out a few drummers already - drummers are always cute no matter what. We had a couple trumpets we deemed worthy. And for some reason, I remember specifically this one particular tuba player with really bushy hair. We both agreed he was cute but he needed a hair cut. So that was that. We had our mental list ~ knowing we'd never act on it since that's just not what we did. LOL! But a couple days later my friends and I were going to eat lunch at the KUC. As we were sitting down, I noticed the cute tuba player with the hair sitting all by himself over in the corner. I sat down with my friends for a while and kept getting this nagging feeling to go talk to him. So, I dug up the courage to get up and I walked over to him. I told him it was unacceptable to eat alone in a college cafeteria and that he needed to come sit with me and my friends. So, he did. There was no love at first sight music or angels singing. Just like a new friend had joined our group. He was quiet and I wasn't. He seemed sweet and polite and not like other guys. He fit in well with our group. And that was kinda it. We became friends. Good friends, really. 

But see, there was another guy who was trying to get my attention at the time and I was trying to decide if I wanted to return that attention or not. So when Billy (by the way, if you haven't figured it out... Billy is the tuba player with the hair) asked for my phone number - I gave it to him. He was sweet enough, I figured. He'd call me at night and since he was so painfully shy, would just sit there and not say a word. At first, I thought he was crazy. I would ask questions and he'd answer but then go dead silent again.... for minutes at a time. We'd sit on the phone for an hour like that. I remember one night hanging up and my roommate saying to me, "I didn't even know you were on the phone; you weren't saying a word!!" LOL!!! It was so funny! (Looking back, our conversations now are not much different. I've learned that sometimes he just likes to be with someone even if he has nothing to say.)

So anyway, we carried on like this for a while. Just hanging out and getting to know each other. The other guy who was trying to get my attention was trying even harder now that Billy had started trying to get my attention as well. I had two guys interested in me at the same time. Never happened before and I have to admit I was loving the attention!! But I didn't know what to do with myself. I knew that Billy was sweet, cute and just super quiet and I knew that the other guy was out-going, hyper and never quiet. Billy says he asked me out three times and I turned him down three times. I do not remember it like that. But he says he'd never been turned down that many times by the same girl and was about to give up. I guess I was just trying to decide which fellow I liked better and couldn't. It was the goofball or the shy guy. I'm pretty sure I already knew, but just didn't know how to move on it.

Well, remember I told you about our band contest we held every year, The Contest of Champions. Well, it was the night after COC (Sunday, October 20th) that I finally made my decision. I was sitting alone in the Music Building on the blue pleather couch trying to read some English short story for a paper on symbolism. I'm sitting here underlining all the phrases that were symbolic. Well, Billy shows up and sits down beside me not saying a word, which is what I was used to at this point. He watches me read for a while and then takes the pencil out of my hand. Not saying a word, he underlines some word. I can't even remember what it was, but then he underlines another word and draws a line between the two. I hate not remembering what it was, but it was so funny we laughed so hard. I mean like snorting when you laugh so funny. And then it turned into a game. He'd underline a word and then I would and back and forth like this for quite some time. After wiping away the tears I'd shed from laughing so hard over the silly phrases we'd made, he leans over and kisses me. He melted my heart right then and there. And that, my friends, is how we became Billy and Becky.

It wasn't hard to decide after that. I remember having to tell the other boy that I was going to be with Billy now and that he and I could always be friends... blah blah blah. He was a good sport about it. And besides, I could never date a trombone player. That's just crazy!

So until we married in July three years later, October 20th was our anniversary. And since we didn't get to do anything on our wedding anniversary this year, we are going to have to celebrate on our "Us" day!! 15 years together. It's hard to believe all the bumps we've hit and all the problems we've managed to get past and still continue to be "Us." He made me laugh and then he kissed me. That's how he won my heart.  

I'm so glad he didn't give up.

 ~ oh and he got a hair cut. =)

One of my all time favorite songs - pretty much sums up how I'm feeling today

One month marker

So it was one month ago that we got to Fort Bragg. I'm finding this very hard to believe. Probably the fastest month we've had since Billy joined up back in January. Well, maybe a close second to the month before he shipped this Spring. Anyway, I've not been too bloggish lately. Just haven't had too much to say I guess. At least nothing real OMG exciting. But I do have a few random bits of information that I guess I could share.
Um... let's see.... Oh Ok...

Allison has decided to put her basketball and jersey down in exchange for a short skirt and pom poms. When did she turn into a little girly girl?? I should have known she would eventually switch over to the pink side, but there is a small part of my secret heart that is kinda sad about it. When she played ball this spring, I just knew she was going to get a full athletic scholarship to the college of her choice one day. A mother can dream, right? But, yeah... the area we live in is starting it's own league and when I asked the girls if they wanted to do basketball or cheer, they both enthusiastically said CHEER!! I knew Emma would cheer. That was never a question. She just looks like a cheerleader. But I always thought Allison looked like an athlete, so what do I know? (And yes, I know cheering is considered athletic - but that's not what I mean) And of course, none of this matters, because when they get into middle school they are both going to be in band so there. Again, a mother can dream, right?

Speaking of band... this weekend back in Murfreesboro, TN (where Billy and I met at school) they are having the 50th annual Contest of Champions (a huge band contest). I have only missed one contest in 20 years. And that was for my brother's wedding back in 1999. I am just really super sad about not getting to go this year. I mean like, tears and moping kinda sad. There was just something about working that contest every year that I just really loved. We're going to have to find something really distracting to do this weekend so that I won't be thinking about it. It's kinda like knowing you're going to miss a big party while all your friends get to go and you don't. Just sad. Moving on.

Billy's on detail this week. Neither one of us really understands what this means. But from what he said, when he's on detail he actually works. Apparently doing odd and end things. Like yesterday they put up a tent and took it back down. They just wanted to see if all the pieces were there. He actually likes it because he is doing something. Otherwise, they sit around and stare at each other back at his company. This is a bit of a problem. Billy's never been one to sit around (except at home oddly enough) and for them to just never have anything to do is killing him. But now that he's on detail, he likes it. At least he did yesterday.

William is super cute. There is a tiny little wooden bridge that goes over a drainage ditch on the way up to the school. It's actually kinda cute. But the past few days we have crossed it, he'll run up to it and hide behind it. When someone walks past, he jumps out and growls, "I'm the grumpy old troll!!!" He just loves to do it. And people just laugh.

Emma has been wearing her old t-shirts from school back home the past few days. I'm not sure if she is doing this because she misses Tennessee, but it's just something I noticed. Of course, she's doing super well with all her thousand friends. And we're getting a grip on this homework mess. There's just so much of it. It's even overwhelming for me. And I think one thing that bothers me is that the other 5th grade classes don't have as much as she does. So, I have to sit here and wonder if this isn't a good thing for her. I hope so.

I've got a few errands to run today (Fluffy to the vet, sign up kids for cheering, get a library card, etc...) So, I'll be off now.

Fittin' In

Emma came to me last night and had to ask me a question for a Health assignment. "Is there ever a time in your life that you didn't feel like you fit in?" I didn't have to think long. I have always seemed to kinda mesh well with the people around me. If I had to change schools (which I did a few times growing up), I always had some sort of common bond like band or church. And we band geeks know how to make each other feel like family. But moving out here... well... this has been a weird experience for me. I do not know anyone. Do you know how weird it is to go to the grocery store and not have to worry about running into someone you might know? I could wear my pajamas and curlers in my hair if I wanted to. Or put some zit cream on my face. I even feel odd when all these forms from the school come home and need an emergency contact and the only other person I know is Billy. I really kinda feel like I should have a lot in common with the other wives out here - and maybe I do and just haven't gotten to know anyone well enough to confirm it, but standing here I have never felt so out of place in my life. I keep expecting the welcome wagon to show up and install my BFF. But they never came. And I'm not alone in this. Billy feels the same way. He's got one  other fellow there at his company that is close to his age and they seem to get along well, but he's getting out in three months. All the rest of the guys there are kids. So, it's just weird for us both. Neither one of us will put ourselves way out there in order to get noticed. We both like to kinda lurk on the sidelines until someone approaches us. (which sweetly enough is how Billy and I met - but I'll save that story for another day).
Anyway.... I answered Emma and let her know that I guess I feel weird because all the women my age out here have been in the military for many years. I'm a newbie through and through and it's just odd for me to be starting life over (in a way) at this age. What makes it even harder is that I just don't have anyone here who I can talk to about all this Army stuff. My prayer lately is that God will put people in our lives that will make this experience a little less uncomfortable. I know our prayers will be answered in time. I don't think He put us here to watch us struggle. And when we find a church, I know that there will some relief there as well. But for now, I'm just trying to let everyone get adjusted to this place. Patience is important. Patience and Faith. Faith is crucial.

50 Mile Bubble

Alright. I'm a very patient person. Sometimes. And I'm sorry for continuing to fuss. But GOOD GRIEF! We live about 2 hours from the beach and about 3 hours from the mountains. I'm a big believer in hopping in the car and taking off on a Sunday drive to go do some sight seeing. Maybe find a little State Park where we can all do a bit of hiking and take some pictures. Especially this time of year. I would love to drive out to the mountains and get some pics. How. Ever. Billy's confined to a 50 mile radius while on duty - which apparently means all the time. In order for Billy to go outside of this invisible 50 mile Army Bubble, he has to get permission from his command. So last night he gets the papers to fill out for a potential upcoming road trip and you would think he was applying for the adoption of a third world baby. (I have a friend who adopted such a baby and I know all the paper work and hoops she had to climb through and I'm not belittling her experience in the least. It was a very lengthy process that required a lot of patience and I admire her dedication to the task.) Hence... he had to take this online Personal Owned Vehicle Risk Assessment Test in order to submit his other 12 documents of paperwork. "Do you plan on wearing your seat belt?" "Do you plan on consuming alcoholic beverages while driving?" "Do you plan on making rest stops?" "How often do you plan on making rest stops?" "How many hours of sleep will you get prior to making your trip?" "What kind of vehicle will you be driving?" "Will you listen to the radio in your vehicle?" "How about making conversation with your wife?" "Do you like to chew gum when you drive?" OK... well the last three I made up... but they have to be kidding, right? He has to answer all these questions and then this online system rates the risk level of the trip outside the 50 mile Army Bubble. As if he would answer, "Yes, I plan on getting blasted drunk and then driving down the interstate with my whole family in the car just to see how far I can go without getting pulled over." High Risk - yes. It just seems ridiculous. Really. Just another thing I've got to contend with.
So here's my question... there are 60-some thousand soldiers at Fort Bragg. Do you mean to tell me that not one of these soldiers ever leaves the Army Bubble without getting permission first? Oh I'm sure they do. I mean, how can anyone have any fun? If we want to take a day trip to the beach, do we really have to ask permission 14 days in advance? I'm really hoping we do not understand this rule completely and there is some sort of discretionary policy that allows soldiers to go out on their days off. But who knows. A couple weekends ago (before Billy got in the unit) everyone from Billy's unit got called in for a formation in the middle of the night because there was a soldier who got in trouble with hitting his wife or something. If we'd been at the beach, how would we have made it back for his formation? I'm going to try and get some answers on this. Otherwise, I'm going to feel like a prisoner.
Oh and our little baby giant is back. Much louder thumps and more often. Apparently the marines are in town for some training so we had to get out the big guns.

On the hunt

So, yesterday I decided I would take the kids to get their Halloween costumes. This is always a drama and wears us out completely - so Billy stayed home and let me go it alone. But that's OK. I'll get him back. One day.
Allison, as always, was super easy cheese. She knew exactly what she wanted and after walking up two or three aisles, came back with a $10 black dress for her glitter witch costume. Done.
Poor Emma was not as easy. She knew what she wanted, but unfortunately it was not something I would allow. I'm sorry. But for children's costumes to be so "sophisticated" blows my mind!!! I know she doesn't want to look ghoulish or childish. I understand. She wanted to be an Angel, but the only angel costume we found in her size could have been for a three year old. Now we did find another Angel costume that I promise you would never make it past the Pearly Gates into Heaven. Ever. So after a couple stores and a long painful hunt, we settled on a Genie costume. It really is adorable. Yes, it shows her belly, but at least it wasn't some mini-skirt, booty shorts, or strapless bikini top like we were seeing for her size.
Now... William was a whole other story. Right now he is on a Mulan kick. He loves the movie Mulan. More appropriately, he loves Mushu the little red dragon played by Eddie Murphy in Mulan. Well, here we are hunting out Emma's costume and he sees a little red devil costume and had a fit for it! "Mushu!! I want to be Mushu!!!" Now, the girls were having a cow. "Mom, you never let us dress like the devil. You can't let him be a devil." So, we started pointing out all the other more awesome costumes like Bumblebee from Transformers, or Woody, or a Pirate, or some weird one eyed monster from Yo Gabba Gabba. NOPE!! NADA!! NOTHING was better than Mushu the devil looking dragon. All the while he is chanting, "I love Mushu! I want to be Mushu! Mushu is awesome!" So I caved. I tried it on him and sent a picture back to Billy. He said, "He looks like a devil." UGH! By this point, I'm worn completely down to the nub and can't make any more decisions. William absolutely loves his Mushu costume. He has no idea he is a devil. He completely thinks he is a little red dragon and refuses to take the thing off. So I'm done. I let him have it. He's completely adorable no matter what he dresses as. But I can just see myself now walking around on Halloween explaining, "he's a dragon." "he's a dragon." "He's a Dragon!" I need to make him a sign, "I'm a dragon" Better yet, I'm going to let Billy walk around with him - that'll teach him to stay home while I take on the costume shopping myself.

I'll let you decide. Does he look like Mushu or Beelzebub?

(maybe I'll get him a yellow belly and whiskers)

The Code

Behind our house we have a nice little patch of woods. Nothing like we had in TN, but still actually really cool. Lots of sand and a few trees and bushes. Just enough nature to create a magical world of pretend for the kids. I haven't seen my kids in about three days because they have been building their village in the woods. It's really funny. I can't really see them, but I can hear them. I'll sit out on the back porch (which by the way... the weather has been glorious the past week!!) and just listen to the kids play. It started out with just Allison and her friend. Then it grew into about three kids. And then six kids. And then there was about ten children from all over the neighborhood hanging out in our backyard. They were all super busy getting their 'houses' made and they even had it separated into the girls side and the boys side. That's when the language started. Their secret code language. I doubt they would appreciate it if I divulged such classified secrets to the general public. But I got so tickled... I can't help but share. If a kid yells out Code One - this means "meeting" and the group must stop what they are doing and congregate around the big sand pit in the clearing. This is where the President of the club would make announcements and give orders of various things. Oh yes... they are organized. They have a president and first and second vice president. Anyway, back to the code. Code two I forget. Code three is "stranger" and someone would shout this if some other kid tried to come into the woods. Then you can imagine a bunch of little "lord of the flies" warrior cries and Lord bless the child who tried to enter into the secret woods because he was about to be hammered with questions from the group president. Normally, this would only lead to the child becoming a member and then the group would have to start teaching all the codes to this new kid. I really can't remember all of the codes, but there were at least 12 of them. I knew the two important ones "code three is 'stranger' and code six is 'someone is hurt'" But hearing these kids repeat these codes every few minutes was hilarious. It is stuff like, "code four is someone is leaving" "code eleven is put your bike in the grass outside" "code eight is a storm is coming" "code nine is the storm is gone." And then imagine the new kid trying to remember all these codes. The kids barely spoke to each other unless they were speaking in code. So most of the time you hear, "Code Seven Everyone!! Code Seven!!!" To which you would hear two other kids say, "What is code seven again??" This would lead to two different answers at the same time and then the group would have to stop what they were doing in order to have a Code One meeting where the President would once again go over all the codes for the group. HILARIOUS! I know a couple businesses that run like that. My cell phone company to be exact.

Anyway... the one bad thing about the Secret Coded Woods is that we are pretty sure there is some poison ivy or poison oak out there. So, now Allison's face, neck and chest are now covered in a bright red grody rash. I hate it for her. It's not like we can cover it with a shirt or something. It's on her face. Big time. Boo.

And just so you know... I made it to the Commissary today and only had to turn around one time. Yay!!!

Officially not a fan

Billy's schedule sucks. There is just no other way to put it. I'm not sure why because it is really no different from what he was doing in construction - waking up at 4 am and never really sure when he would be coming home. And I know that no one ever said that this would be a 9 to 5'er. But grrr! Wake up at 4. Leave by 5. PT from 6:30-7:30. Come home and shower. Be back in formation at 9. And then who knows from there. Like today for example... He rushes out the door to get there and do an 8 mile march (with a 35 pound pack on his back). He races home to take a ten second shower and change into his uniform so he can make it back to formation only to be told to go home and come back in three hours. BLAH! And then Monday night he ended up not getting home until after 6:30 because it took him an hour to get home (normally a 15 minute drive) because Fort Bragg traffic was insane.
So why am I complaining when I knew this was going to be a completely non-typical work life? I have no idea. I just felt like fussing and so I did! Now I feel better and can move on. Therefore, MOVING ON!
But now that we kinda know more... things are going well. He didn't know what squad or platoon he was in until yesterday. So if he had a question he didn't know who he was supposed to ask. And since this is his first week and he was a bit lost... he had a lot of questions and was super frustrated. But now he has a platoon and squad so he feels like he at least belongs somewhere. His Team Leader told him he reminded her of CID. (NO, I didn't know what CID meant. Billy had to tell me that it is the Army's version of NCIS. CID = Criminal Investigation Division) So, now he has a nickname. CID. LOL! It could be a really bad nickname like Old Man or Booger or something. I think he likes his nickname. HAHA!!
(Insert about five hours of a time lapse here)
So, I just got back from taking Emma to get her "shots" at the doctor. It was a bit of a mess there for a while. Apparently TN likes to kinda sorta go by the guidelines and NC feels some things should be mandatory - in regards to youth immunizations. Long story short... we had to get Emma a couple pokes in the butt and now Allison will have to go get some pokes in the butt, too. Blah. Oh well... at least now we know where the doctor is. I didn't go on post for this. Probably could have, but the nurse at the clinic said that she would avoid post for stuff like this. So, I guess we did alright. Anyway, Emma has two very sore hips this morning and decided she needed to take a small pillow to school to sit on. I let her. I'm choosing my battles.
And I take it all back from earlier. Yeah, Billy's schedule is unpredictable and a bit ridiculous, but he reports back in for his "after lunch" formation and they told everyone to go home. So, I guess that's ok. I don't think this is normal though. They are about to go through a change in command, so there is a lot of "stuff" going on with the important people. I guess the lowly soldiers are just in the way so they make them show their faces and then shoo them off again.
Speaking of showing your face... listen to this. Billy's good friend who has been with him since Basic, all the way through AIT and is now with him in his unit at Bragg, got to work the other morning. He pulled into the parking lot and didn't see anyone so he thought he was too early. So, he sits in his car for a few minutes and when no one else shows up decides to go on inside. He walks in the door one minute after 6 am and his Sgt comes down on him hard for being late. So now the poor guy loses his four day weekend. From Thursday at midnight until Tuesday at 6 am he has to report in every hour on the hour. Every. Single. Hour. That is nuts!! Seriously nuts!!!! I really hate it for the fellow, too. But at least he lives in the Barracks right inside the company so he won't have to go far. But still. Suck. Therefore, I will never complain about my husband for ever being too early. It used to drive me insane how he would leave two hours early for something only to sit there and wait for an hour and a half. But I will never complain about it again. Maybe this is why he likes the Army so much. He fits in well with the rules. He finally found a bunch of other people who like to be ridiculously early, too.
Yet one more reason why I would never make it in the military. I spend my day herding turtles.

I fell into a burning ring of fire ants

So I found out some super gross (and completely unverified) information today. Apparently, this nice beautiful neighborhood sits upon some land that once occupied a nice grody landfill. Yup! We live on top of nasty. So according to this rumor, Fort Bragg bought the land from Oscar and his crew, cleared it out and built some fancy military houses on it. Well they got rid of the trash, but left the soil alone. So, we have about a gazillion flies. And I'm not talking about your normal everyday house fly. I'm talking about a seriously advanced and super intelligent species of pest. These things can completely disappear under attack. I'm not kidding. I will walk around with a fly swatter and zone in on one, but the minute I raise my weapon, the freak evaporates. Gone. Poof. Not only that, but if you actually do manage to hit one down, the thing knows how to play dead. It falls to the ground and in the time it takes me to go get the broom and return, it is gone. So, either he comes back to life and flies away, his cloak of invisibility kicks in, or his other comrades come to take him away in some sort of "no fly left behind" kind of mutant fly core value. I don't know. But these flies drive me bonkers!! Which brings me to my next horribly gross story. Maggots. Where there are flies, there are maggots. So the trash can outside... Well I'm not going to gross anyone out any worse than I have already... But let's just say that I spent a good portion of my morning bleaching out the driveway and the garbage can. NASTY!!!! And during my struggle with the water hose, I stepped into an ant hill and the little buttheads attacked my toe!!! I think they are allies to the mutant flies because now my toe is hot pink and really stinkin hurts!!!!
So, we'll be getting a visit from the bug man very soon. Oh I promise you that!
Despite the bugs and fire ants... things are going well this weekend. I got out some festive decorations, but since we have about twice as much house - I realize that my lack of sufficient Fall Decor is going to be an issue to my mental state. I've got to find a Big Lots. And soon!

I want this shirt!!!