The Reunion

Well, we made it to Old Man's reunion. And it was definitely interesting. I was trying to figure out how to tell about it and really haven't come up with something creative, so I'll just tell things chronologically.

We left Friday around noon. Got stuck in traffic, of course. Poor Old Man - he drives this awful route to work - 55 miles one way around DC - and hates it with a passion. Nothing like starting out a vacation with your most hated commute!! We arrived at the hotel around 5. The first event was a dinner at a country club. Just my thing! :-) The whole weekend we heard, "Is this your first baby?" "Nope, our fifth." "Oh! God Bless You." WHAT is up with that response? Almost everyone said that. One person I know was introducing me to another lady and told her that I was expecting my fifth and I homeschool, "She's a superhero mom." Really? Don't you want to BE like a superhero? If that's the case you all better start getting busy having more babies, quit your job and start homeschooling your kids. I think what she meant to say was, "This woman is NUTS!"

Highlights???, maybe memorable events is a better explanation, from Friday night - sitting across the table from a woman with a new set of head lights and watching her n*pple pop out of her dress; having a woman argue with me that my eye color cannot be hazel, they are blue; listening to the guys tell hilarious stories from college.

Saturday we had pictures at the college at 9:30 and then wandered around there. Nap at the hotel and then Old Man and I - just the two of us, NICE - went into town and walked around. We ate a late lunch in an empty restaurant while it poured rain - very very nice. We even got to wander around an antique mall, something we used to love to do but have given up since we have all these people with us who love to touch things. That evening we had a barbecue at a picnic pavilion. Again, just my thing - hamburgers, hot dogs, iceberg lettuce salad, etc. Oh, another night to watch 40+ year old men get smashing drunk. It poured rain, so we were thankful for such a large pavilion, but it was extremely loud under there! After the picnic, Old Man and I went to a restaurant so I could eat something before trying to sleep!

Memorable events - watching 40+ year old men (and some women) do a beer bong. Really? A beer bong. Nice to know that our leaders in the military can still be soooo stinking stupid. At what point do we grow up? Explain this to me. Chainsaw and Ranee, you're on the spot here - I have a feeling you've seen more of this than I have (please don't tell me you've participated, I don't want to know, it will lower my opinion of you greatly - unless you were 20 at the time).

The big highlight of Sunday was getting a phone call at 7:45 from my neighbor (you know something is wrong when your neighbor calls you and you're out of town). She puts Dawn on the phone and Dawn tells me that Grandma has thrown up all night and can't walk. Fortunately those neighbors are wonderful and willingly took my 4 kids and my niece to their house for the morning. They played Wii and watched a movie and did crafts. We, obviously, left the hotel rather quickly so were home by noon.

Back to reality! :-) And trust me, this has been a Monday. Tired Mommy, tired kids, recuperating Grandma. Grumpy, irritated people running all over my house. Did I mention it's raining and I can't kick anyone outside? And Old Man will be home late? And we still don't have the stinking waiver in hand?

Patience, trust, joy - all lacking here today.

It's a GIRL!

We had the 20 week ultrasound yesterday and it is confirmed - we're having a girl. Everyone is happy, although I am surprised at how excited our 7 year old, Anne, is about this. We went to a museum yesterday and while there, I took a picture and said, "say cheese". Anne yells out, "NO, say It's a girl!" She is obviously thrilled.

Old Man and I are off to his college reunion today. You can pray for us. I'm happy to get away with him, but not excited about his college reunion. Nothing like attending a 20 year college reunion with your very pregnant wife. Others there have kids in college! The comments have already started via e-mail.

Update

I know, I know, you are all dying to hear what is happening about us moving to Colorado! Well, frankly, so am I. I will tell you that we are only one signature away from the waiver being completely signed. Once that is signed, I am told that we will be moving for sure. Of course, since this is the Air Force, one can never be too sure of anything. I will feel much better when orders are in hand and a move date is locked in. And even better when this house is sold and another purchased in Colorado! :-)

While I Was Sleeping ...

This actually happened a couple of weeks ago. I went upstairs to take a nap. When I came down, Dawn handed me the camera and said, "You've got to see this!" Apparently the girls decided to turn Joseph into a rocker. He happily complied.



At some point, the girls decided to put a "tattoo" on him. It's just stickers and a piece of paper taped to his chest. Note the stickers on his ears too!!


They also did his hair!

Can you believe that these kids have never seen MTV or a music video? I'm not kidding! Dawn has watched a bit of American Idol, but truly, very little. How do they come up with these ideas???

I am Alive

I keep waiting for BIG news about the waiver before I post. Not happening, apparently. (Of course, as soon as I post this, Old Man will call me with the news.) We are still trying to patiently wait to find out if we are going to Colorado or not. Some days are easier than others!

Dawn, our oldest, and I had a nasty stomach virus last week. I haven't been that sick in years. I rarely throw up. Seriously, pregnant now for the 7th time and I haven't thrown up since pregnancy #3 (Anne). Just to make some of you gals jealous! :-) Old Man actually had to stay home from work on Friday because I could not get out of bed. I tried, almost blacked out, went right back to bed. I'm hoping I can start eating normally today.

I have had some huge thoughts and questions about church to throw out here, but can't think that well yet this morning. Most of you know, or can guess, that we have had some big struggles with the "church" lately. (Last few years!) I'm sad to say that they aren't getting any better. I will try to come up with a coherent post about it later this week.

I'm 18 weeks pregnant. Feel the baby tons. Old Man has actually been able to feel the baby kick as well. Active little thing. We are praying for a little bit of a calmer child, a little more compliant than, say, our 2nd and 4th. :-) David is giving me a run for my money these days. He woke up yesterday morning at 6:15 and had been disciplined 3 times by 6:30!!! I've actually started just putting him in his crib, shutting the door and leaving him in there for long periods of time. For his sake and mine! :-)

How are all of you? I've been hearing more from some of you since this blog, but I'm guessing there are still a couple people who read but don't comment - or send an e-mail - or call. I want this blog to be a conversation - that means I say something and you reply! :-)

Waiting on a Waiver

Last week (Monday, I think, maybe Tuesday morning), Old Man submitted a waiver for us to move this summer. The deal is, he has a "4 year controlled tour" in his current job. He will have been in the job 3 years this summer. That means he has to get approval to move prior to his 4 years are done. He said it would be no big deal, should be signed in a day or two. Well, as you can see, it's been a tad more then that. He finally heard something about it today though! Turns out that last week, the general, who has to sign this thing, her "staff" was out of town. (I know that is a horrid sentence, go ahead and correct it if you need to.) Apparently if her staff is out of town, she doesn't get things like waivers to sign. This week, her staff is in town, she is out of town. Returns on Friday. What are the odds we will know anything before next week? I'm thinking slim to none.

Why does this matter? I mean, seriously, we aren't moving until July, if we move at all. How many of you are aware of the current slow down on house sales? Yes, we need to put our house on the market May 1 if we are moving in July. Let's look at the calendar folks - that is in 3 and a half weeks from today. Yikes! We only need to do some painting, replace lights, throw out a ton of junk, basically act like a family of 6 doesn't live in this house 24 hours a day. Hee hee, this should be fun. As of today, we are acting as if we are moving. That way, if we don't, we will have painted, put in new lighting and thrown out a bunch of stuff - all good things even if you aren't moving!

On a completely unrelated topic, David, our youngest, has put himself in the corner twice this morning. Which we all find hilarious. The first time, his sister, Anne, was the one in trouble. She was sent to sit in a chair for not giving him something she was told to give to him. Next thing we know, he had his nose in the corner. I went with it. "David, are you ready to say sorry to Anne?" "No." "Ok, then put your nose back in the corner." He finally went over to her, said sorry and gave her a hug. I did point out to her that he was giving her a very good example at this point. She was being stubborn and refused to walk over and apologize to him. :-) The second time, he hit Joseph over the head with something. He immediately walked over, put his nose in the corner and said, "I in the corner." We all started laughing.

It is Definitely a Monday

I am so completely unmotivated today to do anything, except take a long nap. I'm not even sure I have anything profound to say here. I just realized I hadn't written in a week and thought I should say something. Something. There I said it. :-)

We were actually out of town this past weekend. Our oldest, Dawn, had a gymnastics meet near Ocean City, Maryland on Sunday. We decided to finally take a trip down to that area and go hike around Assateague. I am amazed at how many people say, "Huh, Assateague???" (Even people who live in Maryland.) Then I say, "You know, Chincoteague and Assateague?" Same response, "What?" HELLO people - have you heard of the book Misty of Chincoteague? Come on, seriously. The wild horses on an island ... Oh, not everyone was a complete horse fanatic growing up and encourages that sort of thing in their children. So, if you are still lost and don't know anything about these places - look them up. (Side note - anyone know how to underline on here???)

Last week we had to give away a beloved pet. For my daughter Dawn's 5th birthday, she wanted a pet. I'm thinking something furry and cute, she and Old Man go out and purchase a lizard. A Bearded Dragon lizard. They get BIG and you can hold them and they eat live crickets. Oh, fun. So for the past 5 years, she has attempted to be a good lizard pet owner. Unfortunately, when your mother wants nothing to do with it (never touched it - could not find a good reason to) and your father isn't home much, you are left to figuring this out with little help. Somehow, Beardy (full name - Beardy Jumpy Cricket) managed to live with us for 5 whole years. I expected him to drop dead in a few months. Well, the last month he started to look very sickly. With the potential for a move looming, Dawn decided that giving him to a friend who will love him and pet him and feed him lots and carry him around (gag) was the kindest thing to do. Truthfully, she hasn't even been that sad. I haven't been able to muster up even a smidgen of sadness. I'm not elated, but not sad. Don't miss the darn thing at all. We made a very good choice though. My friend called and said that Beardy ate 34 meal worms yesterday and is eating shredded carrots too. Darn lizard hated to eat vegetables for us - he liked live crickets most. We tried meal worms too, but he preferred crickets at my house. Guess he just needed more affection. Now we are down to a fish and a cat. Anyone want a fish? :-)

Well, I suppose I ought to get back to life here. We still have a bit of school work to complete and then Dawn wants to visit Beardy. I think I need a cup of coffee.

**Did I mention that Dawn saw iguanas at the pet store the other day. She was begging "they're only $20!" My response, "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO - not on your life - NO. Don't you want a pony?"