1. My “wife” and her daughter, KT, have been visiting for the last week or so.  Yesterday, they decided to stay until Saturday.  We are really excited about it.  The story behind why Alie is my wife is that back in 2003 she lived with me during the boy’s first deployment.  Her husband was deployed as well, and it just worked out.  She is a lot like the boy, and we get along really well.  When the boy got back from his deployment, her husband was still gone, unfortunately.  So, Alie would come with us to different events and the boy would always introduce us as “This is my wife, Sandy, and her wife, Alie.”  It just stuck.
2. I have been completely loving having KT around.  She is eleven months old and hilarious.  Video proof of what I am saying can be found here.
3. Alie has an incredibly funny sense of humor.  She found a link to this article the other day, and we have been laughing about it all week.  I am not sure exactly why we thought it was so funny, but I think it had something to do with this video of this woman’s appearance on Ellen.  Ever since watching the video, we have been thinking of all the things that you wouldn’t be able to do with nails that long.  Like, how would you pick your nose?
4. I am in love with this new line from Robert Kaufman found on Etsy.  I am thinking I should just get some!  Alie has gotten me into a creating mood because she keeps saying “You know what I would really like you to make for me…”  I told her we just need to start a list.
5. I am getting anxious to find out more about where we are going to be for our next move.  I know that all our family and friends are eager to find out as well.  We are just keeping our fingers crossed that we end up somewhere fun, and I am trying to be patient.  It isn’t really working though.
6. The kittens are crazy.  We have started calling them Thing 1 and Thing 2.  It fits more perfectly than I could ever explain.
7. I am getting excited about finally sharing all the Christmas presents (or at least the ones that are done…shhhh…I didn’t actually say that).  I got a big group of them mailed out last week before Alie got here.  They are wicked cute, and I will post the pictures here just as soon as I download them out of the camera.

I will be back more regularly sometime soon!

1. I am a total perfectionist.  I love to make handmade gifts, but I am always worried that people won’t like them, and I keep almost nothing I make.
2. I am incredibly sensitive and prone to self-doubt.  Negative things that people say always cause problems and make me second guess myself.  This makes things like teacher evaluations a problem at times. This is definitely something that I am trying to get better about, particularly with regards to student comments.
3. I am an awful nurse.  I don’t know if it is because my dad died when I was a teenager and I get scared when people are sick or what.  I haven’t figured out what that is all about yet.
4. I try not to eat any “fake” sweeteners anymore.  About two years ago, I gave up everything with aspartame, etc.  And, I was a big diet coke drinker.  I am trying to stick with water, but that does get a little boring sometimes.
5. I am a planner.  I map everything out in my head when I am getting ready for a big change.  Therefore, I am getting really excited about moving to our next duty station, but I am anxious to get our house on the market and find out where we are going!
6. I am a pack rat.  I save little bits of things that I think would be fun to work with.  And, I am constantly trying to figure out how I could organize them, so I could keep them all.
7. I can’t spell to save my life.  Spell check is a huge help, but sometimes I only use words that I am sure are spelled correctly.
8. I love hooded shirts/sweatshirts more than is natural.  I am drawn to them.  I am also drawn to white shirts of all varieties, particularly t-shirts.
9. I haven’t been reading as much lately, and I miss it.
10. I would love to have more time to craft.  Actually, this should read that I would love to quit my job and craft all day.  Haven’t figured out the way to make that work yet.
11. During 2008, the boy and I got out of debt!  We lived on half off what we made to make it happen and no longer use credit cards, and now we are saving up for a new house if we get back to Northern VA.  Everyone said how wonderful it would feel, but really, I was terrified when I paid off that last bill.  And, now I am more scared to spend money than ever.  It is so weird.
12. I hide my face behind my hands during scary parts in movies and tv shows.
13. I still have Christmas presents to complete and send!  They are going to be beautiful though, see #1.
14. I wear all my emotions on my sleeve, which makes #2 hard.
15. I have a shoe addiction.  At one point, I had 15 pairs of Birkenstocks, but I think that I have weeded that down…a little.  I also love Keens and Chacos’s flip flops.
16. I love to be around people and am completely an extrovert, but I hate to talk on the phone (my mom will see this and think that I just talked myself out when I was in high school) and am actually very shy in certain situations, like being in new places or around new people.  I am also like a golden retriever in that I am a fiercely loyal friend and super demanding once I decide that you are someone I want to be around.

Consider yourself tagged!  I would love to know more about you, so link back here if you decide to play along!

Well, I had everything all planned out, and then I saw this Andover line from Elizabeth House, and it ruined all my original plans.  It is called Lizzy House, and I love it!  And, it was perfect for my placemat idea.  Problem was that it didn’t come out until recently, and these placemats were supposed to be holiday presents.

So, I procrastinated, and I tried to find something else that would work.  And, then I procrastinated some more.  And, by the time I was done procrastinating, I found it on Etsy!  So, a whole yard of this beautiful stuff is on its way to me, and I will finally be able to finish those placemats!  I can’t wait to share how they turn out!

Art by Tanya Davis

I wondered what would be the worth of my words in the world
if i write them and then recite them are they worth being heard
just because i like them does that mean i should mic them
and see what might unfurl

i think of the significance of my opinions here
is it significant to be giving them does anybody care
just because i’m into this does that mean i should live like it
and really do i dare

art, art i want you
art you make it pretty hard not too
and my heart is trying hard here to follow you
but i can’t always tell if i ought to

so i pondered the point of my art in this life
if i make it will someone take it and think it’s genuine
will they be glad that i did ’cause they got something good out of it
will they leave me and be any more inspired

i question the outcome of the outpouring of myself
if i tell everyone my stories will this keep me healthy and well
will it give me purpose, to this world some sort of service
is it worth it, how can i tell

art, art…

A few hours got sucked into the conversation that the boy and I have been having the most lately.  Where do you want to live?  How much house do you think we should aim for the next place we go?  How much can we afford?  Should we look at this as a home or could it be an investment too?  How can we align what we want in our next house (which is coming up in a post I started this morning that started this whole round of deliberations) with our ideas about being as kind to the environment as possible?  Does that mean we buy new and look for the right builder or buy an existing property and make the necessary changes?  So many things to determine.

I did get the grocery shopping done for the BGF’s birthday dinner this Sunday and the next week, but beyond that, I have just been flitting around all day…working on tasks, but never really completing any one thing.

And, this afternoon was sucked up with other concerns as well.

What I should be doing is grading.  I have a good plan to get everything done before this weekend, so I can spend some time doing what I want, rather than what I have to do. And, what I would really like to be doing is sewing, trying to get some work done on the Christmas presents.  The list is long and a little daunting, and it doesn’t help that I keep getting more and more ideas.  There are some wicked smart people out there in blogland doing some uber-crafty, awesome things.  And, I would love to have the time to create the house I have in my head.

The problem with that is that the house in my head doesn’t have animal hair on all the beautiful stuff I have had the time to create, so we know that it isn’t really a reality possible for our crew!  But, I am determined to at least decorate this year!  Last year, the only thing that would give you any idea that it was Christmas was the wreath in our front foyer.  That is going to change this year.  Baby steps.

But, in order for it to change, I need to find some time to clean and organize and get a little crafty.  So, tomorrow I am going into school with the boy at 5:00am.  He has to help the ROTC kids with a PT test, and I am going to grade while the building is deserted and quiet.  I am hopeful that it will be a glorious few hours to get things done!

As a child, I would often try to wake her up, thinking that she would be more comfortable in her bed than on the couch.  But, the moment you turned the TV off or tried to rouse her in anyway, she would tell you that she was watching that and to just leave her alone.  This is the way it is, and it is her thing, so as an adult, I have realized that she is happiest if you just leave her where she is.

One problem with this affliction is occasionally when you wake up to go to bed, you find that you then can’t sleep!  That would be the boat I am in tonight! (Please excuse all misspellings and typos!)

Another problem with this tendency is that apparently it is genetic.  From my observations, all my mother’s children regularly fall asleep on the couch and are quite happy staying there.  I am one of the afflicted.  And, I think that would end up on the couch at three in the morning often if it weren’t for the boy insisting on going to bed.

He will let me sleep for a while every night.  Then, he quietly closes up the house, turns all the lights off, and turns down my side of the bed.  After he does all this, he comes in a wakes me up.  How nicely often depends on how tired he is, but he really is a wonderful man.

A few nights ago, this was the scene on our couch.

As I have mentioned already, the new baby, when he isn’t tearing ass through the house, is quite cuddly.  He is particularly keen on showing you how much he loves you between three and six in the morning when he tries to bite your nose and lick you lips. But, if there is anything that is kryptonite to couch sleepers, it is warm, fuzzy animals.

When I found these on the camera, my first inclination, of course, was to delete them.  I am notorious for deleting pictures of myself that others have taken.  This is another of my idiosyncrasies that the boy will put up with.  However, when I found theses pictures, the first thing he said was don’t delete them, very seriously.  Since, this is not a request he makes very often, I obliged.

But, it did make me think a little about why he wanted to keep them.  It may be because it is a cute picture of the new baby, but it also might that his nightly chore of putting his wife to bed has become part of his routine too.  And, he may want to capture that in some way.  So, despite the fact it isn’t the greatest picture, I thought that I would share it here and say thanks to my husband for being so wonderful!  He may stop a whole new generation of couch sleepers some day!

“I have an addiction, Sir!”

Name that quote.  These are the first addiction that I thought I would share with you.

If you happen to see these in the grocery store, run the other direction!  They are the most evil chips I have ever eaten.  I am normally not a straight potato chip girl.  But, these are the only chips that I could literally eat the whole bag and not think anything of it (and, of course that is just hypothetical).

They are made by Boulder Canyon, a subsidiary of the same company that owns Burger King.  I was completely shocked to find that out!  But, nevertheless, I can’t get enough of them.  And, it only makes me feel slightly better that they are sold in the organic section of our grocery store.

My second addiction is the newest addition to our little family.

Would you get a load of him?  He is so cute and the most cuddly cat I have ever met.  And, the Curmudgeon is slowly conceding.  He is still a stinky kitten, but we are having lots of fun with him.  And, I can’t get over the fact that yet again we chose an animal that matches the furniture.

It was always my Mom’s tradition to take pictures of us on the first day.  And, last year, when the boy went back to school, I started the tradition in our house as well, seen below.  You can see from the photo that he was still just getting used to being a student and out of the Army-life.

This year, he is obviously a little more comfortable with the freedom going to school allows him.  However, he was no more thrilled with the prospect of the picture.  That is a look I often get from the boy.

And, I thought that I would also get one of the two of us this year!  The quality of the picture isn’t great, but I think the picture is pretty much awesome!

So, this was our first day of school this year!  And, it was our last one in Manhattan, both a little sad and exciting all at the same time.

When I got inside, I saw that I had received a package from my best friend (aka my wife), pictured below with her brand new addition, who has already been featured here!

Well, she did it again!  The package was full of wonderful tidbits.  She sent me a bag I had eyed in Amsterdam.  It is totally touristy, and I could never use it in Europe, but here it will be fun and quirky.  And, she sent me a necklace from a store we had loved in Paris.  Basically, as she traveled back through some of these areas, she just picked up all the little things I had regretted not bringing home with me.  The necklace is beautiful!  It is completely me, and I couldn’t be happier with it!  And, last, but not least, she sent me a ton of knit fabric that I can play with without stress.  Everything in the box so clearly illustrated how well she knows me.

Being a military wife, I have heard all the stories about how hard it is to maintain friendships when families move overseas.  But, while she has been living in Europe these last few years, she has taken the time and made the effort to stay in touch despite that it hasn’t been easy and isn’t in her typical nature to do so.  I can’t wait until we live on the same continent again! I have missed her.

There are little moments everyday that I think of her.  And, I am not very good at explaining how grateful I am to have her in my life.  She listens in a way most people don’t take the time to, and she challenges me in a way that most people don’t consider.  She is one of the people I trust most in my life, and I am so honored that she is my friend.

So, all this was just to say, “Thanks, Alie! I got the package, and everything is perfect!”

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