Lots of fun things to talk about today. I'll start with the fact that I bought a Dooney and Burke purse for $10.00 at Goodwill!!! I also found a nice set of Corelle dinner and salad plates. Then at the DAV thrift store I found some more Corelle plates, plus a couple other light wait and vintage looking ones. I have enough now that I can get rid of the roosters!!! Thank goodness. They were a really nice wedding gift and were put to good use over the past 3 years, but I am so done with them. I may now have mismatched Corelle, but they are lightweight and durable and have patterns I love!! I'll take pictures.
After the DAV store I went into the new little antique store next door. She was only open for a few minutes, between picking up merchandise, but I found something I wanted -- an ALUMINUM CHRISTMAS TREE!!!!!!!!!!!! Bigger and cheaper than the one I previously found. In it's original box, too. Now I just need the color wheel. I was very pleased with that find.
Now, to switch gears a little bit. JariLyn asked me if I post my Christmas letter or just send it to family and friends. Well, in the past I have just sent it as I did not have a blog. Last year I did make one even though it was not sent out and I thought I posted it, but I couldn't find it in my blogger archives. I have it in my document folder, but it is a word document and since I have not reinstalled Word since I have done system recoveries, I cannot access it!! I may, however, have posted one the year before and will look for it. When I get out my Christmas stuff I will post the previous ones I have saved up. And of course I will post this year's!!!
Also wanted to mention what is going on this week in army life. TJ has today and tomorrow off, but will be in the field from Wednesday to Friday, overnight. This is the first overnight so far for this training. Will be weird not to have him here for that extended period of time as for the past 2 years he has only been gone one day and night at a time!! It's good practice for deployment, though :) And I have plenty to do around here and the cats to keep me company so I won't get lonely. We have also been getting to know a couple of our new soldiers and their families better. We also go got to see one of the new homes on post. They are HUGE!!!
Scout is upset because I won't let him outside without his leash!!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
It's Not Too Early, Is It??? UPDATED
Okay, so last year I blogged about how I had the Christmas Spirit early -- you can read it here.
Well, it seems to be the same this year!! Even despite the fact that I and friends had a really crummy October and November hasn't started of so great, either. Maybe that makes me even more ready for Christmas!!
Anyway, I am ready to put up the decorations!!! My husband said to wait until after Thanksgiving, which is when I normally put them up. Poo!!! I decided that I would put up my Thanksgiving decorations and slowly and discreetly start putting up Christmas stuff like figurines so maybe he won't notice. Or not register what it is. I will leave the major decorating until Thanksgiving Day. He won't be home as he is the unlucky soldier who gets CQ duty that day(barracks monitoring). So, I have free rein of the house that day!! I don't cook on Thanksgiving, though I was considering attempting a Turduckin (chicken inside a duck inside a turkey) so there is nothing to do but decorate for Christmas!!!
We don't do the tree until the middle of December because that is when we can get a free one. I also put my name down at the antique store in town for an aluminum one and color wheel. They have both right now, but the tree is not in the best condition. I have seen some on EBAY, but I would rather buy one I can look at in person, first.
I would really like to have a Christmas party this year. I want to have a tree- trimming, cookie decorating, open house. I would put the ornaments out for people to help us decorate our tree and I would also prebake sugar cookies and have the table downstairs set up with stuff to decorate the cookies and plates or bags or tins to put them in :) If I can find an open weekend and manage to not get sick I think i will do that. Maybe I will even make a Turduckin!!!
Other plans I have is to do photo cards this year with Scout and then make cards for co-workers. Of course I am going shopping the day after Thanksgiving!!!! I also want to go to Kansas City to see the lights at the Plaza. I am seriously considering staying there for Christmas(maybe at the Crown Center Westin), too. Maybe that can be mine and TJ's present for one another :) I also plan to make some scarves for presents.
Anyone else have plans yet???
UPDATE : Forgot to mention that I WILL be bringing back the annual Christmas "letter" this year!! There was such an outporing of disappointment over it's absence last year that I will not make that mistake again!! LOL My only question is -- which celebrity or psuedo celebrity should I mention this year?? I am thinking Jon and Kate.
Well, it seems to be the same this year!! Even despite the fact that I and friends had a really crummy October and November hasn't started of so great, either. Maybe that makes me even more ready for Christmas!!
Anyway, I am ready to put up the decorations!!! My husband said to wait until after Thanksgiving, which is when I normally put them up. Poo!!! I decided that I would put up my Thanksgiving decorations and slowly and discreetly start putting up Christmas stuff like figurines so maybe he won't notice. Or not register what it is. I will leave the major decorating until Thanksgiving Day. He won't be home as he is the unlucky soldier who gets CQ duty that day(barracks monitoring). So, I have free rein of the house that day!! I don't cook on Thanksgiving, though I was considering attempting a Turduckin (chicken inside a duck inside a turkey) so there is nothing to do but decorate for Christmas!!!
We don't do the tree until the middle of December because that is when we can get a free one. I also put my name down at the antique store in town for an aluminum one and color wheel. They have both right now, but the tree is not in the best condition. I have seen some on EBAY, but I would rather buy one I can look at in person, first.
I would really like to have a Christmas party this year. I want to have a tree- trimming, cookie decorating, open house. I would put the ornaments out for people to help us decorate our tree and I would also prebake sugar cookies and have the table downstairs set up with stuff to decorate the cookies and plates or bags or tins to put them in :) If I can find an open weekend and manage to not get sick I think i will do that. Maybe I will even make a Turduckin!!!
Other plans I have is to do photo cards this year with Scout and then make cards for co-workers. Of course I am going shopping the day after Thanksgiving!!!! I also want to go to Kansas City to see the lights at the Plaza. I am seriously considering staying there for Christmas(maybe at the Crown Center Westin), too. Maybe that can be mine and TJ's present for one another :) I also plan to make some scarves for presents.
Anyone else have plans yet???
UPDATE : Forgot to mention that I WILL be bringing back the annual Christmas "letter" this year!! There was such an outporing of disappointment over it's absence last year that I will not make that mistake again!! LOL My only question is -- which celebrity or psuedo celebrity should I mention this year?? I am thinking Jon and Kate.
Internet Saga
Okay, this is the story of the problems I was having with my internet.
Sometime last month it went off. The power light and ethernet light on my modem were on, but not the DSL and internet. I thought maybe it was because my payment was late, but after paying it it still didn't work. I gave it a couple days then called. The first person I called informed me the problem was because I did not use filters in my phone line. i tried to explain that i did not have a phone plugged into ANY of the lines, but he said it didn't matter. So I had to order filters(I lost the ones that came originally). Over a week later I still did not have them.
So I called again. This time the person said the filters would not do anything since I do not use a home phone. She said she was showing a problem in the area since October 13th with slow connections that could also be causing outtages. No resolution dates. Okaaayyy. So I went to the library to use the internet. Realized I could not do this everyday. Also, a comment a neighbor made led me to believe that I was the only one having this problem. So, on Thursday, I took my box and connectuion to my next door neighbor's(who has the same internet and it was working)and tested it. Well, guess what??? It didn't work there either!! So I figured it was my modem box that was not working.
3rd call. This time I got Kevin. He read all the notes and confirmed that the first guy should not have told me it was the filters. Said the slow connections in the area was for dial up and should in no way affect the DSL. Had me check the phone line with a regular phone to see if i had a dial tome and I did. he agreed it may be the box. He was also having another department run some tests from their end. He agrees to put in a request for our local store to trade out my modem. In the meantime I make TJ plug the modem back in. Well, wouldn't you know, it started working!!!! And has worked ever since. So I guess 3rd time was the charm.
Okay, so now I am wondering why the other 2 people did not think to call the other department have them test it and maybe reset something, which Kevin had them do. Now if it happens again I know what to ask them to do. Or ask for Kevin :)
Sometime last month it went off. The power light and ethernet light on my modem were on, but not the DSL and internet. I thought maybe it was because my payment was late, but after paying it it still didn't work. I gave it a couple days then called. The first person I called informed me the problem was because I did not use filters in my phone line. i tried to explain that i did not have a phone plugged into ANY of the lines, but he said it didn't matter. So I had to order filters(I lost the ones that came originally). Over a week later I still did not have them.
So I called again. This time the person said the filters would not do anything since I do not use a home phone. She said she was showing a problem in the area since October 13th with slow connections that could also be causing outtages. No resolution dates. Okaaayyy. So I went to the library to use the internet. Realized I could not do this everyday. Also, a comment a neighbor made led me to believe that I was the only one having this problem. So, on Thursday, I took my box and connectuion to my next door neighbor's(who has the same internet and it was working)and tested it. Well, guess what??? It didn't work there either!! So I figured it was my modem box that was not working.
3rd call. This time I got Kevin. He read all the notes and confirmed that the first guy should not have told me it was the filters. Said the slow connections in the area was for dial up and should in no way affect the DSL. Had me check the phone line with a regular phone to see if i had a dial tome and I did. he agreed it may be the box. He was also having another department run some tests from their end. He agrees to put in a request for our local store to trade out my modem. In the meantime I make TJ plug the modem back in. Well, wouldn't you know, it started working!!!! And has worked ever since. So I guess 3rd time was the charm.
Okay, so now I am wondering why the other 2 people did not think to call the other department have them test it and maybe reset something, which Kevin had them do. Now if it happens again I know what to ask them to do. Or ask for Kevin :)
Friday, November 6, 2009
Angry
I have so much anger since yesterday and I figure this is the best place to sort it out.
The source of my anger is the massacre at Fort Hood. I know some people refer to it as shootings, but it was a massacre. Here are all the things that are making me angry about it in no particular order...
1. That it was a soldier. How do you do that to your fellow soldiers? This is a guy that acquaintances say was horrified by the stories he would hear from soldiers returning from war. Why would you create equal horror at home?
2. He was upset about a pending deployment. Why did he join the army then????? Was he under the dillusion that as a psychiatrist he would never deploy?? They need them over there, too. Lots of people get upset over deployment -- they don't kill other people over it!! They suck it up and go.
3. If he was that torn up over deploying and the war, why couldn't he just kill himself?
4. He disagreed with the war and argued with people who were for it. Hello?????? Why are you serving in the US Army then????
5. He was Muslim. There are other Muslims serving in this army. How hard is it going to be for them now?? The sad truth is that most of us will let this affect our judgement of Muslims in the military. Most likely they will be looked upon with suspicion. That is not right, but it is another consequence of this person's actions.
6. He desperately wanted out of the military. How come no one would let him out??? I know all the protocol, but come on. He was so desperate he was hiring lawyers and offering to pay back medical school money. That really shows a lot of desperation. Now look what happened.
7. If he was so desperate, why didn't he just go AWOL???
8. He had several bad performance reviews at Walter Reed Hospital. Why the heck would Fort Hood take him then??? Do you think your local city hospital would hire someone who performed poorly at another hospital????
9. We worry so much about our loved ones when they deploy, we shouldn't have to worry about their safety at home. Just because you don't want to deploy doesn't mean you take the lives of those who have or those who are willing.
10. He may die before we get answers and that would just be unacceptable. He needs to be held accountable and and answer for what he has done.
Okay, that is pretty much it.
The source of my anger is the massacre at Fort Hood. I know some people refer to it as shootings, but it was a massacre. Here are all the things that are making me angry about it in no particular order...
1. That it was a soldier. How do you do that to your fellow soldiers? This is a guy that acquaintances say was horrified by the stories he would hear from soldiers returning from war. Why would you create equal horror at home?
2. He was upset about a pending deployment. Why did he join the army then????? Was he under the dillusion that as a psychiatrist he would never deploy?? They need them over there, too. Lots of people get upset over deployment -- they don't kill other people over it!! They suck it up and go.
3. If he was that torn up over deploying and the war, why couldn't he just kill himself?
4. He disagreed with the war and argued with people who were for it. Hello?????? Why are you serving in the US Army then????
5. He was Muslim. There are other Muslims serving in this army. How hard is it going to be for them now?? The sad truth is that most of us will let this affect our judgement of Muslims in the military. Most likely they will be looked upon with suspicion. That is not right, but it is another consequence of this person's actions.
6. He desperately wanted out of the military. How come no one would let him out??? I know all the protocol, but come on. He was so desperate he was hiring lawyers and offering to pay back medical school money. That really shows a lot of desperation. Now look what happened.
7. If he was so desperate, why didn't he just go AWOL???
8. He had several bad performance reviews at Walter Reed Hospital. Why the heck would Fort Hood take him then??? Do you think your local city hospital would hire someone who performed poorly at another hospital????
9. We worry so much about our loved ones when they deploy, we shouldn't have to worry about their safety at home. Just because you don't want to deploy doesn't mean you take the lives of those who have or those who are willing.
10. He may die before we get answers and that would just be unacceptable. He needs to be held accountable and and answer for what he has done.
Okay, that is pretty much it.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Skylines of the Friday Photo Shootout
I'm doing this before I lose internet again!! Long story for another post.
Anyway, as the army post I live on and the town I work in have no skyline, per se, I will go into the archives to find some. Here we go...
My fourth favorite city in the US(tied with Chicago) --KANSAS CITY!!!
St Louis, MO on our way back from Florida 2 years ago (I really love the arch)
Tampa, FL(where TJ is from and I lived for 3 years)
and Boston(where we visited this past summer)
I wish I had some of Los Angeles, but I don't.
Anyway, as the army post I live on and the town I work in have no skyline, per se, I will go into the archives to find some. Here we go...
My fourth favorite city in the US(tied with Chicago) --KANSAS CITY!!!
St Louis, MO on our way back from Florida 2 years ago (I really love the arch)
Tampa, FL(where TJ is from and I lived for 3 years)
and Boston(where we visited this past summer)
I wish I had some of Los Angeles, but I don't.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Bad Internet
I am still having internet problems and there is no resolution date in sight. Apparently there has been an outage poroblem in our area since October 13th and no date at this time as to when the problem will be resolved. I am assured they are working on it daily, though. And I will be reimbursed for not having it. Once in awhile it comes up at home, but i never know when. Right now I am at the library.
I am exploring the option of getting internet through the cable. It would one less bill as well. I am waiting to get the opinions of people who have cable that way. I did not do that before because I heard it went out a lot. Well, not having it at all, except maybe once a week for an hour is a lot worse, especially when they cannot give you a resolution date.
In other news, I quit my afterschool job and Monday was my last day. I am having a jewelry party on Saturday. My husband has CQ duty on Thanksgiving and I am seriously considering making a Turduckin :)
I am exploring the option of getting internet through the cable. It would one less bill as well. I am waiting to get the opinions of people who have cable that way. I did not do that before because I heard it went out a lot. Well, not having it at all, except maybe once a week for an hour is a lot worse, especially when they cannot give you a resolution date.
In other news, I quit my afterschool job and Monday was my last day. I am having a jewelry party on Saturday. My husband has CQ duty on Thanksgiving and I am seriously considering making a Turduckin :)
Thursday, October 29, 2009
New Opportunities
I put in my "notice" for the afterschool program Monday morning. I checked with my friend first to make sure she wanted the job and she did. She actually needs it more than me so that reinfiorced my belief that this is for the best. I agreed to keep working this week(which I expected) until she can be hired. It looks like I may be working next week as well as her hiring process is slow. I also expressed interest in being a sub if they need me. So we'll see what happens.
The extra time, though, has made it possible for me to take on another challenge. This time it is a volunteer position and not as many hours.
Last night our company had its first FRG meeting. It was just informational, but they have some great ideas, especially about what the FRG should be and have been taking the right steps, so I am excited. I signed up for 2 popsitions. Key Caller for our platoon and Hospitality Coordinator(or chairperson).
First of, let me explain what the platoons are. If you remember, the breakdown of where my husband is goes like this...
Army
1st Division(Fort Riley)
1st Brigade (out of 4 brigades)
2nd Battalion(out of ??? battalions)
HHC Company(out of HHC, A, B, C, D, and E companies)
Scout Platoon(out of Scouts, medics and mortars and something else)
So, I would be the Key Caller for the Scout platoon. Information would first go to the FRG leader and then she calls the key callers for the platoons and we call those families in our platoons. We also help the FRG leader with organizing events and stuff. We are also points of contact for the families. This is something I really wanted to do because I wanted to help other people, especially those that are new or confused or lonely or just need friends. I did not have that when I first came here(I was handed a piece of paper at a picnic) and it was very difficult and if I can prevent that for other people then I will be happy. I want the wives and girlfriends and families of our soldiers to know they have at least one person they can turn to or count on here.
The other position I signed up for is hospitality coordinator or chairperson. This is a continuation of the above. I would be the person that makes sure new people are welcomed properly and given the information they need. I would also be in charge of sending cards and such for birthdays and anniversaries, marriages, new babies, etc. Just letting every person know they are appreciated.
I need to wait to see what position or positions I get, but I am really happy to be able to help out in any way and to get involved.
The tentative window for deployment is late October/November. That is when they are supposed to be deployment ready anyway. The tentative dates for NTC is July 2 to the end of the month. I am hoping that gets pushed back a couple days so the guys will be here for 4th of July. One person asked is that might change because July is when the kids are off of school and that is time the soldiers could be spending more time with their families. Unfortunately, that is not taken into consideration. And you have to look at it this way -- some group has to go in July. So there will be a group that will miss out on that family time. Looks like this year it will be ours. It's part of army life, you deal with it. I know that person would probably not be happy with that answer, but that's army life. You learn really quickly. oh, and in case you are wondering NTC is the National Training Center and basically it is a month of war games in the California desert :) Hooah!!!
Our HHC chaplain left us with a verse last night that will be our verse for ending meetings and it is Psalm 121, verse 7. I do not have my scriptures handy, but will add it later :)
Now we are off to a Haunted House. It is raining so maybe it won't be too crowded!!!
The extra time, though, has made it possible for me to take on another challenge. This time it is a volunteer position and not as many hours.
Last night our company had its first FRG meeting. It was just informational, but they have some great ideas, especially about what the FRG should be and have been taking the right steps, so I am excited. I signed up for 2 popsitions. Key Caller for our platoon and Hospitality Coordinator(or chairperson).
First of, let me explain what the platoons are. If you remember, the breakdown of where my husband is goes like this...
Army
1st Division(Fort Riley)
1st Brigade (out of 4 brigades)
2nd Battalion(out of ??? battalions)
HHC Company(out of HHC, A, B, C, D, and E companies)
Scout Platoon(out of Scouts, medics and mortars and something else)
So, I would be the Key Caller for the Scout platoon. Information would first go to the FRG leader and then she calls the key callers for the platoons and we call those families in our platoons. We also help the FRG leader with organizing events and stuff. We are also points of contact for the families. This is something I really wanted to do because I wanted to help other people, especially those that are new or confused or lonely or just need friends. I did not have that when I first came here(I was handed a piece of paper at a picnic) and it was very difficult and if I can prevent that for other people then I will be happy. I want the wives and girlfriends and families of our soldiers to know they have at least one person they can turn to or count on here.
The other position I signed up for is hospitality coordinator or chairperson. This is a continuation of the above. I would be the person that makes sure new people are welcomed properly and given the information they need. I would also be in charge of sending cards and such for birthdays and anniversaries, marriages, new babies, etc. Just letting every person know they are appreciated.
I need to wait to see what position or positions I get, but I am really happy to be able to help out in any way and to get involved.
The tentative window for deployment is late October/November. That is when they are supposed to be deployment ready anyway. The tentative dates for NTC is July 2 to the end of the month. I am hoping that gets pushed back a couple days so the guys will be here for 4th of July. One person asked is that might change because July is when the kids are off of school and that is time the soldiers could be spending more time with their families. Unfortunately, that is not taken into consideration. And you have to look at it this way -- some group has to go in July. So there will be a group that will miss out on that family time. Looks like this year it will be ours. It's part of army life, you deal with it. I know that person would probably not be happy with that answer, but that's army life. You learn really quickly. oh, and in case you are wondering NTC is the National Training Center and basically it is a month of war games in the California desert :) Hooah!!!
Our HHC chaplain left us with a verse last night that will be our verse for ending meetings and it is Psalm 121, verse 7. I do not have my scriptures handy, but will add it later :)
Now we are off to a Haunted House. It is raining so maybe it won't be too crowded!!!
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