Who Let The Fog Out?

Define Normal

I used to define normal so easily. Wake up, kiss Hunny off to work, send kids to school, clean house, make dinner, put kids to bed, spend some quiet time with Hunny after work. Go to bed. Lather, rinse repeat. That was normal for 9 years of our marriage. Unfortunately so was a weekly struggle to make ends meet. The mystery of how to make his paychecks stretch to both buy groceries and have telephone service. The constant worry that if one of us got sick or injured without medical insurance we’d have a huge bill. Which four years ago led to the next stage of normal.

Stage two of normal was seeing him off for basic training, waiting by the phone, writing alot of letters, trying my hand at single parenthood for the first time and waiting until he got home. During this normal stage, bills were easier to pay, and we finally had medical coverage. That was a huge relief. Then he came home with orders to Alaska. Alaska has it’s own definition of normal, but we’ll get to that.

Stage three of normal now was living with my grandmother until we were approved to move up here with him. This three month period’s definition of normal was truly hurry up and wait. Wait for him to have time to get the paperwork done. Wait for his NCO to get the paperwork moving. Wait for the higher NCO to kick the first NCO in the ass for holding things up. Wait for housing. Housing came through on New Years Eve (2002/03), and finally so did our approval to join him. Which meant we now had to get packed and get on a plane.

Alaska normal begins. Normal here was 30 below zero in the winter. Thankfully we arrived in February so we missed the dark periods. They’re normal too. In December we are lucky to get four hours of daylight. Normal is moose crossing the road, or laying in the road to absorb the warmth of the pavement from the cars. Normal is trick or treating in the snow with your costume either purchased super big to fit over your thermals, snowpants and coat, or hidden under the coat. Normal is being able to drive at 2am in May because it’s still daylight, and kids saying it can’t be time to come in the sun is still out since summers have 20+ hours of daylight. Normal is not the 1200 pound angry female moose that charged us repeatedly at Denali! No, NO it’s NOT! And for 2 years, normal wasonce again kiss my Hunny goodbye, get the kids to school, see him at lunch, get kids home, make dinner, greet Hunny after a long day, get kids to bed and spend some quiet time alone before going to bed ourselves.

In August 2005 normal changed drastically. I started that morning like many others. Get the kids ready for school. Kiss hubby goodbye. Only this time the goodbye would be one year of service in Iraq. Normal took a nosedive for a while there. Until I found a routine. Normal was once again single motherhood. Normal was reading my husband’s words on a screen, or trying to hear his voice with a 5 second delay over the phone and not talk over him. It was packing boxes, waiting, packing more boxes, worrying, packing even more boxes and counting the days. Finally the day was here. He was coming home. He was on a plane the next day. I couldn’t wait. Things would be Normal again. Alaska normal at least. Then the unthinkable happened. His brigade was held over for a 120 day extension. So, this last normal was extended by four months, moved to a more dangerous place and here we go again.

During Extended Normal, I found a new friend, and normal became lattes, and laughing, and shopping, and errand running. Talking, more laughing, learning a whole new language of Lizzisms, and making the time pass quickly. Walking our dogs, working out on occasion, or just hanging out. Then her normal changed, and so did mine. The night she got the call that her husband had been injured in Iraq. Normal now is different for us both, and it involves alot of praying, more worrying, and praying some more. But I really admire the strength she’s shown in this situation. If I can do half as well, I’d be lucky. Normal for her, and her 3 girls and her “Pooh” will involve recovery, rehabilitation (his leg was amputated below the knee due to complications from a compound fracture suffered in an IED attack), patience, but they’re a great family and they’ll get through this. And normal for me is babysitting her dogs, and other furbabies and plants.

I’m not sure normal is ever one single thing for anyone. It morphs, and changes, and you just accept it and move along. In a month or so my Hunny will come home, and for us things will return to “Alaska” normal for a while, then back to Army normal while he goes off for a month of school, comes back and moves us to our next duty station. Where we will learn what Washington normal is, and start all over again. The constant normal in our lives is each other, and that’s really the only normal I need.

My Year In Review 2007

First off, Happy New Year!

I am glad to see another year starting myself. 2007 has been more aggravating, more stressful, more challenging than any I can remember. We started with moving from Alaska to WA, we are ending with us (ie: ME) still settling in and finding my feet. It wasn’t all bad, there were good things. A friend taking in people he’d only known from the internet, and giving us a place to stay for a while. Getting our own house on base. Bringing a new dog into the family.

It has also brought with it many financial difficulties, which we are closer each day to overcoming at tax time.

I have watched my oldest daughter turn into a full fledged teenager. I’ve seen her starting to have less angst, be less of a drama queen and even be less moody. I’ve seen her sister enter the stage she just started ending.

I’ve seen friends here I thought I wouldn’t see again, however brief it may have been. I’ve seen anthills the size of a 4 year old.

But I’m ready to see 2008 begin, and pray for a smoother year and a light at the end of the tunnel. In the mean time I’ll watch this CSI marathon, and wait.

Coffee IV…Insert Here

I’m awake. No, that’s not true…I’m semi-coherent waiting for my coffee to finish , which hubby so kindly got ready for me this morning so all I had to do was hit the button. Going on only a few hours sleep even that was a challenge. I didn’t sleep, because at 1am, I opted to get out of bed to make him cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Which led to emptying and reloading the dishwasher. Can we say…Manic? Yes. Yes we can.

I need to get with it so at 11:30am, I have his dinner ready. Yep you read that right. Dinner. He has CQ today, which here, means he works his normal duty day, and at the end sits at CQ until morning. He doesn’t think he’ll get home between shifts. However he will be home for lunch. So I’m cooking his dinner early, and sending it with him. What am I making you ask? Ok, you didn’t but if I’m going to cook I’m going to share. A daily task I haven’t been doing much of. Cooking that is. So at the end of this you’ll get a recipe. One I haven’t tried yet. A reward for suffering through my rambling. I’ll let you know if anyone dies how it turns out.

As I said I haven’t been cooking much. Between this stupid financial crunch and holidays I’ve been buying as few groceries as I could. But I got fed up with it. If a certain military branch financial division would fork over our family separation pay from the 6 weeks he was gone it would help!! Anyhow, I finally went and planned two weeks of dinners. Did the shopping, and plan to cook dinner with real main dishes and sides.

The dogs are both giving me the I need to pee face. Unfortunately for me I seem to have woken up in the middle of monsoon season. There is a pretty river running across my back yard. I knew I should have kept those hip waders. The dogs don’t like it any more than me. They hurry up and go and run back. Which for shadow, means 10 minutes later he’s howling his fool head off to go again. If it didn’t take him 20 minutes to find the perfect spot…he wouldn’t have this problem. Seriously, the dog has ADD. It takes alot of work getting him to go…sniff sniff…oh a plane…collar yank…sniff sniff…whats that? a bird?…collar yank….oh kites!!!….dammit Shadow focus…sniff sniff. Dogs, gotta love em.

With that, I’ll add this recipe and be off. I have cooking to mangle, Warcraft to lose at, and Dogs to be bossed around by. I wonder if hubby left me any cinnamon rolls.

Beer Kielbasa
2 lbs Kielbasa
1/2 cup water
1 cup beer
1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
2-3 TBS cornstarch (ad as little water as possible to make a paste)
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup dijon mustard

Place WHOLE kielbasa in a large skillet with water.
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes
Remove from heat and cut kielbasa in diagonal slices
Return kielbasa to skillet and add beer.
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add in brown sugar and cornstarch paste.
Stir in vinegar and mustard, continue stirring until it bubbles.
Tastes really good when served on a bed of sweetened sauerkraut but is
also
good with a potato side if your family doesn’t like sauerkraut

Oh, my cinnamon rolls too…
Open Pillsbury Cinnabon Cinnamon rolls, follow directions, get icing on fingers, forget to rinse them off. Add stickiness to computer mouse while you wait for them to bake.

Damn…

Jack Palance Dies

I loved that guy *sighs(

An Interesting Day At The Rainbow Bridge

An interesting day at the Rainbow Bridge.

Rainbow Bridge is a place of both peace and anticipation as departed pets await their beloved owners. There are plenty of things to keep them contented while they wait: trees you can’t get stuck in, endless meadows, splashing streams, thickets perfect to hide in for pounce-attack games.

But one day the residents noticed some rather…unusual newcomers arrive.

The koalas and the kangaroos slipped in rather quietly, but then came the bearded dragons, the skinks and the goannas. The influx of snakes startled an entire family of cats up a tree. Pythons, cobras, tiger snakes, brown snakes and even fierce snakes. There were so many at one point, it seemed the ground itself was alive with writhing. A burly wombat shouldered his way through the crowd and plopped down in a shady spot, barely missing a Jack Russell terrier who yapped indignantly as he abandoned his position.

And then the crocodiles showed up.

Finally, a Great Dane managed to get up enough nerve to approach one of the reptilian giants.

“Um….excuse me,” he said hesitantly. “But why are you all here?”

The croc dropped her jaw and laughed. “Same as you, mate,” she said. “Waitin’ for someone who loved us.”

The dogs, cats, gerbils and other “typical pets” looked at each other in confusion, then at the plethora of weird, ugly and downright deadly creatures assembled. Who on Earth could possibly love some of those faces?

“I see him!” shouted a green mamba from his vantage point in one of the trees. A cacophony of squeaks, hisses, bellows and roars erupted as the mob surged forward toward a lone human walking across the field toward the bridge. The other animals managed to catch a glimpse of him before he was overwhelmed by the crowd.

“CRIKEY!” he shouted joyously right before he was bowled over by the wombat.

“Well I’ll be,” said a Persian as she tidied up her fur. “It’s that Aussie my human liked to watch on TV. Had to be the craziest human on the whole planet.”

“Oh, please,” remarked a echidna as he hurried by. “Is it really that crazy to passionately love something God made?”

Surreal

I’m watching The Crocodile Hunter marathon. The episode I initially caught, is one where he’s feeding his crocs in the park, and giving his show. He’s feeding Charlie, and explains to the visitors why there are other workers in the enclosure with him. how ironic his words are. When he explains that they keep watch of the pond so Steve doesn’t get a surprise strike, he said then everyone would say “we knew a croc would get him…and we can’t have that”. I have to say I’m glad it wasn’t a croc. And I’m betting Steve would be too. Crocs already have so many problems with people misunderstanding them, and poaching them. That would have just  given those types more excuses for murdering them. The way he died, was very odd. But it could have happened to ANY underwater documentary team.  It was a freak occurance. Period.

I’m always hearing how crazy he was to do what he did around the animals he dealt with. Whether it was his croc feedings at Australia Zoo, or the captures in the wild, or the way he’d show the audience the poinsonous snakes and lizards. But this wsn’t a lunatic. This wasn’t some wanna be hippie nut case that went into Katmai National Park to sing to grizzly bears he thought were his friends. This was a man with an unmatched passion, and love, for all things wild. The techniques he used, to those of us not in “the business” may seem crazy and reckless. But this was a man taught by his father from childhood, raised around the worlds deadliest predators the way some of us were raised with the family poodle. He knew exactly what he was doing. And he did it unlike any other.

I know myself, I will never look at Crocs, gators, snakes, like I did before Steve. There will never be another like him. And I doubt I’ll ever watch the shows without an ache in my heart for this amazing man, who’s passion and love for these creatures is unmatched. Sure there may come along others with shows that try to match it. But they’ll never match the spirit that he posessed. The shameless way he showed his love for his work.

2005 In Review…

Not much happened in 2005 until recently. So, I’m basically reviewing the last 4 months of it I guess.

• Hunny deployed
• I discovered my independence
• I lost 22 pounds, putting me back at my weight of 118 (Pre Alaska weight)
• I discovered I like who I am better than who I thought others would like
• I went redhead, something I wanted forever, but never had the courage to go for
• I did major repairs on our truck
• My eyes turned green

It’s been challenging, but so far I’ve survived it in tact. Even when uttering a simple sentence ( I miss my husband) brought on a response of “Suck it up”, I returned fire like I used to and put the hag in her place. As I look forward to 12:00am January 1st, I think of just how much that one minute means in my life. I’ll be saying good bye to the year that I said good bye to my hunny, and welcoming with open arms the year he’ll return. I’ll be picking up a bottle of Jack Daniels tomorrow to celebrate that.

My resolutions this year?

• Be ME, whether people like it or not (as my hunny says, fuckem if they can’t take a joke)
• I will not take shit from ANYONE.
• I will stand up for myself, and what I believe in, against anyone regardless of the potential fallout.

Cowboy oops I mean Calgon Take Me Away…

What a DAY!! I finally heard from my hunny *yay!!* after a blackout. Those suck by the way. We don’t like them Mr Big Army, so stop it. they are done for good reason, if an injury, or worse occurs, communications are shut down until everyone is notified. This is to stop rumor and panic here at home, should someone say something to their wife, and she tells two friends, and she tells two friends…you know the drill. Only one problem. It hits the news that X amount of soldiers were injured in X part of X country. We all know where our husbands are, so those of us that hear that…jump out of our skin every time the phone rings or someone knocks at the door!! Seriously, either alert those FRG’s that are NOT involved, so they can tell the wives at least if we hear anything it wasn’t our unit. Or let these guys have 10 minutes to say hey baby, I’m ok. And don’t give me that don’t watch the news crap. I happen to like knowing what is happening in other places than my house. Anyhow…onward.

After talking to hunny, I got dressed, got my hair done, my makeup on, and came downstairs to that smell. That unmistakable smell of dog having wither crapped or puked in her kennel. Puke it is!! Yay! So send the dog out for a few while I clean that up. But not before she gets paw prints on my carpet…oh, and of course shakes. This leaves little splatter dots on my door, wall, end table. So that gets taken care of, and it’s time to bathe the dog. She pouted the entire time. And who just has to walk in to the bathroom? None other than the cat. He walked right in and stared at poor Daisy. I think he was laughing at her. In fact I’m sure I heard him. So we get her dried off, and settled down, and I take a short break. Hunny gets back online and we discuss our oldest daughter’s school issues, the Harley, personal stuff. And Fount St Daisy strikes again. This time….carpet. Did a quick cleanup and put her in the basement where she couldn’t hurt anything except dirty laundry.

After talking to hubby *pauses while a chopper shakes my house…ok* I have to wait for Lyssa to get home, and head to the post office. Prepare for bitch #2. I go to the post office, and there is a line. I for one, don’t complain about waiting in line. I choose to use that post office, knowing there will be a wait. Choice people, that’s what makes this country great. So the guy in front of me (civilian) looks at me and says “Geez it’s not even Christmas yet”. At which point I smiled and said, every day is Christmas when you have 3000 soldiers deployed and needing care packages. I’m sure he didn’t mean it badly…really. but the others are another story. Again, thousands of deployed troops here, and you know you’re going to wait in line. So, why stand there in line for one stamp? we can get stamps at the px, shopette, and even the handy little stamp machine at the px. If you choose to use the base post office, you choose to wait in line. There are 3 other post offices in town, and from what I hear their lines are minimal. Go there! If you don’t want to, thats fine…then don’t bitch because you stand in line at ours. heck they even bitch about friendly customer service!! I’m sorry, but aren’t these the same ones that would bitch if they were waited on by anti friendly robots? Yes at times the one guy gets carried away, but at least he’s nice. want to avoid him? THREE other post offices!!

Brenna got home from school while I was at the post office. I had left a note to call my cell when she got there, and to get her sister from the neightbor’s at 5pm. this was around 4:30. I was at the PX at this point getting a steam cleaner, and green machine, and a few odds and ends. Side note: little green machine…awesome!! And this leads to Bitch #3!! I have a large box balanced on my cart and heading for the door. this cashier at the px is always very curious, asks alot of questions, etc etc. And she talks alot. That’s ok, as I’ve said I like friendly service. But do not grab my arm as I’m pushing my cart towards the door to say something to me, causing my carefully balanced box to prove true the theories of inertia. Yes, it’s true an object in motion tends to remain in motion until an opposing force impedes it. In this case…the floor. I get it picked back up, and in the cart and managed to get to the truck without further scientific exploration.

I got the kids Burger King, and headed home. I’ve assembled my steam cleaners, I have stuff to put away, and kids to get in bed. And my back is screaming for a hot shower. I still have to deal with Brenna’s school. that’s a bitch for a whole other day…now where’s my cowboy Calgon?

Make It Go Away!!

We’re smoked in again. All I wanted was a nice clear day to take my camera to the botanical gardens before fall hits. I love going there in August, everything is in full color, yet there are some early bloomers that have started dropping off. Yes, I even like shooting those. But no, we are in the worlds largest outdoor campfire. I can’t even tell if the sky is blue or cloudy. *pouts more*.

I have twosparrows.net almost rebuilt. I got 9 of my original 12 pages back up. Only 3 left, and whatever else I add. After that it’s time to start on the photoflections site. It could use a revamp. I found some very cool gallery templates. The prices are fairly reasonable, I might end up purchasing one in the coming months.

Today is kind of a sad one, Hunny will be calling family one last time, and repacking his bags. I have a little anxiety going on, but I’ll manage.