It was 5 degrees outside this morning. I park in the garage so I knew by the chill that it was chillier than usual but when we got to the school and had to go from the car to the door I could have died!!!! My eyes even started to tear.
It has been years since we lived in Germany and I have a feeling that I am going to take longer than I thought to get used to It. However the boys are just waiting for the snow.....what they don't realize is that it will take about 10 feet to make the schools close for a snow day. Oh to be a kid again.
Usually I have my tree up and decorated on Thanksgiving Day. I feel like I need a whole month to have it up because I am the type of person that needs to have it taken down no later than the 2nd of January. Well I guess I have been bitten by the lazy bug!! We put the tree itself up and it has been sitting in that lovely corner in my living room totally bare except for the lights…..only because it is pre lit for a week now. I had Donte bring up the decorations and they are sitting pretty in the formal living room completely untouched. Well now it’s Thursday and Donnies birthday party is tomorrow so I have all of a few hours tonight to go to the store, bake brownies, and make some pico for his party. Did I tell ya’ll that he wants Mexican food….yummy yummy!! Donte is going to pick up these huge burritos at this authentic Mexican place and I am going to make some home made pico and get some of those addictive lime tortilla chips. He also would rather have brownies than a cake.
Most of the Christmas shopping is completed. I need to get a few last minute things and get the boxes off. Which I am planning on doing tomorrow during my lunch. I am dreading the shipping bill. Boy do I miss MPS. For those of you that don’t know it’s the Military Postal System and if you were sending stuff from an overseas address to another it was free. It took a little longer but I would rather spend he money on the gifts rather than the postage.
I have started a bit of baking. Donte and the kids are loving it because I don’t bake any other time of the year. I do enjoy it however it is way too tempting to nibble here and there. I just made a batch of butterscotch, white chocolate, milk chocolate chip cookies. I have to say I love them…..I make them chewy because none of us are crispy cookie people…..nope nice and chewy and perfect if you warm em up for about 5 seconds in the microwave.
In fact that’s what I am gonna do……eat a nice warm, gooey cookie!!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
LMC
Do you ever have those memories that you try to keep away the ones that hurt you like nothing can? I lost my Best Friend today, 7 years ago. I truly miss her more and more and even though time has passed and closure has come it’s still a very hard day for me. It tore me into pieces when it happened and the circumstances were awful. I always light a candle for her on the 27th and remember the good times that we had, the secrets, the parties and even the tears. She was the closest thing that I had to a sister and I forever will miss our 3 am phone calls and inside jokes. RIP L I love ya and one day….hopefully a long time from now…..I know that she will be there to welcome me when my time comes.
ATC Cont.
After coming back from the outlets it was time to get ready for the ball. The boys were already over with the older kids and having a blast. They could care less about the ball. I was totally excited because it has been so long since we bothered with a ball. I had found a new dress and Donte looked mighty fine in his blues. We walked downstairs in the hopes that we could get our pictures done early and enjoy the rest of the evening. We got in line and we were about the 5th couple in line…..I thought how wonderful. This should go fast…WRONG!!!! There was one lonely photographer and no assistant. The poor guy was obviously wearing three hats and having a bit of trouble getting it all done. We waited for about an hour…..and yes I kicked my shoes off. …..no way was I going to suffer. We got our pics done and met up with the rest of the station. The guys had to go in early because they were doing the arch with the sabers. So we had to wait and wait and wait……finally one of the other guys escorted me through the receiving line and we finally got in. We tried to get a table that would seat all of us. Since we are such a small station we thought that it would be really easy but we were one short so T had to sit at the table next to us. Never the less the night was spent laughing and talking. Donte even met a guy that went to basic with him. Said that he had gotten out of the ARMY and was a civilian now. What a small world that was 14 years ago. Donte’s station won another award and his station commander won the station commander award. It was more than well deserved; he is a great team builder and has some great values to his practices. The awards took hours and after it was said and done we all went back up to change.
The resort had a club in it and we decided to meet up there. Now I used to love going to the club……heck Donte and I met at the club…….I was so ready to leave because the smoke was so thick you could barely see through it. So we went back down to where the ball was. The DJ was there but they closed the bar so there were literally 4 people there. Common sense should tell you that if the equation reads (soldiers + their spouses) + a formal ball + a full bar= FUN if you take away the full bar it ='s over. What a mess. They should have hired the DJ from the night before. He was great the DJ for the ball……for lack of better words sucked!!!! There were 6 of us so we went in and sat and talked we even danced a little. By then it was approaching 2 AM and time to settle in.
After getting back to the room and getting the kids settled in we crashed! We had to leave the next morning and hadn’t packed a stitch.
The next morning we got up and packed. Donte went downstairs for yet another meeting. We loaded the car and all headed down to the conference room. They had many speakers that came in and we all sat patiently and listened to them……OK not really Donnie and I played the make the squares game for what seemed like hours. Donte and Daniel sat right in front of us so Donnie and I were covered. I saw that one of the speakers was the nice guy from the university that I had gotten info from for DONTE. He was a great speaker and imagine my surprise when he says that he has even known SFC Slade for 14 years…….OMG how funny... I had spoken to him about Donte and that he and Donte had spoken and he was Dontes friend from basic. Not only did they have to go all the way to Wisconsin to meet but he lives right by where we do and attends the same YMCA. Boy life is strange at times.
After all was said and done we settled into the ride back home. I slept. I think I was out for a good 2 of the 3 hours. We got home, unloaded the car and headed off to pick up Diggy and Murphy. Pet smart is only about 15 min away and I was ready to see my little stinkers.
The dogs had a blast and were very happy to see us. They had been groomed and Murphy had been shaved. They were so cuddly and were jumping all over the place.
After tons of laundry and putting everything away I had just enough time to catch a few hours of sleep until I had to wake up and go back to the grind of everyday life.
The resort had a club in it and we decided to meet up there. Now I used to love going to the club……heck Donte and I met at the club…….I was so ready to leave because the smoke was so thick you could barely see through it. So we went back down to where the ball was. The DJ was there but they closed the bar so there were literally 4 people there. Common sense should tell you that if the equation reads (soldiers + their spouses) + a formal ball + a full bar= FUN if you take away the full bar it ='s over. What a mess. They should have hired the DJ from the night before. He was great the DJ for the ball……for lack of better words sucked!!!! There were 6 of us so we went in and sat and talked we even danced a little. By then it was approaching 2 AM and time to settle in.
After getting back to the room and getting the kids settled in we crashed! We had to leave the next morning and hadn’t packed a stitch.
The next morning we got up and packed. Donte went downstairs for yet another meeting. We loaded the car and all headed down to the conference room. They had many speakers that came in and we all sat patiently and listened to them……OK not really Donnie and I played the make the squares game for what seemed like hours. Donte and Daniel sat right in front of us so Donnie and I were covered. I saw that one of the speakers was the nice guy from the university that I had gotten info from for DONTE. He was a great speaker and imagine my surprise when he says that he has even known SFC Slade for 14 years…….OMG how funny... I had spoken to him about Donte and that he and Donte had spoken and he was Dontes friend from basic. Not only did they have to go all the way to Wisconsin to meet but he lives right by where we do and attends the same YMCA. Boy life is strange at times.
After all was said and done we settled into the ride back home. I slept. I think I was out for a good 2 of the 3 hours. We got home, unloaded the car and headed off to pick up Diggy and Murphy. Pet smart is only about 15 min away and I was ready to see my little stinkers.
The dogs had a blast and were very happy to see us. They had been groomed and Murphy had been shaved. They were so cuddly and were jumping all over the place.
After tons of laundry and putting everything away I had just enough time to catch a few hours of sleep until I had to wake up and go back to the grind of everyday life.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Happy 10th Birthday Donte Jr. (Thanksgiving)
It is so hard for me to believe that my sweet little angel is now 10 years old. He came into our lives just as sweet and peaceful as could be. Always happy and content. He was such a joy as a baby. So cuddly and sweet. He has grown into such a great human being. His manners are impeccable and he is always there to lend a helping hand whenever anyone needs it. From picking up something that someone may drop to taking up for his friend, our neighbor who was the new kid in class last year. Now here he is 10 years old. His feet are the same size as mine and I know it wont be long until he is taller than me. I know that soon he wont be able to fit in my lap and that he wont run to me when he gets a boo boo, but I also know that if I have a boo boo or need a hug he's the kind of kid that will be there for me....even when his friends are around. He is doing great in school and has joined many of the clubs that are offered. He is content with what he has and is headed down the right path. He is the greatest older brother and is always there to help Daniel in any way that he can....but he also picks on him a little....that's the perks of being the older brother right. I thank God for him everyday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SON. I LOVE YOU
ATC
Wow what a weekend. We had a BLAST!
We started out at Dennys where we all met up. Breakfast was full of laughs and eagerness to get on the road. The boys were so excited that they could barely contain themselves.
The whole journey took about 3 hours and we were more than ready to get there. Dontes section were going to be presented with Sabers so we were all there a day ahead. Some other folks were there as well and we ALL had the IMPRESSION that the rooms were going to be paid for. At east that's the info that was given out. Imagine our surprise when the rooms were not paid for and on top of that our lovely battalion didn't update my hubbys Government card info so we couldn't use that. He submitted the changes as soon as we got here ......over 6 months ago. Thankfully the lady at the resort was fabulous. We paid for our room and one of the other soldiers rooms and Faye made sure that we were all near each other on the same floor. It took a while but it was well worth the wait. Not only did she get our rooms together but we were all upgraded, we didn't have rooms we had suites. Whirlpool tubs, full kitchens, living rooms with fireplaces, and a huge king size bed. A little slice of heaven!
The first night we unpacked and P (Famous Daves wife) and I headed out to Wally World and stocked up on frozen pizza, drinks, snacks for the kids, and some fried chicken dinners for the room. Dinner was held in our room and was a blast. It was nice just to hang out and spend some time with some of the people that Donte had been working with for the past 6 months.
The kids were ecstatic because Gary (Famous Daves(FD) son) was there for the weekend as well......all three of the boys share a deep love for anything that has to do with a gaming system. FD has two daughters as well that were there and bless them both for putting up with three boys that love to drive everyone a little nuts.
The next morning Donte was off early to do some training and the boys and I were up getting ready for the day. The boys went across the hall to hang with Gary and the girls while P and I headed off to "sign in and get our packets". Donte had warned me but it was still annoying to see that they had misspelled my name. In fact they had misspelled a lot of names....hmmmmmmmm don't these people have access to DEERS?.....isn't it quite simple to see the correct spelling of names? Whats a girl to do. My badge read Sahnez Slade....sooooo Donte found this the prime opportunity to pick on me......my new IRAQI name is SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhnez. HA HA Donte very funny :0).
P and I gathered lots of info about Tricare, Dental, and all that good stuff. They even had different colleges set up so I decide that I would pick up some info for Donte. I spoke to the college guy for awhile and found out that he actually attends the same YMCA that we go to and that he lives in the same town as us. Small world isn't it.....keep that in mind.....you will see why later. We also found the room that the guys were having their Sabre ceremony that was all very hush hush and we couldn't attend. They didn't account for the peep hole in the door....too bad the ceremony was over and we didn't see a thing....DARN...my timing just sucks :0)
We then met up with D (Mere's very preggo wife) and took all the kids down to the worlds largest indoor water park.....OMG what a blast we did the lazy river, the boys had the time of their lives on the slides and I settled in nicely to the huge hot tub with the waterfall. We had a SPLASH!!! We were not quite ready to go but we had the company party to go to.
We went back to the room and to tell you the truth I really could have used a nap but no such luck we had to get ready. We got dressed and everyone met back in our room again. It was nice to share a few drinks and a tom of laughs before the party even began. I got some great pics of everyone. It's so nice to see that our little station was so well bonded. It actually reminded me of the units in Germany where everybody got along so well. It was like family.
Our company party theme was a luau. We went in and grabbed a table for us and a table for the kids. How nice that they are all old enough to be at their own table.....for them and for us. They started out with the awards and Donte had a clean sweep. The first award that he received was an AAM for getting a 319 on his PT test (they grade on a sliding scale so you can go far beyond what the norm is) you know how physically fit Donte is so this was an achievement that had been a long time coming, he also received an Eagle statue for the best PT score, then he received the MVP award and statue for everything that he has done since he has been here and finally his whole station received the top station award for being as good as they are.....can you tell I'm bursting with pride. We then ate and danced the night away. Daniel as usual was the first one on the dance floor and shook his groove thing until he couldn't anymore. He even dance with his Mama. Donnie had nothing to do with all of that except for the cha cha slide, then it was off to play with the other kids. One of the soldiers that work with Donte....we will call him M had us laughing all night long. I swear this guy should be a comedian. He had us rolling.
The next morning we woke up to snow. Oh glorious snow. It had been so long since we had seen that. I hurriedly started the fireplace and started breakfast. It was so nice and cozy. Donte had to run off to training again so P and I made sure that the kids were settled and headed off to the Tanger outlets. I love to shop and just don't get to it often enough these days. After shopping we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the Ball..........
I will finish later that was a lot to post and I have one more post to do....about something so much more precious to me. Here are a few pics in random order...ENJOY
We started out at Dennys where we all met up. Breakfast was full of laughs and eagerness to get on the road. The boys were so excited that they could barely contain themselves.
The whole journey took about 3 hours and we were more than ready to get there. Dontes section were going to be presented with Sabers so we were all there a day ahead. Some other folks were there as well and we ALL had the IMPRESSION that the rooms were going to be paid for. At east that's the info that was given out. Imagine our surprise when the rooms were not paid for and on top of that our lovely battalion didn't update my hubbys Government card info so we couldn't use that. He submitted the changes as soon as we got here ......over 6 months ago. Thankfully the lady at the resort was fabulous. We paid for our room and one of the other soldiers rooms and Faye made sure that we were all near each other on the same floor. It took a while but it was well worth the wait. Not only did she get our rooms together but we were all upgraded, we didn't have rooms we had suites. Whirlpool tubs, full kitchens, living rooms with fireplaces, and a huge king size bed. A little slice of heaven!
The first night we unpacked and P (Famous Daves wife) and I headed out to Wally World and stocked up on frozen pizza, drinks, snacks for the kids, and some fried chicken dinners for the room. Dinner was held in our room and was a blast. It was nice just to hang out and spend some time with some of the people that Donte had been working with for the past 6 months.
The kids were ecstatic because Gary (Famous Daves(FD) son) was there for the weekend as well......all three of the boys share a deep love for anything that has to do with a gaming system. FD has two daughters as well that were there and bless them both for putting up with three boys that love to drive everyone a little nuts.
The next morning Donte was off early to do some training and the boys and I were up getting ready for the day. The boys went across the hall to hang with Gary and the girls while P and I headed off to "sign in and get our packets". Donte had warned me but it was still annoying to see that they had misspelled my name. In fact they had misspelled a lot of names....hmmmmmmmm don't these people have access to DEERS?.....isn't it quite simple to see the correct spelling of names? Whats a girl to do. My badge read Sahnez Slade....sooooo Donte found this the prime opportunity to pick on me......my new IRAQI name is SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhnez. HA HA Donte very funny :0).
P and I gathered lots of info about Tricare, Dental, and all that good stuff. They even had different colleges set up so I decide that I would pick up some info for Donte. I spoke to the college guy for awhile and found out that he actually attends the same YMCA that we go to and that he lives in the same town as us. Small world isn't it.....keep that in mind.....you will see why later. We also found the room that the guys were having their Sabre ceremony that was all very hush hush and we couldn't attend. They didn't account for the peep hole in the door....too bad the ceremony was over and we didn't see a thing....DARN...my timing just sucks :0)
We then met up with D (Mere's very preggo wife) and took all the kids down to the worlds largest indoor water park.....OMG what a blast we did the lazy river, the boys had the time of their lives on the slides and I settled in nicely to the huge hot tub with the waterfall. We had a SPLASH!!! We were not quite ready to go but we had the company party to go to.
We went back to the room and to tell you the truth I really could have used a nap but no such luck we had to get ready. We got dressed and everyone met back in our room again. It was nice to share a few drinks and a tom of laughs before the party even began. I got some great pics of everyone. It's so nice to see that our little station was so well bonded. It actually reminded me of the units in Germany where everybody got along so well. It was like family.
Our company party theme was a luau. We went in and grabbed a table for us and a table for the kids. How nice that they are all old enough to be at their own table.....for them and for us. They started out with the awards and Donte had a clean sweep. The first award that he received was an AAM for getting a 319 on his PT test (they grade on a sliding scale so you can go far beyond what the norm is) you know how physically fit Donte is so this was an achievement that had been a long time coming, he also received an Eagle statue for the best PT score, then he received the MVP award and statue for everything that he has done since he has been here and finally his whole station received the top station award for being as good as they are.....can you tell I'm bursting with pride. We then ate and danced the night away. Daniel as usual was the first one on the dance floor and shook his groove thing until he couldn't anymore. He even dance with his Mama. Donnie had nothing to do with all of that except for the cha cha slide, then it was off to play with the other kids. One of the soldiers that work with Donte....we will call him M had us laughing all night long. I swear this guy should be a comedian. He had us rolling.
The next morning we woke up to snow. Oh glorious snow. It had been so long since we had seen that. I hurriedly started the fireplace and started breakfast. It was so nice and cozy. Donte had to run off to training again so P and I made sure that the kids were settled and headed off to the Tanger outlets. I love to shop and just don't get to it often enough these days. After shopping we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the Ball..........
I will finish later that was a lot to post and I have one more post to do....about something so much more precious to me. Here are a few pics in random order...ENJOY
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Our ATC Adventure is About to Begin.
We are busy getting the last minute things together. One last minute trip to the mall, dinner out......who wants left overs when I have four glorious days of not cooking ahead of me.....and two young boys haircuts behind us......we are on our way. I am tired but excited. I still have a little bit of packing to do....OK a lot of packing to do but I think that it can wait until the morning and we are off. I will fill you in when we get back. :0)
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Dinner Date....Recruiting Style
Last Thursday my husband calls me at around lunch time and says "can you get Jenn to watch the boys? ....and can you go home as soon as the last bell rings?...Make sure to get ready to go out....you know shave your legs and all that fun stuff you do." I was mute for a min because uhhhhhhhh where are we going? We have a dinner to say bye to the commander is my husbands response. We have to leave at 5....does he not realize that I get home at 4 and that I just took my nail polish off this morning because it chipped and that alone would take 30 min to redo? So I hurry and call Jenn about the boys and inform my co-workers that I will be running out as fast as I can this afternoon. They by the way are great and say go home now if you want...but the boys don't release until 1530 so I may as well wait for them.
I finally get home the boys let the dogs out and feed them as I rush to get ready and I think I am doing pretty good. I am dressed, hair done, make up done and its 445. Donte is home getting ready himself. I start to repaint my nails and realize that they will have to dry in the car. I run the boys over to Jenns at 1700 and bless her, she says they can just spend the night if your going to run late. I run back home....in heels and holler up to Donte that I am ready and he says "we can leave at 1730"......are you kidding me? Does he realize how much I rushed?
We finally get in the car and get going. We get to the restauant and go in and there are all of 4 other people there....everyone else is late. WOW I am so used to the military being sticklers about time....I guess in the recruiting world on time is showing up a hour late. That was actually OK with me since we were 15 minutes late anyway.
We had a blast. It was so much fun. It was actually the first of these functions that I didn't leave feeling as if I wanted to never go back. It was at a little cozy chop house that served great drinks. Even though the food left a lot to be desired it didn't make much of a difference at all. We got home a bit late and I had a lttle bit of trouble getting up the next morning but oh was it worth it.
I only hope that ATC goes as well.
I finally get home the boys let the dogs out and feed them as I rush to get ready and I think I am doing pretty good. I am dressed, hair done, make up done and its 445. Donte is home getting ready himself. I start to repaint my nails and realize that they will have to dry in the car. I run the boys over to Jenns at 1700 and bless her, she says they can just spend the night if your going to run late. I run back home....in heels and holler up to Donte that I am ready and he says "we can leave at 1730"......are you kidding me? Does he realize how much I rushed?
We finally get in the car and get going. We get to the restauant and go in and there are all of 4 other people there....everyone else is late. WOW I am so used to the military being sticklers about time....I guess in the recruiting world on time is showing up a hour late. That was actually OK with me since we were 15 minutes late anyway.
We had a blast. It was so much fun. It was actually the first of these functions that I didn't leave feeling as if I wanted to never go back. It was at a little cozy chop house that served great drinks. Even though the food left a lot to be desired it didn't make much of a difference at all. We got home a bit late and I had a lttle bit of trouble getting up the next morning but oh was it worth it.
I only hope that ATC goes as well.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
This recruiting life is starting to grow on us. It's really not that bad. In the past there was always a worry about is he going to deploy? When is the company going to the field? You all that live the military life know exactly what I am talking about. Yes the hours are long at times but I warm my feet on his feet every night with no looming thoughts of when hes going to deploy. Now I don't think that we could have survived 10 years ago in the recruiting lifestyle but we are definitely a stronger couple and can deal with the issues that arise. I am growing accoustom to the civilian surroundings that we have. No PX, Commissary or fellow spouse right at hand but I have met some really great people here and we are all starting to feel like we are at home. ATC is coming up and it should be a fun experience. I haven't bothered with a ball in years. The great news is that Dontes Company had the most recruits so they will be presented with sabers at ATC. They are really a good bunch of people that have blended into a well oiled machine. I consider us lucky because I have heard horror stories about some of the companies and the situations that have arisen.
I finally have some spare time today. The boys and I are off and just having one of those lazy days. Its FREEZING outside 34 degrees to be exact. We are still in our PJ's and enjoying every moment of it. The boys are down the hall playing and I am back in bed under my down comforter "catching" up on the 1001 tasks that I have been neglecting.......ummmm yes this blog is one of those tasks. So lets see what have we been up too.
The boys got their report cards last week and I am happy to report that Daniel got straight A's and Donnie got 2 B's and the rest A's. I am so proud of my little men. They have phenomenal teachers and the school is great!! It's such a difference from any school that they have gone to before. Remember that there is only a handful of military around here so essentially we are in the civilian world and I love it. They have so many resources at their finger tips. The teachers are the greatest asset. What a great group of people. I am so blessed to work with them.
We are gearing up for ATC. We will be gone for about 5 days. I am looking forward to this in a strange way. I will keep you posted.
Halloween was a blast. I am so used to trick or treating at around 6 but here it starts at 4.....It was strange to do it all with the sun shining on you but it was chilly and I was glad to go in when it was all said and done. This year the boys wanted to be scary. I miss my little pea in the pod and rubber ducky. They grow up so fast. They did ride their scooters though. I am dreading the day that they say "I'm too old to trick or treat" although I do realize that it is coming up fast.
Along with the cold weather comes comfort food. Yup tis the season to eat right? Well I have been working out and changing my habits. I have lost 40 lbs and am enjoying life so much more. I still eat the same things but in a different way. I am still sticking to it and plan to through the holidays. It's just harder because I am cooking so many sinful delights for everyone else. I made an awesome pot of homemade chicken and dumplings the night before last....ummmm ummmmm good. I froze some of the broth before I thickened it so if one of us gets sick we can have some good wholesome soup. I am going to bake cookies with the boys today as soon as I get up and get us bundled up enough to go to the store and get all the ingredients. I do love to cook and am so glad that I have the schedule that allows me to do so again. Not only does cooking act as a stress reliever for me but we are eating so much better than we were. I don't care what anyone says eating out is just plain bad to do when you are doing it all the time. We go about once a week. I should start posting my recipes.....let me know if you want me to. Most of the things that I make are from scratch but none are very hard to do.
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