The Weather Outside is Frightful...But...

Well, I just stood outside for about 30 seconds and took a nice look around and a BIIIIIG deep breath. It's about 12 degrees outside and the ice and snow is frozen on the barren tree limbs. It's brighter outside at 10:15 than it was at 5:30. There's this other-worldly feel to my neighborhood because of the white that is blanketed and frozen over everything and it's sooo quiet! It makes me want to sing, "...walking in a Winter Wonderland".

I gotta say that I've never been that appreciative of the winter. I hate being so cold that your stomach feels like you've just done a hundred crunches. I really dislike frozen toes, which seems to be my plight no matter which flippin' boots I buy or how thick my damn socks! I also get pretty annoyed with my boys' cold weather gear ALL over my house! Don't get me started on driving with icy roads, that's become a nightmare for me!

Having said all that tonight makes it all seem so magical. I'm giddy with all the white and absolutely thrilled with the prospect of making snow angles tomorrow! From the icicles hanging down from my eves to the absolute awe on my kids' faces each morning, I'm just a twitter with joy! The landscape has changed every day since Saturday and it has me so excited for this holiday season. I was actually singing along with the dreaded Christmas music in the car last night! If you don't think that's a miracle, ask my husband about my usual four-letter-word pontifications on how I usually loathe the outdated and overplayed jingles!

To add to my winter drunkedness, the boys received a letter from Santa today! It had their names on it, was post marked "North Pole" and had a reference to us being in Mobile for Christmas! The looks on their faces just about knocked me out!!

Bliss!!!!

...and we're expecting more snow tonight!

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

So Craig and I were invited to a friends house for Thanksgiving. Awesome, I say. We hosted Turkey day the last 2 years so I was thrilled to not have to cook, clean and obsess about the tablecloth, placecards, enough food, enough room, everyone's favorite drink, etc. So part of not having to host is also not having to get up at the butt-crack of dawn to prep and cook.

There we were, sleeping in and enjoying lazing around Thursday morning. My hubby debating with me if we had enough time to enjoy our coffee, prepare our sweet potato casserole and still have mind blowing sex. I told him we didn't have enough time, so he proceeds to tickle me and goof off in bed, trying to persuade me, fun right? Well, get this...he is now at the part where he claims he can lift me up in the air off of him, and I'm fighting him telling him I'm too damn fat and old for those kind of antics.

He's lifting me up and my hands grasp the headboard over his head, my legs up in the air behind me, his hands at my hips "trying to find my center of gravity" when my 7-year-old marches in and says, "Hey, a giant clam!" I thought I'd just die. First of all, don't be gross, my jammies were on, and secondly he has no idea about that euphamism. He just saw that the two of us looked like a giant clam, hinged at the headboard. However, I laughed for about 5 minutes straight and was worried for a second there that I just might pee my pants a little. For the rest of the day Craig called me GC (Giant Clam)!

Here's hoping your Thanksgiving was as fun-filled as mine!

I Loveit I Loveit I LLLooooveit!!!

You know Molly Shannon's character Helen Madden? She's a joyologist and is fond of saying, "Iloveit, Iloveit Iloooooveit!!! Well, it makes me so happy to see that skit! I bought the best of Molly Shannon for that and for her Sally O'Malley number (I'm 50..5--0!). That woman is a comic genious and cracks me up! So, here's my form of joyology going out to all of you on this fine fall Monday!


I love retired military dudes. This last week I went to the local VFW to help bake cookies. The local vets put together Christmas care packages for Montanans who are deployed. They even bake cookies for the local guys who are out in the field.These old guys are hilarious. They tease you upon meeting you, which always brings a smile to my face. They harass each other relentlessly all the while doing something nice for people they don't even know. Did I mention that most of these guys are about 75 and above? They served their country and are now volunteering their time for our troops abroad. I love them!




I love giving things to my son Sam. Not that I don't love giving stuff to the other boys, but it's all in the reaction. When you give something to Sam he says, "FOR ME?!?!" He gets so excited and is so thrilled to have whatever it is. He has the same reaction for a new pair of slippers as he would for a coveted toy! It's awesome! Also, he has the best Christmas list ever!

1. A plastic goat
2. Snapping teeth
3. Googlie eye glasses
4. Robo pet

I asked him why he wanted a plastic goat and he said, "Because I don't have one!" Duh!

I love the smell outside when there's a chill in the air, and someone has a wood burning stove on. The crisp autumn air was so awesome last night. When I came in I left the screen open to let the cool air and wood smell inside. Good smells like that always make me happy.

I love holiday baking. I don't like to bake in the general sense. Baking for me is relegated to the holidays. I have some pretty incredible memories of being in the kitchen and making family favorites while my mom gave me instructions. Now Craig and I bake together and give goodies away to friends and neighbors. Even though it's labor intensive, it's one of my favorite things about the holidays.

I love the way I feel after I've worked out. I'm a procrastinator and not an incredibly self-motivated person, either. Getting to the gym is not always on the top of my list of priorities, even though it should be because I feel like a million bucks after I've had a good work out. I'm always so proud of myself because, although I grew up playing sports, I never really enjoyed running or lifting weights. Now, I love it. I just need to work on the motivation to get there.


Well, there you have it. I wanted to share some positive thoughts! I'm trying to put some positive karma out there as my birthday and the New Year approach. I've had a lot of happiness in my life this year; I want to keep it going. So spread the wealth people. Throw out some joy into the world, hopefully it will come back and slap you in the ass! Maybe all that happiness will give you a joy wedgie...you should be so lucky!!!

A Patriots' Confession

In my mind I've wanted to create a post about the current political climate and my role in it. Unfortunately, I don't think I have the intelligence to fully articulate my feelings. Please bear with me.

As I was running yesterday in a 5K for Veterans, I was thinking to myself, "What the hell does running this 5K have anything to do with Veterans?" Listening to the cadence of my footfalls I said a short prayer for those serving our country abroad. I thought about how much I wished our troops could just come home. I thought about how I would feel if Craig had to be deployed. I thought about how angry I would be to know he was over there "fighting terrorism" and there seemed to be no light at the end of that tunnel. I suppose that answered my own question about the purpose of the run. It was great to see the military members who ran to support their comrades.

Okay, here comes the political part. I was raised by a conservative republican dad who was a fighter pilot in the Air Force. He's very right winged where as my mom was more or less an "independent" who later registered republican so she could vote in the primary. She was raised by a man who was a union steward for the railroad. I think in her heart she was a democrat. Well, when it came time for me to register to vote at 18, I registered republican, wanting to make my parents proud, but also not understanding much except that the current president was republican.

Don't start throwing rotten tomatoes at me. I thought I was doing the right thing. Now that I'm older, I'm not even remotely sure what the right thing is in the political arena. I know that when given the choice between Bush and Kerry, I was really stumped. The choice was equally bad!! I guess I thought that Bush should finish what he started in the Gulf and clean up his mess. Now with the recent Supreme Court nominations, I see where my choice was so egregiously flawed.

Being a military spouse I see politics in a very confusing light. I see a large group of people who are fervent patriots, who wouldn't say a bad thing about the administration because they see it as treason. I see many who serve and don't even understand the depth of what to serve means. I see religious zealots who think nothing morally of what it means to be a nuclear officer. Does that make any sense? This base is a missile base. That means that currently Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles are our main mission. We train to launch these missiles and work to be the fighting force of nuclear deterrents to the rest of the world.

I've had many discussions with my husband regarding the moral implications of his job and training, what it means to me, our children. I've talked about how it floors me that most other's in my position look at me like I've grown a third eye when I talk about that issue in terms of, "how does it make you feel to know that your husband is trained to destroy the world as we know it?"

I live with a guy who thinks that although he would never burn the flag that doing just that might be one of the most democratic things you can do. That is showing that we are so free we can destroy the symbol of our country without repercussions. He says, "I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death to give you the freedom to say it!" I know he didn't make that up, but he believes it with his whole heart. That's one of the things I love and admire about him.

So that's the dirty secret I carry. I'm a republican. I really feel shame about George W. Bush being our president. I feel let down and misguided. I feel so conflicted about the war in Iraq. I never supported the idea of going over there. I DID know from the beginning that it was wrong. But now I feel like we have no choice but to stay and clean up the mess that we've made. Each and every day I hope and pray our troops will soon return. This month our base will loose a large number of troops to a deployment in the Middle East. I know these guys. I know their wives and kids. They will be gone through the holidays and be put in harms way to help the "war on terror". I am saddened that maybe I had something to do with their departure. I'm ashamed because I'm glad my husband doesn't have to go.

It seems that the worse thing about the current administration is that it has made proud, voting Americans shameful of being American and not want to vote. It's ironic that bringing democracy to the Middle East is one of the administrations objectives when they can't even instill civic pride and decrease voter apathy in our own country.

HMMPPH!!

There are some things that just bug me. Here's a list of misused words that make my teeth itch:

1. Irregardless
2. Supposuvly
3. Fustrated

Here are some random occurences that bug me:

1. People who order massive amounts of stuff in the drive-thru
2. When parents insist on comparing kids grades and test scores in a battle of "my kid's better than yours"
3. Giving kids trophies for playing sports in which you don't even keep score just for participating
4. Bureaucracy in getting stuff done. You know when you're trying to do something proactive and some sort of rule, process or agenda keeps you from accomplishing your objective?
5. Military spouses that think they hold the rank of the military member.

Fashion trends that are abhorant:

1. The thong
2. butt cleavage
3. low low rise jeans
4. when something's labeled "retro" and I wore it at one time
5. clothes with cut outs
6. the showing mid-drift (especially if the mid drift shower is sporting rolls of any kind)
7. the obsession with fake tanning

Lastly, and probably my biggest flaw is that I also can't stand stupid people. I find that stupid people are everywhere and they suck! Like the lady at the movie theater yesterday who was trying to "help" and ended jacking up the order because she was among the stupid. If she would've just backed the fuck off and let the person who had originally taken our order just finish things up, everything would've been peachy.

I know how dusgruntled I sound, but I'm just in that kind of mood. I just got off the phone with my son's teacher who is a very nice lady, but she delivered info that was totally unhelpful. It seems the whole school system doesn't want to help. I find myself so extremely frustrated and angry because I thought, in my own arrogance, that I knew the school system and I would able to get his educational needs met. I'm not sure where to go from here, but I'm going to keep at it because I'll be damned if I'll let this particular bureaucracy discourage me!!!!