One week down...

And only a couple dozen plus some to go. If this pace continues this will be all done & over with before we know it.

(Semi) Heaven

On thing I do not have to worry about during this deployment is taking care of the yard (front & back). The Pilot hired the neighbors gardener to do ours while he's gone. Today is their first day on the job. They mowed, weed whacked, blow & raked. I think they will also do all or some of taking care of the beds. I know the head guy puts fertilizer down. Speaking of, I really need to go out later when it warms up & cut the rose blooms off to put in a vase. I always wanted rose bushes. Now we have like 10 (no exaggeration). A few in the front & a bunch in the back; all different. I can't stand them, lol. They are pretty, but too much work for someone with out a green thumb. If we didn't have an automatic sprinkler system (very common out here) I would never water them. I want to rip out the ones in the front & replace them with something else. Can you replant rose bushes?? I have a few ideas, but I am not sure if they are good plants/flowers for out front. Need to research since spring is arriving soon. There are some drive thru nursery's around the area. I went to one 2 summers ago. I got a ton of Lavender & a few other items. I might do that again. I really like the lavender I planted in our last place. Easy to care for. I didn't do anything last summer because I wanted to see what all we had going on here.

Oh, where I was originally going with this post. What would be the ultimate whip cream & cherry on top to the gardener? I poop picker upper! A good friend of mine & a fellow pilot's wifey passed along a gift certificate for a free trial. Her dog won it in a Halloween costume contest. They had no use for it since they moved clear across the country a short few weeks later. I so need to call & try them out. I also get coupons in the mail for another (?? Maybe the same) company. I can schedule them to come right before the gardeners get here. I picked up yesterday evening before it got dark, but I am sure there was a few presents out there this morning from last night & early this morning. I'm sorry, but with 2 little ones, it being cold here in the am & not to mention too early, I am not going to pick poo up before they get here. That would be an awesome trick to teach the dogs to do. I'll let you all know if I figure that one out, lol.

I've labeled this weekend as "cleaning out the fridge". In other words I am not cooking. I think we have enough left overs to get us through. Wednesday night I did home made fried chicken, mashed potatoes & green beans. Last night was a ham steak with our secret sauce/seasoning & left over egg noodles. Tonight I will have Tootie help make a pizza.

Speaking of Tootie, he's becoming such a little man. Well he always has been, but it's just getting out of control. Besides helping me cook, I discovered that he can also set the table. Now it's not the best job & I wouldn't have him do it if we were having guests over, but for everydayness, it was pretty good. He knew to put a napkin at each of our spots & that a set of silverware (well we only needed a fork that night) needed to be at each spot, too. Another chore to add to his list!

Off to start the day. My goal today is to finish getting our bedroom put totally back together. I need to go through my clothes & see what I can get rid off.

Breakfast for dinner

That's what we had for dinner for tonight. I made eggs, sausage & biscuits.

I mailed the Pilot a Valentines box today. I some how crammed a ton of things into one of those flat rate boxes. I was very proud how much I got in there & still could close it all the way. There is a new box coming out in March. Here are the stats: Dimensions: 12x12x6, Domestic rate: $12.95, APO/FPO rate: $10.95. The lady at the post office wasn't even aware of this new box yet.

There's not much to talk about today. I'm considering going back to teaching at least part time next school year. Hopefully in the same classroom I had last school year. I think I have to make a decision very soon. I'm also thinking about maybe taking on a tutoring job while the Pilot is gone. Just something to pass time with & get me out of the house. Well see what happens. I filled out an application for the tutoring. Thursday I am interviewing a nanny if I go back. I need to come up with a list of questions for her.

The Pilot

He's made it to his final destination safely. He says there are some internet issues they are working out. I will work on getting his e-mail address to everyone. Just don't expect a quick reply.

I eat like a kid... I will admit it, too!

I was trying to think the other day of what I ate while the Pilot was away on his last deployment. Honestly, I'm not sure. I could come up with a few meals, but how did I survive the 7 months. It's not that I can't cook. I can. I just cook differently when he's gone. I have certain meals I enjoy that he really doesn't care for much. Two I can think of are Chicken Paprikas (a Hungarian meal) & meatloaf. I get my fill while he's gone & I am good to go for a while. Last deployment Tootie was 2 months to 9 months. Well now he's 2 & eats what ever we eat. The Pilot always says I eat like a kid, too. I can do hot dogs & beans or breakfast for dinner. I live this up while he's gone, too. Why should I could this big meal? It's just me & a toddler. I can only eat left overs of a certain meal for so long. Tonight I made Mac & Cheese Lasagna. Tootie inhaled his. I like quick & easy meals. He also enjoyed helping me make it. I let him pour, stir & sprinkle. We have enough left overs for 2 meals. So maybe lunch tomorrow & dinner Wednesday night? I do know that on Friday is going to be pizza night. So I have 3 nights left in between to come up with something.

I started attempting to do taxes tonight. I have a feeling I am still missing a piece of paper work or 2. I might leave it be until the weekend. That gives the mailman the next few days to deliver the stragglers. This is my first attempt at doing taxes completely myself. Things are completely different this year than in the past. We have a new dependant (easy) & we now own a house (giving me a headache on top of the investments). Another note to self... don't try doing the taxes while the kids are up running around & screeching. That could be part of the headache.

We officially survived one weekend of this deployment. Only a hundred billion more to go. Ok, that was a HUGE exaggeration. I was talking to a friend the other day & mentioned how the number of weeks he will be gone seem easier to grasp than the number of months. The weeks number is like 3 times bigger than the months. I think it's because each week I can cross off seems to make the number go down faster then being able to cross off a month at a time. So far the days seem to be speeding by. Well at least the hours in each day. I have a count down for the whole thing but it's a drag at this point to look at. Not really worth looking at until we get to the half way mark. So to make that time go faster I am making a list of other items to count down along the way. Just like marking the weeks off, I can mark off the countdowns & see that list gets smaller. Some of you might not get the point of this, but I know a few of you do. You do what ever you can to keep your head up.

The dogs have been pretty good so far. I just can't wait for it to get warm again. Then I can leave the back door open & then can go in & out as they wish. For now they are just driving me nuts wanting in & out every 5 minutes (& that's not an exaggeration either!). I working on getting the kids back on a schedule. I have a daytime one,but while the Pilot was home there wasn't much of one. Tootie would have that time to hang out with his daddy & Princess just hung out downstairs until we went to bed (she'd fall asleep before that). Tootie is fine with or with out one. I'm doing it mainly for my sanity. I'm trying to get dinner on the table for us at a decent time. When the Pilot was home we tended to eat later because he wouldn't get home from work until after 6:30. I want Tootie to have some down time or play time (anything!) after he eats & before he goes to bed. So I'm thinking baths around 7/7:30pm, story time & bed by 8/8:30.

It's getting late here. I have a little cleaning I need to do before I go to bed. Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Our (non) super bowl party

I will out right admit that I only watch maybe 5 minutes of the super bowl. Instead I took the opportunity to catch up on some shows we had DVR'd. I did, how ever, have some finger foods for Tootie & I to eat. I made wings & we had grapes, crackers, cheese & for dessert we had red velvet cupcakes I made earlier in the day. We had our own party of sorts.

What a rainy day it's been. In fact it's still raining. Lately it's been raining all weekend & then the week days are sunny & warm. Today Tootie took the opportunity to let himself out in the back yard to do a little dance in the puddles & then run around like a mad man. It was a hilarious sight to see. I let him run himself tired & then bribed him back in with a warm bath (much better then the cold rain). I need to get him a cute rain coat & rain boots set.