Today was another pretty great day. Our Christmas decorations are mostly up and we watched a great movie together. Kung Fu Panda is awesome! My son was insane today but I'm hoping it was just the excitement. He can be hyper but this was insane. It made me feel like screaming. At one point I just put him in his room so I could have a few minutes of peace.
So for a first today we had a little snow. It wasn't much at all but when you were on a tropical island for three years and are used to decorating your tree in 80 degree weather, it was really nice. Definitely felt more Christmas like.
Nothing more to add. Just had a good day.
Thanksgiving is usually a holiday I look at and wonder what horrible thing is going to happen or what illness am I going to have. For me, Thanksgiving generally involves some level of misery. Here's a recap:
1999: I was pregnant and was so sick I could hardly stand it.
2000: I was pregnant again and a week away from my son being born. I had high blood pressure so I wasn't allowed to eat very much, not that I could have anyway. I ended up sleeping the day away.
2001: I had a bad cold but otherwise it was a decent day.
2002: I had the flu.
2003: I had some raging infection that gave me a fever of 103.7. I refused to go to the doctor and ended up in the emergency room a week later with pneumonia.
2004: I ended up having a flare up of female problems and spent the afternoon trying not to black out on my mother in law's couch.
2005: My husband was leaving for Iraq in a week and I had just gotten over a breast cancer scare. At the time I had an open wound where the biopsy site had gotten infected and spent the afternoon in acute care to get the dressing changed.
2006: I spent the day with my sister and her boyfriend and his incredibly racist,bigoted dad being treated like I had the plague or something because I didn't share his views. I was also kind of bummed because it was my first Thanksgiving without my husband and my son was really feeling it. The highlight of the day was that we got to go swimming. That was a lot of fun.
2007: Ok this one wasn't horrible but it wasn't great. My sister had chosen to have thanksgiving with her friends and that hurt a little but I was really happy that my husband was home. We didn't do anything. I cooked a little something and everything came out badly so I wasn't thrilled. I was healthy so that was a plus.
So you can see why I am apprehensive about Thanksgiving. My husband ended up having to work all morning but I still was ok. I had just planned on cooking a whole turkey breast and they don't take nearly as long so it was fine. Thankfully it turned out to be the best Thanksgiving I have had in a long time and some memories were made that will last a life time.
My son was so excited about Thanksgiving this year. In our house, Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for all the blessings we have had over the past year. He loved that and even wrote a song about it. Originally I was planning to make a gumbo but then he got it in his head that he had to have all of the thanksgiving food. Somehow I ended up being tricked into turkey, stuffing, potatoes, green beans, gravy, and pumpkin pie. Now I'm not a pumpkin pie fan but my son really wanted to try one so we just got a small one for him to try. The big selling point on making the meal was that he was so excited. It made it easy to get into the spirit. He even said he'd try everything which is a major big deal.
As expected he woke up hyper and excited. I cooked the pie and cornbread for my stuffing while we watched the parade. He kept running back and forth between the parade and the cartoons he had on in his bedroom. It reminded me of when I was a kid and did the same thing. He spoke to most of my family as we made our morning calls and excitedly told them all about how great his thanksgiving was going to be. My husband came home and we started the turkey. My son and husband peeled and cut potatoes for the mashed potatoes and I finished putting the stuffing together (I had stuffed my turkey with onion and carrots) and got the veggies done. Before we knew it dinner was on the table and it looked awesome. I have to say the turkey was pretty good and the stuffing was AMAZING! We stuffed ourselves and then just vegged out for the rest of the day. We had so much fun. For the record, my son loved everything with the exception of the Pumpkin Pie. I can't say that I blame him and my husband said this one had a weird texture so that makes it even more understandable that he didn't like it. The cute moments were watching my son have fun helping us make some of the food and listening to him talk about all the different great things that excited him. It was really great.
This morning has continued the wonderful memories. We woke to a mix of snow and rain which was cool since we aren't used to snow any more. My son voluntarily swept and mopped the kitchen. As I type this, my son is cleaning up some of the toys he has in the living room and my husband is putting our Christmas tree together. For the record this is the first day after thanksgiving since we've been together that he hasn't had to work. I plan on having a wonderful lunch of leftovers and we will decorate the tree then watch kung fu panda. Tomorrow we are going to drag out the rest of the decorations and watch Ironman. Sunday is the little guys birthday so we will do whatever he wants with the exception of church in the morning. I'm really loving this weekend.
1999: I was pregnant and was so sick I could hardly stand it.
2000: I was pregnant again and a week away from my son being born. I had high blood pressure so I wasn't allowed to eat very much, not that I could have anyway. I ended up sleeping the day away.
2001: I had a bad cold but otherwise it was a decent day.
2002: I had the flu.
2003: I had some raging infection that gave me a fever of 103.7. I refused to go to the doctor and ended up in the emergency room a week later with pneumonia.
2004: I ended up having a flare up of female problems and spent the afternoon trying not to black out on my mother in law's couch.
2005: My husband was leaving for Iraq in a week and I had just gotten over a breast cancer scare. At the time I had an open wound where the biopsy site had gotten infected and spent the afternoon in acute care to get the dressing changed.
2006: I spent the day with my sister and her boyfriend and his incredibly racist,bigoted dad being treated like I had the plague or something because I didn't share his views. I was also kind of bummed because it was my first Thanksgiving without my husband and my son was really feeling it. The highlight of the day was that we got to go swimming. That was a lot of fun.
2007: Ok this one wasn't horrible but it wasn't great. My sister had chosen to have thanksgiving with her friends and that hurt a little but I was really happy that my husband was home. We didn't do anything. I cooked a little something and everything came out badly so I wasn't thrilled. I was healthy so that was a plus.
So you can see why I am apprehensive about Thanksgiving. My husband ended up having to work all morning but I still was ok. I had just planned on cooking a whole turkey breast and they don't take nearly as long so it was fine. Thankfully it turned out to be the best Thanksgiving I have had in a long time and some memories were made that will last a life time.
My son was so excited about Thanksgiving this year. In our house, Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for all the blessings we have had over the past year. He loved that and even wrote a song about it. Originally I was planning to make a gumbo but then he got it in his head that he had to have all of the thanksgiving food. Somehow I ended up being tricked into turkey, stuffing, potatoes, green beans, gravy, and pumpkin pie. Now I'm not a pumpkin pie fan but my son really wanted to try one so we just got a small one for him to try. The big selling point on making the meal was that he was so excited. It made it easy to get into the spirit. He even said he'd try everything which is a major big deal.
As expected he woke up hyper and excited. I cooked the pie and cornbread for my stuffing while we watched the parade. He kept running back and forth between the parade and the cartoons he had on in his bedroom. It reminded me of when I was a kid and did the same thing. He spoke to most of my family as we made our morning calls and excitedly told them all about how great his thanksgiving was going to be. My husband came home and we started the turkey. My son and husband peeled and cut potatoes for the mashed potatoes and I finished putting the stuffing together (I had stuffed my turkey with onion and carrots) and got the veggies done. Before we knew it dinner was on the table and it looked awesome. I have to say the turkey was pretty good and the stuffing was AMAZING! We stuffed ourselves and then just vegged out for the rest of the day. We had so much fun. For the record, my son loved everything with the exception of the Pumpkin Pie. I can't say that I blame him and my husband said this one had a weird texture so that makes it even more understandable that he didn't like it. The cute moments were watching my son have fun helping us make some of the food and listening to him talk about all the different great things that excited him. It was really great.
This morning has continued the wonderful memories. We woke to a mix of snow and rain which was cool since we aren't used to snow any more. My son voluntarily swept and mopped the kitchen. As I type this, my son is cleaning up some of the toys he has in the living room and my husband is putting our Christmas tree together. For the record this is the first day after thanksgiving since we've been together that he hasn't had to work. I plan on having a wonderful lunch of leftovers and we will decorate the tree then watch kung fu panda. Tomorrow we are going to drag out the rest of the decorations and watch Ironman. Sunday is the little guys birthday so we will do whatever he wants with the exception of church in the morning. I'm really loving this weekend.
This week looks to be an interesting one. I get to spend some time with my guys later in the week. I get to cook my second turkey ever...ok so a whole turkey breast. We aren't dark meat people. My baby will turn 8 later in the week. Christmas season in Kansas begins. Just a lot of things.
Thanksgiving is going to be nice and very different this year. We honestly have no traditions. When we lived in SC we always went to the inlaws. When we lived in Hawaii we were either with my sister or just did nothing. This year we couldn't really go anywhere and I wasn't planning on cooking big. Honestly, I had just wanted to cook some gumbo or something and have some kind of desert for the guys. A few days ago my son started talking really seriously about thanksgiving. We talked all about how it is a time to remember what we are really thankful for. He got all excited about that and wrote a "thankful" song. He then got started on the meal part of excited. Started talking about making a pumpkin pie and he's never had one before. He kept going on and on about pumpkin pie and stuffing and having a fun dinner so now I'm cooking. He is going to help me cook and has said he will try everything which is honestly a really big deal for him. The funny part is I went from dreading the idea of cooking to getting a little excited about it. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Another big thing is that my little man is turning 8 later this week. I can't believe that it was 8 years ago he was in my belly not letting me eat or sleep. I was hugging on him today and told him he had to stop growing up and he told me " I know, but I can't" and then hugged me. I know that I'm going to cry at least once on his birthday. He has given me so much and I have no idea what I would do without him. It's so scary to think that one person has that much impact on your life. I honestly believe that I could eventually be ok if something happened to my husband but, if something ever happened to my son, I don't think I'd survive it. Just really scary to me.
Enough reflecting. I need to go to bed I guess. Hopefully at some point I will be able to shut my brain up.
Thanksgiving is going to be nice and very different this year. We honestly have no traditions. When we lived in SC we always went to the inlaws. When we lived in Hawaii we were either with my sister or just did nothing. This year we couldn't really go anywhere and I wasn't planning on cooking big. Honestly, I had just wanted to cook some gumbo or something and have some kind of desert for the guys. A few days ago my son started talking really seriously about thanksgiving. We talked all about how it is a time to remember what we are really thankful for. He got all excited about that and wrote a "thankful" song. He then got started on the meal part of excited. Started talking about making a pumpkin pie and he's never had one before. He kept going on and on about pumpkin pie and stuffing and having a fun dinner so now I'm cooking. He is going to help me cook and has said he will try everything which is honestly a really big deal for him. The funny part is I went from dreading the idea of cooking to getting a little excited about it. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Another big thing is that my little man is turning 8 later this week. I can't believe that it was 8 years ago he was in my belly not letting me eat or sleep. I was hugging on him today and told him he had to stop growing up and he told me " I know, but I can't" and then hugged me. I know that I'm going to cry at least once on his birthday. He has given me so much and I have no idea what I would do without him. It's so scary to think that one person has that much impact on your life. I honestly believe that I could eventually be ok if something happened to my husband but, if something ever happened to my son, I don't think I'd survive it. Just really scary to me.
Enough reflecting. I need to go to bed I guess. Hopefully at some point I will be able to shut my brain up.
Most people have at least one phobia and some people have what seems to be a never ending supply of them. I can honestly say that I have two. One of them I have had for so long I don't remember when it started. I am claustrophobic. I know there are people who are more so than I am but it is still definitely there. My second phobia is one that I have no idea where it came from or when it even started. Hawaii is where I first remember it showing up but I don't know why it would pick there to start. All I know is that right now it threatens to drive me a little insane.
What is this thing that can stop me dead in my tracks and apparently induce panic attacks in a grown woman? A mouse. No matter how tiny it is the second one is mentioned I start getting jittery and hearing noises where there are none. I see one and that's it. I'm frozen. So what shows up in our nice new home, a mouse. I had seen pest control at my neighbors (we live in a duplex)earlier in the week but I didn't think much of it. They have lived here longer and our place was sprayed right before we moved in. Now I'm wondering if this isn't why he was there. You can bet your butt I will be calling Monday to try and gt one out here. Now I know it's a part of life, especially in colder weather, but it's a part of life I can do without. When I saw the mouse last night I spent the entire evening in a state of panic. I couldn't force myself to move off the couch and seriously felt like I was going to be sick. I ended up having a panic attack. We put poison down. If you are into humane things, sorry. At least it's not one of those horrible traps. I just can't handle it. Does that make me a big baby?
What is this thing that can stop me dead in my tracks and apparently induce panic attacks in a grown woman? A mouse. No matter how tiny it is the second one is mentioned I start getting jittery and hearing noises where there are none. I see one and that's it. I'm frozen. So what shows up in our nice new home, a mouse. I had seen pest control at my neighbors (we live in a duplex)earlier in the week but I didn't think much of it. They have lived here longer and our place was sprayed right before we moved in. Now I'm wondering if this isn't why he was there. You can bet your butt I will be calling Monday to try and gt one out here. Now I know it's a part of life, especially in colder weather, but it's a part of life I can do without. When I saw the mouse last night I spent the entire evening in a state of panic. I couldn't force myself to move off the couch and seriously felt like I was going to be sick. I ended up having a panic attack. We put poison down. If you are into humane things, sorry. At least it's not one of those horrible traps. I just can't handle it. Does that make me a big baby?
So many times I've started to come back and post but I never really had anything I felt needed to be said. Other times I would have loved to come back for a place to let the frustration out but the words wouldn't come. I'm finding myself needing somewhere to go where I don't have to worry if I am bugging someone or where I can say everything I want all at once. This seemed like as good a place as any. It certainly worked before.
So here's what's been going on in my life since February.
My sister got married. This of course required a very expensive trip along with the expenses of having someone in the wedding as well as doing the photography..for free. It ended up not being a great wedding at all. She terms it as a disaster and I'm inclined to agree. She is married though and is pregnant with her second child. She moved in July from Hawaii to Florida and we are actually getting along really well. She mellowed out a lot.
My husband switched positions in Hawaii which allowed us a few months of him actually not having to go anywhere. We managed to celebrate our 9th anniversary together though we didn't get to do much. It was still nice to have him home.
Most of the time between May and September was spent ferrying myself and my son back and forth to doctors appointments and getting ready for our move. Right before we moved my son was diagnosed with ADHD and Autistic Disorder with mild symptoms. I guess that means the same as saying he is high functioning. We put him on a stimulant for the ADHD after much consideration and it has helped him so much in school. He only takes it on school days or when he has some function where he really needs to be calm and focused.
We've moved from Hawaii to Kansas in what I consider the move from hell. It was pretty much ruled by Murphy's law and started with me losing my engagement ring the morning we cleared housing. After all those times it fell off at the beach and I found it, I lose it in a house that has absolutely nothing in it except for the few suitcases we are taking with us. All I can figure is it fell in a box we gave to charity or it went down the toilet. all that matters is it's gone. We spent three days in a really nice Navy Lodge and spent most of it worrying about money. We hadn't gotten the advance we were supposed to and were paying for everything out of pocket so it was not fun. We left Hawaii with 100 dollars and no idea how we were going to pay for everything on the Kansas side. It didn't really get any better and we ended up having to borrow money to make it but we got through and eventually our money came in.We had trouble getting to St. Louis MO to get our car and ended up having an accident with the rental car. Nothing major, just backed into a flatbed trailer that was parked in the road. It was definitely just another one of those things. It took us longer than expected to find a place to live but we ended up with a nice duplex off post. We really like it and the only thing I wish was different about the area is that they would hurry up and finish the two houses they are building right around us. The biggest bonus is that we live directly across the street from the school so there is no transportation issues with getting the little guy to school.
School here has been very interesting. Instead of putting him in a self contained classroom they put him in a regular second grade class. He was working on a first grade level in Hawaii because they are so far behind here and this new school is actually more advanced than most other schools in the state so he had great challenges going into it. I'm happy to say that he is doing really well. There were issues with under staffing and him not getting what he needed at first but it's been resolved. He is catching up a lot more quickly than any of us thought he would and he absolutely loves his class. I'm having to work with him a lot more outside of school but I am really liking it. It gives me a chance to see what he can really do and now that I know what was causing all of the communication struggles it's much easier to work around it. It's still a struggle some days but it's so worth it. It has ruled out me working anywhere that will not let me be home when he is. At least until he is caught up with his grade level and that could take a while.
Now for me. I have been unhappy with this move. Mainly because it went so badly but also because I really miss Hawaii. I miss the culture and the beauty and the people. I miss my friends and right now I really miss the weather. The cold is not as easy to adjust to as I thought it would be. It is causing problems physically that no one warned me about but then again I don't think it's something my doctor thought about. My face seems to have gotten worse in the cold. I know the pain part has but the actual paralysis seems more marked. I can actually look in the mirror some days and see it. It's no where near where it was when I first got the palsy but it is enough to be a little depressing. It's been almost three years and I just want it gone. I am in the process of getting things done so I can have weight loss surgery here since it went so wrong in Hawaii. I was telling the people here about the program in Hawaii and they couldn't believe how crazy it sounded. Once I can get a referral from my doctor then it shouldn't take more than three months for them to get me in surgery. I'm excited but at the same time I'm worried because I just found out that my husband will be gone for a month in the spring and might be leaving again in early summer so I don't know how that will effect things.
I guess I can say I'm finally starting to adjust. I don't hate it here and things have improved so I am definitely happier. I get to be with my family for Christmas, barring any last minute Army surprises. That is exciting to me because it's been 10 years since I had Christmas with them. I'm most excited about seeing my nephew because he's grown so much since July and seeing my sister. We have been really close though I have to admit I'm not missing the pregnancy drama that I had to deal with last time. It is the one advantage of not being there.
I guess this is enough of an update for now...not that I have any idea who I'm updating. The few people reading this pretty much know everything already. It is kind of relieving to get some of it out of my head, hopefully for good now.
So here's what's been going on in my life since February.
My sister got married. This of course required a very expensive trip along with the expenses of having someone in the wedding as well as doing the photography..for free. It ended up not being a great wedding at all. She terms it as a disaster and I'm inclined to agree. She is married though and is pregnant with her second child. She moved in July from Hawaii to Florida and we are actually getting along really well. She mellowed out a lot.
My husband switched positions in Hawaii which allowed us a few months of him actually not having to go anywhere. We managed to celebrate our 9th anniversary together though we didn't get to do much. It was still nice to have him home.
Most of the time between May and September was spent ferrying myself and my son back and forth to doctors appointments and getting ready for our move. Right before we moved my son was diagnosed with ADHD and Autistic Disorder with mild symptoms. I guess that means the same as saying he is high functioning. We put him on a stimulant for the ADHD after much consideration and it has helped him so much in school. He only takes it on school days or when he has some function where he really needs to be calm and focused.
We've moved from Hawaii to Kansas in what I consider the move from hell. It was pretty much ruled by Murphy's law and started with me losing my engagement ring the morning we cleared housing. After all those times it fell off at the beach and I found it, I lose it in a house that has absolutely nothing in it except for the few suitcases we are taking with us. All I can figure is it fell in a box we gave to charity or it went down the toilet. all that matters is it's gone. We spent three days in a really nice Navy Lodge and spent most of it worrying about money. We hadn't gotten the advance we were supposed to and were paying for everything out of pocket so it was not fun. We left Hawaii with 100 dollars and no idea how we were going to pay for everything on the Kansas side. It didn't really get any better and we ended up having to borrow money to make it but we got through and eventually our money came in.We had trouble getting to St. Louis MO to get our car and ended up having an accident with the rental car. Nothing major, just backed into a flatbed trailer that was parked in the road. It was definitely just another one of those things. It took us longer than expected to find a place to live but we ended up with a nice duplex off post. We really like it and the only thing I wish was different about the area is that they would hurry up and finish the two houses they are building right around us. The biggest bonus is that we live directly across the street from the school so there is no transportation issues with getting the little guy to school.
School here has been very interesting. Instead of putting him in a self contained classroom they put him in a regular second grade class. He was working on a first grade level in Hawaii because they are so far behind here and this new school is actually more advanced than most other schools in the state so he had great challenges going into it. I'm happy to say that he is doing really well. There were issues with under staffing and him not getting what he needed at first but it's been resolved. He is catching up a lot more quickly than any of us thought he would and he absolutely loves his class. I'm having to work with him a lot more outside of school but I am really liking it. It gives me a chance to see what he can really do and now that I know what was causing all of the communication struggles it's much easier to work around it. It's still a struggle some days but it's so worth it. It has ruled out me working anywhere that will not let me be home when he is. At least until he is caught up with his grade level and that could take a while.
Now for me. I have been unhappy with this move. Mainly because it went so badly but also because I really miss Hawaii. I miss the culture and the beauty and the people. I miss my friends and right now I really miss the weather. The cold is not as easy to adjust to as I thought it would be. It is causing problems physically that no one warned me about but then again I don't think it's something my doctor thought about. My face seems to have gotten worse in the cold. I know the pain part has but the actual paralysis seems more marked. I can actually look in the mirror some days and see it. It's no where near where it was when I first got the palsy but it is enough to be a little depressing. It's been almost three years and I just want it gone. I am in the process of getting things done so I can have weight loss surgery here since it went so wrong in Hawaii. I was telling the people here about the program in Hawaii and they couldn't believe how crazy it sounded. Once I can get a referral from my doctor then it shouldn't take more than three months for them to get me in surgery. I'm excited but at the same time I'm worried because I just found out that my husband will be gone for a month in the spring and might be leaving again in early summer so I don't know how that will effect things.
I guess I can say I'm finally starting to adjust. I don't hate it here and things have improved so I am definitely happier. I get to be with my family for Christmas, barring any last minute Army surprises. That is exciting to me because it's been 10 years since I had Christmas with them. I'm most excited about seeing my nephew because he's grown so much since July and seeing my sister. We have been really close though I have to admit I'm not missing the pregnancy drama that I had to deal with last time. It is the one advantage of not being there.
I guess this is enough of an update for now...not that I have any idea who I'm updating. The few people reading this pretty much know everything already. It is kind of relieving to get some of it out of my head, hopefully for good now.