After the holiday commotion

So Christmas has come and gone....which means this year is almost over.  Thank goodness.  I'm ready for a new year and a new beginning.....and being one step closer to being a civilian again!  In the new year, I may start posting awesome deals that I find but I'm not going to make this a job - I've already got 2 of those!  Just going to share those deals I find and use - pure and simple.  I don't have the time or the energy to sit here all day long and post deals. 

Now to let Little A "read" some of his favorite books to me.  He's so fun!

Stressed much? No not me

So the hubby is away for training for well.....WAAAAY too long!  The joys of being in the military.  He's been gone a month and a half.  During that time, my shoulder doc informed me that my sling from rotator cuff surgery was going to be a nice addition to my wardrobe until January, my son has fought croup, my son's gecko has died, my daughter has dealt with the wonders of preteen girls and the "popularity wars" that come with them,  I've fought the battle to get plane tickets so my daughter can go see her father and the uphill struggle to make the holidays happy this year even though it's just going to be me and the 3 year old.  Thankfully one of my military wife friends has looked past the thing about me being military too and has invited us to come over for Christmas dinner.  That is a great thing or the 3 year old and I would have been feasting on frozen pizza, gold fish and popsicles - no way I was going to make a huge dinner for us.  However, I'm also not going to let the frozen pizza coupon go to waste either - happy new year to me!

So when I first started this, I said I wasn't going to reflect on my past....in hindsight, bad idea!  So I guess I should let you know who I am if your actually reading this. 

Well, I'm a 30 year old mother of 2, wife, housekeeper, student, Scentsy Rep and NCO extraordinaire!  Yes, that is quite a few titles....but I've dropped 2 since I'm no longer leader to 2 girl scout troops or team soccer mom.  My husband, Big A, is also an NCO extraordinaire but he's the NCO of Awesomeness (title of his own making).  My 11 year old drama queen, K girl, is the sports nut in the house.  She plays soccer and volleyball (and more if I'd let her).  Sadly, since Big A and I are both military, getting her to and from practices and games isn't easy.  Then there's Little A (aka the clone).  He's my 3 year old ball of T-Rex energy....if it's possible for dinosaurs to be in a ball.  He keeps me running - which can be bad if I still have blood in my caffeine system.

I'm originally from true "small town America" in that my hometown has 600 people in it that all average the age of 70 and they roll up the sidewalks as the sun is going down.  There are NO stoplights and only 2 fourway stops in the entire town!  The grocery store closes as the street lights come on, except on Sundays when it closes not long after church gets out and the cafe serves lunch.  Yes, we had a restaurant but it closes before dinner - they only serve breakfast, lunch and hand-dipped milk shakes.  Big A is from the suburbs of a New England City - not New York if that is what you are wondering.  He still has an accent when he talks to his ma.  The first time he went to my hometown, he asked where all the people were and if we were like "Children of the Corn" and sacrificed outsiders to the cornfields.  He was utterly perplexed by the "Cow pie" competition, the "Cake walk" raffle and the "Cow dump" game. 

However, upon meeting me, you wouldn't know I'm from a small town.  After joining the military, I moved to Abilene, Texas and then Tokyo, Japan.  Tokyo was heaven to me as I adjusted quickly to living in the city and loved that if I wanted to drive go-carts at 3 am, there were places that I could do just that!  Now I'm in a ridiculously small town (OK it's not tiny like where I'm from but 11,000 is small after living in Tokyo) in Idaho.  Guess if you really wanted to you could look to find what military branches have bases in those places and you'll find out what branch I'm in....or I could just admit that Big A and I are Air Force.  I've got less than 2 years until I can drop the title of NCO extraordinaire and just be Mrs Big A.  Really looking forward to that but also worried as I have 2 years to figure out what all expenses to cut and where to save money (without sacrificing too much)

OK, so now that we've established who I am.....I guess I'll end this here and pick up again soon.  I seriously need to figure out how to replace my son's gecko without Big A flipping out about a lizard being in the house or Little A finding out that the gecko is dead and won't be "coming home from the doctor's".......YIKES!

Mrs Fix-it

When you hear about men going into Lowe's, you hear these stories of poor wives being drug through the store to look at the newest Dewalt drill or a new lawnmower cause this model has 5 more horsepower then the one you bought in the spring. My house just happens to be the opposite. I'm the one drooling over tools and home improvement projects while my husband cringes at the thought of buying a paint brush. Here is my honey do list that I need to accomplish by spring - put glass in cabinet fronts, build shelving in the office closet, put a light in the pantry and under my cabinets, put glass tile backsplash in the kitchen....not too bad

I'm sure I could come up with more but that is just a start. So far, in 2 years - I've painted my bedroom, swapped out the kitchen faucet, changed mine and the kids shower heads, painted the bathroom, installed a curved shower rod in my bathroom. Its not much but it is a start. But this winter, I'll be busy working on my list!  Well as long as my shoulder is up to the task.  Would love to work on shelving for the garage but that will have to wait until it's not 22 degrees outside!

Is it Toddler fun or Husband fun?

I have a wonderful 3 year old.  He's fun, imaginative, lively.....and anti-veggie.  OK, correction - he'll eat tons of black olives or veggies on his pizza but that's it.  Nothing else!  I figured maybe the deployment I went on last summer was at the root of the problem.  That's a yes and a no.  Now, add in hubby.  My husband is anti-CERTAIN veggies.  No cauliflower for him.  Zucchini?  NOPE.  How about mushrooms and asparagus?  Not on your life.  I'm surprised I get the man to eat collard greens - which are amazing!  But I can't call my husband a picky eater as he will eat any animal I throw on the table, but he's picky when it comes to veggies.  Wish my son was more like me and will try ANYTHING you put in front of me.  Raw octopus and tomato salad?  Sure!  Fried grasshoppers?  I'll take some.  Rat Burger??!?!?  OK, not my favorite dish but I attempted to swallow as much as I could tolerate.

I guess not everyone is as adventurous as I am.

Til next time....

So

This is one of those things I've been contemplating for....well, honestly years.  It never seemed quite like me to write down my thoughts but now that I'm getting a little older I'm thinking that it can't hurt.  Heck, it may actually be good in some weird way.  But since this is the introductory post, I really don't wanna get into the whole breakdown of who I am and what I want out of this.  I don't like the past so I want to discuss the future and how school is stressing me out or the various ideas I have to upgrade my house even though I probably won't be here much longer. 

The downfall of owning a home when your military is that you may only get to live in it a few years before you have to move.  The downfall of THIS home is that 1) It's in Idaho  2) The payment just increased because the escrow increased  3) the CITY lowered the value of my property but increased the price of my taxes.  Quite annoying! 

OK so that was enough of an opening entry.....now time to do normal daily houselife stuff.

Sunny D