Blogging for a reason today

Today I am blogging for a reason. Many of you have been over to see Lauren who is stationed in Iraq. Well in her latest post she talks about a Swap Meet that they have over there. They receive items from home and other soldiers come and take what they need. They also send alot of stuff out to the field because those soldiers do not have a PX. Well, Laurens mother posted about it and I want you all to go take a look and see what they can use other there. Perhaps you can even put a link to the list and address in your blogs. And then encourage your readers to send stuff and maybe put a link in their blogs. This is a huge community and I have not met one of you that is not about supportive to our service members serving our country. I know we can make a difference. Laurens mother is dlyn so go check her out. Be sure to link back their blogs and stop by and let Lauren know who supoprt her and all the other soldiers out there.

Also, I wanted to send a shout out to Bre and her mom Tonjia. Bre just found out that she gets to go process for the Navy. This has been a long time coming and you can read the journy at Tonjias blog. Way to Go BRE!!!!

A new look

So I was busy yesterday. I got up and did laundry, while I swept the floors. We only have carpet in the 2 guest rooms so I have to sweep all the floors. Then I had to mop the floors. In the meantime I had to mow the lawn and edge the grass. I could not get the blower to work so I did not get to clean up the grass. In this 'hood' you can get fined for not cleaning up your grass clippings off the sidewalk. Not sure I want to live in a neighborhood that has CDD and HDD and whatever dd again. It is nice that we only pay $120.00 a year and we get a pool and garbage twice a week. Not bad for a 120 bucks. So anyway, as I as saying, yesterday I also gave all three of the dogs baths. Brutus loves it AFTER his is done. He gets so playful. Molly slinks away and thinks if she looks out the door I won't see her and then Binde is just Binde. I sit in the big shower on a stool so I can give them baths. It beats bending over the tub. So after they are done I just take a shower myself. I was pretty wiped for the night.

Today, I finished laundry and the dogs room. All of their bedding needed washing and the floors cleaned as well. I made the Sunday drive to Costco to pick up a few things and then when hubby got home we had to take the Envoy to the dealership. All of the beeps and whistles were going off today. I stopped for gas and when I started it up again none of the gauges were working. I did not know how much gas I had, how fast I was going, the temp of the engine, etc. On Star was not able to tell me much. Yup, the computer is not talking to each other. Duh!!

So, this is what you get from me. I did not go anywhere this weekend that was fun like Debbie who went to the lake. I did not have my airman home for his birthday like Hallie did. And I did not get my airman home like Lea did. Both mom's had their Airman arrive for extended visits. CJ is home from Hurlburt Field in Florida and V is home from Vandenberg after completing her Tech School. She is home for a few weeks and then reports to Minot for her first duty assignment. We all wish her well.

It appears that Hallie must have had a great time yesterday because Kim-D was telling her not to take her hangover out on her. Wow, Hallie. Did BK take care of you or what?

I still plan to post pictures from the wedding a month ago and Key West last weekend. Gotta get the camera working and gotta get the kiddo to send me the ones from the wedding. I did take pictures of the guest room that Anna will be staying in. I need to send them to her so she know what her room will look like. Good thing I cleaned this weekend!

I was tagged (catching up)

So, I was tagged by Debbie at GittinItOuttaMyHead. Thanks Debbie!

What do you normally do in a situation like this? Do you respond right away with random useless facts about yourself? Do you procrastinate (like Debbie) and then provide random facts about yourself? Or do you think and think and think and try to come up with something funny and witty? Well, lets see what I come up with.

The rules are:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog. done

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. done

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Not gonna do it. Everyone I know has already been tagged. I will reserve my 7 tags for another time. Maybe when I make more friends ;-)

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 Random Facts About Me

1. I was born at 7 months and weighed 4lbs. Went home after 2 weeks in the hospital.

2. I had my first paid babysitting job at 5 years old. My mom was actually supposed to watch him but he would have nothing to do with her and only wanted me. When they came to pick him up they handed my mom the money and she told them that I did all the work.

3. When we lived in Hawaii I walked off a pier and almost drowned. 2 High School boys dove in (I still see them like torpedo's on either side of me) and saved me. I guess that is why I do not know how to swim.

4. I do not eat any vegetable except lettuce, raw carrots, raw celery and corn. But I have always encouraged my daughter to eat hers. Now she is happier eating veggies than any meat.

5. I have 4 tattoos. A rose on my left shoulder blade that has my daughters name in the stem. A butterfly on my chest, a koala bear and the word Aussie on my right calf and the kanji symbols for Ryobukai on my left calf. Shay and I got the Koala bear together after my mother passed away. Ryobukai is my karate organization and when I received my black belt I got the tattoo.

6. I eat a Lean Cusine Pizza for lunch just about every day. (it is easy and quick and does not taste that bad) Or like today, I have a pizza pocket.

7. I like to sing karaoke. I even have a personal system with a bunch of music that is sorted and cataloged. Anyone ready for a party?

My First Blogging Award

I have received my very first blogging award. Debbie gave it to me and it means so much to me. Thank You Debbie!!!! Not that I am anywhere near the blogger that she has come to be. She does amazing things with her blog.

Now, I guess I am supposed to pass it on but who am I going to give it to? She gave it to most of the blogs I read already. I just learned how to link so yeah me.

• Hallie - I know she gets a ton of awards but she is so deserving. She does not have to duplicate her award giving (unless she wants to) since she was given this award at the same time. But Hallie is just an amazing blogger and Air Force Mom.


• Blender Kimmy - BFF of Hallie and one of the bogs I enjoy reading and she blogs like a real mom....very sporadically!!


• Lisa - I found her through Debbie. She is a retired Police Officer (I always wanted to be one) and we have come to find out we have people in common in Tulsa.


• Lauren - Another blog I found through Debbie. Lauren is in the Army in Iraq an dif anybody is Blogging with a Purpose it would be a soldier in Iraq. Go by and see her sometime and tell her I said HI.

I reserve the right to send out my 3 other awards at another date and time.

Have a great day!!

We're backkkkkk

WOW, I should leave more often. I got more comments than on any other post. We returned from Key West today. It was a long (7 hour) drive but was better than the drive down. On the way down there was much more traffic (Friday afternoon). If you get the chance to go, go. We stayed at the Navel Air Station Annex in the lodge. It only costs $50.00 a night. What a deal. They also have trailers and townhouses you can rent through the MWR (Moral, Welfare and Recreation) so we might check them out next time. There is so much to see and do that you can't do it all. Duval Street is like New Orleans at Mardi Gras. It is the happening street with all the bars, shops and galleries. You have to go to Mallory Square just before sunset because that is where all the street vendors and acts are set up to celebrate the sunset. We toured Hemingway's house, went to the beach and yesterday did a glass bottom boat tour. I am not a boat person so did not have the best time. But I am happy to say that I am not the only person who lost their breakfast!!! Lots of colorful people to watch and great food. I told hubby that I was not cooking this week. We have to eat cereal of sandwiches. I am busy going through 200 emails and catching up on my blog reading. I will get to the pictures tomorrow. Thanks for all the comments. This would be a fun "girls" trip if anyone is interested.

Out of town

Hubby and I are heading down to the Keys this weekend. That sounds so pompous! We are driving down to Key West on Friday and will return on Monday. We are lucky that we can stay at the Navy base so lodging is cheap. I will take pictures (on my camera) and share them when I return. Pray that it does not storm.

Wedding Photos

I can't wait forever so I will share a couple of pictures from my weekend in Phoenix. Here is the bride and her mother (my friend) getting their nails done. I remember when Karly was born!!


Here is one from the rehearsal. Josh is wearing one of those tux t-shirts. Those are glass tubes of pink and black sand. Instead of lighty a unity candle they poured the sand into one container. It looks pretty cool completed. We had the task of taking the container to the reception. We were praying for no sudden stops.



This is Shay (my airman) and Mallory at the rehearsal. These same young ladies were flirting with the bartenders at the reception the next night. Mallory is attending the Art Institute in Los Angeles. I think she is studying Visual Communication. Aren't they cute?

Hopefully I will get more this weekend to share.

Wisdom Teeth Friday

I guess Friday was the day for Airmen to get their wisdom teeth removed. At least for Shays Med Lab Class it was. There were 3 or 4 of them that had the procedure done on Friday (Friday the 13th!!!). Shays wingman (Connor) got the worst of it I think. The poor gal is still miserable. She has chipmonk cheeks and it has moved into her eyes giving her black eyes. Here is a picture of Connor (none of them use first names) taken on Sunday.

And to put it in perspective for you, here is one from a couple of months ago. Notice she did not have the cheeks then.

The mom in me just wants to hug her!

What do you get when you play all weekend?

SICK!!

I have been fighting it all week. Went in late on Monday and again on Wednesday. But today, I had to give in. Plus the people I work with pointed to the door when I walked in yesterday. I stayed in my office most of the day so I would not spread my germs. So today, I slept. After feeding the dogs and calling into work, I grabbed a blanket and curled up on the couch. Of course, this was after I took some Tylenol 3s. The dogs and I slept until after noon. Must have been what I needed because I feel 85% better.

Now we are having severe storm warnings in this area of Florida. It is actually 74 and windy outside. Lots of thunder and lightning but no torrential downpours yet. It is pretty normal for this time of here at this time of day but it must be bad if it is being transmitted across the bottom of the tv screen. I actually opened the doors and turned the AC off.

Last night I received an email from someone claiming to be an associate producer from the Animal Planet saying that they were doing a series on dogs called Dogs 101 (or something like that) and said their first episode was going to be on the French Bulldogs. She asked if my dogs did anything amazing or out of the ordinary. Nope, not mine. But I do know a gal in Denver who has 5 French Bulldogs and 3 of them are deaf. 2 of them are therapy dogs and she has won numerous costume contests with them. 2 of them participated in a city wide dog wedding and they also dressed up as Major Nelson and I Dream of Jeannie. So I sent Marleen the email and told her to contact the lady. It must be legit because they presented it to the producers today, Marleen sent pictures and they will be sending a film crew out to Denver in about 2 weeks. I told her she better let me know when it is going to be on. I will sure let you all know. All but one of her dogs are named after french food. You have Biscuit, Bullion, Brie and Bienet (sp).

Gonna try to find something to eat. Stay dry.

What a weekend we had

We had a great weekend in Arizona (Phoenix to be exact). I arrived on Thursday and met up with the "girls" at the nail salon. After spending 2 hours watching them all get their nails and toes done we met the rest of the family for dinner. Shay arrived early on Friday morning and we proceeded to head to Macy's to pick up our wedding gift. The bride and groom got almost everything on their registry at Macy's! Then we headed to the reception site to help set up the tables. That evening was the rehearsal and then dinner at the grooms families home. Saturday had me up early trying to find a Joanns so I could buy some purple thread and beads so I could fix the brides Grandmothers dress. She had bumped into something and tore the thread that was hold the beeds on the edge of the sleeve. She just asked if I could secure the rest of the thread so she did not lose all th beads. Not good enough for me. I found some bead that matched pretty good and then re-beaded her sleave. (I am the best after all). Next Shay and I went searching for bubbles. The grooms mother dropped the ball and announced Friday night that she did nto get the bubbles. 2 stops at Party City and then 1 at Michaels where we finally found the right wedding bubbles. Next we head to the brides home to pick up Lori (The brides mother (Tina) and I have been friends for 32 years and I am the brides Godmother but Lori has been friends with Tina since they were 4 years old). Anyway, off to Costco to get meat and cheese platter and fruit to make food trays to go in the Bride and Groom Ready Rooms at the church. Finally got them made and delivered and back to the hosue to shower and get ready. Got the Grandmother to the church just in time to be excorted down the isle. And not 10 minutes before the wedding actually started. Phew!!! It was a very nice service and I only cried a little. After the family stayed to do photos and then we headed to the reception. Fun time was had by all. Lots of dancing and such. After Bride and Groom left things ended and then we packed up evertying to take back to the house. Ended up Shay and I got to bed around 1:45 and had to get up at 4:15 to catch flights. Shays was at 6am and mine was at 8am. She just made her flight and did not get time for coffee and a bagle. Poor thing. I on the other hand had time for a Diet Coke and a Bagle. Then we were told that all flights in and out of Denver were cancelled. It took about an hour and we were finally able to leave. Shays flight from Chicago to Dayton was cancelled and when I landed in Denver she was freaking out. She was not sure when they were going to get her out on another flight and was worried that she would be late for work today. They finally routed her to St. Louis and then to Dayton and she got home about 3 hours later than she was scheduled. I ended up getting home at the exact time I was scheduled. I just did not have as long a wait in Denver as I originally was supposed to. Can you say exhausted? That is how I feel today. Shay has lots of pictures on her camera and again I wait for her to send them to me. Will post them as I get them.

Sorry to hear that everyone in the midwest is having such terrible weather. It is hot, humid and stormy in Florida. Thunder cracked so close to the car yesterday that I thought we got hit. Hubby and dogs glad to see me (always a nice feeling) and now hubby is off to Alabama for the week. This is the prep week for the 10 month school he will be going to in July.

We were having problems with the High School not wanting to take in our exchange student. They said they were capped and could not take any out of district students. The principal called me on Thursday and said the district lifted their cap so they can take her now. Now I just hope the one we selected is still available! Wish me luck. I will keep ya posted.

I wanted to cry

I was so angry and upset I wanted to cry. A once in a lifetime event did not go as I had planned. As you know, Shay celebrated her 21st B-Day on Saturday. I wanted to do something really special so I ordered some yellow roses. 2 dozen to be exact. Only I told them I only wanted 21 of them. Get it? I was willing to pay for all of them but only wanted the 21 delivered. Since we are members of USAA we get a discount on flowers and I have always used USAA to order my flowers. Only I could not make changes. Either I would get 1 dozen or 18. So I called the number and the gal told me to order 2 - 1 dozen orders and put my special instructions in the area provided. Sounded good to me so I did. I even had them send a md stuffed animal so she would have something for keeps. I wanted them to be delivered to her at the hospital. Basically, I wanted everyone she works with to know that it was her birthday. So she was at her station in the lab talking with another airman and their supervisor, TSgt Simons came up behind her and said he needed to see her in his office. Well, both of them are saying "oh crap" and wondering what she did to be in trouble. Why do you always have to be in trouble when called to the supervisors office? Well, she followed him and they stepped into his office and then he turned and said "I think these are for you" and gave her the roses. She told him her mom was a dork. She called me after work and thanked me for the flowers and I asked her if she counted them because there was 21 of them. She counted and said, Nope only 12. I was upset but there really was nothing I could do at that point. On Monday I called Telefloral and asked the girl to look at my order and tell me what she saw (I gave her my confirmation number). She said she saw 1 dozen yellow roses. I told her I had a confirmation sheet for 2 orders of 1 dozen roses. Then she has the audacity to ask me if I wanted the other dozen delivered. Now why would I want that? Like I said, it was a once in a lifetime event that had missed its moment. This is why I wanted to cry. I remember when my mother was out of the country for my 18th birthday I received 18 yellow roses. I thought that was so special and wanted to share that with my daughter. So that has been my week so far. Oh, and they called me on my way home from work and said that the local florist shows that they delivered both orders. I told her no they didn't and I had a whole medical lab at the hospital that could verify that. They are going to refund me for the order not received and 50% off the first order. Still does not make up for the missed event. I am done venting and will let this go now. Thanks

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe that I have been so negligent to not have posted since May 24th. Where was I? So last I posted Shay was here. We were just hanging out watching tv and being together. Sunday found us heading to Ft DeSoto Beach. It is a really nice beach and we got there early enough (1030is) that we were able to rent an umbrella to sit under. I swear I was timing myself and was not out in the sun that much but I got such a bad sunburn. Mainly it was on my face (forhead and nose) and my chest. You know the area where your breasts seperate and your stomach starts? Ouch! I was in pain pretty much all week. Could not wear makeup and took my sun lotion to work with me so I could lather up often. I was so worried because we were going to Ft Lauderdale this past weekend. So, back to Sunday of Shays visit. After the beach we showered and dressed and went to The Cheesecake Factory as a sort of early celebration of Shays B-Day. Then Shay and I went and saw Baby Momma. Very cute and funny movie. Monday found us hanging around, doing laundry and then going to the airport. Shay still has not sent me any of the pictures that we took so I can't post any.

This past weekend found us driving to Ft. Lauderdale, FL to meet hubbies cousins. 2 of them (and spouses) came from Tulsa and the other lives in Jacksonville, FL. With their kids we had a total of 13 people there. We had a great time. Hubby made blender drinks using fresh mangos, coconut milk, and Tequila. He added other stuff too. But the best was made with fresh pineapple, juice, rum and curacao (sp). All were blended with ice to make a creaming drink. So we drank and played poker on Friday. Many of the group had never played any type of poker before so it was hilarious. Saturday we packed up everyone and went to the beach. By this time by sunburn was pealing in places so I had to be extra careful. I must say I like the beaches on the west coast of Florida better but the waves on the east coast are fantastic. We were body surfing and playing in the surf. All was good until one of the young cousins got stung by a jelly fish. At least that is what we think it was. What else in the ocean would sting like that? So off mom and dad went to the drugstore to get some benedryl so the rest of us packed things up and headed back to the resort. That night found the kids eating delivered pizza and the adults going to a nice restuarant. Sunday came too soon and some had to catch flights back to Tulsa, the others started their drives back to Tulsa and Jacksonville and hubby and I headed home to Tampa. Puppies seemed to survive their first weekend with the awesome dog/house sitter.

Here are the 4 cousins. They have always posed this way since they were little. The last time that all 4 were together was in 1986.

Here is a very bad one of all of us. The cousins and the outlaws!

And this is of Brian and posing with his favorite beverage.

I will end for now but I already know what I need to post about next.....Shays 21st B-Day!