new neighbors, guilty pleasures, and my sexy sailor

Happy Sunday!  Nothing too exciting to report today.  I took the opportunity to sleep in this morning, which was delightful.

Today I made cookies for the new neighbors (the Chocolate heath cookies I  posted the recipe for previously.)  The townhouse next door has been empty since last July after my chemically imbalanced neighbor moved to a new unit.  I feel bad for her, I truly do.  I also feel really bad about being insensitive to her problems. Unfortunately, the issues I had with her were not an isolated event- her new neighbors are having the same issues.  It is truly sad.

So, as you can guess, I am crossing my fingers these neighbors are nice and normal!  So far so good.  They were very friendly and delighted that I brought them cookies.  I will be so very happy if they DO turn out to be good neighbors!

My new guilty pleasure- The Vampire Diaries.  I rented the first disc out of total boredom with AFN.  I just watched the last disc of Season 1 today.  I checked out CW online to see if I could catch the new episodes.  This is what I got:

Sorry, this content is not available in your location

Boo-hoo!!  I wish we had someway to get past all of that being that we are on a military base.  *sigh* Anyway, I am totally in love with Damon on the show.  Normally I find his type to be creepy, but I just love the thing he does with his eyes. *swoon*

I totally judge myself because I am too old to watch this show for liking this high school show, but I just enjoy it.  So who cares?  

Speaking of vampires, I watched Eclipse today (I went out and bought my copy last night.)  I know how it ends, but I still keep hoping that Bella will choose Jacob.  Now if they had Zac Efron playing Edward, I wouldn't be saying that! hee hee

The highlight of my day was receiving this picture from the very talented photographer who took our picture at the Khaki Ball.  Doesn't my sailor look handsome?  I heart this picture!!

I am wearing my new favorite shoes here.  This is the only good picture of me from that night.  I was in a total bad mood and stayed clear of any pictures.  The only other picture I got caught in and was unaware of, I look like someone had told me my dog had just died.  I was so embarrassed!  I also felt uncomfortable in the dress, it was too big in the top and I was afraid of giving everyone a 'show'.  My two other dresses were ruined by the dry cleaner (story for another day.)  

But at least my honey looks good.  The photographer had him take off his glasses, I think that is what did it. 

Have a great Sunday (and good night for my fellow Japanese residents.)

~Nancy

Seriously?

Last fall I was writing about my troubles with Brother and his problems at school.  It was especially hard that Hubby was gone- mainly because said husband would look up the grades online and then proceed to email me commands on what I needed to do.  He was very frustrated and thus I was frustrated, and at times- insulted.  Since then Brother was able to improve his grades.

Fast forward to today.  Hubby just left and hello!- he gets a nice little email from the grades website that Brothers grade in Math was dropped to 56%.  So then he forwards it to me with the note "I need to stop getting these. Hopefully he gets his grades up before the end of the year." 

It's deja vu and not the good kind.  So now I have that awful feeling of stress in my gut and I can't shake it.  To make it worse- I got an email from his teacher letting me know that Brother " has not been coming to class prepared for weeks. He never seems to have a pencil and is not focused on completing his work."  It goes on from there.  I just want to cry now.  I need a plan of action and fast.  School will be out for the day here in a little bit and I need to have my speech ready (ie- "you're grounded.")  The second thing I am going to do is delete Hubby's email so he doesn't get the grade reminders.  Then I will tell him he is not allowed to look at the grades since he can't do anything from where he is it. 

Did I mention that I feel the need to cry?

Emotional Rollercoaster

Our household is in total upheaval.  We are getting ready for Hubby to leave us again for who knows how long.  The kids are not happy about it, I am not even sure HOW I feel right now, and Hubby- well, he is extremely stressed out and worn down.

Okay here is the truth.  Last month I was angry with Him- as in my husband.  It is a classic tale of a wife feeling like she does everything and feels resentful- while the husband doesn't understand what the fuss is all about.  He just knows she is storming around the house and not talking to him.  That is- when he is aware of her presense whilst playing World of Warcrap.  (I hate that and every other MMG out there.)
Knowing that in the future he would be leaving again- I wanted to have some help with household chores since once he leaves- it's all on me. 

I am NO angel by any means.  But I was upfront about it- clearly indicating what needed to be done and asking nicely.  What I got back was hostility or a promise to do it later.  And we all know how that ends.  Eventually I became tired of waiting and asking and just got angry.  That's my side of the story. 

Let me tell you I am the type of person that tries to look at situations from both sides.  The checker who was rude to me maybe was having a bad day or not feeling well.  The school secretary who never smiles (true story) maybe is physically unable to move her mouth into said facial expression (but I think I saw her smile once- so there goes that theory.) 

So I tried to be patient- knowing that he had a lot on his plate at work.  But even then- I was still mad.  If I am having a hard time at work- working overtime or what have you- I STILL take care of all the household matters.  So while I was not talking and being angry in my passive-aggressive manner- I did not nag once!  So there!  To top it all off- I felt like if Hubby were to leave right there and then- life would be easier for me. 

Truly- I am not writing this to bitch about my husband- only to explain my "emotional rollercoaster."

Moving ahead- I regained my patience once I realized being mad wasn't helping and plus I have a hard time holding a grudge (yes I tried to- shame on me.)  Add a pending seperation and my anger completely disolved.  Now I am running errands- taking care of things he needs as he is working 12+ hour days.

Enter the children.  Sissy is crying over everything.  I think some of it is her age- but I know a big part of it is the fact her Daddy is leaving.  Brother has his ups and downs as well.  We all are strung tight, being snappy and dealing with aching stomachs. 

I have been a Navy wife well over 14 years- a little separation is no big deal I was thinking.  In fact- I had been worrying about what we will do when the day comes that Hubby is no longer in the service.  He would be HOME ALL THE TIME!  Damn- I sound like a cold hearted bitch.  Imagine my shock when I started crying when it hit me that he is really leaving.

Thus my emotional rollercoaster.  Sometimes I am sad and weepy, other times I am optimistic- making plans and thinking of things to keep us busy.  And I have been a complete air head!  I tried putting the car in gear without stepping on the break and thought my car was broken.  I almost ran a red light right in front a Japanese squad car (my passengers stopped me luckily.)  I have stubbed my toes on every possible corner in the house and even tripped on the stairs, breaking my big toe nail all the way down one one side.  Ouch!  I am forgetting words and sometimes I forget what I am doing and walk around the house aimlessly.  It is so frustrating!  So now I am making a special effort to be wary of my actions- for example basic walking.  I am also trying to be extra patient with my children and not let them see my frustration and stress.  After all- if they see Mom is not dealing- then it must be bad, right?

I am dreading "D" Day.  For now I will keep busy.  Needing something to do- I have been cleaning and cleaning some more (which is normally not my fave activity.)  When the day comes, I must be strong and not break down when the children cry when we say our goodbyes.  It's choking me up just thinking about it... 

Hubby's boss told me yesterday that in his family- they never say goodbye.  They always say- "I will see you later."  I didn't really get it until just now.  I think that is a practice we will put to good use.

Health Matters and all that stuff

I think it is a result of my getting older- but I am becoming more health conscious each and every day.  What I used to take for granted seems so precious and precarious now.  Hubby and I watched Dr. Oz the other night- the topic was sleep apnea.  They showed this couple and how they actually would stop breathing in the night while sleeping.  According to Dr. Oz this was 'killing them'.  My step-father had sleep apnea, this is before the awareness of sleep apnea we have today.  My mom said she used to freak out when he stopped breathing and sometimes would shake him awake (much to his annoyance.)  Eventually he developed COPD (due to his years of smoking)- the docs gave him oxygen to breathe at night.  The poor man finally started sleeping well- unfortunately three years later he suffered a fatal heart attack.  At least now I know why he was so grouchy all those years while I was growing up (it wasn't me!) :-)  Poor guy- if only he had been treated all those years ago.

Forward to present time- I think Hubby has sleep apnea.  After watching Dr. Oz I can hardly sleep if Hubby is snoring  (it never bothered me much before.)  At times he sounds like he is choking or drowning- it so scary.  Am I overreacting?  I don't think so.  So how do I convince him to get help?  And how do I convince him to eat better as well.  I am overhauling our meals and what kind of foods we eat.  He seems to think we need meat at every meal- I say we need protein- does not have to come from meat.  I need to get creative here- maybe I should get some vegetarian cookbooks?  I'll just have to make sure he doesn't see them. ;)

So my question is- how do you convince your partner to eat better and generally take better care of his/herself?

On a side note- I am still trying to avoid sweets.  I have given in a time or two- but generally have done well.  I have lost 10 pounds since the start of the year.  My clothes fit better, so that is encouragement in itself.  BUT...

GUYS- close your ears- unfortunately I think most of those 10 pounds came from my bossoms- Hubby agreed with me too.  Darn! 

Why can't we CHOOSE how to distribute our fat?  Of course if that were the case the women would all have double D's and the guys- well you can imagine where that would go..

I think my next post will be about plastic surgery- yay or nay?

Dropping the Ball

I had a rhythm going, I was in the groove.  Then my Hubby comes home and my world is in total upheaval!  So I have an "excuse" for not having posted anything for over a week?  Homecomings are wonderful, they are happy and joyous.  Even our dog Brownie was in 7th Heaven when her "daddy" came home.

                                                        Our chocolate Lab- Brownie

In fact- I think she was the happiest member of the house to see him home.  It was like the best day of her life- she was so happy.

So life is crazy and happy and stressful all at the same time.  I would rather have my honey home of course- so it is all worth it!  I am especially happy that he is home for the holidays- that is the best news of all.
Now my challenge is to get back into my groove and keep up my blogging.  I will do it! 

This is my third attempt to post something since my last post, by the way. 

Until next time...

Yours Truly

My honey is home!!

This is my happiest blog entry to date. My sweetie came home yesterday! I thought this day would NEVER get here!! If you are wondering why I am at the computer since he just got home- I am up early and just walked the kids to school. My honey is still sleeping- he was on only 2 hours of sleep the day before- so I am letting him sleep in!

The last couple of days have been crazy. We were all on pins and needles- so excited to have daddy come home- and the kids started school. Sister was not happy on the first day of school- she was scared. I was surprised that it wasn't Brother that was acting up- I was more worried about him. Of course the children tend to suprise me and reverse roles. :) School went off without a hitch. I think they both like their new school- I am relieved. They are not alone in being the new kids in school. Out of 500 students, 100 of them are new this year. Wow. It is a lot different than their school back in Washington. They line up every morning on what they call the "red top" (the courtyard next to the playground. It is concrete that has been painted red.) They say the pledge of allegiance together every morning. next week they will start doing their morning exercises- just like the Japanese schools do. There is a name for it, but I can't remember it. I'll post it when I find out. The school reminds me when I was a kid. I went to school in San Diego- we lined up on the "black top" every morning. Our playground was black asphalt- this is before they came up with using wood and rubber chips under the swings and jungle gyms (there were rocks if we were lukcy)- and no giant rubber mats. That asphalt was unforgiving, if you fell your skin was going to be torn up!

So this week was about starting school and getting ready for Husband to come home. I tried to get everything completely unpacked and put away. I came close to finishing, but in the end I just shoved the extra Rubbermaid containers in the closets and called it good. The kids rooms are not quite done yet either. I feel like I have been cleaning and organizing all year long! Frankly I am sick of it!! I DID make sure my bedroom was in order. Of course I just bought brand new bedroom furniture- so that made it easier. It is my first ever brand new complete bedroom suite! I feel like I finally became an adult. Haha. It is also a gift from husband for all my hard work this year. Damn right I deserve it!!

Yesterday I got the kids off to school, cleaned up after breakfast- folded the laundry and then proceeded to take a nice long hot bath (with a good book to read of course!) I did not realize that our tub is so big, I can stretch out almost all the way and it is nice and deep. I see a lot of bubble baths in my future. I can't find any bubble bath around here so I will have to get online with Bath and Body Works. Anyway- after my bath I headed out and picked up mail and bought the kids a new movie- Coraline. Since I didn't know for sure when Husband would get here- I figured that they could be distracted by a movie in case there was a delay.

No delay! I got a call saying he would be here in an hour. 30 minutes later he calls again and asks me to pick him up where the bus let them all off down the street. So I am running around trying to find my shoes, purse and keys when the doorbell rings. I open the door thinking it is my neighbor but instead in front of me is standing a very handsome guy in a khaki colored uniform. Its my honey!! He's here!! He didn't take the shuttle bus, but caught a ride with a friend. I can't remember his friend's name- I was in shock and forgot the name the moment he was introduced to me.

It was time for school to get out so I told husband to hide upstairs and I would go get the kids. At the school there are Dads (and some Moms) that just got home and are waiting to pick up their kids. There is excitement and joy in the air, its as if the air around is actually buzzing. I saw Brother first and he asked if he could go home because his friend that lives across the street was headed home too. So I let him go- I didn't tell him his dad was home. Sister comes out and I tell her we are going home to get ready to go pick up Daddy. Brother comes back to the school just as we are leaving, he is riding his bike. I know he hasn't seen his dad yet. So I tell him the same thing I told sister- but he doesn't want to come inside the house. He keeps insisting that he ride his bike down there. After much convincing I get both of them in the house and send them upstairs because I have a present in my room for dad. Of course the present is for them. I hear brother exclaim when he sees dad- he sounds like he is going to cry. Sister is up next and they both attack him. When I come up behind Sister they are all in a big bear hug at the top of the stairs. Talk about heart warming!

So for now I will let my honey catch up on his sleep. I think I will grab my book and go read in bed next to him while I wait for him to wake up!