Careers, Plans and the Future

Every year as my birthday draws closer I sit and reflect about what I've done this past year and what I've accomplished.

For the past few years I've had mixed feelings about each passing year. Somehow I don't feel as if I've reached my full potential each year and that feeling bothers me.

The question is though, how do I reach that point where I do feel as if I've reached my full potential? When I feel like I am doing in my life what I'm supposed to be doing?

I guess what I'm mainly talking about is a career. For the most part it doesn't bother me that I don't have an established career. I've had several interesting jobs and I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world. Yet, at almost 26 years old, I sometimes feel behind the crowd or as if what I'm doing isn't normal.

Granted, as a military spouse I knew it would be harder to have a career or sometimes even have a job at all, but knowing that doesn't make it any easier.

When I got out of college my dream was to work for the National Park Service in one of their museums, I love the outdoors, I love the feeling I get when I visit the parks and I wanted to experience that on a daily basis. Eventually I realized that as a military spouse that was going to be next to impossible, unless I somehow luckily ended up next to a National Park.

My next thought was to become a librarian. Specifically to work as an elementary librarian at a school. I had a job in a public library for a year and a half and really enjoyed it. Plus as a military spouse having a degree in library science is something I could more easily find a job with (hopefully) and in the future would be able to spend summers with my children.

These days I've been thinking about pursuing photography as my career. I love it. I love shooting, I love editing. I just like it all. EXCEPT, I don't love shooting people as much as I do landscapes and shooting people is where the money is at. Not to mention there is a lot of time and money that go into becoming a successful photographer. Right now I don't have any customers either. Something that obviously is very important to be able to make a career out of it.

So I'm stuck. What to do? Get my Masters in library science as a back-up and in the meantime do my photography on the side? That's my plan right now, but that could change at the drop of a hat.

Any advice ladies?

Just Dessert

I had good intentions of posting yesterday, but a Unisom I took the night before rendered me pretty much useless for a good chunk of the day. I've never had such a tired feeling after taking one, but from now on looks like I'll be leaving the Unisom alone.

Boomer and I just got back from a walk around post and Sean and I are trying to recover from our night out last night. I was the DD, but since I'm now an old person, even getting in at 3 a.m. makes me pretty lazy the next day.

Sean and I decided to go out with some of his friends last night since we hadn't really experienced the "night life" of Vicenza yet. I had a good time for the most part and even had a decent Mojito, but as the night wore on we ended up being baby-sitters for a good majority of the group and the drama that goes along with going out with Army guys makes me tired really quickly.

My mom and brother are coming in next Monday and I'm super pumped. I haven't seen them since we left for Italy and I'm excited to show them around.

I have a couple of giveaways coming up, so be on the lookout for those. Not sure exactly when they will be, but definitely one will be in June.

I now leave you with the strawberry shortcake that I made yesterday for dessert. I made pound cake(with the help of Duncan Hines), sliced up some fresh strawberries and added a dollup of Cool Whip (extra creamy mind you) The PERFECT summer dessert.



I love some fresh strawberries!



The end result, wah lah!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Hey It's Ok..Volume 2

To make Old Navy flip-flops your summer shoe of choice

To think your ex's girlfriend has nothing on you

To finally admit after killing multiple plants that you just don't have a green thumb

To not really get Twitter

To think Lady Gaga looks like a cross between Cher and Christina Aguliera

To wonder how some couples end up together

To secretly want a stripper pole because it looks like a fun way to exercise

To wish Bloody Marys were an acceptable beverage at work

Shoes and Scents

First things first. You must check out these finds from Target.



The look comfy yet cute. What's not to love?



The winter here last year was SO rainy that I'm thinking of buying these to keep my feet (and pants) dry.

I got another swimsuit yesterday. It's white and pink and it caught my eye at the PX. Ralph Lauren and only $30! I can't pass on a deal like that.

I have to admit that I've been kind of missing home the last few days. I guess a part of me will always think of Oklahoma as home since that's where I lived for the first 23 years of my life, but interestingly enough I've been missing Louisiana lately too. I actually really enjoyed living there and some crawfish etouffee sounds soooo good right now.

I have a random question for you girls. What's your favorite smells? I ask, because it stormed the other night and I LOVE the smell of the air before and after it rains. I also love fresh cut grass, baking bread and lilacs.

As far as perfumes I love: Curve, Nina Ricci, DKNY's Be Delicious and Armani Code.

Great Find and a Neighbor Update

First up I'll do the update on our neighbor situation.

I went to housing this morning and explained the situation about the common area, our neighbors and everything else. The housing lady was extremely sympathetic, told me she understood completely why I was upset and yes I should be able to let Boomer use the common area as long as I was picking up after him.

So...she called the building administrator of our complex as well as our landlord. They both told her that I could NOT use the common area, no matter if I picked up after him or not and that my options were to let him use the street or drive him somewhere so he could go to the bathroom.

Um...drive him somewhere so he can go out? I think NOT! The housing lady actually got in an arguement with the both of them and at one point slammed her fist on the table she was so angry. She also told our landlord that on our lease it said we were allowed a pet and why at that point had he not told us we couldn't use the common area, because if he would have we certaintly wouldn't have rented that apartment. She then told him we would most likely be giving him our six month notice and that the housing office would NEVER again do business with him.

She said that this was not settled and she'd be talking to the lady who actually did our lease tomorrow, as she was out of the office today. She said in the meantime that I'll have to not use the common area until they can get something figured out. So...when I went home for a bit this morning I happily let Boomer pee in the parking lot. I dare someone to complain about that, because I will not put up with any more crap from our neighbors.

In a way I do want to move because I don't like our neighbors and I'd like Boomer to have a place where he can go out and pee in peace, BUT if we have to wait six months then Sean will be deployed when I have to move and the housing lady said we'd have to pay out of pocket to move, our contract fee, etc. None of those things are cheap either. So...I'm really at a loss of what to do.

It also appears we won't be going to the Battalion Ball because SOMEONE forgot to pay for the tickets. Don't even get me started on that.

I do have good news though. I went to the thrift store on post today and scored a Kate Spade bag for $3. Now...I know it's not the latest season of bag, but come on, it's Kate Spade! I'll have to take a pic of it to show you guys.

Today Is The Day

I hope you all are enjoying your Memorial Day and of course remember why we have Memorial Day.

In my family we don't have many veterans. My great-grandfather was in World War I, but both my grandfathers were too young to be a part of WWII and my Dad was too young to be in Vietnam. So...I am celebrating the day with my favorite military person: my husband.

I unexpectedly got the day off today. I was getting ready for work and my boss called and told me I could have the day off (paid) so I jumped at the chance to spend some extra time with Sean and Boomer.

It's basically been a lazy day for us and quite honestly it's too hot to really do anything. I'm praying we get our A/C soon. Call me a big pansy, but I'm dying without any A/C. If it were cooler I wouldn't have a problem, but 90 degree days are killing me.

In honor of today I would like to suggest a book for you to read.

It's called Soldier From The War Returning by Thomas Childers. Basically it dispels the myths that WWII Veterans didn't experience any sort of re-adjustment or negative affects from fighting in WWII. He shows documented cases of PTSD, which in those days was called pyschoneurotic disorder.

I highly recommend it.



(Photo courtsey of SecondCareer on Flickr)

Umm...It's a Common Area...

So far I've really enjoyed living in Italy. Until today I enjoyed where I lived.

This morning as I was taking Boomer out, our neighbor downstairs (who is Italian) stopped me and told me that I shouldn't be taking Boomer out to "use" the common area. His reasoning was because his child and our other neighbors child (who are both under the age of 2) use that area to play.

I told him I understood that reasoning, BUT we don't have a yard as we live on the second floor. He told me I could take him out on the street.

Here are my issues with this whole thing.

1. This neighbor and the other neighbor who have children, both have yards. Front and back yards to be exact. Is that not enough room for their children to play in?

2. Their children don't EVER play in the common area. Not once. So that excuse is non-valid in my mind. Besides the common area they are referring to is two 10X10 areas of dead, dry grass on either side of the entrance to the complex. It's not like I'm letting Boomer use their sandbox or a place where they have toys set-up.

3. How is Boomer going in the street any better? There are actually children who play in that street, so I'm not sure how that option is any better. Plus Boomer won't even go in the street. And I find it ridiculous that I should have to take my dog into the street everytime he has to go out.

4. I pick up after Boomer every, single time he goes out.

I admit it, I cried when I got back upstairs. Mainly because I was so frustrated. I already feel bad enough that Boomer doesn't have his own yard and now our neighbors are saying we can't let him use the common area?

Sean says I should go to housing on Tuesday and explain to them the situation and see what they have to say. I do plan on doing this. Housing has told us before that if we are picking up after him there is nothing they can say to us, but I'd prefer if they could call the landlord and have him put up a sign saying we can or something to that effect. I just don't want our neighbors hating us for the next three years, but I don't think I should have to give up using the common area either.

What do you ladies think? Am I being unreasonable? Or do I have a reason to be upset?

Best T-Shirts EVER!!!!!

Inspired by my recent overplay of Ice, Ice Baby, I decided to peruse Ebay to see what I could find.

The result? Most awesome t-shirts ever.



Sean wants this one.



I on the other hand will be rocking this one. If you think I won't walk around post wearing this, I assure you I will.

Word to your mother

Whirlwind Trip

Do you ever have those days when you everything starts to go wrong, but you press on and try to salvage the day anyway?

Sean and I had a day like that yesterday. We decided to go ahead and go to Torino for a couple of days. It looked interesting enough and we thought it would be neat to visit the city that hosted the 2006 Olympics.

Our first indicator that the day wasn't going to be that great was the fact we went to get a Telepass for the Autostrada from our bank. We were under the impression we could get it all done there. Wrong. We had to go to another location to turn in the paperwork and get the actual pass. We decided to forego that and just pay cash on the Autostrada. Sign two it wasn't going to go right, we went to go rent a GPS from the PX. They were all out. Ok...so we'll just use our trusty map and wing it.

The drive to Torino was pretty scenic. We saw some crazy things on the way there. A bride in a convertible VW Bug...complete with her veil blowing in the wind, a large number of Hell's Angels from Bremen, Germany. No idea what they were doing. I really wanted to take a picture of them, but quite frankly I was scared they'd be mad I was taking pictures, so I filed that sight into my memory banks.

A few hours later we get to Torino. It's crowded, streets are lined with trash and there are literally cars EVERYWHERE. We finally make our way to the center of town and attempt to find a parking garage to park so we can make our way to a hotel. There are literally none...I'm not joking. We could not even find a place to park on the street. An hour of searching and almost three wrecks later we do something we never do. We gave up. We decided to just turn around and get out of Torino.

As God as my witness I'll never go to that town again. Well...at least driving.

We thought about going back to Verona and just staying the night and then we thought about going to Innsbruck anyway. Then we hit Milan. And we waited in a huge traffic jam for at least an hour. I have to say thought that through this entire trip Boomer was excellently behaved. Even being stuck in traffic. He just took in the sites and napped.

Sean and I passed the time during the traffic jam listening to Elvis hits. You would not believe all the weird looks we got from the Italians. They probably thought we were crazy.

We got back home around 8:30 last night. We tossed around the idea of going somewhere today, but after 8 hours in the car yesterday I'm not sure I can hack that.

Guess we'll see!

News Travels Fast

So yesterday I got my first taste of how fast gossip/bad news spreads in the military. You think military wives are bad? The men are even worse.



There was an incident the other night at work, in which a joking comment was made about me and although it might have been a tad inappropriate, I knew for myself it was a joke, as I joke around with the person who made it. One of Sean's friends happened to hear it as well and almost started a fight about the comment. Seriously, I'm not kidding about the fight.

Fast forward to the next morning and Sean is livid when he gets home from P/T because his whole company knows this story. Now..before you ask me why I didn't tell him first, it's because when I got home that night he was already asleep and the next morning he didn't wake me up before he went to P/T.

Although it was a minor incident, it's not been blown way out of proportion. Who is on the bad end of that deal? Me. Even though I feel that Sean's "friend" should have told him about the incident privately, without letting the entire company know first.

It's honestly on days like that, that I hate the Army. I finally told Sean last night that if people want to talk about me or make judgements on me without knowing me, then that's fine. People who know the real me know that I'm an upstanding woman who has my priorities in order and I'm not going to spend the next 3 years worrying about what people have to say about me. If I did, then I'd go crazy.

Other than that the week has been good. As I mentioned we had the bigwigs from the USO come in yesterday and last night I went to dinner with them, as well as some of the installation leaders. I had a great time, some delish four cheese gnocchi and possibly 3 shots of Limoncello. You didn't hear that from me though.

I'm so ready for the weekend to be here!

Drips, Trips and Packages

Drips

They came and turned on the A/C at the USO today. Unfortunately it started dripping water and currently is not working. Gotta love that! However, I've probably sweated off several pounds from this heat, so that's the upside.

Trips

Sean has now decided he wants to head over to Torino(Turin) and maybe over to France. Here's my question for your military European gals. Can I use my No-Fee passport to travel? The passport office here says no, people on-post say yes. Let me know your two cents.

Packages

I got four packages in the mail today. Do you know how excited that made me? If I wasn't about to pass out from heat exhaustion I probably would have done a jig right in the post office. I got in the present for Sean, two travel books (Germany and Spain) and my long-awaited arrival of Forever 21 stuff. (Ok..so it's only been a week, but Forever 21 packages make me feel like a kid at Christmas) I cannot wait to bust out some of the dresses I got! They are beyond cute.

Tomorrow some of the bigwigs from the USO are coming here. That means I'll be in black pants, nice shoes and a hot polo shirt. Should be a treat! At least I get to go out to a nice dinner with them though.

Like A Heat Wave

Spring is alive and kicking here in Italy and in all honesty I have mixed feelings about it.

Don't get me wrong, I love spring, but in Italy it's very common to NOT have air-conditioning. We asked for it to be put in our apartment, but it has yet to be installed. The USO (where I work) has A/C, but the post policy is until it reaches a certain temp for a certain amount of days, that they won't turn it on.

Let me tell you ladies....it is SWELTERING in the USO on a daily basis. Imagine a building where breezes don't blow in, combined with the fact that at any given time there are 10-40 guys in the building. I literally come home everyday covered in sweat. I am not pleased about that. My boss told me last year they didn't turn the A/C on until July. Quite honestly I'm not sure I can handle that. I may have to start coming to work in my bikini!

Speaking of my bikini, I went ahead and ordered that green bikini from Old Navy. I tried it on as soon as I got home and I was very pleased with it. My only issue. Where in the heck have my boobs gone? I used to fill out a bikini decently. Now I look like a 12- year- old girl. If you think I'm joking I assure you I'm not! I guess that's the price you pay for losing weight? If only I could direct my body to get rid of extra fat in my thighs and leave my boobs alone!

Can you all believe that Memorial Day is this weekend? This year is going by super-fast. Sean and I are still not sure what we are going to be doing. We originally thought Rome, but have pushed that back. Sean really wants to go up to Innsbruck since he's been through there twice on his way to Germany. I have to admit that going up to Austria does sound like a fun time. Anybody been to Innsbruck? Any suggestions?

One last thing, I'd like to say hello to my new followers that have started reading me in the last few weeks. I really do appreciate all of you that read my blog. Don't be afraid to say hello!

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend has been great. I've been so excited to have Sean back and he's been cooking up a storm! To be honest I haven't really cooked for myself since he's been gone. I've mostly been existing on cereal, microwave meals and sandwiches...yeah, not the best meal plan. Anyway, yesterday Sean made us burgers complete with mushrooms and cheese on mine, home-made macaroni and cheese with cream cheese, Velveeta and green chilies. Last but not least we had fried potatoes with onions and peppers in them. Simply scrumptious! I'll be the first one to say that I got lucky marrying a man who can cook...AND cook well.

Other than that we've just been watching some baseball (mainly Cubs) and finally watching Entourage Season 4. We ordered it about a month ago and it came in while Sean was gone. Like the good wife that I am, I refrained from watching it until he got home.

My online shopping sprees have not gone unnoticed though. Sean went through our USAA homepage and the first words out of his mouth? "What all did you buy at Forever21, Amazon, Old Navy and Target?" Oops! I did tell him though that I got him a present from Amazon, I'm not sure that took the heat off me though.

It appears that the short months we have left together before the deployment may be cut down by another month. Sean has gone unpromoted for the last year and it's more than high-time that he should be promoted. His 1st Sergeant noticed this as well and and wants to send Sean to WLC so that he can get his next rank. That means he'll be away for an entire month for that. I'm hoping he can do that in June, as my mom and brother will be here for two weeks during that time and so it wouldn't be quite as lonely. If he does it in July then we'll miss out on block leave and our trip to Ireland will have to be put on the back-burner, which we really don't want to happen.

Well, I hope you ladies all had a fab weekend! What did you end up doing?

In The Past 24 Hours

In the past 24 hours:

I have been told I have a JLO butt. (Which I take as a compliment)

Saw some awesomely bad bar fashion when I went with volunteers for a drink. Black bra hanging out of your pink halter top? Not a good idea. I'm just sayin'

Also saw quite a bit of "bromance" while enjoying my drink. I swear military guys hug as much as girls!

Listened to "Ice, Ice Baby" a minimum of five times. If there was a problem, yo I'll solve it!

Swept my apartment like a mad woman and then had a convo with Boomer about how daddy was coming home tonight. I'm not sure he understood.

Had a guy yell out, "You just GOT served!" while watching Step Up 2 at the USO...yeah....not really sure where that excitement came from.

Have started preparing for Sean's arrival. Yeah..I know he's only been gone like 3 weeks, but I'm still pumped. I got some brewskies, steaks and dusted off his Playstation 3.

1st Annual New Girl Blogging Awards

I want to say that I apologize in advance for not doing awards for every single person I follow or that comments on my blog. Hopefully in the future I can do another one of these and add those that I missed this time. So please don't be offended if I didn't get to you this time.

Without further ado:



Blogger...

I'd most want to have as a hairstylist: Steph at Adventures of Jon and Steph
Most Likely to Whip Up Something Cute and Knitted: Tania at La Arana Peruana
I'd Most Like To Have With Me in N'Awlins To Tell Off Creepy Men: Sara at When in Rome
Who Could Possibly be my long-lost twin: Lindsay at And We'll Just Laugh Along the Way
Who Enjoys Sushi As Much if not more than me: Lindsey at Learning To Be a Wife
With the Tastiest Recipes: Andrea at Sgt. and Mrs. Hub
Who's Workout Routine Amazes and Intimidates Me: KD at Life of the Wife
Who's As Fab in Person as she is on her blog: Kebi at Hanging By a Thread
Who I'd Love to Meet in Person because she sounds like a riot: Mrs. Newlywed at Misadventures of a Newlywed
Who I'd like to start a photgraphy studio with: Lala at What? Mermaids?
Who's Layout skills amaze me:Becca at Lovely Yellow Ribbons
Who's Intelligence I Admire: Jessica at Sassy Engineer
With the Best Writing Style: Laura at Yellow Ribbon Diary
Who lives in a location that I would love to live at: Megan at Army, Alaska Life
Who Multi-Tasks Like No Other:DAR at Just Another Day in Paradise
Blogger
With some amazing language skills: JLC at French Kiss
Who has had a rough last couple of months, but remains postive which utterly amazes me: Becca at Army Doctor's Wife
Who I want to design/decorate the inside of my future Greek Revival home: Rebecca at Almost A Designer
Who Makes the Most AMAZING Quilts: Julia at Honey & Quilts
With The Most Amazing Pair of Red Shoes: Casey at Ever Changing Life of a Military Wife
Who Always Amazes Me With her Tri-Training: SinGal at Running through life, TRI'ing to do some big things!
Who Makes Me Laugh With her Observations of Germany: Gleatie at Windoboxes and Weissbier
Who Makes the cutest scrapbook kits on Photoshop: Allison at The Displaced Texan
Who is my Russia guru: Caitlin at What She Said
Who is Making a Fantastic use of her time while the hubby is away: Lola at Not All Those That Wonder Are Lost

Wordless Wednesday

I'm at a loss for words today...I guess chalk it up to Bloggers Block. So I'll share some shots I took while at home over Christmas.



An old barn on my family's farm



Looking to the east



A Babbling Brook

I Did NOT Just See That!

As some of you know, I've been wanting to make photography my "official job". I still have a few steps to go before I get to that point, but one of the steps is creating a name for my business.

A lot of people use their last names. Somehow, I'm not sure my last name is what one would think of as a plesant experience with photography. I try not to mention my last name a lot, but to illustrate my point I'll tell you it's Payne. So I'm thinking Payne Photography isn't the best route to go.

So that means I need to come up with something marketable, classy and creative. I'm at a total loss right now though.

If any of you have any suggestions, feel free to e-mail me!

My title today refers to the sight that greeted me in the in/out processing center today. A woman walked by with her two children, in the shortest shorts I've EVER seen. They honest-to-God showed the bottom of her butt cheeks. Excuse me, but when is that EVER appropriate? I couldn't believe it!

And now, without further ado, the latest purchases from my online shopping addiction!





Both are from Target. It's a good thing Sean is coming back this weekend, or else my addiction might have gotten worse!

Tonight at the USO I'm making green enchiladas and rice. It's one of my favorite meals to make and I have a feeling the guys will like it. If not, then that's just that much more for me! Currently we are watching Walk the Line. I LOVE that movie. Reese Witherspoon is just amazing in this film. Sean loves this movie too. In fact, I'll let you in on a little secret, he's told me he's cried watching this movie. Never when he's watched it with me, but he has admitted it. Isn't that just the sweetest thing? Well...at least I think it is!

In Search of the Perfect Bikini

I mentioned about a week ago that I was starting to look for bikinis. I got out the bikini I currently own to tan in and the elastic in in the top has gone kaput...so I desperately am in need of a new swimsuit.

In one of the recent Glamours it gave tips for the right suit for your body. To be honest I didn't like the suit that they recommended for my body type, it looked like something a 60-year-old competitive swimmer would wear.

I started shopping on my favorite websites. Forever 21, Gap, Old Navy, even Victoria Secret. I mean, Victoria Secret is famous for swimsuits right? Surely I can find something there. Maybe it was the realization that the swimsuits are never going to look that good on me as they do on the models, but I couldn't find a darn thing I liked at Victoria Secret.

So far, these have been my two faves:









Both of these are from Old Navy. I think the green is my absolute favorite, but since I'm so pale right now I'm hoping it doesn't wash me out.

*Sigh* The trials of bikini shopping....

Anyone have any other websites that I should look at? I don't mind paying good money for a good swimsuit, but I don't want to pay anything outlandish for something that isn't going to last.

SuperWoman

Like many of you ladies that have blogged about you mothers today, I'd like to share a little about my own mother.

My Mom is my hero. She is all the things that I hope I am when I myself become a mother.

My Mother:

may not have taught me how to apply make-up or pick out the latest trends, but she used to sew most of my Easter or Christmas dresses. Complete with matching headbands and bows. Once my brother was born she'd coordinate our outfits to match.

would curl/braid/crimp my hair into the cutest styles. Even though I was a huge brat when it came to my hair she always wanted me to look my best.

did fun little projects with me during the summer and read to me before my naps. I used to fall asleep to her reading Bambi and Winnie The Pooh.

even during my difficult teen years when I'm sure she wanted to strangle me, she did her best to make me into a young lady that I could be proud of being.

she encouraged me in whatever I did, from gymnastics, playing the flute on up to now when I'm pursuing photography.

planned the best trips. My mom insisted we take some sort of vacation every year, no matter how small it was.

passed her love of sports on to me. When it's football season, you'll find my mom and I cheering on our favorite teams.

my mother was a wonderful role model growing up. She's very smart (smarter than me I always say) I've never heard her utter a cuss word in my entire life. Not even once!

Thanks Mom for making the woman I am today!

Your Expert Opinions Are Needed

This is a day for opinions lady, so I'm coming to you first!

Remember awhile back when I mentioned getting a GPS? Well, I am thinking about getting the Garmin nuvi 275T. It already has pre-loaded maps for both North America and Europe. Does anyone have that particular model? Do you like it? Is there anything else I need to purchase for this that I don't know about? I'm totally clueless when it comes to tech things.

Secondly, I'm thinking about buying Sean a small point and shoot camera for when he is deployed. He's been mentioning he wants something to take with him, but I'm not sure what to get. I was considering a Canon PowerShot. As they are smaller, seem to be a good price for what you get, etc. Any opinions on that or any other cameras?

Last but not least, what do you think of this maxi dress?



I mean, I like it, but if you saw someone else wearing it would you think cute or hideous? Honest answers please!

Oh..and check out this awful dress I found on Forever21! Normally I LOVE their stuff, but this looks like a feedsack.



I hope you all have a fab weekend. My plans for going anywhere have been canceled. Where they removed the tooth doesn't hurt at all, but I do have a headache like you wouldn't believe. So, I'm designating this weekend as tan, watch Will and Grace and veg on the couch weekend.

Flashback Friday: 80's Toys

So over the past 24 hours Percocet and I have become great friends. I think Boomer thought I was crazy when I busted out some Michael Jackson moves while cleaning the kitchen. I'll attribute that to my new friend. I went back to the dentist today and explained I was still in a lot of pain, even with the painkillers. After a lot of Novacaine, some intense pressure and a few moments of some pain I'm now without that bothersome tooth. I have to admit I wasn't brave the entire time though, at one point I broke down and pretty much sobbed for him to please take out the tooth. I asked for it as a momento and also so I could show Sean since he has no idea any of this is going on. I won't be able to speak with him until Monday, so I'm sure he'll be pretty suprised. Now I'm sitting at home, just taking it easy and trying to catch up on some blog reading.

I've designated today as Flashback Friday. It was the Glow-Worm earrings from Awesomely Bad Etsy Items that got me thinking about 80's toys.

Let's take a walk down memory lane shall we?



No list would be complete without the original Nintendo system. My family actually never upgraded from this system. Ours actually still works. A game of Super Mario 3 anyone?

Remember Rainbow Brite? I had the green doll.



What about MoonDreamers? I think there was a cartoon series that went along with them. I had this exact doll!



Pogo Ball anyone? I remember my cousin had one, yet I never mastered it!



Pound Puppies and Pound Purries were awesome! I had some of each and they were so fun to play with!



These are just a few that I thought of. What are some toys from your childhood that you loved?

What Pain Threshold?

So...for the past day I've had the worst toothache of my life. It actually wasn't too bad yesterday, but last night I woke up at 4am with excruciating pain. On a scale from 1-10 it was a 9.5.

See, I hate going to the dentist and I've had a tooth that was damaged from when I had braces. My dentist in my hometown did a temporary fix on it and told me it needed to be crowned. Well, I moved away to Louisiana and never had it worked on. Now I fear that my time has come for this tooth and it's gotten bad. Bad as in I'm pretty sure they are either going to want to pull it or do a root canal on it.

I'm off to the dentist today to see what can be done. Knowing the Army, I won't even get in to see anyone until next week. Oh and did I mention that I'm such a procrastinator with visiting the dentist that I have yet to even turn my records in? I'm also not sure if I was supposed to switch my coverage area on my dental insurance through the Army either. If so and I'm 99% sure I was then I might have to pay out of pocket until it's switched. I knew my loathing of the dentist would get me in the end!

A few of you might wonder why exactly I hate going to the dentist so much. Well, it's not the dentist himself, because growing up I had a fantastic dentist. He was always nice to me and gently chided me when I wasn't doing something I should be. I have weak enamel though, as in very weak and I always had something wrong with my teeth. Didn't matter how much I flossed or brushed, I still always had something wrong. That and the sound of the drill are enough to make me shudder every time I think of going to the dentist.

So...now it's off to post to figure out what they can do and I suspect I'll be buying Orajel and some whiskey. To rub on my gums...of course.

*UPDATE* I got into the dentist and they did an exam and some x-rays. As I suspected my back tooth is dying. They are going to pull it...in 3 weeks. Yep, you heard me right. The next available appointment they have is the 28th of May. The upside is he gave me a prescription for Percoset. I may or may not have been a little too enthusiastic when he told me that.

I Didn't Expect This

Yesterday was my first deployment ceremony ever. I've been two a couple of re-deployments, once to photograph my friend and her husband and once as a representative of the USO.

I met my boss yesterday at the USO and we proceeded to where the group deploying was gathering at. It was a small group, about 22 people, so the ceremony was very informal. We set up some drinks and snacks and got our goodie bags together to give to the soldiers as they left.

I didn't anticipate having a sad feeling, but I did. We actually had several regulars of the USO deploy with this group and the thought that I wouldn't be seeing them for a year was sad. One of them actually asked me if I'd be there when he got back. I assured him he was stuck with me for the next couple of years, so he had nothing to worry about.

I know it's going to be even worse when Sean's brigade deploys. Not only will I be saying goodbye to my husband, but I'll be saying goodbye to practically the whole population of the post.

I do love my job, but I have to say this part of it really sucks.

Now for some cheery news.

I have recieved almost everything I've ordered in the last few days. I finally broke down and ordered the eyeshadow primer that my make-up guru Sara has been encouraging me to get for the last six months. I was beyond tired of my eyeshadow creasing by the end of the day.



Plus is this not the cutest bottle? Makes me feel like I'm in I Dream of Jeannie!
Now I'm just waiting for my copy of 501 Italian Verbs to get here. It's time I got to work on my conjugating!

I'm debating whether or not to go to Venice this weekend. I don't have anything planned on Friday or Saturday so I'm thinking it might be a good idea. However, another part of me thinks I should go to one of the smaller towns that are around that I haven't explored yet.

Oh and a big thank you to everyone who left such nice comments about my pictures. You guys encourage me in so many ways and for that I thank you!