Memories of My Mother

I thought in honor of Mother's Day it would be fitting if I posted a memory or two I have of my mother.

One thing I will always associate with my mother is my love of reading. It was she who started reading to me when I was little. Everyday before naptime we would have a story. Some days it was chapters from Robin Hood or Winnie the Pooh, other days it was a Bible story from my illustrated Bible. I loved it when my mother read to me. Her voice was so soothing and she read so well.

Another memory of my mother is when she would curl my hair. I was always dressed to the nines in my holiday outfits. My mother would buy or make a lovely dress, I had frilly socks, matching shoes (usually patent leather) a bow or headband to match my dress, a matching or co-ordinating purse and even sometimes gloves. My mother would roll my hair in curlers the night before and I HATED having that done. For one, I was tender-headed and I didn't like my hair getting yanked on and I also hated having to sleep in the curlers. She started doing this to my hair when I was around 3 or 4 and to this day I do not know how she managed to get a headstrong little girl to wear those curlers to bed! The effects the next day were always great though and I had a headful of bouncing, golden-blonde curls. I realize now that it took a lot of effort on my moms part to dress-me like this, especially when she made co-ordinating outfits for my brother and I when we were small.

My mom is the most intelligent lady I know. She is a very giving, funny and beautiful woman and I hope that someday I will be the kind of mom to my children that she was to me.

The First Day

I thought some of you might want to know how the first day at my new job went.

Quite simply, I thought it went well.

Everyone was friendly of course, the hours passed by at a moderate pace and my head was crammed with all sorts of legal jargon and instructions on how to process claims, incidents and lawsuits. What to make copies of and who they should be sent to, exclusions on our policy and a million other things that I hope I can get the hang of in the next few weeks.

There is ALOT to learn, but all the women were really patient and told me they didn't expect me to learn it right off and that they expected me to have to ask questions for quite awhile. I'm relieved by that because in some situations there are those employers that expect you to know things from the get-go and that's just not possible in my situation.

I am also loving the relaxed work environment (still professional though) the hour for lunch and getting off at 4:30. Which should mean I can still swing by to pick Sean up from work most days.

I felt awful about leaving Boomer alone all day today though. I seriously almost cried this morning. I tried to play with him for awhile before I left for work, so at least he had some attention and of course this evening he's been requesting many sessions of fetch. I can't say I blame him after being cooped up all day!

Anyway, I'm a bit tired, so I'm going to bed here pretty soon.

I'm ready for the weekend. Who's with me?

In search of shoes

Meet the naughtiest little dog I know.



Yes, it's the infamous Boomer. I think he might have a career in dog modeling....maybe.

Just kidding!

I went to Payless on a quest for shoes today. On their website they have so many cute shoes. However, I was very disappointed when I got to Payless and saw none of the cute shoes that I had seen on the website. I mean, don't get me wrong, there were cute shoes in the store, but the actually fit oddly on my foot. Usually I wear a 7.5 or 8 in most brands, but those sizes were sliding off the back of my heel and I couldn't find any of the same styles that I liked in the size 7's. So, I had to leave the store empty-handed. Not something I was planning on doing. I'd try to order them online, but I really don't like ordering clothes or shoes online. Everything just fits so differently and I'd hate to end up with a pair of shoes that's too big or too small. I guess I will have to wait until I go to Lake Charles and try that Payless.

Tomorrow is my first day of work and as usual I have the night before jitters. I know it's going to be a good place to work, the people are friendly and it's a small office, but I always get this way before a new job. I used to be this way the night before school started too. I hate being nervous, but I guess its just human nature.

I have a big task ahead of me tonight. I have all my wedding photos uploaded to Walgreens, but now I must pick out the ones I wanted printed off that the photographer didn't print for us and also print off pictures for my family members, my bridesmaids, Sean's grandmother and mother and also decide what picture to use for the picture that will go in our hometown newspaper. Don't get me wrong, I love pictures and choosing them, but...it just seems a little overwhelming right now. At least I don't have to cook supper! I kind of cheated on that one and picked up a Banquet crock-pot meal. That way since I don't know what time Sean will be home I can just leave it in the Crock-Pot and it will be nice and warm for him.

Ingenious you say? I thought so too. Although I'm sure those perfect 50's housewives would be less than pleased.

My Return to the Gym

I feel so much better today. My allergies seem to be almost gone and I can finally breathe and sleep through most of the night, without having to sit-up and sniff in what I assume can only be the most annoying sound ever. Yay!

Today has been decent so far. I worked out for an hour today after I dropped Sean off for work. It's been a week and a half since I'd worked out and I could already feel the difference. As in my body felt weaker. I made it through my usual free weight workout though and so some of my gym self-confidence returned after that.

Sean was extremely grouchy this morning. I guess it was just one of those days when he really dislikes his job and being in the Army. I'm sure it wasn't helped by the fact that he had to run 5 miles in PT this morning, after they hadn't done PT for almost two weeks. Actually, I don't think it's the Army that he dislikes on days like this, but the unorganization of this particular unit. He's been stationed other places and in different units and he says this one by far is the most unorganized. He's more than ready to leave for Italy and be a part of the 173rd.

Boomer has been a trial lately. It's rained off and on here the last few days and he absolutley HATES getting his feet wet when he goes out to use the bathroom. I understand that, but obviously that's his only choice, since him using our living room as his personal restroom is not something I'm ok with. I took him out 3 times last night and early this morning where he refused to go. At one point I'd really had it and demanded he come to me in the yard in which he promptly looked at me and then ran in the house where he dove under the covers with Sean, where he presumably thought he was safe. I love my little dog, but sometimes he can be a bit much.

I'm watching my friend Devon's two little boys for her tonight, while she goes to an FRG meeting. I don't baby-sit often, but I don't really mind it and they are good little boys so I don't think it'll be too much for me. I'm eager to see how Sean handles the additions of two tots in our normally quite household. He loves kids, but I don't see him interact with them too often. This should be interesting. Ha ha ha.

I'm just loving all these blogs that I'm subscribed to on Blogger. I find it fascinating to read the blogs of women that are spouses of those in the military. It's neat to see that we have a common thread in our life, but yet each of our lives is so different. I don't know, it's just neat to get a perspective of others lives that resemble your own.

Good News!

I have wonderful news! I got a job today! As some of you may know I've been searching for a job since I got to Fort Polk in early January. My job searching has finally paid off. The position with the claims office that I interviewed for several weeks ago is now mine. The office called today and asked if I could come in again this afternoon, so I did and the boss talked to me about how the position was going to be a little bit different and was I ok with that.

Basically I'm not going to be doing as much claims work, although I'll still be doing some and some front-office work. It means the pay is a little bit less, but he said after 30 days that pay would increase, so that's something I can live with and it's still more than I've ever made at a job.

I start on Thursday, so I'm will have to update on how my first day at work goes.

I just feel like a big weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Now I can finally pay off some of those pesky bills that are constantly on my mind and also save some money as well as get some things that I would like, such as a new mattress. A full just isn't cutting it for us anymore. We weren't hurting for money before, but paying off my bills was going to take awhile and now with both of our incomes that should be no problem. This job is just the answer to my prayers and I know who to thank for that! :)

I celebrated by buying myself a new Yankee candle and a Chicken McNugget Happy Meal from McDonald's.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Monday. This is the best one I've had in awhile!

Being Tactful

Ok...so I didn't make it to the gym today like I promised myself I would. In truth, I just feel awful. Obviously not bad enough to skip blogging, but I consider blogging to be right up there with eating and sleeping.

I just have no energy! My throat hurts, my sinuses hurt, still having awful cramps, it's enough to make a girl just lay on the couch and watch TV. Which is exactly what I did. Sean was kind enough to fix dinner for me tonight and pretty much get me whatever I wanted, so I spent most of today trying to will myself into feeling better.

A friend of mine from back home called me this afternoon and we chatted for a few minutes. I consider this lady to be a good friend, EXCEPT she has one major fault in my eyes. She has no tact whatsoever. Whatever she is thinking she says, which can sometimes be rude or hurtful. In her mind she's being a good friend by telling you the brutal truth, but I just don't agree with that.

Anyway, she asked me what I was doing and I told her, "laying on the couch, watching TV." Her response? "Gee...your life is so rough."

She's said as much to me before and even admonished me when I told her I had gone to the salon or adopted our dog, because in her words, " you don't even have a job, so why are you spending money?" I can tell that she thinks my life is easy, that I do nothing but lounge around all day and am living the easy life. It's frustrating to me that she thinks that.

A. I have always worked since I have been able to and before I met Sean I was working three jobs.I am STILL looking for a job here after 4 months of looking. I have yet to secure any kind of work. Off-post, on-post, government job, even something like a secretary. To say that's frustrating to a college graduate is putting it mildly. I do not enjoy not having even a part-time job.

B. I do more than just sit around all day. I usually take Sean to work, pick him up for lunch, take him back to work and then pick him up after work. I do errands for him and I during the day which could include almost anything. I keep my house in order, I buy groceries, put gas in the car, wash the car, I do laundry, I cook at least 2 meals a day and sometimes 3, I look for jobs during the day and yes I do go workout. I'm sorry that in her eyes that isn't enough or even constitutes as having an easy life, but I have to disagree.

It just frustrates me to no end when people think I do nothing all day but watch TV and play on the Internet. Not true!

I've already gotten slack from a few people when they asked if I would be working when we were in Italy. I told them I doubted it. For one, since I will be in Europe, I plan on seeing as much of it as possible. Second of all, during that time I plan on getting my Masters. I hardly think that's wasting my time, just because I don't have a job.

I just wish some people would be more tactful.

Slacking

I don't feel very good about myself this week. Mainly because for the last two months or so I've been trying to eat well and work-out diligently. This past week, I've done awful! Partly because I went back to Oklahoma for four days and partly because it's THAT time of the month and I feel awful. If it's not killer cramps, then it's an awful headache or my allergies acting up. Since I've been back in Louisiana I've worked out ONCE, which is just not me. I just don't feel up to it though.

I think tomorrow is the day though, tomorrow I'm going to get back to working out and eating like I should. One week of slacking isn't that bad. Is it?

I went and helped Devon color her hair today. Per her request of course. I made sure to tell her I've never dyed anyones hair before, but she assured me it would go well and she was right about that. It looked good after it was done, so that was a big sigh of relief for me! She has two little boys, Peyton and Isiah. Ages 2 and 4 months. I played with them a bit and held Isiah off and on throughout the time I was there and he didn't cry! Some babies cry when I hold them, although I've noticed they aren't as prone to do that lately. Perhaps I'm catching on to the correct way of carrying a child? Not sure.

It made me think about kids though. How I'm still very torn about having them. Part of me wants kids now. I want to share a life that Sean and I created and raise that child in the best way I know how. The other part of me enjoys the freedom that I have not having children. I can go to the gym, out to tan, take little trips, all without worrying about my child and/or finding someone to watch them. It's that small selfish part of me that I'm not done enjoying yet and so for the time being I am ok with not being a mom. In the next year or so I am sure that will change, but for now, I'm ok just being a wife.

I can't believe it is already May! This year is just flying past! This time next year, I should have already been in Italy for four months. It's crazy to think about sometimes. It blows my mind to think I'll be living in Europe, so far away and so different from the life I am living now. It's going to be such an adventure, but also have it's scary moments I am sure.

Speaking of Italy, I really should pop in my Italian CD and practice a bit.....