At the Movies.

Last night I had my first experience at the base theater. It's a multifunctional building used for both entertainment and training sessions. I can't complain about the lack of seat cushions because the movie was FREE (on Sundays). I can't complain about the popcorn machine being broken because it gave me the chance to finally eat nachos at a theater. I can't complain about the moms that brought their small children to a PG-13 movie because I figured their husbands were probably deployed and I could suck it up for a change. And finally, I can't complain about the quality of the picture (did I mention it was free?) because before each showing, everyone stands and they play The Star Spangled Banner. This puts a few things into perspective. Can you imagine watching these little 2 and 3 year olds standing for the anthem, assuming their dads are in Afghanastan? Add that to the fact that my friend I was with has a husband over there. I was pretty close to train wreck material. The movie played on and it was an odd transition from patriotism to romantic-comedy. This seems like something I would try to avoid but I actually have the opposite feeling. I felt more honored than anything else to be in that theater, with those people. I'll be back.

Reality.

I just posted about how great it is to live here. It is. But there is a certain reality that we are adjusting to. Kevin LOVES his job. He's never been so excited about going to work or getting up in the 5 o'clock hour. But there are days like today when all the reality starts to sink in a little. He's leading a short devotional this morning for a group deploying soon. The devotional is voluntary (as is all spiritual matters) but the last couple have had around a 75% turnout. This also means that we read headlines different now. This morning there was a Taliban attack that killed 5 troops. We have to care about that now. We can no longer ignore the headlines and push our uncomfortableness to the side. I'm ashamed that I've been doing that for so long now. We are not here because we love being in a war. We are here because we want to love the troops. These people are going through some of the most serious of things and I feel honored to be here and be a part of caring for them. There are some amazing sacrifices made each day, not only by the troops, but also their families. So, all of that to say, please keep Kevin in your prayers so he'll have the perfect words to say to these Marines as they face some of their most difficult challenges.

Settled In.

Minus a few decorative items, we are pretty much settled in. I love my house. It's an older house but it was completely remodeled a couple of years ago. I'm excited to have a garage again and two bathrooms. I feel spoiled most of the time. We live on a cul-de-sac and so there's not much traffic. That is also because there are only half of the houses on this street occupied. There's been a lot of switching around the neighborhoods because they are building so many new houses here. Our street used to be occupied by the officers that moved to the newer homes in the neighborhood. There are a lot of status issues tied into all of this. I'm just happy to be here. :)

In some ways our neighborhood feels like we went back in time. Kids are able to go house to house and playground to playground without any supervision. My kids just stay in the cul-de-sac. This is life-changing for me though. I could not imagine my kids growing up the way I did. I spent all day outside playing with neighbors or just riding my bike around. Now they are able to be outside most of the time while I get to stay inside and do whatever I need to do. Does this mean I'll take up watching Days of Our Lives again? I have a feeling that it's just a matter of time. The funny thing about my peace of mind is that I have it even with the threat of rattlesnakes (that have been seen on our street) and what sounds like bombs going off at some part of the base throughout the day. This leads me to question if it's a feeling of peace or just desperation to have my kids out of the house. Something to ponder....

For anyone that has been to any of my houses, you would know that housekeeping is not one of my gifts. I don't know if it's the love of the house or because I've been stuck at the house most of the time, but I am a cleaning fool. I will probably have to have some sort of therapy for my vacuuming addiction. That is easily explained though by me getting a Dyson for Mother's Day. Still, it's a little creepy for me.

The picture above is our office area of the kitchen/dining room. This is where I sit when I am typing all of these words of wisdom. Maybe I'll have some other house pictures soon.

Freedom

This will not be nearly as profound as what the title might lead you to believe. Last night we bought a second car. That means that today is my first day (in five years) of vehicle freedom. Sure, I've had the occasional day here and there but it usually came with me having to get everyone up at the crack of dawn to drive Kevin to work. Today I can do what I want and when I want to do it. It doesn't have to depend on when I have to pick him up or cost me an extra $20 each time.*

Another way that this counts as vehicle freedom is that we own two cars with no car payments. I never really thought that was possible and somehow we pulled it off. It's a good feeling and we'll give Dave Ramsey some props for that one.

Now, we'll see how long it takes for Kevin to get the Tinkerbell decal off the back window. I wish I could be there this morning when he pulls in to the parking lot with all the Marines heading into the gym.






*Most of that money went to Chik-Fil-A so it was totally worth it.

Lola

You know how they give high school students the fake babies so they can learn what having a baby is 'really' like? I'm going to start a program like that for people that think they want puppies. Good grief. I've had puppies before but not since having kids. I'm cleaning up after 3 babies now. All the sudden nobody knows where to pee. Seriously. Except Kevin and me, of course. She's very lucky that she's ridiculously adorable. It takes about 30 seconds after she has an accident that I'm baby-talking her. I'm a little odd that way. I'm sure the neighbors behind me think I am straight crazy. They are also a little crazy (with power-another story) so I'm letting it go. So, we are loving our new baby and glad that we aren't responsible for replacing the carpets.

One of the reasons we wanted to get a dog is because Lucy has had an extreme fear of dogs. She would start shaking and just about make herself sick when we would go to someone's house that had a dog. It was crazy. But it was a true fear. She decided that all she wanted was a pug and after some research it ended up being the best choice for us. We got a great deal on her and it's been well worth it. Lucy has been going to the neighbor's house and letting their shepherd/lab mix lick her and be in the room with her. I never thought that would happen. Ever. So, even though I'm doing a lot of extra work right now, it's all worth it.