Luff

Today, out of the blue while we were driving, Amelia told me, "Mommy, my family luff me!" ... and it made me smile. Then she said, "My daddy luff me!" and it made me cry.

Lunatics

You know your husband's ex girlfriend is a lunatic when, after 8 or 9 years, she is STILL sending the occasional email when she figures out a new address for herself to get past the block he has on her.

Just to ask, "Can we be friends?"

And then goes ballistic when he finally asks her kindly to let the past stay in the past.

Look out world, nutjob on the loose.

Heart melter

Amelia spontaneously told me today, "Mommy, I love you very the WHOLE world!"

Yes, honey, you can have anything you want. :)

No War Clause, No Terrorist Clause, No Aviation Clause

That's the kind of life insurance I'm looking for. How come I can find it for the Air Force and Army but not the Marine Corps??

Hmm. Could it be that the Marines are in harms way more often?

Or maybe I'm just not looking hard enough. If anyone reading this knows of one, please pass it along. Thanks!

We're back home!

And tales to come, along with recipes of all the fun with family and friends in Texas.

Why I love my husband: Reason #2,546,987

I've been fretting for a few weeks about going home (Texas) during April for bluebonnet season to take pictures of Amelia, and to spend Easter with family and friends. I especially wanted Amelia to have fun hunting Easter eggs, coloring them, etc. It just seems sort of anti-climactic to do it with just the two of us. Her first Easter we were at Granny J's, this last Easter we drove to our old church in Jacksonville and spent the day with friends; and this year I wanted to go to Dallas.

I was torn between driving and flying. One was affordable, but loooooooooooooong (driving) and almost not worth it for only one week. The second was NOT as affordable, but quick (flying). So I asked him if he cared if I spent the money to fly, and here is the answer that made me feel like a queen!

Fly baby, fly. Your happiness far outweighs the price of the
ticket. So fly and don't think twice about it. I love you
shweetie.

No more dragon...

Now we're pretending to drive to the beach many times a day. She gets me some play keys, she puts on this huge blue straw hat, we sit on the couch, and I try to start the car.... and she starts yelling at me.

I always forget to buckle her in first.

There's something really funny about a 2 year old yelling, "MOMMY!! I NEED BUCKLE!!!" while sitting on a couch that isn't moving.

Giving my husband a heart attack

Dear Rafe,
because I have nothing better to do than mess with you while you are in the desert surrounded by smelly, sweaty, dusty men - some of whom offered to arrange a marriage between their sons and Amelia when you showed them her picture (and they were serious) - I offer you this imaginary vignette into her future life.

Love, Your Wife!! :)

Calvin: "Darling, take my hand and let's swing for a while."

Amelia: "Oh, you're so decisive! What leadership!"

Calvin: "yap yap yap"

Amelia: "Absolutely fascinating!"

Amelia: "I went fishing and caught a fish THIS BIG. I'm an outdoors kind of gal"
Calvin: "Cool. Just my type."


Calvin: "Will you marry me?"
Amelia: "hee hee hee, I'd love to!"

Amelia: "C'mon Calvin, let's blow this taco stand and celebrate!"

Calvin: "Oooh, a woman who knows what she wants!"

Obama wanted to bill vets for their care

Government's 'Free' Ride
Sarah Smiley March 23, 2009

The Obama Administration's tentative (and now thankfully withdrawn) idea to bill third-party insurers for veterans' injuries sustained during combat heralds the perfect opportunity to discuss, once again, the subject of military health care and what many civilians don't understand about it.

When I was in high school and a military dependent of my active-duty Navy dad, I broke my leg while jumping off my piano teacher's front porch. I was taken to Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Va., (the old Portsmouth hospital, where tales of hospitalization, and especially labor and deliveries, are legendary). On this particular day, there was a shortage of the lightweight fiberglass material used in modern medicine to stabilize broken bones. In its place, the Navy doctors wrapped my leg in plaster of Paris, which is the same material used to make some walls. Unlike its sleek fiberglass counterpart, plaster of paris casts are thick, bumpy and somewhat chalky. I left the hospital with what felt (and looked) like a 10-pound chunk of wall on my leg.

"But hey, it was free," I said laughing when I explained the situation to my high school government class.

"Your cast wasn't free," a boy in the back of the class said. "All of our tax dollars paid for it." I was at the time a knobby-kneed teenager who still cared about what her peers thought. I didn't come up with a good comeback until the class bell had rung and I was hobbling on crutches to my locker.

Free? My health care isn't "free," I thought. What does that punk know about "free" anyway?
The next day in class, I told my classmate how "expensive" my health care really is. My dad had paid for it when he was halfway across the world, in the middle of the Mediterranean Ocean, when his first daughter was born. He paid for it when he didn't meet me until I was seven months old. He paid for it with every missed piano recital, Christmases spent apart, and when he accumulated 11 years of sea duty by the time I was 22 years old. Oh, we had paid for it, alright. And we had paid in ways that most people would consider unacceptable and too "costly." (Imagine: Instead of billing you a premium each month, your insurance company will require you to be at their service, at any time, in any place, even if it means that you will literally miss half of your child's childhood. Oh, and you may have to die for them, too.)
True, my classmate and his parents had also paid in part for my health care, but then, they never had to deal with deployments either.

By now, everyone knows (or should know, at least) that the sacrifices inherent with serving in the military far outweigh the benefits (medical care included). Still, it amazes me how some people declare their support for the troops and then get bent out of shape about how much of their tax dollars go to actually supporting the troops and their families.

The Obama administration claims that by not holding private insurance companies accountable, the government is giving them a free ride. A free ride for what? It was the government, not the insurance companies, who called our servicemembers into action. Men and women of the armed services sacrifice far more than money to serve the country, and part of the deal is that the government will always take care of them in return, much like a private corporation takes care of its employees with health insurance. Billing a third-party insurance company for war-related injuries would be giving the government a free ride. (Which is to say nothing of the large premiums and resulting insurance hardships placed of military families that would ultimately result from such a plan.)

The Obama administration has wisely backed down from this idea after hearing the enormous, unified outcry from veterans' groups, a force to be reckoned with. Veterans take their benefits and entitlements seriously. And well they should. The country has asked much of them. All they ask is for the country to hold up their end of the deal. Because nothing -- not freedom or health care -- is ever truly free.

Suicide Hill

My brother and sister in law also have a blog that I love.... filled with pics and stories of my very cute nephews (including a brand new baby). Like I've said before, my family seems to be blessed with great writing skills and some of these posts are so funny. I'd like to be funny, but if I am it's always on accident. Rafe is the funny one in our family.

In Kansas City, there is a snow sledding hill called Suicide Hill. To find out why, check out the video on March 29 at the link below!

Listen to the laughing at the very end...

Only on Parris Island...

Driving home from church today, I spotted a Dad taking his brand new baby for a walk in the stroller.

In full battle gear with a heavily packed ruck.


You never know when you'll need to pack a ruck (military backpack), so FYI ...... :)

"To pack a ruck:
Be sure the heaviest items are packed closest to your back and weight is
distributed evenly left-to-right. Pack your spare socks and t-shirts in ziplock
bags at the top so they are easily accessible during wellness checks and place
your poncho in the space at the bottom of the ruckframe so its easily accessible
while moving or without removing your pack. When on long movements keep food
consisting of simply carbohydrates (apple sauce, graham crackers, etc) in your
bellows pockets of your BDU's so you can eat while you walk. "

BOOM!

That's what I'm hearing about every 3-5 minutes right now, off in the distance. I think it has something to do with The Crucible - the final of the recruit training. After this, they can officially call themselves "Marines" if they survive it.

I heard it as I was giving Amelia a bath and putting her to bed, and she asked me, "What that noise, mommy?" I was afraid the noise would scare her, so I sort of fudged on my answer (since any Marine who has been through it will probably disagree with me).

"It's just Marines playing and having fun, Mia".

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!! In rapid succession, we hear cannon fires on the range. Mission accomplished - Amelia laughs in her bed and says, " 'RINES PLAYING, MOMMA!"

Baby Update

I am 10 weeks pregnant today - and the baby is doing great! We only have the one baby; the other baby wasn't "viable", according to the doctor, and will eventually be reabsorbed into my body. However, we are extremely greatful for the gift we have been given. I have seen the little baby flippers (hands and feet) move; the body wiggle; and heard the very strong heartbeat. So far this little one is right on target for size. My due date is October 22; so it looks like I might not be traveling for Christmas this year. Ten more weeks, and we'll know if it is a boy or girl! Please keep us in your prayers, as things could still go south but are much less likely to do so now.

I'm very nauseated and have massive, wildly swinging cravings. Rafe is so missing out!! He was lucky with Amelia as my cravings were mild and so was the nausea. Right now I'm jonesing for some stuffed grape leaves and a good hot gyros. And tomato juice. :)

Can I just say...

that I am SO SO tired of pretending to be a dragon.

If I hear, "MOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYY! be a dragon!" one. more. time. I am going to hide in the stuffed animals.

She's got this weird dragon and gloves thing going on. She wants me to wear her daddy's desert combat gloves OR Pampa's biker gloves, growl at her and pretend to be a dragon. I'm supposed to catch her, squeeze her, she yells "let me go!" and we do it all over again. Over and over and over and over. Day after day.

So. Tired.

This afternoon I go in to wake her up from her nap, and she's still groggy and sleepy. Without opening her eyes, she mumbles, "Someone be a dragon" and then falls back asleep.

When will it ennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd?????

Funny Post

I had to share this post on my sister's family blog. Her kids are all so darn smart and funny when they write, but this one is especially hysterical to me. I was laughing out loud all the way through it. Or it could just be that I'm a doting Auntie. Anyway, Katie is in high school, and she has dyslexia and dysgraphia, so be forewarned to sound out the words and they will make perfect sense.

The Cats Know How I Feel

Playing "Nap"

She's so funny when she's pretending to be asleep. This time she talked someone else into it!

The Tension

"In the current incarnation of THE TENSION, I decided to move
away from discussions about the ephemeral attention of the media and post primarily about substantial military topics. When journalists feel comfortable dropping even the appearance of fairness, their agenda-driven story template suffocates any chance of rational balance when it comes to reporting about the military. The military's job involves solving real crises, unlike the media, who are hell-bent on creating illusions of crisis where none exist. I decided my blog would be a good vehicle to get out the uncovered side of the news. "

Thanks to a friend, I found this incredible news blog. Incredible because I began reading it before I knew anything about the purpose of it, and my first thought was, "How refreshing! No editorials in the presentation of facts! JUST THE FACTS!"

Kind of the way journalism is supposed to be in an ideal world.

AHA!

Friday, March 20, 2009
OIF Summary, March 20, 2009: Troops Uncover Weapons Stockpiles in Baghdad, Southern Iraq

Interested parties may want to check out this post dated March 20, 2009. It's rather significant information.

wink wink, nudge nudge

Funny Girl

Amelia was very quiet so I went to check on the trouble she was getting into.... surpriSingly, none! (that was for you, Barb!) She was throwing her baby a birthday party, complete with cupcakes and balloons. Yes, I know the cupcakes look remarkably like leggos, but they are definitely chocolate cupcakes.

Earlier today, she suddenly got a stricken look on her face as I was reading her a story and clutched her bottom.

Me: Did you just have a BM?

Mia: "No. I have grass".

Out of nowhere tonight she began running in big circles around the island (my brother Todd calls it the "circle pattern" that all kids do), yelling at the top of her lungs for me to run with her.

Mia: "Run, Run, Mommy!"

Me: "Why are you running, Mia?"

Mia: "Keep running! Running FAST! Hurry! A pound cake!"

Me: "A pound cake? Did you just say a pound cake? You want mommy to run from a pound cake?"

Mia: "Yah.. RUN MOMMY!"

So. I ran. :)

Husband

I love you. I know you can read this blog sometimes, even though you can't respond to it. I wish I knew where you were and what you were doing. I wish today was July and you were flying home again.

Love,
Wife