Today is a Good day!

And after the past 2 week's I 've endured I needed one!  I had my bi-annual (is that right?) Kidney Doc Appointment, things are going great!  But anytime I go see him and they don't use the word transplant is a good visit for me, LOL but this was even better because my Doc downgraded my Renal Disease from Stage 3 (booo) to Stage 2 (yaya!!!!)  Very excited about that, and my labs look fantastic.  But why wouldn't they?  I'm sure I have the most fabulous blood of anyone around?  RIGHT???  So ya  for me and my "hanging in there" Kidney's. 

Now onto some somber stuff, as many of you may know my Squadron 1-61 CAV lost 6 amazing Soldiers on November 29th.  It was a hard smack in the face and seeing and hearing what these surviving families are going through just breaks my heart.  But it also lifts me up so see how us as Spouses can come together to provide support.  And to see how "big Army" as well and the Currahee (that is 4 brigade combat team) come together to take on the task of taking care of everyone.  There was a great article in our Post news paper today in regards to how our AMAZING Rear D is handling these tasks LINK

What are YOU Thankful for?

• chocolate
• pepsi
• great amazing friends
• my rotten, patience trying, loving, snuggling kiddos
• phone calls from far away places
• supportive leadership
• facebook
• christmas music
• musicals
• kareoke
• beer pong

there are many more things to be Thankful for but these are just a small amount of items that I can think of.  I hope after the busy day of preparing a feast and then a day of crazy shopping we all take time out to think, I mean REALLY think about what we are thankful for.  Wayne and I were interviewed earlier this week about spending the Holiday's apart.  And I am Thankful that he is in the Army, allowing us to live this proud life that not to many people will ever get to experience.  Our sacrifice is also a blessing.  In what other lifestyle would you be able to travel around and meet people from all walks of life.  And the pride and patriotism swelling in our hearts is unimaginable.  In closing I'd like to THANK all of you that have come into my life.  

Rusty Old Poket Knife...

do you ever get that "not so fresh feeling"  ha ha nah just kidding!  This is one of my favorite times of the year!  I love the leaves changing color and the cool, crisp air rolling in.  I have said many times how much I love my house and my neighborhood I live in.  The tress all around and my awesome back porch where I often sit and just think.  We are almost 3 months into our deployment and I think we are doing well.  It was a rocky start but we are finally setting into a routine and doing well.  I was sad and happy to have Football and Cheer leading end but I  love not having to rush off to practice and think of a quick dinner for the kids.  We have been spending lots of time outside playing with neighbors, there is nothing I like more than hearing the kiddos running around and playing.  It makes me think back to when I was a kid and would run the neighborhood playing games and climbing trees.  If I tried to climb a tree now I would probably get stuck and they would have to call out the fire department to get me down, hmmm that might be almost worth it to see some "eye candy" ha ha.  With my luck they would send out a dusty ole retired fireman, ha. 

Pumpkin Patches and Dairy Barns!

these 5 days off started with a BANG!  But it was a long weekend full of fun outings, good friends and GREAT times!  Thursday after my kids teacher conferences we jumped in the van with some friends and hit up Cheny's Dairy Barn in Bowling Green.  What a great time!  We did a corn maze, played on a play ground, got some free ice cream, and as an added bonus, as I was chatting up the manager he told us to drive down the road to where the cows are and see the baby calves that were just born.  So we did, and one of the farmhands came out and let the kids bottle feed the calves!  It was truly an amazing experience for them.  The the next day we went to a local pumpkin patch and got our pumpkins and had some more run petting animals and watching a pig race.  Then Friday afternoon I got some surprise visitors at my front door!  My good friend from Fort Jackson, SC came to say hello and spend the weekend here! 

Pink eye, smink eye

UGH.  I have PINK EYE!  it's horrible and I wouldn't wish it on my worse enemy.  Ok maybe that is not true but still it sucks.  I feel like a social periaha, ha!  I try to stay away from public best I can, but c'mon I can only be a hermite for so long.  don't worry I have my handy dandy purel with me at all times to make sure I do not pass on my illness.  When I first thought I had pink eye I thought to myself... "who farted on my pillow"?  but alas a couple people I asked this question to thought I was CRAZY.  But after further research, YES you can get pink eye from fecal matter, so great.  I have poop in my eye.  Seriously?  At this point I am not surprised, ha!  It actually makes sense with the direction my life has headed over this past month, at least I can laugh about it.  so yah.  Pink eye is gross, nasty and painful.  I hope if you've never had it you never get it.

Sometimes you gotta laugh.

One day I will sit down and write all the drama we have been living through this past month. 


But sometimes you just have to step back and laugh.  Laugh at the silliness of even the most dramatic circumstances.  A couple of my friends and I  have adopted a new "battle cry"  BAYONETS ATTACK!  At first the story behind this battle cry is silly, but actually when I sit down and think about it, it's SPEAKS volumes.  bayonets are old skool.  the Army has phased them out and many of the new Soldiers and Spouses aren't quite sure what they are, only us "old battle axes" are familiar with them.  And ATTACK reminds me of the spirit of a New Fresh Army Spouse, ready to ATTACK the Army life and jump in and "do her thing" taking no prisoners!  In my last post I talked about becoming numb to deployments and the ways of the Army and the best thing was to befriend a newbie/first timer.  It really puts things into perspective.  So that battle cry is more significant than originally though.   Speaking of battle cries, lets talk about Battle Buddies.  When Wayne was on the trail (drsgt) that was one of the MOST important factor of Basic Combat Training (BCT)  if a soldier did not have their battle buddy it would equal major trouble.  As an Army Wife we have our own Battle Buddies.  These are friends that stand by when times get rough and no matter what try and see the best of each other.  These battle buddies are amazing people and I you encounter many throughout your Military life.  The best advise I can give is hold these buddies close but also make sure you pay it forward and be someone elses Battle Buddy. 

sometimes you just have a down day

and that is me today.  i feel "out of the loop" with many people in my life.  and i know and hope its just because we are all busy, but as I sit here tonight I couldn't help but feel a tad bit lonely.  I know its just a phase b/c i could not be like this all the time, id go insane, ha ha.  but for me i'm usually up beat and happy go lucky, but sometimes i have a down day.  it did not help that my g-lo had a rough day today and tested every ounce of my patience today.  i know we are still adjusting to wayne being gone, but hmm do we ever really adjust?  ok now i'm on a tangent.

this is our 5th deployment.  yes that's right #5.  and when people hear that they look at me like i'm crazy.  maybe i am?  but it's ok.  it works for me.  at the start of this deployment it felt different.  not like the others.  its hard to explain but i'll do my best.  in the past there was lots of anxiety and last min planning and emotions.  but for some reason that was not here.  maybe because a week before he left our world was turned upside down by some "friends" but i'll save that for another night...  anywho.  D day came and went and i barely batted an eye.  Then a week into our deployment we had our first incident.  it was one of the worst days of my life this far.  and it about knocked me on my ass.  but i've picked myself up and carried on trying ot be strong for my spouses in the troop and my kids.  but now that things have "calmed" down on my end, i cannot help but wonder, how do we do this?  over and over and over?  man we are amazing people.  i used to get asked, "does it get easier"  and at first i said no.  but you know what, it does.  you learn and grown and understand yourself and your spouse more over the years and over time you can become "numb" to the drama of deployments.  but when that happens i suggest you get yourself a "first timer" friend and REMEMBER how hard it was.  it really puts you on the spot.  remembering how your heart hurt everyday you were away from your soldier.  before you were busy with all your "time filling" commitments when it was just YOU and YOUR SOLDIER.  When you were a newlywed fresh out of school moved to a new place with no friends feeling.  I just love this life so much, and love all the people i've met in this wonderful crazy world.  but wow I've really rambled on tonight... thanks for getting this far if you have.  I will wrap it up with this....
We are a rare breed of human, strong, loving, and just plain amazing.  embrace it and embrace each other.

HOOAH!