Yes Folks There are Stages.....

All of you Army Wives out there in Blog world or for that matter any Military Wife know that there are Stages of Deployment. Well yesterday I hit month #5 of this year long deployment. I was having a decent day playing one of Santa's Elves by wrapping all the presents I had gotten off of layway. Can I just say how glad I am they brought layaway back to Wal-Mart. I have four boys folks & have run out of hiding spots! Wal-mart made for a great place to hide all the gifts.  
Anyway back to the stages....I actually didn't even realize that I had hit 5 months of deployment until I was wrestling with the tangle of Christmas lights on the front porch. I was standing on the very tippy top of our ladder trying not to fall & crash to the ground ending up unconscious- you know that would totally freak the boys out when they walk up from the bus. Here lies mommy in a mass of tangled twinkling Christmas lights asleep on the porch. I am betting the older two would step over me at this point go into the house fix a snack then ask each other " Why do you think mom wanted to nap on the porch? It's freezing outside!". Huge sigh here folks.... I love my life but some days it resembles the sitcom  The Middle with Patricia Heaton- so unbelievable that it's hysterically funny!

My day went downhill for a few hours as Army Wives provided non-stop drama around Facebook & our neighborhood. I love my neighborhood a lot. We chose to not live on post to avoid a lot of the drama that can occur. I was so happy when about three years ago a friend decided to start Military Coffee groups out in our neighborhood so we could have the support with out the drama. It was a wonderful three years but like all drama free military situations it had to come to an end sometime. We out grew our small intimate group & in doing so I met more wonderful ladies from all branches who I am happy to call friends. But it also opened the drama door with a gaping wide path to craziness. That's when I decided I needed a girl's night in my home with A LOT of WINE involved! That folks is how I knew when I heard this lovely & oh so accurate song posted on my Facebook I had hit Deployment Stage #7!!  Wine has become a Food Group - thank goodness for it-LOL I only need one glass on occasion in the comfort of my home with my favorite girly movie on & some chocolate so yes Stage #2 is still sticking around! But I am no where near Stage #12 yet which would mean this silly deployment is almost over!


I know the stages of deployment well & have gone through most of them maybe only one stage have I ever skipped- never had to have a child with him gone. BUT I could replace that stage with "spent a week in the hospital with your sick soooooonnnnnnn all byyyy myself!". Imagine it sung to the tune of The twelve days of Christmas -haha So enjoy this little ditty posted by another Army wife who also is living with the Stages right now in her life.  Then try to remember if you are not currently living through the stages how you felt when you where in the throws of them all! Take a little pity on us crazy ,stressed out, exhausted, over worked, barely hanging on for dear freaking life wives / mom's -  just be nice smile  leave us ALONE with our chocolate & Wine to pretend we  are doing just fine!! Or if you must become involved in our lives be uplifting, encouraging but by all means PROVIDE said Wine & Chocolate before entering our home or writing on our Facebook Walls!!

It doesn't mean we don't still love you all, it just means we are a little cranky & over sensitive at the moment so proceed with caution before entering our world.

Just Keep on Running & Running

"Holy Smokes Batman" was the last thing I remember hearing last night as I fell asleep in my husbands comfy chair around 9:45PM. Yesterday was a day where I literally ran from one activity to the next with only minutes in between to check in with my husband so he knew all was well. I knew ahead of time it was going to be a crazy busy day, but it wiped me out!

I took our oldest to the Orthodontist, dropped him off ran to Rite- Aid to pick up medicine refills for kids. Then headed to the Post Office to mail my man his care package & three other items filled with books I was swapping. I found a great site called Books Free Swap  but that is a whole different post in itself.  From the Post office I ran to Safeway with all my coupons in hand & list ready to shop. I made it through Safeway in record time & saved $53.48 I believe on my groceries- YAY ME! Then I ran back to pick up Hunter from the Ortho & headed home. Got to the house had boys help unload the van & we all changed into our swimsuits. We headed to the pool for an hour to just try to relax. Then we ran home showered, ate & headed to the Junior-High for Orientation for the older two boys. Hunter my oldest is still considered a Freshman but they stay at the Junior High until 10th grade which is fine with me. Much easier having two kids in the same school then across town from eachother.

I really thought we would be in & out of orientation in thirty minutes like last year- boy was I WRONG! They had total CHAOS going on when we arrived. I even came early! Unlike last year there was no real direction so we ended up in two lines that we shouldn't have been in until last! Finally my friend Sam who was volunteering stirred us to the front of this super long line to get the boys ID cards they use for everything. An hour & a half later we left ,UGGG! I raced home to get the youngest fed,dressed & out the door for soccer practice. At this point I was DONE! Just ask my older two. I was "that" mom who totally embarrassed them when two girls tried to cut in front of us in one of the really long lines- yep I told them to GO TO THE BACK NOW! I am pretty sure my head spun around backwards as I said it too! The boys where like "NO MOM!!", I so DID NOT CARE! I laughed later as I recalled all the girls who looked like they had spent hours preparing for that one afternoon of orientation. Make-up, hair, & inappropriate clothes ruled the day. Only to have almost zero boys pay any attention as the giggled & tried to get their attention. About 80% of the male population where to busy high-fiving each-other  & comparing schedules to even notices the girls-LOL Anyway, back to running out the door to soccer.

Headed to soccer where at least I was able to sit down & breathe for an hour. I met another nice set of parents & chatted the practice away. After  we left & headed home I was more then happy to let the older two boys go spend the night with friends. I knew the house would be super quiet with those two out of the picture for the night. I snuck out to the little community store at our front gates & bought some yummy ice cream for the little guys. I let them make a fort in the living room & fed them ice cream. I finally got a quick chat in with my husband as the kids watch old TV shows. Batman & Robin was the last I remember hearing. I woke up around 10PM turned off the TV & made everyone go to sleep. What a day to say the least! I knew it was going to be a crazy day- but I had no idea how worn out it would make me feel. So glad today is gym time for me & the pool with the boys if the sun pops out. Nothing else at all! Saturday I am looking forward to the day spent hiking around Mt. Rainer with my friends family & my boys. I hope everyone has a safe holiday weekend & get's to rest.

Now for the picture I took before orentation so my husband could see how much both older boys had grown. They are both taller then me now & it's a little strange for us all.

  

My Freshman in the white & my 8th grader in purple. Where did my babies go?

Free to Good Home...well Maybe Not

I love my dog, I love my dog,I love my dog....I kept repeating this early this morning as Miss. Heidi decided to test mom & see just how much I did in fact love her! At 3AM folks- I barely wake up to a high pitched whine coming from my living room. Well I knew one of the dogs must be feeling sick so I stumbled out there & let them both outside. They always have to go together no matter what! Heidi took off & long after Panzer was back inside sitting with me by the back door she would not come back! We have a huge fenced back yard so I wasn't concerned just tired! I wanted to go back to bed already. I mean I am barely getting five hours of sleep a night with my man deployed so doggy drama is not high on my list of fun things to keep me awake. I finally coax her back in after almost ten minutes lock the door & tell them both to go lay down! Crawl back into bed & pass out! Then at 4:15 ish AM I hear the whine again, GOOD GRIEF! I try to ignore it but then the pacing starts as well,uggg. So once again I drag myself out of bed - this time put Panzer in his Kennel  then let Heidi out with a warning to HURRY UP! Almost five minutes later I am on the back porch in a screeching high pitched whisper telling her to COME! Does she you ask ? I mean she is a well behaved girl most days but of course not today! I finally get her inside & go crawl back under the covers only to have her start whining & pawing at the door at 5:45AM. I let her our, shut the door & lock it! That's right folk I leave her outside & go back to bed! My Heidi hates to be outside for to long with out me or Panzer- well TUFF was what I was thinking! I covered my head in pillows & went to sleep for about another hour before I heard her barking. Only because I felt bad for my neighbors did I get up to let her back inside.

Now you might be saying "she must be sick", "poor girl has a tummy ache" or something close to those. But nope as soon as I got out of bed & put on the coffee she was all tail wagging happy! There was nothing wrong except she wanted outside. I went to investigate this morning & found nothing out of the unusual in our yard. I honestly thought maybe a dead bird or small creature would be found that she had heard & killed- NOPE! I have no clue why that anxious,hyper active female needed out all night long- she better hope it doesn't happen again tonight or she may find herself being given away to the highest bidder! Not really my husband would be so upset, she is his dog & Panzer is mine- but I swear I might consider doggy tranquilizer's soon-lol.

Heidi is the small one on the right....she is lucky she is so pretty!

" I wish my dogs had a SNOOZE button!!"

This is what is on my new coffee mug a friend gave me- the saying is so true!

WOW- it's a Calgon day!

I wasn't going to post today but WHAT A DAY!! Got up at 5:15AM poured my coffee & the crazy ensued from there. I thought we where right on time with five minutes to spare for Jeremy's pre-op , nope I had it written down as 9:30 they had it in the computer as 9:05,uggg. Luckily they know us & asked if we could wait a few minutes they could squeeze us in, so we did. We had already ran by the Madigan pharmacy to grab a number as they are so slow in there I knew we would be lucky if they where anywhere near our number when we where done at pre-op. I was right as usual- we got down to the pharmacy thirty-five minutes after we had taken a number & still waited for fifty five more minutes to get called. Thank goodness they had a Disney movie on & Jeremy was cooperating. We get up to the counter & are told our neurologist has not put in his prescription??? WHAT say again, she never forgets??? They tell me I need to go back to the neurology clinic to get her to put the prescription in the computer & come back, UGGGG!! was NOT what I was saying in my head after already waiting almost an hour!

Jeremy goes along very nicely thank goodness back to neurology. There we are told our doctor has gone for the day & the only other doctor who can write the prescription is in a conference . I very nicely tell the gentlemen I have another appointment with anesthesia at 1PM, please have the prescription in the computer somehow by 3PM so I can get my son's medicine. I think he could see in my eyes that it was taking everything I had at that point not to jump over the counter & throttle him!! He took my cell number & said he would call as soon as he could with an answer. At that point it was only 11AM! Remember I had been up since 5:15AM, I was DONE!!! But I couldn't go yet. So I take Jeremy to get pizza & a root-beer as a bribe to remain calm as we head to the surgical services clinic. We are told there is a wait of two hours if we want to go run errands it would be a good idea- SERIOUSLY losing it at this point!I very quickly grab Jeremy's hand & head to the PX. Enough of this hospital at this point.

I let him look at toys & we pick out birthday party plates for Jacob's party tomorrow. We just try to relax for about forty-five minutes then head back to the car & Madigan. Luckily we get there & I get a call saying his prescription is in the computer and they gave us a fast pass for the pharmacy-hallelujah! We wait with a very strange man talking about Dr. Seuss for another hour before a nurse who recognizes us pushes Jeremy through the process. I think God knew I was done & needed a break.  Six long hours later Jeremy & I headed home.We have to go back on Monday for his laser surgery & eye exam under anesthesia . I am going to pray like crazy it goes smoothly. Not sure I can handle anymore stress at this point in my life. I am not complaining about our medical because I am so grateful to receive all the care we do for our family & Jeremy especially. But sometimes I do need to vent about it- so thank you for letting me.


Now to get ready to bake a birthday cake, pizza, movies & maybe pour a glass of wine to relax for the evening. Tomorrow is a Bowling Birthday party for Jacob & I want to enjoy the day.If I had any Calgon I would love a bubble bath as well, but I'll settle for a hot bath later instead.

** Edit**After this post while looking through the mail I found a postcard from Jacob's school. He has been chosen student of the month for June! He got picked for showing exceptional kindness to another student with out anyone asking him to help out. So all the stress floated away for a moment as I celebrated his accomplishment. It's been a rough couple of years in school for him behavior wise- so this is a HUGE deal!! Such a proud mom.