I hope everyone has had a wonderful Easter. It's a great time to be with friends and family. Today, I ate lunch at Grandma Ruth's and Grandpa Marvin's with Mom, Dad, and my cousin Travis. I also managed to wash all of the laundry that I had stored up. I waited entirely too long before I tackled it. After lunch, we sat around and chatted for most of the afternoon. I helped Mom feed the critters this evening and ate dinner with Mom and Dad. All in all, it was a very nice day. I got a lot done, and I feel really good about that.
Yesterday was an extremely productive day as well. Tim and I went looking/listening for turkeys first thing in the morning, but we didn't see or hear a thing. It has been raining for days though, so that didn't really surprise me. I spent most of yesterday afternoon picking up the house. I rearranged some of the furniture and picked up the basement. I didn't make any major changes, but a little change in scenery is always nice. After Tim went to work last night, I spent all night watching movies on Netflix.com. I stayed up later than I should have, but I was able to sleep in this morning, so it all worked out.
I didn't get any of my sewing done this weekend, so that is going to be at the top of my list for this week. I have a busy, busy schedule next week. My massage schedule is nearly full already for the entire week, and it is going to be Jessica's last week, so there will be lots of changing going on. I was optimistic about getting the yard mowed next week as well, that is until I looked at the forecast. The rain can stop any day now. The rivers are already getting out of their banks in a big way, and I really do want to get some things done in my yard. I have veggies and flowers to plant, mulch to move, spraying that needs done, and most importantly, my yard needs mowed. Oh well, maybe by next weekend it will have stopped raining. I sure hope so. I know they say that "April showers bring May flowers", but this is ridiculous. We better have a flower explosion next month is all I have to say. I think I am going to wrap up this post for the night. I am tired and really need a good night's sleep, but I didn't want to wait too long before writing anything. I hope you all have a great Monday -- That's an oxymoron, huh? Good night! :^)
Operation Saheeb -- Day #13
Monday, April 25, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Kentucky Turkey Hunting 2011
I hope everyone has had a wonderful Good Friday -- I know I did. Tim and I slept in this morning for a ridiculously long time. After finally getting up and getting showers, it was time for some lunch. Tim grilled some sausages on the grill, and I made mac and cheese. Not too shabby. After lunch, we went on an adventure north to Bloomfield. Tim broke the D-Loop on his bow a while back, so we took it to Archer's Spot to get it fixed. It was a pretty nice little Friday afternoon trip. Tim gave himself a haircut before heading to work, while I got his supper ready. I watched a movie (Easy A -- Very good, I thought) then decided to be a little productive, so I painted the rest of the porch. I got it done, but now it's raining again -- HARD -- so I might have to touch it up a little bit. It looks really nice though! I'm excited to put the finishing touches on it! I'll post some pictures when it's done. Now, I need to play a little catch up for a couple days last week. Tim was home, so I didn't take the time to post anything. Ok, Here we go.
Wednesday was a super day! The morning schedule was not busy at all, so I got lots of other stuff done. I did a couple things for Mary Sue, then worked on the filing project some. If I keep plugging away at it, and it will eventually get done. Mom was feeling a little down with a cold, so she came in to see Dr. Pete. We went out for lunch at Hardee's and had a nice little visit while we ate our lunch at the park. The damage from the storm Tuesday night was terrible. There were huge trees and limbs down all over the park. I'm just thankful that we only lost a couple little limbs at our house -- Though our Direct TV dish did take a hit. We are only watching movies til they can come and get it fixed, I suppose. My massage schedule was full again Wednesday afternoon, so I was really busy for the rest of the day. Tim stopped in to surprise me on his way home from Kentucky. He had a great time hunting turkeys, and it was really nice to see him. He kinda looked like Grizzly Adams, because he hadn't shaved in about a week, but that's changed now. I love him to have a little scruff on his face -- If only he didn't have to shave for work. By the time I made it home from work though, he was sacked out on the couch. I had a Netflix movie waiting in the mailbox. I made lasagna and Texas Toast for supper, while I watched Burlesque. WHAT A GREAT MOVIE! Not only do I love Cher, but Christina Aguilera was awesome too. I have it ordered already, so that I can watch it whenever I want. After the movie was over, however, I went to bed. I had one more day of work to finish before the week was over.
Thursday was CRAZY! I ran around like a chicken with no head all morning. There was filing to do, laundry to fold, the phone never stopped ringing, and we were throwing a surprise office bridal shower for Randi, so I decorated the office. We had a lunch brought in, and we all sat down during our normal staff meeting time to chat. It was a really nice lunch, and I think that she was definitely surprised. I had a full schedule again for the afternoon then it was homeward bound for a long holiday weekend. Tim was grilling marinated turkey breasts from the bird he shot in KY and frying mushrooms for supper. We had Mom and Dad over to share in our DELICIOUS dinner. Tim is an amazing cook. It's so so nice to be able to come home from work and have him make supper, especially if I have been at work for 10 hours or so. Tim and I went to bed after watching a few episodes of Season 2 of Sons of Anarchy -- Remember, there's no Direct TV at our house.
Now, I am watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and listening to it storm. I think that the worst has blown over now. Tim and I are going to look for turkeys in the morning when he gets home from work. We still haven't heard anything more from Dwain. I suppose that no news is good news, but I really, really hope that we hear something soon. Well, I have the munchies, then I'm headed to bed as soon as my movie is over. Good night everyone! Love you all! Tomorrow is going to be a good day! :^)
Wednesday was a super day! The morning schedule was not busy at all, so I got lots of other stuff done. I did a couple things for Mary Sue, then worked on the filing project some. If I keep plugging away at it, and it will eventually get done. Mom was feeling a little down with a cold, so she came in to see Dr. Pete. We went out for lunch at Hardee's and had a nice little visit while we ate our lunch at the park. The damage from the storm Tuesday night was terrible. There were huge trees and limbs down all over the park. I'm just thankful that we only lost a couple little limbs at our house -- Though our Direct TV dish did take a hit. We are only watching movies til they can come and get it fixed, I suppose. My massage schedule was full again Wednesday afternoon, so I was really busy for the rest of the day. Tim stopped in to surprise me on his way home from Kentucky. He had a great time hunting turkeys, and it was really nice to see him. He kinda looked like Grizzly Adams, because he hadn't shaved in about a week, but that's changed now. I love him to have a little scruff on his face -- If only he didn't have to shave for work. By the time I made it home from work though, he was sacked out on the couch. I had a Netflix movie waiting in the mailbox. I made lasagna and Texas Toast for supper, while I watched Burlesque. WHAT A GREAT MOVIE! Not only do I love Cher, but Christina Aguilera was awesome too. I have it ordered already, so that I can watch it whenever I want. After the movie was over, however, I went to bed. I had one more day of work to finish before the week was over.
The Thunder Chicken from Kentucky
HUGE SPURS! Nice one, Tim!
These were delicious!
Tim's friend Travis went with him to Kentucky and got himself a nice bird too
Thursday was CRAZY! I ran around like a chicken with no head all morning. There was filing to do, laundry to fold, the phone never stopped ringing, and we were throwing a surprise office bridal shower for Randi, so I decorated the office. We had a lunch brought in, and we all sat down during our normal staff meeting time to chat. It was a really nice lunch, and I think that she was definitely surprised. I had a full schedule again for the afternoon then it was homeward bound for a long holiday weekend. Tim was grilling marinated turkey breasts from the bird he shot in KY and frying mushrooms for supper. We had Mom and Dad over to share in our DELICIOUS dinner. Tim is an amazing cook. It's so so nice to be able to come home from work and have him make supper, especially if I have been at work for 10 hours or so. Tim and I went to bed after watching a few episodes of Season 2 of Sons of Anarchy -- Remember, there's no Direct TV at our house.
Now, I am watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and listening to it storm. I think that the worst has blown over now. Tim and I are going to look for turkeys in the morning when he gets home from work. We still haven't heard anything more from Dwain. I suppose that no news is good news, but I really, really hope that we hear something soon. Well, I have the munchies, then I'm headed to bed as soon as my movie is over. Good night everyone! Love you all! Tomorrow is going to be a good day! :^)
Operation Saheeb -- Day #11
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
"I Love A Rainy Night" -- Not Really, But It's A Good Song
Last night after I finished up my post and got ready for bed, I had to find Chuck and get him inside. He was on the porch -- with a mouse -- playing/torturing it mercilessly. I didn't want to wait on him to finish up, because I was ready for bed, so I just grabbed him and let the mouse get away. The look he gave me was SCARY -- Evidently, he would have really liked to finish what he was doing to that poor mouse. It's not very often that I feel sorry for a mouse, but I usually do when Chuck gets ahold of them.
We also had some pretty ridiculous lightning and thunder last night. It woke me up at about 3:00 in the morning, because it was shaking the house! My makeup on the dresser was shaking! Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night. I was more than a little tired when I had to get up this morning.
Today was a good day at work. I got a lot done at the front desk this morning, then I had to run to Wal-Mart over lunch and get some paper towels for the office. Sammie met me for lunch at Subway, then we had a staff meeting. We covered a lot of things in the meeting, but the saddest part is that my lovely Jessica has decided that she needs to stay at home and be a Mommy instead of working. I think that she made the right decision, but I sure am going to miss seeing her beautiful face everyday. I will be making a pit stop to Northside Drive on my way home from work on a regular basis. After the staff meeting, I did my usual full schedule of massages. Today, they were all neck and shoulder people, so it was a fairly easy day. This is going to be a short week, so I want to get as many hours in as possible. After work, I had to run up to Mom's to get Dixie, but first I stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's to pay our rent for the month. I always have to sit and visit for a little while, and today was no different. Finally, I was headed to Mom's to get the Super Mutt. She was completely soaked and covered in mud, but she had a great time at Grandma Sara's house. I helped Mom feed the critters, then I was headed back to the house.
Now, I have been sitting on the couch for the last two hours watching the History Channel. Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy and Top Shot are my favorite Tuesday shows. I had a bologna and cheese sandwich for supper, because I didn't feel like cooking anything. Unfortunately, we are going to get slammed by some pretty nasty storms tonight, with possible tornadoes, so I am going to Mom's house for the night. I am totally and completely freaked out by storms, so better safe than sorry I say -- And Tim says! I will be journeying up the hill to Momma's as soon as Top Shot is over. Tomorrow is another busy, busy day, but I am looking forward to it. Good night everyone! Have a good Hump Day! :^D
Operation Saheeb -- Day #8
We also had some pretty ridiculous lightning and thunder last night. It woke me up at about 3:00 in the morning, because it was shaking the house! My makeup on the dresser was shaking! Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night. I was more than a little tired when I had to get up this morning.
Today was a good day at work. I got a lot done at the front desk this morning, then I had to run to Wal-Mart over lunch and get some paper towels for the office. Sammie met me for lunch at Subway, then we had a staff meeting. We covered a lot of things in the meeting, but the saddest part is that my lovely Jessica has decided that she needs to stay at home and be a Mommy instead of working. I think that she made the right decision, but I sure am going to miss seeing her beautiful face everyday. I will be making a pit stop to Northside Drive on my way home from work on a regular basis. After the staff meeting, I did my usual full schedule of massages. Today, they were all neck and shoulder people, so it was a fairly easy day. This is going to be a short week, so I want to get as many hours in as possible. After work, I had to run up to Mom's to get Dixie, but first I stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's to pay our rent for the month. I always have to sit and visit for a little while, and today was no different. Finally, I was headed to Mom's to get the Super Mutt. She was completely soaked and covered in mud, but she had a great time at Grandma Sara's house. I helped Mom feed the critters, then I was headed back to the house.
Now, I have been sitting on the couch for the last two hours watching the History Channel. Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy and Top Shot are my favorite Tuesday shows. I had a bologna and cheese sandwich for supper, because I didn't feel like cooking anything. Unfortunately, we are going to get slammed by some pretty nasty storms tonight, with possible tornadoes, so I am going to Mom's house for the night. I am totally and completely freaked out by storms, so better safe than sorry I say -- And Tim says! I will be journeying up the hill to Momma's as soon as Top Shot is over. Tomorrow is another busy, busy day, but I am looking forward to it. Good night everyone! Have a good Hump Day! :^D
Operation Saheeb -- Day #8
Monday, April 18, 2011
Picasso's Got Nothing On Me
I had a great Monday! I slept in a little bit this morning, then got up and piddled around the house for most of the morning. I folded some laundry, played with Dixie, and did some dishes. I had to be at work by 1:30 this afternoon, but only working a half day on Mondays is amazing! Today, I did four and a half hours of massage. My schedule is pretty much booked up for the next week and a half. There are a couple openings here and there but that's it. I'm still backed up from our trip to North Carolina, and we have a short week this week because we are closed on Good Friday. I closed up the office at the end of the day so that Sammie could go out for her Momma's birthday. Happy Birthday Jane!
After leaving work, I took my paycheck to the bank then ran to Wal-Mart for a few things. I have decided to paint our porch so it looks nice, so I needed to get some paint and brushes, as well as a few other little things. While I was getting my paint color (Warm Caramel) mixed, the guy working behind the counter asked me for my phone number. I turned him down of course, but it's nice to know that someone other than Tim thinks I look pretty in my work clothes.
Finally, after about an hour and a few dollars spent, I was headed home. My poor little Dixie girl had been in her kennel all day, and she was SOO glad to see me when I got home. We went outside and played for a little while, then I started painting our porch. I would say I got it about half done, but once I lost daylight and had to use the overhead lights, the bugs ran me off the porch. I gave up for the night and came in for some supper. I should be able to finish it up tomorrow after work.
I have been very productive the last two days -- And I hope to keep that trend going the rest of this week. Yesterday, I got most of the limbs out of the yard with Grandma and Grandpa's help, cleaned off the porch, and transplanted a bunch of daffodils so they aren't scattered out through the yard. Today, the busy-ness continued. Fingers crossed that tomorrow is the same. I think I am eating lunch with Sammie tomorrow, so that will be fun -- It always is! I should also be able to get a lot of the filing project done tomorrow. Tuesday is looking to be a great day! I'm praying that we hear something from Dwain soon. I sure would love to hear his voice. It's been a week now since he left, but I know it's just the beginning. I think I am ready for bed -- Beauty sleep is super important, ya know! Good night everyone! Have a great Tuesday! :^D
Operation Saheeb -- Day #7
After leaving work, I took my paycheck to the bank then ran to Wal-Mart for a few things. I have decided to paint our porch so it looks nice, so I needed to get some paint and brushes, as well as a few other little things. While I was getting my paint color (Warm Caramel) mixed, the guy working behind the counter asked me for my phone number. I turned him down of course, but it's nice to know that someone other than Tim thinks I look pretty in my work clothes.
Finally, after about an hour and a few dollars spent, I was headed home. My poor little Dixie girl had been in her kennel all day, and she was SOO glad to see me when I got home. We went outside and played for a little while, then I started painting our porch. I would say I got it about half done, but once I lost daylight and had to use the overhead lights, the bugs ran me off the porch. I gave up for the night and came in for some supper. I should be able to finish it up tomorrow after work.
I have been very productive the last two days -- And I hope to keep that trend going the rest of this week. Yesterday, I got most of the limbs out of the yard with Grandma and Grandpa's help, cleaned off the porch, and transplanted a bunch of daffodils so they aren't scattered out through the yard. Today, the busy-ness continued. Fingers crossed that tomorrow is the same. I think I am eating lunch with Sammie tomorrow, so that will be fun -- It always is! I should also be able to get a lot of the filing project done tomorrow. Tuesday is looking to be a great day! I'm praying that we hear something from Dwain soon. I sure would love to hear his voice. It's been a week now since he left, but I know it's just the beginning. I think I am ready for bed -- Beauty sleep is super important, ya know! Good night everyone! Have a great Tuesday! :^D
Operation Saheeb -- Day #7
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Tim's Birthday = Peanut Butter Pie
My plan for today is to be productive. I need to clean my car out and change the turn-signal bulb that is burned out. I need to do some laundry and vacuum. I have lots of sewing that needs done and there are sticks and limbs in the yard that need picked up. There is nothing keeping me from doing these things except my laziness and my wish to have a relaxing Sunday. I'm not sure whether productivity or relaxation will win out -- Wish me luck!
Now, to catch you up on last week, because I slacked off again and haven't posted anything since Monday night -- Ugh. I just haven't taken the time to post anything.
The best thing about Tuesday is that we got an email from Dwain. It was super short and just basically told us where he was at the moment and that he was ok, but it was fantastic to hear from him. The rest of Tuesday went without a hitch. I had a full massage schedule for the day. Tim was not working on Tuesday, so he went fishing with Travis for the day. I don't think they caught much, but fishing is always fun. After work, I had to run to Wal-Mart and get some groceries. I also made some Peanut Butter Chex Mix Cookies for Tim's birthday and a quick supper. We watched Top Shot and then went to bed early. It was a simple, good day.
Wednesday was Tim's 22nd birthday! I had a busy morning at the front desk at work, then another full massage schedule in the afternoon. I did some errand running during my lunch break to get the ingredients to make Tim a Peanut Butter Pie for his birthday. He isn't a big fan of birthday cake, so he got a pie instead. Here is the recipe for Peanut Butter Pie:
Friday at work was a little out of the ordinary. I worked my usual morning from 8:00 to 1:00, but today a student from Washington Catholic High School was job shadowing me. He is a junior and is interested in being a massage therapist. He sat in on the 4 massages I had scheduled, and then we spent about an hour talking about what kinds of classes he would need to take and what I loved most about massage therapy. He had a lot of great questions, and I really think that he learned a lot. I enjoyed sharing the love I have for my career with someone else. Tim and I went for a hike on Friday afternoon to check our trail cameras for evidence of turkeys. I love going for a walk with him. It's so nice to just spend some time with him. Dixie loves our walks too, because she gets to run around like a crazy dog. She even chased a coot across one of the ponds. We made a very delicious dinner then Tim worked on getting all his turkey stuff ready for the weekend. It's opening weekend in Kentucky. It wasn't too long before I fell asleep on the couch.
Saturday, we slept in -- until 11:30! I haven't stayed in bed that long in a long time. The weather was very crappy yesterday, so I didn't really feel like doing much. I watched a little TV and helped Tim finish up his packing. I did the feeding for Mom last night -- She is working Annie this weekend at a Field Trial. Annie has done really, really well! She is about halfway to being a Champion. Dixie had her first electric fence experience last night while I was feeding. She was trying the get to Sela and it got her right on the nose. She thought the Hounds of Hades were after her. She ran in about three circles trying to get away from it, then she saw Mommy. She literally knocked me on my back when she jumped into my arms. There is nothing like a Mommy to make it all better. It was sad and hilarious at the same time. She didn't leave my side the rest of the night. I think she thought it was going to get her again. After that, I made some burgers, and Dad and I had supper. After finally getting home last night, I crashed out.
I had a busy week last week, and I think I may just spend the rest of today relaxing. The work on my list can wait until another day. Sundays are supposed to be a day of rest! I'm going to go grab a snack, then who knows. I hope that we hear from Dwain soon -- It will be nice to know that he is doing good. Next week is a short work week for me. We have Good Friday off, so I have an easy week. Maybe this means that I will get those chores done. Sorry that this post has jumped around so much. It's really hard to go back and try to remember what all I did for the whole week. Maybe next time, I shouldn't wait so long to post something. :^)
Operation Saheeb -- Day #6
Now, to catch you up on last week, because I slacked off again and haven't posted anything since Monday night -- Ugh. I just haven't taken the time to post anything.
The best thing about Tuesday is that we got an email from Dwain. It was super short and just basically told us where he was at the moment and that he was ok, but it was fantastic to hear from him. The rest of Tuesday went without a hitch. I had a full massage schedule for the day. Tim was not working on Tuesday, so he went fishing with Travis for the day. I don't think they caught much, but fishing is always fun. After work, I had to run to Wal-Mart and get some groceries. I also made some Peanut Butter Chex Mix Cookies for Tim's birthday and a quick supper. We watched Top Shot and then went to bed early. It was a simple, good day.
Wednesday was Tim's 22nd birthday! I had a busy morning at the front desk at work, then another full massage schedule in the afternoon. I did some errand running during my lunch break to get the ingredients to make Tim a Peanut Butter Pie for his birthday. He isn't a big fan of birthday cake, so he got a pie instead. Here is the recipe for Peanut Butter Pie:
PEANUT BUTTER PIE RECIPE
8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup hot fudge ice cream topping
1 tub of Cool Whip (I don't know the size in ounces, but it's the normal size, not the huge one)
Oreo Pie Crust
Beat together cream cheese, peanut butter, and sugar until smooth. Fold in HALF of the tub of Cool Whip. Save the remaining Cool Whip til later. Spoon peanut butter mixture into Oreo Pie Crust. Warm the hot fudge in microwave until it is pourable. Spread over the top of peanut butter mixture in Pie Crust. Finish by adding the remaining Cool Whip to the top of the pie. Chill in the fridge or freeze for later.
Beware of "death by deliciousness." This pie is RICH! I also like to make it in aluminum muffin tins or "punch" size clear cups so that you have nice snack size portions. I usually make mine with Fat Free ingredients whenever possible, but I don't think that makes this any healthier. It is too good to be good for you!
Thursday was another great day. We didn't have a staff meeting because Dr. Bowling was out of town, so I had an extra hour to work on stuff at the front desk before I started doing massages in the afternoon. I worked quite a lot on the filing cabinet project. I have 7 out of 19 drawers done now, so I'm almost half done with it. I will be really happy when that day comes. It's going to be a huge accomplishment. Jessica was out for the second day -- Her whole family has the flu -- So, I got to eat my lunch with Sammie while we waited on our first patients to come in. Four massages later and I was headed home for the day. The weather was fairly nice out, so I worked in the yard for a couple hours til dark. I hung up a USMC flag for my brother and picked up a load of sticks and limbs out of the yard. It was a great evening.
Dwain's Flag
My load of limbs and sticks
Friday at work was a little out of the ordinary. I worked my usual morning from 8:00 to 1:00, but today a student from Washington Catholic High School was job shadowing me. He is a junior and is interested in being a massage therapist. He sat in on the 4 massages I had scheduled, and then we spent about an hour talking about what kinds of classes he would need to take and what I loved most about massage therapy. He had a lot of great questions, and I really think that he learned a lot. I enjoyed sharing the love I have for my career with someone else. Tim and I went for a hike on Friday afternoon to check our trail cameras for evidence of turkeys. I love going for a walk with him. It's so nice to just spend some time with him. Dixie loves our walks too, because she gets to run around like a crazy dog. She even chased a coot across one of the ponds. We made a very delicious dinner then Tim worked on getting all his turkey stuff ready for the weekend. It's opening weekend in Kentucky. It wasn't too long before I fell asleep on the couch.
Saturday, we slept in -- until 11:30! I haven't stayed in bed that long in a long time. The weather was very crappy yesterday, so I didn't really feel like doing much. I watched a little TV and helped Tim finish up his packing. I did the feeding for Mom last night -- She is working Annie this weekend at a Field Trial. Annie has done really, really well! She is about halfway to being a Champion. Dixie had her first electric fence experience last night while I was feeding. She was trying the get to Sela and it got her right on the nose. She thought the Hounds of Hades were after her. She ran in about three circles trying to get away from it, then she saw Mommy. She literally knocked me on my back when she jumped into my arms. There is nothing like a Mommy to make it all better. It was sad and hilarious at the same time. She didn't leave my side the rest of the night. I think she thought it was going to get her again. After that, I made some burgers, and Dad and I had supper. After finally getting home last night, I crashed out.
I had a busy week last week, and I think I may just spend the rest of today relaxing. The work on my list can wait until another day. Sundays are supposed to be a day of rest! I'm going to go grab a snack, then who knows. I hope that we hear from Dwain soon -- It will be nice to know that he is doing good. Next week is a short work week for me. We have Good Friday off, so I have an easy week. Maybe this means that I will get those chores done. Sorry that this post has jumped around so much. It's really hard to go back and try to remember what all I did for the whole week. Maybe next time, I shouldn't wait so long to post something. :^)
Operation Saheeb -- Day #6
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Hurry Home Dwain -- Be Safe
What a "blah" Monday. Not that Mondays are ever great, but the weather yesterday was awful. It rained almost the entire day yesterday. The storm woke me up at 6:00 and it was still raining when I got to work at 1:00. I had planned on doing some mushroom hunting before work, but that plan flopped. My schedule at work was fantastic -- I had 5 massages! This whole week looks awesome as far as my massage schedule is concerned. I am really going to have to take care of myself though, or I will overdue it. I got an adjustment yesterday before I went home for the night, and I finally got Randi to come in and give me a massage today. I am waiting on her to get here now. After work, I took my tip money from the day and bought pizzas from Papa John's for supper -- I LOVE cheesy bread! Hooray for not cooking! Tim and I went for a drive to look for turkeys, and to check out one of our old fishing holes -- The Island. It has changed hands recently, and they have done quite a bit of work on it, but I think it's going to be better. We just need to go talk to the new owners and get permission to fish, and maybe even hunt. We headed home at dark and had our pizza. We had Mom over for dinner too, since Dad was out of town for the night. I went to bed early and got some much needed sleep. The only problem with eating pizza, which I dearly love, is that it makes me have WEIRD dreams -- every time! Last night, I dreamed that I was fighting zombies. Makes no sense to me.
Dwain started his big adventure last night. His plane left at about 4:00 am, headed to Afghanistan. He will be gone until about Thanksgiving. Hopefully, we will be able to talk to him often, but he will be home again before we know it. I try not to think about it too much, and I have an "ignorance is bliss" policy about the whole thing. I don't want to know the nasty details. I have my friends and family to get me through it. I am truly blessed with a great support system. I love them all. I will be keeping a count of how many days he has been away from home. I will also keep everyone posted anytime we hear from him. I will be praying every day for his safe return. I love you Dwain. Hurry home to us!
Today has been a good day. I had cold pizza for breakfast -- YUM! I have gotten lots done in the office this morning, and I have a full schedule after lunch. I need to make a trip to Wal-Mart after work, so that won't be fun, but the rest of the day should be great too. Maybe I'll even go for a run when I get home. We will see. I'll get back with you on that one next time. Everyone have a great Tuesday! :^)
Operation Saheeb -- Day #1
Dwain started his big adventure last night. His plane left at about 4:00 am, headed to Afghanistan. He will be gone until about Thanksgiving. Hopefully, we will be able to talk to him often, but he will be home again before we know it. I try not to think about it too much, and I have an "ignorance is bliss" policy about the whole thing. I don't want to know the nasty details. I have my friends and family to get me through it. I am truly blessed with a great support system. I love them all. I will be keeping a count of how many days he has been away from home. I will also keep everyone posted anytime we hear from him. I will be praying every day for his safe return. I love you Dwain. Hurry home to us!
Today has been a good day. I had cold pizza for breakfast -- YUM! I have gotten lots done in the office this morning, and I have a full schedule after lunch. I need to make a trip to Wal-Mart after work, so that won't be fun, but the rest of the day should be great too. Maybe I'll even go for a run when I get home. We will see. I'll get back with you on that one next time. Everyone have a great Tuesday! :^)
Operation Saheeb -- Day #1
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Congratulations Sara and Justin!
Today has been a wonderful, lazy Sunday. I have spent a good deal of time doing laundry at Mom's, and the rest of the time relaxing before I go back to work tomorrow. There is only one opening in my massage schedule next week, so I am enjoying my not-busy time. I have neglected my blog again this week, so I need to spend some time getting caught back up again. Next week should be back to normal, or as normal as we ever get, so I should do better about posting.
My last post was on Tuesday night (very late Tuesday night), so I will start with Wednesday. The morning was busier than usual (about like last week), but I still managed to get quite a bit done. I even had time to get on the Decompression Table and try to make my neck feel better. I am still nursing a stiff neck from the weekend, but it has improved pretty steadily since last week. I am hoping that I can get Randi, who is the other massage therapist I work with, to come in early on Tuesday and work on me a little bit. My week is just too busy to still be having neck pain, but one of the best things about working for a chiropractor is that they take care of me. I am "well adjusted." Wednesday afternoon, I had a full massage schedule (5 massages). They were pretty straight-forward neck pain complaints though, so I wasn't totally wiped out at the end of the day. Working on someone's neck is typically easier than dealing with low back pain, especially because low back pain is usually experienced by big, burly men. After work on Wednesday, I ran my paycheck to the bank -- finally -- and stubbed my toe on the door to the bank. It hurt like no other! My nail on my little toe split about halfway up and I took a big chunk out of the top of my toe. Thankfully, I had a band-aid in my purse, because I was bleeding like crazy. I had planned on going on a run with Dixie when I got home, but the thought of putting on tennis shoes was unbearable. Tim was home from work Wednesday night, so we had a nice night in. I made enchiladas for supper -- Yummy -- and we watched a little TV. Justified was on, but I fell asleep halfway through. I really have no idea what's going on anymore on the show, but it's still fun to watch. I will have to buy the DVD when it comes out later this year. Tim finally took pity on me, and we went to bed. Finally, I got a solid 8 hours of sleep. I need to do better on that, because my body hates me when I don't get enough sleep.
Thursday morning, I seriously debated staying in bed with Tim, but I was a good girl and went to work as usual. I had a ton of stuff to work on, so I was busy the whole morning. I ate my lunch (leftover enchiladas) in the office, because I didn't have any errands to run. I surfed around on the Internet for a little bit while I was eating. I have been looking for some new shirts to wear to work, but everything I have tried on doesn't fit in the shoulder and is not long enough -- I decided to say "the heck with it" and bought a pattern for the type of shirt I want. Now, I can make my shirts fit how I want them to, and I can make it in any color I want. Thank you Momma for teaching me how to sew all those years ago; it's one of the best skills I have and it makes life so much easier. We had a productive staff meeting after lunch -- I even stretched my neck again on the Decompression Table. Once again, my massage schedule was booked for the afternoon. My guardian angel is making sure that I have people to help and money in the bank. Life is good! After work, Tim fried up some fish for supper, while I assembled his Inversion Table. It went together really easily and is now occupying a portion of our living room. I have used it a couple times, and I really like how it makes my back and neck feel. I can feel it working on my hips as well. The only problem I had with it was that my derriere was a little too rounded (thank you, volleyball for giving me a big butt) and it was putting stress on my low back because I wasn't laying completely flat. I solved this problem by putting a small pillow under my low back; now it just feels awesome. Tim hasn't taken the time to use it much, but I really think it will help his back also. The angle of inversion we are using is just barely more than completely horizontal because it's too intense to do any more right now. We are just starting out and will have to gradually increase our angle as we go. Tim's fish (and french fries) was really good, but by the time we finished eating, it was time for bed.
Friday, I did my usual 5 massages from 8:00 to 1:00, then I was headed home for the weekend. We had an appointment at Dr. Royal's office to get Dixie's rabies shot updated and pick up some flea and tick stuff for her and Chuck. I wound up spending quite a chunk of money there, but we are stocked up on flea stuff for several months now. I even got some wormer for Chuck to keep him from getting sick from the assortment of small creatures he eats. Got to keep my babies healthy! Then Tim and I walked about 3 miles or so checking trail cameras and looking for turkeys. We saw a couple of them, and we even found an antler that a buck had shed in the woods. Dixie must have run about 10 miles, because she was TIRED! Unfortunately, Tim had to work Friday night (and the rest of the weekend), but I was fairly productive. I went for a run/walk with Dixie right before dark, then folded up some laundry and did the dishes. I wound up falling asleep on the couch later on, but I woke up at about 3:00 am and moved to our comfy bed. Poor Little Chuck was curled up asleep on the back step like a hobo cat, so I let him inside on my way to bed.
When Tim got home Saturday morning, we went for a little drive listening for turkeys. I love hearing them gobble their brains out first thing in the morning. We also saw a fox on our travels around the block. I thought Dixie was going to come apart at the seams wanting to get it. She also growled at the three deer we saw. We saw them in our headlights, then all of a sudden Dix materialized between us with a deep growl like she was going to scare them off. She is such a good girl. We came back to the house before too long and went back to bed. I got up again around 10:00 and did several loads of laundry throughout the day at Mom and Dad's. I worked on some other odd jobs around the house, then at about 3:30 I had to get through the shower and get dressed up for my cousin Sara's wedding. She looked absolutely beautiful and had a perfect ceremony. Justin will be a great addition to the family, and his girls are wonderful too. The reception was great! I had a blast dancing with the "older crowd" because we liked the same music. There is nothing like some AC/DC to get your blood pumping and your heart rate elevated. I even got to share a dance with Pop -- He and Mom danced together on every slow song. I hope that when Tim and I have been married for 30 years, we have a love like Mom and Dad. I am truly blessed with the BEST family. We stayed late to help clean up and chat, so when I finally got home around 1:00 or so, I went straight to bed. Do not pass GO, Do not collect $200.
Tim and I laid around for a little while when he got home this morning, then decided that we weren't going to sleep anytime soon, so we went to look for turkeys again. It was a little late in the morning to find any though, but we caught breakfast at Subway, so it was a good morning. When we got back to the house, we popped in a Netflix movie and crashed on the couch. Tim was asleep almost immediately, but I finished out the movie before I took a little nap. I had a couple more loads of laundry to do, but that is about all I have done today. I have really enjoyed my day though. Tim is at work now, but I am headed to Mom and Dad's for supper as soon as I finish this post. I think we are having steaks!! YES! I know for a fact that we are watching the Season 2 Premier of River Monsters on Animal Planet -- And I can't wait! I just wish Tim didn't have to work so he could see it too, but he should be able to catch it later this week. I guess this is good night then, and I promise I will do my best to write again tomorrow. I have gotten so lazy about it lately, but I'll have to do better, because Dwain leaves Monday night for a 7 month tour in Afghanistan, and I want him to be able to know what's going on at home. I love that boy so so much! I will be praying every day and night that he comes home safe and sound. I LOVE YOU SAHEEB! You make us so proud! :^D
My last post was on Tuesday night (very late Tuesday night), so I will start with Wednesday. The morning was busier than usual (about like last week), but I still managed to get quite a bit done. I even had time to get on the Decompression Table and try to make my neck feel better. I am still nursing a stiff neck from the weekend, but it has improved pretty steadily since last week. I am hoping that I can get Randi, who is the other massage therapist I work with, to come in early on Tuesday and work on me a little bit. My week is just too busy to still be having neck pain, but one of the best things about working for a chiropractor is that they take care of me. I am "well adjusted." Wednesday afternoon, I had a full massage schedule (5 massages). They were pretty straight-forward neck pain complaints though, so I wasn't totally wiped out at the end of the day. Working on someone's neck is typically easier than dealing with low back pain, especially because low back pain is usually experienced by big, burly men. After work on Wednesday, I ran my paycheck to the bank -- finally -- and stubbed my toe on the door to the bank. It hurt like no other! My nail on my little toe split about halfway up and I took a big chunk out of the top of my toe. Thankfully, I had a band-aid in my purse, because I was bleeding like crazy. I had planned on going on a run with Dixie when I got home, but the thought of putting on tennis shoes was unbearable. Tim was home from work Wednesday night, so we had a nice night in. I made enchiladas for supper -- Yummy -- and we watched a little TV. Justified was on, but I fell asleep halfway through. I really have no idea what's going on anymore on the show, but it's still fun to watch. I will have to buy the DVD when it comes out later this year. Tim finally took pity on me, and we went to bed. Finally, I got a solid 8 hours of sleep. I need to do better on that, because my body hates me when I don't get enough sleep.
Thursday morning, I seriously debated staying in bed with Tim, but I was a good girl and went to work as usual. I had a ton of stuff to work on, so I was busy the whole morning. I ate my lunch (leftover enchiladas) in the office, because I didn't have any errands to run. I surfed around on the Internet for a little bit while I was eating. I have been looking for some new shirts to wear to work, but everything I have tried on doesn't fit in the shoulder and is not long enough -- I decided to say "the heck with it" and bought a pattern for the type of shirt I want. Now, I can make my shirts fit how I want them to, and I can make it in any color I want. Thank you Momma for teaching me how to sew all those years ago; it's one of the best skills I have and it makes life so much easier. We had a productive staff meeting after lunch -- I even stretched my neck again on the Decompression Table. Once again, my massage schedule was booked for the afternoon. My guardian angel is making sure that I have people to help and money in the bank. Life is good! After work, Tim fried up some fish for supper, while I assembled his Inversion Table. It went together really easily and is now occupying a portion of our living room. I have used it a couple times, and I really like how it makes my back and neck feel. I can feel it working on my hips as well. The only problem I had with it was that my derriere was a little too rounded (thank you, volleyball for giving me a big butt) and it was putting stress on my low back because I wasn't laying completely flat. I solved this problem by putting a small pillow under my low back; now it just feels awesome. Tim hasn't taken the time to use it much, but I really think it will help his back also. The angle of inversion we are using is just barely more than completely horizontal because it's too intense to do any more right now. We are just starting out and will have to gradually increase our angle as we go. Tim's fish (and french fries) was really good, but by the time we finished eating, it was time for bed.
Friday, I did my usual 5 massages from 8:00 to 1:00, then I was headed home for the weekend. We had an appointment at Dr. Royal's office to get Dixie's rabies shot updated and pick up some flea and tick stuff for her and Chuck. I wound up spending quite a chunk of money there, but we are stocked up on flea stuff for several months now. I even got some wormer for Chuck to keep him from getting sick from the assortment of small creatures he eats. Got to keep my babies healthy! Then Tim and I walked about 3 miles or so checking trail cameras and looking for turkeys. We saw a couple of them, and we even found an antler that a buck had shed in the woods. Dixie must have run about 10 miles, because she was TIRED! Unfortunately, Tim had to work Friday night (and the rest of the weekend), but I was fairly productive. I went for a run/walk with Dixie right before dark, then folded up some laundry and did the dishes. I wound up falling asleep on the couch later on, but I woke up at about 3:00 am and moved to our comfy bed. Poor Little Chuck was curled up asleep on the back step like a hobo cat, so I let him inside on my way to bed.
When Tim got home Saturday morning, we went for a little drive listening for turkeys. I love hearing them gobble their brains out first thing in the morning. We also saw a fox on our travels around the block. I thought Dixie was going to come apart at the seams wanting to get it. She also growled at the three deer we saw. We saw them in our headlights, then all of a sudden Dix materialized between us with a deep growl like she was going to scare them off. She is such a good girl. We came back to the house before too long and went back to bed. I got up again around 10:00 and did several loads of laundry throughout the day at Mom and Dad's. I worked on some other odd jobs around the house, then at about 3:30 I had to get through the shower and get dressed up for my cousin Sara's wedding. She looked absolutely beautiful and had a perfect ceremony. Justin will be a great addition to the family, and his girls are wonderful too. The reception was great! I had a blast dancing with the "older crowd" because we liked the same music. There is nothing like some AC/DC to get your blood pumping and your heart rate elevated. I even got to share a dance with Pop -- He and Mom danced together on every slow song. I hope that when Tim and I have been married for 30 years, we have a love like Mom and Dad. I am truly blessed with the BEST family. We stayed late to help clean up and chat, so when I finally got home around 1:00 or so, I went straight to bed. Do not pass GO, Do not collect $200.
Tim and I laid around for a little while when he got home this morning, then decided that we weren't going to sleep anytime soon, so we went to look for turkeys again. It was a little late in the morning to find any though, but we caught breakfast at Subway, so it was a good morning. When we got back to the house, we popped in a Netflix movie and crashed on the couch. Tim was asleep almost immediately, but I finished out the movie before I took a little nap. I had a couple more loads of laundry to do, but that is about all I have done today. I have really enjoyed my day though. Tim is at work now, but I am headed to Mom and Dad's for supper as soon as I finish this post. I think we are having steaks!! YES! I know for a fact that we are watching the Season 2 Premier of River Monsters on Animal Planet -- And I can't wait! I just wish Tim didn't have to work so he could see it too, but he should be able to catch it later this week. I guess this is good night then, and I promise I will do my best to write again tomorrow. I have gotten so lazy about it lately, but I'll have to do better, because Dwain leaves Monday night for a 7 month tour in Afghanistan, and I want him to be able to know what's going on at home. I love that boy so so much! I will be praying every day and night that he comes home safe and sound. I LOVE YOU SAHEEB! You make us so proud! :^D
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Work, Dwain, NC, Road Trip -- Longest Post EVER!
I would like to apologize for two things: #1 -- I have not written anything in over a week (I was beyond busy) and #2 -- Because I have so much to write about, this post is going to be ridiculously long. I will do better in the future, but there was just too much going on last week and this weekend. Let's do this post day by day, it will be easier to follow (and write) that way.
Last Monday, I was very rushed. I took my car to Dave's Body Shop to fix the mailbox damage, and I waited til the last minute so I was running behind and felt like I was going to be late for work that afternoon. I wasn't actually late, but I hate that feeling more than anything. I had a full day (5 massages), which was great. After work, I went home and spent time with Tim. I don't remember what all we did exactly because it was over a week ago, but I'm sure we had a good evening.
Tuesday was another busy day (you are going to notice a trend here pretty soon). I spent the morning working like crazy in the office. My secret project was keeping me very busy as well. I can tell you now what I was working on because I have finished it. Most of you know what it was because you participated, but I didn't want Dwain to find out about it. I sent out a message to everyone, friends and family, that we know and asked them to write a few words of support to Dwain. I wanted him to know that the people who love him will be behind him 100% while he is in Afghanistan this year (He leaves the first of next week). I laminated each letter to make it more durable, and bound them all together in a nice book. I am completely humbled by the number of people that responded. More than 50 people sent him some very beautiful letters. He is very loved by everyone who has had a chance to get to know him, and I even got some letters from people who have never even met him. My hope for his book is to help keep the homesickness at bay while he is gone. The rest of Tuesday was also busy. We had a staff meeting at 1:00, then I had 4 massages in the afternoon. After work, Tim and I went to Mom's and wound up helping her work out at the barn. She was building a creep feeder for the goat kids, and she looked like she needed a hand. Dixie was having the time of her life running around with Annie and Sela, but she smelled DISGUSTING afterwards, because there is a rotten raccoon in the yard that they just couldn't resist rolling all over. Why is it that dogs feel like they have to roll on dead things? What is so appealing about that? She made my eyes water! She went straight to the bath after we got home. It's very difficult to give a water-proof dog a bath, but she is such a good girl. She didn't mind it too much, and she smelled like No More Tears Baby Shampoo instead of rancid, nasty, raccoon -- So I call that a WIN! Other than giving Dixie a bath, we threw something together for a quick supper and watched Top Shot. I was more than ready to call it a night.
Wednesday at the office was just like most Wednesdays -- Busy. The schedule was hopping in the morning, so I didn't get much productive done besides checking patients in and out. Then I had 5 massages in the afternoon. I worked like crazy on Dwain's book over my lunch break, but I didn't get everything I needed to done, so Sammie helped me finish up that afternoon. 3 out of my 5 massages were large, burly, knotted up men -- Which means that I was completely worn out by the time 6:00 came around. I wasn't done yet though. After work, I had to make a mad dash to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries and such before our big weekend trip. Mom, Dad, and I went down to see Dwain in North Carolina this weekend. We were planning on leaving after work on Thursday, so I had lots to get done Wednesday night. After Wally World, I ran up to Mom's to wash a load of clothes so that I had something to wear on the trip. I also needed to work some on making Dwain's book look nice, so I did that while the laundry was going. My plan was to pack Wednesday night as well, but I ran out of time. There just aren't enough hours in the day, and I knew that I was going to have a busy day Thursday, so I opted to go to bed. It wasn't really early enough, but it was the best I could do.
Thursday never really ended. I spent the morning working at the front desk, then had 3 massages in the afternoon. One of my appointments forgot they were scheduled, which is not good because we had a waiting list of people wanting to get in. That's what happens when you take 2 days off work -- You run out of openings very quickly. After work, I headed for home as soon as possible. I had to unload Tim's birthday present out of the truck (an Inversion Table for his back pain; I picked it up from Wal-Mart over my lunch break), get my bags packed, make Dixie tired enough that she would sleep the whole night while I was gone and Tim was at work, and bind off the letters for Dwain's book. I accomplished all these things by 7:30 and was headed to Mom and Dad's to meet up with them. We rented a Chevy pickup to take down there so that we could bring Dwain's stuff home with us. Turns out, we didn't leave until around 9:30 or so -- But we were headed and that's all that mattered. We stopped in Jasper for a bite of supper (McDonald's), then there was a long haul ahead of us. Dad drove first, then swapped out with Mom. We took turns sleeping, talking, and driving. Dad finished up the last leg of the trip while Mom and I slept.
Finally (That was a long night!), we made it. It was about 11:00 a.m. on Friday when we rolled into Jacksonville. We had talked to Dwain, and he wasn't going to be done for a couple hours so we met up with Caitlin and went to the beach house. We stayed on Onslow Beach in a really cozy little beach "hut" that Dwain had rented for the week. We were about 200 yards or so from the water. The house wasn't big by anyone's standards, but it was nice. Dad spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out how they made the house. He finally decided that they were manufactured houses that they just trucked onto the beach and set up. They had a loft and a nice front porch. There was a bathroom and a full bedroom as well. The hot water heater sucked (only about 20 gallons), so we had to take very short showers. Luckily, we brought an air mattress with us so the sleeping arrangements weren't too bad. I wound up sleeping on a futon, which means that my neck hurts like crazy today, but at the time it wasn't so bad. We didn't do much at all on Friday besides take a nap while waiting on Dwain to get off work, then when he did make it out to the house with us, we spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies and being a family. We had lasagna and Texas toast for dinner, but the oven didn't work very well, so it took about 4 hours to cook a big pan of lasagna. We were all basically so worn out that we didn't feel like doing much -- So we didn't. Even though I was sleeping on a futon, sleep was one of the most welcome things in the world.
Saturday morning, Mom and I woke up and went for a walk on the beach. The day was warm already, which was better than Friday's chilly weather, and we really enjoyed spending our morning together. Even though it was a little chilly, we took off our shoes and walked in the edge of the ocean. It was really nice to have the sand between our toes. I started picking up some nice rocks from the shore to start a collection for a hot stone massage set, but I decided that it was a bad idea when I dropped my phone into the ocean. I had it in my pocket and when I bent down to rinse the sand off one of my rocks, it slipped out and into the water. I snagged it as quick as I could, but it still got pretty wet. The worst part was that not only was it salt water, but there was sand in it as well. I took the battery out immediately so that it could start drying out. After we got back to the house, we all took turns taking showers. We needed to make a run onto base to get a bite to eat for lunch (Subway) and go shopping at the PX store. I picked up some neat things at the store -- a slingshot for Tim's birthday (I couldn't resist; it was too awesome) and a couple pairs of sweatpants. Then we went grocery shopping -- Going grocery shopping on the Saturday after payday on a military base was STUPID! We wound up splitting our food into two carts so we could go through the fast lane, otherwise we would have been in line for hours. The place was packed, and the people working there were not getting an "Employee of the Month" sticker anytime soon. After battling with the morons, we headed back to the house for the evening. We spent the rest of the evening just hanging out and enjoying our family. It was a great day!
Sunday was a day of sleeping in. There were no more walks on the beach for me (My phone survived it's swim, but it has a couple minor problems now. Some of the side buttons don't work anymore). We had sandwiches for lunch and enjoyed laying around some more. Somewhere around 4:00 or so, we loaded up in the truck and went to go pick up some of Dwain's stuff. He is only allowed to take a certain amount of weight with him to Afghanistan (that weight includes the Marine), so we were taking his stuff with us back to Indiana. It took us a couple hours (we were waylaid by the cutest little red-headed girl ever at Barlow's house, then again when Dwain locked his keys in his locker), but we got everything we needed loaded up in the bed of the pickup. Then we once again headed back to the beach "hut" for the night. We went to bed earlier Sunday night, because we were leaving pretty early on Monday morning.
Dwain had to be at PT (Physical Training) by 6:30 Monday morning, so we got up early to get on the road at about the same time. After loading everything up, which was fairly easy and only a couple minor things got left behind, we drove across the base to the meet up spot for Dwain's run. Then came the hard part -- We had to say "See ya later." I won't tell him "Bye" because I WILL see him again very soon. Just a few tears were shed, but it was still a hard thing to do. I know I was tempted to just stay around for a couple more days. I have missed Dwain so much. I can't wait until March 2013 when we get him back for good. Now we had a 15 hour drive ahead of us! Dad and I drove together, while Mom rode with Caitlin. This made it somewhat easier because we could switch off every couple hours. We made a detour in western North Carolina to pick up a couple rabbits for Mom. Man, that lady was CRAZY -- Heck, crazy is putting it mildly. I was sure glad to be back on the road again. Dad drove until we made it through the mountains, then we swapped out at Knoxville. Turns out that Mother Nature thought I should have to drive in a torrential downpour. It wouldn't have been bad at all, but my neck was cramping up from trying to see out the windshield through the rain and semi-truck spray. Finally, we made it to Lexington and switched drivers again. Dad and I were several miles ahead of Mom and Caitlin, so we pulled over at a rest stop to walk around and restore feeling to our butts. I tried calling Tim at work, but they told me that he called in sick. Turns out he had taken a day off so that he could be at the house when I got home -- I hated it that I ruined my own surprise. He is so thoughtful sometimes. I really missed him this weekend. It was great to see him when I got home. So after stopping at Mickey D's for supper, we were on the road again. Fast forward a couple hours and we were back in Daviess County. We made a pit stop to drop off Caitlin, then again in Plainville to pick up my car (my repairs look GREAT, and it wound up not costing me a penny because insurance paid for all of it! YES!) A couple right turns later (and one last left turn) and I was home sweet home! I think Dixie and Chuck might have exploded if I had waited any longer to come in the door. Tim seemed pretty happy to see me too. I unpacked the necessities (Tim LOVES his slingshot! Do I know my man, or do I know my man?), then headed through the shower to wash off the road dirt. Finally, after the longest day of driving I hope to ever have to experience, Tim and I went to bed. I have never loved our bed more than I did at that moment.
My butt was pretty severely dragging this morning when I got up to get ready for work. Like an idiot, I only got about 6 hours of sleep before heading to work for 10 hours. Tuesdays are usually one of my favorite days, but I think I probably should have gotten a little more sleep. I spent the morning catching up on things at the front desk, then enjoyed my chicken salad sandwich for lunch. I decided to stay at the office for my lunch break, and I wound up starting this blog post then. It's ridiculous how long it is. After our staff meeting at 1:00, I had a fully booked massage schedule (4 of them). I was able to make the most of a cancellation and get a couple different people on the books. I really played musical massages, but my schedule is full for the rest of this week. It won't take long at all to fill up next week's schedule either. There are just a few openings left. Sammie and I made a last minute decision to get Mexican after work, so we headed to Mi Pueblo (I made a run to Wendy's to get Tim's dinner first). One Quesadilla Jalisco and a Strawberry Margarita later and I was a happy girl. My plan was to come home and assemble Tim's Inversion Table, but I hit the couch and my engines stalled out. Now, after the longest blog post I have ever written (or ever hope to write) I am ready to go to bed. I had hoped to be there before now, but this post was a little too extensive. The last thing I want to do is upload a couple pictures from our trip. It was a bittersweet trip, but I loved every minute. I have the best parents in the world, and there is no one who has a better brother than I do. I love him very, very much and I can't wait to see him again. I will keep everyone updated on Dwain as much as possible while he is gone. I'll be counting down the days! Now, I pinky promise to never wait that many days before posting -- That was almost like work. Good Night All! Have a great Hump Day! :^)
Last Monday, I was very rushed. I took my car to Dave's Body Shop to fix the mailbox damage, and I waited til the last minute so I was running behind and felt like I was going to be late for work that afternoon. I wasn't actually late, but I hate that feeling more than anything. I had a full day (5 massages), which was great. After work, I went home and spent time with Tim. I don't remember what all we did exactly because it was over a week ago, but I'm sure we had a good evening.
Tuesday was another busy day (you are going to notice a trend here pretty soon). I spent the morning working like crazy in the office. My secret project was keeping me very busy as well. I can tell you now what I was working on because I have finished it. Most of you know what it was because you participated, but I didn't want Dwain to find out about it. I sent out a message to everyone, friends and family, that we know and asked them to write a few words of support to Dwain. I wanted him to know that the people who love him will be behind him 100% while he is in Afghanistan this year (He leaves the first of next week). I laminated each letter to make it more durable, and bound them all together in a nice book. I am completely humbled by the number of people that responded. More than 50 people sent him some very beautiful letters. He is very loved by everyone who has had a chance to get to know him, and I even got some letters from people who have never even met him. My hope for his book is to help keep the homesickness at bay while he is gone. The rest of Tuesday was also busy. We had a staff meeting at 1:00, then I had 4 massages in the afternoon. After work, Tim and I went to Mom's and wound up helping her work out at the barn. She was building a creep feeder for the goat kids, and she looked like she needed a hand. Dixie was having the time of her life running around with Annie and Sela, but she smelled DISGUSTING afterwards, because there is a rotten raccoon in the yard that they just couldn't resist rolling all over. Why is it that dogs feel like they have to roll on dead things? What is so appealing about that? She made my eyes water! She went straight to the bath after we got home. It's very difficult to give a water-proof dog a bath, but she is such a good girl. She didn't mind it too much, and she smelled like No More Tears Baby Shampoo instead of rancid, nasty, raccoon -- So I call that a WIN! Other than giving Dixie a bath, we threw something together for a quick supper and watched Top Shot. I was more than ready to call it a night.
Wednesday at the office was just like most Wednesdays -- Busy. The schedule was hopping in the morning, so I didn't get much productive done besides checking patients in and out. Then I had 5 massages in the afternoon. I worked like crazy on Dwain's book over my lunch break, but I didn't get everything I needed to done, so Sammie helped me finish up that afternoon. 3 out of my 5 massages were large, burly, knotted up men -- Which means that I was completely worn out by the time 6:00 came around. I wasn't done yet though. After work, I had to make a mad dash to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries and such before our big weekend trip. Mom, Dad, and I went down to see Dwain in North Carolina this weekend. We were planning on leaving after work on Thursday, so I had lots to get done Wednesday night. After Wally World, I ran up to Mom's to wash a load of clothes so that I had something to wear on the trip. I also needed to work some on making Dwain's book look nice, so I did that while the laundry was going. My plan was to pack Wednesday night as well, but I ran out of time. There just aren't enough hours in the day, and I knew that I was going to have a busy day Thursday, so I opted to go to bed. It wasn't really early enough, but it was the best I could do.
Thursday never really ended. I spent the morning working at the front desk, then had 3 massages in the afternoon. One of my appointments forgot they were scheduled, which is not good because we had a waiting list of people wanting to get in. That's what happens when you take 2 days off work -- You run out of openings very quickly. After work, I headed for home as soon as possible. I had to unload Tim's birthday present out of the truck (an Inversion Table for his back pain; I picked it up from Wal-Mart over my lunch break), get my bags packed, make Dixie tired enough that she would sleep the whole night while I was gone and Tim was at work, and bind off the letters for Dwain's book. I accomplished all these things by 7:30 and was headed to Mom and Dad's to meet up with them. We rented a Chevy pickup to take down there so that we could bring Dwain's stuff home with us. Turns out, we didn't leave until around 9:30 or so -- But we were headed and that's all that mattered. We stopped in Jasper for a bite of supper (McDonald's), then there was a long haul ahead of us. Dad drove first, then swapped out with Mom. We took turns sleeping, talking, and driving. Dad finished up the last leg of the trip while Mom and I slept.
Finally (That was a long night!), we made it. It was about 11:00 a.m. on Friday when we rolled into Jacksonville. We had talked to Dwain, and he wasn't going to be done for a couple hours so we met up with Caitlin and went to the beach house. We stayed on Onslow Beach in a really cozy little beach "hut" that Dwain had rented for the week. We were about 200 yards or so from the water. The house wasn't big by anyone's standards, but it was nice. Dad spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out how they made the house. He finally decided that they were manufactured houses that they just trucked onto the beach and set up. They had a loft and a nice front porch. There was a bathroom and a full bedroom as well. The hot water heater sucked (only about 20 gallons), so we had to take very short showers. Luckily, we brought an air mattress with us so the sleeping arrangements weren't too bad. I wound up sleeping on a futon, which means that my neck hurts like crazy today, but at the time it wasn't so bad. We didn't do much at all on Friday besides take a nap while waiting on Dwain to get off work, then when he did make it out to the house with us, we spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies and being a family. We had lasagna and Texas toast for dinner, but the oven didn't work very well, so it took about 4 hours to cook a big pan of lasagna. We were all basically so worn out that we didn't feel like doing much -- So we didn't. Even though I was sleeping on a futon, sleep was one of the most welcome things in the world.
Saturday morning, Mom and I woke up and went for a walk on the beach. The day was warm already, which was better than Friday's chilly weather, and we really enjoyed spending our morning together. Even though it was a little chilly, we took off our shoes and walked in the edge of the ocean. It was really nice to have the sand between our toes. I started picking up some nice rocks from the shore to start a collection for a hot stone massage set, but I decided that it was a bad idea when I dropped my phone into the ocean. I had it in my pocket and when I bent down to rinse the sand off one of my rocks, it slipped out and into the water. I snagged it as quick as I could, but it still got pretty wet. The worst part was that not only was it salt water, but there was sand in it as well. I took the battery out immediately so that it could start drying out. After we got back to the house, we all took turns taking showers. We needed to make a run onto base to get a bite to eat for lunch (Subway) and go shopping at the PX store. I picked up some neat things at the store -- a slingshot for Tim's birthday (I couldn't resist; it was too awesome) and a couple pairs of sweatpants. Then we went grocery shopping -- Going grocery shopping on the Saturday after payday on a military base was STUPID! We wound up splitting our food into two carts so we could go through the fast lane, otherwise we would have been in line for hours. The place was packed, and the people working there were not getting an "Employee of the Month" sticker anytime soon. After battling with the morons, we headed back to the house for the evening. We spent the rest of the evening just hanging out and enjoying our family. It was a great day!
Sunday was a day of sleeping in. There were no more walks on the beach for me (My phone survived it's swim, but it has a couple minor problems now. Some of the side buttons don't work anymore). We had sandwiches for lunch and enjoyed laying around some more. Somewhere around 4:00 or so, we loaded up in the truck and went to go pick up some of Dwain's stuff. He is only allowed to take a certain amount of weight with him to Afghanistan (that weight includes the Marine), so we were taking his stuff with us back to Indiana. It took us a couple hours (we were waylaid by the cutest little red-headed girl ever at Barlow's house, then again when Dwain locked his keys in his locker), but we got everything we needed loaded up in the bed of the pickup. Then we once again headed back to the beach "hut" for the night. We went to bed earlier Sunday night, because we were leaving pretty early on Monday morning.
Dwain had to be at PT (Physical Training) by 6:30 Monday morning, so we got up early to get on the road at about the same time. After loading everything up, which was fairly easy and only a couple minor things got left behind, we drove across the base to the meet up spot for Dwain's run. Then came the hard part -- We had to say "See ya later." I won't tell him "Bye" because I WILL see him again very soon. Just a few tears were shed, but it was still a hard thing to do. I know I was tempted to just stay around for a couple more days. I have missed Dwain so much. I can't wait until March 2013 when we get him back for good. Now we had a 15 hour drive ahead of us! Dad and I drove together, while Mom rode with Caitlin. This made it somewhat easier because we could switch off every couple hours. We made a detour in western North Carolina to pick up a couple rabbits for Mom. Man, that lady was CRAZY -- Heck, crazy is putting it mildly. I was sure glad to be back on the road again. Dad drove until we made it through the mountains, then we swapped out at Knoxville. Turns out that Mother Nature thought I should have to drive in a torrential downpour. It wouldn't have been bad at all, but my neck was cramping up from trying to see out the windshield through the rain and semi-truck spray. Finally, we made it to Lexington and switched drivers again. Dad and I were several miles ahead of Mom and Caitlin, so we pulled over at a rest stop to walk around and restore feeling to our butts. I tried calling Tim at work, but they told me that he called in sick. Turns out he had taken a day off so that he could be at the house when I got home -- I hated it that I ruined my own surprise. He is so thoughtful sometimes. I really missed him this weekend. It was great to see him when I got home. So after stopping at Mickey D's for supper, we were on the road again. Fast forward a couple hours and we were back in Daviess County. We made a pit stop to drop off Caitlin, then again in Plainville to pick up my car (my repairs look GREAT, and it wound up not costing me a penny because insurance paid for all of it! YES!) A couple right turns later (and one last left turn) and I was home sweet home! I think Dixie and Chuck might have exploded if I had waited any longer to come in the door. Tim seemed pretty happy to see me too. I unpacked the necessities (Tim LOVES his slingshot! Do I know my man, or do I know my man?), then headed through the shower to wash off the road dirt. Finally, after the longest day of driving I hope to ever have to experience, Tim and I went to bed. I have never loved our bed more than I did at that moment.
My butt was pretty severely dragging this morning when I got up to get ready for work. Like an idiot, I only got about 6 hours of sleep before heading to work for 10 hours. Tuesdays are usually one of my favorite days, but I think I probably should have gotten a little more sleep. I spent the morning catching up on things at the front desk, then enjoyed my chicken salad sandwich for lunch. I decided to stay at the office for my lunch break, and I wound up starting this blog post then. It's ridiculous how long it is. After our staff meeting at 1:00, I had a fully booked massage schedule (4 of them). I was able to make the most of a cancellation and get a couple different people on the books. I really played musical massages, but my schedule is full for the rest of this week. It won't take long at all to fill up next week's schedule either. There are just a few openings left. Sammie and I made a last minute decision to get Mexican after work, so we headed to Mi Pueblo (I made a run to Wendy's to get Tim's dinner first). One Quesadilla Jalisco and a Strawberry Margarita later and I was a happy girl. My plan was to come home and assemble Tim's Inversion Table, but I hit the couch and my engines stalled out. Now, after the longest blog post I have ever written (or ever hope to write) I am ready to go to bed. I had hoped to be there before now, but this post was a little too extensive. The last thing I want to do is upload a couple pictures from our trip. It was a bittersweet trip, but I loved every minute. I have the best parents in the world, and there is no one who has a better brother than I do. I love him very, very much and I can't wait to see him again. I will keep everyone updated on Dwain as much as possible while he is gone. I'll be counting down the days! Now, I pinky promise to never wait that many days before posting -- That was almost like work. Good Night All! Have a great Hump Day! :^)
This is the building on the base where Dwain works everyday.
This was the sign by the bridge to Onslow Island. We thought it was pretty neat that they had a symbol for a tank on a trailer.
This is what happened when Dwain tried tickling my feet and in defense I gave him a wedgie (after biting and fighting didn't work). I ripped the waistband on his boxers -- Guess I don't know my own strength; or they are just so stinking old that they might have disintegrated in a strong breeze. Gotta love fighting like in the old days -- I love you Dwain!
Here is Dwain's book. You can't tell from the picture, but it's more than an inch thick! It turned out GREAT!
This picture was taken just before we left Monday at 6:30 am. Not the best picture we've ever taken, but I love it anyway. Stay Safe Little Brother, and Hurry Home!
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