December 9, 2009 at 9:20 am (5 things)
Now that my life is back to feeling whole again after the return of the huz from the big sandbox, here’s five things I’m particularly thankful for:
*Being woken up by his obnoxious alarm clock that gives a weather forecast
* His scent on his pillow
*A kiss goodbye while I’m half asleep before he heads to work
*A crick in my neck and a restless night of sleep because sharing the bed again takes some getting used to
*Empty Guinness cans in the trash
Welcome home.
December 7, 2009 at 9:35 am (Uncategorized)
Well, I’ve made it, we’ve made it. Eddie is due home from deployment very soon and my excitment is bubbling over. There were days when I wasn’t sure this day would ever come. I think there will probably be moments today when I’m not sure we’re actually here.
Deployments are the worst thing about military life and definitely the worst part of my life. But, there are things to be said for them as well. For Eddie, they give him a chance to put to use all of his training, he actually gets to do his job. I don’t know what it would be like to go to work every day, month after month, and not feel like I’m getting to do my job. I think that’s probably what it feels like for service members to be stateside. It’s a waiting game of sorts for them. So for that, I am thankful. I am thankful that he gets to do what he loves and put his knowledge and skills to work. I just wish it didn’t require him to be thousands of miles away for months at a time.
For me, the deployment gives me A LOT of time to hang out by myself which I actually really like doing. Sure, I’d prefer to hang out alone knowing Eddie is just in the other room doing something else, or just has overnight duty, but it’s all about looking at the bright side of things sometimes. I love to hang out with my friends, but I like nothing more than cuddling up on the couch with my dogs and watching a movie or a few saved episodes of Law and Order: SVU.
It also let’s me hog all the attention from our dogs and try out new recipes. And, I’ve had brie cheese, and brie cheese only, for dinner more than once.
Those are just a few of the little things that keep me going during the seemingly endless months of a deployment.
As I prepare for Eddie to come home, I’m more than ready to see him. The day he leaves for deployments is no doubt the worst day of my year and usually what feels like the worst day of my life to that point. But at least the day he comes home makes up for it as the best day of the year and the best day of my life thus far.
I can’t wait.
November 26, 2009 at 9:31 am (everyday biz)
As people across the nation take a moment to recognize all the things in life they’re thankful for, I thought I’d do the same. The ins and outs of everyday life sometimes make it easy to forget everything in life we have to be thankful for.
This year I’m particularly thankful for:
My family (in particular my wonderful husband who makes me proud to be his wife every day)
My friends (who take the place of my family when called upon)
My dogs (even though they pee on the carpet and wake me up early when I’m trying to sleep in)
My home (when it’s dirty, when it’s clean, when things are broken and when all is well)
My job and co-workers (there are times when work gets the best of me, but at least most days I have a laugh or two while doing it)
All of America’s service members who take on the duty of protecting our nation so I don’t have to
What are you thankful for today…and everyday?
November 24, 2009 at 9:08 am (everyday biz)
Usually I make myself wait until the day after Thanksgiving to start listening to Christmas music. I just LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas music. This year, I broke down and started listening early…like a week early.
I couldn’t help it. I kept reading people’s facebook posts about how they were listening to it or buying new holiday cds. I haven’t broken out any of my various Christmas cds though, I’m holding out on listening to those until Friday. Instead, I’ve tuned into the XM/Sirius holiday station.
I’ve been slightly disappointed with the station’s selections. I don’t spend a ton of time in my car or anything, but it seems like every time I am in the car they choose to play at least one Celine Dion holiday song and I’m not a fan. It’s a little bit of Celine overkill if you ask me. Thankfully, yesterday they finally decided to play Wham’s rendition of “Last Christmas” when I was on my way to work.
While it’s a super cheesy version and a relatively cheesy holiday song, it’s one of my favorites and I was totally jazzed to listen to it. It really made my day. Someday I want to sing that song for karaoke (but only during the holiday season, of course)
My all time favorite holiday cd is definitely the Peanuts/Charlie Brown Christmas cd. The two times that we’ve hosted Thanksgiving at our house I’ve put that cd in and played it on repeat all day. Since it’s instrumental it never gets old to me. (I can’t say the same for my husband) When I play this cd, it signifies the official start to the holiday season so I’ll be busting that out first thing Friday morning.
I just love the holiday season. It’s full of lights and warmth…and awesome music.
November 13, 2009 at 4:41 pm (5 things, work biz)
While there are many things about my job that make me want to cry myself to sleep at night (my salary, my schedule, the future of newspapers in general) there are a few bright lights that shone especially bright today I thought I should take a moment to recognize:
1. Great conversations with my fellow reporters as we slave away in our little cubicle pod.
2. Being able to wear jeans to work.
3. Butt gaskets in the bathrooms.
4. The opportunity to stretch my writing muscles via column writing.
5. Feeling like I’m making a difference (albeit a small one) in the community.
October 25, 2009 at 7:16 pm (Uncategorized)
There’s something really amazing about the way certain smells can remind us of people, places and moments. It’s one of my favorite things about life in general.
Some days I walk outside and I am instantly transported home to California because the North Carolina weather is just right – not too hot and not too cold, and there’s a certain unidentifiable scent in the air.
Everytime I spray on Clinique Happy I am back in 2001, working at the GAP and spending all of my free moments with my bff Sarah. Bath and Body works Brown Sugar & Fig reminds me of the last moments before I walked down the aisle on my wedding day.
The scent of Suave hairspray brings me back to minutes I spent getting ready to attend my first Marine Corps ball in 2002. Eddie and I had only been dating a few months but I already knew he was the man I wanted to marry.
My grandmother used to wear Tea Rose perfume religiously. These days whenever I get a whiff of anything rose-scented I think of her kind smile and her sharp wit.
My grandfather was a lifetime smoker of cigars. The odor of the stogie evokes memories of visits to the library, trips to Stride-Rite for patent leather shoes and Orange Julius treats.
I’d have to say my favorite scent memory is one that happens more frequently than most others and that is the scent that comes along when the weather starts to cool and the summer turns to fall. It reminds me of home, but even more so, it reminds me of Eddie. I’m not quite sure why – perhaps it’s because this is my favorite time of year and how better to spend my favorite time of year than with my favorite person? I enjoy the nights we get to sit by the firepit in the backyard, bundled up with a beverage and enojoy the clear night sky and the quiet that comes with living outside the city limits. It’s opening the windows and letting our hour air out after so many summer months of keeping the AC locked in tight. It’s sitting on the deck, watching the dogs play in the yard and making plans for the holidays. It’s everything I love about my life and then some.
I’m sure we’ve all been asked the question at some point about which of the five senses we’d choose to lose if we had to give one up. I used to think sense of smell was the obvious choice because it wouldn’t hinder my ability to live life. As I’ve gotten a little older and truly developed my scent memories I guess I’ve changed my mind. While my sense of smell might not be as integral as my other four senses to daily life, it’s now become a key part of making my life more enjoyable.
I don’t know which sense I’d choose to lose at this point…I guess I hope I never have to.
October 20, 2009 at 10:30 am (5 things)
Alright, so I’ve only posted one instance of “5 things” and I’m already thinking of different ways to play off it. Letterman has his top ten, I’ve got my 5 things. Today I’ve decided to list five things I can get away with while the huz is absent:
1. Leaving more than one pair of shoes (try 7) in the living room
2. Wearing his black socks because I can never find my own
3. Eating fruity pebbles for dinner
4. Driving the truck because it has gas and the golden goose doesn’t
5. Running the dish washer once, maybe twice, a week
October 18, 2009 at 10:21 pm (everyday biz, work biz)
This weekend was relatively lazy, especially considering I was the weekend reporter and put in a handful of hours on Saturday. There are times when I think my job is ok, and there are times when I really like it. Saturday was a mix of those things. Nobody likes to work on the weekend but thankfully the story I covered was relatively interesting and not something I would normally get to be involved with were it not for the weekend reporting biz.
Our local sheriff’s department held the largest auction in its history Saturday with more than 2,000 items up for bid that were confiscated from a black market pawn shop theft ring in 2007. I got to attend the auction and write about it. Outside of the aching back and feet that I got from standing around on the concrete floor of the warehouse where the auction was held, it was pretty entertaining. I’ve always wanted to hear an auctioneer get down to business. And I’ll tell you what, there was more hunting cammo, carheart gear and denim on denim at that auction than I’ve probably ever seen in my life. It was quite entertaining to say the least. Read my story here: http://www.jdnews.com/news/property-68950-jacksonville-auction.html
After I was done with work Saturday I hung out with some of the other wives from 2d recon for a movie night and then I spent all day today (Sunday) watching movies and being extra lazy at home. Not bad if you ask me.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
October 13, 2009 at 11:23 am (5 things, everyday biz)
I’ve decided to start a little something I’m calling “5 things.” As I was driving to the office today following an assignment I was thinking about things that made today great and how I should blog about it. From that I’ve decided on days when things seem to be going well I’ll try to think of five things that I appreciate about that particular day. So here goes…
Five things I like about today (so far):
*my first pumpkin spice latte of the season
*driving to work with my windows down to enjoy the cool-ish air.
*participating in Take 5 (which is almost always one of the highlights of my workweek)
*wearing my purple mary janes
*having someone recognize my name by saying “Oh yeah, I read your columns.”
Life is good today.
October 12, 2009 at 4:41 pm (dog biz, everyday biz)
You know it’s time to do some laundry when your dog decides to make a bed out of your pile of dirty clothes *sigh*
The truth of the matter is, I hate doing laundry, always have, always will. I usually only do it when I get to the point where I have no clean underwear or socks. This is one of the many reasons that I do my laundry and Eddie does his.
The first time Eddie met one set of my parents, my father asked him something like “What is Molly’s worst quality?” (BTW dad, thanks for trying to scare Eddie away) His reply? “Laundry.” And seven years later, that’s still the case.
Try as I might, I just can’t bring myself to keep up with my laundry on a regular basis. I really want to – Just like I really want to like cleaning or I really want to like working out…but it never seems to really work.
So for now, instead of waiting until I’ve run out of clean underbiz, I guess I’ll make more of an effort to do some laundry when one of the dogs decides to use the dirty stuff as a bed.
Hey…it’s a start.
Ridiculosity 