Saturday, May 23, 2009

Refreshing!

I have the greatest family!
I decided to paint our bedroom this weekend and my sister and my parents showed up and got right to work. The Man's aunt was going to help me out, too, but I think we got too much done!

After just a few short hours, the bedroom walls and ceiling had been primed and have a good first coat of paint. I need to do a quick second coat tomorrow and it'll be all set! The Man doesn't really know yet...hopefully he likes it!

Here are a few pics - unfortunately they don't capture the color too well, it's either too light or too dark. Oh well. You get the idea!

BEFORE: I didn't get a good picture of the "before" version. So you'll just have to get a glimpse from this pic. It was a good look for photographs, just absorbed too much of the light for a north-facing room.




AFTER: Well, pretty much anyway...one more coat to go!


Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Doggie Birthday!

Here are a few pics of the Dog themed party.

Invitation...


Kayla and Jake with their Brewer's t-shirts.



Birthday Boy hanging out during Pin the Ear on the Puppy.


A modified version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey: Pin the Ear on the Puppy. What fun!

Doggie Birthday!


Check out the model below with her puppy dog ears!


Dog bones and Puppy Chow for snacks.

Dog dishes to serve the food. Don't worry, they're new!



Can't forget the Doggie Bag with frisbee, tennis ball, whistle and pet stickers!


Saturday, May 16, 2009

Happy Birthday Jake!


Today my nephew, Jake, turns one!

His birthday party is tomorrow and is sure to be a doggone good time (according to the invitation, anyway!).

Jake is pretty good at doing some baby signs, particularly "dog". He loves dogs. What could be more fun than a dog-themed birthday party?!

As the (self proclaimed) event planner for his party, I designed a dog-themed birthday party invitation and everything else has fallen into place from there.

Jake's cake will feature the dog I designed for him. He is giving out "Doggie Bags" for the other kids who come. Inside the kids will find a ball, frisbee, whistle and some pet-themed stickers. On the outside of the Doggie Bag, the friendly little pup who is gracing his cake, will also be spotted!

The food will be served from dog dishes (new of course!). The guests can munch on puppy chow straight from the dog food bag (well, a paper bag with a real puppy chow label!). And I made some yummy sugar cookie bones to stick inside the bags and extras to share with the other guests.

The kids get to wear little hats with floppy ears and googly eyes that Grandma and I made.

To top it off, the kids will play an exciting game of Pin the Tail on the Puppy! This is really my only hang up of the party planning. I'm hoping the guests find humor in it. I couldn't find a way to print the dog big enough to play the game. Instead, I bought a dollar-store Pin the Tail on the Donkey and I am putting the dog head on the donkey! We should get some laughs out of it at the very least!

I hope Jake has a happy birthday and many more to come!

Check back after tomorrow for some photos of the bash!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Reasons The Man Rules

The Man helps around the house with things I recognized while he was away for a couple different work trips earlier this year (i.e. record snow falls in December meant that the shovel and I developed a great drive-way clearing system; dinner? ahh, who needs to cooks when it's just me?; and cleaning the litter box? I could deal with it when I could count the weeks on one hand).

I am beginning to realize more than just the basics of what he does around here.

The Man has a green thumb. He can grow anything and he enjoys it. I am trying to keep his plants from dying. But a whole year? When I see all of his plants lined up in our spare bedroom I often wonder how they are going to survive.

He has taken care of the majority of the bills. We did most of our financials relatively separately until we found out about the deployment. Now I am supposed to handle it and I don't even know where to begin (other than the spreadsheet he created for me that perfectly maps it all out). Numbers and I have never gotten along, but prior to being married it was just me I had to worry about. Now it's two of us I am responsible for! That is intimidating. If I mess up, it's not just me who has to deal with the fallout.

The Man also lends some regularity to the house. When he is gone, nothing is routine. Nothing is normal. I tend to work best on a fairly rigid schedule, but I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet. In the same way, I don't want to get into too much of my own routine, because it will definitely change when he gets back.

The Man also completes our home. I hate the clutter around this place. I would prefer it to be perfectly clean when he is here. With him gone, I thought it would be easy! I just haven't been able to get it there and I think it's because I don't want to erase him.

My list of Reasons The Man Rules is quickly growing. I can't wait to have him back!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

It's never easy...

Although I have the basics of military life down, there are so many times that I feel like I'm never going to get the hang of it! I understand the time and date system. I can sit through a conversation and understand the majority of the acronyms and the rest of the military language. I am still working on companies, divisions, units, ranks and how they all fit together. But for the most part, I can follow along when two or more soldiers are in the room.

However, just when you think you're starting to get the hang of it, you're reminded how much you still have to learn.

I took the truck for a drive to visit The Man for a long weekend he had. After driving all day, I finally pulled in and the visitor's center was closed (1800 hours...I arrived at 1900).

No big deal, right? I headed to the visitor's line at the gate.

It's never easy. This was no exception.

I called The Man to let him know I was at the gate and should be in soon. Turns out, I was at the wrong gate. But, once again, thought to myself, "No big deal, I'll just ask for directions, the place is only sort-of huge..."

I pulled out the documents and handed them to Gate Guard for review and entrance to the gate.

Our insurance card was out of date by about a week (we had insurance, just not the new card) . Without updated proof of insurance, I wasn't getting in. I ended up driving down the interstate a few miles to a truck stop recommended by Gate Guard. I called our insurance company, they faxed the updated info to me and I was off to the post again.

Back at the gate, Gate Guard scrutinized the paperwork and finally, I made it through. Fortunately, Gate Guard was nice and he gave me directions or I would have gotten lost trying to find The Man! I made it to the camp that The Man is living at and I was home free.

Or so I thought.

The Man led me to his barracks and I stopped outside the door, he turned to me and said, "Come here". So I tagged along after him like a little puppy whose owner just got home for the day. As The Man headed down the aisle between the packed-in bunks the thought crossed my mind that it was weird to just walk into a room he shares with 39 other men. When, half-way into the room he turned around and said, "What are you doing in here?!"

Turns out he had said, "STAY here" not, "Come here"...so the poor guys in his barracks trying to enjoy a quiet night got a nice surprise from The Man's wife.

Sorry guys.

Fortunately there weren't many in the room, and they were all clothed and very nice about my mistake and invited me back into the room. I tried to not move and keep my mouth shut until we were home free and off post!

I don't know if it ever gets easier.

We were in the visitor's center parking lot the next day when we bumped into a woman who looked like she knew her stuff and had her act together.

As she walked out of the Visitor's Center a flustered look spread across her face and she sighed, "It's never easy, is it?"...