The Waiting Game

When we moved to Fort Leavenworth in July of last year, we knew that it would probably only be for a year. Randy is here attending a 10 month school and he graduates in June, so the odds are that we will be moving on then. I enjoy the move, to be honest, but the waiting game to see where you go next is a bit unnerving! About the second week in January, Randy received a list of places/jobs that he had to choose from for his next assignment. He and I sat down together and went over the list. There are particular posts that we would really like to move to, and there are particluar jobs that Randy would enjoy, so we figured out which of those two meshed and made his top 10 list and sent it on to his branch manager. Of course, in a perfect world he would get his #1 choice and we would live happily ever after.....however, the Army isn't all about "happily ever after." While I was in Austin last weekend, visiting my sister and picking up Cash, Randy's branch manager gave him a call. It seems that Randy's name was chosen to become an instructor/evaluator at JRTC. Now, this is an honor and would be great for his career....but it is at Fort Polk!!! Now, for anyone that isn't Army and is reading this, Fort Polk is in Louisiana, and we loved living in Louisiana before, but this is arm pit Louisiana!!! The town of Leesville has NOTHING in it. The closest good shopping would be about 45 minutes away in Alexandria. The closest airport that Southwest flies into is HOUSTON!! Fort Polk was definitly not on our top 10 list. Shoot, I don't even think it would have made our top 20. However, I am trying to be a good Army wife and whatever happens, happens, but I am really hoping that the Signal Corps gods are smiling down on us and we at least get something in Randy's top 10. I know I have complained and complained about winter and wanting to be in a warmer climate, but not Fort Polk!!! I guess the saying is true, "Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it!"

Walking In a Winter Wonderland...

I realize that my adventures in the world of winter in Kansas are going to get old, but people I am almost 40 years old and I have never experienced a winter like this! The snow started coming down at about 12:00 pm yesterday afternoon, and stopped sometime after I went to bed late last night. On Wednesday evenings, Randy and I attend a Bible study with some friends down the street from us. We always walk, because it is just as easy, being that they live about five duplexes down from us. In our infinite wisdom, even though there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground by the time we left the house, we decided to go ahead and walk last night. Randy put Carter on the sled and off we go. The trip down there was fairly uneventful, although I did step into a snow drift and sink down to my knee and it filled my boot with snow! Fast forward a couple of hours and we are heading back down the street. It is significantly colder at this point, and the snow is coming down fairly hard. Randy puts Carter onto the sled and off they go....or at least off Randy goes. Poor Carter had fallen over backwards as Randy took off and was laying in the Baumann's yard, and to put it mildly, he was not a happy camper. To make matters worse, Randy runs over to pick him up and kicks a huge thing of snow in Carter's face. By this time, Carter is really crying and I am worried about his face freezing! So, back on the sled goes Carter, and we are off. Randy decides to run ahead, and I am just trying to follow the sled track and not fall down in the snow and die. I look up, and oops, poor Carter is lying in the street, having fallen off the sled again! So Randy picks him up under one arm, the sled under the other and takes off running toward the house. It took us a while to get Carter calmed down, and I secretly think he was calling Randy a dirty, rotten bastard under his breath, but I cannot prove that. Needless to say, the next time it snows, we will be driving to Bible study!!

Weight Loss

My entire life I have struggled with my weight. When you have the genes I was assigned and a love of food, there is no doubt that pugginess shall ensue! In February of last year, I decided to look into lap band surgery. I talked to my doctor on post, who referred me to an awesome group of people at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas. I honestly had always thought of any type of weight loss surgery as "cheating." I mean, come on, if you want to lose weight, you just diet and exercise. I had lost almost 100 lbs in 2001-02 doing just that. However, after having two kids, a tubal ligation and being almost 40, it just wasn't happening for me. I am so glad that I gave up my prejudices. I had lap band surgery on July 8, 2010, and it has been a wonderful experience for me. I did have some issues with my insurance and our move, but those seem to be staightened out and I received my 4th fill this morning. The weight itself hasn't come off as fast as I hoped it would, but I just feel so much better. I am down 44lbs and find that I have so much more energy than I had. Randy and I are doing the 30 Day Shred together every evening. There is no way I would have let him see me workout at my starting weight. My goal is to lose 100lbs by the first anniversary of my surgery. I am not sure that it is going to happen, but that is my goal! So, if you are out there and you have tried losing weight and it just isn't happening, and you are thinking about weight loss surgery, I say talk to your doctor and then go for it!

Totally Unprepared...

Those of you that know Randy and I well, know that we don't get in a big hurry with anything. We are pretty much "fly by the seat of your pants," kind of people. I am not sure if Randy has always been this way, or if being married to me has turned him like this. If we are due somewhere at 6:00 pm, I can usually be found trying to find the shoes I want to wear at about 5:58 pm. Even if we are in the car, ready to go on time, one of us usually forgets something and we have to turn around and go home. This is just how we roll, and while it drives my mother and sister crazy, I don't see it changing anytime in the near future. This particular little foible of ours did turn around and bite us in the ass yesterday. Since moving to Kansas, we love to follow the weather. I have weather bug on my iPad, and my parents got Randy a really cool weather clock thingy for Christmas. We check it all the time, and have had a lot of fun living in a new area and seeing how cold it gets in the winter, so there is no excuse for us being totally unprepared for the weather that hit us yesterday. We knew there was snow in the forecast. We knew there was A LOT of snow in the forcast. Did we panic...no, we did not. In fact, all Randy did was run around like a 9 year old chanting "snow day, snow day," and all I did was keep my fingers crossed that they would not cancel Carter's first day of preschool and ruin the 3 hour nap I had planned. Did we plan for inclimate weather....no, we did not. We just went on like it was any other day. So, when we woke up Monday morning to 5 inches of snow, did we have a snow shovel...no, we did not. Did we have ice melt....no, we did not. Did we have weather proof mittens for Carter...no, we did not!! We were totally unprepared for this weather event. Randy had to get a ride to school, because we could not get the van out of the garage. Someone had to give him a snow shovel, because we could not get to the van out of the garage to go to the store. We had to put two pair of wool mittens on Carter's hands, so that he would not lose fingers! I do not know how we found each other, but it is a good thing we did, because we would probably drive organized partners insane! Ha, and the government allows Randy to be in charge of millions of dollars worth of equipment! Fools!!!!

SNOW!!!! (and lots of it)

Being from Texas, snow is very exciting to me. We would usually get some snow once or twice a winter (maybe) and it was always a fun time. Well, I still like snow, but my first big snowstorm in Kansas is something to behold! I am used to an inch, maybe two if we were lucky, but it is predicted that we could have up to 8 inches here by tomorrow. That is right folks, 8 INCHES!!! I don't know what I am going to do. I am not even sure that I can back out of our driveway. We already have a couple of inches on the ground and it has started coming down hard again. Of course, Carter loves it and wants to spend as much time outside as possible. Me, I would much rather watch it from inside the nice warm house with a cup of cocoa in my hand. So, this is one of those "watch what you wish for," moments for me. I always said that I would like to live someplace that has seasons, and now I am experiencing one of the four! I have decided it might not be my favorite one! Keep warm folks!!!!

Oh, Carter!

There are a series of board books by author David Shannon that star a little boy named David. The fist book in the series is titled, "Oh, David," as David tends to be a bit naughty and gets in a lot of trouble. What I would like to know, is when did David Shannon follow around our youngest son, Carter?!? Carter is a mess. He is cute as can be, but he is a mess! Cash was never like this, so it has taken some getting used to, if it is possible to get used to having the Tasmanian Devil for a son. Yesterday alone, Carter took his bathtub paints that Cousin Cheri and Hugh gave him for Christmas and "painted" the quilt on the guest room bed. Mind you, he had to stand on the toilet and get the paint, as they were up on a shelf following a previous "painting" incident. He also decided that he would like to feed our frogs and dumped all the frog food on the bar. This was just yesteday, and that was actually an uneventful day where Carter is concerned. I really, really wish that my Grandma Bettye were still alive, because I get the feeling that Carter may be taking after his Pappa. For as long as I can remember, my grandma said that she drove 20 miles one way to take my dad to kindergarten, because Socorro ISD, at that time would accept kids if they were 4 years old and Fabens ISD would not accept them until they were 5 years old, and she had about all of my dad being at home that she could take! I always thought she was being a little rough on my dad, but I totally get it now. Tuesday will be Carter's first day of preschool, and I am ready. I may spend that three hours every Tues/Thurs taking a nap, just so that I can be fresh for whatever nonesense he decides to get into on those afternoons. He is lucky he is so darn cute......

Well, let's see how long this lasts!

Yesterday, Carter and I attended a birthday party where the crafty mom of the birthday boy made fleece dragon hats as party favors. I have to admit, I was a bit jealous of her ability to do this and it got me to thinking about the fact that I have no hobbies beyond my kiddos and reading. I don't sew, I don't knit, I don't scrapbook, I like to bake, but then I want to eat the goodies I have made and that is not good so.......I figured I could blog! I mean come on, I used to teach English and I have gotten a bit lazy about spelling and grammar when I write, so this could just be a considered a refresher course for future use! Plus, anyone reading would not believe some of the stuff that goes on around this household on a daily basis. I am more of a ringmaster than anything else, so welcome to my circus! I am hoping to blog a minimum of a couple of times a week, but those of you that know me well know that this could end at any moment. I have a habit of starting projects and never finishing them, so I hope to keep this up.