Hi!  I’m sorry that I’ve been AWOL for sometime now.  Not much in the way of updates, right now.  Rob’s back from the field, but it was such good training that the Soldiers were begging to go back out, so they will again, sometime in November.

For some reason, though, I haven’t really felt like blogging.  I haven’t really even wanted to read my blogs in my reader.  I have been, though, slowly making my way through the reader.  Taking my time and lurking.

There isn’t anything going on here, my car’s probably built by now, but it’s not here yet.  I can’t wait to see my little bumble bee! 🙂

Codi-puppy is growing fast and while he really doesn’t fit into the little kennel that we were using when he was smaller, he still insists on going in there–sometimes while Casey’s laying in it!  Crazy dog!  They’re outside playing right now.  It’s a bit chilly and the weatherman promised four days of rain.  I look forward to the rain.  It’s been so dry lately.

This weekend is Oktoberfest, baby!  We’re headed to Munich on Friday evening after Rob gets off of work, head down to my all-time favorite German restaurant, have some supper and call it a night.  We’ll get up bright and early and head off to the fest.  It’ll be the last one that we will be able to attend while we’re still stationed here in Germany.  Who knows where we’ll be this time next year, but we’re certain that it’ll be somewhere in the states.  We’re kind of hoping for Virgina/Maryland/DC area.  I’ve already taken it upon myself to start looking for pet-friendly apartments and I found a couple that I really, really like.  Rent is expensive!  Ooosh!

Shaved Rob’s head today.  He’s opposite that way.  It’s been in the low 60s for nearly 3 weeks now and he decided that he wants to shave his head.  So, early this morning, Rob asked me to get the clippers and shave his head.  We did it outside (clean up is so much easier!) and Codi was trying to eat the tiny pieces of hair that fell to the ground.  Of course, he started choking on it (nothing serious…hair just doesn’t taste all the good…)and it made his mouth dry!  We couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit.

I still can’t believe that Christmas is right around the corner.  I plugged in my iphone into the M3 yesterday and started playing Christmas music.  Rob was like, “Okay, we have a new rule.  No Christmas music before Halloween.  Can you give me that?  Just to Halloween and then you can play all the Christmas music you want to.  You’ll have like 3 solid months of Christmas music if you want!”  I played it anyway.  He sang along.  HEEHEE!  Speaking of Christmas, the stores are already starting to decorate.  Christmas trees and lights are popping up everywhere.  Since Rob said after Halloween for Christmas music, that means the tree, too!  Yup!  I’m gonna put up my tree this year–on Nov 1!  I love artificial trees!  I didn’t get to put up my tree last year because we went to the states for Christmas.  I guess I’m just going to make up for lost Christmas tree time! 

The tricky thing is going to be to teach Codi he can’t EAT the tree!  I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to handle that one yet!  I will probably have to treat the lower branches with Bitter Apple, which really does work like a charm.  I bought two bottles of the stuff thinking that we were going to need it, but Codi hasn’t really messed with the electrical cords like I thought he would.  It only took about a week of spraying the cords down and every time that he got near the cords, but now, he really doesn’t mess with them.  So, now I have a bottle and a half of the Bitter Apple Spray that will probably never get used.  LOL!  Casey used to chew on cords and I didn’t know about Bitter Apple at the time.  There were a couple of close calls with Casey and the cords.  I’m not sure when he decided that cords weren’t good to chew on, but at some point he stopped.  Codi has only chewed through one cord–the cord to Rob’s earphones on his computer.  It was an expensive replacement, but that’s the only one he’s destroyed!

Anyway, I’m going to go for now.  Much to do, not enough time to do much of anything.  Have a great day and thanks for reading!

Been thinking about getting a few…for several years–like 10 years, maybe?  I don’t know…started thinking about it again today.  It’s a couple thousand dollars for a tummy tuck.  A couple more for a boob-job.  They give you a discount when you get both at the same time…that’s the only way to go, in my opinion!  Get it all done at the same time.

I’ve always been cursed with a poochy belly, something that I inherited from both sides of my family, but mainly from my mother’s side.  I’ve also been cursed with a small chest, but great legs.

That is one thing I do really like about my body!  I love my legs!  With just a little exercise, I have toned, shapely legs!  Ah, yes that’s also a curse!  I wear a 34″ inseam.  It’s impossible (well, it’s getting slightly easier now) to get pants that fit.  But, I love wearing my 4 and 5 inch heels.  My husband is 1/4″ taller than me.  Thankfully, he doesn’t mind when I wear shoes that add to my height!  I only said I wanted a husband who was taller than me; I was not specific as to how tall he should be!  😉

So, tonight, as I was sitting by the warm fire, watching “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days”, I was thinking about the unnecessary surgeries that I want to get.  I am not feeling sorry for myself, so please don’t misread my intentions here.

I feel very good about myself in many ways.  I believe that the Good Lord blessed me with many things.  A great body was not one of those things that he blessed me with.  But, I’m thinking that maybe next year, I’ll sit down with a surgeon and decide if that’s a route that I really want to pursue.

Many of you reading this will probably think that I am selfish or that I have a low self-esteem and that by changing my body, I’ll feel better about myself.  This is not the case.  I feel very good about who I am as a person.  I just want the woman that is inside of me to be on the outside, as well.

Anyway, I just felt like writing that, considering that I don’t have anything else to talk about right at the moment.  Rob’s in the field and I’ve been spending most of the day getting stuff done for Christmas.   It’sright around the corner…91 days.  Which means that I have 60 days to get everything ready!  That’s simply not going to be enough time, but somehow I’ll manage.  I always do and I ALWAYS work better under pressure.  Well, it’s nearly 10 pm and for the first time this week, I think I’ll go to bed at a decent hour and read some Snoopy!

Have a great day and thanks for reading! 🙂

Hi folks!  Sorry that I’ve been absent for a few days.  I’ve been playing a few games online and it’s been eating most of my time.  In addition, I had a Coffee group yesterday and it was quite fun!   It’s always good to get out of the house!

Anyway, I found something very interesting online.  If you’re a crafter (knit or crochet) I’m talking to you!

Support our wounded warriors by making them an afghan for the holidays this year.  Please see the attached file for more information how you can help!  Every donation counts!  Trust me, our Soldiers will appreciate it!

bogguidelines

What kind of spider is this?  Does anyone know?  I keep thinking it’s a Brown Recluse, but someone told me that they’re not here in Germany.  I don’t know what it is!

Yuck, yuck, yuck!  I know that they’re good because they eat flies and mites and stuff like that, but in my living room?  Is this really necessary?

Autumn is creeping up upon us now.  It is mid-September and the official day of fall is the 22nd.  In just 10 short days.

How long has been since I’ve been promising pictures, videos and whatever else?  Who knows (and if you know…don’t you have more important things to do?  LOL–Just Kidding–sort of!)  I know it’s been far too long and I’m a procrastinator.  If I don’t have a deadline, I’ll never get anything accomplished.  It’s 8:15 andit’s a 4-day weekend, yet, I saw my husbandfor all of 30 minutes today.  He called me around 6:30 so that I could fix something for dinner.  He came home for a few minutes to have a bite to eat and then he left again.  I have no idea what time to expect him home tonight…he’s not even supposed to be working this weekend!  We’re supposed to be having a long weekend!  Not that we could do anything anyway…two crews were supposed to get their equipment certification a couple of weeks ago, but have failed at least twice and they HAVE to get it done by Monday.  No “If’s and’s or but’s” about it!  So, guess where hubby-bubby’sgoing to be all weekend long?

Anyway, I am finishing up watching Punky Brewster and then will be headed to bed here in a few minutes.  I think I’m coming down with a cold or something because I haven’t been feeling all that well the last few days.  Thanks for reading and have a great day! 🙂

You decide the title of this posting.

I had a rather difficult time deciding what to title this.  While I was mopping the floor today, I started thinking about some events that have happened over the last couple of days.  I do that from time to time.  It’s called reflection andwe all do it.  I rarely have conversations with myself, but when I do, sometimes it’s the most intelligent conversation I have all day.  My mother told me that once when I caught her talking to herself.  Unbeknownst to me, she was having a schizophrenic moment.  That was her response to me and I never forgot it.

About a week ago, I found a woman who I went to school with and attended church with.  She and I were both in the same graduating class and at church, we attended the same youth groups and youth choirs.  I found her on Facebook.  I then started looking at the people that she had befriended and requested friendships with those people as well.  Some accepted, others did not.  One person said to me, “I need more information.  I’m sorry, but your picture doesn’t give me a clue.”  IE  “Who are you again?”

So, I responded to him and told him who I was, who he may remember me as and so on and kind of giving a quick summary of my life, along with some people that I hung out with that may have helped jog his memory.  After the 2nd response from him, I couldn’t think of any more questions to ask, so I ended the conversation politely and moved on.  I asked my husband and our friend who was staying with us for a couple of days for help in trying to ask questions, except the only responses those two were willing to give me were snarky, sarcastic comments.

After that, my husband went off to bed and J and I stayed up and chatted for a few hours.  He asked me a question.  “What kind of person were you in high school?”  I didn’t (and still don’t) really have a good answer for that.  I was a strange child.  Always two steps to the side of everyone else.  I was just different.  I was in a couple of school bands, Job’s Daughters, swam on the swim team for a couple of years, was on the track team for one season and at the ripe old age of 16 +1 day, I started working.

I tended to do my best to get out of doing actual hard school work and used the fact that I had been in special ed classes for most of my education as an excuse to get out of doing work and it worked, too.  I had poor grades–barely passing.  D’s were not considered passing at home so if I did receive a D, my parents forced me to retake the class–IE summer school or give up an elective.  I did summer school a couple of times, but I actually liked summer school…as a matter of fact, I purposely flunked my World History class so that I COULD go to summer school.  I have a BA in History.  Ironic, eh?

With talking to J, he thinks that what most likely happened was I was bored in even the higher level classes and got by doing little to no work and still managing to graduate.

But it’s not just that, my parents kept my brother and I in daycare until I was 12 years old.  My brother and I were the oldest kids in daycare and the reason that we were there was because our parents didn’t trust us alone.  When both of my parents left on business trips, we had a babysitter at night–I was a senior in high school!

I was also a bit “creative” with the truth, if not all out lying.  In 2nd grade, several of the kids would say during “Show and Tell” that their mommy was having a baby.  And so, I concocted this same story and only 3 weeks later, did I come up in front of the class and say that my mom HAD a baby!  Then, I went to my 1st grade teacher and she said, “So, did your mom have a boy or a girl?”  I had been caught in my lie and I knew it.  I never went to see her again because I was so embarrassed.  I’m probably the only one who remembers that, but I do!

I never went out with the boys from my own high school because they knew me and didn’t really like me.  I looked strange, I never had popular clothes and frequently, I out-grew them within months.  I always had pants that were far too short and I was made fun because of that.  I still have a terrible time trying to get the right sized pants.  I have a 34″ inseam and often resort to wearing men’s Levi’s because they’re the only ones I can buy here in Germany, otherwise I have to order my pants online.  Sometimes I get free shipping, but generally, if I need a pair of pants, I need them NOW!

I was never a popular kid.  I did have a chance once.  Valerie was inviting me in to that group.  I was in 8th grade.  She found out that I was passing notes to Phyllis.  She told me that if I passed anymore notes to her, I wouldn’t be allowed to be her friend anymore.  I traded a note with Phyllis and she caught me in band class.  She told me I was out and I couldn’t be her friend anymore.  Phyllis and I have been friends ever since and I am her oldest daughter’s god-mother.  All of her children call me Auntie Amber.  Would the same been true if I had not chose to pass a note to Phyllis that day?  Would I still be friends with those girls?  I’m going to venture that, no, I wouldn’t.  Funny how some things work out, huh?

As an adult, I WAS one of those popular kids…erm…I mean adult.  I was friends with the woman that was extremely popular and friendly and outgoing…etc…I always wanted to be part of that crowd and I finally got to be.  Then, my friend T said, “Yes, you were part of that crowd, but you changed.  I didn’t like you when you were part of it.”  I was given a choice.  Be friends with T or be out.  I chose the other way and did not choose the hard right over the easy wrong.  When I became part of this group, apparently I had changed.  I didn’t see it at the time, but do know that I rarely, if ever, called T unless I needed something (I used her).  When things had fallen apart with the woman that was leading this crowd, I eventually came crawling back to T.  She had a forgiving heart and let bygones be bygones.  I am fortunate for that, too.  I explained to her that I had always wanted to be part of of that group and I realized that I had made a bad choice.  But I as I look back on it now, I really wasn’t a very nice person–which I have usually considered myself to be.

I hope that some of this is enlightening to you.  I just don’t think that any of this matters anymore…or does it?  I am the sum of all my experiences.

Hi all!  Sorry that I haven’t been doing regular updates.  The dogs are surely keeping me out of trouble!  They are not unlike children, as they need constant supervision so that they don’t accidentally ingest something inappropriate or completely tear apart my house!  Codiak is a walking stomach and if he had it his way, he’d eat everything in sight…such as my cereal from this morning (grrr!)

It’s amazing.  I swept this floor yesterday afternoon, yet it doesn’t look like it’s been swept in over a week!  They drag in so much dirt with them!  I actually found this really great push broom.  It’s supposed to be a mop, but I don’t like it as a mop.  It doesn’t work very well, in that respect, but it’s great at pick up the lint and fur that have shed from my 3 boys.

Fall is upon us here in Germany!  The leaves are starting to turn and we are at the beginning of autumn.  It’s not warm enough for shorts and a tee-shirt anymore, and not yet cold enough to wear a coat.  Everything is getting ready to become dormant for a few months andthe days are getting shorter.  It actually gets dark at a normal time (around 8 pm) yet, the sun is still coming up fairly early.  It’s the perfect time of year and my favorite in-between season.  Officially, Fall doesn’t begin until the 22nd, but it’s been feeling “fall-ish” for a few weeks already.

We are fortunate enough to live in a heavily forested part of Germany and it will be a fantastic season this year.  It rained quite a bit this summer so everything was very luscious and green which makes for a beautiful autumn!  I’m so excited!  I can’t wait to try my hand at some Fall Photography!

Well, other than that, nothing’s been going on.  Thanks for reading and have a great day! 🙂

I was watching Miracle on 34th Street today.  Yes, I know it’s only the beginning of Sept, but I enjoy watching Christmas movies year round.  It makes me happy.

One thing that does not make me happy is when the writers make obvious grammatical errors!

The lawyer said, “I am going to defend you and I am going to prove that there is a Santa and that you are him.”

Um, no…you are going to prove that there is a Santa and that you are HE!  ARRG!  Turn the sentence around and say, “Him is you.”  It doesn’t make any sense.

It also grates on me like nails on a chalkboard when I call someone on the phone and I ask for someone and that someone is already speaking.  They say, “This is her/him.”  ACK!  No, you are SHE/HE!  SHE/HE IS YOU!

Okay, enough.  I’ll get off my soapbox now!

Well, one of my friends, Mercedes is having her “Blogoversary” this month and I decided that I would look at my archives and see when mine was.  Apparently, it was on the 1st!

I joined WordPress sometime in September, but I remember that I did the majority of my blogging on blogspot until after the first of the year.  I transferred everything from blogspot to WordPress and that’s how I know that I started on Sept 1, 2007.  So, I’ve been blogging here on WordPress for under a year, but I’ve been blogging for just over a year…truth be told, I was blogging on myspace since June 2007 and on Yahoo 360 since Nov 2, 2005.  Okay, so “TECHNICALLY” my Blogoversary is Nov, but I’m not really even considering Yahoo 360 to be a real blog!  The funny thing about that is NOW have TONS of blogs.

Here are some fun stats for you:

• There have been 6,767 views to this blog.
• My All-Time most viewed post is my Bio with 234 page loads.
• The busiest day my blog saw was on June 18, 2008 with 131 views.
• I have posted 282 entries.
• The default category is “blogging”.