Staying Busy

Staying Busy? Yeah, that may be an understatement. ROFL! I was SUPER busy today. I woke up at 5am to pee (yeah, I don't know what's up with that, I NEVER do that...), and checked my email on my Droid. Handy thing, the Droid is (now I sound like Yoda...)

AND I HAD AN EMAIL FROM CAPTAIN AMERICA!!! With pictures and everything!!! He said they'd arrived at their final destination (this was sent at 4am my time), and were getting all settled in. Apparently, the unit they were replacing weren't gonna leave for another 10 days, so they're in temporary quarters until that time. In tents, or something like that.

Here's some of the pictures that he sent -

I guess they flew to Maine, and had a layover there.

Then to Ireland. I'm SO jealous!!! I SO SO SO wanna go to Ireland!

Fish and Chips!!! He did say that the ones on the Oregon Coast were better, but this IS airport food...

And the Chiefs game (his FAVORITE football team) was on in the airport.

And this is his tent that he shares with the other E-7's and above

And I thought this was the COOLEST! See how well he knows me - LOL! He knew that taking a picture of the Diet Coke in the foreign language would make my day - ROFL!

In the Email, he'd said that the MWR or someone or another had provided 17 minute phone calling cards for the soldiers. Only hitch was that they had to be to El Paso (915) phone numbers. Whaaaat? My cell is an Ohio phone (740). So he'd called the home cell phone, which was a 915 number, but the phone was out in the living room, and I didn't hear it. Sob! I"D MISSED A CALL!

I was kinda bumbed, but the email made up for it, so I wasn't too sad. He'd left me a voicemail, and it was SO nice to hear his voice. I decided that on my list of things to do today was to change my Cell Phone number! Once he gets into permanent quarters, he'll have access to Skype, but for the next 10-20 days, I wanna be able to talk to him!

I tried to go back to sleep, and eventually did. And woke up at 6:45-7am with my alarms and snoozes. hehe. I said my prayers, and got the kids all ready for school. Tom was still sick, so he was staying home. Fever and headache. Poor kid. At least it wasn't puking or diarrhea...

I got Eme and Joe on the bus, and Jake started with school, and Jim situated, and I went back to bed for a little while. 30 minutes, maybe. Then got up, and got ready for Savers. It was Monday, after all! And I chatted with my mom the whole way to Savers. Thanks, Mom, for chatting with me!

I got there right at 9 when it opened, and my strategy for the day was Skirts. That's what I wanted. See, you have to pick a section to go to and grab all the sale colored tags before they're gone. LOL!

Anyway, I found a TON of skirts that were Green Tagged (sale color), and then perused the other sections. I found some shirts and some jackets and some things for Emeline. A real nice Gap Jean jacket. Can't pass that up for $0.99!

I ended up with 33 items for $35 after tax. Wow! I was SO excited. See my "I'm happy it's a Savers day" face:

It took FOREVER to try everything on, but I ended up with a TON of good things. 15 new skirts. Yeah, I can wear a different new skirt to church for 4 months - ha! I love 'em! Especially you can't get a new skirt for cheaper than $15, and I got them ALL for $15. Some are good name brands, too!

So I headed to the Dollar Tree, because there is one REAL close to Savers, that has good bread selection. I was even considering texting Kari and Terra to see if they wanted me to pick them up some bread too. And, of course, the bread guy hadn't come yet today. Drat! Oh well. Just another excuse to come back, right??? LOL!

So I headed back to post, and got to the house right as the bus was coming for Jim. Oops. I unloaded the car (ha! I get to drive Captain America's 2003 Saturn Ion now!!), and got Jim ready for school. And drove him up there.

And checked on Tom and Jake, who were both doing fine. Jake was doing school, getting ready to take the dog for a walk, and Tom was still sick on the couch. Watching episodes of Star Trek. And I headed to Terra's house for Zumba! She has the DVD's, and had a 20 minute fast video. And it was SO much fun.

But, I'm SO horrible at it - ROFL! I really should have taken a video to prove just how dorky I am. Every time she looked over at me, she busted out laughing. ha! When I didn't know what to do, I just kinda wiggled around and moved my hands all funny like, and made a face. Yeah, I'm a dork! hehe. BUT, I was moving the whole time, and I was totally sweating when we were done. It was a FUN and GREAT workout!

I headed back home, and made myself lunch. Cheese sandwich with cucumber and apple. Mmmmm, LOVE my lunch :) No really, I do! I put Garlic and Onion seasoning in the melted mozzarella cheese, then put that on a Whole Wheat Sandwich Round, and peel a WHOLE cucumber and eat it. And an apple. VERY tasty :)

I was on the computer for a little while, then turned it off, and headed out again. First stop, Verizon. To change my number. BUT, of course, they were busy. So I put my name on the list and headed next door to Family Dollar. Because there's always something fun to look at there.

AND, they had their Christmas crap 90% off! Sa-weet!!! I got some ornaments and boxes and those little round buckets like I gave the teacher presents in this year, and a snow globe nativity scene, and 2 Ginger Bread house sets, and a BUNCH of other stuff (Including some pet cleaner spray for the carpet), all for only $15. Nice, huh? Now I just need to put it in a box for next year, and not forget I have it - ha!

And I headed back to Verizon, and waited about 5 more minutes, then it was my turn. The dude said that they COULD change my phone number, but that it would cost $15. OR, I could go home and call Verizon's 800 number, and say that I was being harassed and wanted my number changed, and it would be free. Yeah, I had WAY too many other things to worry about doing to put this off any longer. So I paid the $15 and let the dude do it for me. And I was off and on my way with my new phone number in under 5 minutes. Thanks, Verizon dude!

I swung by Walmart on my way home for hangers and Whole Wheat Sandwich Rounds. It's pretty sad when the hangers for your skirts cost MORE than your skirt. hehe. I'd decided to take over part of Captain Americas side of the closet and put my skirts over there. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Right, sweetheart? hehe.

Anyway, I grabbed the few things that I needed, and headed to the check out, then headed home. I got home 20 minutes before Jims bus, so I had time to put my stuff away, give Tom more meds, get Jake back on track for school, play with the dog, then off to get Jim from the bus.

We came back home, and I hung up all of my new skirts and rearranged my closet a little bit. Yeah, it may be time to go through it, cause it's not all fitting - hehe. Don't say anything, Captain America. You like that I have lots of pretty clothes that make me happy - ha!

Joe and Eme got off the bus at 3:30 (yeah, no AQ again - I may have them drop out, because I'm liking having them home right after school, and not having to go and pick them up.... something to consider...), and we cleaned up for a little bit, and then it was time to go to the pool.

Tom and Jake stayed home, and I took Joe and Jim and Eme. And I even wore my suit! Kari and I had planned on swimming laps.

And the pool was SUPER crowded. The Pregnant PT soldiers were there, and then there were the people swimming laps. Yeah, when we usually go, it's just us. Maybe 2 or 3 other people, but that's it. So I'm not used to swimming and sharing a lane. And yeah, as soon as someone came and asked to share a lane with me (I was about 12 half laps into it), I got out. Because I would have TOTALLY taken her out with my crazy back stroke - ROFL! I'm ALL over that lane. Besides, I'd already Zumba'ed today. I was good on exercise. Plus, my neck was starting to tense up a bit, and I only had one Imitrex left. My refill is due in the pharmacy Thursday morning by 9am. hehe.

So I got out, and Joe got out too, and he was FREEZING. So I sat and chatted on the bench with my friend Karin, and held and snuggled with Joe. He was keeping me warm, but I don't know if I was keeping him warm.

Eventually, it was time to go, and we headed home. I made homemade hamburgers for the kids. I took 1 1/2 lbs of ground turkey, 2/3 cup of oatmeal, 3 eggs, and a BUNCH of Garlic and Onion seasoning, and mixed it all together. Then split it into 6 balls, and cooked it in my big George Forman grill. And yeah, it didn't hold together too great, but it did ok. I just kinda scrapped it onto the bread when it was cooked. hehe. I had lettuce and cheese and tomato and lite miracle whip on mine. Some kids had ketchup. Some had mustard. And relish. I let them put on it whatever they wanted. They were pretty tasty.

Then we started on chores and homework. Joe, of course, was the last one working. Tom had gone to my room to escape the loudness that is Jim. His poor head. Jake was still working on school. See, he was having a hard time focusing today. So, as I'm writing this, it's 10:15pm, and he's STILL working on school. He keeps letting himself get distracted...

Anyway, at almost 8pm, we started making the Gingerbread houses. And it was SO much fun!


Jake was helping Joe and Tom, but decided to go finish school instead. Here's Tom and Joe working on their house.

And Eme and Jim

Me sitting with Jake. Mmmm, apple! And see the laundry baskets on the table? I'm SO gonna fold that laundry pile on the couch tomorrow. Seriously. I really am! One basket for each of the 5 kids.

I think Boxer will keep us...

Eme and Jim's house. I made them stop at 8:30 so I could put them to bed. I put them out in the garage so the dog wouldn't eat them after I went to bed. hehe. We'll work on them some more tomorrow after library movie.

And I've been making more time to do bed time routines. I used to be SUPER good about it with the older kids, but have fallen out of the habit with the little ones. So I went into their rooms, listened while they said their prayers, and we did scriptures, then we sang the first 9 Article of Faith songs. Yeah, I need to learn 10-13, I guess. hehe. I was amazed that they knew so much of them. Jim especially! I guess I still think of him as a little kid. He's my big 5 year old, though!

And here's Beaver Warrior. Did I ever tell you about Beaver Warrior? On year, my mom bought the kids stuffed animals from Kohls. At christmas time. I think it was from a book. Jake got the Bear, Eme and Tom got white rabbits, and Joe got the Beaver. All the other stuffed animals are LONG gone, but Beaver stuck around. He's joe's FAVORITE stuffed animal. And, Captain America turned him into a warrior. He has this CRAZY voice that Captain America makes for him, and he karate chops everyone, and chases people around the house, and uses light sabers and swords and stuff. Yeah, we all LOVE Beaver Warrior.

And it was sad, the day that Captain America left, Beaver Warrior came out to play, and told Joe that his voice was going away for a year, but that they would play when he got back. Sniff! Anyway, Beaver Warrior had lost his nose a while back, and Joe decided to shove a Carmex tube inside of him. Looks like a PERFECT nose, Joe! AND, I love this little bed he made for Beaver Warrior. He's SO well taken care of :)

It was almost 9pm by the time I got done snuggling and listening to stories from the kids, and came back out to get on the computer. I needed to blog. And answer some emails.

And then, the house phone rang. WHAAAAAT? That was Captain America, I just knew it! Jake answered it, and I SO wanted to rip the phone out of his hands. hehe. But I didn't. They chatted for about 2 minutes, then he passed the phone over. It was SOOO nice to talk with my sweetheart! He sounded happy. And I was SUPER happy to talk with him.

He told me about his trip, and the base, and the area, and I told him about my day, and the kids, and all the stuff I've been up to. We figured out that for him, if he took his time, 7:30am and added 2 hours - 9:30pm, that would give him my time. Just switched the AM/PM. Or something like that. So that would make it 8:30am his time if it's 10:30pm my time. Hmmm, I need to get a clock for the wall that's Captain America's time zone...

It's was just SOOO good to hear his voice and check in with him. It was almost like he was there. Their phone cards were good for 17 minutes, and once it ran out, he called back on another one. So we got to talk for 34 minutes. Well, 32, since Jake wasted, er, used, 2 of my minutes. hehe.

And, here's my face after I hung up with Captain America.
OK, so I know I need to shower and make myself cute, but I just thought that you could SO see how happy I was to get the call. I'm practically beaming.

I came back out and finished up blogging. Jake was writing a short story for school, (rough draft) and finished up a few minutes before I finished with this blog post. Off to bed he went, and I'm gonna be going off to bed not too long after. It's 10:30, and I'm exhausted. Probably because I'm doing such a good job at Staying Busy. hehe.

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It's me! Good job, Sharon! hehe. You definitely captured how BUSY my life is sometimes!