The Lives of Others

Well, today was the day that I was dreading... The day that we took Captain America back to the airport. Hmpf! We'd stayed up till around 11pm last night, Captain America and the older boys doing something on the truck, and then Captain America packing. And we slept in till around 7am. No seminary today. And no morning school for the kids!

I cooked Sausage Egg muffins with cheese for all the kids, and had them get ready for the day. Captain America and Jake and Tom mowed and trimmed the grass in the backyard. It looked pretty good. I went and showered, and then Captain America read a story to all the kids. Even the big ones sat down and listened. We had a family prayer, then got ready to take the kids to school.

If the kids were to school before 10am, then they wouldn't be counted as absent for the day. We had a few minutes to snap some pictures of us with Captain America. I think they turned out really nicely.









I loaded up in the truck with Jim and Joe and Eme and Tom who were going one direction to school, and Captain America and Jake took the Saturn and headed off to Jake's school in the other direction.

SLUG BUG!!!

I signed Joe and Jim and Eme into Hughey, then Tom and I drove on over to Ross. I signed him in, and they gave him an excused tardy. Nice! They should, you know! That's definitely a good excuse for being late!

Then I headed back on post.

Captain America got back a few minutes after I did, and as he finished off packing, I made myself a smoothie. SUPER yummy!


We left the house a little bit before 11am, but not before Captain America gave Boxer some loves. So sad!

I couldn't resist! Captain America and his "sack of nuts".... ROFL!

And off we went to the airport

Getting through security was tricky again. hehe. Captain America's carryon triggered security. I guess the coils inside of the back massager looked suspicious. So they had to go through ALL of his things, and test them for explosives residue. Nice...
But mine was worse! I triggered security going through the machine. Remember how last time I had on a hoodie with a zipper, and I got my front patted down? Well, I didn't know it, but I had a handful of safety pins in my butt pocket...
Yup, I totally got patted down. On my butt. Nice :) And my hands were swabbed for explosives residue too. Luckily, I passed. hehe.

And we continued on to the gate. We only had about 5 minutes before boarding for the plane started! SO different than the hour I had with Aunt Sue!
We bought Captain America a little pre-packaged sandwich, a yogurt, and a cup of fruit. For $18. Yeah, airport food is SO steep. And went and stood in line.


And soon it was time for him to board. I got my last hugs and kisses, and off he went.
Thanks to the Prozac, the tears stayed away. I did get a bit misty eyed walking back to the car, though... I'm gonna miss him. But I know that this is the "downhill" stretch of the deployment. Only a few more months to go! And the kids are all in school and activities, and I'll stay super busy. And holidays are coming up, and that keeps one busy too. I can do this :)

I went back to my car, and headed to the parking pay place... SLUG BUG!!!
I got home, and was feeling a little sad. Until I walked inside the kitchen, and saw that Boxer had left me a WONDERFUL surprise, and a project... Never a break... hehe :)

I cleaned up the mess, and headed to my room. I watched a few episodes of 24 while I worked on the computer for a bit. I had a typo in one of my WordArt packs, and got it all fixed up again. And got a little bit of computer "housekeeping" jobs done.

At 2:30pm, I headed out with Amanda to go to Sonic for Happy Hour. In honor of my "branching out", I tried a diet Ocean Water. It wasn't horrible. I don't know that I'd get it again, but it wasn't horrible. I drank it all. hehe.

We headed back to post, and I went to her house for a bit to hang until the kids got off the bus. She and her hubby and Austin are headed to Albuquerque this weekend. They were gonna leave directly from the bus stop.

We got to the bus stop at 3:30pm, and the kids got there about 15 minutes later. I had fun chatting with the ladies.

We headed home, and the kids got a snack. And I went to lay down for a brief nap. I woke up around 5pm, and had the kids do their chores, then they could have free time. Except for Joe and Jim. They had to clean their messy room.

Jake and Tom played Madden on the Wii on and off with Star Trek episodes on Netflix. Eme went to her friends house in the neighborhood to play. And Joe and Jim eventually got their rooms cleaned.

I'm watching another episode of 24, and Jim is sitting by me playing on a laptop. Hotwheels.com, or soothing like that. He's so cute. hehe.

Oh yeah, I got a call from Jake's seminary teacher today checking up on him. How sweet! I told her that his dad just went back on deployment, and that's why he was absent. But that he was fine. We talked a little about Aspergers, and what to expect from Jake. How he is very intelligent, but lacks "social graces" that the rest of us take for granted. She said that he's a VERY sweet child, and that she's glad that he's in the class. There's one other special needs kid in the class, and he and Jake chat sometimes. Good! He needs a friend.

Tomorrow, my plans involve sleeping in. Ambien is gonna be my friend tonight. hehe. And I don't know what we'll do with our Saturday? Maybe the pool? Maybe just hang out there? I don't know...

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

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LOVE the red plaid with the brown! Great layout, Sharon!

The Godfather

New stuff in the store!!! Hurry on over and give it a look see! Fund my cruise with Captain America when he gets back - ROFL! Click here to go to my store :)












Hey there, peeps! So Captain America and I worked out our issue! It was a misunderstanding, and it was all cleared up. Thank goodness! I hate fighting...

We woke up at 5:25 am and got Jake to Seminary. And brought pillows, and had a nice little nap in the car. Then at 6:40am, drove back to post. In time to say a family prayer and got Tom to the bus. I helped Joe and Jim get dressed and fed and ready to the bus.

I met the girls at the bus stop, and it was so peaceful with just our neighborhood there. hehe. More than 1/2 the kids live in the other neighborhood, and it was SO crowded. This was much better.

I chatted for a bit, then headed back home. And got Jake ready for the bus, and he left the house at 7:50am. And that was it for kids! They were all gone :)

I spent the morning with Captain America, just enjoying having him here. To make up for the unpleasant day yesterday. Oh that I could have yesterday back! Hmpf!

At 11am, we were dressed and showered and ready to go to town. We had a Walmart list (I think I have one every day...) and he wanted to return some shorts to Sports Academy. And we needed to get some more shorts for Jake. He'd been wearing the same pair of athletic type shorts to school every day. And they had a hole in them. Yeah, not so good.

First stop, Academy Sports on the East Side. Here's me, trying to get a nice picture, despite the BRIGHTNESS outside :)

The more we looked around, the more we found. Sigh. WAY too many things there... Here's a pic of Captain America and I.
We got the kids who are in soccer a ball, and some socks, and a water bottle. And we found some shorts for $2.88 a pair for Jake, and another camping chair, and some stuff for Captain America.

Oh wow! It's straws!!! I didn't know they sold them this way :) We totally got some :)

Did I show you the bracelets that Captain America made us out of 550 cord???

We had spent SO much time in Academy, that now it was time for lunch. We wanted Mexican, but didn't know of a good place on this side of town. So, we took a chance, and went to this one that was close to where we were. Rock and Roll diner. Mexican style. ROFL!

The inside totally looked like a diner. Complete with pictures of Elvis on the walls. But no one was speaking English. Even the menu was in Spanish. Luckily the lady behind the counter spoke English well, and was able to help us order something. Yeah, we were totally the only White people in there. hehe.

SOOO yummy! I enjoyed it all!

We sat and ate a leisurely lunch, then headed out. Across the street to Walmart. The one we call the far East side Walmart. And we spent WAY too much time there. hehe. Our list was long, though. Whatever did we do before we had Walmart???

We slowly whittled down our list, and when we finally made it to the produce section, we saw some fresh Hatch chilies. Amanda had told me about them. And when I saw them roasted and in a ziplock baggie for sale, I totally knew what they were! So Captain America and I bought a bag. But I really thought the sign was funny. Redundant much???

We didn't have to wait in line hardly at all, and quickly paid and headed out. And drove ALL the way across town to get home. Traffic was bad. We stopped at Howdys on the way home for a DDP, then Captain America dropped me off at the bus stop. It was almost time for the bus. Captain America put away all the groceries, and I chatted with the girls.

We collected our kids, and headed back home. Captain America had lined up all the soccer stuff so i could take a picture of it. Sweet, huh???
And here are all of Jake's new shorts. He was SUPER excited about them. He also got some clearance sandals.


We had the kids get their soccer gear on (they haven't gotten their uniforms yet), and pose outside. Aren't they cute!

It was SO freakin' bright outside!!! Only about 90 degrees, but still bright!

See my new shirt I got a Walmart?

I had to take my contacts out, because they were itchy. And took a moment to sit down and upload my pictures. And drink my soda, of course :)
We grilled some fish, and some brauts, and some hot dogs, and some burgers. Oh yeah! I put Tom in charge of helping Joe with his homework, and said that once he got done, then they could have free time.

Eme and Captain America and I headed out to Eme's soccer practice. We dropped her off at the field, and headed to the PX. I wanted to get a weekly pill thingy for Jake, and needed a new back massager. My freakin' kids broke mine... Sigh.

We paid and headed to Military Clothing supply. Captain America needed a new ACU top and soft hat. We grabbed those, then went to Game Stop to look around. The Playstation 2 (used) was only $59. That's really not bad. Of course, we'd still need controllers and such. But they had buy 2 used games, get 2 used games free. And those games are super cheap. Something to think about, anyway...

We went back to the car, and headed to pick up Eme. She'd just got done with practice, and we headed home. Captain America and Jake played some Madden on the Wii, and Tom hadn't had Joe do his homework. So while we all had root beer floats, Joe and Tom sat at the table doing Joe's homework. Tough lesson, but if I leave you in charge, and you choose to let Joe watch TV with you, then you have to help him when I get home. Sorry, Tom...

They finally got done, and had their dessert, and I started loading my store. Thursday night is work night for me. I still had 2 WordArt packs to package, then I got them all in the store. Captain Americawas playing with the kids on the Wii. I think I watched a full 2 episodes of Jack before I was done. Then I started blogging.

It's now almost 9pm. We've decided to let the kids go to school late tomorrow, to spend the morning with their dad. Maybe I'll get up early-ish and make a nice breakfast! We'll take them to school before 10am so it doesn't count as an absence. hehe. I'm tricky, huh?

Captain America and the boys are outside flushing the transmission fluid on the truck, or something like that, and I'm done in here now. I may go and take a hot bath. That sounds nice and relax-ful. Maybe I'll read some in my book, too. I haven't ready any in it in a while. Last time I took a bath, I watched 24 on Netflix on my iPhone. How sad is that??? ROFL!


Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks1

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GREAT layout, Sharon, my dear! Love the old photograph. Looks like something that could have been taken when I was a kid. hehe :)