I just haven't blogged for awhile so I figured - what the heck?! I'm just waiting for some DELICIOUSNESS to be done in the oven. Caribbean Beach Bread if you must know. I'm having a little Tastefully Simple party tonight - well, actually a friend from high school is hosting it and I'm "consulting" on it. I'm a consultant. Makes me sound knowledgeable in the technical sense. Not so much. I can tell ya LOTS about Tastefully Simple though.
Anyway, on to other things. The youngest parts of the allbluezoo have been with me in Indiana for the past few days and we'll be joined by DevilDoc tomorrow - insert a HALLELUJAH here! - afternoon. He's bringing Nani girl too; *heart thumping* Not sure who I miss more - him or her. Don't tell him that *wink* Seriously though, the kids haven't really been THAT bad it's just that the weather has been LESS THAN cooperative to being outside! Have you ever taken a beast from it's habitat and caged it somewhere mostly unfamiliar and without it's normal comforts? That's what it is like with the ZOO - we are are gammaw's house (my mom) and bopping around to P-Paw & Julie's (my dad/his wife), Matt & Sassy's (my brother/his wife) and other assorted extended family members. Note none of the above people have anyone under the age of 10 living with them full-time, severely limiting the toys and other junk that occupy said children under the age of 10. Thank goodness for the couple of days of good weather that allowed us to hit the pool. Even today, overcast and all we tried for the park. Made it about 10 minutes before it started raining. Ugh. Back inside. Ugh.
My "stuff" is already in San Antonio. Too bad we won't be for another somewhat long while. But, we have things to tend to like Centennial Celebrations at the Navy's only bootcamp and a 4th of July bash that promises to go down in the record books. And then that small concert. U2. YES I AM GOING TO THE U2 CONCERT - F.i.n.a.l.l.y! I swear it feels like we've had tickets for years. Well, that is of course, if we actually had tickets. I accidentally kind of forgot to get them out of the safe before we packed it up and sent it to San Antonio. Woopsie. Yay for Ticketmaster and their infinite wisdom that there will be dummies like me who WILL lose, misplace, send away their show tickets. They are holding another set a will call for us. I figured that was best, God forbid they mail me another set and I leave them in Indiana when we head back to Chicago-land. Duh.
Now you are all caught up on what has been going on around here for the last .... 5 days? Close enough. Whatever. This weekend we have a family reunion. Mmmhmmm, I said it. Family reunion. It's pretty cool actually. It's my maternal grandfather's side of the family and HOLY HELL there are a LOT of us! I'm pretty stoked for the annual BINGO game - those little kids better watch out - I'm hungry for the prizes. Word has it that granny scored BIG on Walgreen's Register Rewards stuff this year and I have my eye on more toothpaste.
JUST KIDDING, sheesh - I have like 1,000 tubes of toothpaste b/c I coupon. Duh.
I really DON'T have 1,000 tubes of toothpaste. But I would be all over some more lip balm or sunsreen. Hope she got in on that deal.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
And so it goes...
"Home is where the Navy sends us". It is our mantra as a military wife - you can insert any branch of the military for "Navy" and it still works. If you are REALLY lucky sometimes it is "Home is where we really want to go and the Navy happens to have an opening for us". I feel fortunate that we've been able to use THAT line for DevilDoc's entire career. Yes, yes - you read that right. We CHOSE to come to Great Lakes. Obviously we hadn't been here before! But, I am an Indiana girl and since we couldn't get in at Crane, IN we took the next best thing to be close to my family. We had just spent 3 years across the Pacific ya know.
When we married he already had orders to NAS Pensacola. After that we CHOSE to go to IDC school in San Diego. From there we CHOSE to go to Hawaii to join the in-laws who were also stationed there. Then this choice. You hear many people call this place "Great Mistakes" but I just can't seem to force those words from my mouth. To do so, to me, would mean that our time here was a bad choice - a mistake. It wasn't.
It was NO mistake that DevilDoc was selected as a CPO when we got here. It was no mistake that I took that train ride into the city with a group of women I had.never.met - those are the same women that became my confidants over the past 2 years. It was no mistake to then go to a complete stranger's house for a potluck lunch/playdate with more women I had.never.met. It was there I met my parallel twin. It was no mistake that I finally began my Tastefully Simple business. It was BECAUSE of my business that I met (or re-met?) my Hawaii connection. How can I call those things mistakes? It is NO mistake that DevilDoc went on to more college while we lived here. Completing all the necessary pre-requisites to apply for the PA program that will lead to a commission. It is no mistake that I found a WONDERFUL school for my children to attend and a job for myself to boot. How lucky am I to be able to come away from that experience with ANOTHER friend I know I will have for life? It is no mistake.
It is no mistake that I volunteered for a role helping families in our military command. That is what I DO - I simply adore HELPING. It certainly was no mistake that I was a part of a team for that endeavor, it is no "one woman show". It was no mistake that I was asked to co-chair an assembly of volunteers. It was the perfect fit for me. It wasn't what I set out to do, what I WANTED to do would have been a mistake.
To call it "Great Mistakes" would be to trivialize what my life - our life - has been here. No mistakes. Only learning opportunities. The chance to better oneself in the face of adversity.
I will miss you Great Lakes. I will miss your morning colors and the call for Taps. I will miss the cadence of recruits being molded into sailors. I will miss the Navy way. We are off to a place where they say things like "I'm going on post" or "I need to stop at the BX". *shiver* I'm still gonna call it "base" and "the exchange" just like I still refer to the "Hoosier Dome" and "Deer Creek".
But mostly I will miss the people who remain at Great Lakes when we leave. I have been reminded over and over the past few weeks what a truly amazing group of people I have surrounding me. And it isn't just friends and personal relationships. I have developed unforgettable professional relationships here as well. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet individuals from all walks of the Navy. From commanding officers to students at NHCS, spouses with 30 years of experience in the Navy to those who have JUST married a sailor. It's EVERYONE who makes this place tick - makes it so unique. It truly is like no other place in the Navy. These people, my friends I call them all, these are the people I will miss. I have had more "going away", "last hoorah" and "farewell" events than my mind can get ahold of. It feels good to know I will be missed - but what feels even better is to know that I have in some way - touched each and every one of the people at those events.
And so it goes...thank you for calling me friend. Thank you for taking me as I am - it is no easy pill to swallow, that I know for sure. Thank you for listening, for crying, for celebrating, for tolerating - for being there. Thank you for being a part of my life - OUR life.
Without you, it very well could have been "Great Mistakes".
When we married he already had orders to NAS Pensacola. After that we CHOSE to go to IDC school in San Diego. From there we CHOSE to go to Hawaii to join the in-laws who were also stationed there. Then this choice. You hear many people call this place "Great Mistakes" but I just can't seem to force those words from my mouth. To do so, to me, would mean that our time here was a bad choice - a mistake. It wasn't.
It was NO mistake that DevilDoc was selected as a CPO when we got here. It was no mistake that I took that train ride into the city with a group of women I had.never.met - those are the same women that became my confidants over the past 2 years. It was no mistake to then go to a complete stranger's house for a potluck lunch/playdate with more women I had.never.met. It was there I met my parallel twin. It was no mistake that I finally began my Tastefully Simple business. It was BECAUSE of my business that I met (or re-met?) my Hawaii connection. How can I call those things mistakes? It is NO mistake that DevilDoc went on to more college while we lived here. Completing all the necessary pre-requisites to apply for the PA program that will lead to a commission. It is no mistake that I found a WONDERFUL school for my children to attend and a job for myself to boot. How lucky am I to be able to come away from that experience with ANOTHER friend I know I will have for life? It is no mistake.
It is no mistake that I volunteered for a role helping families in our military command. That is what I DO - I simply adore HELPING. It certainly was no mistake that I was a part of a team for that endeavor, it is no "one woman show". It was no mistake that I was asked to co-chair an assembly of volunteers. It was the perfect fit for me. It wasn't what I set out to do, what I WANTED to do would have been a mistake.
To call it "Great Mistakes" would be to trivialize what my life - our life - has been here. No mistakes. Only learning opportunities. The chance to better oneself in the face of adversity.
I will miss you Great Lakes. I will miss your morning colors and the call for Taps. I will miss the cadence of recruits being molded into sailors. I will miss the Navy way. We are off to a place where they say things like "I'm going on post" or "I need to stop at the BX". *shiver* I'm still gonna call it "base" and "the exchange" just like I still refer to the "Hoosier Dome" and "Deer Creek".
But mostly I will miss the people who remain at Great Lakes when we leave. I have been reminded over and over the past few weeks what a truly amazing group of people I have surrounding me. And it isn't just friends and personal relationships. I have developed unforgettable professional relationships here as well. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet individuals from all walks of the Navy. From commanding officers to students at NHCS, spouses with 30 years of experience in the Navy to those who have JUST married a sailor. It's EVERYONE who makes this place tick - makes it so unique. It truly is like no other place in the Navy. These people, my friends I call them all, these are the people I will miss. I have had more "going away", "last hoorah" and "farewell" events than my mind can get ahold of. It feels good to know I will be missed - but what feels even better is to know that I have in some way - touched each and every one of the people at those events.
And so it goes...thank you for calling me friend. Thank you for taking me as I am - it is no easy pill to swallow, that I know for sure. Thank you for listening, for crying, for celebrating, for tolerating - for being there. Thank you for being a part of my life - OUR life.
Without you, it very well could have been "Great Mistakes".
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