Really excited

I leave for Pennsylvania today to see K. I'll be back on Tuesday!

Happy New Year!

Why do I suspect a man was in charge of this study?

I saw on Good Morning America this morning that a new study has come out saying that doing household chores reduces a woman's risk of breast cancer by up to 30 percent.

What is this, 1952?

Evidently the light exercise of activities like dusting is more beneficial to women than "strenuous activities" like sports, the show said.

I'd like to see this followed up with a study about how buying jewelry for a woman reduces erectile dysfunction, or how sending flowers reduces a man's risk of hair loss.

Only in Dallas ...

Yes, that's definitely in Wal-Mart. And yes, that piano totally plays itself.

An open letter

Dear friends, family members and co-workers:

I really appreciate your attempts to recognize the holiday season. The pies, bourbon balls and orange rum balls back home were really good. Just like the donuts at work yesterday and the chocolates today. It really is nice to walk into the kitchen at the office and see goodies, but why don't we try to spread this out?

See, all these extra goodies I normally wouldn't be consuming in such excess amounts happen to be coming at a time I'm finding myself very busy in the evenings, getting home late and having no time to go to the gym. As a result, all the work I'd done to firm up my tummy is disappearing -- quite quickly. While I appreciate your efforts to prevent my pants from being a little loose on me like they have been in the past few weeks, I was actually enjoying that.

So if you all could refrain from enticing me with such wonderful, chocolatey, creamy, decadent goodies, I'd really appreciate it. And so would my getting-tighter-every-day pants.

Sincerely,
Me

P.S. While we're on this open-letter thing, a request for all retail stores: My bank account hasn't had time to recover from Christmas shopping, but I'm finding your amazing sales hard to resist. I love my new digital camera and Chi straightener, and I'm really looking forward to taking advantage of Victoria's Secret's semi-annual sale, but seriously? This is getting out of hand. For taking away from time I'd spend at the gym, you're just as guilty as all the fattening treats.

The things you'd never say

I got this post idea from s of New Beginnings and New Dreams. After struggling about whether or not I should say one of the things, I decided it would be best to get it out here.

The instructions s wrote on her blog, "the point is to list 10 things you want to say to people, but never will. don't say who the person is, either."

Most of these things will be negative, since if I have a positive thing to say, why would I keep that from the person?

1) I wasn't prepared to see you there that night since you had absolutely no business being there. I think it's really lame that you crashed that banquet. I also think if you had any integrity at all, you wouldn't have accepted the door prize. If you had the smallest fraction of integrity, you'd have given it to one of your co-workers who actually was supposed to be there. I don't think I have room in my life for people with no integrity.

2) You really disappointed me. I thought of any of my friends, you'd be there for me when he was gone. How could you talk to me for only 5 minutes and not even ask how he was doing or when I'd last heard from him, only to end our conversation because you had something else to do? Because of you, though, I've made sure I'm much better about doing what you didn't. But I still expected more from you.

3) You lied to me so much growing up -- probably more than you told the truth. You tricked me, you "tested" me, you walked over me, you used me. You stole my first boyfriend. It's sad it took me moving to college to find out what a real friend is. And you're still back home. With an arrest warrant. (Karma's a bitch!)

4) I don't know who you are, but if I ever meet you, I might hit you. You're not totally to blame, but you helped her hurt my dad. You knew what you were doing, and you had a family too. You put your "needs" over my feelings, my brother's feelings, my dad's feelings, your kids' feelings and your wife's feelings. You disgust me. I'm pretty sure karma got you, too, though.

5) I'm glad you realized it wasn't going to work out, but damn you for hurting him like that. You've made a lot of things easier for me, but you've made several things harder, too. He's happier now. And honestly, I hope you are, too.

6) We're friends, but I can only handle you in small doses.

7) Why do you all treat him like that? He's had a rough life, and none of it was his fault. Don't add to it.

8) I hate the way you let your kids take advantage of him. He works so hard, and he's not rich. And stop wanting all these expensive things!

9) That place is not your playground. Or your personal refrigerator. Stop eating everything. And when he pays for your dinner, eat it!

10) Why do you have to be so bitter? Why do you only come around when you need something? Why don't you ever thank him when he helps you? Why don't you straighten up?


Whew! I'm not even kidding -- that really does feel better! I think I might have just gotten out every piece of anger I have.

I am now convinced everyone should do this.

He's totally hinting

(and I'm totally blogging tons of little blurbs today ...)

K just called me to tell me he just bought his new truck. He's going to pick it up later tonight. He's pretty excited. I congratulated him and told him I couldn't wait to see it.

"Yeah, one priority down, one to go," he said.

"Really? What's the other one?" I asked.

"I'm sorry ... you're breaking up," K abruptly replied -- and very clearly, I might add, since he was still in the same place he'd called me from, and we'd been talking for about 3 minutes with an interrupted signal and a total lack of any static whatsoever.

Technology is awesome!

So far today -- thanks to camera phones -- I have helped ER choose a pair of shoes 20 miles from where I sit at work, and I've helped K choose the color of his new truck all the way in Pennsylvania.

What happened to YOU on Christmas?

I fell off a pogo stick! Who else can say that?!

Christmas at my place

I promised I'd post pictures of my Christmas decor at my apartment. Pretty festive for just starting off, I think. :)

My lovely tree, which is mainly OU ornaments, but a few having to three are ornaments for K (one's the patriotic guy in the middle; another is a guy in the green Class A uniform that my mom sent me this year; the third is from a military ball K and I went to last year.)

The OU Christmas decoration I got from my mom for Christmas last year.

The two angels I got for Christmas from a friend. I wish they didn't match the picture frames beside them so well, but that's okay.

And my other K-inspired decor:

This little guy's supposed to be an ornament, but he's a little big for the tree I have right now.

The Army nutcracker I found at Wal-Mart. I love it!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

You probably can't tell by looking at my blog, but I like the way it looks too much to risk messing it up by changing it. You should see my MySpace profile, though. :)

I've gotten very little sleep the last few days getting ready for everything. Three nights ago, I was up until 1 a.m. making my cheesecake for the office. Two nights ago, I was up until 2 baking cookies for Christmas presents for my boss and a co-worker. That night, I also wrapped all my presents and got that done, and I set up iTunes. That was a major reason for staying up late. And putting an additional dent in my dwindling bank account. But hey, I needed some more Christmas music to listen to while I was wrapping and baking.

And last night, I was up until 2 again. I made a cheesecake for my family this time. ER came over and kept me company while I was making it. I felt like I hadn't seen her in forever! We listened to Christmas music and updated each other on things going on. She told me about the Christmas lights at Frisco Square and how cool they are. She couldn't believe I hadn't been, being the huge Christmas fan I am. Since I'm not going to be here this weekend, we hurried and finished the cheesecake, and off we went to see the lights. They were definitely pretty cool. I wish I'd found out about them earlier because I totally would've taken K to see them. They have quite a few events on weekends, too, like watching Christmas movies outside at night on huge screens. That would be so much fun, and right up my alley!

After that, we went back to my place and exchanged gifts and hung out a bit longer. We made plans to hang out next week. I'm excited. When ER left, I started packing for my weekend in Oklahoma. Then, I burned myself a Christmas CD that I'm listening to at work and will most likely torture my brother with in the car on the way to Oklahoma.

I took pictures of my Christmas decorations at my apartment, and I'm hoping to post them tomorrow. Until then, my schedules pretty packed: work; picking up my brother from the airport; stopping off at my apartment to load my car with presents, luggage and cheesecake; and driving to Oklahoma.

It's gonna be another late night!

The closest thing I'll see to snow in Dallas

Make your own snowflake! It's fun, it's free, and you help out The Salvation Army!

The Griswolds have got NOTHING on this house!

This video totally pumps me up for Christmas, and it makes me want to buy a Trans-Siberian Orchestra CD. Badly.

I'm definitely doing this to my house someday. When I have a house. :)

A regular Betty Crocker!

I made my cheesecake today for my office, and I'm so excited! Everyone's been walking by it in the kitchen, and I can hear them say, "What a beautiful cake!" The few people who've tried it already have stopped by and raved about how good it is: "You made that?! It looks store-bought! And it tastes amazing!"

Cheesecake, anyone?

As requested, here's the recipe for Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake. I've made it several times, and I was even told it tasted "professional" by a guy who called himself a "cheesecake connoisseur." And if I make it, so can you.

Trying not to scream (with excitement) right now

My cousin, who's like 16 days younger than me, called me last Friday to tell me she had gotten engaged the night before.

We were pretty close growing up, since her family lived in OKC, only a few hours away. She visited our grandparents quite a bit, and my brother and I would always stay the night with my grandparents when she was in. Well, she and her family moved to Hawaii a few years ago. I visited them for spring break my senior year in college and (of course) had a blast. They're moving back this spring.

I was pretty excited and surprised to hear my cousin's news. I asked her when the wedding was going to be. She said they'd either have it in March in Hawaii or after in Oklahoma, depending on her schedule and her fiance's. He's in the Air Force and in March is getting stationed at Tinker AFB, which -- conveniently enough -- is in OKC.

Today she sent me a message saying they're planning on a day in March. I had told K last Friday about her getting engaged and told him I was probably going to go to the wedding and wanted him to come, too. Well, my cousin officially asked me today to be a bridesmaid. Her parents (my aunt and uncle) will pay for me and the maid of honor to fly out there for the wedding!

I'm going to Hawaii!!!

I won!

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2732069

Wow ... This is so unexpected. I mean, I didn't even have time to prepare an acceptance speech.

(If I have a blog, MySpace account and a YouTube account, does that mean I win three times over? Does Facebook get me bonus points?)

Shopped out (but still not quite finished)

I worked late Friday night. By the time I got home, it was almost 8:30, which meant by the time I ate and let my food settle for an hour, it would be 9:30, so I skipped the gym. Instead, I vegged out on my couch watching It's a Wonderful Life. It's my favorite Christmas movie, and we watched it every year growing up. I hadn't seen it yet. It's not officially Christmas until I have, so I went and bought it on DVD Thursday night so I'd have it in my own collection.

It's funny the things you don't get when you watch a movie when you're little. This was the first time I'd watched the movie alone, so it was distraction-free viewing. I understood why George and Mary started acting so funny from just standing close together while they were on the phone. I also realized that my dad is George Bailey.

He's lived in our little town pretty much all his life, and there's no one like Potter that he has to protect everyone from, but he's worked hard and doesn't have as much as he'd like to show for it. He doesn't get to go on vacations, and he's told me several times he wishes he could have paid for my college so I didn't have to have student loans or that he could pay for my car so I didn't have to. I tell him I wouldn't have things any other way.

Because I got a job when I was 13, I started paying for a large portion of things I needed -- everything from clothes to makeup to school supplies and even feminine products. I paid for my CDs and magazines. I got a checking account. I learned the value of a dollar. I'm not selfish or spoiled. I appreciate what I have. I'm a bargain shopper. And because I knew it wasn't going to be easy to pay for college, I spent a ton of time my senior year in high school filling out scholarship applications, writing essays and interviewing for awards. Because I did that, most of my college was paid for. I hope my dad realizes how much of a difference he's made for so many people. They don't make guys like him anymore. He's just such a great, nice guy, and he works hard. I'm proud of him.

Saturday, I was going to sleep in or go to the gym, but K called me at about 9. I talked to him for a while before dozing off for another 20 minutes or so. Then, I went to the optometrist and finally got a new prescription for contacts. I've needed to do that for a while. The doctor told me I looked like a younger version of Nicole Kidman. :)

I went shopping and got several people taken care of. I got my hair "trimmed," but the guy needs to go back to elementary school to relearn how little "half an inch or an inch" is. He definitely cut more than that off. Oh, well.

I went to my boss's Christmas party. I was the first person there, which was kind of uncool. That's why I'm always just a little late for things. If you're late, you don't find yourself being the only person at the party while the hosts are still putting out bath mats from the wash.

The party was fun, though, once other people arrived. There was a Christmas movie trivia, though, and the grand prize was an iPod shuffle -- not the teeny little square one from this year, but the one that's about two inches long and half an inch wide. Well, the final round of the trivia was over It's a Wonderful Life, so I totally kicked butt. I got all the answers right, and I won the iPod. Woohoo!

Sunday, we had our office Christmas part at our department head's house. Her husband is a chef, so there was some amazing food there! After I left, I ran a few more errands, and my shopping is almost complete. I do still need to get a couple smaller things, but it's no biggie. I'm almost done, which is great because I don't have time this week to do much shopping, and I'm afraid I don't have the energy either.

Braving those malls is exhausting!

I can't believe I'm admitting this

Every job I'd ever had before I moved to Dallas involved lots of standing or walking around. In fact, the job I had right before I moved to Dallas -- a carhop at Sonic -- was all standing and walking around. Not my job now. No, now I sit in my own office at a desk all day staring at a computer screen. It's really quite fun, except the opposite.

My desire to avoid getting raped because I was dumb enough to try running alone in Dallas at night meant that I was getting pretty much no exercise unless I took the stairs at work. For a while, I tried even taking the stairs to the first floor every time I needed to use the restroom. I was drinking a lot of water and climbing those three flights of stairs down and back up quite a bit. But the bathroom on my floor is much nicer, and women in the first floor bathroom always looked at me funny, like they knew I wasn't a first-floor girl or something.

Well, one day, I was taking the stairs to the first floor when I felt something very unfamiliar. I tried to remember if I'd ever felt it before and had forgotten, or maybe I'd just never paid attention. No, there was something very different: I could feel my butt moving. I'd never even had a butt before -- much less one that fought with gravity when I went down stairs. Horrified at any domino effect this could trigger, I decided to get a gym membership.

I worked out two or three times a week, since I get home kind of late and most weekends I was either going to Louisiana to see K or entertaining him here. The jiggle was still there on the stairs. I decided I'd either never paid attention to notice it before or that it was just some post-college body metamorphosis telling me I was really in the real world.

When K went to Afghanistan, though, I was in Dallas more. I worked out quite a bit more than usual -- sometimes even five times a week (didn't happen too often, though). I even thought it would be fun to work on my gluteal muscles, since K's a butt guy. I figured it'd be a nice surprise when he came back.

I started doing lunges two or three times a week. Not just any lunges -- lunges with 25-pound weights in each hand. Then, I moved to 30.

I did leg exercises. I did the gluteal training on the elliptical. I did the exercise bike from time to time. I could tell a difference, and it was nice to see my hard work paying off.

Well, I just ran downstairs for something today, and as I was climbing back up, I noticed something -- well, the lack of something, I should say. Nothing was jiggling! I found myself smiling wtih pride all the way up the rest of the stairs and all the way down the hall back to my office.

I probably looked like a grinning idiot, but who cares. My ass fought gravity, and it totally won.

Like little reality TV shows

Hello, friends! I miss you! Things have been so crazy since Thanksgiving. I went back to Oklahoma, and once I got back to Dallas was immediately getting ready for K's return from Afghanistan. I was there for several days, and once I got back to Dallas, I had a lot of things to do around here. Then, K was in that weekend (which was last weekend). It's left me very little time to blog and almost no time to read any!

Work has been crazy, too, and most days I take a few brain breaks a day by escaping to read your blogs. I haven't even really had a chance to do that, since everyone's taking off work because it's the holidays. It puts a strain on those of us who are still there.

But I'm catching up, and I've missed you! I've thought about all of you a lot while I've been unable to read about your lives.

When I was little, my mom and I both had penpals from some Victorian magazine -- I don't even remember which. Anyway, it was fun to keep in touch with my penpals and to find out what was going on in their world, as well as to share what was happening in mine. That's what I like so much about blogging. I really do think of you all as friends, and it's fun to read about your lives as they happen. It's kind of like a reality show that never ends.

I'm slowly catching up on reading. Sorry for the barrage of comments on your posts, since I'm reading them all one after the other. A good thing I've noticed, though, is it seems that for everyone I've caught up on so far (alphabetical order, if you must know), life has taken a turn for the better. How exciting!

I couldn't have written it better myself.

The weekend that went too quickly

K came to Dallas this weekend. He was able to leave Louisiana early enough to make it here in time for dinner. I needed it, since my day started off not so well. We went to a great Mexican restaurant and stuffed ourselves and had margaritas. It was relaxing and fun and funny and great.

Saturday, we went shopping all day. I got some Christmas shopping out of the way, and we got to do something that other couples get to do all the time but we don't because we live far apart. I love doing things like shopping or laundry with K. It makes whatever it is I have to do that much better because he's there.

Anyway, K got me this necklace last year for Christmas. He got something where I get it cleaned and inspected every six months, and as long as I keep up with that, if a diamond falls out, they'll replace it for free. The mall we went to had that jewelry store, unlike the mall closest to my apartment, so we got that done while we were there. After the worker took my necklace and told us it would just be a couple minutes, K said, "Gee ... I wonder what we could look at while we're waiting in a jewelry store with nothing to do?" He walked over to the engagement rings, but I looked instead at all the birthstone jewelry in a different section. Of course I wanted to go look at rings with him. But I didn't want him to think that I had decided to get my necklace taken care of that day so we would have to look at rings. I didn't want it to be a "while we're here ..." thing. I didn't want him to feel like that was what we had to do. (I did tell him that later so he wouldn't be confused as to why I seemed uninterested in looking at rings.)

We went to Best Buy, which for K is like going to a toy story is for most kids. It's kind of adorable. We were there for quite a while before heading back to my place for dinner. Then, one of my high school guy friends came over to go with us to a piano bar. ER met us there soon after.

This trip was so much more fun than last time because I wasn't worried about K -- he was there next to me, rather than being in some foreign country surrounded by people who might be trying to kill him. With ER and my friend Justin there, it was just a blast.

We sang at the top of our lungs and laughed at each other, and at one point, I even danced with K -- to "Sweet Home Alabama," our song. :) As the night went on, the pictures got goofier.





Justin doing his hipster impression. ER looks speechless!













Trying on ER's glasses ... K is looking slightly drunk now.











I didn't get the "be goofy" memo. ER totally snuck into this picture!












We're fun kids.










K even got called on stage a couple times since he'd just gotten back from Afghanistan. I had nothing to do with that. (riiiiiiiiight)

















Sunday was spent just lying around doing laundry and watching movies. It was the best weekend I've had in a long time.

To get you in the Christmas spirit

Because it is only 13 days from today.

http://www.angryalien.com/1204/wonderful_lifebuns.asp

Proof we just go together

Thursday night, I was on my way home from ER's for our weekly girlie dinner and Grey's Anatomy time when I called K. He and two guy friends were supposed to be coming to stay the weekend with me. K hadn't been to my place in four months, and the other two guys had never been. I was headed home to clean my apartment from top to bottom and decorate it for Christmas.

The problem was that I've had this desk picked out for several months that I want for my room. I had to use my new printer last week, so I finally broke it out of the box it's been sitting in while patiently waiting for me to buy my desk. Well, I'm getting the desk for Christmas. Actually, I'm getting a gift card for the desk so I can buy it myself without my mom having to mess with buying it and wrapping it and I won't have to mess with hauling it from OK to Dallas when I could just buy it here to begin with.

So I called K and asked him to do me a huge favor. See, the problem is that I am my mother's daughter. Anytime someone would come over to my house who hadn't been there about 50 billion times before, we had to scrub the place from top to bottom, and everthing had to be in order. I realize K's friends would not have any less fun in Dallas because my printer is on my kitchen table because I don't have my desk yet, but I didn't want it there. I explained all this to K and asked him to tell me I'm being ridiculous worrying about it because his friends wouldn't care.

K's response: "I love you."

Rather than telling me I was being stupid or psycho worrying about it, that was what he said. I was thrown off. I asked him what made him say that. He said, "You're absolutely right." He told me the guys wouldn't care that my printer was on my table, but he knows I care about my place looking nice. He's just anal enough, he said, to understand where I was coming from.

The fact that he knows all those things and understands that I know it shouldn't matter but it still does, and all he has to say about it is, "I love you"? I'm pretty sure he's perfect.

T ... G ... I ... F!!!

Today did NOT start out well! I was taking out my trash this morning since K and his two friends were supposed to come here tonight (normally I would have done it tonight, since there's nothing smelly in there) when my phone fell out of my pocket and broke. Really broke -- like can't see the screen and can't hear the person talking when they call. Can't read text messages. EEK!

Work was crazy hectic, and I actually wound up getting so stressed that I cried for a couple seconds (that was it) because someone said something that threw me over.

Anyway, luckily my day ended fine. Work turned out fine, and everything got done, even though half our office -- including my boss -- was gone. We survived. K called me, and it's now just him coming this weekend, which is awesome, since it's the last time we'll see each other until New Year's, probably.

And I just went by Cingular, and a guy working there gave me his card and told me to call the warranty office. I'm getting a new phone!

K should be here any minute, and we're going to go to a Mexican restaurant and have dinner and margaritas. What started off as such a crappy day is turning out to be quite a good one! :)

Why Noodle is now named Sebastian

Do you remember that brand new laptop I just got in October?

That scratch happened while it was in my carrying case. Noodle was attacking the velcro strap. Guess his claws slipped inside the case.

(Damages not pictured: two window screens, $15 Sea World picture frame, countless shirts, pair of flip-flops, tablecloth)

Noodle has now moved in with a very nice guy who will take very good care of him. He prefers the name Sebastian to Noodle. He's going to have Sebastian declawed pretty soon. Take it from me -- probably a good idea.

Things I was too scared to say a week ago

Having a loved one overseas means that person is constantly on your mind. No matter what the case, no matter the topic, they're always there.

The news made me think of K -- I wonder how far from K those people were who got killed. The clock made me think of K -- It's almost lunch time here; he's probably already in bed there. The weather made me think of K -- I wonder what it feels like there. Hanging out with friends made me think of K -- I wish he was here.

There were so many worries, so many questions I had. I didn't dare say them aloud, though, because that's acknowledging they can happen.

What if something happens to him? How will I find out? They'll go to his dad. Does he have my number? Or will he start calling family, and then K's cousin's wife will call me? What if it happens while I'm at work? Oh, God ... I'd have to leave work and spend 45 minutes on mass transportation bawling my eyes out. Where would I go? Maybe someone would drive me to my car from work ...

What if he comes back injured? What if he loses a body part? What if he's permanently disabled? What if he gets disfigured? What if he sees something terrible and is never the same?

I prayed every day that if K came back different -- all the while realizing that it's probably pretty much impossible to go somewhere like Afghanistan, a poor country that's been at war for years, and not be changed -- it would be with a greater appreciation for what he has and what we have simply for living in the United States. I prayed that he and his soldiers would be protected and would do good work there. I prayed they would all come back healthy, safe and only for the better.

What if when he comes home things aren't the same between us? What if what we have is just gone? What would I do?

A friend of mine in college was engaged to a Marine in Iraq. He was supposed to be back in the U.S. in two weeks when there was a knock on the door of her sorority house. Two Marines arrived to tell her that her fiance had been killed hours earlier. He was supposed to be home in two weeks.

My friend Cody was supposed to be home in 30 days when he and another guy were hit by a roadside bomb, and he was burned over 50 percent of his body. That was in September, and he's still recovering in the hospital.

I saw on the news a story about an Air Forcce woman who had simply gone to the mall in Kyrgyzstan and hadn't been seen since. She was supposed to be home in two weeks. K had been to Kyrgyzastan on his way to Afghanistan. He liked it. That was before the woman went missing.

All of those stories kept me from getting excited when I found out K would be home soon. In those three cases, those people's families had started getting excited. Like me, they'd probably started making lists of what to do before the person got home -- what foods to buy or to prepare, special gifts to get ... It's terrible to think you can get that close to seeing the person and they can still be taken from you, just when you're getting close to relief.

Every scenario, every risk and every horror runs through your mind while they're gone, torturing you in a way that's hard to understand unless you've been there. You push it as far back as you can, but it's still there. But life has to go on. You still have to go to work, you still have to sleep and you still have to go about life like those thoughts aren't there. That's why it means so much to talk to someone who's been there.

If you know someone who has a loved one overseas, call them. Even if it's just for a quick hello. I promise -- the distraction will mean the world to them.

The welcome home ceremony (and life since then)

I had never been to a welcome home ceremony before. I had no idea what to expect. CG had told me that when Joe was coming home from Iraq, he was supposed to be home Tuesday. All of a sudden the Sunday before he was to arrive, she happened to stop by his house for some reason. Turned out Joe would be coming home sometime that day instead. Lucky for her, she lived in the same town, so it wasn't a big deal.

It's tough just being a girlfriend. Many times, you're not included in what's going on. There are FRGs (family readiness groups) that keep the families back home up to date on what's going on with the soldiers while they're gone. They also serve as a support group. It's for families. Girlfriends aren't family (yet).

Since K's the commander of his battery, I actually would have been the leader of the FRG. We're not married, though, so I'm not involved. I'm sure it would help if I lived closer than 5 hours away. But so many guys date girls who live out of town. K and I are definitely not a minority case when it comes to military relationships. Having him gone and being in this situation has really taught me a lot, though. When K and I are married down the road, I want to make sure to work hard to keep girlfriends involved. Especially since often -- like in my case -- the girls have no experience with the military. We don't understand a lot of the acronyms; we don't know what to expect or sometimes how to deal with what's going on. And having a simple conversation with another military girlfriend or wife who knows what you're going through or has been there before means the world.

So knowing CG found out about Joe's return in such a random way, I wanted to make sure I had my bases covered in case K couldn't get ahold of me to let me know of any changes. I e-mailed a couple of friends who are married to fellow officers and buddies of K. One of the girls called me the last night I was in Dallas, as did one of K's buddies. I knew K was on schedule to arrive at 1 p.m. the following day.

I got on post with no trouble. There were quite a few people headed to the same place I was. Everyone was with someone else -- families, groups ... I was by myself. (CG wasn't able to come.) Luckily, CG had mentioned signs she'd made when Joe got home from Iraq. That's how I knew to make a sign so K would be able to find me easier. My sign looked pretty good. Once I got there, I had to admit I had the best looking sign of all of them. It was the neatest and the prettiest. :) (Not that I'm bragging.) My sign said, "WELCOME HOME CPT. [K's last name]" so he could find me quickly.

I found the parking lot that was near two places -- one of which the soldiers would arrive. I followed a woman and her two young children who seemed to know where they were going into a gym. There were bleachers set up on one side of it, and they were pretty packed with people. There were signs and banners all over welcoming the different units. There were flags set up on the far end of the gym, and a PowerPoint presentation was showing pictures of many of the soldiers taken when they were home with their families. There was music blaring in the gym -- patriotic music, and all kinds of sad songs talking about how someone's been gone too long: "Far Away," by Nickelback; "Come Home Soon," by SheDaisy; "When I'm Gone, by 3 Doors Down ... A woman walked around handing out small flags to people on the bleachers. Several of the soldiers on post had come by to welcome home those who had been gone. They stood on the ends of the gym. None of them sat on the bleachers.


























I didn't get the memo, but a lot of women were wearing short skirts or super low-cut shirts with push-up bras. I guess it makes sense, since the guys haven't seen much cleavage over the last few months. Still, I thought my decision on my outfit was just fine.

I found an empty spot on the edge of the bleachers and sat down, thinking it would be good because I'd be able to get up faster and run to K when I saw him. The leader of K's FRG, though, wound up seeing me and bringing me back to sit with her and a few other women I'd never met.

I don't know if it was the songs or the excitement or the thought that K was only miles away -- or maybe it was even relief it was almost all over, but I found myself a few times tearing up as I sat on those bleachers staring out the door, waiting for any sign that the soldiers, and K, would be walking in soon. One of the ladies I was sitting by pointed out when a semi drove by. "I see a semi!" she said. "That's their bags. That means they'll be here soon."

Many women were getting teary-eyed or anxious, going outside to smoke -- easing their anxiety, I guess, but I didn't understand why they'd be greeting their husbands with ash tray breath. One of these women leaned in and yelled, "We've got buses!" Everyone in the gym started screaming. People jumped up and ran to the doors to take pictures of the buses arriving.
The soldiers quickly climbed out of the buses and lined up in formation outside. I was standing on the top bleacher, so I had a decent view above the heads of the 20 or so people who were snapping pictures at the door. I kept trying to catch a glimpse of K, but no such luck. The soldiers were all facing the gym. All of a sudden, they simultaneously turned to the right -- obviously an order from someone we couldn't see or hear because everyone was screaming. Well, after this movement, everyone screamed even louder. I'd never been so excited to see someone turn right before! I wasn't screaming, but my eyes were definitely welling up as the guys then started filing into the gym one by one.

The first few guys began coming in, and "The Boys are Back in Town" started blaring from the speakers. The soldiers formed several rows in the gym. A few guys did some sort of welcome home speech and ceremonial thing -- honestly, I don't know or care who it was. What matters is these guys knew what torture it is seeing the person you love there, in the same room as you, but knowing you have to wait a bit longer to hug him or her, so their speeches and ceremony lasted all of about a minute and a half.

K had been one of the last ones to walk into the gym, and I held up my poster the moment he did. As soon as he faced forward, I could see him scan the crowd, and he saw me pretty quickly. I hope I never forget the smile he had on his face when he found me.














As soon as whoever was talking said, "You're released!" everyone went running toward their soldier. Being at the top of the bleachers had its advantages because it allowed K to find me quickly, but it meant I had to wait on all these other people to move out of the way before I could get down. Granted, no one took a long time to clear the bleachers, but since K was one of the last in, he was further back in the gym. It was a maze getting to each other, but we kept an eye on the other the whole time so we wouldn't lose sight of each other.

As soon as I got to him, we gave each other this huge hug. I buried my face in his neck and squeezed my arms around him. It felt so good. It was nice that it was the two of us, because we could stand there and hold each other and I didn't have to let go so CG or someone else could hug him, too. I had him all to myself.

Several guys came up to thank K for his leadership overseas or to welcome him home. The whole time, he kept his hand on the small of my back or held my hand.

We stayed around post for a bit longer. A few of K's buddies had come to see him arrive as well, so we talked to them for a bit. I had missed seeing those guys! We packed up all K's stuff in my car and headed back to his place, where I promptly got to sit at his desk and finish my work for the day from my computer. I decided it would be better to just get it over with than to have to come back to it later. Especially since it had to be done that day -- and within a couple hours.

I noticed that things with K and me weren't quite the same. It was weird -- part of it was like he'd never left. Conversations weren't awkward or anything like that, and we couldn't quit cuddling or hugging -- we just wanted to be near each other. Something was missing, though.

I still loved him and wanted to do whatever I could to make him comfortable and happy. But it was like the connection was gone. I didn't want to say anything to him. I was worried and hoping whatever was wrong would fix itself -- and soon. I remembered the comment Alyssa had left on my blog about how great the reunion is and how it almost makes everything worthwhile.

Who could I talk about this to? I couldn't say anything to my family or to my friends. I couldn't even blog about it. I mean, everyone knows how in love with K I am. I've known since very early on I was going to marry this guy. All of a sudden, I was doubting things because it wasn't the same. I was having this internal battle: How can you feel differently about him? Every time he said "I love you" in e-mails or on the phone, it was the best thing you'd heard or read since the last time he said it or wrote it. He's perfect for you. What's wrong with you?

Luckily, sometime the next day -- not quite 24 hours since he'd been back -- everthing clicked back to normal. Relieved, but wondering if I was the only person who this happened to, I mentioned it to K's buddy's wife. It made sense to her how that could happen. I'm not sure if it was part of some self-preservation thing in my subconscious that didn't just stop when I saw him again. Whatever it was, I'm glad it's gone.

It's funny how people reacted with K being back. CG and Joe called right when we'd gotten to K's apartment. I told them we'd just gotten there, that K was unpacking a few things to get in the shower. They seemed hesitant to ask to talk to him, but I called him in. A few other people called, and one friend stopped by that night, but each one of them only talked for a few minutes before saying something like, "Well, I'll get out of here/off here and let you guys be alone now." Some even insinuated things; one guy even said, "Well, we'll let you guys get to your gratuitous sex now."

We just spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday pretty much to ourselves -- lounging around, watching TV, catching up. Friday, we went shopping and went to eat at Johnny Carinos, which is my favorite restaurant. K's a big fan, too, and he'd been missing good Italian food.

It's great having K back and knowing he's safe and reachable with a simple phone call or a five-hour drive again.

Crazy busy day

Today has been a really fun day. I've gotten to do all the things I really like doing with K -- basic, everyday things that I don't get to do with him often because he lives so far away (and because he's been gone the last few months).

Tonight, several of his friends are coming over to hang out. We're also going to watch the Big XII championship game. YAY! It's a Welcome Home, K/Big XII watch party/Happy birthday K's friend party. I'm looking forward to it. People should start getting here anytime.

For the record, before the game begins, I'd like to say I'm excited about it for several reasons:

1. I wasn't expecting OU to be in the Big XII championship. Thanks to last week's events (texas losing and OU beating Oklahoma State), we're there.
2. I like Nebraska. We played Nebraska at their stadium my freshman year. It was the coldest I've been in my life, but their fans were so nice. Nebraska won (they were ranked No. 1 in the country), but it wasn't a shameful loss. Nebraska fans came by us in the band and kept complimenting us, thanking us for driving all that way and telling us it was a good game and they enjoyed hearing us. The week after the game, our band director received many e-mails from Cornhusker fans telling us how much they enjoyed us. One person even signed his letter, "lifelong Cornhusker fan, new Pride of Oklahoma fan."
3. If we lose, I won't have to be sad for the above reasons. It'll be a good game, I'm sure. And if we have to lose to anyone, I'm glad it might be Nebraska.

Boomer Sooner! (And good luck, L!)

P.S. My story of K's welcome home ceremony is coming soon. Probably tomorrow.

It's coming

I've been thoroughly enjoying spending time with K. He's a tired guy, though! We've gotten to bed pretty early the last few nights. He's adjusting pretty quickly to our time schedule -- much quicker than I'd have expected. Afghanistan is 10.5 hours ahead of lovely Louisiana, and K was actually awake tonight until about 9. Granted, that was after Johnny Carinos -- which meant plenty of good, warm food and wine as well -- so who wouldn't fall asleep after all that?!

It's been a good, relaxing couple of days. Tonight at dinner, K and I even got some wedding talk in. You know how much I like that. :)

I'm halfway through the post about K's arrival. I'll try to post it tomorrow. Happy Friday!