I kind of want to make that boss some cookies

I hadn't posted about this yet, but K and I have been waiting the last few months to find out where we're supposed to be going next. So many things are riding on this information -- the biggest being when we start a family and what I do about my job.

When K took this assignment, we knew it was only for two years.

We were originally supposed to hear something about the next move in November, which (in true military style) turned into "at the first of the year" ... which also came and went with no news.

But last week, one of K's bosses offered to make a call. He talked with K first about what he wants out of his career and where he'd like to go. He told K he'd call the branch that decides who goes where (I call them the magic wizards. I picture them being something like in The Wizard of Oz, hanging out behind a huge curtain ... except these guys really are doing wizardry of telling everyone in the Army who goes where based on a formula that includes rank, each post's needs, supposedly each person's preferences for where they'd like to go, and who knows what else).

Anyway, just an hour after K finished talking with this boss -- who used to be in charge of a portion of the Magic Wizard branch -- he had his list.

The list is awesome.

The No. 1 place we'd like to go (along with everyone else in the Army) is Colorado. And two of the three possibilities on the list include CO.

The third option is to stay right here in VA. We really love it here, and we'd like to be able to stay another year.

Obviously what's most important is doing what's best for K's career, though. He's going to talk to the boss one more time next week before making a decision.

Once that's done, all the planning can begin!

Feeling worthless

I don't know how much longer I can take this without going crazy. I feel like a lazy, worthless piece of existence.

I have no job. I have no friends here.

For the last couple weeks, I've been working remotely almost every day with the company I worked for in Dallas. It's been nice to have something specific to do each day (as opposed to a list of chores to do throughout the week), especially when it brings in money. But it's inconsistent. The work only goes from project to project. Not exactly consistent work.

We had two friends stay with us last weekend. One guy is in the area for a training class, so he's been here a lot the last month or so. The other drove down from Boston to see us. It was the first guy's birthday on Saturday, so we went out for dinner and drinks. It was three guys and me.

Since K is in the Army (and was stationed at such a shithole last time), I have often been in that situation -- being the lone girl with the group of guys. But that's how it always is here, since a couple of K's friends have found themselves in our area for training since we've moved here and since we don't know anyone here (girls or guys).

I was so excited to be going out on Saturday night! I picked out a really cute outfit and fun earrings. We didn't know where exactly to go out, so I had gotten on Facebook and asked a guy I worked with at the temp job if he had any recommendations. He gave us a list, so we picked a place and headed out.

The bar was all right. After we got there, the crowd started looking a lot younger. A live band played that was pretty decent. But going to a place like that with a group of guys is completely different than being there with a group of girls. Instead of talking and interacting with people, we sat at our table. Often in silence (although the loud band may have been partially to blame for that).

I felt awkward. Unfun. I love people watching, but it felt like we were at the table no one wanted to interact with, since we didn't look like we were having fun even amongst ourselves. Maybe it was because 3 of the 4 of us were married. Maybe I felt that way because I was the only sober one (someone's gotta be the DD).

I found myself (even more than at the gym or the grocery store or at restaurants) scoping out the crowd for girls my age who I could be friends with. Not that there's any uncreepy, unweird way to go about that: "Um, hi. You look my age, and I don't know anyone. I promise I'm not weird. Do you want to be my friend?"

I miss girl company. Getting dressed up to go out and spend time with your friends. I started thinking about the next time that will happen for me. Late spring at the earliest. It all depends on when I go back to OK & TX next.

That's a long time to wait.

So here I sit, wasting away in my living room. Again (although there is a work project that's supposed to be hitting my inbox anytime now). Because I don't have a job, and I don't know anyone here.

Blech.

*Note: I have applied for a couple of jobs lately. We'll see if anything comes out of that. I also looked up info for various volunteer organizations around here. I'm working on improving my situation, but I can still feel crappy about it for now. At least for a couple more hours.

We interrupt this blog ... (attention: venting language ahead)

I love living in Virginia, but there's one thing that's driving me fucking insane. When we moved here in July, my car tag was about to expire. I called the VA DMV, and they told me I could either keep my TX plates and renew there, or opt to switch my car to VA. I weighed my options, compared prices, and put something up on Facebook about my decision. An Army wife acquaintance saw it and told me I had to switch over to VA, that I didn't have a choice.

I visited the VA DMV's website, and evidently she was right. I made the switch. I brought my initial registration papers from TX to prove that I'd paid $1000 on taxes on my car when I first got it. And that was that.

Or so I thought.

Since then, I've been getting letters from the commonwealth of VA and the whatever-the-hell-they-call-it (city, essentially) that we live in telling me I owe personal property taxes on my car.

I called. Explained that I've already paid them in TX. But evidently that doesn't count. Because VA is a commonwealth. That means VA itself can charge me, AND the city can charge me just for parking my car within its borders.

To avoid all this crap (and having to deal with it every time we move), I can transfer MY car that I bought and I paid for solely into K's name, since he's the servicemember and is exempt from such shit tactics.

Then, in November, the Mil!tary Spouse's Res!dency Rel!ef Act passed. I thought, "How awesome! Now I can keep my car in my name!"

WRONG!

See, for some reason the act only applies to spouses who were born in the same state as the servicemember. How the hell does that make sense? I was born in this country. Aren't we all on the same team?!

And the most frustrating part? In my effort to follow the law, I screwed myself over. See, because now I have my car registered in VA. We had a little gubernatorial election in November too, so I registered to vote here. The November act allows me to have a home of record. Since I've changed so much over to VA, I guess it can't be TX anymore, which means it'll probably have to be VA at least for now.

So that takes me back to having to transfer my car solely to K's name.

I feel like the state (grr!) commonwealth of VA is stealing my car and giving it to my husband. K doesn't understand why I'm so frustrated by the whole thing. He says it's just a piece of paper.

But the trouble is, it's a legal document. Just like a marriage license, or a will.

It's my car. I bought it. Why can't my name be on the title? (And if my home of record stays VA, then I'll NEVER be able to have my name on the car title. To avoid being taxed out the @$$, it has to be solely in the servicemember's name.)

I was expressing my frustration tonight while I was trying to vacuum our living room rug and our couch. I had just moved a TV tray out of the way, which had resting on it K's fancy laptop and our ridiculous TV remote that has a touch screen and connects to the effing computer.

I struggled with the fancy vacuum and its eleventy billion attachments (K put it together while I was unpacking our kitchen, so I missed out on the, "THIS is how it works!" that comes along with putting it together). K cringed and kept telling me to wait when I was doing so much as picking the vacuum up. (Seriously, not even exaggerating. I wasn't slamming it, I wasn't jamming anything. Nothing.)

I'm so frustrated right now. I love the area where we live, and I'm so glad to be living with K now.

But part of me misses the simplicity of living with my shitty $60 Hoover (that wasn't that shitty, really) and the TV remote that I could carelessly toss across the room because it came with my shitty TV and could be replaced if needed, and in an actual state that wasn't trying to tax me for something that I'd ALREADY paid taxes on when I bought it FIVE FUCKING YEARS AGO.

A tour of our guest room!

For being the room I was most excited about decorating when we first moved into our house, the guest bedroom sure has been something I couldn't make up my mind about.

When K and I chose the bedding a year ago, I envisioned a peaceful, calming room. When it came time to paint, I looked through several paint swatches before settling on a color called Putting Green. It looked like the perfect shade in the room in which I tried it on the paint company's website. Once we got it on the walls, however, it was a much more energizing shade than we'd planned. It wasn't quite neon, but it was close. Since then, we've debated on repainting. We weren't particularly excited about the thought of having to paint the whole room again, even if it would just take one coat, so we just left it.

Then, a funny thing happened. We chose our curtains to help block the all-day sunlight and to help balance out the white bedding. When I looked for a tablecloth to cover the side table, I found something even better than I'd hoped for. It tied in the green in the walls (well, the green we'd hoped for), the yellow in the accents I had all around the room, the white in the bedding, and the color of the curtains.

As I started finding items to fill out the room, I stumbled upon things that weren't my typical style, but they fit the room perfectly. Things like the funky, old-school alarm clock, and the lamp for the corner.

Someday soon, I plan on searching for some kind of patterned fabric to make a headboard for the bed. (Of course I'll post "Woohoo, I did it!" pictures once that's done.) I'm excited about the options I have to play off the colors in the tablecloth.

I found an adorable plate at Pier 1 for a whole $5, and it fits the style of the room perfectly! It's now on the wall right when you walk in the door.

This little decorative hook I found awhile back fits the room great. I also hung some mirrors on the blank wall next to the door.

I can't forget our fabulous blue sky-patterned ceiling. We can't take credit for it, as it was already like this when we moved in. We actually like it. It's a fun little detail that a lot of times people don't notice initially. There are even a few glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling (also not our doing, but totally staying)!

I like that the room has meaningful touches to it. The "Yellow" art near the side table is a card a friend gave me when I started my last job in Dallas. She knew yellow was my favorite color, and I thought the card was so cute I hung on to it. It looks great next to the side table!

The pictures in the white frames are meaningful as well. I took the photos in the small frames. The lilies are from the bouquet K sent me last May for Military Spouse Appreciation Day. The picture on the right was taken the first time K and I went to the beach when we moved here. The picture of the rose is one I bought at Michael's, which is why the sticker is still on it. I think a picture of a funkier flower might be a better fit, and I think it's fun to have history behind the photos.

I do have to say I would love to paint the dresser in the corner white (or black), and I'd love to paint the chest black and change the fabric on top to a more fun pattern (or even have it match the tablecloth), but I'm reluctant to paint them just for this room, especially since we'll just be in this house for two years. (Note: In the second photo below, the color is a bit off because I turned the flash off so I could get the shot straight-on.)

Still, I'm really happy with how this room turned out and how it's come together. I never would've thought the accessories would tone down the color so much. The friends who've visited so far have all commented on how happy the room feels and how they like that the color is so unexpected.

I think we'll keep it!

It was the worst date of my life

Until tonight, I'd never been on a blind date. The closest I'd come to that was meeting bloggers whose posts I'd read for months. I'd seen their pictures. I knew things about them that they didn't share with their friends in some cases. Definitely not a blind date.

Tonight? Absolutely a blind date.

K and I still don't really have friends here. Our retired neighbors and K's much older coworkers don't exactly offer many options for buddies to hang out with.

K has a new coworker who's around our age who seems pretty cool. The one time I met his wife, I liked her too. Trouble is, she's British. She's in the process of getting her visa, but until that happens, she's primarily in London, flying back to the U.S. only for short visits. Boo.

CG told me about a military wife network online, so I joined. I found the forum for our new area and asked if anyone would want to meet up. People answered! Four of us set up a meeting for tonight.

This afternoon, one of the ladies had something come up, so she couldn't make it. There were still supposed to be three of us meeting up. I had high hopes.

Turns out I had false hopes. The third girl didn't show, so it was just me and one other lady, Jill. Jill was nice, but I really don't think we have much in common. She was kind of weird, and sometimes her mannerisms and the things she talked about made her seem child-like.

The conversation wasn't very good, and there were several awkward pauses. It was definitely not one of those instant friendships, but I was still hopeful.

She was a Navy wife. I have no idea how old she is. She had a young face (maybe 30s), but the way she dressed and her hairstyle made me wonder if she was in her late 30s or early 40s.

I asked if she had kids. She said she had four-legged kids. The word "furkids" kind of freaks me out, and none of my friends have ever referred to their pets as their kids. (My response to the kid question is always, "Nope, just a dog.")

Jill knew I don't know anyone here, but she told me stories about her friends. She referred to them by name, even though I had no clue who she was talking about. She gave me random factoids. Six of them (including her) had June birthdays. Sarah suddenly stopped being her friend, but it was her (Sarah's) loss because they would've taken her out for her 21st birthday. Emily moved to Michigan. Good to know.

Sometimes the things she had to say seemed pretty negative. She told me how she'd gotten kicked off the board of a (volunteer!) military spouse committee. I've heard those can be catty, but that's still a weird thing to share so early.

Several times, Jill mentioned her husband's deployment. The Army typically has much longer deployments than other branches, so I intentionally kept from mentioning K's deployment(s). After she mentioned her husband had gotten home in April, I finally took the bait. "How long was he gone?"

"Seven months," she said. "It was a long time." I bit my tongue. (Eventually, she asked about K and if we'd been through deployments, so I had to answer then.)

She told me about the trip to Hawaii that she and her husband had taken in May. Her sister, who also lives on the East Coast, had called her while she was in Hawaii. She asked her sister what time it was. Confused, her sister said 8. Jill told her sister she'd call her back in the next couple hours. (Another riveting story.) She didn't explain the ginormous time difference or that she was in Hawaii because she knew her sister would tell their parents that she was in Hawaii.

"Wait, your parents didn't know you were in Hawaii? And you didn't want them to know?"

She nodded. "Are they big worriers or something?"

She told me that they still don't know she went to Hawaii. I never could figure out why she'd kept it from them. I got distracted because she told me about how they also don't know she went to Dubai for five days. She went there to meet her husband while he was docked in Dubai. "Did you not tell them because it's another country?" I asked. She told me they probably would've said she didn't need to go, since there was a chance her husband would dock before or after her trip, so she could miss him altogether. "So what? He's your husband. That's understandable. If the Army had told me I could fly to Kuwait and spend even 24 hours with my husband, I'd have been on that plane come hell or high water!"

Why on earth would a grown, married woman feel the need to keep from her parents (who she said she has a good relationship with) that she went on f*!king vacation?!

It was then that I let myself write this lady off. There was just too much that didn't make sense, and there was too much negative. I'm not opposed to being acquaintances or to meeting up with other people and having her there, but I don't think we'll become close friends.

Bummer.

Mars/Venus: Decorating

Before you start worrying that my husband has turned into a total chick since we started sharing a house, I had to share these stories and photos so there are no doubts that his testosterone levels are just fine.

I'll start by showing you a Before picture of our living room. Isn't it pretty?

Trouble is (though you can't quite tell it from this picture), it's pretty long and thin. We entered this house with two couches: my khaki micro-suede couch, and the green micro-suede sectional (and ottoman!) that K bought from Heather and B after they moved into their new house.

My couch wouldn't be enough seating for the room, meaning we'd have to buy something(s) to go along with it (another couch? a loveseat? armchairs?). But the sectional might be too overwhelming for such a narrow space.

What to do, what to do ...

K really wanted to hang on to the sectional, so we put it in the living room in the best position we could find for the space. I don't know that any designers would be in love with what we've done, but it works for us. It's functional, and there's plenty of nice, comfy seating. It was the best solution we could find to utilize the back door and avoid blocking the (ginormous) TV or fireplace.

As you look at these pictures, please keep in mind that we are SO still unpacking! The items on the mantle are just there so they don't get broken or chipped before we find a better place for them. The second photo here gives you the best idea of how the room looks from the front door, but it doesn't tell you how wide the room is(n't). The third photo accomplishes that a little too well. I promise it's not a tight squeeze to get around the couch, even though that photo makes it look like it is.

The tables behind the couch are going away, too. I plan on making a nice seating area on that side of the couch with a small armchair or rocking chair, along with a nice little table. That way, you're not entering our home to see the back of the couch.

The other decorations we will bring into the room (including a painting we can't hang until we find the perfect cabinet for it to hang above) will be bright and colorful to (hopefully) make up for the neutral walls and couch color. I promise also, though, that it doesn't look as dreadfully neutral in person as it does in these photos.

And last but not least, no, we did NOT do that faux marble treatment to the fireplace. We would love more than anything to paint over it (as well as the faux marble treatment on the entry door frame), but it's actually in our lease that we can't. That's right, the owners of the home actually paid someone to do that. (I KNOW!!!)

OK, now that I've given you all the disclaimers, you can look at the photos.

That left us with my khaki couch, which K didn't want to get rid of. We decided to put it in our 3rd bedroom, which we're using as an office. Only we couldn't get it inside -- it's too wide for the doorframe, even after the movers removed the door itself. (Boo!)

I told K we'd just have to sell the couch. For some reason, K really hated that idea. I explained to him that we had nowhere for it downstairs. It wouldn't fit through any doors upstairs. "The only way we can keep it is if we store it in the garage, covered." Of course, K didn't want that either.

"How about this?" he said to me, pausing before hitting me with what he was sure would be the solution to all our problems. "Stadium seating." I waited for him to start laughing, but instead, he started trying to show me how we could put the khaki couch directly behind the sectional.

I really almost started crying immediately.

Wow.

And then there are the two bedrooms -- the master and the guest room. Both of them are good-sized rooms. This means we have a few options for the placement of the beds.

For our bedroom, I was trying to decide which placement would offer the best utilization of space. Which would make it feel less cramped?

(My fabulous rendering of the layout of our room.)

K suggested we put the bed on the right wall of the room. He moved to that area, and he hit me upside the head with another blast of male "reasoning": "That way, if you have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, all you do is walk forward to get to the door. If we put it on the other wall, the person on the far side has to make their way around the bed in the dark." As he spoke, he was illustrating his point by climbing off an invisible bed, with quite a bit of fumbling around for the person on the right side of the bed.

Hmm. Interesting. Hadn't thought about it that way. Not that I get up often in the middle of the night to use the restroom, but whatever.

Then it came time to lay out our guest bedroom. I was trying to figure out if turning the bed sideways would make the room seem more spacious.

Yet again, K used the bathroom trip scenario to show how vertical placement of the bed would be easier. I laughed out loud that the design of our home in his head revolves around getting to the toilet.

Speaking of the guest room, we took all the tape down on Sunday, and we moved the furniture back into place. We still haven't hung anything on the wall just yet. K is happy with the color, but the jury may still be out for me. Hopefully once we get more furniture and decorations, the green will balance out a little. We'll see.

But I can take comfort in the fact that even if our guests are horrified by the shocking color of the walls, at least they'll have no problem getting to the bathroom in the middle of the night!

All good in the 'hood

Last night I texted Kris an apology. I thought about mentioning college football or something along those lines, but I thought it might seem more like an excuse than an apology. It also wasn't quite true. Any animosity I have toward Georgia (and its football team) is entirely due to my immature animosity with K's ex. I've never met the girl. She hasn't given ME a reason to dislike her. I just don't do well with mysteries. I really think I'd be better with it all if I'd just met her at some point.

Anyway, Kris texted me back this morning thanking me for the apology. She said she knew I was just being silly, but that it's hard for her because she's friends with K's ex and her entire family on facebook. Kris said she just gets sensitive and overprotective sometimes. Understandable. I still felt pretty crappy about the whole thing, but it's done. No sense dwelling on it.

In other news, K and I got our wedding video today! We watched it this afternoon, and it's really good. There are parts of it -- particularly the part where we tell "our story" -- that are pretty dang funny. I'm glad we got that video. We'll have fun watching it over the years.

We also painted the second coat on our guest bedroom today. I had wanted a nice, calming green, but when our green paint went up over the terra cotta-colored walls, it looked more like a very energizing neon green instead. Yikes! There was also the fact that it made the terra cotta look pink. We'd basically made our room look like a watermelon. K suggested leaving a wall or two terra cotta, then painting black spots on it to complete the look.

After we got the second coat on today, I was so relieved to see the color looked much better than with the first coat. It still may be a bit more on the energizing side, but that's OK. At least it's not neon green. And once we put the bed back with its white bedskirt and comforter, along with the dark curtains to keep the sun from overheating the room, it just might be the perfect color to balance everything out. We'll find out tomorrow, I guess.

In a little over an hour, we'll head over to the neighbors' for the wine party. Hopefully we meet some nice people there.

And tomorrow, I want to go to a church I found nearby. If I like it half as much as I loved my church in Dallas, I'll be very happy.

I guess K and I have a pretty exciting 24 hours ahead of us!

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice suitcase

Before we headed up to Virginia, K talked about visiting his family in Pennsylvania. He wanted to spend a week here. "A week?" I asked incredulously. There was no way either of us would make it through that sane. We're always ready to leave PA by day 4. K's dad & brother are sweet, and I really do love them, but I can only handle them in small doses.

K told me he wanted to travel around PA. We'd visit his friend first in one part of the state, then his dad & brother, and then his aunts & uncles. I told him a week tops. We had too much to do to spend more than a week in PA, especially if it would make us both crazy. After all, we only spent two days with my dad! And since we live so much closer to PA now, we can drive there to visit whenever.

We left for PA last Thursday afternoon so we could catch K's best friend while he was in town. That night, when FIL was asking how long we'd be here, K told him until the next Sunday. SERIOUSLY? That's 9 fucking days! Why didn't I know this?!

Today, we're on day 7 of this trip. It hasn't been bad, really. There have been times I've been frustrated or annoyed, of course. Take yesterday, when K's dad whipped into a handicapped space yesterday at lunch. I said to him, "All of us in this car are able-bodied." He placed his blue decal on the dash and got out of the car. (Grr!)

K and I are leaving his dad's house tomorrow to go to southern PA to visit some of K's aunts, uncles, & cousins. I'm looking forward to seeing them, but at the same time, I WANT TO GO HOME!

Here we are with this great house, and we've hardly been in it! We were in Dallas for not even 4 days for ER's wedding, and we were ready to go home. We'll have been gone for 9 days before we get home again this time.

We're supposed to get home Sunday night. There's a technician coming to the house on Monday morning. Sometime after that (not sure if it'll be Monday or Tuesday), we're supposed to leave for the honeymoon we've never had. We talked about going either to Chincoteague, VA, or Outer Banks, NC. We don't need anything fancy -- just a nice, relaxing getaway for the two of us.

However, I feel like we've had enough of a getaway, even if it hasn't been completely relaxing or just the two of us. I told K today that I really don't care to go somewhere next week -- that I just want to be home. He looked at me like I'd hurt his feelings and said we'd talk about it later. I'm just ready to be settled!

On June 14, K and his buddies left my apartment with my bed, my furniture, and most of my belongings. I slept on an air mattress in an empty apartment for 10 days. Then, once we headed to VA, we slept in a hotel room cluttered with the things that had been in my car, K's car, and a small U-Haul (all the things we needed or didn't want to trust movers with). On July 5, we got our house. On July 13, we got our stuff. Yet I'm still living out of a suitcase.

I want to be in OUR home surrounded by OUR things on OUR bed ... not living out of a suitcase!!!

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Man, things have been hectic since I last posted! At the time of my last entry, my time as a Dallas resident was coming to a close (cue angels singing). There were lunches and dinners and happy hours with friends I wanted to see before I headed off. There was final packing, and getting my apartment ready to leave.

On June 23, I had my last day of work. On June 24, I headed to Louisiana to help K pack up his apartment. On June 26, we headed to Dallas for the night. The next morning, we left my apartment for the last time, turned in the keys, and headed to Oklahoma. On the 27th, we had my family reunion in northeastern Oklahoma. On the 28th, we left to head to Virginia. We drove for two days, and we arrived at our destination just before midnight on June 30.

But life didn't exactly slow down once we made it to VA:

• July 1 & 2: House hunting
• July 3 - 5: D.C. for the Fourth of July with friends
• July 6 - 8: Moving what we had with us into our new home; shopping for furniture & necessities
• July 9 - 12: Back to Dallas for ER's wedding
• July 13 - 16: Our furniture & household goods arrive at our house; unpacking process begins
• July 16: Hosting our first houseguest!
• July 17 - present: Visiting K's family & friends in PA

In these weeks, there have been some realizations and frustrations. Because I want to end on a good note, I'll list them in reverse order:

The Ugly

Life has been ridiculously hectic since ... oh ... January, pretty much. Last year, I was in kick-ass shape, constantly training for my next athletic event. This year has been so hectic, what with K coming home from Iraq, the Dallas wedding, the move ...

I posted several weeks ago about how my self-image has a lot to do with how often I've been working out, so it's not good right now. My arms, which I used to be proud of and get a lot of compliments on, are not at all what they used to be. I've lost a lot of strength in a lot of places, and it's frustrating. I'm ready to tone up again.

K and I joined a gym near our house, but we're out of town for the next two weeks. I brought my running shoes with me. I WILL use them.

The Bad

I lived by myself for 4 years before K & I headed to Virginia. That's a long time -- especially for a stubborn OCD girl. I knew it would be a challenge adjusting to living with someone again. I knew it would be even more of a challenge adjusting to living with a boy for the first time.

There have been times I've felt like I'm being a huge bitch, like I'm just picking at him all the time, and there have been many times I've worried that I'm going to become my mother. It hasn't helped that things have been really hectic, and it definitely didn't help that my period was last week. All things considered, though, it's been OK, and I think it's getting better.

What I don't understand, though, is how on earth a person can have so much gas! I have a digestive system, so yes, I get gas from time to time. It's part of life. But the sheer amount of gas that K (and, as a result, I) deal with is ridiculous -- and stinky. Seriously, one night I couldn't sleep for the longest time because K kept farting. He was lucky; he slept through it.

Oh! And when he eats food that has some sort of seasoning (salt, garlic, etc) on it, he will rub his fingers together over his food as he chews so that the seasoning that sticks to his fingers winds up on the food still on his plate rather than being "wasted" by wiping it on his napkin. Eeeeew!!! I finally had to say something when he was doing this over a basket of chips we were sharing.

Also, we have quite a few little things we have always done in our relationship. They were fine and cute when we saw each other two days a week, but too much of a good thing really isn't a good thing. Like when he winks at me and expects me to immediately wink back at him every time. Or when he holds his pointer finger right in front of my face and expects me to kiss it so he can triumphantly punch his fist in the air. They're the little things that make us "us," so I haven't said anything. Plus, I don't want to say something and hurt his feelings.

SPEAKING of hurting his feelings!!! He gets so sensitive sometimes! If I say anything that expresses something other than complete satisfaction, he gets all bent out of shape and says he just wants to make me happy all the time. That's sweet and all, but it's not possible! I don't make MYSELF happy all the time!

He seems really hesitant to tell me anything that could hurt my feelings. The other day, we were talking about what pharmacy I should go to for my birth control pills. I mentioned getting them on post, and it took a good two minutes for him to finally spit out that I should just go somewhere closer to home. Seriously, dude, just tell me that! It's not going to hurt my feelings!

I've asked K once or twice if he's having any issues with adjusting, if I'm driving him crazy from time to time. He just shook his head and looked at me with the same googly eyes he's always given me. I'm pretty sure I married a saint (twice). I just hope he's looking at me like that 50 years from now.

The Good

All silly Mars/Venus things aside, it's awesome finally living together. We found a great house (pictures to come!) in an area that we love. We have a nice back yard that Piper is loving playing in. There's so much to do nearby, and friends are already planning their visits to see us. We really feel like we hit the jackpot. So many times, we've said to each other, "I feel like I'm on vacation! I can't believe we LIVE here!"

It's been awesome getting to choose bedroom furniture and talk about our plans for the house. We've officially broken our previous record of consecutive days spent together (record was 20, which was reached during his R&R last September). It's been nice not having a constant inner clock counting down the time we have left until one of us has to leave.

After almost two years of marriage, we're finally feeling like a real married couple.

Bet HR's never seen one like this before!

Dear [Boss]:

Sadly, I would like to submit my resignation from [Wouldn't You Like to Know]. I have enjoyed my almost two and a half years here, but I’ve decided to make a brave move and finally live with my husband when he moves to Virginia Beach at the end of this month. I will miss the people and the environment at WYLK, but it’ll be nice to finally be able to spend weeknights with my husband doing exciting things like grocery shopping and folding laundry.

My last day at WYLK will be Tuesday, June 23, 2009. I will spend a large part of the month of July finding and settling into our home, but beginning Monday, July 27, I should be available for contract work if editing help is needed.

I wish many happy dog days, successful launches, and happy hour celebrations to you, WYLK health and wellness, and the company as a whole. I will forever be grateful for my time at WYLK and the friendships that have come out of it.

Sincerely,
my life is brilliant
Medical Editor

I'm living like a college freshman

After two days of work, my apartment is nearly empty. For the next 13 days, I will be living out of a suitcase in my own apartment, sleeping on an air mattress, and sitting on the floor to watch my TV, which is also sitting on the floor, since I no longer have furniture.

It'll be interesting, since I'm a girl who loves my house to look like a home. But the fact that after these 13 days of bareness are over, I'll finally finally FINALLY be living with my husband? I think that thought can get me through it.

How are we supposed to play this game if we don't know the rules?!

As if wedding planning wasn't doing a fabulous job of filling my spare time (and downtime at work -- shh!), now that we know when and where we're going next, I've found a new hobby: house hunting.

I found two homes that I absolutely love. K loves them too. I got excited about the possibility of living in one of them (or a house like them) in less than three months.

And then I read that you shouldn't buy a house if you're going to live in it less than three years. Shit.

K is assigned to this base for only two years. After that, he'll be sent halfway across the country for a training course.

But ...

The housing market is crap right now. It's a great time to buy. And since things are looking like they're headed up, it seems logical that the housing market will improve over the next couple of years as well.

Plus, this home (whether we rent or buy) will be in the Virginia Beach area. There are several military bases there, and evidently the area is a pretty nice tourist destination (according to the Internet, anyway -- K and I have ever been).

I spent some time yesterday looking through rental houses in Virginia Beach. I found a few I liked, and K liked them too. The ones we loved were in the neighborhood of $2,000 a month.
That seems like a lot of money to just be giving away to someone each month. And multiplying that sum for the course of 24 months?! Wow ...

Now, we're stuck on what to do. Does the situation and location make it OK to throw the three years rule out the window?