So much for that attempt

I sent my cousin the muffins and some nice, quality reading in the form of Cosmo and US Weekly. I don't know if she reads either, but I figured there'd be nothing like some mindless, trashy reading to keep her mind off being in the hospital.

She's still there, and the baby still hasn't made his or her appearance yet. (Whew!) Unfortunately, neither has my package.

I sent it priority last Tuesday. It was supposed to take 2 or 3 days. When you factor in Thanksgiving, I figured it would get there Saturday at the latest. I had packed all the nice, homemade muffins (which took FOREVER to make, by the way!) in a cute little wintery tin. I didn't put them in an air-tight container or add the standard piece of bread to keep them moist, like I used to do when I'd ship them to K for the week-long trip they'd take to Iraq. I figured I wouldn't need that. The muffins would be fine for 2 or 3 days.

Who knows about 12, but I'm guessing it's not good. Bummer.

At least she'll still have the magazines -- if she ever gets them!

A photoshoot with Piper!

Sunday night after we put up our Christmas tree, I couldn't sleep well at all. I was stuck in that phase between sleep and awake, and for some reason I was really worried that our tree would topple over. How could a tiny stand with three stupid screws hold an 8-(plus-)foot tree up? As if that wasn't enough, we added lights. And tinsel. And decorations. We made it heavier. Idiots! Of course it's going to fall.

And if it didn't fall, it would catch on fire. I actually considered waking K to see if he thought the tree might catch fire. (What is it lately with all these weird dreams?!) Thank goodness, my fear vanished when I woke up Monday morning to a still-erect tree (*insert juvenile laughter) that showed no signs of having been on fire during the night.

On Monday, I put a picture of our tree on my computer desktop at work. I find myself minimizing all my open windows periodically so I can just look at it. It makes me happy.

Tonight K and I (and Piper!) did a quick photo session in front of the tree with my fabulous camera and the self-timer button. I managed to catch some fun pictures of Piper too.

I told K we'd have to put this last one in a frame for his dad, who adores Piper. (He's dog-sitting for us for New Year's. He's threatened to not give her back when he's done.)

I can't say I blame him.

Apologies to any male readers

Evidently sometime Monday, my face (skin only) decided to pretend it's 15 again. And it has yet to realize its error.

Nothing like a nice breakout to announce to the world, "I'm on my period!"

Ugh.

Our first Christmas tree!

On Sunday afternoon, K and I went got a start on decorating for Christmas. We visited a cute little Christmas store, where we bought quite a few nice ornaments, and then we headed to a tree farm to cut down our tree!

I've never had a real tree before. My dad is allergic, so it was never an option. K really wanted a real one, and I was excited to find a tree farm fairly close to us.

The tree farm was a quaint family-owned place. Since neither of us knew which type of tree we wanted, the workers were able to give us a few tips before they sent us out to survey the selection. They told us that people come out as early as the weekend after Halloween to begin staking their claims on trees! Some people had interesting ways of showing a tree was taken.

We couldn't believe how big some of the trees were!

I don't know if a lot of the average-sized trees were already taken, but it seemed that the trees were either 8 ft tall or 3 ft tall. I was glad we have tall ceilings in our living room! I had read an article that recommended buying a tree that's 6" to 12" from your ceiling. An 8-footer wouldn't quite be that height, but I figured it would be sufficient.

We found a tree that we were pleased with. It was a Leyland cypress, nice and full. There was one random stray branch on the side, but we could easily put that part at the back. The tree's height was good, and the top of it was really pretty. We found an employee who could cut the tree down for us. After he stood up from cutting down our tree, he bent over to pick up his saw from the ground ... and farted! I actually thought to myself, "It's a sign we found the right tree." (Hey, remember one of the biggest surprises I had once I got to live with K?)

When we got the tree home and inside the house, we were very glad that we hadn't gotten a tree any taller. I guess the stand (which isn't tall) added more than we'd bargained for. Thank goodness our neighbors had some good clippers! We trimmed the top of the tree and shaped it to hide our little alteration.

We put on Elf as we decorated the tree. As the movie was finishing up, so were we. K made us a couple mugs of hot chocolate, which we enjoyed during the final scenes of the movie. When we turned off the TV, we snuggled on the couch and surveyed our work on the tree with fresh eyes. We were pretty pleased with ourselves. K actually got a little teary-eyed, since after 4.5 years of being together, we were finally able to decorate our tree together. This will also be the first time we've been together for Christmas.

This is the most gorgeous tree I've ever had. I love that many of the ornaments are meaningful to us in some way, and I love that a lot of the decorations are new things we picked out last weekend. But the things about it I love most is that we chose it and decorated it together.

Thank God time marches on!

(This would have been more timely a few days ago, but hey, the holidays get busy!)

Last Friday (Nov. 27) marked two years from the day K deployed to Iraq (for the second time). K had the day off, but I had to work a half-day. As I sat at my desk, bored to tears with nothing to do since hardly anyone else was working, it was weird to think that two years earlier, I was just beginning the toughest year (and then some) of my life. In fact, until a couple weeks ago, just seeing that date on the calendar would always make my eyes well up with tears. (The date came up at work a good 5 or 6 times a day for the last couple weeks, so I built up an immunity.)

Needless to say, it was great to spend this November 27 with K for the first time since 2005 (remember, on that date in 2006, he was just about to come home from Afghanistan). And unlike the last three November 27ths, I was glad that I spent only a couple hours of this one counting the hours until I could be with my husband again.

I definitely called my family 9 billion times while preparing this meal

The night before Thanksgiving, I did not sleep well at all. I was so worried about everything I had to make, none of which I'd made before. I tossed and turned, and I had the weirdest dreams. In fact, one was so weird that it made me forget all the others: I actually dreamed that a starfish somehow found its way from the ocean, through the water lines, into our refrigerator ... and into the pecan pie sitting inside. (I didn't even make the pie -- I bought it!) So in the dream, when I pulled the pie out of the refrigerator and carried it to the table for our friends, I was horrified to find a starfish writhing around in the pie, with a couple of its arms sticking out of the top. (I told you it was a crazy dream!)

Thank goodness, I was worried for nothing. I made a few rookie mistakes, but nothing that affected the flavor. And they're all mistakes I'm sure K and I will laugh about when we recall our first Thanksgiving playing hosts:

1) The pumpkin roll that we accidentally rolled the wrong way (we made it short & wide rather than long & thin).

2) Having to turn my family's traditional sweet potato balls into a sweet potato casserole, since I forgot to drain the yams before mixing the other ingredients. (It's very difficult to make a solid ball with a liquid.)

3) The stress of making the dressing. My mom's "recipe" had only a list of ingredients (cornbread, sage, broth from giblets, salt, etc.), but no specific amounts. "Season to taste" doesn't help a new cook very much! The dressing wound up being everyone's favorite part, and it tasted just like my mom's, so I was relieved!

We made our cranberry sauce the night before Thanksgiving. It looked beautiful as it cooked, and it made the house smell amazing. Thanksgiving Day, we were pleased to find it was just as delicious as it looked and smelled! I'll definitely be making this again (although it was a TON for four people).

K did an awesome job frying (and preparing) the turkey. It was delicious!

Piper was eager to help clean up any turkey K accidentally dropped.

We wound up with a lot of food for four people (we had planned on my brother being here as well, but he didn't come in until Friday), but it was delicious! Since it was our first attempt, I cheated on a few more things than I'd have liked (gravy from a jar, store-bought pie), but we took on a lot for first-timers! Considering we cooked fresh green beans and used fresh cranberries for the sauce, I'd say we did well. K told me several times how proud of me he was, and how I should be proud of myself for doing such a great job.

(I can't believe I forgot to get a picture once the turkey was on the table -- wait, yes I can! Everything smelled delicious, and I was starving! Trust me, the table was packed.)

I'd say Thanksgiving was a success!

Ooooh, I want these

Why do they have to be $400?!

A question for the moms -- and the experienced "aunt"s!

My cousin is pregnant, and she's due Feb. 2. She went into labor last Thursday night. Now, she's in the hospital, and she has to stay there until the baby arrives. The doctors are doing all they can to delay the birth, and for now, it's working.

My cousin seems to be handling it pretty well. Her facebook updates are upbeat and positive. She's way tougher than I would be!

Since she'll likely be in the hospital on Thanksgiving, I think it would be nice to send her a little treat. I'm planning on making some pumpkin cream cheese muffins tonight for us to have this week and on Thanksgiving morning. I think those would be a nice, delicious Thanksgiving surprise to send to my cousin ... but I don't have much experience with pregnancy. Do you moms (and those of you who know more about this!) think that would be OK to send, or is it too unhealthy for mom and baby? (If it helps, I'm pretty sure my cousin isn't a big health nut.)

In addition to your advice, prayers for my cousin and her baby would be appreciated. I'm eager to see her baby pictures, but I want her baby to be as healthy as possible when he or she makes the big entrance!

Good thing we're not planning on kids anytime soon

I don't really cuss on this blog much. It's really usually not necessary in my posts. In real life though, particularly around K, my vocabulary is a bit more colorful. We often use cuss words when we joke with each other, and we love calling Piper a little bitch. (I think she actually likes it too.)

Anyway, so I was reading a blog the other day where the author announced she was pregnant. It was actually the same day that ER had told me she was pregnant. The blogger referred to their baby as "our bean." I've heard a few people refer to their unborn children as "bean" or "peanut." I thought it was cute until I realized a LOT of people refer to their fetus that way.

I turned to K. "Promise me that someday when we have a baby, we won't call it 'the bean' or 'peanut' before it's born."

"OK ..." K said slowly.

"We have to call it something original," I said, "like 'little shit' or 'fuckface.'"

This news made my day

ER called me tonight. "I have a little bit of news for you," she said. She told me she'd dreamed last night that she told me, and I reacted the way I did when Rachel told me she had gotten married.

(Haven't blogged about that one yet. Rachel married a douchebag in a secret ceremony, which she told me about four days later. When I called her. More on that crap later.)

Anyway, I was pretty sure I could guess ER's news, but I kept quiet, just in case.

"I'm pregnant."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!" I started tearing up. SO excited for her. It happened fast! She just told me in August that they were going to start trying. Her husband thought it would be fun to be able to tell everyone at Christmas. "You guys better get crackin'!" I told her.

She just got the official word from her doctor yesterday, and they told her she's five weeks along. Right now, they're putting the due date somewhere near July 20.

I'm so unbelievably excited. I can't wait to see ER in maternity clothes, to watch her belly grow, and to pick out tons and tons of gifts for her and the baby.

The only people they've told are ER's parents, her sister and BIL, and me. They want to tell her in-laws in person at Thanksgiving, and then her husband can start telling his friends (since he has to tell his parents first!). Not long after we got off the phone, I texted ER: "You guys are champs for being able to keep this quiet. I'm so excited I want to tell everyone, and I'm not even the one who's pregnant!"

I feel like I'm going to be an aunt!

I'll spend enough time in the kitchen NEXT week!

K is gone again. We didn't know about this trip until this morning.

Originally, he was supposed to go to Colorado this week for a conference. Then, a big Nor'easter hit last week, and a lot of the military bases in this area got closed both Thursday and Friday thanks to all the flooding. (Actually, a lot of EVERYTHING was closed Thursday and Friday.) The Colorado trip got cancelled, since there was no time to plan everything and get it approved.

K and I had talked about going to PA over the weekend since one of his friends would be in town. Once K was off Friday & I wasn't -- and since he was no longer supposed to be gone this week -- I told K to leave early and make it a guys' weekend. (Plus, it got me out of 14 hours in the car!)

And then this morning K's boss told him the trip is back on. Awesome. I told K to tell the boss he's on my shit list. (K had already told him.)

Now, I've got the night to myself, and it's crazy how much more time it feels like I have when it's just me. It's about the time K and I would usually reluctantly get up to get ready for the gym. What's funny is it always feels like no time at all since dinner, but tonight, I could've left 40 minutes ago. I've been lazy and trying to think of an excuse to not go.

I may have found it. I'm watching the Food Network and getting ideas for Thanksgiving dinner. We're staying at our house for the holidays this year. My brother will probably drive up, and K's work friend and his wife might be joining us if they don't head home for the holidays.

I've never cooked turkey, and I've never cooked real stuffing. This is going to be a big deal for me! Giada De Laurentiis just told us to not try any new recipes at the holidays, since you don't want that additional stress and have to worry about feeding it to your friends and family. Ha! Like I'm gonna be trying any of this crap on my own this week! If K's not here, I'm not cooking!

For the days when you need a pick-me-up

I saw a link to this site on PostSecret, and it's amazing!

http://1000awesomethings.com

Good thing I didn't read this article a year ago

Check out the needle-in-a-haystack trick these sanitation workers did. If I'd read this article last December, I'm not sure I wouldn't have tried for a little miracle myself!

Jury is back, and it's not good

I'm not a quitter. I don't want to be, anyway. But I hate this job.

There's nothing really bad about it, I guess. It's not unbearable. But I don't like it. My coworkers are OK, but the work itself? Not so good. I thought when I applied that this would be an admin/editing job. It's neither. It's entirely data entry. For a newspaper.

A newspaper.

I'm not a newspaper person. I struggled with that at my first job in Dallas. I felt like an outsider wandering the halls while everyone around me tried to figure out how to get people to subscribe to the paper again. I didn't subscribe, and I didn't want to.

The money isn't that good here. Not good enough to convince me to stay. But I can tough it out for the two months the job lasts, right?

Only there's so much memorization. So many special cases, and so many things that change on a regular basis. I've noticed myself zoning out when I get crazy code updates. I can't justify paying attention and committing these thigns to memory if I'm just going to be here for two months.

No matter what happens, I'm not in it for the long haul, so I've decided it's not worth the effort. It's nice earning a paycheck again (even if it is smaller than what it was 6 months ago). But is that enough reason to stay at a job that's not worth the effort?

For now, I've decided that my job search is not only back on, but it's in high gear. If I can find a job -- any job -- to take the place of this one, I can justify leaving to myself. But until then, I'll continue what I'm doing now: Thinking every five minutes about how much I'd like to just get up and never come back.

Restarting the counter

Until K and I moved to VA, the longest we'd been together consecutively was 20 days (his R&R last year). That all changed, though, just days before we moved out of our apartments in Dallas and Louisiana. Since June 24, we saw each other every single day ... until yesterday.

On Tuesday, K had to go to some sort of conference in Arlington. He left just after we met up for lunch.

I've been fine with him gone. It's been barely over 48 hours, so it's not like it's been that long.

But it's funny how you can get used to having someone around so much. He's on his way back home now. It'll be nice to have him back home, especially just in time for our weekly TV date (we love Flash Forward)!

Jury's still out on the job

But I did overhear (and participate in) some interesting conversations on my first day.

Overheard

Twenty-seven-year-old girl discussing (all day long) boys and dates she's been on. Went on one date last week with a lawyer ("Oopsie!") who was decently cute. "We'd make pretty babies!" she said. And she couldn't figure out why she doesn't have a boyfriend. Two words, woman: SLOW DOWN! (She also talked about how she wanted to find a boy to pay off her debt. And if he was fun to look at too, bonus. I'm thinking she's not the most mature 27-year-old I've met.)

Participated

Coworker: "Is your husband in the military?" (looking at my ring while asking)

Me: "Yes."

Coworker: "Is he an officer?"

Me: " ... Yes." (I hate that question, since if a person is asking it, they probably will judge me in some way based on the answer. Never mind the fact that I'M not the officer, and I wasn't born an officer's wife, either. Not to mention the fact I've never lived on post, and my first experience being an officer's wife is at a post where my husband is surrounded by people who outrank him.)

Coworker: "Air Force?"

Me: "No, Army." (What made her pick Air Force?)

Coworker: "Dang it, I was on a roll!"

Participated

Coworker: (incredulously) "You're married?"

Me: "Yes."

Coworker: "How old are you? You look so young!"

Me: "I'm 26."

Coworker: (slightly relieved) "Oh, so you're old enough to be married. You look 21!"

Overheard/Sat cautiously nearby but didn't participate

Nearest coworker strolled in at 10 this morning looking thrilled it was Monday (sense the sarcasm?). She was even more excited to learn that she had a new neighbor, since it meant that half her belongings, which she had arranged on my desk, would have to be confined to her own desk. She asked my boss whose idea it was to put me there. My boss said there was nowhere else for me to go. Coworker offered to move to another area of the building. I thought of telling her I don't bite, but I kept quiet in case she did. (Lucky for me, she's much nicer in the p.m.)

I can hardly wait for tomorrow (sense the sarcasm again?)!

I'm employed ... and confused

I got offered a job this morning, and I took it. I'm kind of unexcited about it.

To start from the beginning, this has happened SO fast. I found the job listing on Wednesday. I submitted my application that morning, and I got a phone call Wednesday afternoon. They asked me to interview Thursday (yesterday). When I went in for the interview, I realized I was at a job placement company. I had thought I'd be interviewing at the workplace, with my potential future boss.

I've learned a little about the company and what I'll be doing. It's a temp position through the month of December, but it could very likely go permanent afterwards. (Just in time to interfere with any holiday plans, I guess.) I'll be doing administrative work, with a little editing work as well. I'll be making a fraction of what I made in Dallas, but that's OK. For starters, I'm living with K now. I'm not driving 10 hours every other weekend to see him, and our bills have gone from two apartments to one house. Plus, there's the fact that the Army gives him money for our rent since we live off post. I don't need to be making the same amount of money I was making in Dallas.

K would be OK with me staying home if I wanted to. It's nice to have the days to get things done for K, and I take care of things around the house so we don't have to worry about it when K is home. I mow the lawn, clean the house, go grocery shopping and cook dinner. Since I wasn't working, I took it as my job to take care of the house, so I did. There's been downtime, obviously, but more this week than ever in the past since we've been getting settled, had visitors or been traveling ourselves.

I'd honestly be OK with staying home all the time for the flexibility it allows. I can pick up work with the company I worked with in Dallas when they need it. Since the work is inconsistent, they pay very well when I can help. I have the freedom to get things done during the day, and if K has a 4-day weekend, we can pick up and go wherever we want. Only I can't justify staying home to myself. It's not like we have a child I'm taking care of; that would be different. If I did stay home indefinitely, I would seek out volunteer opportunities to help fill my free time. I would be more OK with that.

But I miss bringing home a paycheck. I hate having to ask K to put money in my account. (We've talked about combining them, but we haven't done it yet. I really don't know if I want to.)

I miss the pride I had in taking care of things myself. If I saw a cute shirt on sale, I could buy it because it was my money. If I have a gift to buy someone, it would be from me since I had my own money to buy it with.

I was initially excited about this job opportunity for the paycheck alone, but then came the interview. The interviewer asked if I would still be able to pursue my passion (I guess she meant editing) through freelance work. I told her I would, but I kept to myself that editing is NOT my passion. I enjoy it, but there's definitely no passion.

And then she asked me what my career goal is. Shit. Wouldn't I like to know? Instead of getting into that whole conversation, I spoke just to say something and finally ended with something about "using my degree."

The job description said a person with a journalism or English degree is preferred, and an ideal candidate would have 1-2 years' experience at a newspaper or publishing company. Check and check. So I guess I'll be using my degree here after all.

Trouble is, I'm not sure it's the degree I'm happy with anymore.

Beauty. Fodder. Pictures.

K and I got back from our week in NY on Saturday night. His dad came to visit us Sunday morning, and he left Monday morning. What a whirlwind week!

We made a nice trip of it, since we drove to West Point for K's conference. First we stopped off near D.C. to see our friends Tom & Kris for a day or so. Then we headed up to West Point, where we stayed with friends while K helped at the conference. Then, we went to NYC on Thursday afternoon to stay with friends there until Saturday morning.

I enjoyed my first trip to West Point. I got to spend a good part of the week checking out the campus, even taking a tour one day. Man, is that place gorgeous.

(Not sure if the people in this picture are cadets, but they're definitely not in uniform. I think the cadets were all in class when I took this.)

(The superintendent's house. See his "GO ARMY / BEAT NAVY" spirit signs on the porch? )

The Cadet's Chapel was gorgeous. Evidently each week someone has to go through with a template to make sure the Bibles and hymnals are perfectly aligned.

Trophy Point was really neat too. It's called that because all the cannons on display there were captured during wars. There are a ton! Trophy Point also has a great view of the Hudson River.

(Evidently this giant chain is responsible for the U.S. being a country today.)

I couldn't believe how HUGE some of the homes were on the other side of the Hudson. They must have an amazing view! (Also, evidently the one in the bottom picture is supposed to look like the wizard's house in The Wizard of Oz.)

Our visit came at a great time to admire the fall leaves.

K had a good time playing with our friends' little girl. (See what I mean? Thank goodness HE's great with kids! Maybe our future children will have hope thanks to him.)

The night we got to NYC (after my fabulous haircut), we met our friends (the other I Do, Part 2 couple!) for tapas for dinner. There were some delicious ones and some very interesting ones, to say the least. Afterwards, we headed to a champagne bar. K and I decided NYC is a very expensive place. I have no idea how people can afford to live there and still be able to eat. (Actually, vice versa.)

Our friends' apartment was awesome, and you can even see Ground Zero from their window. Insane!

That Friday night, our friends invited over two other couples for a Louisiana friends reunion. Our friend Jay makes amazing crab rangoon, and K helped him prepare it for us for the evening.

What's funny is that until a few weeks ago, we hadn't seen two of these couples in over a year. We got to catch up with them at our Dallas ceremony. Then, two of the couples had weddings in the last month (both of which the 3rd couple also attended).

It was nice to have a little unexpected reunion. Who knows when we'll all get together again. It was still nice to be headed home after a week of being gone and over a month of traveling every single weekend. In our full day of driving, we got to see quite a bit of beautiful fall foliage.

But it turns out that after so much time away, nothing quite beats the look of your own front door.