Fort Hood & my Grandmother

Yesterday I was sitting here eating my leftover pho, and looking forward to going to SYTYCD with Em.

My neighbor, also Army (we live next to AF, Army, Navy, officers, and enlisted), came banging on my door to tell me to turn on the news.

My stomach dropped, and I couldn't even believe it.  After 6 1/2 years of living there the last time, and we were also stationed there when we started this Army trip, Fort Hood will always hold a special place in our heart.

I talked to friends.  I scoured the internet.  I was glued to the tv.  (BTW, kudos to Fox News)  My cell was going crazy with texts from the outlaws, friends, and fellow teachers.  I watched the president give "shout-outs" to his friends, and was digusted with his speech. 

My heart breaks when I think of the Soldiers and civilians that were killed and injured.  I never worried when I sent Gunner to the SRP to prepare to deploy.  I'm sure none of those families did either.  How can someone that is trained to help people, hurt them?  Obviously as they investigate everything they are coming up with all kinds of red flags.  It reminds me of a story of when Gunner was in Bosnia for a year.  One of the Soldiers was upset that he had to be there, wanted out, and wanted to go home.  He proceeded to write the CO's, XO's, and other Soldiers names on each bullet.  They pulled him from duty for 24 hours, and then he was back.  Nothing happened, he served his time, and then got out.  You never know....

I finally tore myself away from the tv, and Em and I left for SYTYCD.  My brother called to let me know that my Grandmother had passed away.

It had been coming for a while, but following the events of the day, it drained me even more.  

Em and I had a good time at SYTYCD and I managed to only check email and FB a few times to make sure I wasn't missing anything. 

It took me an hour to decompress when I finally got home and tucked Em into bed. 

It was a day of tragedy, sadness, and loss both in my own family and my Army family. 

In a funk...

I don't know what my deal is these last couple of days, but I just can't seem to be motivated.

Three cups of coffee this morning, and I was down for a nap by 10.  When I woke up I needed some pho, so off I went.  I cleaned the kitchen today, but that's about all that I've done other than get the kids ready for school and walk the dog.

We found something really cool to go to this weekend, so I'll at least have something to blog about. 

Gunner took Halloween pictures with his phone since I didn't have mine, so I need to get them from him so I can post them.  Em went with friends, so we just had Junior and Abs--a dragon and a 50's girl.  They were adorable and we have about 20 lbs of candy.

We carved pumpkins and went to Focus on the Family on Saturday too.  The girls made another radio show, which is their favorite part of the whole place.

The girls started swimming lessons and they went well.  I was worried that Abs wouldn't be excited about it, but she hopped in and tried her best.

Got the referral for Visual Therapy, but I think it's for the wrong thing, so I have a call into the clinic to the insurance lady to sort it out.  Abs also qualified for PT, so we start that in a few weeks.  Luckily it's only 30 minutes once a week.  We go on Friday to see how often she will be on the schedule for OT.  That's going to be more intense, and then once we get the VT figured out, we'll add that to the mix.  Between therapies, Girl Scouts, and swim lessons we are booked.  It's really not that much, but we like our down time. 

I'm still plugging away in school, but I think I am only going to take one class next semester.  Two is taking up so much time, and with the kids, I just need to take a breather.  One class will be plenty for next semester.

I'm looking into possibly doing some volunteer work to teach ESL classes to adults.  I sent in the request, but haven't heard anything back. 

I'm visiting two PEO chapters this week to check them out, and Em and I are going to the So You Think You Can Dance tour on Thursday! 

We've almost gone half the basement cleaned out, so once that's done we can put down the flooring.  Gunner wants a rug, but I want cheap linoleum.  He thinks carpeting will be more comfortable but since the movers lost our vacuum, and the roomba has decided that it will only go backwards and quit after a few minutes, I can imagine the mess it would turn into.  Since we have hardwoods upstairs, the shark takes care of the parts I can't sweep.  Exciting times in the Gunner household.