The Wishing Rock

Junior has been returning from preschool with pockets full of rocks.  I didn't think anything about it since Abs is always hauling them around.

Today I picked him up and his pockets were stuffed full.

We started walking out towards the car, holding hands, and talking about his day.

Then Junior dropped my hand and picked up a tiny purplish rock and held it tightly in his dirty little palm.  (Seriously, anyone that has a boy that isn't always dirty, please tell me how you do it.)

I started buckling him in his carseat.

Me:  That's a pretty rock.
Junior:  This one will work.
Me:  Work?
Junior:  Yep, the other ones were broken.
Me:  You keep bringing home broken rocks?
Junior:  I didn't break them.

I got in the car.  Buckled up.  Started driving home.

I hear Junior in the backseat.

Junior:  I wish I wish with all my heart....for my daddy to come home.

He waited a few minutes and then I hear his tiny little voice.

Junior:  Oh man, this one is broken too.

My poor little guy....

Heroes at Home Wish Registry

This fills up quickly, so make sure you take advantage of it!

Sears collects donations for military families, and sends them out in an email to you, kind of like a gift card, and you take it into Sears, Land's End, Kmart, and a few other places to spend it.  We got two last year, and it was a great help during the holiday season!

Check it out here.

September 30 Day Challenges...October already?

I only had TWO 30 day challenges for September--eat vegetarian and clean the garage.

I thought that eating vegetarian would be the hard part.  I actually really loved it.  I did slip and have a few tamales and a hot dog when we were out and there was nothing else at the "hot dog dinner" and I was about to pass out from hunger.

Usually when I planned ahead, it all worked out.  What I found is that when I added back in red meat a the end of 30 days, I felt sick again.  I'm not saying I will never eat meat again, but I do know that I won't be eating it every day.  I'll stick with fish and all that other healthy stuff.  I haven't tried pork chops yet, but I am thinking about making some pulled pork today for dinner, so we will see how that goes.  (Update:  It's cold and I am getting sick, so I am having chicken and dumplings!)

The garage.....

It was a HUGE undertaking, and I am sad to report, that it is not done.  Once Abs had her issue crop up, I had to put cleaning on the back burner and focus more on her.  I did make a HUGE difference.  I can get into the garage from both sides, put in some shelves, and took over 6 carloads of stuff to the thrift store.  I moved piles of crap from one side to the other.  My mom will be coming at the end of the month to take Em to Japan and Okinawa for two weeks--her life is soooo rough--and I am passing on a lot of scrapbooking stuff to her, plus all the other "treasures" that she passed on to me, that I just can't deal with right now.

So what's in store for October???

I'll still be working on the garage.  It's already the 10th, so I can't say that I will blog every day.

October will be lame.  I'll continue working on getting Abs sleeping through the night, Junior potty trained, and  continue going to crossfit 4 times a week.

On the bright side, we are over 2 months into this deployment, but we unfortunately still have plenty of months left to get things done.

Still here...

Sometimes I don't even realize that I haven't blogged.  I write blogs in my head and then never take the time to actually get them online.

I composed a blog about a plate I made in second grade for my Grandma, and how it hit me one day, that it was symbolic of a relationship that wasn't there when I was 7 years old.  Now 31 years later, it's still not there, except I have exhausted myself trying to create a relationship.  Now that I have decided it's just not worth it to me to continue trying and getting hurt, I feel like a load has been lifted off my shoulders.  I'll leave it up to that person to figure it out and make an effort.

I've been busy with my darling little Abs.  Something happened, that was mindboggling, and we have been trying to sort through that and figure it all out.  She can never be easy.

I'm still potty training Junior.  Actually I have just given up.  He as a few boy pullups left, and when he gets out of those, he will have the choice of pink girly ones or boy underwear.  He is distraught about wearing pink on his bottom.  Maybe this will work.  If not, at least it's a different color to look at every time I change him.

Em turned 13!  I have a teenager!  It's hard to believe that she's not the tiny little baby back in Germany, who was 20 pounds at three months old and too pudgy to move or roll over.  Now she is 5'6", and is mistaken at the gate every time we go through.  The MP's smile at her and ask for her license.  I smile at them and tell them she is 12, and they stop looking.

More pictures to come, but we have hit the Botanical Gardens, the King Tut exhibit, ran in The Great Pumpkin 5k, and I tried out crossfit and loved it.  Em's had a sleepover, Abs started up Interactive Metronome again, and now that it is about to start snowing and freeze, my garden is in the process of growing.  Figures.

More to come!