When it rains....it pours....literally.

Thursday morning I got everyone off to school in record time--we had just had two snow days, so I was ready for them to get back in the swing of it!

Came home to hang out with Sammy until it was time for crossfit.

Went to crossfit and had a GREAT workout.

Came home, had been gone about an hour and 20 minutes.  Sammy is always peeking through the kitchen window looking for me.  (I swear the dog has separation anxiety)

I saw my cute little furry cockapoo....standing on the kitchen table.  Really?  On the table?  I went to the door and didn't even notice the water pouring out of the front door.  I opened the door and there was a wet Sammy, jumping on me, covered in water and ice.  I look around and the entire downstairs is flooded (well except the bathroom where the water heater is behind a door and there is a DRAIN there, lol).

Water was pouring gushing out of the ceiling on three sides.  I didn't know what to do.  Apparently running around with a cold wet dog in your arms while asking the dog what to do is not very successful in stopping the water.  I ran next door where my neighbor had a friend over and asked them to call housing because my house was flooding.  (A friendly word of advice--in a crisis, I am NOT the person to have because I panic, that's why Gunner is so good for me!)

I finally find a phone and call housing three times and get no answer.  The neighbor's friend comes over and shuts off my water.  He tells me to run to housing down the street.  Ummmm.....I guess they were out and about because the office was locked up tight.

I ran back and continued calling housing...press 3 if you have an emergency work order.  I probably broke my three button.

I finally give up and call the MP's.  The fire department shows up and sloshes through my house.  They got on the radios and kept on housing until they showed up.  Then the carpet people appeared like magic and were making plans to move everything into my garage.  LOL  My garage?  Really, you think you can fit one more thing in that garage?

They decided pods were the answer.  The fireman stayed until they had it clear to housing and everyone there that I was not moving anything or footing the bill.  Thank goodness for them!

So we wait for pods.  I called Erin in a panic asking her to come get my poor pupsicle.  Then I asked her to get Andrew.  A true friend, as her husband is home on R&R and they just ran with it and kept him for me.  Then I called the Dutchican to help me with the girls.  Thank goodness for blogging friends!  While I struggled to pack and make sure I had everything of importance with me, they fed, watered, and kept the kids alive, which I struggle with most days!  (Although I did hear that Abs was a little vocal about the SWAT team at dinner!)

To make a long story short, the pods finally arrived, they moved my stuff, removed the carpet, and set fans.

Housing put us up in two adjoining rooms in a nice hotel, and needing some quiet, I put all three kids in one room and then claimed the other as my own.  It's easier to put them to bed, and then I don't have to be in the dark all night.  Does that make me a bad mom?  I haven't closed and locked the doors adjoining the room....yet.

So in true ABW fashion, the last 7 weeks of this deployment are turning into the 7 weeks of hell.

On the bright side, I am thankful for the support of all my friends.  That I had friends I could call on in a crisis and who helped me with the kids and the dog.  That another friend emailed Gunner and he called within 20 minutes of notification.  That I had tons of offers of help.  That I have insurance.

Most importantly, that I survived.  At the time I envisioned the worst and didn't know how I was ever going to make it through it.  If Gunner had been home, he would have been so calm and made me laugh while it was happening, but me, Mrs. Panic, was a mess.  I'm sure one day this will be funny, but right now it is all I can do to keep from crying.

More later on the drama of housing, itemizing, and all things army related....

Good Memory

This was Gunner coming home from his first deployment.

Can you find him in this picture?  He's the one with the big smile.

Why Can't We Be One Happy Family????

Here in Colorado, every little section is their own school district.

It really doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but then I grew up outside of Houston, and Houston was one giant happy school district.  Well I don't know about happy, but they were there.

So since there are so many school districts, every one of them can pick and choose what snow days that they want.  That's great.......until you realize that businesses follow the schedule of the school district in which they reside.

So we are in 11 for school, except for Junior who is in 8, we reside in 8, but Girl Scouts is based off of district 20.  no worries because one of Abbie's doctor's appointments goes of district 2.  But then there is another who doesn't close at all.  So while we are having frigid temperatures, I am trying to monitor all of the closings to see what appointments we have and who is going to school.

In all my brilliance, I signed up to get texts from the news channel on which districts would have delays or closing.  The first text went through a couple weeks ago.....at 4:30 AM.  Really?  Let me sleep in a little before you start texting!  Of course I was up after that and unable to sleep, which worked out since I only signed up for one district and not the other 5 that I apparently need to be monitoring as well.

Stay warm!!!

Are you kidding me?

Please tell me why you would want there, and where you would wear these Michael Jordan heels?  Have you ever seen anyone in public in them?

Maybe I will eat my words in a hundred years, but I would never wear them.  Would you?

Strong Bonds Weekend

Go checkout this link.  Strong Bonds--Building Ready Families.

On the right hand side you can click on the Locate an Event button and then search by state for events in your area.

You can search by branch, then by type (family retreats, pre-deployment retreats, marriage retreats, etc).

Then you can search through dozens of retreats to find one that applies to you.

Best of all?  It's all free.  You pay for the gas to get there, and they provide lodging, all meals, and even childcare.

Why do they do this?  It's money appropriated by the government (well until Obama takes it away), to help families deal with repeated deployments.

Our trip this weekend was to Glenwood Springs, Colorado.  We drove through the mountains, past Breckenridge, Vail, and a half dozen other resorts.  We got free tickets to the hot springs, where Abs and I lounged in the hot water.

It was h-e-a-v-e-n.

On the other side of the therapy pool was a pool that was a little bit cooler--if you consider 94 degrees cool.  We rotated back and forth between the two, and I think we could have spent all night there.  Unfortunately Junior had no interest in going, but the time with just Abs was nice.

It was so nice to have a REAL meal, with choices, that I didn't have to prepare.  Abs at one point told the leaders of the retreat "This is the best food we've seen since my dad deployed."  Thanks a lot kiddo.

It was really a relaxing weekend, minus the screaming in the car from Junior on the way there and back.  (mental note--never go on another road trip again without the dvd player.  If I had seen a walmart at one point I would have pulled over and bought another one.)

There are tons of things to do in Glenwood Springs, and I think we are going to go back as a family when Gunner gets home.  There are Limestone caves to explore, Doc Holiday's grave (actually the memorial site since they aren't sure where he is buried in Potter's field), and a lot more.

Let me know if you have been on one of their retreats, what you though, and if you haven't been if you were able to locate one to attend.  You won't be sorry, and I'm glad that they have this money to do things like this for the families!