Still preparing

Gunner and I after I warmed up in the lake. Isn't he cute?

Swim start. There were 1,976 participants.

Me, being super nervous. Big surprise!

T & I once I finally found her! Her tire blew overnight.

The morning of...

Arriving at the race site. The transition area opened at 5ish, so I wanted to make sure that I got there nice and early.

Body marking.

All marked up and almost ready to go. I wore a two piece tri suit, and let me tell you, these things are not forgiving! Maybe we shouldn't have eaten at PF Chang's for dinner!

The sun finally came up, it was beautiful!

The Day Before

After listening to the briefing, I think we were even more nervous.

Gunner and Junior getting my bike ready to be dropped off.

Junior making sure everything is "good to go".

The only time I would be relaxing at the swim finish.

I did it!

More details to come, but my friend T and I completed our first triathlon!!! It was an unbelievable experience, and there are tons of pictures on my facebook, but more to come here. My official time was 1:34.09!!! I set out to do it under two hours, and I did even better than that! Wait till my next one, lol!

Graduate school starts back up today, packers on Wednesday, movers on Thursday, and a million things in between.

Happy Birthday

My favorite game in the entire world....well besides Dr. Mario.

I heart regular nintendo.

Yes, it's 5 am on the first day of summer vacation and I am at school.

I survived!

I have just completed my first year of teaching 2nd grade.

I can't believe I did it! I still have to go in and work half a day tomorrow, but I am going in early, will say my goodbyes, cry, and then hit the road. Bike drop off is tomorrow for my tri, and then the triathlon is on Sunday.

I've trained. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I can't wait!

But for now, I can sit back and relax and know that I did a lot over the past year and a half to make it to the part of saying I am a teacher. I still have to take my two summer courses in order to get my certification, but I am confident that I will make A's. Instead of Gunner being gone this summer while I am in class, I will have a PCS to keep me occupied, camp for Em, a trip for Abs, and more potty training for Junior.

Never a dull moment! Pictures from the ball to come soon....

Conversations

Gunner put Junior in the tub, where he climbed up on the sides while Gunner filled the tub with water. He grabbed his parts, and proceeded to pee and laugh hysterically. Great.

After the bath:
Me: Sweetie why did you pee in the tub?
Jr: Ummmm.....it's fun.
Me: It's gross!
Jr: No, I'm not gross.
Me: Why did you poop in the tub (which is what followed after the peeing incident)
Jr: It was small poop.
Me: Where are you supposed to go to the bathroom?
Jr: In the toilet.
Me: Don't you want to wear underwear?
Jr: No, I don't like wunder-wear. It's terrible.
Me: Why is it terrible?
Jr: It's just BOR-ING!

He says boring just like his sisters. Lucky us!

Fast forward to today...

I get a text today from Gunner. It said "Jr getting booted from daycare for lesions again. Can u get him?"

I had just dropped off my students, so I said I would and ran over to grab him. I went in.

Me: (seeing his form that HAS to be signed by a doctor) It's the same thing he got sent home for two weeks ago. (said to no one in particular)
Kim: (Jr's main provider) YOU haven't even SEEN him. Just WAIT! (said with major attitude)
Me: (Junior runs up) Hey sweetie!

I put Junior on top of a low bookcase and lift his shirt

Kim: See the lesions?
Me: Ummmm.....no. I see where he fell in the sand, he wasn't cleaned up, and the sand irritated his skin. He has very sensitive skin.
Acting director: Right here, these are lesions.
Me: You're kidding right? It's eczema. Are you trained to determine what a lesion is?
AD: I have been through a training.
Me: It wasn't a very good one.
Me: I'll rush him to the er and tell them he is covered in lesions, they will get a good laugh.

So we took him to the er, where sure enough we sat for hours for them to laugh and laugh when they saw him. They said it was eczema and there wasn't a lesion on that boy. They said continue current treatment, signed our paperwork and sent us on our way.

I'm disgusted. What a waste of my time.

We cooked dinner, put the kids to bed, and I went for a swim.

1.5 days till school is out, and then I have to work that half day on Saturday. I can't wait. They have already hired my replacement, I guess I better get working harder on a job in Colorado!

I did figure out how to make TO DO lists and email them to Gunner from my iPhone.

I am sure he will be THRILLED that I have learned how to do this. He always says I make lists of lists, and now I can share each and every one of them with him.

Another round of homecomings here at Hood. It's so nice to see my friends back with their Soldiers!!!

Highway Robbery

I tried to make a reservation for a hotel and it was more expensive to use a military discount than it was a AAA. Does that make sense? I guess they do the same thing for most airline tickets too, so I shouldn't be too surprised.

Then Gunner went to give notice at the housing office and he asked about getting our house cleaned. When we moved from our old house to the new house, we decided we didn't want to pay the big bucks to get our house cleaned. It would have cost us $320 and in the end after we scrubbed that house from top to bottom, they charged us a $290 cleaning fee. We argued it and the manager said he would have charged us more!

So any money that we get for leaving the house in the middle of the month will go to pay......are you ready for this.......the $390 cleaning fee for this house. After 4 1/2 years here in this house, I won't even attempt to try and please these people. I'm telling you, it's a conspiracy in order to suck you dry. We cleared Germany and Fort Lewis with no problems, so we know it is possible. Very few of our friends have had luck with Hood though. Just seems like a huge ripoff.

I'm on hold with maintenance right now waiting for them to pickup so I can have them out to fix everything wrong with this place. I guess when you think about my lack of repair bills, even when the baby gate pushed into the wall and made holes.....three times.

....We forgot about going to the summer camp orientation for SAS and made it just in time. One more thing to check off the list.

I got a scholarship for summer school. Guess having a 4.0 finally paid off for something!

I am almost all the way packed up at school. It looks so bare in there. Looking back, the year went so fast, even if at times I was pulling out my hair!

I bet the next 6 weeks just fly by.

Coordination

I'm starting to panic a little bit. I cannot leave Texas until I am done with summer school.

So I need a place to stay until mid-July.

Abs is leaving mid-June to go on her dinosaur expedition with my mom to Utah.

Em will be here with me, but is going to camp for a week right before I am done with school.

Gunner has to sign in early because he has school in KY for 6 weeks from July-August. He might take Junior with him since "supposedly" the daycare information was uploaded to Carson. Let's hope there is room for him or he might be in formation with him.

The inlaws have offered us a place to stay, but seriously, they have 5 HUGE dogs and they (dogs) rule the place, and no one cleans.

We are hoping that there is room in the guest house on post and it is cheap. Local stay by the week places are pricey.

A friend offered her place. Another friend offered her house, but I just hate to impose with a whole crew of people. We will house sit probably our last week here for one of the friends, when I am down to just one child.

We have way too much stuff, and my list of things to take keeps growing and growing.

I am a worrier. Gunner takes it all in stride and doesn't worry, he says because I do enough for the both of us. It drives me nuts that he doesn't worry!

Do I take my school stuff and hope I have a job? I am in the process of filling out the application to teach there, and I have GREAT references from my principal and others, so I am hoping that I can find something. I haven't even brought home everything that I have at school yet. How did I fit so much in my classroom? This week my students are going to help me toss everything I think.

We decided we would give the girls a rubbermaid tote and they could take whatever they could fit in there. Abs came out in tears because she could only fit one of her three feet long dinosaurs in there and she would need to chop of the head. I assured her that her dinosaurs could still go, but that she needed to fit her toys and everything else in there.

Abs came out with her handmade dream catcher and decided it needed to go in a box for breakable things. It's made out of pipecleaners, but I assured her that we would find a way to get it there in one piece. Then Abs found a stash of shoes boxes and started filling them with stuffed animals.

Em got wind of this and decided it wasn't fair that she had half a dozen shoe boxes, so she needed some too.

Then the girls presented us with a plan to make room for their toys. They want to sell all their clothing, use the money to buy material, and Em will sew them all new clothes once they get to Colorado. They are both so excited about this plan, that I told them maybe we could get rid of some and we could use some material I have to make a few things. Em is already designing them. Here's her latest projects from Project Runway II.

So, I am drinking a monster, making lists, checking them twice, and have decided that it will all workout. Worst case scenario, we are over our weight limit and have to pay. I just left a message with my sister to see if she wanted my piano, Gunner took another load to the inlaws and I have boxes and a HUGE pile to go to my mom. She is going to be less than thrilled, especially since she is due back from her worldwind vacation to China, Thailand, and Korea.

Maybe she will be too tired to notice the pile in her living room that I left....

Weekend

I survived swimming on Friday.

We did our 50 mile bike ride on Saturday. My time was 3 hours 12 minutes. I was hoping for under 3 hours, but I timed the stops and had to pee twice!

This morning we did a 10K obstacle course. Gunner and I were signed up as a team for this event. We climbed up ropes, over tall hurdles (not in a single bound), tires, army low crawl (Gunner kicked ass, and me not so much), low hurdles and a tunnel, then finally the rope wall! It was a lot of fun and we did it in 1 hour 17 minutes which isn't bad considering you have to wait sometimes for the obstacles!

They do need to work on the water situation, since there were only two stops and one of them was out of water by the time Gunner got there. Poor guy! In this Texas heat, that's not safe at all. We didn't even think about taking our own water since every other race has provided plenty of support.

Guess they spent all the money on the beer at the end? I'm glad we did it though, and now I feel like I can take on this triathlon and do it!

Pictures to be uploaded soon, we've got some cute ones of the kids and their antics. Em refuses to pose anymore.

Em and I did have the great fingernail debate last week when we went to the nail place and she wanted her nails painted black. We settled on a purplish pink color. No black nails.....ever.....

We were in the car the other day and Abs was telling me all about how Daddy would not buy her the crossword and logic problem book that she wanted. I nodded, and then we continued on driving. About 10 seconds later she told us "I guess if I don't have logic problems to do, I will spend my time catching small animals in Colorado." I guess in her eyes that is a logical replacement? I was thinking more along the lines of reading a book. For being a second grade teacher, I don't understand this second grader much!

The movers come tomorrow morning for our pre-inspection so we are doing a mass cleaning and toss today. I can't believe how fast things are moving, but glad that so far the children are pretty agreeable and haven't voiced too many concerns.

Em is more interested in whether or not she will have her own bathroom. Abs is probably secretly making classification labels for the small animals that she plans to catch, and Junior has totally decided that potty training is not for him.

I can hardly wait to see what tomorrow holds...maybe...

Seriously?

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday. I have no idea where the time went, but it is flying by...way too fast.

We have a date for the movers, and it is in....two weeks from yesterday. Ummmm....we have a lot to do before then!!! There's children to raise, bags to pack, have to find a place to live till July 8th when I am done with school, and then there's all the other usual PCS stuff. Add in the bike ride and 10K this weekend, three kids, the end of school, a triathlon, a PCS, clearing, and the start of my summer graduate classes......whew. I thrive on being busy I guess.

I had training twice this week. My first one of the week was at the track where we did fartleks. I dreaded it. Thirty minutes of running, with sprints when she blew the whistle. I got started, and it wasn't so bad. By the time I was done with my thirty minutes, I was in love with it! I felt great and got a really good workout. This whole triathlon training has done great things for me! Tonight I had to do bricks with the trainer, and it felt great. I think that is the transition that I worry most about, but I feel better that I can do it and maintain my speed.

My question of the day is...why is my school out of sanitizer and soap for the third day??? I get grossed out thinking about it. I stand outside the bathrooms with a bottle of sanitizer.

I just realized that I never posted this....more about what's happening in a few!

We did it....

After dropping off a carload of stuff at my mom's (don't worry mom there is more coming!), we headed over to REI to look at socks. It seems like every pair gives me a blister unless they are tight in the middle. Of course I can't remember where I bought those socks, and I need them every day, so I wanted a few more pairs. Socks are expensive!

While perusing the aisles, Junior exploded, so we had to go get him a new pair of shorts since of course we had nothing to change him into. Poor little guy. He loves his new shorts, and I just gritted my teeth when I looked at the price tag. I might need to make him wear them every day till he outgrows them and then make sure Tucker wears them every day too!

We had lunch at this hamburger joint--something fine and mighty or along those lines. It was good, and reminded us of the airplane place at California Adventure.

I worked. We came home and I decided we needed to tackle the garage. It was out of control. Gunner's parents took a truckload to store for us, and we have a truckload headed to Goodwill as well. It was crazy the stuff we had in there. I thought I had gotten rid of all the baby stuff, but it was all there. I saved a stroller for my mom and the peek-a-boo blocks for my baby nephew, and the rest is gone. I feel like a HUGE load has been lifted off my shoulders.

Gunner was appreciative too, since he had been putting off facing that mess alone. Of course once we started, it dragged out every kid in the neighborhood looking for handouts. I assured them that their parents would not want them dragging stuff home, so they just sat there and played with all the toys that were in the keep pile. They conveniently disappeared when it was time to clean up, and the kids weren't too happy.

A quick pickup job, a dinner of gizzards, baths, and they are hopefully fast asleep.

Tomorrow Gunner is going to camp out, outside of the transportation office, so that the civilian that works six hours a day can hopefully get us an appointment. I need hours like that! He's the only one too, and apparently works pretty slow, so the line starts forming early.

In other news, I am not buying anything new, anytime soon. The amount of stuff that we have given away, amazes me. I love a good deal, but I think I often buy it just because it is a good deal and not something I really need, want, or love. I wonder where I get that from?

The purge

still continues here at Fort Hood. I've got piles of stuff to deliver to people. I've got the trash can filled and tons more to go out. One glance and it's gone. Nothing is safe anymore. The kids have run around gathering up their toys and harboring them in their room for safety. Their rooms are next.

I've told each child that they get two rubbermaid buckets to take with them of their "treasures". They looked at me like I had lost it? How could they possibly fit everything in two buckets? I rest my case--you.have.too.much.stuff.

Of course I have to practice what I preach, so all my clothes that don't fit or don't get worn are in a pile to drop off with my mom. She can drop them off with her church or the thrift store or whoever, as long as they are gone.

I'm cleaning out the pantry for the food bank.

If it came from McDonald's, Sonic, Burger King or Subway, it's gone.

If I don't love it, it's gone. There's still a long way to go, and I haven't touched the garage again. but my thinking is....it's all gone. There's only 9 weeks of school left, and I need to get all that stuff packed up and brought home as well. Hopefully we will have a transportation date on Tuesday. We are behind the power curve, so I am sure it won't be anytime soon, but I can hope! Gunner actually mentioned doing a DITY move. I told him to bite his tongue until we hear something from transportation!

Publish Post

No training today, since I needed a day off. We have a 50 mile bike ride on Saturday and the 10K obstacle course on Sunday. Tomorrow if it doesn't rain, we are loading up the kids and going for a bike ride. I think we all have a little cabin fever. Em called me last night at 10 to let me know that they were sleeping at the leader's house because everything was soaked. A good call since it rained almost all day today and they would have been miserable. A miserable pre-teen=a miserable family.

Shepard's pie for dinner, with extra veggies for me!

We are still deciding what to do to honor Memorial Day. There is an event in Austin, we have talked about visiting the memorial for 4th ID, and several other ways to make sure our kids know and understand that Memorial Day has a meaning.

Triathlon here we come!

I met my running/walking group from school this morning for another 5K. It's really neat to see all the people that said there was no way they were going to run a 5K or workout or anything, getting out there and moving! There is one girl, who never works out, who just completed her second race. Her husband has the biggest smile on his face, full of pride, as he runs in with her each time, it just melts my heart!

I did okay on the 5K, nothing too outrageous as my friend and I were going to do our practice tri. We headed over to the lake, and the water was freezing! After arranging with a fisher-family to keep an eye on us, we headed out. Ummmm.....I am a strong swimmer, but I did not like my face in the water. My friend was paddling away, and I was doing the sidestroke. She would turn to breathe and I would ask her if it was time to turn around. Then she started laughing because I was floating along and staying ahead of her and coming back around. I finally put my head in the water and it wasn't too bad. I probably would have felt better about it if there were more people out there with us. Plus there was a no swimming sign, and I'm kind of a rules girl. On the way back I did fine, and I was over my fear...sort of...but stayed with my friend cause I wasn't about to be separated and have something happen, even if we had our fisher-family watching us.

We ran in from the swim, transitioned to the bike and took off. I was not doing well with my clips for some reason. I make it up the huge hill, into the ride a few miles, and I look down because I stop moving. My chain had popped off, and I panicked. I was trying to figure out what to do, I couldn't unclip, and over I went......right into the gravel. My friend's husband was following us, and he hopped out and came over. I just put my hands over my face and told myself not to cry! He got me to move my foot to make sure it was okay and then he unclipped me and got the bike off me. He helped me up and fixed my bike for me, I wiped off the blood with a towel and hopped back on. The rest of the almost 12 mile bike ride was uneventful, thank goodness! I did switch back to my tennis shoes and I am having Gunner drop my bike at the shop to get my old pedals put back on! I don't want to do that again for a little while. Funny thing is that I haven't fallen like that in a long time and this was my first time with the clips, but it scared me enough that I am good for a while. Oh well.

We finished up the ride, dropped the bikes and ran or at that point shuffled for a mile. We were proud, happy, and tired. Our first tri is in 15 days, and I feel good about it....and hopefully their lake is a little bit more inviting to me than the one here!

So now I know I can do the entire thing, and I am sure my adrenaline will kick in and keep me going as well.

This week: training x2, swimming, gym, running x4, 50 mile bike ride on Saturday, 10K obstacle course on Sunday. Oh yeah, and a ball on Wednesday night! My friend told me to wear my road rash with honor--my dress has spaghetti straps, so I am sure I will make a lovely impression.

The girls and I are going to have to go get pedicures this week, so maybe Monday? And if it ever stops raining, I want to load up the kids and take them for a bike ride. Pretty soon it will be so hot here we won't want to do anything outside!

Junior was running around yesterday with a blue fairy wand, a green vest and a pink glove on courtesy of his sister--"I'm a witch!". His birthday is coming up, I see army trucks in his future...

P.S. It's storming and Em is camping. Poor baby!

Where did the day go?

I took off today so that I could take Ab's to her doctor appointment that we have been waiting for, forever. I got up and the phone rang.....her doctor canceled, again. I was furious! I tried not to shoot the messenger, and I managed to get across how much we needed to see the doctor. She understood my urgency thankfully. Of course the doctor didn't get that, so I ended up calling back this afternoon, and she put me on hold so she could call the doctor at home. The doctor finally called me back, and we got things straightened out with Abs. Hopefully it will be smooth sailing for my baby girl now.

We did manage to return the RV to Gunner's parents and try out the new mexican restaurant in the mall. It was okay. I LOVE mexican food. My plate was hot but my food was not. My taco was stale, and rice and beans didn't come with the meal. I would at least try it again before I would veto it altogether.

I got my bike shoes adjusted, and almost fell over in the car wash parking lot while the guy came out to watch me try them out. Smooth move. I forgot I was clipped in and put on the brakes.

Oh, and my big news??? After lunch we ran down to Victoria's Secret so I could get fitted for a new bra. The girls finally shrunk! About time!!! I also had to buy new jeans so I would have some that weren't falling off of me.....Take my original size and divide by 2 and you have my new size! Hard to believe!!! I still eat, but I make much better choices, and my fudge this morning to top off my breakfast didn't hurt. (One of my parents made homemade fudge for me and homemade peanut butter cups....yum!) Tonight it is a jaunt on the trainer to make sure my shoes are okay, and tomorrow a 5K. After the 5K my training partner and I are going to run a triathlon by ourselves just to try it out. The swim is still up in the air, depending on the temp of the water. We are also hoping that it doesn't rain!

No wonder I fall into bed exhausted each night!

Still training...

I did my first tempo run on Monday with my trainer. It felt food, and I feel like I am getting faster. I still need to fit more runs in, especially since I can't run on the treadmill anymore. I don't know if I am just not feeling it or what, but I am starting to prefer the outdoors, just in time for a Texas summer!

Tonight I had training again, this time in the pool. I was worried because I told her that I was strongest in swimming, and I started to think that maybe I wasn't as strong as I thought I was. I warmed up, and she said that the only thing I really needed to work on was taking less strokes, covering the same distance in the same time. We worked on sighting, which was a pain. She did tell me that I needed to start my wave at the front and choose between the inside or the outside. It made me feel good that she thought I was an extremely strong swimmer. Maybe that will make up time in other legs!

Even though school is winding up, I am taking tomorrow off. I need a break after the last three weeks of non-stop teaching, paperwork, parenting, working out, training, and knowing what is to come, I need a day to regroup. Abs has a doctor's appointment in Temple, so I'll take her to that and then try to get in a run with Gunner and Junior.

Tonight, Junior was in his pajamas and came to me and asked me to dance with him. I looked up and he had pulled a purple tutu complete with flower petals in the
middle, up to his chest. He twirled around and then we played ring-around-the-rosey. Poor Junior. I think Gunner is about to lock up anything pink or purple. I guess I need to find some boy dress up clothes for the kiddo!

Pink Boots & Camo

The price of having sisters is that you fall in love with their pink boots. I found these bass rainboots on clearance for $5 and Abs, who hates pink, had to have them. Unfortuantely Junior now fights to wear them too. Maybe when he sees pictures in 20 years he will appreciate that he was wearing camo underwear?

Dresses, Moving, & Life

My friend Abbey and I went shopping on Saturday night and we found the perfect dress! My husband's only request was that it not be black, and for once, it isn't. Abbey was great company, always makes me laugh, and we had the best meal at the Monument Cafe in Georgetown on the way home. I'm always worried when I take someone to one of my favorite restaurants, but she either truly liked it or is a good faker. :)

Today Gunner tried to go to transportation. They have moved so many people all over Hood that I've found I often have to go from the original location to the new location, to the newest location. He'll try again tomorrow.

Of course it was complicated with a baby boy with extreme diarrhea who is now kicked out of daycare until we can get him into the doctor. Thank goodness my MIL was available today and tomorrow since half of my grade level is out because of family emergencies. He'll be in good hands, and Gunner can take him to the doctor to get checked out. It's been going on for a while, so hopefully it is not something that he is allergic to that we don't know about yet. Poor baby boy. He acts fine though, and at this point I am thankful he is still in diapers!

My triathlon training partner and I are going to do a mini-triathlon this weekend. We are doing a 5k in the morning, then we will do an open water swim, bike 12 miles, and do a 1.5 mile run. We've recruited our open water swim supervisors, planned our route, and are ready to practice our transitions. It's all in fun, and I know we will have a good time figuring it all out.

In just over a month, Junior will be three. Where did the time go?
I could just squish those cheeks
Throwing rocks instead of fishing...
Camping with his cowlick...

The search for the perfect dress...

is not going so well. I went to JC Penney's--it was raining and close--and there was nothing. I asked the lady working if they had a bigger selection, and she took me down to Junior's.

She showed me the prom dresses and then chose three that she "thought" would be perfect for me. Oh, and the saleslady was so excited because it was buy one prom dress get the other for half off. I could hardly contain my excitement.

I do not wear flowers.
I do not wear yellow.
I do not wear teenage prom dresses.

The old me would have tried them on to appease her.

I told her that while they were beautiful, I thought that they were a little young for me. She seemed shock. I am 36, not 16!

So I am back to square 1.

All my old dresses don't fit.

I've got a week and a half to find a great dress at a great price. Wish me luck!

Wet Weekend

At the 5K this morning it started to sprinkle those HUGE Texas drops. By the time I was finished and strategically posted by a tall truck, the rain came down. Gunner had the keys, so I just attempted to stay dry, and would run into the rain to cheer on my friends! It was a lot of fun and while the pain in my legs was still there, I worked on my form and got one of my best times! By the end, Gunner and I were both waterlogged and freezing. Totally worth it though!

I timed myself for the swim portion of the triathlon last Thursday. I didn't push off the walls (I flipped out just far enough to touch the wall with my toes), didn't go but probably at 50%, and was not out of breath when I finished. I felt great, and my time was great too, but the swim is the least of my worries.

School is busy, busy, busy.

Life is busy, busy, busy.

Kids are doing great and keeping us on our toes. We've had field days, career days, math & science days.

Abs is supposed to be a pig in the costume. I asked her why she couldn't be a cow since we have a cow costume. Her response was that "I didn't feel the cow when I read the script, I felt the pig."

....my sweet baby girl Abs just came out....naked. She painted her body orange with a stamp pad. Her.entire.body. I think the stamp pad was a gift from her Aunt in St. Louis. The pottery wheel is still a big hit, but they have yet to produce anything. At this point, the Sea Monkeys will die before they make their first $5 on anything.

It's going to be a long day I think.

Home from the trainer

I met my trainer at the track today. I need to get off the treadmill and hit the road. I worked on my technique, which she said was good, but I was a little off on where I strike when I land. I changed it slightly and can feel it in my legs. Let's hope that the rest of my runs help it get strong and fast.

We talked tri.

She assured me I would not come in last. I know I won't come in first (yet) but I also know that my strongest will be the swim, and that's where I think a lot of people are weak. At least I am hoping that they are! I'm no runner like my friend Catherine or bloggers DAR or JLC, but I'm working on it! I'll be searching the internet for more running information.

I have training tomorrow too.

I am supposed to swim tomorrow too after school. Today Em and I stayed after school and I cranked out grades and reading stuff, and organized some files. I need another 57 hours in each day so I can catch up.

We have a ball coming up. I am still thinking about going. I'll have to find a dress and make sure I don't have training that night. I'll have to get the fro tamed too. I'm thinking about getting a haircut (I probably get one once a year) and getting it straightened--just until I wash it.

Junior has learned his basic shapes. He knew them before when he saw them, but now he applies that to everything he sees--his feet are rectangles, his belly button is a circle....the list goes on. It's amazing how much his speech has developed since he got tubes in his ears.

I do have training on the night of the ball, which is still on a Wednesday I might add. Who the heck planned that? So much of what the army does, makes no sense to me. After this long, it shouldn't surprise me anymore.

Two more days left this week!!!

Tuesday Already?

I don't know how it is Tuesday already. Days are just flying by.....way too fast.

Gunner made me sit down with him and put all my information on his calendar. After we got done, he just looked at me, sat down and asked me if I knew how busy I was. The thought has crossed my mind as I race from one event to another. But, I didn't have time to dwell on it as I needed to blog and write a 10 page paper after playing with the kids.

I've got a killer headache that I just can't shake. My training partner and I skipped out on the pool today. I'm falling behind at work because I leave right after school is out. It's not horrible, but I did have a pile of papers to grade and get entered. I wanted to make sure I had everything planned out for grades for the rest of the 9 weeks, and I wanted to make sure that I had enough "hands on" stuff available. It's the end of the year, the kids get a little crazy, and sometimes we just need to change things up so that we can keep it interesting to them.

We had a great Mother's Day. I was up at 6 and couldn't sleep anymore. That was not in the cards.

I worked my second job. We went to Panera for lunch. Hit up REI, wandered over to Whole Foods, and ended up with a 12 mile bike ride and a whole red snapper for dinner.

Gunner almost got run over on the bike ride. Thankfully it was him that they almost hit because he has the training to be calm, react, and then move on. A car was barreling down the road and Gunner was going straight, the other direction. The truck tried to turn in front of him, realized that they wouldn't make it, and slammed their brakes on, and hit gravel.

So Gunner puts his hand on the car as all this was happening to push off from him and get out of his way since he was clipped in. He kept his cool, he was fine. The driver was terrified though. If this had been me, I would have panicked, tried to unsuccessfully unclip, probably run into the truck before he ran into me and been dead.

......Realized I didn't post this yesterday. I start training again tonight. We are doing speedwork tonight, which should be fun? Okay, I am hoping at least.

School is crazy and I am swamped. Kids are great. 5K this weekend. 5k next weekend and my training partner and I are going to do a practice triathlon followed by a Starbucks visit. Sounds good to me!

And we got orders....real orders...paper ones.

The 10K

I survived again. Right off the bat they had a massive hill. I started to run up it, but then looked up and saw that EVERYONE was walking, so I walked too. I could barely walk up it!

The course was beautiful and the people were extremely nice. There were some loops arounds, so I managed to see Gunner and Junior once. Junior waved and cheered me on. Gunner said Junior was great, but was ready to get out about mile 5.

I placed 5th. I was hoping for a little bit better position, but overall they had 500 people there that participated in the 10K and the 5K, and the hills were rough. Not sure how many were in my age group for the 10K as we didn't stick around to see all the results.

Overall, it was fun and I feel great. 5K next week!

I will survive...

I survived Field Day. For 7 hours I led 20 students around and made sure that no one injured themselves, and that everyone had a good time.

I got injured. I broke my wedding ring and it gashed my finger, on the tug-of-war game. Ouch! It already looks like it is getting a little infected, but I am hoping for the best.

After school, I met with my training partner and we hit the pool. Today was sprints day. We were both so exhausted that I don't think we were sprinting as fast as we could have.

We picked up our packets for the 10K tomorrow.

I'm going to put together my running playlist tonight. I've got to get some good music to keep me going as this course is a lot hillier than what i am used to.

A conversation just overheard:

Em: Don't eat the butter.
Junior: But it looks tasty.

We can't keep him out of the butter.

I got a whole collection of Burt's Bees products today from one of my students for Teacher Appreciation week. I absolutely love the products, but they are always something that I will never spend the money on because I keep thinking that I could save the money and use it for the kids. So I was shocked and happy to get something so great! Add to it the cookies, apples, cookie cake, letters, cards, bookmarks, school supplies and the half used apple lip gloss and I was in heaven! I really have the sweetest bunch of kids, and I love my job which is always good.

I thought I would have an early bedtime, but it's almost 10 and I have my running clothes in the washer. Ugh.

P.S. Happy Military Spouse Day!

PCSing

We will soon join the ranks of the starving unless one of us breaks down and goes to the commissary.

The army never switched to making everyone take their pay twice a month. I'm not complaining.

My husband spilled the beans about us moving at my work while having lunch with a coworker. I was not happy. Hopefully this person doesn't breathe a word of it, or Gunner is toast! He didn't get my not so subtle hints to be quiet.

Gunner: When we move to Carson...
Other person: You got orders?
Me: Nope, no orders.
Gunner: Yes we did, we are on the list.
Me: Ummmm....no we aren't, just drop it.
Gunner: I saw the list. We are on it.
Me: (Trying to kick him and give him dirty looks) NO WE AREN'T!
Gunner: I really saw the list.
Me: Whatever. Other person, just don't breathe a word of it.

Sometime I just want to wring his neck.

Random Thoughts

Hit the pool with my triathlon training partner. I swam 2500 yards, and felt fine. I could have gone on forever, so I need to pick up the speed. Today was my endurance swim though.

I then hit the gym and ran 4 miles and biked 8 miles.

I had to drag Em to the pool today and she didn't want to come in, so she sat in the stands, reading, and mouthing to me every time I took a breath that she was "bored", "miserable", and "ready to go". She's going to be a joy as a teenager.

I've been trying to come up with some super easy, super creative mother's day present for my students to make. It's not going so well, and of course I have waited till the last minute.

Field Day is Friday. I hope I am prepared for it!

Another class tomorrow on guided writing. My one on guided reading was great. So much to learn!

Off to bed so I can do it all again tomorrow.

Potty Training

Junior did good for a while and then he decided that it was too much trouble.

I posted on facebook that I was hoping my diaper changing days were numbered, but that I doubted it. Lots of people gave us advice--hey I am always open to good advice!

Cheerios in the toilet--Junior was all about that. I described what we were going to do, he got excited, and we went to the kitchen and got the cheerios down. We went back to the bathroom, he pulled down his jeans, got his cute little boxer briefs down, and I handed him the cheerio. Junior threw it in the toilet, then next thing I know he is trying to scoop it out. Germaphobic mom takes over and the cheerio is flushed, said baby boy was washed thoroughly.

Then we had a Potty Party. He wanted to invite all the Mr. Potato Heads. I dressed 6 potato heads with his help, and then he sat down on the little potty. Then he didn't like the way the potato people were arranged, so he was up. Then I got him back on the potty and fed him cheerios. Then he decided the potatos needed to have names and talk. He was back up and grabbing potatos to play with. Of course they aren't held together very well, so then we had to reassemble them.

So then we have the potato people assembled and ready to play with, the cheerios available for feasting, and Junior sitting back on the potty.

After this 45 minute fiasco, we got a little bit of pee. I did what any college educated adult would do, I yelled for his sister and we danced around the living room with potato heads, shrieking for joy.

Junior pulled up his clothes, I fed him an m&m, and then we emptied the potty. I got Junior a cup of water and 15 minutes later tried to get him back on the potty.

We got the potty party potato people ready. We got the cheerios ready. We got a book to read. I asked him if he wanted to go potty again. My cute blonde haired blue eyed baby boy looked at me and told me "That's a TERRIBLE idea Mommy".

Can I quit?

Military Wives' Cookbook

Military Spouse Appreciation Day is around the corner--May 8th. I'll be busy with Field Day at my school, but I'm sure Gunner is planning some amazing celebration to thank me for standing by his side for the last 14 1/2 years, 4 year long deployments, and being the mother of our three children. (cough, cough)

Okay, so realistically, I am not one for surprises and I don't like big deals made of most things.

Since marrying Gunner, I have become a huge fan of anything military related in my reading. I devour books filled with military history. I am intrigued by different time periods such as WWII and the Vietnam Era. While at a yard sale I stumbled upon a 4th Infantry Division yearbook. The yearbook was printed while the 4th ID was in Germany, and chronicled the occupation of Germany. I got it for a steal at a buck, and couldn't believe my find. I've studied the pictures of the men and women and wondered what it was like for them to be in Germany during that time.

I was sent a copy of The Military Wives' Cookbook by Carolyn Quick Tillery to review about a month ago. From the first email I received about this book, I was chomping at the bit to receive it in my mailbox.

When I received my copy, I was hooked, because it was stories about women like me--military spouses. Of course it is a cookbook, so I'll get to that part, but the book starts out with an introduction covering military spouses that served from the American Revolution to the Global War on Terrorism today.

The recipes--

Presented in menu format style, each set of recipes is accompanied by a story that relates to it and is evocative of the period...When combined in a recipe and remembrance book, the recipes, narratives, and photographs provide a unique story in American history: her story!

The cookbook is divided into multiple sections: Teas and Coffees; Buffets, Brunches, and Lunches; A Taste of home: Dinner Family Style; Alfresco Dining; Over There: An International Affair; Home for the Holidays and Other Celebrations.

Within each section are numerous recipes and stories about the military spouses, excerpts from letters home and pictures of military spouses from long ago. Of course I had to try out a couple of the recipes, so we made the "homemade walnut brownies" and they were excellent! The recipes are all easy to follow and it looks like most of them can be made with ingredients that I keep on hand.

I've already got another few recipes on the agenda over the next two weeks once we make it to the commissary. Even if you don't like to cook, there are tons of stories and pictures in here as well.

And if you try the Black Forest Cake under the Valentine's Dinner for Lovers menu, let me know how it tastes, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Down, down, down

I am down 32 pounds now!

It helps that if I eat crappy food, I feel crappy, so I try to avoid it.

But I still love homemade peanut butter cookies, warm and soft.

The girls had a great time on the hike today. They even got along for most of the day which is a miracle in itself. We even went out to eat tonight since everyone was in a good mood, and there was still no fighting. Junior and I sat at one table while the girls and Gunner sat at the tall tables.

Junior wouldn't eat his hot dog. Maybe he is finally burned out on them? His current love is yogurt, which he eats several times a day. I hope he left me one for breakfast in the morning.

The girls laugh when I pack my food for the day because I have to eat so much. I usually have a whole wheat eggo with peanut butter, two kiwis or a banana, a yogurt, and a protein shake or cottage cheese or an egg white omelet. I feel like I spend half of my morning eating!

Gunner has one more day of leave left which will be spent waiting for the UPS man and relaxing. I think I need to plan another day off.....the sooner, the better.

Thank goodness

Since I am done having babies, I am busy getting rid of all of our baby stuff.

The crib and dresser/changing table went last week. Today I am dropping off the fish aquarium thing for the crib, the pack and play, changing pads, and then another stop for tons of clothes for Tucker. I've got cloth diapers put aside for Allison. A pile of girl clothes for Goodwill.

We can almost see in Junior's room, so I know that progress is being made and I won't have to estimate 1000 pounds for his room. Em's room is a different story, and don't even get me started on Abs and the million lego festival that is happening in her room.

Gym is on the agenda today as well. I have been slacking and need to hit it hard in order to be ready for everything that I have coming up!

A trip to the commissary is in order too, but the thought of it being a payday weekend....ugh!

Tour de Hood

Today Gunner did a 15 mile bike ride on post. It wasn't a race, but he came in 5th--he's been married to me for 14 1/2 years, of course he knew I would ask! He was going to do the 50 mile ride, but we had plans.

I spent all day in class, but it was the last class of the term. Relief.

Looks like our hiking might get canceled tomorrow due to rain. If it does I guess I will grade papers, pack up more of my classroom, and clean the house. My pile of clothes to get rid of is growing by an alarming rate.

I thought of having a PCS sale, but seriously, who has the time for that? When we left Fort Lewis, I think Gunner made about 6 trips to Goodwill. We need to unload at least 2,000 or more pounds. 6 1/2 years in the same spot and we somehow accumulated way too much stuff. As usual, I will vow not to do that at our next duty station! I'm seriously trying to work on getting a little OCD, but so far it's not being acquired at a fast enough rate!

Another race...

Just registered Gunner & I for the Jackrabbit Run 4 Hope 10K tonight. I wonder how Junior will do in the stroller for that long, but he should be okay. It's in just over a week, so I better start hitting the gym since I took a hiatus while everyone was sick so I didn't infect the world.

The run benefits the Hope Pregnancy Crisis Center to help those that need help because they find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy. I know the director and when they first acquired the ultrasound machine there, they needed to practice. I was pregnant with Junior and they invited me to come get a free ultrasound and they would print out a picture for Gunner who was deployed. We didn't find out the sex, by choice, but it was fun seeing the little one kick around on the screen. After Junior was born I donated piles of maternity clothes to their loan closet as a way to pass it on and thank them for the pictures and the ultrasound.

Hmmmmm....I just noticed that they pass out layette items too, I am sure I still have some of that stuff to pass on as well. Time to do the PCS purge!

A good deal

When I decided to become a teacher, I got a lot of encouragement from my friends, my aunt and uncle, my sisters, and my husband and kids. It took a lot of planning because we had to pay for everything out of pocket and it was a huge drain, but one that I was ready to do.

Now you can sign up for the My Career Advancement Account and get up to $6,000 paid for! You can read an article about the program here. Where was this when I was going to school. It will also help with certifications, so I am looking at getting certified for special ed, so maybe I can go this route to keep my costs low? Worth a shot. This wasn't open to spouses in Texas originally, so I am glad to see that they have opened it up to everyone. You need to register by the first week in May, so go for it, what do you have to lose? My dad used to tell me that it was important to him to educate us because it was something that could never be taken away from us. So sign up now, and go after something you have always wanted. If your spouse is deployed, it's even a more ideal time to take advantage of it!

Good luck!

I can't wait

Fort Carson or bust. We are on the housing list. I've picked out where I want to live already. We luckily qualify for a 4 bedroom, due to the ages of the girls and the addition of Junior. Who knows where we will actually wind up, but we are hoping to get into housing right away. I don't want any worries other than setting up house, since it's been a long time since we PCSed. We've been here for 6 1/2 years. Yikes! I never thought we would be here that long, but it has served its purpose and it is time to move on. The time with my dad was priceless.

To top it all off my mother told me that I was the most self-absorbed person she knows! Ha! Everyone I have told has gotten a good laugh out of that. It's all good though, and time to move to a new place without all the drama of family. Like one of my kids said, you spend so much time doing for us and everyone else, the only time you ever have is at the gym. Very true, and glad that she realizes that! I think I sneak in a 5 minute shower every once in a while too.

I was back at school today and even hit the pool with my triathlon training partner. We ended up having to share a lane with a GI and he was pretty fast, so we did some sprints together, and that got my heart beating fast. I won too. :) No gym today as I don't think my tummy can handle that yet.

Em feels good about the Science TAKS test, and Abs took a practice test at school today for reading. Abs is also working on a story about a smart mummy and Japanese suicide bombers. Should be an interesting tale!

That missing piece of paper that I couldn't find? I found it after I had to request another one and submit it for a signature. I just can't win! I'm working on organizing everything though. This weekend I have class, Gunner has a bike ride, and the girls and I are going hiking with their Girl Scout troop. The end of the year is going to fly by as things get crazy with everything that is on the schedule.

Oh, and they cancelled the job fair for my school district because of the swine flu. I guess the health department wanted it cancelled because it would draw in people from outside the area and they could bring the disease with them. Crazy!

It happened....

After Abs got sick Monday night, I managed to make it through TAKS testing on Wednesday, and race home to get sick. It was awful. Two things that were confirmed: 1. I am a horrible sick person and 2. My husband loves me unconditionally.

Thank goodness for #2, and that he was home to help! The only one who hasn't gotten sick was Junior, so maybe he was really throwing up in the tent last Friday and was producing nothing to go with it? Let's hope that this family is on the mend.

I am trying to put together the most ridiculous project while I am laid up in bed. I have to create a math exploration topic with all these different requirements. She provided a great example for a 6th grade class, but for second graders we have a whole other things going on. I have to design activities to go along with it, and while 6th graders could probably deal with dried beans, I imagine my second graders eating them, sucking on them, or sticking them up their nose. I'll just hope for the best.

I do have to drag myself out of bed today to go to a SNAP meeting for Abs. This is where they want to remove her from daycare permanently and send her somewhere else. I have HUGE issues with this for many reasons.

1. FCC--while this is a great option for some people, it is not for me. I had a friend whose daughter was hurt by none of the people that the daycare people investigated, but by the boyfriend the wife had while her husband was deployed. You just never know, and I would never be able to be at ease with that situation.

2. Their second option is they send Abs to a home daycare that is run by staff that also works in the centers. She tried to sell me on this by telling me how Abs can watch tv all day if she wants, and it's a home environment. I don't want Abs watching tv all day, which she will do if given the opportunity. I asked if these places go on field trips like the SAS summer camp does and she said no. So you will take a child with ADHD, coop her up in the house all summer, let her watch tv, and then expect her to behave. Not going to happen.

3. If they tell me that these are my only two options, I am moving to plan B. I had a friend that put her daughter in a great summer daycamp in Salado. It cost big bucks, but was wonderful, and I will go with that option. The thought of driving to Salado every day is less than inviting, but will happen if that is the choice I am faced with....

......Took a nap and forgot to finish up. I went to the meeting, and they do not find me funny. Imagine that. Anway, Abs can go to the regular summer camp, and the community health nurse said that Abs should have bitten that kid if he was holding her down. We HAVE to enroll her in EFMP this time, and Junior too with his egg allergy. I still don't agree with that, but.....

The big news????? We don't have orders yet, because they are handing them out on their first day back to work, but we do have a reporting date of July 10th.

Let the PCS stories begin.....

Oh no!

Em started throwing up last night. Then Gunner started having other issues. They both were home today and I banished them to Em's room for the rest of the night. I sprayed down everything they could have possibly touched, and now Abs and Junior and I are watching tv on the freshly lysoled couch.

Gunner said he was going to start a blog and blog about me and my obsession with lysol, sick diets, and quarantining people.

I have to be at school tomorrow! At least he can take care of anyone who doesn't go. I have my sheets being washed in hot water again. I finally found a shoppette with chicken noodle soup. I tracked down some crackers, and got some diet sprite. Sick diet, here we come!

I didn't sleep well at all last night, so I am tired and hoping everyone goes to bed early tonight.

I guess at least it isn't the swine flu!

Cleaning House

I have piles of clothes to get rid of. It's an obscene amount, and this was just the first purge. More to follow. I haven't even attacked Junior's closet which is full of my clothes.

I'm not ready for school tomorrow. I need another couple of days off.

I have class on the 2nd, so I need to crank out a paper, a project and and evaluation.

I went to my classroom today to search for a paper with a signature that I have managed to lose. I don't know where I put it. I'm sure somewhere safe, or it got mixed up with all the millions of papers that I have. All I know is that I HAVE to find it tomorrow or I am in trouble!!!! I'm sure I will have nightmares tonight about not finding it. I have got to learn to be more organized. It's driving me nuts and costing me too much time!

I wonder if I can go from the most unorganized person on the planet to OCD in just a few days? It needs to happen and fast.

I went back to the campsite this morning and Gunner cooked up bacon and pancakes for breakfast. I brought home two dirty little kids and got them cleaned up. Gunner took the kids skating this afternoon while I was working/searching and by 7 they were all exhausted.

I'm not far behind....

One quick story...

I am home for the night, but my campers are still out there. Last night the girls and I slept in the RV and Gunner and Junior were in the tent. It was so windy and for some reason we only packed 4 stakes. Not a good idea. Em started out in the tent with Junior and Gunner. Then Abs wanted to be out there so Em was more than happy to join me in the RV. Of course once we were all settled, Junior bit Abs on the hip and left a huge bruise, so the tears started. Once Abs started crying, Junior started crying. I think Gunner was ready to join them. So then Abs came into the RV and the boys stayed in the tent.

Gunner was so tired and in the middle of the night, the wind really picked up again. Half asleep, all the noise made Gunner think that Junior was throwing up. He grabbed Junior, unzipped the tent and put Junior outside. Junior started crying and said "It's windy Daddy, I want to sleep inside!". Gunner realized that Junior wasn't throwing up and it was the wind, so he grabbed Junior and put him back in the tent and they both fell fast asleep.

Never a dull moment...

Day off

It was dark this morning, with tons of lightening. Not a drop of rain fell, so I imagine it is waiting until we get to the campsite and then we will have a downpour. We have decided that I will go out tonight, stay all day tomorrow, and then come home after the kids are tucked in so I can grade papers, get everything finished up for school, and work on my big project for my class on the 2nd.

I got an email from Ab's teacher and apparently the sugar cubes were optional and not necessary unless they wanted to bring them. Not the story we received from Abs last night! Oh well, she has them and there are enough there for other children to share so they can each build a giant pyramid. I assume their trip around the world has taken them to Egypt, after just finishing up a trip to Germany. I sure miss Germany!

Chris is headed out to get Em and then drop off the RV at the campsite before returning for the rest of us. He has lunch with Em today since she was citizen of the month. I napped. We road 16 miles this morning and followed it with a 2 mile run--well I did. Gunner can't keep up with me yet, but I am working on him! The run felt good, and I could have gone further if I didn't have to pee so much. Having three kids sure ruined my body in that respect, I have to pee constantly! Good thing they are so cute, and will hopefully take care of me in my old age.

We got clips put on our bike and I found a pair of bike shoes for $30. They are sinfully ugly, and were originally more, but I told him I could pay that much for something so ugly. But, when he offered them for $30, my frugality took over and now I love them. I was so worried that I was going to crash or something while using them, but thankfully it was relatively easy. One less thing to worry about.

I found a disco triathlon, doesn't that sound like fun? In 5th grade I was in love with Andy Gibbs and the Bee Gees. Of course my first tape was the Beatles live in Germany. I can't believe that 40 is just a mere 3 1/2 years away. A few years ago I decided (since Gunner was gone) that we should get to take a trip for our 40th birthdays, somewhere fun and exciting. Gunner's two years older than me, so I guess I better start planning something! Maybe we can time it around jobs, deployments, and my mom's schedule to book her for babysitting and all will be well. Egypt? Thailand? Spain? Somewhere exotic?

I registered for my two classes this summer, and I will be sitting in class during the heat of the day from 11-4, monday-thursday. It could be worse, and the workload can be nothing like it was last summer or this school year, so I am hoping I can drop the kids at daycare in the morning (they have to be there by 8) and then head to the gym for a workout before going to class.

Best laid plans of mice and men....

Rain, rain, go away.....

Especially when Gunner is taking us camping again.

I asked him if he wanted to postpone it, but he said "I want my children to remember me taking them camping all the time, not just once". I can't argue with that. They will remember. Let's just hope they can experience it without rain sometime!

Gunner is off doing the grocery shopping now, and I am lying around the house. I should be packing. We were going to grocery shop tomorrow, but Abs tells us at 8:30 tonight that she needs 165 sugar cubes by tomorrow.

Tomorrow is bike ride day. I've got a ton of other stuff to do as well, especially since we have only 6 weeks of school left! I've almost survived a year! In some respects it flew by and other ways it dragged on and on and on.

Junior got booted from daycare for "lesions". I told Gunner in order to make sure that he got an appointment today that he needed to tell the appointment line that Junior had "lesions". He gets an appointment right away and takes Junior in.

The doctor walks in.
Doctor: These aren't lesions.
Gunner: I know that. You know that. Daycare does not.

Junior's getting another referral to the dermatologist and hopefully they can get his itching and scratching under control. He's destroying his poor little arms, legs, and feet.

Junior has also learned the word...terrible. Aww man, this is terrible. Mommy, this is terrible. What can I do, this is terrible. Terrible, terrible, terrible. It's enough to drive anyone insane, if it wasn't so cute. Of course I don't have to listen to it all day.

We live on post, and don't venture outside in the front yard much. Today we were all out there and off in the distance we heard the ice cream truck. The girls ran to get money and when they got outside, half the neighborhood was out there begging for money so that they could get ice cream. Ummmm....their parents drive nicer cars than I do, carry purses I can't afford, and I have a job! Em got smart and decided it was cheaper to go to the shoppette to get ice cream instead. She's learning!

Wish us luck on our soon to be waterlogged camping adventure.

The nurse called

I am going to stop answering the phone during the school day when it says unknown, because chances are that it is the nurse at Ab's school.

Me: Hello?
Nurse: Hi, is this Ab's mom?
Me: Yes. What's wrong?
Nurse: Well Abs tripped over a desk in music and hurt her back.
Me: Are there any marks?
Nurse: A big red one
Me: Where?
Nurse: Lower back (and she gave me a number, I guess which is supposed to mean something to this non nurse person)
Me: Did you put ice on it?
Nurse: Yes, she's almost in tears from the pain.
Me: Is there swelling?
Nurse: There is a bruise already. Can you please come take a look at it?
Me: Ummmm.....I'm a teacher, so I am kind of stuck here unless you think it is a dire emergency.
Nurse: Well.....
Me: Call her dad at this number xxx-xxxx.
Nurse: Okay

I get off the phone and my 22 second graders ask if we can take a trip to meet the nurse at Ab's school. Doesn't that sound like loads of fun?

So Gunner was coming up to school so that he could help me out with some paperwork, putting together books, taking things home, etc. I texted him and he told me he was on his way and would check on Abs since the nurse just called.

About 10 minutes later Gunner walks through the door.

Me: Is Abs okay?
Gunner: Of course.
Me: Is there a red mark?
Gunner: No
Me: Bruising?
Gunner: The bruising she thinks she sees is where Em put that tattoo on her back and it hasn't worn off yet.
Me: Was Abs crying?
Gunner: Nope. They gave her a pain scale of 1-5 and Abs said it was a 4. They didn't realize that Abs thought the pain scale should be from 1-20 and had chosen the 4 based on the new and improved pain scale ala Abs.

Apparently the nurse didn't know what to think, but the not even sad Abs went off to class with her ice pack.

We're having pizza tonight, minus the pepperoni. Don't want Ab's life to be in jeopardy or anything.

I can't make it to the gym tonight due to other commitments, but I do plan on working on some strength training and core exercises here at the house. That's almost a guarantee to be more sore tomorrow than if I had gone to the gym!

Monday Training

With Gunner home, this blog is turning into the Idonothingelsebutgotothegymandworkout blog.

Hard to blog about military stuff when he is off work for a month. I could blog about how we still don't have orders, so no idea when or if we are moving. They need to quit dragging their heels. I've already made mental plans for 57 different scenarios, so they need to help me narrow it down a little.

I had a meeting after school and then hit the pool with my fellow teacher turning triathlon nut. After a good swim, it was home to play with kiddos. Then I hit the gym, hard. I ran a good 4.5 miles, 20 minutes on the stairmaster, weights, weights, and more weights.

When I got in the sauna my quiet time was interrupted by two of the loud-mouthed army wives that were there before. This time they were talking about how they went home for leave. Their husbands apparently left them home with the kids and no car while they were out carrying on with their friends at the strip joint. It's apparently all good now because they stood out there screaming and yelling at them when they came home and woke up the neighborhood. I just wanted to scream and yell at them to be quiet! When they finally left, one GI just groaned and said "Thank goodness". I'm going to have to change my workout times so I don't have to listen to them!

Junior was doing so well on potty training and after spending the weekend camping and wearing diapers, he doesn't want to go anymore. Today was his first day back at daycare and they finally convinced him that it was fun to go potty. It worked, so we'll see if we can get back to business with him.

Em was voted citizen of the month. Abs asked if the pepperoni I bought at the commissary was because I was trying to kill her. Junior was out in the front yard yesterday in camo underwear, a shirt and pink boots. I'm sure he will appreciate the pictures one day? Pictures to come.

My friend is having a baby this Thursday and we passed on our crib and dresser/changing table. The end of an era. We bought it for Em way back in Germany for what we thought was big bucks at the time. It survived 12 years, 3 kids and 5 moves. (side note--when we moved into housing here at Hood, the mover offered to buy the crib from me because he said his 17 year old daughter was serious about some GI and he imagined there would be grandchildren in the near future and he wanted to help prepare. I couldn't say anything nice, so I just ignored him.)

Tomorrow is another busy day. Em and I are going to have mother/daughter facials and then I have to hit the gym and get some work done. I am taking friday off this week and want to find a great place to ride!

I almost forgot...

I've been busy running around to the campsite, to class, back to the campsite, home....you get the picture. They are still out there and it rained most of the day. They are filthy and happy. More on that later.

I almost forgot to tell you what happened on Friday.

My phone rings during class cause I once again forgot to shut off my ringer. I was giving directions so I silenced it without looking. I finished up and then checked called id, and it was Ab's school.

I start imagining what is happening there.

I check my messages and it is the school nurse and she sounds urgent and tells me to call immediately, and that she was going to try the school.

Worries me more.

I call back within 30 seconds and get the nurse.

Me: Hi, this is Ab's mom, you just left a voicemail and I am returning your phone call.
Nurse: (still sounding urgent) Yes, we have Abs in the office and she's been exposed to pepperoni.
Me: Pepperoni? Seriously?
Nurse: Yes, she told me that she is deathly allergic to it, but I don't see record of it.
Me: To Pepperoni? As in the stuff on pizza? (in disbelief)
Nurse: She is itching and her throat is scratchy. Does she have an epi pen? Does she take medication? Do we need to medevac her out?
Me: We are talking about Abs _______ right?
Nurse: Yes
Me: She's not allergic to pepperoni.
Nurse: What?
Me: No, she's not allergic to it, she went on a field trip on Wednesday and someone had pepperoni pizza and then touched her and Abs decided she was allergic to it and she was itchy. Go figure, I have no idea.
Nurse: she's really scratching and it's red
Me: I imagine it is, if she is scratching it. She's not allergic to pepperoni, and if she was she shouldn't have eaten it. Send her back to class, she's fine.
Nurse: (starting to relax) Do you want to talk to her?
Me: Oh yeah.

Abs: Hello? (said in a weak sickly voice)
Me: Hey Abs, heard you ingested a little pepperoni
Abs: Yes, and I am allergic to it.
Me: No you aren't, but you freaked out the nurse
Abs: I really am allergic to it.
Me: Then drink a cup of water, go to the bathroom and you will be cured?
Abs: Are you kidding?
Me: No, get back to class and no more pepperoni.
Abs: Okay. (defeated)

I do listen to my students when they say that they are allergic to something. Once one told me he couldn't eat fish, so I called the nurse, and she said he could. I called the parent who freaked out and said he was deathly allergic to it and raced up to the school. I guess you can never be too safe. I did assure the nurse that if Abs was allergic to anything that I would make sure her teacher and the school was notified.

Once when Em spent the night with a neighbor girl at our old house, they served baked potatoes. She told the mom that she was allergic to them and asked for mashed potatoes instead. The mom was apologetic the next day that she almost gave her a baked potato.

If anyone asks, I must be allergic to celery.

They are really going

It's pouring down rain outside. It was hailing earlier.

The kids are busy loading everything up and running through the rain. Junior is hanging out in the housecar.

I tried to pack their clothes and Gunner told me I was packing too much. Apparently they need to rough it.

I was trying to pack too many blankets.

Abs has her Daddy Doll and her stuffed dog. Em has her American Girl doll. Junior has two fuffies, a pillow and a stuffed something or another.

They are having chili dogs tonight. Apparently the outlaws are going out there to have dinner with them....in the rain. They are cooking chili dogs, over the fire. Apparently the awning from the RV is going to be enough? Tomorrow morning they are having camp donuts (from scratch mind you), fruit, sausage and something else over the fire. I have the feeling by the time breakfast is done, it will be time for lunch. They are making chicken and dumplings over the campfire tomorrow night. Sunday morning they are having bacon and pancakes. They are having sandwiches for lunch both days. Smores are of course on the menu.

Gunner bought a hibachi and is planning on putting rocks all around it, so they can feel like they are camping out and roughing it. Did I mention that I love this guy????

I really wish I could be out there the whole trip, because I am sure it would be a great adventure! I am sending my canon rebel so that he can document the times that I am not out there.

He's so excited. The kids are excited. I'm excited for them! More to come...

The Big Camping Trip

The first camping trip with all three kiddos is a go for tomorrow.

There is an 80% chance of rain. I have class, so I am going to go out there, have dinner, hang out, and then head home so I can finish up my homework and such.

I'll head back out there on Saturday, after class, when there is only a 40% chance of rain.

Gunner sent me a text today that gave all the percentages for the chance of rain, and then asked me if it was okay if he took the kids because he really, really, really, really wanted to go camping. How can I say no?

The RV has most of the bare essentials packed. The meal plan was made, changed, rearranged, and purchased today.

Sleeping arrangements have been created and he has even had all the kids out there to make sure everyone would fit in a trial run. Apparently if I come then Junior has to sleep in the playpen because there will be no room in the bed. I don't see how there will be room for anyone in the bed, at least if you are wanting a good night sleep! It's all good though, and I will go out on Saturday and spend the night since on Sunday there is only a 30% chance of rain.

Gunner has the map printed out, and the bathrooms highlighted even though the RV has one. He knows where all the playgrounds are and where he wants to go fishing. He bought a minnow bucket today and was on cloud nine. Ummmmm......he went fishing while we were stationed at Fort Lewis, spent like 8 hours out there and returned home with a few trout. By the time he skinned them, I couldn't eat them and we didn't know how to cook them correctly. I've gotten a lot more adventurous since then and as long as it is cooked and not celery or chow mein noodles I can eat it!

Oh, and the only one without a cold is Em.

So we will be out in the rain, already sick, trying to camp, and hopefully having the time of our lives so that Gunner will want to take us out again. He's started a camping book where he is compiling all the information, and where he will add all the things we will change next time. He is so unlike me. I try to be organized, but truth be told I will always overpack and probably still have to make a run to Walmart at least twice.

It will be fun. And worst case scenario, we are stuck in a small RV with three screaming kids, a bathroom that I know is clean, a DVD player and a microwave....and did I mention air conditioning?

I might need to pack a set of earplugs, a camera, and a triathlon book for good measure.

The Bug

I was over at Just another Day In Paradise, who recently completed a half-marathon while her husband was deployed. Her husband has been bitten by the running bug and they are currently planning their travels/runs. I love it!

The bug has also bitten Gunner, as on the 2nd of May while I am sitting in class, he will be cruising around Fort Hood on a 50 mile bike ride. He just turned his bike in today to get new pedals, and mine goes in tomorrow. Now to to think about shoes, which I am sure I can locate a good deal online.

I skipped the gym yesterday in order to write a paper. It's still not finished, but the outline is there and I should be able to crank it out today after a trip to the gym.

I think I am catching Ab's cold. I don't have time for this!

I think I may have convinced a fellow teacher to do the triathlon with me. She's just as green as I am.

.......I'm home from the gym...control your excitement. They started this new thing where you have to sign in for a spinning class up to an hour before it begins. Sounds crazy, but people get kind of violent. So far I like it because I can attend the spinning classes now. Junior's daycare provider was going in during lunch to reserve her bike and some people were going before work. That's insane! So I hit an hour spinning class, ran two miles immediately after--ouch!

I heard from said friend of mine from school and she is going to do the triathlon with me, so it makes me feel a little better. She's also the one that I am going to do the San Antonio Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon with as well.

Tomorrow is Ab's big TAG field trip. She's super excited about it. I emailed her teacher and told her that Abs had packed a robe and a stuffed camel. Her teacher made some random announcements today about the field trip and included that robes and stuffed camels were probably not necessary. Abs was disappointed, and told her teacher that I wouldn't buy her a jacket!?!?!?!?! Geez. I ran into her teacher tonight at the gym so she filled me in on Ab's disappointment. I guess if that is all she is getting disappointed about, her life has to be easier than most other 8 year olds.

More details on Gunner's camping obsession are coming soon. The boy is about to drive me crazy! I'm so glad he's home though.

Orders

Seriously, if we are moving, I hope they cut orders sometime in the near future, so we can have SOME idea of a timeframe and make plans accordingly. I know some people have them, but who knows what the whole story is.

I am super sore today in my left calf. I went for a short 2 1/2 mile run and took it very slow. It felt good to stretch it out, and I was plugging along. I even did it outside, and I think I can become addicted to that! I didn't even realize it had been that far.

It's supposed to rain this weekend and it is the first weekend that Gunner wanted to go camping. I have class on Saturday, but I was going to go out there Friday and then back out Saturday afternoon. Hopefully it will be dry enough to make it a good experience because he's determined to get out there. He's now printing recipes for a campfire, but I am not sure if the burn ban will affect those plans. My sister once mentioned something about cookies on top of pie filling and something else and cooked in a dutch oven. I think I need her to send me the recipe.

The girls were happy with their Easter baskets and Junior was ecstatic with his Diego rescue pack. I can't say that we were overjoyed with the song that it plays over and over and over again. I guess the Easter Bunny should have been paying closer attention to that feature!

I can't believe it is already time to go back to school. This three day weekend flew by. I think I might need a day off this week. I'll have to look and see what is going on. I better use up all my days!

A friend took pictures at the race on Saturday and in each one I look like I am walking. I guess I need to work on my form? Gunner said I keep my arms too tensed up, and I need to lengthen my stride. Hmmmm....imagine what I could do if I ran correctly!