The Veteran

He is the homeless guy living under the bridge.

He is the grandfather that tells his war stories.

She is the great aunt who served as a nurse.

They are the teenagers you see missing limbs.

She is the single mother you walk past in Wal-Mart.

They are the parents of the little boy at the park. The one who is with his grandma while BOTH his parents are deployed.

She is that white girl, that black girl, that Asian boy.

He is her nephew.

She is my mother-in-law.

He is my husband.

He is my brother. The Marine currently in Afghanistan.

She is me.

Happy Veteran's Day to all the heroes.

Past, Present, and Future.

Wordless Wednesday

Guess who has their first tooth?

I know. I can't believe it either.

Weekend Recap~A Baby Shower

I have a friend who has 2 boys. One is 12 and the other is 9. She is now pregnant with a little girl.
My hubby is friends with her hubby. This is the only couple we have in common.

This may be weird to some of you but most of my husband’s friends are single and most of my friends, well, I don’t have any other friends in the area.

So when my friend was around 5 mths pregnant, I asked her if anyone was throwing her a baby shower.

That is how I became the host of her baby shower on Saturday.

I had everything planned out but being the perfect procrastinator that I am, I still had tons to do.

Friday I left work a little early and headed to the store. I had to buy food and drinks for the party.

Once I got back home, I recruited Lael to help me put the gift boxes together.

I rewarded her with candy. She easy like that.

Saturday was a marathon.

It was the Super Sonics last soccer game.

It was also in the 30s.

We froze but we won.

Lael didn’t score a goal but played good defense.

After the game we walked across the field and the kids were given cupcakes and their trophies.

It was the ghettoest awards ceremony I’ve ever seen.

Usually we have a big ceremony at the youth center with all of the teams and we have pizza and cake.

(Apparently now that the Navy has taken over our base things are done differently.)

After the “ceremony” we headed back home but not before stopping at a community yard sale.

I scored brand new baby walking shoes for $2 and a few brand new baby toys for Kobi. Lael was able to get some stick thing for free.

We then made it home where I proceeded to make lasagna, green beans, fruit salad and Carlota’s Perfect Punch minus a few things.

Me and Lael gathered all of our games and headed down the street to set up.

The baby shower was a success.

We played “Guess What’s In The Diaper” and “Dress the Baby (with a partner using 1 hand each)”.

Fun was had by all.

I didn’t get out of there until after 8pm.

I went home and collapsed in bed.

I woke up yesterday with the mother of all headaches.

That was an excuse for me to stay in my pjs and on the couch catching up on my DVR.

I’m thankful that this is a short week, though I’m a little disappointed that the holiday in on a Thursday rather than Friday.

I mean what’s the point?

Happy Monday

Creepy Guy

I originally planned to write a post about how tired I am, but then realized no one cares.

Instead I’m going to tell you about a phone call I just got.

So in the Air Force we have to have an annual physical. It’s called a PHA (Physical Health Assessment).

You make an appointment and when you get there they make you fill out a bunch of forms. You give some blood to be used for standard tests and then they send you on your way until the next year.

I am due for my PHA.

I received and email saying that I qualified to take my PHA online.

I can only imagine that means that I’m healthy enough that I don’t actually have to go in to see a doctor.

So I proceed with logging on the website and filling out the questionnaire.

I asked if I drink regularly. If I have thoughts of suicide. If I eat healthy and exercise.

You know, the usual.

So I finish up and it says to send an email to a particular address when complete.

So I did.

I get an email back saying that I will be contacted by someone.

That was last month.

Then I get a phone call at my desk this morning.

I’m a little freaked out because there is this creepy guy on the other end asking for me.

When I say creepy I mean his voice sounded like he was a smoker, who had just rolled out of bed, robbed a bank, and was using me as his one call from jail.

I had already answered the phone with my last name so I can’t pretend it’s not me.

Apparently he was from the clinic and wanted to know if I had a few minutes to answer a few questions.

As much as I wanted to scream and throw the phone, I said yes.

The first thing he asked for was my social. Ugh.

I gave it to him. I mean shit, if he can get any type of credit by taking my social, I’d have a heart attack.

So then he asks me when the last time I had an HIV test.

Um? Not sure.

Most likely when I was pregnant and they took so much blood it makes you queasy.

But the thing that worried me is if he pulled up my file with my social, why couldn’t he see all of this information?

So he says that he put in a ticket for me to go to the Lab to have blood taken and that I need to fast for 12 hrs before.

Ok. I can do that.

He then schedules me for an appointment with my doctor.

On November 11th.

I’m not genius but isn’t that Veteran’s Day?

So let me get this straight.

I have a military clinic trying to schedule a military person for an appointment of an Federal Holdiay honoring military?

What’s wrong with this picture?

Needless to say, I pointed that out and he scheduled me for the 12th.

Creepy idiot.

Wordless Wednesday

Scenes From The Weekend:

The Halloween Ball

The Birthday Party

Halloween Night

His Story

I am surrounded by other mothers on a daily basis.

Every one of us has our own story.

Some of us have had it easy.

The fairytale story. Great family, great schools, college, marriage, kids, etc.

Not necessarily in that order.

Some of us have had a more bumpy road.

When I sit on the sidelines at soccer with the other moms I sometimes wonder what happened in each of their lives.

Lives that landed us in the same place at the same time.

I look at the one little boy who can sometimes be OUT OF CONTROL but his parents love him some terrible. I look at them. An older couple.

The lady petite and quiet. The husband large and loud.

They seem so opposite yet so happy. What’s their story I wonder.

There’s the one little blonde girl who is clueless on the field. Her mother doesn’t yell from the sidelines for her to “kick the damn ball already”, but instead has her water bottle ready when it’s break time. She gives her a big hug and tells her how she’s doing such a great job.

Then there the brother and sister. Lael has taken to the sister. They were in Cheerleading together so they are like magnets to one another.

But the brother. There is something a little different about him.

He’s quieter than the others. He runs a little different.

I talk to the mom at every practice but I don’t dare ask.

But yesterday she shared her story with me.

Her story of how her precious baby was born when she had already had a 1 and 3 year old. How she couldn’t get her baby to eat.

How her baby threw up lime green. Stomach acid.

Her baby slept all day.

She took him in at 3 weeks and tried to have her committed for abuse.

They soon learned that her precious boy was allergic to food. Her milk. Formula.

He pretty much starved for the first 6 weeks of his life.

Until they figure it out.

Because of that he has complications.

Things that will be with him always.

My heart hurt for this mom. But I was also proud of her.

Even though he ran with a limp, she didn’t exclude him.

The kids tend to back off when he has the ball, to give him a chance.

I noticed the coach held Lael back yesterday when her boy had the ball.

I didn’t mind.

I knew there was something special about this little boy.

And now I know why we all cheer just a little bit louder when he scores a goal.

Because this is part of his story.

Weekend Recap~Birthday/Halloween Edition

It’s Monday and I am exhausted. I got no rest this weekend. Big surprise.

I took off of work Thursday and Friday so I started my weekend early.

Thursday I got up and headed to Lael’s school. We went on a field trip to a local bookstore where a children’s book author came to read a few of his bat books to them.

After the trip we headed back to the school where Lael shared cupcakes with all her friends to celebrate her birthday.

Friday (Lael’s actual birthday) we got up early for a 7am dentist appointment. I know. I’m an AWESOME mother. Hey, she was out of school that day so I had to take advantage of it.

The original plan was for her to get sealants on her molars. However, after she gagged a few times while they were trying to get x-rays, they decided a cleaning and flouride would do it for the day.

Later that evening we headed to Lael's school for the Annual Halloween Ball. Oh the cute. I mean, come on. It was almost too much for me to handle. And you wouldn’t believe the squeals that I heard when the DJ played Justin Beiber’s “Baby”. Hilarious.

Saturday morning we got up early again and headed to Lael’s soccer game. Her games were usually at 10 but this one was at 9. I don’t know if it was because of the time change or the fact that it was only 40 degrees out but the kids sucked. I mean we kick ass in every game but they sucked bad.

Lael got a bloody lip in the first 10 mins and hit in the eye with the ball in the last 10. And the 20 in between were just horrible. The kids couldn’t wait for their turn to be benched so they could put their coats back on.

Right after the game we headed home to get ready for Lael’s costume bowling party. Fun. Fun. I’m so tired, but oh the Fun! The kids bowled, told scary stories, ate pizza and cake and I sent their cute little asses home.

Grandma took the girls with her after the party so me, hubby and Kobi went home and crashed.

Yesterday I woke up and ate leftover cake for breakfast. It was really that kind of weekend.

I headed out to the store with a friend to get some baby shower decorations. We spend most of our time driving around letting the GPS get us lost and then being stuck in traffic.

By the time we got home, there was just enough time to get Lael to Burger King, come home to eat it and get ready for Trick or Treating.

I got Kobi and her ready and we were out. It was freezing! Wind and all. After about an hour and a half we called it quits.

We were home by 7:30 and I had Lael in the bed with teeth brushed by 9. And then she was up crying about ghost at 9:30. And then she was up again at 10:30. And again at 11.

And here I sit at my computer at work. Just glad to be sitting.

Happy Monday!