Saturday, October 31, 2009

Boo!

Happy Halloween! Check out this website for some fun food for tonight! Mummy Hot Dogs, Watermelon Brains, etc. Maybe the kids will eat dinner if you make it spooky??

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/hot-dog-mummies-715031/

Friday, October 30, 2009

Cabbage Night...

Long, long ago, in a land far, far away, October 30Th was known to all in the area as "Cabbage Night". Children of all ages, good ones and bad ones, big ones and little ones, received a pass, so to speak, to TP, chalk, egg, onion, flour, apply shaving cream and get all wild and crazy in the neighborhood.

We would wait until dark and let loose on our own houses and those we knew expected it and didn't care. Stores stopped selling eggs to minors in the days leading up to the main event. Pumpkins were brought inside for the evening, so they wouldn't be smashed in the street, (there were always trouble makers.)

The next morning, Halloween, one could see the damage...the entire town decked out in toilet paper, dried shaving cream sprayed on trees, cars and houses and anything that would stand still, contra ban eggs dripping down the aluminum siding of many houses and chalk outlines of the kids that did the deeds. This was the perfect backdrop for trick or treating, which by the way, began immediately after school or if it was a weekend, as soon as breakfast was over and continued until late in the evening.

I have to say it was a blast...and I NEVER saw a cabbage on Cabbage Night.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Question...

What do you do when your two year old refuses to change out of her "new" Cinderella nightgown, and to show her discontent, screams like she's on the receiving end in the vaccination clinic...for all vaccines at once?

Answer: Let her wear the *&@#$%! Cinderella nightgown over her regular clothes, out on the town and if anyone dares to comment, hand her over to them.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Back to Normal?

I mean, are we? Life seems like it's going in that direction. Paul has been home for a little over a week now. He had to go to work everyday last week, then like all the other Marines that returned, he had a "96"...a 4 day weekend. How did we spend that time? Aren't you just a little curious???

We went to 2 soccer games on Saturday, ran a bunch of errands after that, I cooked...a huge dinner, we had our neighbors over for dessert. Oh, did I mention it was my birthday and I did receive a lovely gift, which I'll "post" about at a later date.

On Sunday, I worked the dayshift, came home to football on TV and kids trying to get ready for school the next day...when I finally sat down to enjoy my regular scoop of cookie dough and glass of wine, someone else also took a scoop of dough!!!! I believe I mentioned in a previous post that I don't like sharing this little indulgence.

Monday and Tuesday prooved to be 2 more days of running errands, taking 2 cars in for service and house cleaning with a touch of laundry.

I guess things are back to normal...

Friday, October 23, 2009

Oooh-Rahhh!

Best of luck to all of our friends headed up to D.C. to participate in the Marine Corps Marathon this Sunday! Remember...Motrin and bananas.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Adjusting...

The adjustment period is never what you planned in your head...there are always expectations of how you want things to be and how things actually are. We have our separate routines and need to mesh them again. This is exacerbated by the fact that he's been at work everyday this week, and will need to go back tonight to see some of his Marines off to Afghanistan...ON POTTERY NIGHT!

Everything is actually great. We always adjust well after a deployment because we know there's going to be an adjustment, on both sides. I'm more than happy to hand over the checkbook and bill paying responsibilities, (gets me a little closer to my dream of being a "kept woman"), and he's more than happy to help with the kids and house, etc.

Now, if I could just get him to remember which way the hangers face in the closets, all would be perfect.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Yep...Typical Julie...

Well, it's a good thing Paul is home. This morning I went to the gym as usual, today was a killer workout called, "The Filthy Fifty"...I won't go into it, but needless to say, I'm dead. When I arrived at the gym, I put my keys, sunglasses and cell phone in the usual place, on the window ledge. After I finished, I collected my things, minus the keys. Yes, I was a little delirious from the obvious, but NO KEYS. I checked all of the places I had been, the ladies room, the weight room and the front desk. I had the entire staff ripping apart the YMCA looking for my car keys. After 40 minutes, I finally had to make the dreaded call to Paul to rescue me.

We called Ford, had the truck towed and $250 later, 2 new sets of keys. (Paul lost his keys over a year ago and we never replaced it).

Monday, October 19, 2009

At Last...





Waiting to Exhale...photos

The photos below are from yesterday. I just want to say that we have the absolute best neighbors in the world! They made giant yellow bows to put on all of the mailboxes on the THREE streets that surround us; purchased patriotic balloons and also placed them on the mailboxes, created signs to be put up around the neighborhood, and here's the best part...we moved to this house when Paul was away, so they NEVER EVEN MET HIM!




Sunday, October 18, 2009

TODAY!!!!

He'll be home today...

and of course, my 2 little ones have colds. I'm poppin' vitamin C like tic-tacs.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

The Preparation...

I'm taking a break from my marathon cleaning...I don't even know why I'm bothering to clean. Will he actually notice or care? Probably not. He just wants to be HOME.

It's times like this that I wonder why I let the cleaning lady go. Maybe I could have shown her exactly what I meant by, "I want the baseboards, blinds, and cabinets cleaned every time you come." Oh, and, "Oh, no...please stop mopping. You must first vacuum up the dirt, then mop." Yeesh. Oh and one more, this was good, "No, no, we only use that to clean the inside of the toilets." (It took me a day or so to figure that one out)...Why was there blue scrubbie marks on all of the toilet seats and tanks?

Seriously, I want someone to clean my house that has my philosophy of "clean". (Only a few know it and it's difficult to match.) Clean to me is DIRT-FREE and disinfected. Remember, I have four kids and they in turn, have a lot of stuff that gets left out quite often. I don't mind that so much, as long as it's "clean" underneath the stuff. There's nothing like walking into your house after a busy day, to be greeted with an overwhelming smell of Pine-Sol, Ajax, Pledge and Windex...ahhhh!

Less than 24 hours!!!(I hope).

For You Babe...

Friday, October 16, 2009

Thursday, October 15, 2009

The Hardest Part...

Since the embedding was disabled by the owners...stupid copyright laws!...you'll actually have to click the link to see.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLCJEYLIBQY

Caveman Days...

My microwave is not working!!!! The other morning I went to zap Charlotte's frozen mini-pancakes when the microwave started making strange noises and smelled like something was burning...YIKES! Under the risk of a nuclear meltdown, I opened it up to check for "un-microwavable trinkets", i.e., My Pretty Pony, that may have accidentally been thrown into it. All clear, "a go" for zapping! So I tried again and got the same results.

For the last couple of days I've actually had to MAKE pancakes, prepare actual veggies...in a pot, and turn on the oven to reheat stuff. It's like I'm back in the first part of the last century...practically the days of the caveman! I was supposed to have a couple of more days reprieve from actually cooking!

And to think, for the first 6 months of our marriage, I refused to get a microwave!

FOUR DAYS!!!!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

For Abbie...My "Tinman" of Steel

This was going to be her solo lyrical piece...

A Day of Rest...

Yep...We're taking it very literally. We're home, relaxing, catching up around the house, napping, planning a wonderful dinner, etc. We lounged around ALL morning, we even skipped Mass...(since Sunday School was cancelled for the holiday weekend!)

Oh, no...I'm sure lightening will strike! But sometimes, you just need to not HAVE to be anywhere. (I'm sure I'll get an earful later).

I dare say, it makes me yearn for my younger Sundays of jammies all day, the Sunday Times...just to peruse the book review and the ads (liberal rag), a trough of strong coffee, melt-in-your-mouth chocolates and absolutely no guilt.

Grosser than Gross...

Question: What's grosser than gross?...

Answer: Thinking your newly groomed and beautified Shih Tzu puppy is chewing on a child's toy and upon closer examination you see that it's actually a dead tree frog missing a limb! AHHHHH!!!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Mother Nature's Sense of Humor...

For weeks my oldest daughter has been rehearsing and practicing to dance as the Tin Man in her ballet company's production of The Wizard of Oz for Mumfest. An annual weekend long, glorified street fair in downtown New Bern. Today was the only scheduled performance. Make-up was applied, hair was in place, props were moved to the venue, a special dance floor was put down to dance upon. The music was cued and the Heavens...opened up. They delayed a little bit and when it seemed to have stopped raining, towels were brought out to dry the floor and a leaf blower helped. Miss Laura decided it was too dangerous to dance on Pointe, so ballet slippers were now the footwear of choice and the dancers would modify their dances. Once again the heavens opened up just as the first song began to play...and steadily became heavier with every passing note and step. After the second dancer nearly fell, it was decided that it was not suitable to perform and the show was cancelled.

...and of course this was one of those days when you look at the umbrella in the garage and say, "ah, I won't need it." ...and you also park 1/2 mile away from the dance venue, thinking the entire time, maybe I should have tried to park closer in case it rains...and you also think to yourself, as you're letting your 2 small children down a LARGE lemonade and noticing that the cup is now empty, I wonder if there are any bathrooms around? You betcha.

Yeah!

After a crazy week of a zillion different activities, today I woke up to an email from Paul. It said, "C U next Sunday"!

Woo-Hoo!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

The Silent Joys of Deployment...

My nightly routine...a GIANT spoonful of pre-made cookie dough and a modest glass of wine...to be enjoyed when most of the kids are in bed.

...and the best part is, I don't have to share.

Home in Less Than 2 Weeks!!! (How could that be?)

Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009

It has been 266 days...

8 months, 23 days...

266 days...

22,982,400 seconds

383,040 minutes

6384 hours

38 weeks

I'm tired.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Fall Recipe...

Since it's October, I thought I'd post a recipe courtesy of my mother-in-law. My kids love it and it just screams Autumn! Enjoy.

Pumpkin Bars

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup applesauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
4 eggs
1 can (15 1/2 oz) plain pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 11x17 cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Mix all ingredients until well combined and spread onto cookie sheet. Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened
8 oz butter, softened
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
1-2 Tablespoons milk

With electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until well combined, gradually add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla mix well. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and mix well...see if a second tablespoon is needed. Spread on pumpkin bars and cut into squares. Keep refrigerated.

Happy October!!!!

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!
18 Days.