2007 Vacation-Corpus Christi

The largest sand castle??? Shark!!!!

The crew chillin' at the beach....or would that be fryin'? A stretch of Padre Island......... So how many sharks do you think are actually out there? Sand. It does your body good. Mmmmm.................... Our first time, ever, at the beach. The first look of wonderment.............. Workin' for their lunch.One of Columbus' ships......
I wonder if my head will fit in its mouth? Dawn's early light, an image from our hotel room...........

USS Lexington:

2007 Vacation-San Antonio, before Corpus Christi

Sorry no pictures from Schlitterbahn.....didn't want to ruin the camera. It's a waterpark ya know!

SeaWorld San Antonio:

Six Flags Fiesta Texas:

At the end........Lauren was pooped!

Believe it!~(Japanese, "Dattebayo")

I haven't posted in a while and thought I would discuss the new joy in my life. Anime and Manga of Naruto!

The family and I have been watching Naruto marathons trying to catch up with the Japanese. We Americans and other nations are almost 4 years behind them. Cartoon Network, if they keep Naruto going, can't catch up fast enough. Then the manga (Japanese comics) is over 150 chapters ahead of the Japanese anime...so that makes other nations...what?....okay, more than that!

So now, after finally catching up this weekend (and waiting for the next Japanese episode), I've found free online manga to catch up with that. Gosh, how I love this.

Some, I know, think I'm weird. Geez, I'll be 36 next month and have this weird fascination to a cartoon. I know, I know. But hey, I know a few adult females who have weird fascinations for World of Warcraft and Halo!! LOL! Oh, yes! I could name some names but won't. LOL!

So why do I love this cartoon that once annoyed me to no end. I thought it was one of those stupid raunchy, idiotic ones that Cartoon Network is known for. But no. I watched every Saturday evening with the boys and accidently got caught up. Then every Saturday I was excited, elated for 8pm to roll around. And would be quietly depressed if it was missed (rarely, I might add).

Then one day, I discovered that there were more episodes...but not shown here yet. What? No!!! And then found out that CN was 4 years behind. I had THAT many episodes to watch? Trust me. Overjoyed is a very low-key term here.

So here I am.....almost 2 weeks and most of my days filled with online Japanese, English-subbed episodes of Naruto. And my heart breaks because we have to wait now for the next episode to air in Japan and then wait for it to be subbed in English. Ho-hum.......

So manga keeps me company. Back to reading............

But wait! I digressed. Why do I love this Japanese anime? It's a true to life story. The bonds we create as children. Our characters that form from very different lives. Friendship. Love. Hate. Lots of comedy. But, in the end, too never give up our dreams and hopes. Teamwork is the key. Too never go it alone. Never give up. Too fight for what is most cherished to you (your friends and family). And, most of all....revenge will never give you peace, but only sorrow and loss.

As Naruto would say........"I won't run away anymore... I won't go back on my word... that is my ninja way!"

"Dattebayo"....Believe it!!

A Tarot Card

You are The Lovers

Motive, power, and action, arising from Inspiration and Impulse.

The Lovers represents intuition and inspiration. Very often a choice needs to be made.

Originally, this card was called just LOVE. And that's actually more apt than "Lovers." Love follows in this sequence of growth and maturity. And, coming after the Emperor, who is about control, it is a radical change in perspective. LOVE is a force that makes you choose and decide for reasons you often can't understand; it makes you surrender control to a higher power. And that is what this card is all about. Finding something or someone who is so much a part of yourself, so perfectly attuned to you and you to them, that you cannot, dare not resist. This card indicates that the you have or will come across a person, career, challenge or thing that you will fall in love with. You will know instinctively that you must have this, even if it means diverging from your chosen path. No matter the difficulties, without it you will never be complete.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

All mushy inside.........

Take the test at planetzot.com!

Not funny.........

Okay, maybe a little............

About FREAKING Time!!!!

Sunni Revolt Against Al-Qaida Spreads

Any body else happy that THEY are finally getting off their asses and taking care of their own problems? Maybe the fear of US (we the United States of freaking America) leaving their land has them realizing that "Hey, we can't veg on our dilapidated couches and eat our kibab while the foreigners kill the terrorists for the rest of our lives!"

'Bout time.

He's almost home..................

.......from Ft. Eustis, VA!

TAKS Alert

Eric passed!!!!

So that means.....we are going on vacation!!

Mother Neff State Park, Spring 2007

There she goes.........

While we wait to eat............

A hiking we did go.....
LEAVE NO TRACE BEHIND!

Flag Retirement Ceremony

Offstage

Friday night at Harker Heights High School.............

Take the picture please. I have a sister to annoy!

Hmm? To sing or not to sing, that is the question.........

If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops....Oh, what a rain that would be! Standing outside with my mouth open wide.......

Aagh-aagh,aagh, aagh-aagh, aagh, aagh-aagh, aagh, aagh!

Yeah, that's me. Uglier than ever.

Onstage

First chair....AGAIN!
Looking pretty spiffy...............

Caught tunin' up................

A wandering she did go............

As usual, Lauren is NOT wanting to take a nap. For a few weeks now she has been posting nap "strikes." So I decide to take her outside in the backyard. Burn some energy ya know.

We have a chain link fence. She's outside playing. I'm outside with her trying to decide what to do. So I decide to get some weed killer and start spraying weeds. Got that done. Then threw the empty bottle away. I go inside and grab this new garden hose reel I just bought. Went back outside and Lauren is still playing (digging in the dirt.) So here I am attaching the hoses together so this thing will wind up our extra long garden hose.

I'm so into what I'm doing I don't hear my chain link fence's gate open. She is so sneaky and gifted to do that with out even a "klink" when the metal hits metal. As I turn around, when I'm done (took me maybe 2 minutes), my dog is gone and so is Lauren. I notice the gate is open. I run out the gate hollering Lauren's name. At that same moment, I could give a rat's "you know what" about Daisy. Lauren is NO WHERE!

I'm screaming her name. Most of my neighbor's aren't home but at work. I'm screaming and screaming. I go to one neighbor's house, older gentleman (who I woke up from sheer fear), and tell him what is going on and he says he'll help me. So as I am running up and down the street, mind you we are surrounded by a wooded area and a heavily traveled road (a farm road that nobody seems to follow the speed limit on) that my street connects too, and I'm going nuts. Daisy appears out of nowhere. Of course, she is no use. Heidi would have tracked Lauren down....Daisy isn't that smart. Well, this man (redneck for sure) has her on his hip while holding a little boy (obviously his) and is bringing her around the corner. He said he heard me screaming and deduced that this little girl must belong to the voice that is screaming hysterically. CORRECT assumption dude! I, at that point, broke down in tears and hysterics. And the older gentleman I woke up, had just walked outside from his house. I woke him up for nothing. I was soooo sorry and thanked him generously.

I brought her back inside and then realized I still hadn't caught Daisy. LOL! I wasn't exactly in any hurry to catch her at that time. But, yes, Daisy has been caught and is in the back yard which now has locks on both gate doors for neither to escape from.

Lauren is right now on the living room table dancing, hoping her moves will earn her a cinnamon teddy graham. And my new coffee has just arrived by UPS, just in time to settle my nerves that just went through havoc.

Military Spouses Day~May 11

Among the MANY things you have been asked/expected/encouraged to do as a military spouse, you have followed…

followed the mailman to inquire on your forwarded mail;

followed the school bus to be sure your son got to his new school with ease;

followed a neighbor, secretly, to find out where the Post Office/PX/Self-Help is;

followed the directions on your new self-cleaning oven that doesn’t/won’t;

followed your soldier to the ends of the earth and back, on orders and out of a lasting love.



You have packed…

packed with a day’s notice for a move that wasn’t scheduled for weeks to find your things wouldn’t arrive for months;

packed lunches for children who weren’t convinced this new school was really going to be so great;

packed cookies you baked late, late at night to get to the Unit, to get to the Field, to get to your hero who always favored your oatmeal raisins;

packed your wedding album in an old worn towel, then wrapped in an old worn blanket, to preserve the pictures of the dress you’d worm that day you become Mrs..



You have allowed…

allowed another’s future to shape your present, and your life;

allowed the stairwell neighbor to use the washer first, despite how late you’d be up and down the stairs to get your turn at laundry chores;

allowed those lonely single soldiers a special memory when you opened your door to them at the Holidays;

allowed your soldier to believe in himself which allowed him to remain successful.



You have supported…

supported Bake Sales when your own family hadn’t seen a homemade brownie in months;

supported the young wife next door when a field problem turned into a nightmare of loneliness;

supported your soldier when you’d rather have gone back home, realizing you already were;;

supported your Country even though they’ll never understand the sacrifices that included;

supported the man you love, the marriage you’ve created and the Army you’ve now both committed to.



You have cherished…

cherished moments and memories from Units, countries, ceremonies and isolated assignments;

cherished the melodies of our National Anthem while on foreign soil far from home;

cherished your children even in moments when you were asked to do it all for them on your own;

cherished the time you have together, no matter how little that often was;

cherished the women the Army has offered to you to be your mentors, friends and sisters ! those precious spouses of your husband’s comrades.



You have discovered…

discovered that you can do more than you ever believed you were capable of;

discovered that when he leaves for the field, every household item senses the same and decidedly breaks down;

discovered people and friendships you might never have ever known had you not boarded that plane and left that comfort zone;

discovered that absence really DOES make the heart grow fonder, and fonder;

discovered how many meals you can stretch out of a pound of meat before payday finally rolls around.


You have given…

given of yourself, time and time again;

given advice freely whether or not it was needed;

given your mother’s recipe as your own to save the Unit cookbook;

given your last can of cream soup even though you KNEW the commissary would be out of it when you went again;

given your love to a man who looks so good in BDU’s;

given your heart to a man who stands for all this is good and honest and respectful in mankind.



You have hung…

hung curtains in more windows over time than the grandest castle might have;

hung on to your sanity by a fragile thread as the deployment wore on and on;

hung around with folks who brought joy into your life and memories into your soul ~ “Army folks”.

hung onto him with all your might, as if a long hard hug would delay a goodbye;

hung every plaque from every job he’s ever had on the wall that you’d wished held a painting;

hung the For Sale sign in from of the house you thought you’d live n forever.



The MILITARY SPOUSE – who deserves this special day of his/her own.

The Sweetest Things............

.......are sometimes those that are unexpected. Are not always an "I Love You." Are like a warm, cozy blanket on a cold, blustery day.

Bobby and I got into an argument over the phone. I won't go into the gist of it but I felt jealous and hurt at the same time. He knew it. By the end of the phone call, I was still upset but there wasn't any heated discussion involved anymore. I was drained of trying to make my point so I just shut up. It might of sounded like the silent treatment but it was better than beating my head up against his "brick wall." And I was just plain tired of arguing. There wasn't a reason anymore.

We hung up. I was still hurt. He was still hurt.

Hours later he called back. I had no clue what he wanted since the last phone call.

He said, after the hello's, "I'm sorry." That was all I needed. I went to bed feeling like a giddy teenager....all mushy inside.

Thank you!

I love you, too!