Rainy weather

Well today's another gray day. Our meteorologist (aka: our foxhound, Heidi), went crazy scratching on the back door, came inside, and curled up on the couch about ten minutes before the rain started. It's uncanny how animals do that.

Callie had a bad day today. She was hitting everyone and even whacked John in the face with a book. She went to bed early...it was that or the option of a spanking, so she went to her bed.

Logan seems to be able to get into his classes now. I hope it stays that way; his situation was stressing him out and when he is stressed on the boat, he can be a real jerk when he comes home. So I hope he gets it all straightened out before he comes home.

I think tonight I'll turn in early. I've finished all my homework except one assignment I had a question on, and my professor has yet to write back, so I think I will actually go to bed before eleven tonight!

Wishing for everything to fall into place

I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll be able to get everything done that I need to get done. I need to pick up my letter of recommendation, my official transcript, and somehow get it to ODU before the end of this week. I really hope it all works out...once I've gotten it in my mind, it will be so disappointing if it all falls through.

Tonight I fed dinner to four children. The boys' dad worked late, and Janet dropped her son off so she could go to school tonight. So I did the only thing I knew from my parents....I made a casserole! Chicken, cream of mushroom soup, and some veggies...it was delicious and the kids wolfed it down! It was cheaper than nuggets or corndogs or anything like that, and the veggies in it made it a lot healthier.

Anyway, I'm going to do some of my homework for this week and then hit the hay at a reasonable hour, for a chance.

FINALLY going to bed...

I'm so exhausted. I had to finish up my schoolwork, finish cleaning the house, and fold all the laundry. A Navy wife's job is never done! I'm going to have to find someone to cut the grass soon or I may get a notice from the city, and that will be so embarassing! I would do it myself but I don't feel comfortable leaving the kids in the house alone long enough...maybe during a nap? But then the lawnmower may wake them up... maybe I'll ask the neighbors to help me out.

I can't even think straight I'm so tired. Logan's having a hard time still, so I just keep praying for strength for him and to maintain his composure and keep his head up and be the better person. God will take care of him as He takes care of us at home every day. I'm delirious now, so I'm going to get a couple of hours of sleep before the Leach kids get here in the morning.

Running my butt off...

Whew! What a day! Callie had her trial class at The Little Gym, which is wonderful; unfortunately, it costs way too much...there's no way we can afford it. So we looked into the YMCA, and their family memberships cost less per month than Callie's membership at The Little Gym would have. So after we left, both she and I were worn out, so we went home and all took a nap on the couch, Callie on my left and John on my right. So after we woke up we went on our afternoon walk downtown...we talked to our favorite coffeehouse owners and they gave us some bananas for Callie (since she told them she's a monkey)...then strolled down to the market, sampled some wonderful Shiraz and got some garlic-rubbed pork chops...then we walked over to the mall and strolled around...so by the time we got home, Callie was worn out again so she took a nice nap. Then we went and got some envelopes to mail their pictures to all the relatives.


Sometimes it feels like I'm moving on autopilot when Logan's not here....just going through the motions until he comes home. I just can't wait for him to be home, although it's only going to be for about five days and then he's gone again. He's having some problems on the ship again, so I'm saying extra prayers for him to help deal with the negative people and all the problems he's going through.

Winding down...

I'm so glad it's Friday! Another day closer to the day Logan comes home, and another day closer to when my parents are coming!!

John is sick today; he finally succumbed to the teething and is resting after attempting to stay awake all day yesterday. His second tooth is coming in, and he's got a slight fever, poor thing. I know he can't feel great at all. So I gave him a dose of Mortine, a frozen teething ring, a bottle, and some toys and he's in his crib on his Boppy alternately resting and playing quietly while gnawing on his teether.

Tomorrow Callie has a trial class at The Little Gym in Chespeake...I can't wait! I'm sure she's going to have a blast. Even if we can't afford it, she'll at least have fun tomorrow. I'm working so hard to finish all my schoolwork so I can just enjoy the weekend with my kids and not have to be glued to the computer the whole time.

Waiting on this debate tonight...that should be awesome!

The $700B Bailout...

I'm watching John McCain right now. This whole bailout plan is scaring me. I'm no market expert, nor am I an expert in political science. But what it sounds like on the surface is we're handing the US Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, $700 billion dollars of our money, and he has said that he cannot be regulated nor investigated by any agency, including government agencies. That seems incredibly fishy to me.

I don't know what they're going to do, but I just don't see how our market is going to pull out of this without us going into a drastic recession before it all starts moving back upwards. Thank goodness Logan and I didn't sink too much of our money into stocks; right now we've got savings bonds and savings. But the bad part is that all the American people are calling their senators and representatives voicing a LOUD protest against this bailout, but it appears that it may still pass! I think the days of of America being a true democracy centered around the voice of the people are long gone. If the people were the deciding factor here, the bailout would have already been flat out denied or restructured drastically.

I'm looking for Barack Obama... I want to support him, but when he's mysteriously missing on this particular day when the news channels are filled with John McCain and his speeches, it's difficult to blindly side with a man who doesn't have a voice during a crisis. I'm hoping to hear something from him soon. And I'm hoping his words will voice my opinion: that the government has no place meddling in financial affairs. We are "free market", in good times and in bad. Should the government get entangled with mortgage companies and other businesses, would that not inherently corrupt the government? What is the root of all evil? All together now....money. It's scary to think about the government taking $700 BILLION and doing with it as they wish, unchecked.

Until the past couple of weeks, this presidential debate was undoubtedly important because of the war in Iraq and the weak economy. Now, we see the urgency in the next couple of months as we observe the actions of these two candidates and wait for the outcome of this situation. Like I said, I've been leaning towards Obama, but now I'm wavering. This morning, John McCain looked fresh, well-rested, and calm. Obama looked like he slept in his suit, appeared perhaps unshaven, and looked exhausted. But then again, that could be McCain's lengthy political grooming and training in public speaking. It's so hard to watch them on TV and try to deduct from a prepared speech what their character is, what their intentions are, and how much you can trust them.

There is also a mild fuel shortage, caused by the pipelines being shut off in Texas during Hurricane Ike. Now that they're just beginning to rehab the area, the pipelines are still shut off and will be restored soon, but until then, there isn't enough fuel. I saw two gas stations yesterday on my way to pick up Austin that had bags over the pumps. I think I'll fill up today, just in case.

This is an unprecedented time. We have men and women fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan as we speak, yet our elected officials are busy trying to save our financial butts. I'm worried about what this will do to our already financially-strained troops on the grounds. I pray that they're safe and remain that way. I'm thankful that Logan is only on a work-up and will be home soon. I still miss him, but I know he's safe. I feel secure in our financial standing, also, as we are almost out from under our credit card debts and are paying in down in large amounts and will soon be free from large debt (other than our mortgage, of course). Thank goodness we aren't one of those families that got a mortgage they could not afford. We can comfortably afford our home, and though it's small and modest, it's clean and cozy and most importantly, we aren't defaulting on our loan...we can easily afford the payment so we can also feed our family healthy, fresh foods and dress them warmly. I feel sorry for friends of ours who wanted a huge home and got it, and are now struggling very much to make ends meet.

I hope everyone in this nation makes it through this time without poverty, without children going hungry or cold, and that our next President can make the changes needed to turn this nation back into the prosperous great nation we should be!

Beached whale

So today I'm feeling like a beached whale...lol. I finally dragged the scale out from where Logan hid it in the bathroom and stepped on it, first looking over and examining the wallpaper before finally gathering the courage to look down. And sigh. And step off, remove my feather-weight ballet flats, and step back on. And sigh. And put the scale back where Logan hid it.

Ever since the assistant I had coming for my gym time quit, I've been so irritated at trying to find a replacement I could just scream. I have someone who comes now for the time I pick Austin up from school, but I don't have time before or after to go to the gym. I had taken the Taebo DVD's I have out of the garage, and now I can't find them...and I've been looking for weeks. At least I would be able to get a decent workout at home doing those. With the price of the DVD's I had being over fifty dollars, I can't afford to get some more right now, and I've had so many disappointments with other types of cheaper fitness tapes I'm reluctant to waste any more cash on them.

I bought Leg Magic and used it daily for a few weeks. Although I did see a difference in my thighs, after so much use my back began to hurt even more than the usual daily ache. Perhaps if I could alter the machine to jack one leg slightly higher than the other (like I'm built) then it would work perfectly.

Anyway, Callie's extradordinarly..."active" today. ("Active" is the nice Mommy-word for annoying). I love having a two year old :). Gotta run!

I love fall, but I hate the drag...

Yes, I'm writing in Gamecock garnet...

Anyway, I love fall. I love football, I love sweaters, and I love getting warm coffee instead of iced. Iced coffee is something I merely tolerate during warm months but I much prefer the cardboard-sleeve-over-paper-cup warm lattes of fall. But I hate the inevitable "drag" that comes with the first few weeks of cooler weather. Like your body has some sort of breakdown just because ten-twenty degrees are knocked off. Sniffles, coughing...the whole family has it and it's a drag. So we call it the Fall Drag. After it's over, life is wonderful. Then we can enjoy the crispy leaves on the front walk, the warm dinners (I love to make homemade soup and bread....nothing better, I swear), and the holidays.

Halloween is my husband's favorite. He LOVES decorating the front yard; he turns into a big child about it. There has to be stringy cotton "cobwebs" across the bushes and plants, headstones with RIP planted in our lawn, and, of course, two or three quality carved pumpkins. Last year I opted for the traditional jack-o-lantern face...

I find its simplicity comforting and I like traditional things anyway. Logan, however, got one of those carving patterns, and it turned out REALLY well, better than I thought it would.

So I can't wait for Halloween this year. Callie is going to be a monkey (anyone who knows her is not surprised at all...she loves monkeys). I just thank GOD she likes monkeys and sort of oddball stuff and she's not obsessed with Hannah Montana/Bratz/ crap like that. I hate, HATE stuff like that and I'm so glad she's chosen to be her own person and develop a unique personality instead of being a cookie-cutter "girl" toddler. She loves sports, running, playing in dirt, being outside, and when she does have a baby doll, she's finding different ways to stuff the doll into small crevices in our home, like under the couch. But above all, she loves being read to and looking at books. She has probably over a hundred books around our home (thanks in large part to my parents, who send care packages full of books every few months), and she will sit and just look at books for ages, then bring them to you to decipher the heiroglyphics we call English.

John's really getting big. His ears are enormous and stick out just so from his head...it's absolutely adorable in that awkward way:

I wish we could do more things with him. Money's so tight lately....there's a Little Gym here that offers Baby Sign Language classes but when I found out how much they cost, I about passed out. Their gymnastic classes for Callie were too expensive, too. But they encouraged me to bring Callie in for a free trial class next Saturday and they would discuss military discounts with me, so I'll at least take her to that.

Off to clean the house...it's amazing the damage a two year old can do!!