Day 108: Frightening Times

Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday, but I had too much to deal with to even think about blogging.

Last night, my brother called me around 8:30 or so, and informed me that my dad was in the hospital. He is a track coach at the middle school that I attended, which is also the school where my mom works, and he was at practice after school yesterday. He was running with some of the kids and fell and hit his head on the asphalt. Apparently, he was unconscious, and they had to do CPR on him until the paramedics arrived, and when they got there, they had to shock him with the paddles because his heart rate was so irregular. Sooo anyway, they took him into the hospital, and put him on some sedatives, and then hooked him up to a ventilator. Last night he had a couple of tests, because they don't know what caused him to fall, and he later woke up and was responsive, etc. But he was in the ICU last night and all day today. I actually just got word from my mom that they finally moved him into his own room, so that's a step in the right direction.
I just don't know what to do. I know I have to be here to greet Kent and be with him when he FINALLY gets home.. (that's another rant), but the daughter in me wants to just hop in the car right now and drive back up to St. Louis to be with my dad and my family. I don't know what kind of difference that I could make by being there with them, but I just feel so helpless....and I hate that I'm alone through all of this. I just my husband back sooo bad. I feel like within the 5 months that he's been gone, I've been through more chaos and pain than I have in a very long time.

It's like the world was waiting for me to be alone to throw all of this at me at once.

Anyway, on top of the stresses of my dad being in the hospital, we had some super awful weather last night, that kept me awake most of the night. There were multiple tornado warnings, and I had to go and sit in my bathtub once for about 20 minutes, but I was very grateful that it all pretty much stayed south of us. I didn't know just how blessed we were though, until I was watching the news tonight and found out that the same storm system that hit us last night tore its way through Mississippi and Alabama, and had some major tornadoes that ended up killing over 60 people. I'm thankful that everyone's okay here, but I'm mourning the loss of those people and praying for their families tonight.

Okay, so I'm not sure I'll be updating quite as frequently after this. I'm just a little burned out on it I think. I'm just ready for my husband to be home, and I'm ready to find out what caused my father (who, by the way, is only 52) fell and smacked his head so hard that he doesn't remember yesterday at all....


Please keep my father in your prayers in the coming weeks. I'll do my best to keep this blog updated.

Much love to all!
-Jessica

Day 106: Cat Love

Well, I was lucky enough to not have to go into work today, so I decided to spend the morning with my mom instead of leaving early. We went to Goodwill, Target, and had lunch at Subway. Good morning. Also, I made a poster for Kent's Homecoming, and my mom laminated it for me this morning, so now it's water-proof!
Yay!
I left around 2, and drove through quite a bit of rain, but nothing too serious, which I was thankful for.
When I got home, my cat was SOOO happy to get to see me. She's been acting Extra obnoxious, and it makes me feel bad for leaving her this weekend. I also found a spot of fur on my bed, where I can tell she's been sleeping quite a bit this weekend.

At least I know that she loves me. :)

So, the waiting game continues with Kent's Homecoming...I'm hoping it's soon, but who really knows at this point.

So, even though I hate to leave my parents' house, I'm really glad that I'm back home. I missed my real bed, and I missed having a tv in my bedroom, and of course, I missed my kitty cat! She's being soooo sweet, it would almost be worth it to leave her more often, just to get this kind of loving from her. lol.
Alrighty.
G'night all!
Tomorrow I'm back to life as usual, unless I get a phonecall telling me otherwise. lol.
Much love!
-Jessica

Day 105: Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! Christ is risen!
What an awesome day. I went to church with my parents this morning, and was reminded of how much I love my home church. It just makes me feel like I'm home. I don't know. It's made me want to go looking for a contemporary church in town again, because I just feel like I get so much more out of a contemporary service than the more traditional services. With the contemporary music, I can focus more on the emotions than trying to pronounce all of the words, and follow the tune. The newer songs just seem to flow so much better....maybe I'm just picky, but all I know is that as soon as I started singing with the Praise group this morning, I was verklempt! I even had to wipe away a couple tears.
Whatever. I'm just an emotional person.

Anyway, after church it was back to the house for bacon and eggs, as per usual Sunday mornings, and my parents went to the Fox to usher the matinee show. I spent the afternoon cleaning out all of my stuffed animals, and deciding which ones I still wanted and which ones I didn't. fun fun.

After my parents returned, we headed out to my grandparents' house on my dad's side of the family for Easter Dinner. It was soooo good. And actually, it felt like it was Thanksgiving Dinner in April, because there was Turkey, Ham, Stuffing, Sweet Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, and desserts galore! Really good dinner! And, I got to share the great news that my hubby's on his way home, so it was a night of excitement.
All around a good day!
Now I'm just waiting to get word from my hubby about where he is now.


Also, I won't know until tomorrow morning about 30 minutes before I would have to leave whether or not I need to go into work tomorrow...so that'll be an adventure. lol.
Alright. G'night all!
much love!
-Jessica

Day 104: Friends! What a Great Day!

Today was a really good one.
I started my say with my former Maid of Honor, Val, and we went to David's Bridal, where she needed to pick out shoes for the wedding that she is currently playing the part of MOH. It was really great to get to catch up with her, and it made me remember how awesome last summer was!
Then, I was off to the US Cellular store to pay my bill and get Kent's phone turned back on. Success.
Following that productive tidbit of my day, I spent 3 hours in a St. Louis Bread Co. with my girlfriends from college! It was super awesome. It's been sooo long since it's just been us girls, and it was great to just sit, eat, and talk FOREVER! I knew it was getting out of hand when we had been sitting there so long that I was beginning to want more food. lol. All in all, just a great way to spend the afternoon.
Girls, we need to do that more often!

After my girl time, we headed out to my grandma's house for Easter celebrations. We had some really good steaks, and my mom even made Cherry Dump Cake!! yay! Oh, and we played a round of Scrabble, and I won! great night!

I got to talk to Kent this morning on Skype, but just through instant messaging. But, it was nice to know that he IS indeed on the move. Haven't heard from him since, but I can only hope that means that his journey's continuing and he's not stuck at his first stop still. I am completely prepared to get a phone call from the automated system that makes me hop in the car before the Easter festivities are complete tomorrow! I just can't believe that he's coming home, and that I will be back to normal life, if only for a little bit! yay!!!!
Okay, this happy girl needs to get some much needed sleep. I only got 4 hours last night, so hopefully I'll do better tonight. Church in the morning, and then it's off to my other grandma's house for Easter dinner.

Much love to all!
-Jessica

Day 103: Great news!

Just a tidbit, since it's almost 4 o'clock in the morning.
Went home this weekend. Just barely made it home before a big storm came through St. Louis. Apparently a tornado touched down at the airport, so now all flights are canceled until further notice. Bummer.

But AWESOME NEWS!
My hubby's on the move!
What a great great great great day!
Okay, now I MUST try to sleep....we'll see if this works or not.....
much love!
-Jessica

Day 102: Just a Little Hello!

Don't really have a lot to talk about tonight. I'm just preparing to leave to go to my parents' house for Easter this weekend, and I'm really excited because I get to see a whole bunch of friends and a whole bunch of family! This will be my last hurrah before Kent comes home, and I'm just really excited to see everyone. Especially since the next time I see everyone, I will be accompanied by my other half! :)
So, I've been cleaning up the house, making sure Peaches' litter box is clean, making sure she's got enough food for the weekend, etc. etc. My suitcase is packed, and I'm hitting the road as soon as I'm done with work tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll get to leave early tomorrow too!

AHHH so excited!
I just have one more day of work before a weekend full of good times and great food!
I'll see you all this weekend!
That's all I have for tonight....sorry to disappoint. :P
-Jessica

Day 101: A Day Full of Coupons and Hair Dye

WELL, last night was quite an ordeal. Shortly after finishing my nightly routine, and settling in for bed, I was awoken by the sound of tornado sirens and what sounded like a train hurdling towards my house. Naturally, I shot awake, and instantly thought, there's a tornado in my neighborhood. So, I turned the tv to the local channel, and saw that we were under a tornado warning, and that the worst hadn't even hit yet, so I got out of bed and began to prepare to move to the hall bathroom. So I grabbed my cell phone, unplugged my laptop, and as soon as I stood up, my power went out. So, I put my laptop back down, and instantly dropped to the ground and covered my head, again thinking that a tornado was upon me! After about a minute of that nonsense, I grabbed my laptop again, and ran into my hall bathroom, where I sat for about half an hour, in complete and udder terror. So, I texted Melissa, and asked her to let me know when the tornado warning had passed, so that I could at least go and try to get some sleep, and she called me back, and did her best to calm me down. lol. I was happy that she was able to let me know when the warning was over, because I didn't have power, therefore I didn't have internet. :(
Anyway, after the warning was over, I returned to my bedroom, and was able to fall asleep eventually, although I totally slept with my flashlight, just in case I needed it. Kind of felt like I was back at APO camp. :)
I was so grateful when I woke up this morning and my power had returned! When I got to work I learned that the majority of people who had lost their electricity during the storms had not gotten it back yet.

After work, I had dinner at home, and then headed to Walmart to get posterboard for a "Welcome Home" sign for Kent, and got some baseball card protective sheets, to create my very own Coupon Binder! What can I say? I'm a huge nerd.

Then, I finally got to dye my hair. I've been wanting to do it for a while, but just kept forgetting about it, so I finally remembered to refrain from using any product in my hair this morning so that I could dye it tonight. So far, my hair is still wet, so I don't really know how it looks, but it shouldn't look too much different than it did before, I was just dyeing it to even out my color. My roots were really bad, so hopefully I had an even color now. :P We'll find out in the morning I guess.
Okay.
Well gnight everyone!
-Jessica

Day 100: Let's Celebrate!

So, I guess since this is the 100th day of Kent's deployment, there should be some sort of celebration or tribute, like if it was the 100th episode of a television show, right? Welp, I didn't plan anything like that....Sorry.
Although with the time dwindling away, it's gotten to the point where each day is another awesome accomplishment. I cannot believe that I have gone 100 days without my hubby by my side. This is a record for us. After 2 months had passed, each day after that was a new record for the amount of time that we've been apart since we started dating back in 2007. It's just crazy to think about.
Anyway.
In awesome news! Kent's college roommate, Alex, and his wife, Kristy just had their twin boys today! I've seen pictures on Facebook and they are absolutely adorable! I literally cried while looking at pictures! lol. I can't wait to meet them when we visit Kent's home area in May. I love babies so much, and it's crazy to think that people from my class at Truman have two of them now! Congratulations Alex and Kristy! I'm so happy for you two, and you will definitely make excellent parents!

Okay. That's pretty much all I have to talk about tonight.
Much love to all!
-Jessica

Day 99: Lovin' Life! Is that bad?

Today was another good one. I'm starting to get a little concerned that all of these good days are just getting my spirits up, only to have them crushed in a couple of days. Oh well, I'm going to enjoy them while I've got them.

Let's see, I went to work, and found out that Melissa's going to be out for the rest of the week. :( Apparently she fell yesterday and busted up her knee pretty bad. Anyway, that means that I'm guaranteed to have to be at work every day until 5pm.... :( I was really hoping I could weasel myself out of work early on Friday, so that I could head back up to home earlier for Easter weekend. I don't know, maybe I can still talk them into it. Doubt it.

Um, after work, I came home, watched a whole bunch of television, and forgot to eat dinner....oops. I had a small snack of cottage cheese and mandarin oranges at about 8:30, once I had realized that I hadn't eaten anything. Then, I finally got to have a complete conversation with Kent on Skype for the first time in about 2 days. It was nice to get to just be able to talk to each other without needing to type, or wait for Skype to reconnect several times over. He says that time is going by really slowly for him, and that makes me feel guilty, because time is FLYING for me! My daily routine lends itself towards speedy days. I get up around 8:30, wait for my hubby to get online, talk to him, play around on Facebook, eat lunch, watch some tv, go to work, get off work, come home, USUALLY I fix dinner, watch about 2.5 hours of primetime tv, talk to Kent again, and blog and go to sleep. It's not the most exhilarating routine, but it works for me, and it helps the days go by quicker. :)
Anyway. I am going to bed now, and hopefully the dogs at the house behind me don't start barking at 6am again, like they did this morning.... >:(

Alrighty!
G'night all!
Much love!
-Jessica

Day 98: Sooo Much Money....

I spent sooooo much money today. It was simply horrifying. I had to go and get my tires replaced, which cost me a whopping $684!! AHHH! I know that it needed to be done though, my tires were in terrible shape. It just hurts to spend that much at once...grr I guess I'll just have to get used to stuff like that.

And now, I have to make sure that I'm not spending TOO much money, because once Kent gets home...ugh we're planning on spending a whole bunch of money. The frugal girl in me wants to just stay home, not leave at all, and save our money, but I know that won't be possible.

Oh well. Hopefully our tax refund comes quickly. eeeee
Okay. I'm tired.
I've been cleaning all day so I've definitely earned this night of sleep. lol.
g'night all!
-Jessica

Day 97: Girls' Night

Ugh. I can't believe that I was out so late tonight. I didn't get home until after midnight, and yes the post says that it is still Saturday, but I'm OCD, and each post has to be on that specific day, so I cheated and changed the time.....don't judge...
Anyway. My day was pretty exciting. I went to Sam's this morning to have my low tire looked at, and ending up finding out that I need to buy 4 new tires, like pronto! So, since the wait would have been another 2.5-3 hours before they could get the tires put on the car, I decided that I wanted to wait and get them tomorrow. Sam's was just SUPER busy today.
I also went to lunch with Melissa at Shogun Japanese Grill. Yum Yum Yum!! But it was super expensive, so I'm not sure I want to go there a whole bunch. It will definitely have to just be an every once in a while restaurant! But it was really nice to go out on a saturday and have lunch! Then, I went to Walmart, and finally bought myself a new vacuum. I've been meaning to get one for a long time now, and I finally just made myself suck it up and buy one. And, oh my goodness. The difference a new vacuum makes on my carpet! I got a Eureka! LightSpeed 300, and it's bright orange, which I absolutely love!  (also it might have been the only reason it beat out the Dirt Devil I was also looking at )
So, I went home, and assembled my new vacuum, and automatically started vacuuming. It needed to be done. Like really bad. After doing the living room, and the hallway, I had successfully dumped out 3 containers full of dirt and carpet fuzz, filling up an entire grocery sack! It was ridiculous! Tomorrow, my plan is to clean up my bedroom, and then vacuum that room, as well as get the office, man cave, and hall bathroom cleaned up.
Um, also I guess I have to go back to Sam's to get my new tires.
After my vacuum adventure, I headed over to Melissa's for girls' night, which was a blast! We all hung out, ate a bunch of cheesecake bites, and Tostitos and dip (which was salsa and cream cheese), and talked until we all turned into pumpkins. It was a really great night, and I'm so happy that I went.
Good times.
Okay. G'night
Much love to all!
-jessica

Day 96: Make New Friends, But Keep the Old.

Good day today.
It started off kind of depressing, and I found myself not wanting to do anything at all. I think I'm just getting to the point where I'm sick of seeing all of these soldiers coming home, and not one of them is MY soldier. I'm just burned out. But, once I got to work, my day got better. Then, it got even better when my coworker Melissa asked me if I wanted to come over for dinner again tonight!
We ordered Chinese food, and vegged out while watching Amazing Race on her DVR.
Then, we rocked out to some classic Michael Jackson, and I gave her baby a bath. It was the first time I've ever given a baby a bath, so I was nervous, but I think I ended up doing a pretty good job! I feel like once Kent and I decide to have kids, I'm going to be beyond prepared for this stuff. lol. doubtful.

Anyway. I got home to find out that Kent had already tried to call me twice on Skype. eek! Thankfully he was still online, so I was able to call him and everything worked out. :)

I was just so happy that I got to get out of the house tonight. She also told me that I should never wait for a invitation to come over to her house. :) She's also having a girls' night tomorrow night, so I think that's where I'll be tomorrow most likely. yay!

Okay.
G'night all!
So happy that it's finally the weekend!

-Jessica

Day 95: I Have Food Again!

I'm doing so much better tonight than I was last night. Kent is fine, although he's super tired. There were some issues that caused him to be unable to get online for a little bit, but he was online this morning, which was wonderful.
Then today was just like all the rest. Went to work, got a headache from the screaming children, got to wear my new tennis shoes, and they're super comfortable! After work, I got out my coupons and went to the Comissary for some much-needed groceries. Also, I'm hoping that this trip to the grocery store will be my last before my hubby gets home, but I know that's wishful thinking. It will depend on how much I eat at home...lol. I'm just ready for him to be back. Time is beginning to slow down for me, and I think it's because every day is beginning to blend into the ones around it...sigh...
Is it over yet?

But, other than feeling impatient for this deployment to be over, today was a pretty good day. I got to talk to my baby again tonight, and he got on early, and we were able to talk longer as well. :)
I don't know.
Maybe after this weekend, things will begin to speed up again.
Okay.
G'night.
Much love to all!
-Jessica

Day 94: Stressin'

Well, I'm super stressed right now. It was really great day to begin with. I had to go into work early, but it wasn't the end of the world. More money, which is always good.
While at work, my stress began. My trainer finally got all of my training stuff organized, and I now only have 2 months to complete the amount of training that SHOULD take me 6 months. uggh. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to get as much done as I can before Kent gets home, because I know I won't get anything done once he gets home. lol.
Anyway. When I got home from work, I decided to cut my grass. It was getting pretty ridiculous, and I was starting to worry that my neighbors were judging me for the height of my grass. After an hour and a half, I trudged back into the house, and noticed that my tennis shoes had turned green from mowing the lawn. I had been meaning to get some new tennis shoes for a while, so I headed out the door and went to Kohl's to get some new shoes.  Okay, long story short, I was in the drive-thru at Burger King after going to Kohl's, and after ordering my food, I started to drive forward, when some jerk pulled RIGHT in front of me, and drove up to the window. Didn't pull up the speaker and order like everyone else, didn't let me go, and then pull in after me (there was no one behind me), nope. Just pulled right in front of me like I wasn't even there. AND he ordered food. At the window. I couldn't believe my eyes. I was in a complete state of shock, for sure. So, I finally got up to the window, got my food, and angrily drove home, all the way worrying that I wouldn't be home in time to get to talk to Kent....well. It's an hour after he usually gets online, and I'm losing my mind.
He didn't get on this morning either, granted I was at work, but he wasn't on facebook from what I can tell, and he didn't try and skype me either....I'm freaking out.
I know deep in my heart that he's okay, but my head's not so sure. I keep thinking of a thousand things that could have happened, and I can't make my brain shut up... I highly doubt that much sleeping will take place.
okay.
I'm gonna go freak out a little more.
much love.
-jessica

Day 93: Free Food is My Favorite.

So, tonight, my coworker Melissa offered to make me dinner, and I readily agreed, mostly because I'm completely out of food for dinners, and also because I just don't like sitting home alone every evening. It was really nice! It was just a Voila! Frozen skillet meal, but it was nice not to cook for myself for once. It was a very nice, free meal. Much appreciated. Especially because I'm completely exhausted today.

Hopefully I'll end up making sense in this post, but my brain is all over the place tonight. I feel like I can't put words together to create correct sentences.
Anyway, had a good day. Work, dinner with Melissa, and then I helped her with getting her 2 kids in bed, which was also nice. Gave me a glance at what my life will be like eventually. Annd made me very happy that I don't have any kids yet. I will definitely be waiting at least a couple more years before that happens. I'm not cut out for having my own babies yet. That's for sure!
Okay.
I'm not making sense to myself anymore.
Good night all!
-jessica

Day 92: Sometimes Routines are Nice

So, as much as I know that running is good for me in the long run, it's difficult to remember that when I can barely even walk the next day. I guess I didn't really do a very good job at stretching after my run, so all my muscles were aching when I woke up this morning, and continued to hurt all day long. :(
Oh well, I guess that's just a price I have to pay to get back into shape.

Besides being sore all day, it was a pretty good day. We were really busy at work today, but that's a good thing, because when we have lots of children, it makes the day go by faster! Which is always nice. Plus, my coworkers were all in a much better mood, now that we still have jobs. :)
Anyway. Today was pretty much the same as the rest of the days, but I didn't really mind it. I'm starting to enjoy my daily routine. Yay!
Okay. I've got to go to sleep so I can start another day tomorrow.
Much love to all!
-Jessica

Day 91: Where is All of This Motivation Coming From?

Today was a good day.
I went to late church, and the sermon was all about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The pastor discussed the fact that when Martha stated that they could not move the stone because there would surely be an odor, it was only talking about the stench of death, but of the stench of sin, that's found in all of us. All in all, it was very good sermon, and it helped to remind me that one day, we will all be resurrected by Christ, and all of our loved ones we have lost will be among us again. It was just nice. Good to know that I will definitely be seeing my Aunt Linda again someday.

Anyway, that started my day off in a really calming way, and after church, I headed to the mall. I have been wanting to go to the mall for months now. I haven't been since Kent left in January, so it was nice to just walk around, be around people, and check out racks and racks of clearance items! And actually, I only ended up getting stuff from Old Navy. I ended up with two tees, a light pink one with some little embellishments, and a tee for Earth Day 2011, and two hoodies, because I love hoodies. One is bright turquoise, and from the Yoga collection, and the other is a zip-up cream jacket (no hood) with a super cute flower print on the front.
All of these were clearance.
All of them were an EXTRA 30% off, on top of the clearance price.
AND, the two sweatshirts were only like 8 dollars on clearance..
You do the math.
Great day for some shopping!!

After my retail therapy, I came home and ate some well-deserved lunch while I perused my Sunday paper that I picked up at Kroger on the way home. After watching Extreme Couponing this past week, I was inspired to make sure I picked up a paper this weekend, so I could try and scope out some deals of my own...didn't really achieve the kind of deals that those ladies get. Oh well.
After lunch, I watched some tv for a couple hours while my food digested, and got changed out of my church clothes, and into my RUNNING clothes. Thaaat's right. Me, the girl who "doesn't do running" had the urge to run around the neighborhood. So, that's what I did. I sprayed myself down with sunscreen, strapped on my ipod, and grabbed a bottle of water, and I was out the door. About 15-20 minutes later, I stumbled back into my house, and barely got my front door closed before I collapsed on the living room floor in a heap of sweat and exhaustion. I was SO over-heated, and stayed in that position for probably a good 20 minutes or so, even allowing Peaches to walk all over my sore body. lol.
After I had recovered, I went to the kitchen to try and scrounge up some dinner, and ended up washing a sink full of dishes, making 2.5 dozen sugar cookies that had been sitting in my fridge since February, and finally dumping out the last of the Cherry Dump Cake that my parents had made while they were here on their visit. After all of that, though, I sat down and enjoyed a nice Velveeta Shells and Cheese EasyMac for dinner. MMM, good stuff.

Then it was time for Army Wives and Coming Home, my weekly therapy session. First, I get Army Wives, which usually makes me cry because it's sad, and then I get Coming Home, which makes me cry because it's so happy, and so I get sad tears, followed by happy tears.
I don't know. It's always such a cathartic 2 hours for me every Sunday night...

Oh, and did I mention that I had a little bit of extra time between dinner and Army Wives, so I turned on the PS3, and did a workout video on Netflix? Yeah, I don't know where all of this motivation is coming from. I'm really baffled.

Okay, well this busy girl is off to bed. Tomorrow begins yet another week...another week closer to HOMECOMING!!

Alright. G'night all!
-Jessica

Day 90 Saturdays are exhausting

Hello All!
Another very long day... Today I worked Super Saturday...uggghhh.

I don't have a lot to blog about. I'm just ready for this deployment to be over! With each passing day, I get more and more excited, but I'm also reminded about how much I still need to do in preparation for Kent's return. I need to clean the house up...bad! It's a mess...yes, it's a mess, AGAIN. I had it all nice and clean for my parents' visit, but that was a couple weeks ago, and it really only takes me a couple DAYS to get my house back into disarray...lol.
Also, I already need to cut the lawn again...I swear that by Tuesday, two days after I cut the grass, there were already super long blades of grass all over my lawn...sigh...oh well. I guess it was from all of the rain we got all day Monday.
Anyway. I just can't wait. I'm getting really bouncy bouncy!

Alright. I'm literally falling asleep over my laptop....gnight all
-Jessica

Day 89: Bittersweet Results

Well, after the drama that was the last couple days of my life, Congress was finally able to reach an agreement on a framework for the budget, meaning no governmental shutdown.
Which is AWESOME! I was beginning to wonder what we were going to do without Kent's paycheck if the shutdown were to have gone into effect.
I'm so happy that our law-makers were finally able to work together to avoid such an extreme result. Although, I feel like they waited until the ABSOLUTE last minute to do so...
But anyway.
The drawbacks to the shutdown not happening are quite simple: Now I have to go to work tomorrow. sigh.... Really?
I'm just really starting to get sick of these Super Saturdays. I know that the families really appreciate them, and I don't blame them. An entire Saturday of childcare? FOR FREE!? TWICE a month!!? That's unheard of in the civilian world.
I think what really bugged me about the Super Saturday happening tomorrow, was the parents' general lack of concern for the workers that would no longer be getting paid! Yes, what a tragedy that a Super Saturday wouldn't be happening, but really the bigger problem was that the Super Saturday wasn't going to happen BECAUSE SOOOO many CYSS employees would be UNemployed!!! Really parents?! You're concerned about what to do with your child for one saturday? Open your eyes, and consider the bigger picture.

Thankfully, those jobs are still intact.
Thankfully, my husband will be getting paid in full next Friday.
Thankfully, I will continue to be able to work in my center, instead of being transferred across base to another center.
Unfortunately, I need to get to sleep super quick, because I have to be on post at 8:30am....

Anyway. That's my rant for tonight.
much love to all!
-jessica

Day 88: Do Budgets Really Have to be THIS Difficult?

Well hopefully by this time tomorrow, Congress will have reached a decision about the budget. I don't know what we will do if the government is shut down. Not only will I be out of a job, but my husband won't be paid until the shutdown is over. Yes, he will eventually get paid for that time, but it will all be in back pay. I'm just hoping that if the shutdown happens, that it won't be for very long...that's all I really have to say about that. If I talk about it too much, I just get angry.

Um, today was pretty good, considering the shutdown was looming over our heads all day. I was able to go to the tax center after work and get our taxes e-filed, which is a HUGE weight off of my shoulders. Just one more thing that I can check off my ever-growing to-do list.
Also, time seems to be going fairly quickly still, which is very reassuring. I just can't wait for this deployment to be over. It's crazy to think about how much has happened in the last 88 days! I am in a complete different place than I was back in January: financially, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and everything in between.
Now I have to start wondering if the communication that Kent and I have maintained during this time has been enough to be able to mesh back together once he gets home.
I don't know, I'm guess I'm beginning to brace myself for the next stage: Reintegration!!!

Okay.
I'm going to sleep.
Tomorrow might just be my last day of work for quite a while...
we'll see.
Please pray that Congress can reach a decision, and give thanks that I've made it this far without cracking!
Much love!
-Jessica

Day 87: Crazy for Coupons?

For some reason, I'm having problems thinking of things to blog about today. Plenty happened, but I'm just not motivated I guess to get this post started. I've now been staring at this screen for about 20 minutes...hmmm. Okay.
Well. I guess I'll start by saying that I can't believe how quickly this week is going for me. I feel like it was just Sunday afternoon, and now it's already almost the end of Wednesday! Crazy!

Today was another pretty good day. I went in early to work, since one of my coworkers was gone all day for training, and since I came in early, I got the opportunity to leave early! I got to leave at about 4pm. So, instead of just going home and doing nothing, I quickly went to home to gather all of our tax forms and such, and headed back on post to have our taxes filed. I was so proud of myself for actually getting something done! Technically they are not filed quite yet, but after figuring out whether I should file jointly with Kent, or have my parents claim me as a dependent, I will be able to file them tomorrow afternoon after I get off work.

Good times. Yay for tax refunds!

Also, tonight I saw the series premiere of "Extreme Couponing" on TLC, and I am soo impressed. These ladies will rack up a bill of over 600 dollars, and after all of their coupons are added up, they only spend like SIX DOLLARS!! Really?!? That's so awesome!

I would like to say that I want to be able to do that too, but I just don't think I have the organizational skills to be able to achieve those kinds of results. :P
But that's alright, I'm okay with just printing off coupons for the things that I already buy, and just using them when I need those products. I'm kind of okay that my garage is used to house my cars and not used as a stock pile of toilet paper and shampoo. :)
Still, it was a very entertaining hour, and it DID inspire me to go online and print off coupons!
lol

Other than that, didn't really do too much.

Welp, I'm off to bed now.
Much love to everyone!
-Jessica

Day 86: I Can Officially Save Your Life

Well, this morning I had my CPR training for work, so now I can officially say that I know how to save people's lives. Or so they say. lol. The class was only 2 hours long, and we only took up about 1 hour 40 minutes of that, so I'm not really sure how thorough my training actually was, but I definitely know more about CPR than I did before the course, so I think that's what really matters. :)
After CPR training, I went to work, which was pretty good. It's always refreshing when I see a child that used to scream non-stop when they were dropped off playing with the other children. It's just good to see progress in each of them. I also really like seeing them graduate over to the room across the hall too, though. After a while, you start to dread some of the children's arrival! It's just good to not have to worry about them showing up and ruining your perfectly good day with their misbehavior and loud screams. :P

Anyway. After work, I listened to my voicemail, and had a message from the choir/handbell director at church asking if I was interested in taking over for one of the handbell members who is supposed to be giving birth this week. So, I ventured across town, and ended up staying for choir rehearsal as well. I really enjoyed choir, mostly because I've really missed singing in a choir setting for quite some time. But, I'm not really sure how committed I am to joining the choir and singing with them weekly. They meet on Tuesday nights at 7...which is Glee....and then on Sunday mornings, they meet at 7:35am to warm-up and run through the music again, and that would mean I would need to leave the house about 7am, which means to look good for church, I would need to get up around 6am...I just don't know if I'll be able to do that every sunday morning....we shall see I guess.

But, it was good to get to know some more of the members of the church, and although I really don't think I'll remember many of their names, I do remember their faces, and I'm sure they'll remember me, and that's all that really matters. Yay for putting myself out there!
Alright. I'm tired.
Much love to all!
-Jessica

Day 85: Nobody is Gonna Rain on My Parade!

You know that lovely feeling you get when you're listening to someone talk who has a very soothing voice? Like one of those velvety soft voices that make you feel all fluffy inside?
Well, for some odd reason, I've been feeling THAT good all evening. I'm really not sure why. I mean, it's Monday. I should be dreading the fact that the week is here again, but I'm not.
I don't know.
Maybe it's because I only had to work for 3 hours today. :) We were having some pretty nasty weather, with tornado warnings off and on, and so a lot of parents called and canceled their appointments today, and picked up their children early. By 3 o'clock, we only had 2 children, with only 1 coming in still, so I left at 3:30, after folding the laundry. :) It felt good to get out of work early for once. Even though it was still raining, I got to enjoy my afternoon by scoping out the building that I have to report to in the morning for my CPR class. After doing some investigating, I went home and worked on my wedding scrapbook ALL evening. I can't believe how therapeutic it is for me to just sit on the couch, and coordinate pictures with different papers and mats, and choose the perfect stickers to complete each page. I'm making really good progress on both of my books, and actually, I really need to go get another book for the dating years. I'm not even through our junior year, and the book is already over-flowing!

Anyway. I had a really good day today, despite the awful weather.

Only bad thing about today was that I realized that I have to work a Super Saturday this weekend. :(
But, until then, I'm going to do my best to keep this warm, fuzzy feeling!

Much love to all!
-Jessica

Day 84: Landscaping 101

Today was a VERY long day!
I got up around 8:30, and hopped in the shower and got dressed for church, before Kent got on Skype. I was so pleased that his mic was working this time around. (it's been on the fritz for the last couple times we've talked)
Then, I was off to church. After church, there was a meet & greet for new people at church. We met some of the elders, and the board of directors, etc. They fed us lunch, which was a huge plus, and we even got a tour of the building, which really helped me to feel more comfortable, now that I know where things are.  :)
After church, I came home and had a snack, and waited for the hot afternoon sun to die down. In the process, I cleaned my poor little kitty's litter box. I felt really bad, because my week was so crazy that I wasn't able to clean it until today. It was pretty bad. Once the clock hit about 4pm, I decided it was time to tackle the big chore of the day: mowing the lawn. Dun Dun Duunnn.
It was quite the daunting task, and I had been avoiding it ever since my parents left, so I decided that today was the day. Ughhh it was so frustrating. My mower kept running out of gas, I guess because I was afraid of filling up the tank TOO much, so I just kept adding too little. Also, it was actually kind of hot today. It got up to like the mid-80's, which is why I waited for the majority of the afternoon to pass before venturing out into the sun.
TWO HOURS later, and I was done. Our yard is a whole lot bigger than it looks, that's for sure. Also, even though I slathered on the sunscreen about a half an hour before going outside, and even though I was wearing a baseball hat the whole time, I still managed to make my sunburn even worse than it was yesterday. Oh well. I'm pretty used to burning in the sun. It comes with my pasty white skin! lol.

Okay. Well, my super sore, super sunburned body is ready to crash, so I'm going to let it.
Much love!
-Jessica

Day 83: Sale-ing and Sunburning

Today was a really good day.
I went over to my coworker, Melissa's house, where she was having a multi-family garage sale this morning, and it was a great time. I got a small bookcase, an artificial Christmas tree, and a lovely pair of Corona pants. :)
But, I also helped with the sale in general. It was good to be around people on a Saturday. Also, I got to take care of Melissa's baby for a little bit while they were all cleaning up, and she was so cute! Just an all-around good time!

After the sale was over, I came home to unload my garage sale goodies, and get down to cleaning. Also, Melissa said that they are planning on having another garage sale soon, so I was motivated to start making a pile of things to sell at this future sale. I was going to go out and cut the grass, too, since today was so beautiful, but after putting the bookcase in its new home, and organizing the office for an hour or so, I realized that I was completely sunburnt! My face is beet red from this morning, and so are my arms (strangely, my right arm is significantly more burnt than my left arm...) and now I hurt... :(

But, despite the burn, I was able to get a lot of stuff done around the house today. I did laundry, I organized the closet in our office, I filled two boxes with stuff to get rid of, I completed 3 more pages in my scrapbook, and finally watched my Netflix movie that's been sitting on my TV stand for over a week! Overall, I'm pleased with what I got accomplished today. I just hope that this sunburn doesn't last too long. I don't really feel like showing up to church in the morning looking like a lobster!
Oh well. Just another sign that Spring is here!...hopefully...

Okay.
I'm off to enjoy the rest of SNL before bedtime.
Much love to all!
-Jessica

Day 82: April--So Far, So Good

Not too much to complain about tonight.
I finally got Kent's t-shirts from battalion, although I made myself look ridiculous in the process. I went up to the door, and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge. So there were a few soldiers standing on the sidewalk, so I asked them if they knew where I was supposed to get "The Balls" tee-shirts. They told me the second door, and I responded with, "I think it might be locked. I couldn't get it open." Sigh. One of them walked over, turned the knob the opposite way than I did, and the door opened RIGHT up. Oh well. They then explained that door was fickle, and that the knob only turned one way, so it made me feel a little bit better about my predicament.
Anyway, I got the shirts, went home for lunch, back on post for work, blah blah blah.
My day was kind of the same as the rest of the days this week, except that it's April!
Then, I went over to one of my co-worker's house, to help her prepare for the huge yard sale she's having tomorrow. I let it slip today that I'm a yard sale guru, and so she told me I was welcome to come over and help with pricing, and also to get first dibs on stuff. lol.
SO, I'm pretty sure that that's where I'm headed in the morning. Told her I would be back to get a bookcase that was there tonight. Only $3!!
Anyway, I'm off to bed. Hopefully. We'll see.
Much love to all!
-Jessica