Day 64: I Could Get Used to This

I was awoken this morning by a text message from my room lead at 7:55am, asking if I could work from 11-5, instead of just 1-5, because she had to go to a funeral, so I said, Sure. So, about an hour later, I trudged into the bathroom for my morning shower, and then had a lovely bowl of cereal for breakfast, and sat around in the living room, chatting with my parents, and hoping that Kent would be able to get online before I had to leave. Fortunately, he did! It must have been fate that made him get online an hour and 45 minutes earlier than he is used to, but it definitely worked out perfectly! I feel so outrageously blessed that I am able to talk to him so much. I was definitely not expecting this amount of daily contact, and I thank the Lord each and every day that we are able to communicate so often.
Then, it was off to work! I was there so much earlier than I'm used to, and it was strange having both lunch AND snack with them, as well as helping put them down for their naps. Usually, when I get there, the pre-toddlers are already asleep, with some of them waking up already. It was very weird.  But, anyway, it was a really good day at work, and I even got to go home early (4:30), since I came in 2 hours early, and we had a lot of parents cancel because of all of the rain today. Good times.

After work, I came home, watched tv with the parents, and then dad decided to break in the new grill by grilling up some steaks and beef hot dogs! Yum Yum! What a great dinner! Also, it's so great that I'm not completely and solely responsible for all of the prep work and clean-up. I love having other people in the house. I love not being alone....well, except for Peaches! :)

It was such a great day! Like I said, I could get used to this.
Ok, night all!
-Jessica

Day 63: I'm on a roll now!

Another great day today. I was unfortunately unable to awake from my coma this morning to go to church, so that wasn't all that good, but it was really nice to sleep in, so I can't complain. Remembered that there is no such thing as daylight savings time in Afghanistan, so talked to my hubby an hour later than usual, and then watched Legally Blonde while I awaited the arrival of my parents. 
They got here around 3, and we sat around and talked for about an hour or so before we ventured out to get some groceries for the week. We went down to Walmart, and I bought myself my first charcoal grill!! I'm so excited! It was only $35, so if it breaks, or gets stolen, it won't be the end of the world, but it's actually pretty nice, too. It has a shelf on the side of it that lifts up, so you can put the meat or a pan of sauce right there. And, it's got places to hang utensils, etc. I'm just way too excited about this grill. Hopefully one of these days this week is nice enough that we can go outside and grill up the steaks and hot dogs we got! Yay for spring!

Hopefully, my schedule works out this week so that I don't have to work everyday at the same time, but as of right now, I have NO idea what my schedule is. I'm assuming that tomorrow I'm supposed to be there from 1-5, since that's been my normal schedule, so that's my plan unless I get a call that tells me something else. Who knows, really? I guess it's good that my parents and I haven't made any concrete plans for their visit, because then not knowing my schedule would be more of a problem. But, really, I would be perfectly happy just sitting around each night, watching some tv, and eating good food. I'm so excited for this week.

Tonight, mom fixed Taco Salad, and it was sooo good. It doesn't get much better than eating the food that I grew up with...except if Kent were here to enjoy it with me...but, so is life. He will be leaving that awful place in one month and about a week! I'm so ecstatic! When I think about the rest of the deployment in those terms, it makes things seem so much easier. It feels like he's going to be here in a matter of 2 weeks or so. It's a challenge not to get too excited too early!
Anyway, I'm going to stop for tonight. I've got to get to sleep in case my lead calls me in at 8 o'clock in the morning. GAHH!
Night all!
-Jessica

Day 62: Clorox Wipes and Onion Rings

Today was awesome!
After talking with the hubby in the morning, I took a nice, long shower, which was absolutely fantastic! I even took the time to shave my legs, so that I could wear capris today! Yay! Which brings me to the next awesome part of today. It was beautiful outside! Absolutely gorgeous! I wore capris and a short sleeve shirt, and I wasn't cold at all! Spring's coming, which means that the day that Kent comes home is getting closer too! YAY!!

ALSO, I got my $8 Crocs in the mail today! I had gotten a very confusing email from Dick's Sporting Goods, which is where I had ordered them from, telling me that my order was cancelled, due to incorrect product information. But, I had already gotten an email confirming my order with them. So, I just decided to wait and see if I got the shoes anyway. So, this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see the box sitting inside my screen door! Yay for cheap shoes! And, I wore them all day, and my feet don't even hurt, so I fully plan on wearing them to work this summer, because our dress code states that we have to have closed-toe shoes. And for all of you who detest the duck-like shape that most crocs give you, like I do, they look like actual shoes, which is awesome. Here's a picture:

Anyway, I love my new shoes, and I love that I only paid $8 for them!

After my shower, and after getting my crazy cool new shoes, I cleaned my house from top to bottom. I even moved Peaches' litter box into MY bathroom as opposed to the hall bathroom, because she keeps getting litter all over the place, and since my parents are going to be here for a week, I didn't want them to have to deal with that all week. Annnd, I cleaned both barhrooms, cleaned my stove top with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, and even made my bed! lol

Then, about 3 hours later, I decided to head out into this beautiful weather and run a couple more errands. Don't worry, I had the sun roof and my windows open, and music blaring! I went by Walgreen's, and then went to the nearest Valvoline and got my oil changed, finally, and got my back tire filled up by some professionals. I was so proud of myself. After that, I spent like an hour walking around Hobby Lobby, without buying anything (I still don't know how that happened), and went to TJ Maxx, followed by stopping by Kohl's to exchange a belt that I had gotten that was WAY too big for me!

Finally, my wonderful day ended with a lovely visit from my friends from school!! They were in Florida for spring break this week, and on their way back up to Missouri, they stopped by my house and went out to dinner with me! I was so happy to see them again, and to finally get out of my house with other people! Not to mention, people that I can be myself with! I feel like the girls at work don't really know how I behave outside of work, so it was nice to just be a goofball again, and forget my stresses for an hour or so.
We went to the sports bar up the street from my house that I've been wanting to go to for a while, but haven't had the courage to go by myself. So, with friends in tow, I ventured into the unknown, hoping that the food was good, as well as the atmosphere. I was SO surprised at how yummy the food ended up being. Nothing too fancy, we all had cheeseburgers, but they were fantastic! Also, I got onion rings with my cheeseburger, and they were some of the best onion rings I've had in a while! So good! I hope that I can go back there quite often, since it's so close, that I could probably walk there if the weather is nice enough. (But, I'll wait until I have someone here with me, that I can walk with...I don't like walking alone in the dark)
All in all, a very great day!! Thanks to Pat, Julie, Megan, Lisa, and Rob for stopping in Clarksville just for me! Safe travels on the rest of your drive!! Hopefully, you will all still be in Kirksville when Kent and I visit in May!!!
Ok.
I'm tired.
G'night!!
-Jessica

Day 61: Excitement is brewing!

Well, I guess I now have an extra day to prepare for my parents' arrival. As it turns out, my dad has to work tomorrow, so my parents won't be arriving until sunday. :(
But that's alright, because now I have more time to clean! lol. I really need to clean Peaches' litter box, it's getting scary in there. haha!
Today was very much like the rest of this week. Got up, got to talk to KENT!! YAY! Went to work and took care of babies all day, which was good. Today was pretty relaxed at work, which was awesome. We had three new babies who were all younger than 3 months, which was nuts, but they were all pretty easy-going. Also, I'm SO glad that I don't have to work Super Saturday tomorrow. My back is KILLING me! I'm sure that means that I'm picking up the children incorrectly, but I tried to do it the "proper" way today, and almost fell on my face, with a baby in my arms. Thankfully, my cat-like reflexes kicked in, and I saved myself. Regardless, I will probably just stick to my awful way of lifting them! o well...
After work, I headed to the PX to get a few things, and ended up with half a cart full of stuff that I've been meaning to get. I'm now the proud owner of a paper towel holder and a toothpick holder, which I have been restraining from purchasing since we moved to Tennessee in November! Also, after the PX, I drove out to Target and got a lazy susan for my kitchen table, as well as bath mats for both of our bathrooms. Now, I feel like my house looks just a bit more complete than before. I'm slowly but surely making it more and more homey. It makes me excited to have nice things and be able to enjoy them, even if they're not completely essential to my life.
Another thing I'm really excited about is that my friends that went to Florida for spring break are stopping in Clarksville on their way back up to Misssouri!! YAY! Best day ever! AND, it's not going to just be for a quick chat at a McDonald's! We're going to go somewhere to eat. Like, a sit-down restaurant. I get to see friends, and talk with people who aren't 16 months old! YAY!! I'm super uber excited! Hopefully it all works out!!
Anyway, I'm exhausted, so I'm going to close up shop for the night, and rest up for my day of cleaning and laughter with some great friends!
Bouncy Bouncy Bouncy!
-Jessica

Day 60: Dealing with a Dirty House

Ugh, I have so much to do in the next couple days.
I finally washed the dishes in that were filling up my kitchen sink tonight, and cleaned out my microwave, which was covered in butter from all of the microwave popcorn that I eat. hehehe. So, I'm really proud of that, because I've been ignoring them for quite some time now... And, tomorrow after work, I'm planning on going out and getting myself a tablecloth for my kitchen table, so my kitchen will hopefully look more grown up!! Then I still need to clean up the living room, man cave, and my room, which is a complete mess. (surprise, surprise!)
Today was quite a long day, if I do say so myself.
Went in to work at noon, but I left a little early, because I wanted to swing by the Shoppette first, and fill my back passenger-side tire with air. I had a note on my driver-side window last night after work that said, "Your rear passenger-side tire is LOW.", so I figured if a stranger thought it was a problem, that I should probably fix it.
Well, too bad that I'm completely incompetent when it comes to anything pertaining to cars. I drove into the parking lot and up the air machine, and for some reason, didn't see the button on the machine that you're supposed to push to start up the compressor. Well, I attempted to fill my tire without the machine on, because I don't know what I'm doing, and I ended up making the tire even flatter. So, in a panic, I called my dad, because I didn't know what else to do. He suggested that I go inside and ask for assistance. So, I did. I had to wait about 5 minutes for a man named Dave to come up from the back, and the cashier, Dave and I ventured out into the 40 degree weather to figure out what I was doing wrong. Well, as I mentioned before, I hadn't pushed the button. So, that was obviously the first step. Weelllll, apparently those air compressors need time to warm up soooo we stood around for another 10 minutes, waiting for the compressor to be ready to use, and we finally got the tire back up the pressure that it was when I pulled into the parking lot, and I was already 15 minutes late for work, so I thanked Dave for his help, and explained to him that I had to go to work, and that I would make another attempt later after I got off work. ughhhh frustration...
Bad thing was, I forgot that I had a mandatory staff meeting to attend at 5:30 this evening...and it was 2 hours long. Needless to say, my back tire is still low....mostly because after my staff meeting, my first priority was going to the PX and getting dry food for my Peaches. She ate the last of it yesterday, and had to go a WHOLE night without food in her bowl. Poor, neglected cat! lol. She's completely spoiled rotten!!

Anywho, Peaches is nice and fed, and I'm not completely sure I'm going to be able to sleep tonight...my hubby still hasn't gotten online night...am I irrationally worried about this? Of course, it's what I do.
Ok, I'm going to at least turn off my lights and watch some tv.
Here's hoping that you all sleep a lot better than I will!
-Jessica

Day 59: Wednesday, Wednesday

I'm so happy that this week is almost over. I'm so excited for my parents to get here on Saturday! I just hope we can find enough stuff to do that's cheap and/or free during the week!
AND, my room lead said that she would do her best to get me a day off next week, which would be excellent! Also, I'm really looking forward to some home-cooked meals. I feel like I eat the same stuff everyday, so it'll be good to be able to cook for 3 instead of just one.
Work today was....long.
I was only there for 5 hours, but it felt like the last 2 hours took FOREVER! We had so many children screaming and crying all at the same time, that I thought I was going to lose my mind! One of them was obviously super tired, and began to scream and wail uncontrollably, so we put him on a cot and attempted to get him to go to sleep. Well, that little boy screamed and screamed for about 40 minutes. He REFUSED to go to sleep. When we finally gave up and took him off the cot to change his diaper, he was covered in slobber, and I did my best to clean him up. I'm still not completely sure why he was so upset. I think it was maybe because he was SO tired that he just couldn't sleep. I don't know. When his mom showed up, she said that he's been having problems falling asleep lately, and that it wasn't completely out of the ordinary for him to do that.

SOOO yeah.
My head hurts pretty bad after the day I had today.
----
I just had to take a little break from blogging, because Kent just called me, and we spent about 15 minutes discussing his leave once he gets home. He has to turn in the paperwork soon, and I guess he was working on filling it out, so he decided to call me and make sure the details were set.
SOOO, now I'm super peppy and giddy! I can't wait to have my man home, so we can drive all around the country visiting various relatives and friends! YAY!! We're going up through St. Louis, and up to his home area first to see his friends and family, and visiting Truman people while we're in the area, which should be a great time, and then we're going back down to my parents' house to see them for a couple days and visit with my friends and family, before heading back home to spend some quality time together relaxing.
So, I guess I have some leave slips to turn in this week at work!! EEEEEEE!!
Ok, I'm going to TRY and go to sleep!

Night All!
-Jessica

Day 58: I have an identity

That's right. I'm now an official card-carrying governmental employee. I went in early today and got my CAC card, so now when I have to take a test as part of my training, I can just stick my card into the card reader on the computer, and my information is automatically pulled up. SWEET! All in all, it was a pretty good day. I got to talk to to Kent this morning, even though the connection was pretty bad, and the sound didn't work, but still, it was good to get to talk to him before heading out for the day.  Went to work, and didn't realize until about 2 that I had forgotten to eat both breakfast AND lunch...*sigh*...fail.
So, I had snack with the children, and then ate a bunch of Cheez-its on my break. HAHA. Apparently, in my mind, Cheez-its equal lunch. Whatever.
After snack, it was strange. We ended up not having ANY infants after that. They all went home, and no more came in. We just had a room full of pre-toddlers, and BOY were they a busy bunch! We had two boys that decided to gang up on the other children, and they kind of turned into the Bruiser Brothers. It was quite a crazy afternoon. Now, I am completely exhausted, and sore in all kinds of places. 
It's a little nuts to me sometimes that I work every single day. While I appreciate the hours that I'm getting because it's keeping me busy and I'm earning money, sometimes I just think that just 2 days off per week isn't enough some weeks. I don't know.
I'm really hoping that I can get some days off from work next week so I can spend time with my folks while they're here, but I'm not really sure how easy that's going to be...I feel like if I don't show up, I'm being selfish or something. I don't know. I guess I'll just have to talk to my room lead tomorrow while I'm there, and see if I can reduce my hours just for next week.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKK.
I'm tired. soo bedtime.
Love to all!
-Jessica