snapshots of our life.

Craig was out of town this weekend.  He went to Fort Stewart for a Change of Command Ceremony.  Katie’s husband is out of town for the week so I spent Saturday night over at her house.  Which was good, because I just do not like being in this house by myself.   But Craig’s home now. 

We went to Regina’s party that she was throwing for Gerald.  It was supposed to a surprise.  But he got sick.  So he got there early to say hi and then left before everyone even got there.  One of Regina’s dogs was his by a car that morning and she almost called the whole thing off, but she didn’t.  And I’m glad she didn’t.  Having us over probably kept her mind off of it for the time that we were there. 

Here are some of the pictures I took at the party and of Jamie’s engagment pictures today downtown.  (Thanks Kimberly for the Bubbleshare idea.)
http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/188228/overview

And here are some of Jamie and Charlie from today:
http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/188184/overview

We went to see my grandfather yesterday.  At first it was really hard.  Walking in there was not what I expected it to be.  But his face lit up when he saw me.  He may not remember my name, but that’s ok.  Because the smile that came across his face when I was there, let me know he knew who I was.  He communicated a lot better this time than the last time we saw him.  He had this way of saying “Hey girl!”, when I walked in his house.  And yesterday when we got done visiting and they were getting him out of his wheelchair to put him in his bed, I left the room.  When I came back in it was like he hadn’t been with me the last 2.5 hours and he got just as excited as he did when I first got there and says, “Hey girl!”  It’s hard.  This isn’t easy.  On my grandmother, on my dad, on me.  But I’m glad I went.  For me.  For my daddy. For my Gran.  And for my Papa. Because he’s aware enough to know that I came.  That I was there to see him and spend the day with him.  And that’s all that matters.  As hard as it is to watch him like this, it was worth it to spend the time with him that we did. 

One of the girl’s (from the Armed Forces Support Forum that I joined when Craig was deployed) husband just returned to the United States from 16 or 17 month long deployment to Iraq.  I am just so happy when I hear of one of their husbands making it home safely.  I seriously can’t even begin to explain the impact each of those girls had on my life and still do.  Even though Craig and I aren’t going through it now, we share a bond.  Those girls were there for me when I needed them the most, and I continue to try to be there for them as much as I can. 

The LSAT studing is going.  Just going.  Not good.  Not necessarily bad.  But I feel like I’m getting somewhere.  I’m making more time for it now that I know that it’s closing in on me.  I’d like to say I think I’m ready for it.  I’m not.  But I do finally feel like it’s clicking.  Which is a good feeling. 

I think that’s all I got right now.  Just wanted to post a little diddy while it was on my mind.  I’m off to bed. 

I had the craziest dream last night and I wanted to write about it before we got our showers and left to see my dad in Bogart.  We’re going to the nursing home today to visit my grandfather. 

Anyways, in this dream I was apart of a research study.  It was about which lives would be spared in a natural disaster or in my case, the collapse of the World Trade Center in 2001.  And how the news (of whether your life was “taken” or spared) would effect you. We were in this building to re-enact it.  And for some unknown reason everyone in this study didn’t know anything about the WTC plane crash and what happened.  We went into it totally naive and with a clear mind.  In this building we were asked to pick a room and get to it as quickly as possible because something horrible is about to happen and you have to pick a spot for “safety”. 

Along the way as I was scrambling to find a room (with thousands of people also doing the same thing) I came across all these “obstacles”.  An elderly woman who had fallen.  Things like that.  And I meet a certain group of women that I kinda stick with through the whole thing.  In picking my room, I did like I do when I pick a dressing room in the store, I go the farthest one in the back.  So instead of just picking the one that’s right there next to me, I scramble to get to the one in the very back of this hallway. 

Once we get in the room there was this waiting period that was horrible.  Agonizing.  (Which may be what people really go through in situations like this, I don’t know.)  We’re strapped into these stadium like seating that move.  And over the intercom someone says “you picked the wrong room”.  And the floor drops out from below us and we fall like we’re on a freaking ride at Six Flags.   I cried the whole way down, and woke up crying in my sleep.

What the heck?  Tell me why I’m dreaming about things like this.  It was so detailed and normally I can’t remember half of what I dreamt about when I wake up in the morning.  In this dream I felt like I was there. Nuts. 
…………………………………………………………………………………

Just wanted to get that written down.  I need to go get ready.  Happy Father’s Day! 

So this has turned into a place for me to mainly just post pictures of our weekend projects.  And it seems latley we’ve had plenty of weekends working on our house.  I love the days when Craig and I both wake up ready to do something.  Paint something, plant something, rip something out of the ground.  I seriously can’t wait until we get this house appraised and know what we will potentially get for it when we go to sell it in a few years.  I’m so glad I have a husband who is willing to get his hands dirty with me and work our butts off to get things done.  We have put so much work into this house and getting the outside painted is like the icing on the cake.  Because I love the inside but when you pull up and see the outside it just didn’t do the work we had done on the inside the justice it deserved.  I’m so excited about.  Maybe even overly excited.  But it looks so much better.

So here is the before, with the crazy bushes and dull brown color:

And here is what Craig and I accomplished today.  We got in his truck when we finished to ride up and down the street to get a look at it from a drive-by stand point.  That’s Sadie standing in the front yard being all Vanna White-ish. 

Except I need to explain this.  This is a picture of my desk at work.  Most people know that I am extremely competitive.  That is probably an understatement.  So I took it upon myself to implement the star chart in our division.  I seriously love that I have boss that allows me to bring in stars and goes along with me when I say that the winner at the end of the month gets lunch paid for by her.  Guess who won for May?  June is a new month and so far I’m kicking everyone’s rear end…again.  I’m telling you–companies everywhere should implement this program to get the most out of their employees.

And just because I like documenting stuff like this—I figured I’d post a picture of my desk.  Because 10 years from now when I’m making the big bucks I won’t be stuck in some cubicle with crap piled everywhere in any space I can find.  I’ll be in my big shot office with a big wall of windows and a door that shuts.  And I’m going to want to look back on my first big girl job and remember where I came from.  It will keep me grounded. 

Ok, and a few more pictures we’ve taken lately.  Chastity’s wedding and our trip to our neighbor’s cabin with The Armstrongs…