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May 15 OK....Well, between me and my MSG intolerance, Doug's sleep apnea diagnosis, and my mom's hearing loss, life has been throwing a lot at us to deal with. Needless to say, we've been busy! lol
We have had our ups and downs with Doug's return from Iraq. I guess I should say, "I" have had my ups and downs. I had a really bad cold for 2 1/2 weeks, a bout of poison oak for a week and a half, plus all the stress of his night schedule for work, money problems, and all of our various ailments, I'm just drained. So I have tended to not blog and subject all of you to my melancholy.... April 06 My mom...has already had 90% hearing loss in one ear in the last few months. Now her "good" ear that wasn't supposed to be affected has 40% hearing loss. She has to live with constant ringing in her ears, and roaring. Her hearing aid has helped some, but now she is anticipating losing hearing in her other ear, and she's just scared. I don't blame her. She broke down in tears at the thought of never hearing our voices again. It just breaks my heart. She is my mom, my best friend, she adores my kids and my husband. She's just the best, and it's awful to think about this happening to her.
Oh and my husband got his sleep tested. The sleep center he went to told him he was having 20 apnea (stopping breathing) episodes an hour. He slept with the CPAP machine on for his follow-up sleep study and felt amazing. I am SO happy for him! March 17 Ugh....I'm sick...again. I was sick like a month ago, so this really sucks! My theory is that 14 months of Doug being gone has just exhausted all of us to the point that our immune system isn't doing squat. Mollie still has a cough, and has been over this bug for days now. Jeremy is working on a sinus infection, I believe. And i had a fever for two days, and have felt like crap.
Up until now, I have been trying to figure out how to live with this MSG sensitivity. My diet has been pretty limited, and I have been doin a lot of research on it, so I have been scarily behind on my blogging. Are any of you even still out there?
Oh, Mollie got the cutest haircut...and then, about a week later, decided she "wanted to be pretty" and cut a chunk out of her bangs. I thought the best idea would be to even them out, so they are now so scary I'm not even sure I want to take pics and post them! February 19 Today....I finally fully accepted the fact that I have an allergy to something that is nearly impossible to fight. I had studied up on allergies, investigated, picked people's brains on the subject. But today, I recognized all the symptoms shortly after I ate something, and knew it was certain. I'm allergic to or "sensitive to" MSG. But this freakin stuff is unavoidable. I'm so discouraged and overwhelmed. It's in EVERYTHING!!!! When you realize something like this, you want to fight it, make excuses. But the truth is, you're just so tired of feeling like crap that the fight isn't in you. And the best part of all? With a "normal" allergy, i.e. peanuts, milk, etc. people feel bad for you, and are extra sensitive to warn you about foods, feel sympathetic and shocked by your condition. With MSG, people don't even really know what it is, what it's used for. And they definitely don't realize that it's in every freaking thing in the supermarket, exempting very little, believe me. Doug suggested all these foods to try to eat to avoid it, so I had SOME nutrition coming in, and guess what? The things that I read said that fruits are sprayed with it, it's released in the fermentation process, added to diet foods. It's EVERYWHERE. I know, I sound like a nutjob. Look it up. Trust me... February 08 I only have a minute...cause I have a homemade pizza in the oven. Am I ever going to get sick of pizza? Probably not:)
It's been kinda slow in here. Is that my fault? Probably, I guess I have been a little boring. I'll try to change that soon. Doug will be back at work soon, so I'll be lonely again:( January 31 Well here it is!I created an album of all the pics of our bedroom makeover. Tell me what you think! January 26 Update! New stuff!Check it out! MSN Spaces has new Themes and Modules. It's about time! Like my new colors? January 25 Good Grief!Could I get any further behind on my blogging? i have really been slacking lately. I know, I have an excuse, but it doesn't help that part of the coming home process involves running around doing stuff and being busy. I'm so glad he's been off work. He still has almost a month left til he has to go back to work. He's been putting in carpet today. So as soon as that's done, I can take pics of the room, and show everybody. Do you know how hard it was to do such a huge project and not be able to blog about it? Since the bedroom makeover was a surprise Christmas/Welcome Home present for Doug, and he read my blog while he was away, I couldn't write about it! No wonder I was Blog-blocked.
Everybody pray for a miracle if you believe in it. My mom has lost hearing in her ear over the last couple years, and it's not able to be helped by a hearing aid, and the Dr. isn't optimistic her hearing will come back in that ear. Thankfully, there's no reason to think it will happen in the other ear, and there is no MS or brain tumor causing it. Her MRI ruled those out. So, now, I'm just asking everybody I know to pray for a miracle... January 17 I've got him! Wooohoo!Sorry this is late. I've ummmm...been busy.
I picked him up at the airport last Sunday. I drove up to St. Louis, there was a brief ceremony after the plane got in, and we headed home.
The closer we got to home, the more I couldn't believe that it was finally over and he was finally coming home.
He hadn't seen the new fence I had had built. And his Christmas present from me was a re-doing of our bedroom. Mom gave us a feather-top mattress, and I bought a new King-sized sleigh bed, and box springs. I repainted the window and door trim, bought new curtains, made and hung new curtain rods, and bought new carpet to replace ours that had been water damaged. I also had some very sweet friends who replaced the damaged ceiling tiles, and my mom and some other friends who helped with the rest of the work. I plan on posting pics soon, after Doug gets the carpet done. We bought a few things to organize it with, and a slipcover for the loveseat in there, moved our tv, and in general, made it a place to escape to. That is something we have been needing desperately for years.
When Doug walked into the room, all he could do was say WOW over and over again. I'm assuming it was a good surprise Christmas present  January 05 I saw him, I saw him, I saw him!His grandpa died the night they were flying in from Kuwait. Sad news, but it made it possible for us to see him over a week early. There was also a baptsim and lots of cousins for the kids to play with. It was unbelieveable. I hadn't seen him in person for 8 1/2 months. We even had a hotel room to ourselves his first night home. We had a lot of stress to deal with, sadness, chaos, travel, extended family stuff. But it was unbelieveable to see him with his kids again, and to hold him in my arms again. He had to go back to Dix yesterday, and I had an 11 hour drive home with the kids. But it was truly worth it. December 30 Goodbye GrandpaDoug's Grandpa died last night. He hadn't been well at all for the last week, and had been failing for months. I got the call that Doug had made it safely out of Iraq, and turned around to call Doug's Mom with the news. And she gave me this sad news. We knew it was imminent. Doug doesn't even know yet, and I pray the Red Cross tells him before he reads this blog. We are going north for the funeral, and I'm hoping they can get Doug here for it, and he can meet up with us up there. Pray hard.
I'm so glad we all went up to see him in April when Doug was home on leave. I added a new album of pictures from that weekend.
Goodbye John, you were a wonderful man. I hope heaven is wonderful and Winnie was there beside Him to greet you. We all loved you very much. December 29 As Far As I Know...he flew out of Baghdad today. They say no news is good news. Of course, I heard that the natives are restless over there and causing trouble, so I hope nothing changed the plan to get them out of there.
I had a really hard time after his flight got delayed by almost a week. I had made the mistake of getting my hopes up that I would see him soon, and I fell pretty hard from having my head in the clouds about that. He didn't sound so good either. The kids didn't seem to realize what was going on, which is for the best I guess. I had some good friends who just helped in little ways, even though I'm a pain in the butt to help. Thanks, girls... December 18 GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I'm so glad my husband isn't condescending when he talks to me. I know he knows I'm smart and I know what I'm talking about. The rest of the male population, I'm not so sure about. And if there's one thing that makes me crazy, it's men that talk down to me like I'm stupid. I'm the furthest thing from a feminist. But that sure don't mean we're a bunch of idiots who have to be talked down to. Okay, I'm done with that vent. Next!
Our FRG (Family Readiness Group) for the National Guard family and wives is ridiculously unattended and unmotivated. I freely admit that I didn't attend a lot of the meetings, primarily because they were late afternoon on a Sunday, without childcare provided. And I don't know about you, but the last thing I want to do on a Sunday afternoon is to drive 40 minutes to where the meeting is, and drag the kids along to be bored out of their minds by women talking and not making any decisions, and whining about not knowing anything, so lets just sit around and wait and then be all disorganized.
OK, now I'm done....How's everybody else? December 10 I'm almost finished with...my Christmas shopping! I have four more people to buy for! I picked out my Christmas present from my mom yesterday while she and I were shopping at Kohl's. They had a game that hooks into your tv of Hold Em! Yeah, yeah, I'm obsessed, I know. I can't wait til Doug is home to play too.
I've been practicing all the time for the Christmas Choir performance this weekend. Pretty much all my spare time has been spent doing that. My mom took my kids and went to see it last night. She loved it. The kids didn't even hate it.
I finally got to talk to Doug this afternoon, after days of not getting to talk. I kept missing him on messenger, and he kept getting the emails he was sending me returned. I was afraid it was just going to be our new trend to get used to. Talking once a week. I hope that's not the case, or it's going to be a long three weeks. Wow, three weeks, I've just about made it! December 04 Wow!The closer it gets to Doug coming home, the less I have been blogging. Sorry guys, I'm sure you've missed me
 . I just seem to be going 100 miles an hour all the time. I've tried to keep busy during this whole deployment, but now, now that I want everything to be perfect for his return, I'm just in hyperdrive. Aron, I know you don't relate to this whatsoever, you either Cassie. lol
I have been spending a lot of time playing Hold 'Em. Somebody stop me! Take me down a couple notches, take my money, something. I'm hooked! lol
November 27 My husband...was able to call me a few days in a row, which is totally not the routine, and it has been sooooo great. But it has also spoiled me rotten.
 It made it almost seem like he was a state or two away, instead of in another country. And ohhh, did it make me miss him more.Oh, and did I mention my kids have been off school for 9 days? 9? Days? Did you hear me? 9 DAYS!!!!! I love them, but 9 days? They have fought and griped and driven me half crazy. They were bored out of their minds. Why on earth would they want to be off school that long? My boys have wrestled and punched each other, and made their sister scream and cry. Yes, it has been a delightful 9 days. And to think, I was beginning to rethink my 3 is enough kids decision... November 24 This is the songThis is the song that started my funk. I never realized it, and must have taken for granted the companionship and acceptance that I get from my husband. My husband who loves Thanksgiving. My husband who has spent his last two birthdays, and last two Thanksgivings away from his family. I heard this song yesterday, and thought of you baby. I love you, Doug. It's been more than a hundred days, and I'm still here without you:
Here Without You-3 Doors Down
A hundred days had made me older since the last time that I saw your pretty face And tonight girl it’s only you and me November 22 I hate it when...my husband tells me the rumors he's heard about when they get to come home, how long they'll be a certain place, etc. Especially when there is always a counter-rumor saying the exact opposite. It's enough to drive a woman crazy!
 We are just so ready to be done with this whole thing. I have so much I want to get done before he comes home, but I'm too tried to do anything most of the time. It feels like we are gone all the time, and when we are here, I am exhausted. Oh well, you can only do what you can do, but I know I'll kill myself trying to get stuff done anyhow. At least I'm comfortable with that
.November 19 I can't seem...to slow my life down long enough to blog. And I have had so many nice new people come and comment. I go and go all day, and then at 9 o'clock, I have no brain cells with which to rub together and blog. Oh well.
Seeing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire from the third row really sucks. The guy who sold me my advance tickets was like, oh no, it's not selling out that fast at all. So I, with two sons, my mother, and two nephews in tow, get there 10 minutes before the movie is due to start and walk right in...to find that the only freaking seats available are in the first 4 rows. Well, this movie that I have been waiting for months to see, I have to see from the 4th row. Well crap. By the way, whenever I say CRAP! my daughter Mollie says What? I guess I must say it alot
 ...November 14 Our Springfield TripWell, I picked the boys up from school on Friday after the Veteran's Day reception at their school. We headed up to Springfield, made good time, and actually beat Taunya, our hostess, home
. We had some dinner, and around nine, Taunya and I met up with some friends of hers at a karaoke night. It was fun. But as I walked in, some guy was doing "Proud to be an American." And Taunya had to go and tell the karaoke guys that Doug was in Iraq, so of course they announced it. And so this young guy who was prior military kept getting up and dedicating these songs to me, and just doing an awesome job. He sang American Soldier and Letters from Home. I got up and stood up there with home on the last verse of Letters from Home, and I gave him a big hug and said "It wouldn't be so hard to listen to if you weren't so doggone good at singing these songs!" but it was a fun night.Saturday, we just hung out and the kids played outside and built forts down in the gulley. We took the kids to see Chicken Little on Saturday afternoon, good thing cause it had started raining. Then we took them to Chuck E. Cheese. It was packed and a little dangerous at Chuck E. Cheese, so we came back to Taunya's and just chilled.
Sunday, we went to Taunya's church, came back and had some lunch, and took off for home. A little later than planned, but it was nice to sit and visit with everybody.
All in all, a good trip. |
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