Not goodbye....

Life. It can sure become crazy and full in a moments notice.

Mine sure has.

There are a lot of "feeeeelings" going on over here at Chez' Owens with all of the changes about to happen. None that I feel right blogging about. It is never easy for a military family to have a parent go off for an extended period of time. Going to war? One of the hardest things ever.

I think it's time to take a little break from blogging. We are going to spend our remaining time together as a family doing.......I guess just doing stuff. Maybe a picnic here or there. Walks. Laying in bed and talking about nothing. Laughing. Holding hands when the "worrieds" get the best of us.

This blog has been a wonderfully amazing experience. I've met some of the best women. Thank you for taking time out of your busy days to leave a comment or two. Thank you even more for opening your hearts and sharing bits of your lives. I hope we can continue to email back and forth and I will definitely still visit your own blogs. For now though I'm going to keep quiet on mine to be with my family.

I do have a huge favor to ask.....Please keep our military families in your thoughts and prayers. There are so many of us out there who are getting our loved ones ready to be shipped out. We see the big green duffel bags packed with war type things. We sit next to our daughters as they try and process what this will mean for them. We deal with the nightmares that something bad will happen to their daddy's. We deal with our own worry that we can't share but hide in the secret places of our hearts. We cherish the times when we are out eating lunch with our husbands.....they with their uniforms on...and a stranger comes over to shake their hand. To say thank you for serving. It means so much more then you will ever know. And please don't forget me. I'll be back after things settle down a bit. I just have some hugging and back rubbing and big dinner making and long walks to take.

Big hugs to everyone,
Dawn

A couple of weeks ago I called the counselor at The Boo-Bears school. Just wanted to let her know that The Major would be deploying in a bit and could she just keep an ear to the ground to make sure my girl was holding it all together. She said she would. I got busy with life and forgot about the phone call until yesterday. I asked Boo-Bear if she had talked to her counselor. She says.....and I quote....

"Oh, you mean my therapist? Yes, we talked but it was private momma."

Ummm well okay then.
My goodness that child cracks me up.

I got one leaving the nest..........

My son got his date to leave for Basic Training this afternoon. And because the Universe is a woman with horrid PMS he will be leaving before my husband gets home. Ah joy. I get to ship one off to war and the other I will be shipping off to start his new life and praying that he will not be joining his father. Praying that he will be doing something much safer and closer to home.

Soooooooooooooooooo where am I now you ask??? I am hiding in my room. Seriously. I am sitting on my bed with my faithful dog next to me and the laptop in my lap. I have already sent out the SOS email to my Ya-Ya's and they responded immediately.

Ladies? What did we do before Ya-Ya's I ask you???

Tonight my husband and I were sitting on the couch and I looked at him. I said "Can you even believe that our first born is about to leave the nest?" Then he hugged me and said "I know."

When The Son got the call you should have seen his face. Oh my gosh was he excited.
Remember that feeling?? It's like your life is all there before you and it's waiting for you to step into it. Adulthood!! No parents!!! Your own decisions!!! I am so ridiculously happy for him. He got the job he wanted and will be traveling quite a bit.
Wanna know the best part of today? It was when I was cooking dinner. Just in there minding my own business. He came in and said "hey mom...." then he grabbed me up for a hug.

Just a hug.

Then he went about his business while I looked out the kitchen window for a bit. Wanna know what I saw out that window? I saw the four year old he used to be. The one who asked me once....when I was getting ready for a party......after I'd had his little sister and was not feeling very svelte...he says to me with his brown eyes so very big....."Mommy, are you a princess?!"

Excuse me while I find some tissue.

The Great Ya-Ya Reunion 2010 Cont.......

Oh Int-netz....the fun that is being had here in Nashville!!! We checked out the Grand Ole Opry and waited to meet Carrie Underwood but alas, she had other things to do and had no idea the Ya-Ya's were in town for a much needed reunion.

This man was a sweetie pie and took pictures of us. He used each of our cameras and told us to have a good time while in Nashville. Can I just say that the people here are lovely. Absolutely lovely.

Ahhhhhh Opry, you had us at hello.

Here is our Paige. All happy to be with Flat Jen. Speaking of our Paige....her husband handed her a plane ticket for Christmas. He told her she would be getting on the plane, no questions asked. She had no idea what was waiting for her on the other side and has been going crazy trying to find out. We were all sworn to secrecy.

Oh the screaming when we saw her coming down the escelator....oh the tears.....oh the happiness.....the jumping up and down and screaming some more. There is nothing like having a friend you love like a sister.....a friend you haven't seen in two years.....coming down an escalator in an airport towards you. Nothing. I highly recommend it.

Next up will be pictures from the Rick Springfield concert we went to. I cannot tell you the fun that was had. We made friends with the people sitting next to us. We made friends with our waitress and danced with her. A lot. We made friends with the towel attendant in the bathroom and may have danced with her. We made friends while waiting for our driver. We made friends with the librarian who was in our van. We felt badly for her husband when she told their private intimate business and then exclaimed "well hell! we won't ever see them again anyway!!" Loved her. I think she may be my soul sister.

Okay, off to the Tour of Stars Homes.

Ya-Ya!!

The Great Ya-Ya Reunion 2010

One of our Ya-Ya's has a hubby fighting for Truth Justice and the American Way...which means he is deployed. Again. For like the 4th time. Our Ya-Ya?? Missing him terribly and holding on by a small thin thread. He....being a very good husband...realized this and sent out the SOS. He called the Ya-Ya's and said that he would pay for a weekend at a very lovely hotel in Nashville if we could all just get there. We, of course, said yes and bought tickets back before Thanksgiving. With one of us who's husband has just gotten home from a deployment...one of us who's husband is deployed now...and one of us looking at a looming deployment...being away for a weekend of talking laughing and eating was a very good thing. One of our Ya-Ya's couldn't make it so we improvised....meet Flat Jen everyone!!!

Flat Jen is very tired from her travel day and needed a nap. Hi Flat Jen!!

It has been the perfect weekend in every possible way. There has been a lot of lounging.....

And much consuming of this......

Some nighttime sitting here.....

Sleeping on the best beds known to man.....

and walking...and talking...and laughing so hard my tummy hurts.....and eating...and eating....and did I mention the eating??????! I have a bunch of pictures I want to get on here but today we are going on a tour of the Country Music Hall Of Fame and I need to get ready.

Happy days folks!!! Happy happy days!!

Stephen King.....

Allrighty Int-netz....very serious question for you that has nothing to do with the love of my life being deployed here very shortly to parts unknown....places unheard of.....the man I have loved since I was a weeeeeeeeeeee 15 years old going "over there" sniiiiifffff. Yeah, nothing to do with all of that. My question is this:



I got a Nook (fabulousfabulousloveitmorethenlifeluvluvluvluvluv!!!) for Christmas. It had to be back ordered cause they were sold out. It came at the beginning of February. I am embarrassed at the number of ebooks I have on there already. It is only the 10th. I orederd another book last night. When my husband asked me I was ordering ANOTHER BOOK! I may have said no. I may need an intervention...but not yet cause the new JD Robb and Sooky Stackhouse books are coming out soon. And I may have pre-ordered them. heh.


My question dear friends is....do you download Stephen King if you have a Nook or a Kindle?? Do you have Stephen King books in your house?? I love Stephen King and read him whenever I go into Barnes and Noble aka Sanctuary To My Soul but bring him home? Nope. Why you ask?? Ummmmmmm, don't laugh okay.........I'm scared that stuff in his books are going to hop out and get me in the middle of the night. There! I said it! I feel lighter already. I'm totally nervous that if I download his newest book in my Nook that the dark forces whom prowl around looking for mamby pambys like myself will hop out of there in the middle of the night and eat half of my face off. They will probably look like clowns too and that just makes me shiver in my parts and pieces. Did I ever tell you that when Cabbage Patch dolls were popular my grandmother had big ones made for the two oldest granddaughters and heh...I was one of the lucky ones?? Yep. Scared me to death. I hated that thing. I just knew it came alive in the middle of the night and walked over to my bed and looked at me. She and I would have a stare down every night before I went to sleep. I would tell her that I wasn't scared of her and she would stare back at me all silently like and spooky-thinking in her doll head that oh yes I was and just wait til I shut my eyes cause then she was gonna walk over and luuuuuuuuuk at me......and possibly eat half of my face off.


So what say you on the Stephen King books?? Download or not download?? Has anyone downloaded a book of his (looking at you reader extraordinaire Mary!!) and not had their face half eaten off? Hmmmm did ya read him and make it out alive?? Inquiring minds need to know.

Thank you and good day.

Sirens....

It is Saturday morning here in snow filled Ohio. The ice storm came as predicted and lasted for hours. Then snow. More snow. Lotsa snow. It is still snowing.



You know what's weird about it though? The sirens are going off. You know the emergency broadcast sirens that come on to warn us that disaster is immanent? Yeah, those sirens. I keep looking outside to see what is what and I only see snow. It's coming down very softly and really, we only got about 6 inches. Compared to DC what do we have to be all sireny about??

SEE! There they go again. Does it mean the end of the world is nigh?? Should I get out from under my quilt and not drink the rest of my very lovely cup of coffee?? If the end of the world is nigh I should probably go and take a shower. You can't run around outside yelling "life as we know it is coming to an end!! Run!! Run for you lives!!" if you don't have makeup on and poofy hair.

Oops, sirens stopped. I guess the end of the world isn't nigh. Nope, there they go again. The nigh is getting closer. I'm going to go and peek outside to see if there is a black cloud of destruction headed my way. Hold on, I'll report back in a minute.....................



Nope. Nothing. Nada. I did see a snow plow and a neighbor is shoveling his sidewalk like nothing is happening. Hmmmmmmmmmmm very interesting happenings here this morning. I must make another cup of coffee and contemplate things.

Stay warm everyone!!

You know the commercial with Michelle Obama?? The one where she is talking about doing good things and ummmmmmmmmmm well I forget what else she talks about but it's on all the time.

Wanna know why I can't remember what she talked about?? I can't stop looking at her eyebrows.



Seriously. I cannot look away. While she is waxing poetic on how to help people and other very important things I keep thinking "Guuuuuuuuuuuuurl what happened to your eyebrows and do you know they look like that??!!"



Am I the only one who noticed??



I mean I totally love Michelle Obama and want to be BFFs. I can see us sipping cosmos together and dishing on what her husband said the other night and CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE HE WENT THERE??! We would have Besty-Sleepovers and she would let me stay in The Lincoln bedroom. After we had a couple us a couple of those cosmos......and put on our PJs....... we would ding dong ditch members of Congress. After a night of fun we would be drifting off to sleep. Secure in the knowledge we had put the F in fun......I wouldn't be able to resist asking her......"Miiiiiiiiicccccccccchhhhhhelle....pssssst....chelly (my BFF nickname for her) what's up with the eyebrows???"

giggle.

p.s. you guys rock. thanks for the wonderfuly kind words and the support. seriously. I had to get the tissue out. It means a lot and I really really appreciate it.
hugs!
giggle.

Ahhhh life.....you sucketh this week.

The hubby has been gone this week doing Major-ish things. I've been holding down the fort with the kiddos which means I get to watch what I want on TV and sleep on the couch......ever vigilant for things that go bump in the night. He calls me every night which is really nice. What did we do in the days without cell phones I ask ya?? Anyway, there I was the other night. Sitting on the couch watching TV with my laptop in my lap and some goldfish crackers by my side. Waiting for him to call. When the phone rang I hopped on there with a very perky "Hey there baby-cakes!" We talked for awhile and then he says to me, "Listen, I have some bad/good news." I'm thinking he's going to tell me that they are being delayed and have to stay a couple of days longer. Ahhhh if only. He tells me that his number has come up and he is being deployed. The good news? He only has to go for around 8 months. Not 12 or 15.

I have now re-read that sentence a total of 5 times. I am trying to get my brain around it. Hmmm. Carrying on.....after he drops that bomb I sit there. Those goldfish crackers are no longer looking as yummy as they did a mere 5 minutes ago. What to say? We sit in silence for a bit. Both of us trying to absorb what this means.

This is a scenario that has played out on telephones.....emails.......face to face conversations...for 9 years now. The other night it was my turn to be all strong and supportive. I really really really didn't want to be. I wanted to ask if this could be a mistake. Or could he call someone and tell them no. Neither one being an option I asked him how he felt. He says he feels good, that it's his turn to go and when it's your turn to go, you go and that it will go fast and we have email and Skype and it will all be okay. Also he says it's not like he will be on the front lines or driving a tank like so many of our young men and women. In my heart I am saying that sure I know that and yeah that is such a great thing but you will be gone. Who will put their foot on mine right before we go to sleep? Who but he understands my love of mint chocolate chip ice cream? Who will I read MSNBC.com to at night? And don't forget the kids. They adore him. How will I tell them their father is going "over there." ??????? When we were about to hang up he asked me if I was okay and then he said he loved me very much. I told him I loved him too and that yes, I was okay. I know what it means to be a military wife. He said he would call me in the morning and we said goodbye. I laid on the couch and wondered what to think. No, I didn't enjoy any more goldfish crackers.

I told the kids yesterday. The oldest was strong. He may be over there as well soon.Yeah, not even thinking about that right now. Our 17 year old absorbed the news and went upstairs to be alone. The Boo-Bear sobbed in my arms. She asked me who would watch Sanford and Son with her while he was gone. Would he have to carry a gun. Would people be shooting at her daddy.

Another conversation women have been having for toooo many years now.

This my friends out in blogland is what military spouses do. We support. We pack suitcases. We worry and pray. We hold our children while they try and make sense of things. We walk around with the phone attached to our hip so we don't miss a phone call. We write letters full of everything is fine and yes, we are all okay. We hold down the fort and try to make a life full of change a little bit more constant.

Now it's my turn.
Someone pass the M&Ms.

A Storm!!

The weather people are all over the TV today. Seems we have a big storm coming our way. It should start tomorrow morning and last into Saturday night. They started posting warnings last night. I thought woooooooah we are going to get hit and get hit hard. I thought snow would be predicted in feet! Ice everywhere! Catastrophe! End of Ohio as we know it!! Oh me Oh my!!!

Guess how many inches.....yep inches....we are predicted to get??

4.

We'll try and hang on as long as we can.

Heard while at dinner....

I took the girls to a rib place last night..........mmmmmmmm buck a bone night!!...and while we were waiting in line The Boo Bear was telling me I needed to fill out a form so she could take Motrin during the day at school if she felt a headache coming on. My girl likes to be prepared for any and all aches and pains. She told me that if I didn't fill out the form and she got caught with some Motrin in her backpack they treat it just like having real drugs. Our conversation went thusly....

Her: Momma....momma....momma....

Me: What??

Her: I brought home a green form that you need to fill out so the nurse knows I can take Motrin.

Me: Why do you need to take Motrin?

Her: I might get a headache.

Me: OK, now stop talking to me while I figure out how many ribs I want.

Her: Yeah and if you don't fill out the form and I have Motrin in my backpack you can get in trouble like if you had real drugs.

Me: Hmmmmmmmmmmm maybe 6...no 7......7 ribs should just about do me. Ohhhhhh they have cornbread!

Her: It would be like if I had Pot in my backpack!! Or Weed!

Me: Honey, you do know that Weed and Pot are the same thing right?

Her: They are??

This is when everyone in line starts laughing hysterically. Me included.

Her very insulted now: You know maybe you should be happy that I didn't know the difference!

She is so very right. heeheeheeheehee