I Like Otters

Aren't otters kind of jerks though?


Well, I'm sure this one isn't.

This is an otter, right?

Open Letter

Dear annoyingly loud horse type dog that lives next door:
I don't appreciate you waking me up an hour before my alarm clock. Shut the heck up, would ya?

Love,
Sheena

Still Kickin'

I guess I haven't updated in awhile. I have gotten several emails/messages from folks just checking in on me, so I figured I should check in with those of you in cyber-land also. And thanks to those who did/have/will check in on me, I'm lucky to have you in my life!

So today I went to the dentist. It was SUUUPER rainy out, and I wore long sleeves (well, 3/4 sleeves - I don't think I own actual long sleeves anymore!) and jeans, AND I had to turn on the heater in the car. Not full blast of course, but it was something! I love the smell of the heater. Yes, I know how weird that is.

Things are going good here. I'm keeping VERY busy. Katie was here last week so that occoupied a lot of my time and got me over the hump. This weekend has been low key (barring the hour and a half I spent getting my tooth drilled at the dentist), which is what I was looking for. Its been raining all day so Baxter and I napped on the couch with the windows open so we could listen to it while we slept. We even got to get out a blanket! I miss seasons...

In Erik's email today he said they lost power in their building last night so the A/C was off. Lets dissect that sentence, shall we? Keywords here are: building and air conditioning. My heart leapt for joy when I read that. I'm sorry the power went out, but he lives in a building with air conditioning! How exciting!!

After the dentist but before the napping I went to Safeway because Erik wanted me to put some "good" coffee in his care package and I decided I would bang out my shopping for the next few weeks/month while I was there. I had several items when I got to the coffee aisle and realized it was about $6 more than on post. I put my items back and drove to Schofield. A few cents or a buck here and there for convenience sake is fine, but couple that with an extra $6 for coffee plus having to pay tax and I'm out. I can make the 15 minute drive. So I did. And I told you all that to tell you this: When Erik was home and I'd go to the store, I could tell the wives whose husbands were gone. They had salad, a small jug of milk, the half carton of eggs, frozen meals and random odds and ends like cereal and Special K bars. It made me sad when I realized in line today that you could tell Erik was gone by the contents of my basket. Veggies, enough Healthy Choice meals to last until Jesus comes, cups of soup, salad dressing, a small jug of milk and 3 types of cereal bar/breakfast bar.

Alright well I'm heading to bed. Melissa and I are going to church on post tomorrow. I hope I like it!!

G'night all!





And all I have now is the truth that I've found, life has a way of just spinning around and around and around...

For those of you who don't know

Erik gave Baxter a bath once a week. Sundays, usually.

Well two, maybe 3 Sundays have passed since Baxters last bath and I'm here to tell you: he stinks so bad I woke up in the middle of the night the other night just from the smell of him all the way on the other side of the bed. I made him go down to the floor a) because I wanted to turn over and I could fall asleep with his nastiness getting the way and b) if he's stinks that bad, why is he on my comforter?

So I'm taking him to the bath. Sorry this post was so lame. Better luck next time! ;)


///edit/// I'm giving you more because that one was terrible. It'll be in list form though because I don't feel like working very hard.

1. Baxter is now silky smooth.
2. I almost died on H1 today. Seriously. At about 40MPH a jerk in a hatchback almost ended me.
3. One of my clients is in jail. That's right, she couldn't go to work because she was in jail. *sigh*
4. KTK is headed back to the motherland as we speak. :(
5. I had sushi for dinner.
6. Erik called. He sounds good.

I'm probably going to bed now.

D-Day

So the day started with the phone ringing at 5:25AM. Someone didn't realize Erik was leaving that day and therefore did NOT know what was going on the following Thursday. Anyway, we were up, so we decided to make some coffee that we picked up in Maui (they call it the champagne of coffee and it was amazing - which it should be for about $9/pot) and go to the top of the hill to watch the sun set. It was lovely and I can't believe we'd never done it before! I took some pictures but they didn't really turn out.

So then we came home, got ready for the day, ran a few errands and then Erik packed his last bag. After that, we hung out a little and then headed to post.
And now, pictures!

Erik packing his carry on. I have no idea what all that crap is.


Saying goodbye to Baxter...
About to leave for post. :(

About to leave...
I just liked how everyone from E's BN had thier bags all lined up nicely away from everyone elses. So I took a picture.
So that's that...

He's gone.

And now it's back to carrying my cell phone with me, even to the shower. And it's back to counting the days until we're together again.

I took lots of pictures of our last day together for awhile (just for you, Lyle and Lorene! Well maybe for my scrapbook too...), but I'm going to have to post them later. I'm just too wiped out - I'm taking my glass of wine, my half eaten bag of Milano cookies, my dog, and going to bed. It's time to learn to sleep alone.

I promise not to be Debbie Downer for the whole deployment, but give me today (or maybe the rest of the week). I just... this seemed a lot easier last time.

Tears are forming in your eyes

A storm is warning in the skies

The end of the world it seems

You bend down and fall on your knees

Well get back on your feet

Don't look away

Don't run away

Baby it's only life

Don't lose your faith

Don't run away

It's only life

-KV

Quick Update

So work is going well. I feel like I'm bringing home work every night. No, I'm not getting paid overtime, but I just have SO much to do and no-brainer tasks (organization of paperwork) and the like are getting in my way. So until I can get caught up on things that HAVE to be done during the day, homework is my fate. Although I'm trying to avoid bringing much since I don't have much longer with Erik home. After that, I'm sure I'll be glad to have extra work to fill my evenings (although in theory I should be caught up by then... God willing).

I got my first pay check today - YAY!! AND as a bonus for bringing home work all the time, I decided I needed a new tote. I wanted a leather one initially, but I decided I'd save some money and just get a new Vera Bag. I'm pretty stoked. I was going to post a link for you to look at it, but I can't without showing the price, and thats weird. I'm pissed now though. I thought I was getting a great deal at the PX and it's on sale on the VeraBradley website. I paid $12 more than necessary! Although, I guess shipping to paradise would have made up for the savings... Either way, AAFES is falling down on the job. Gas is cheaper in town than on post today (BTW, we're BELOW $4/gallon for the first time since we got here!)

Okay, so since Erik is going to be leaving soon, you won't get many updates out of me before then. BUT I don't want to leaving you hanging - so I've saved the best for last! Pictures of our trip to Massachusetts! No, I do not recommend flying across the freakin' world for a weekend (okay, so it might not have been that long but damn it felt like it!) but for the most part a great time was had.

Here we go! Oh. Have we talked about how blogger is gay and won't let me put the pictures in the places I want, in the order I want? I'm lucky I can put damn captions in. I miss xanga.

So here's Pat and Ken dancing. You can see Erik and I in the back ground. I think it's fun.
The gang. Minus the bride and groom. Where were they!?
Erik and I dancing.
So rewind back to the rehearsal dinner - Erik and I and Dave and Vicki bought matching Hawaiian outfits. This is the worst picture ever, but at least you get the idea. And yes, the bride and groom got their own matching outfits also.
Erik and I infront of the pumpkin fountain. Look over here, buddy! Maybe Ken has a better one.
The fam infront of the pumpkin fountain. I guess it was more of a waterfall that they had turned off and decorated for autumn. I miss autumn. This was Lori, Vic and I before the wedding. Lori and I had recently purchased the largest sunglasses we could find.
Oh, and now we're back to the reception. Here's me and Lori. I HEART her!

So that's that. I'm off for Itallian Deliciousness with Erik, Rich and Melissa. Got to get all the good eatin' in before the boys leave!

Somebody's Someone

To the world he was a total stranger
Who kept us safe and out of danger
But now he's just a picture on TV
Somebody's memory
He was somebody's someone
-Lonestar

Have you ever had an entire set of friends that you've never even met? I do, and I don't know what I'd do without them.

A few years ago when planning our wedding I stumbled across a message board for military brides - I quickly became an addict. Though we've been married over a year, I still frequent the board as some of the women on there have become very dear to me. Many of us are married now, having children (or 2 or 3 or 4), infact the "brides" population is probably the minority - once you join, you really can't leave. We are each others rocks. We've seen eachother through deployments, weddings, divorces, children, sickness and tragedy. Through ups and downs we are there for each other - funny, since sometimes we don't even know eachothers last names. We are held together with a bond that only we understand - what it's like to be a military wife. And right now, one of us is living our collective worst nightmare.

Cpt. Mike Medders was killed in Iraq last week. That's where the lyrics at the top of this blog come from. Cpt. Medders was somebody's someone, and that someone was our Stacey. She is the second of us MBs to lose her fiance/husband overseas, and unfortunately she probably won't be the last. But thank God we have eachother. We're all devastated, even those who didn't "know" her very well - because she is one of us, and that made him one of us.

Rest in peace, Cpt. Medders. Thank you for your service and your bravery. You will never be forgotten, even by those of us who never knew you.

Please take a minute to pray for Stacey, and their families. I know they need every one that they can get.