Autumn Victoria

My friend, Jill, had her baby on Friday. She is absolutely precious. She looks like her big sister Abby already! She weighed in at 5lb 15oz and 19" long. She was born a little early (36 weeks), but is doing very well and went home today. I went up to the hospital on Saturday to visit. It was very nice to meet her and to be able to hold such a small baby. I didn't want to give her up!

Homecoming

It is actually CNHS's homecoming this weekend, but what I'm referring to is Michael coming home on Wednesday. Yay! I always get extremely anxious a couple days before he's set to be home and so I'm really happy that he's home. And hopefully this time he'll stay here for awhile. He doesn't have any other school scheduled right now, but that doesn't mean that can't change. He did really well in his class. In fact, he was first in his class. And in other guard business, he is getting promoted again. Effective 01 October, he will be a Staff Sergeant (E6)! It's very exciting and we celebrated with a little (okay, a lot) ice cream cake last night. His new unit is in Gary. Not so happy about the distance (about a 3 hour drive), but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. This means he'll be staying up there on drill weekends and not coming home each night. I guess one weekend a month will be okay. I try to schedule my drill weekends the same as his anyway.

I'm getting pretty busy with school again. It always seems like the beginning of the semester is slow and then when we start getting into our projects and assignments things pick up really quick. I'm excited about the classes this semester though. Not necessarily all the work, but what we're studying and reading about is really interesting. I lost my student teaching placement. My special ed teacher has a different program and a very full schedule and so she didn't think that I would benefit from being with her next semester. So my professor pulled me from the school completely and is trying to find another placement for me. I'm not extremely happy about this. I liked the school and grade levels I would be teaching and now that isn't going to happen. I just hope they find me a place before January!

You Never Know Who You'll Run Into

And it usually happens in the last place you'd expect, or in this case, with a person I would have bet a ton of money on I would have never seen again in my life. I have drill this weekend and since the post locator desk is also located in the same building as the MP's and the JOC, many people come in and out throughout the day. I didn't trust my eyes when I saw him walk in and so I didn't say anything, but sure enough he stopped by my desk and it was him...a local I had met in Afghanistan! He worked for KBR in the chow hall. I would practice my Dari with him every time I saw him in there. He spoke English quite well. He now has his green card and works for the Army, not sure doing what though. We talked only briefly, but exchanged email addresses, and so hopefully we will keep in touch. It was interesting to hear about what Afghanistan is like now (much worse! he said it was good when Indiana was there but they don't like the units that have replaced us since and things are heating up again) and how he plans on returning. I would think that America would be quite overwhelming, especially coming from over there. He looks good and seems to be doing well.

Hurricane Ike

I just wanted to write a quick note to let everyone that was affected by the storm know that we are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers. We were lucky here, but southern Indiana (some areas not even an hour south of us) were hit much harder. They are still without power and quite a bit of damage to their homes from the wind and fallen trees. It still amazes me how a storm can travel inland like it has and the damage it can do to so many places. I know it is just devastating down south and I can't imagine what they are dealing with in the places that were hit the hardest. My heart goes out to everyone.

Movies, Birthday Celebrations, Sick Dog, and Storms All in a Weekend

I worked on Friday at the high school in a shop class. Since I don't know anything about it, I basically sat back while the kids worked in the shop area. I guess that's the one thing about subbing, you never know what the day will bring. I also ran into someone that I served with overseas. He is a high school teacher now. It's been over three years since I've seen him and it was good to have a quick catch up. That evening I went up to the movies with Jill to see 'Women'. There were a few other pregnant women there with their friends as well. It was a good movie and probably the only one I've ever seen that doesn't have one male in it. I'm making a note to myself to never buy the popcorn again unless I'm sharing it with many other people. I love movie popcorn but I barely made a dent in the huge bucket of buttery yumminess and at that price, it was hard to see it go to waste.

Saturday Jaime came up so we could celebrate her birthday. Jeremy and I collaborated together to take her to get our nails done, do a little shopping, and go out to dinner. It was all supposed to be a surprise but nothing ever stays a secret for some reason or another and so she knew what we were doing, just not details. I absolutely love getting my nails done. It's my new favorite indulgence. Not that getting my feet and hands rubbed isn't enough, but also get a mini massage in the chair. Ah, so wonderful. I picked out this deeper red color to get ready for Fall. I usually don't put such dark colors on my hands, but I guess I'm up for anything now a days. So after our pedicures and manicures, we went back to the house to get ready. Well, it took us longer to get ready since we talk, so we really didn't have that long to shop. Jaime made me get all dressed up (not in my comfortable jeans and tshirt I am used to). We stopped at the mall in Greenwood to go to Jaime's favorite store. I found a cute pair of earrings and a necklace on sale and Jaime, of course, found a few outfits. Then it was on up to Indy for dinner at Benihana's. The dinner was wonderful and the chef, David-sahn, was very entertaining. Jaime got a balloon hat and they came out and sang to her. She had to get up and dance which is hilarious if you know Jaime. And of course I don't know how to work her camera so I only got the last few seconds of her dance. Mary Jo was at a band competition for JJ in Columbus, so when we got back to town, we stopped at the high school to pick him up and then headed home.

I should have known I wouldn't get a good night's sleep. We went to bed at a decent hour so even thinking that if Lucas got up early I would still have had plenty of rest. Well, I'm not sure at what hour it started, but Sammy got up sick. She went outside and ate a bunch of grass, which she threw up not long after in the bedroom. She continued to get up throughout the night and go outside to puke. I felt so bad for her and a bit worried, but she's fine now. She's sleeping which is normal for her.

We've been getting some of the effects of hurricane Ike today. It's been extremely windy but not a lot of rain. Jaime called when she got home and said it's much worse down there. Trees and power lines down. Shingles are all over her yard. Thankfully she made it home okay, after taking multiple routes trying to find a way that was clear to get home. The power is out there as well. I feel pretty bad for her. Lucas is having one of those days and this doesn't help. My thoughts are going out to all the people down in Texas and the surrounding area that were hit really hard by this storm.

And now I'm taking a break from homework, which didn't get done all weekend. Michael is in Michigan again for his final phase of this new job training. He left on Wednesday and will be back in two weeks. I think the time might pass by a little bit slower, without Lucas here to keep me busy for one of the weeks. I just hope I will stay focused enough to get ahead with some of my schoolwork. So far it doesn't look promising. It's days like this, gloomy Sunday afternoons, that make me miss him the most.

09/11/08

Another anniversary. I've been watching the shows on the History channel since I got home from school. It's still as heart wrenching as when it first happened. Just devastating. My thoughts go out to all of those family members and friends that lost someone that day as well as everyone that has served or is serving overseas. I hope everyone takes a moment today to remember.

Yard Work Pains

When we went down to Madison on Sunday Michael had all intentions of leaving the birthday party early to take care of some of Jaime's yard work. But the timing never seemed right, especially with the ice cream cake being served, and so he never went over to do it. It always seems like something has gotten in the way of him helping out so he promised to come back this weekend. So Saturday afternoon we headed down. Michael got started on the grass cutting right away and I fixed a board on the porch. After I was done with that and cleaning out Lucas' pool, I went over to help cut the grass. I hopped on the mower and Michael started the trimming. Well, no offense to the owners of the trimmer, but it's a piece of junk. So while Michael was trying to get the thing working, he slipped on a board and a rusty screw went right threw his heel. I was just cruising around on the zero turn mower trying to get it figured out, unaware that any of this happened, until I hear my name called (it was not the first time apparently). I walk over, mind you Michael doesn't look to be in any sort of distress, until I see blood gushing out of his foot. So I run to the house to try and find some bandages (Jaime was at drill so she wasn't home) and all I can find at first is Diego band aides. Isn't it funny when you're trying to hurry that it seems to take forever? So I finally find items to clean the wound. Since it was a screw and not a nail, the cut is more chewed up. I made him sit for awhile, but he felt he needed to finish the grass. So he put his shoe back on and continued with the trimming until he ran out of line (and oomph, I think--he was hobbling around the whole time working). So we didn't get to finish everything we had set out to do; if it's not cake, then it's a big fat rusty screw.

Labor Day Weekend

Where do I begin? I guess Friday. We got a couple free tickets (through the guard) to go to the Indians game (minor league baseball). So after work on Friday we headed up. Neither of us had been to any kind of baseball game before (except probably little or beer league) so we were excited and didn't care that it was just the minors. The stadium is right in downtown Indy, across from the Colts' stadium. Our seats were high way out in the left field, but it gave us a good view of everything. To me, baseball games are not that exciting, it's more about the atmosphere and the people that make the experience. But we had a good time and about 3 hours later, the 9th inning ended and the Indians took victory over the Louisville Bats. After the game they had a fireworks show right from the field. It was amazing to be so close to them. The sound is so intensified, and it really made the show so much more to watch.

On Saturday we went down to Bedford to celebrate Michael's mom's birthday. His dad took the cover and doors off the jeep and we cruised the country roads. We stopped in Bloomington to grab some lunch at Cracker Barrel and did a little shopping. Then we cruised back to their house. On the way their his dad stopped at this old one room schoolhouse. It was really neat but I didn't get out of the car to check it out. On the way there I had a mister misty from DQ and I had to go to the bathroom so badly that I couldn't move. I think next time we go down there we'll have to head back out there with camera and an empty bladder. We visited for a little while at the house before heading back home (on the bike, of course).

Sunday we headed down to Madison (again on the bike) to visit with my sister and Lucas and her in-laws. Jeremy's cousin was having a birthday party so we went over there for the celebration. I played with the kids for a little bit before playing a round of corn hole (boys v. girls) with Michael, Jaime, and Trey. We lost but that's okay. We went in early and started eating the yummy cook out food. After presents and delicious DQ ice cream cake, we headed back. Michael gave Jaime a ride on the bike and I think she really likes it. It will be fun when Jeremy comes home and gets his own and we can all go out riding.

And on Monday, because we couldn't get enough riding the past two days apparently, we went on a bike run with some guys from Michael's work. We started here in Columbus, picked up a guy in Seymour, another in Scottsburg and headed south to the river. In total, there were 7 bikes and I think 10 riders. We stopped at this little restaurant, the Dock, for lunch. They have outdoor seating overlooking the river, but there were a million bikers and all the outdoor seating was full. I had a cod fish sandwich that was pretty yummy. On the way back we started splitting off our separate ways until it was just Michael and I again. I was very ready to get home. It was so hot that the wind was enough to cool us off, and in fact, in some areas it felt like riding into an oven. But we stopped a few times to gas up and get water so we would all live long enough to make it home. Even Michael was ready to get off the bike and that never happens. We decided we'd take another long day trip in the fall when it gets cooler. Plus the leaves will be changing and it will be a beautiful ride.

All in all, it was a very full, Labor Day weekend. I think we stopped long enough to sleep. So now I'm not really ready for the week, but that's okay. I'll take having a long, good weekend.