Addicted..

I got sucked in people. Most of my friends have talked to me about all The Real Housewives; everyone was watching. Well, everyone except me that is. I tried with Atlanta and Orange County... I wanted to punch myself in the face. I couldn't hang with those bitches. I caught an episode or two of New Jersey in past seasons and just really couldn't stand the Danielle broad. She ruined it for me.  Thankfully she's gone now. I was staying a my sisters a few weeks ago and she was watching the new season with the NJ cast... I watched... I found myself caring about whether or not Joe made up with Teresa and admiring Melissa's hot bod. I was sucked in. Addicted.

{source}

Do you watch? Which cast is your favorite?

My Love/Hate Relationship

with TV.
Yeah... That's where we're going with this.

I've bitched about a lot of randomness on TV over the years. Teen Mom {insert eye rolling here}. Canceled shows I actually liked. Lifetime programming switch-ups. Well today I love TV. More specifically, I love USA Network. I love that they have good programming even in the summer. I love that June is a HOT month for season premiers over at USA. Covert Affairs and White Collar premiered tonight. Last season I got into Covert Affairs, I gotta say this episode was kind of lame... I didn't catch White Collar (DVR). Premiers for Royal Pains and Burn Notice are right around the corner. Also, looking forward to two new series: Suits and Necessary Roughness.

Last week I was hating TV though. I started watching Mad Love online. I loved it. I found Larry hilarious. I've been a big fan of Jason Biggs for a years. I was watching all episodes from the first season, after completing the finale I learned it was canceled!! {sad face} I was very disappointed.

Gotta say one of my all-time-favorite shows comes back July 24rd! Entourage. Final season people. Don't forget.

Teen Mom

Lets have it out... I'm so confused. I get being sucked into the trashiness because you just can't help but watch- I <3 Jersey Shore not like that's too many steps above Teen Mom right? Well my problem is for the other teens out there having sex (with or without protection) thinking that pregnancy, having babies and raising babies is glamourous. I've gathered from my few experiences actually watching this filthy show that it's all about the drama (the couples)but very little attention* is paid to the responsibility that comes with being a parent, who pays for the birth, the babies food and diapers, clothes, crib, car seat, hell who pays for the car the baby will be carted around in?

From what I've seen sex is carefree and fun for the teens (not that it shows that part), babies are a (hopefully) cute accessory to daily life on mom's hip, collar popped and hair spiked. It's sick. Not every teen mom gets paid by MTV; on the contrary I have a nagging feeling that our tax dollars support most of these kids in one or more ways: WIC, Medicaid... This pisses me off. Anyone else? I have a feeling that the trend will only continue because teens are given epidurals so birth doesn't cause discomfort or pain and well, the entire process and new life are free because someone else pays for pre-natal care, birth and hospital stay and formula.

Obviously teen pregnancies were on the rise before MTV dipped their toes in the pool, so don't get me wrong I'm not holding MTV (or show participants) solely responsible for the trend... I'm just saying it's a drain on our already weak economy. Also, I know many military families that partake in government assistance as it pertains to their children, I've even had civilians in my family throw this fact in my face and to that I say: we sacrifice for our country and the fact that these sacrifices warrant so low pay that our service members even qualify for these programs is asinine, nevermind a CHILD who probably hasn't even paid anything into the tax system they're taking full advantage of, by birthing spawn because it's cool it's even more asinine and again a drain on the economy. I'm just saying- it pisses me off!

*with the exception of the one couple who gave up their baby for adoption, seemed to realize what a child costs and would (selfishly) cost them in life experience.

ps: I just don't think all teen or young mothers suck at life or take advantage of our government...

Super Bowl Fun!

For my CONUS readers you enjoyed the Super Bowl about 10 hours ago. I could have stayed up all night to watch it but I don't so much care about Green Bay or The Steelers so I figured I'd enjoy precious sleep instead!
Today I woke to a hot cup of coffee, AOL.com, Christina Aguilera royally screwing up the National Anthem and the opportunity to view all of the Super Bowl Ads (via http://superbowlads.fanhouse.com/)! My morning worked out quite nicely, after Kev and I watched all the ads and I jumped in the shower the game came on AFN for our viewing pleasure.

What were your favorite ads? Following were a few of my favs:

These are the snippets that didn't make the cut- HILARIOUS! 




Update: We just watched the Half Time show with the Black Eyed Peas... WOAH!? They really just aren't my cup of tea, I've never been really into their music. But WTH was up with Fergie? She's so extra... What did you think of the BEP's Half Time Show? 

What a day!

Have you heard of Regis and Kelly? Well if you don't then that's cool because I have! Well, today I got a wild hair up my butt and decided to enter their Girls Night Out Vegas Getaway.

Never in a bizzilion years thought they'd care about my all too common entry; I never win anything. Well, within an hour an inter called me! I freaked out... but you know, played it all to cool. Basically she requested I send her additional pictures. So I did! We'll see where it goes!

My husband got our tickets today. We're officially leaving US soil on December 8th. The passport issue is currently being rectified and should be returned no later than November 10th, God willing. Hopefully things go smoothly.... hopefully!

We're booking our trips to visit family prior to leaving. Things are coming together.

Still no word from our sponsor though. Anything I absolutely need to know that my sponsor would normally tell me?? Do share.

OOO, the biggest news of today was Whoopi and Joy walking out on Mr. Bill O'Reilly! ooO-wee! It was great TV people! I couldn't believe Bill said Muslims kills us.... wow.. what a Pinhead.

Watch all the drama here!

I Want it Wednesday

It's Wednesday again...

and everyone is dying to know what I want!

(duh)

I'll start with I want Flip Flops that don't hurt my feet/ankles:

I love me some Old Navy but these simply don't "work".

Any suggestions people?

I want your help:

you know, since I'm a grown up; participating member of society now.

AKA: I have a job.

Well, my boss has asked me to come up with (about) 5 questions that we can ask new-hires in order to get to know them a bit better.

Any suggestions?

There may be something in it for the most clever.

Remember: it must be along the "PG" lines, this is a professional environment!

I want/can't wait for Entourage to come back this Sunday, 17 June at 10:30 PM on HBO!

I love me some Ari Gold.

NOT Jeremy Piven... but Ari Gold.

haaa!

I want !!

Thankfully our 4th of July vacation to San Diego will provide all the Pinkberry my heart desires!

I also, can't wait to see my MIL/FIL next week! yay... =)

Do I even need to mention wanting to see Eclipse next week??

Happy Hump Day all!!

WTF?

What the "eff" is up with TV this past week? 

Lets start with Grey's Anatomy: 

HOLY SHOOTING SPREE BATMAN! 

I was glued to my seat the entire show... automatically (like a robot) shoving popcorn into my face with WIDE eyes! It was so intense. Everything that a finale should be! 

PS: I now have a serious crush on Owen Hunt

Pretty sure it has to do with how he stuck up for Christina. 

Am I totally alone here?

On to the Series Finale of LOST. 

What did you think? Honestly... I wanna know if people liked or hated it. 

Beware: Spoilers ahead!!!

Personally, I think the ending was complete CRAP!!! CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!!!

A BIG 2 thumbs down. 

Dead..? seriously. DEAD? 

What was with the "flash sideways" if they were dead? Did they die in the plane crash or no? I'm leaning toward No... Then how were there flash sideways'?? GRrrR!! 

If the island was real and not a form of purgatory (as some suspect) then what happened to Clair, Sawyer, Kate (and those other people) when they flew away from the island? Did they talk about their crazy experiences? 

This finale was completely ridiculous. It only succeeded in creating more questions than it resolved. It was infuriating. 

....that's all I have to say about that...

WTF?

Today is the FINAL week of my first class?!  BOOP BOOP! Can you believe it?! 

I can't.

I'm super excited about this because, I really don't think I could have dealt with the individuals on my learning team for another week. I more than likely, would have hurt myself. 

It's official... I drank The Bachelorette kool-aid and it tastes yummy! 

I'm a fan. 

I know... stop rolling your eyes asking which rock I've been living under. It doesn't matter, I've crawled out from under it and I am now out and about with civilization. 

My Pick:

Jesse: A General Contractor from Kansas City, MO. 

I don't think he photographs all the well, he was totally cuter during the episode. 

Not only was he my pick, but he was the FIRST to receive a rose from Ali! 

Inspiration

Do you watch Oprah?

Confession: I do. I just started watching Oprah about 3 months ago. I know, I know... I'm behind the curve. All the same I'm on the bandwagon, until the end. Even though that end will be just next year.

I have to say this is one hell-of-a week on the Oprah show.

Lets recap:

Yesterday

Oprah had Harpo Hookups.

(boy were they some good hookups too)

The best thing I've seen in a while was Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas giving two struggling families their homes. Both families were on the verge of having their homes foreclosed on and he used his own money to pay off their homes. See it here. Will.I.Am has started the I.Am Home Fund to help American families keep their homes. Will.I.Am said yesterday on the Oprah show,

"A lot of people are losing homes; not because they are living beyond their means, because there aren't any jobs." He also said, "I'm ok. I don't dream to be like mega-crazy-rich. I just wanna create, make music and help people when they need it, and not wait for a big natural disaster, but look at the things that are happening right now."

I couldn't have said it better myself. Will.I.Am paid over $350,000 to save these two families' homes! He was  extremely generous and very gracious and I couldn't have been more surprised. I don't know why. I guess I just assume Hollywood folks aren't that way. I assume they're thankful for what they have and at some point they may work hard but I never expected this kind of generosity. Bravo, Will.i.am!

Today

Oprah had young stars/singers on the show: Justin Bieber and Charice. What an amazing voice that girl has. Justin is pretty good for what he does too. Lets face it, I'm not really his target audience but I can appreciate the boy's got talent. All the same, the kid is a big deal. Take a look at these 3 young girls getting the surprise of their life! Their father, Cpt. Simon had promised them he'd take them to a Justin Bieber concert, sadly he was deployed and was unable to keep that promise. HOWEVER, when the Oprah show found out they found a way to make it up to the girls! Oprah flew the girls, Micaiah, Amari and Eniya and their mother to Chicago for some site-seeing with Justin Bieber and front-row tickets to his performance on Oprah. 

Why do I care? 

Sort of not sure. Other than the fact that when they showed Cpt Simon on webcam telling his daughters of their surprise, I lost it. Just cried like a friggin' baby. I'm not sure why. Lately I haven't been able to keep myself together when I see things like this happen. Last week for Ellen's Mother's Day episode she had Marines sending their love to their prego wives and I cried then too. 

WHAT THE "F" IS WRONG WITH ME?

I really am not usually like this. 

Phew... now that I've pulled myself together I wanted to say that watching things like this really just kind of, warm my heart. I appreciate people who have the ability to help others, actually HELPING OTHERS. 

Before I'm inundated with comments of possible pregnancy (due to my emotional-ness)- no no I am definitely not with child. Sure of that. "Aunt Flo" paid me a visit this week. :) just FYI.


Heads up for my fellow Twilight Fans:
Thursday, 13 May, the cast of Eclipse will be on my girl Oprah's Show!
Robert Pattinson, Kristin Stewart, Taylor Lautner and Dakota Fanning. 
Oprah calls Rpatz and Kstew out on their "alleged" relationship. So that should be interesting. 
I know I definitely will not be watching intently.

Mother's Day

What'd you today? How'd you celebrate your mom and the other moms in your life?

I was volun-told yesterday that I would be making breakfast this morning for my momma and the rest of my family. I was semi-overwhelmed because I didn't have anything in the house and I had to get over to Erin's for her birthday shin-dig. All's well that ends well. I made Baked French Toast with Praline Topping (courtesy of Paula Dean- who I really can't stand but that's another topic for another post), scrambled eggs, bacon, and Potatoes O'Brien. I should have taken a picture of the spread but I forgot! Boo... Here's a picture and link to the  French toast recipe:

Paula Dean's French Toast Casserole

This was such a hit! Everyone absolutely loved it. I'm sure it was because it was really healthy and contained no calories- at all. I did take the advice of one girl and use 6 eggs instead of 8, and 2 butter sticks instead of 4 in the Praline topping. 

PS: Anyone else see Betty White on SNL!? 

CLASSIC. 

HILARIOUS.

that's all I have to say about that.

I love that people hate Health Care Reform...

... you know because it was working soooo great before. 

Fact: The health care system was/is broken.

Fact: It needs change-- desperately. 

It seems to me: this "new" health care legislation is a lot like our beloved TriCare system. We all pay (even though a pretty minuscule amount) into it... doesn't mean we go to the doctor all the time and have tons of prescriptions. Take me for example... Money is taken out of the hubs' pay EVERY MONTH like clock work for coverage and I rarely go to the doc; I'm hardly ever sick. But doesn't mean I shouldn't have coverage. Doesn't mean I shouldn't pay for coverage. At some point *knock on wood* I may use my fair share of the money being paid to TriCare. I could get hit by a bus later today and be in the ICU for weeks... lucky for me I have health care coverage. huh? Otherwise paying for all of that care, out-of-pocket would really suck. 

I don't have any issues with Health Care reform... I think our lil' TriCare system works. :) 

~~~*** something I forgot to mention: This Bill was only passed in the House of Reps (220-215).. Senate still needs to pass their version and then the two bills need to be reconciled- then signed into law. Interesting people are TRIPPIN' over this still unfinished process. Take a look here. 
Let it ride people. 

In over news...

Army Wives comes back April 11th! 

Woot Woot. 

:) 

Dear Lifetime:

I have never been the girliest of girls... I'm pretty positive I was born without the Lifetime-movie-loving-gene and I'm ok with that because I've never enjoyed the quirkiness, unrealistic nature, poor acting and generally poorly made movies made specifically for your network.

Over the course of the last few years you've went from back-to-back crap movies to some enjoyable programming. Will & Grace. Frasier. Golden Girls. The Nanny. Last year when you removed The Nanny and replaced it with something else I stuck by you. When you ditched the Golden Girls, I hung with you still. This most recent change may be just too much!! This morning I come downstairs to start some coffee for the hubs and myself. Meanwhile the TV is on it's way to waking up (as well). After the coffee is started I switch to Channel 252 (Lifetime --DirecTV). What did I find? I'll tell ya: it wasn't an hour's worth of Frasier. NOoooo. It was REBA. Come again..?! "REBA? -- you must be joking!" Well, obviously not. The 8 o'clock hour has been switched from Frasier to Reba, as well as the 9 o'clock hour being switched from Will & Grace to Reba. Ugh! I'm highly disappointed by this.

In closing, Lifetime TV, I fear our relationship may be ending. You can only stretching something like this so far before it breaks! :(

I'll miss your comedic programming.

Sincerely,

Samantha

It's not always easy

1st: I was helping my sister look for her wedding ring (that my nephew had climbed up onto the counter to get; took outside and through into the air when he was finished playing with them) yesterday and burnt my arm pretty badly on her lawn mower... it's a story that's pretty long to type so I won't bore you with the details.

The point:

Yeah-- I was attempting to move the blades up on the lawn mower and bumped the exhaust.

YUCK. OUCH. That'll be pretty {sarcasm} for quite some time. It's already a darker-purpleish color and the blister is still intact which is good. The blister and the blister juice is the body's way of protecting itself. It's still ugly.

~~~~

Kevin has been home for 10 days now. Unlike some other welcome home stories I've heard/read and contrary to both mine and Kevin's expectations for this time period; it's been rough.

There are a number of factors to why things haven't been honeymoon-esque for the Hubs and myself:

• The habits I created while Kevin was deployed.
• Re-learning how to do things for two (vs. just lil' ol' me)
• Kevin learning remembering I'm not one of his soldiers.
• Kevin's attempt to quit smoking -- if you remember a few months back I blogged about how Kevin had quit smoking (which is what I was told, mmm-hmm). Well he wasn't successful. He didn't tell me this. Basically, he returned home last Wednesday and Thursday was his first day of not smoking in a while.
• Taking responsibility for being unemployed, thus our current financial situation.

Those are some of the reasons that Kevin and I have had a difficult time reintegrating over the course of the last week. Kevin has been extremely short-tempered; flying off the handle at the smallest, most inane things. These are things that Kevin has admitted and owned up to, fully. However, I am a strong believer that a marriage is about both parties. If something is wrong or isn't working it's on both people involved. It's up to the couple (together) to work it out; get through it together!

You all know the drill after they return to work, briefings, briefings and more briefings. Well he mentioned some of our/his difficulties with getting adjusted to Behavior Health. Kevin brought home some literature home about Soldier Combat Stress. This isn't quite PTSD but it's pretty much what the name implies.

I'm here to tell everyone if your redeployment/re-integration experience isn't picture-perfect, or the smoothest of transitions it's ok. It's not the end of the world. Kevin and I are working on it and we're already doing better. So don't let the love-birds get you down. ;)

~~~~

I'm off now The Santa Claus is on TBS this is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE movies.

LOVE. IT.

Continued....

Plus HE is EXTRA pretty too:

Major TV Networks HATE Me. =(

It seems that shows I adore always get canceled! WHY oh WHY? Evidently 'people' and I don't have the same tastes in (some) TV shows... Some of my favorites have been canceled! Here are the recent casualties:

NBC Canceled Kings!! I have a healthy obsession with monarchies and all things royal, which is why I was drawn to this show in the beginning. It was rather to clear to see where the show was headed, none-the-less I was invested and was hoping to see it unfold for myself.

(Plus he's EXTRA pretty...)

~~~~~

Samantha Who? Was another show I loved. It was hilarious and refreshing. Unfortunately ABC wouldn't just leave it in one time-slot! They had to be short-sighted (amongst other things) and move it around and it couldn't find/keep an audience! Well, other than me!

(Plus the title character and I share a name) teehee

~~~~~

Today I found a dress at Old Navy that I'm going to go back on the 30th and get for Kevin's homecoming! =) I am not really a dress kinda gal but this occasion seems worthy! PS: In just the last 2-3 months they have instated a Military Discount over at lovely Old Navy. The sales associate told me that on the "first few days of each month" a 10% discount is offered to military (active and dependents). BUT the 30th of this month they are offering a 30% discount! So, I said "put this on hold for me and I'll be back to save some pennies on the 30th!" :)

~~~~~

Other than that I just had to say the broad who hosted the "housewares party" on Army Wives tonight had to be the most awkward individual I'd ever seen! L.O.L.

Lil' Bit of This... Lil' Bit of That...

I haven't been the bloggiest blogger this week... basically I haven't had much of anything positive to say this week. Usually when I get like that/this I tend to keep my nonsense to myself. Why spread it around?

Also blogger has been a pain in my ass the last 2/3 days also. I have been attempting to blog (a few things here and there) and leave comments on some of your recent posts but it keeps timing out. This is the only site that is happening with. It's quite frustrating! So I have been keeping up with your blogs- as much as blogger would allow.

Other than that the OC on Soapnet finally caught up to where my bootleg copies of the seasons left off and has subsequently started over! Still a fan. =) Even though it's completely obvious why the show ended after Marissa caught the axe. Far less enjoyable with the Seth/Ryan/Summer/ Taylor combo.

Job update: still unemployed. Interview on Wednesday was a complete waste of time... they were looking for someone with other qualifications-- he actually apologized for wasting my time. He was a nice guy though. Far less optimistic now too... =(

Jeeee sorry I'm full of helpful positive energy. I'm debating on whether or not to venture out to Safeway for some necessities.... Prolly not?? hmmm.

Randomness

My father-in-law sent this to me in an email and as I read through it I knew instantly that I would have to post it!:

Ben Stein's final column -- For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column called 'Monday Night At Morton's.' (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. Reading his final column is worth a few minutes of your time.

How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?
As I begin to write this, I 'slug' it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is 'eonline FINAL,' and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end.
It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.
Beyond that, a bigger change has happened..? I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.
How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a 'star' we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails.
They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer.. A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.
A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him..
A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.
The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.
We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.
I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.
There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament..the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.
Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.
I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.
But, I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.
This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human
Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.
By Ben Stein
We truly take a lot for granted. Forget the Hollywood 'stars' and the sports 'heroes'

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to timewith the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson

"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day that mychildren may have peace." - Thomas Paine

~~~~~

So you ladies remember a few months back how I was telling you all about my ridiculous obsession with The O.C.? Refer to this post about my Season 4 viewing woes! Well Soap Channel has finally caught up so I'm about half way through the final season. I can see now why this was the final season after Marissa left the show definitely did lose momentum!

Permanent

I am usually not an American Idol fan... I think we can all agree there isn't too terribly many other options on Tuesday nights. So long story-short.. I watched it tonight. There were actually some very good performances... and some others, well NOT so much. All the same. Last year's winner, David Cook sang "Permanent". Well I was just about in tears! This was an amazing song... just great. Here is a link to listen for free (and who doesn't like free!??). I think this song was written for his bother (whom recently passed away after a battle with cancer- I believe but I am not very familiar so forgive me if my details are a little off). All the same it reminded me of Kevin! I remember siking myself up for days before his deployment, before he left. I remember telling myself I wouldn't cry. I had to be strong for him. I couldn't have him thinking I was falling to peices or wouldn't be able to keep it together, because that would make what he needed to do more difficult. Well needless to say there were tears. There were many tears. I think I've mentioned before how I am a person that likes (in a sick twisted kind of way) to run salt in my wounds... No people not in an intentional or literal sense... But in the way where I have to make an extremely emotional and difficult situation even worse in some way or another. For instance when Kevin left I felt that, that was something him and I (our family) had to do on our own. My Brother-in-law who has deployed himself multiple times really wanted to go and be there to see him off. He's never been apart of a day like that without being the one to walk away; he wanted to get a glimpse at the other side. Well, I just felt that it was something I had to do alone. Maybe not the best route and I left the (evil, devil, sadistic) Waller Gym and headed straight for my sisters- tears. More tears. You get the picture. Well this song reminded of me this day and the promise I made to myself that I wouldn't cry then, 2 Sept 2008. And also how difficult it is to reassure your deployed soldier that even with all of the distance between us that you aren't going anywhere. Even though things aren't easy, and when they get worse, or if we're arguing constantly, or when he's done something that warrants you being pissed off... even while dealing with lifes (and Army's) ups and downs that you are with them. You chose them. You aren't going anywhere. That you are "Permanent".

"Is this the moment where i look you in the eye?

Forgive my broken promise that you`ll never see me cry

And everything, it will surely change

even if i tell you i won`t go away today

Will you think that you`re all alone

When no one`s there to hold your hand?

And all you know seems so far away and

everything is temporary rest your head

I`m permanent"

VERY excited

I am heading to San Diego this weekend! I am so very excited... I could really use some fun! My lovely and generous MIL/FIL are there so I am going to stay with them, lounge by the pool, hopefully tan my pasty self for the summer, eat (this is exciting after losing 20+ lbs!), RELAX and maybe read?! I leave good ol' CO on Friday and return on Monday. I am also lucky enough to have some friends from high school out in that area now so I will be catching up with them Saturday night! I miss them, and am looking forward to creating new memories!

I really think this trip is going to be JUST what I need! It will definitely reinspire my "positive" outlook.

PS: I was super excited about my job interview last week with Tierra Vista... now the doubts are starting to set in. Today Jennifer (the Assistant Property Mgr- who I interviewed with) was supposed to call me back so that I could come introduce myself to the Property Mgr and turn in my application (they already have my resume)... but she didn't. Probably just forgot. All the same... nerves are definitely starting to take a toll.

Right now I am super tired but for whatever reason cannot manage to fall asleep! I took my Tylenol PM about 20 minutes ago. I am waiting for that to kick in so I desided I would blog and watch some Golden Girls! Gotta love these ladies. Also.. because I'm bored I'll tell everyone about this hilarious episode of Will and Grace I just saw! It was from one of the later seasons- after Grace and Leo were married. It was Christmas; Will was with Jack and Karen, Grace was meant to see the Nutcracker with Leo but he got paged to the hospital.... well Grace comes over and suckers Will into going with her to the Nutcracker... they get to the theater- in comes Leo... out goes Will... I think you see where this is headed! Well I laughed out loud (LOL) multiple times! It was hilarious! =)

Goodnight everyone... sleepiness has set in (thank goodness!).

Not so Much...

People have been asking for an update... Well really not much has been going on. Just been helping my sister out a little bit and still trying to find a job. That is becoming more and more of an necessity every day! :(

Ummm, my hubby is doing good they have completed their journey to Basra... fingers crossed this will be the last move for this deployment! Oh and he's complaining about the heat! Over 100 there now...!

WOOHOO! I thought of something to blog about! Kaitlyn and I watched Taking Chance. It was really kind of heart wrenching. I was interested to see how our fallen heroes were treated one their way home. Also, I am sort of one of those people who have to rub salt in an open wound- so to speak. There were a few scenes I could do without... they didn't show faces but the shots (that I could do without) of someone cleaning a body or sealing the body bags. Overall it was a great story and very well portrayed. I have to say Kevin Bacon plays one squared away Marine.

Well basically life has been boring! whooptyyY DOooO!

Ryan Conklin

Did anyone else watch The Real World: Brooklyn? Honestly, I didn't watch it religiously but I did catch it a handful of times. The first episode I caught was the one with the election and Veteran's Day. While I'm not sure about the details of his previous service Ryan was in the Army and has deployed to Iraq once pre-Real World. Maybe it's the wonder of editing or it really was just a coincidence but on the same Veteran's Day/election episode Ryan received a call and was told that he had orders back to Iraq. What a 'heavy' episode right? There was comic relief when a soldier that Ryan served with said that Ryan was a "highly decorated soldier" because he had received the Army Commendation award. You Army wives know this award... it's that same certificate that you have countless copies (certificates) of... Anyway...

The point of my post people, would be the reunion episode that I just saw tonight. Since the show wrapped Ryan started training to deploy again. I appreciate the fact that a larger portion of the population finally had a face to put with these soldiers they hear about on the news. I think it is beneficial for people to see these young men that leave and actually, physically fight these wars. But... strangely I'm left with this nagging feeling that what we saw and some of the emotions, and reactions to Ryan and his service and impending deployment were disingenuous.

Did anyone else get that feeling? I don't mean that to downplay Ryan's service... but I was just left with that feeling. Maybe it was just the flashiness of te whole thing? Ryan attended the reunion in ACU's... like why? Egh... I'm not sure what it is exactly that makes me feel this way but I just felt the whole thing was disingenuous! Sorry I couldn't elaborate more peoples!