Reason

I read something the other day that inspired me, so I thought I would pass it on:

"To love justice, to long for the right, to love mercy, to pity the suffering, to assist the weak, to forget wrongs and remember benefits - to love the truth, to be sincere, to utter honest words, to love liberty, to wage relentless war against slavery in all its forms, to love wife and child and friend, to make a happy home, to love the beautiful; in art, in nature, to cultivate the mind, to be familiar with the mighty thoughts that genius has expressed, the noble deeds of all the world, to cultivate courage and cheerfulness, to make others happy, to fill life with the splendor of generous acts, the warmth of loving words, to discard error, to destroy prejudice, to receive new truths with gladness, to cultivate hope, to see the calm beyond the storm, the dawn beyond the night, to do the best that can be done and then to be resigned - this is the religion of reason, the creed of science. This satisifies the brain and heart."

Robert Ingersoll

Yay

Scout went to the promotion board today and passed! For those of you unfamiliar with the military, when a soldier wants to get promoted from Specialist to sergeant (E-4 to E-5), he or she has to go to a board and answer certain questions about the Army. Well, he passed with flying colors! I'm so proud of him and just wanted to brag. He should actually have the title of "Sergeant" in about two months. Yay Scout!

Ebay

I love Ebay. In the last two weeks, I've won five items or so. One of the items was a 1984 Mark McGwire Rookie card (for my husband, of course). Another is a book about sex written in 1913 (I have this thing with old school sex theory). But most recently I got my vintage apron patterns in the mail! Squeal!!!

The patterns are complete and perfect. They smell good...It sounds weird, but they smell old (and I love that smell). I can't wait to actually use them.

I have three unfinished quilts, a pair of Christmas stockings to knit, and about 72 other projects I want done in the next year. I take on projects all the time, and then lose my steam. I guess the quilts will have to wait though, because I can't WAIT to start on one of these aprons.

Neil

I met Neil today! For those of you who don't know him (I haven't blogged about him yet), he is Sarah's friend. He is a 1st Lt that was down in Iraq with 2/63. Sarah always has funny stories to tell me about him, and I've been dying to meet him. I've been following his blog...he tells humorous stories about his soldiers chugging corn syrup and blowing stuff up. Well, he came into Quartermaster today to pick up his equipment, and I attacked him with a hug. He had a "what the hell" look on his face until I told him who I was...and then hugged me back. We had a few laughs, and he was on his way. Sarah, he was even cooler than what you made him out to be. Welcome home, Neil.

You guys gotta check out his website.

GRRR

It is now 18:20. I have been sitting here all day waiting for a call from my husband's unit to tell me when he should be coming in. On the unit's website it says, "Do not call us. We will call you". So like a good little army wife, I have been sitting here twiddling my thumbs in anticipation of a call.

I couldn't take it anymore; all I knew was that his flight left this morning and he should be in Germany shortly. I took the snowy weather into consideration, but still couldn't understand why it was taking so long. So I broke down. I called.

Just as I suspected, the unit did not call me six hours out. The guy on Staff Duty told me the ceremony would be in two hours. TWO HOURS! I would be rich if I had a dollar for every time I've said, "This is SUCH a screwed-up unit". GRRRR.

The joy of seeing my husband tonight outweighs my irritation, but c'mon people! Get it together!

Blah

Lately, I've been feeling blah. I haven't felt passionate enough about anything to actually blog about it. I'm not sad, I'm not particularly happy...I'm just...well, blah.

The love of my life returns sometime in the next couple of days. I've been fairly strong for the nine months that he's been gone, but now that I know he's coming home, I'm done. I'm done doing everything by myself. I'm done taking out the trash. I'm done being alone. I'm done trying to drive in the snow. I'm done holding my 75 pound dog in my lap. I'm done counting the days until my life can begin again. I'm just done.

Just for clarification purposes, I'm not trying to be bratty or whine about my situation. I knew when I married Mark that deployment was a strong possibility. And I know that thousands of other families have it way worse than I do...I recognize that...but is it ok that I've hit my limit?

When my dark roots grow out and it's time for me to go to the salon, I make an appointment for a new color. If my hair is getting kind of shaggy, I make an appointment for a trim. However, I've noticed that my roots can be two inches long and my hair could be REALLY shaggy, but until I make the appointment, I'm in no big hurry to do anything about it. Once I get that appointment date, it never seems to come fast enough. I start looking in the mirror more to examine how horrible my hair looks, I call the salon back to see if they have anything a day sooner. I become a basket case.

Well for the last nine months, I've been ok. But now that I have the appointment date, it really can't come fast enough.

Tragedy

Yesterday, 2/63(the unit my husband is in) had their first casualty. His name was Pfc. Gunnar Becker, and he was 19 years old. It is said to be friendly fire, which stings. I don't really know what to say; the reality of death hits closer to home every time. I tried finding information on him, but couldn't. It's tragic that my boys are six weeks away from coming home, and something like this happens. My heart goes out to his family, even though I know that isn't much consolation. Here's to Private First Class Gunnar Becker.