Day 266+..... GROSS!!

Thus far during this deployment and single parenting trip I am on I have dealt with broken appliances, sick kids at least 4 times, sleepless nights, roof repairs, projects galore, and a crazy storm causing tornadoes in the area. I can handle it all....except...... watching a huge canine tooth fall out of the cats mouth!!!!
Yesterday, the old cat Mister I have talked about in previous blogs who is holding on to say good bye to Bill.... dropped a tooth!!! UGH!! Completely gross. I tell myself and friends around me that when he goes, it will be okay. I will handle his death with sadness at first but then most likely relief. He is a bit of a handful in this last stage of his life, but to watch a huge tooth drop on the kitchen floor... yep I vomited in my mouth on that one.
Do not email me your concern for the cat, trust me he is is no pain and is a purr factory. I am ready to do my duty and help him along at the first sign of pain... but even the tooth only caused him to miss a day of meals. This morning... he is all happy and content. Me... I am traumatized at watching him bat at his mouth until the tooth fell out... I am sure Tony who witnessed this will need counseling later in life.

Bill-
Mailing your package out today... as a token of his love Mister removed his canine tooth and I have enclosed it for you! I am thinking you might wear it proudly around your neck!!!
Stay safe and wear your helmet and flak.... it is getting hot over there and I know that body odor could be used as a weapon so wear your gear!!!

Crazy storms ..... day 269+

Saturday started out like any other Saturday for us here in NC. One kid off by 5:30am for a drill meet and the rest of the household waking up and getting ready for the soccer fields by 8am. I had an extra kid in tow, Sam wanted his buddy to spend the night and go to his last game of the season. I opted for a Dunkin Donut morning, we all know everything is better with donuts! There was a threat of storms lurking all day and several events in the area were cancelled due to this threat. I,  of course at the time, had hoped for storms so I could sleep in a bit. How many times have you all been told, I hate mornings!!! Being from the mid-west, I like a good storm. I get charged up and I am in awe of the power it can hold and the beauty of it all. 

My daughter started to feel a bit under the weather while at the soccer game so we came home and awaited the storm. I bypassed the division egg hunt and  began to prep for the storm coming, I covered the furniture and  made room in the garage for my van. I truly think my neighbors look at me with one eyebrow cocked at times like this. I will admit I am a bit of a weather nut. I like to just say am I a prepared mom... but hey who knows it could just be my crazy coming out.

This being said, on Saturday evening around 8pm I was keeping a watchful eye on www.intellicast.com. This is the best weather site ever, it has an active weather map with layers and lists all alerts based on location. I have my sister,  a fellow mid-west storm lover, to thank for this site. As I tell the kids to be ready to get in the small kitchen bathroom if I yell to take cover, I sit and watch. I chat on the phone with a neighbor and discuss my plans and the alerts I am seeing. At 8:15pm a tornado warning is issued for the county I reside in. I, of course being a trained weatherman, look outside. Hmmm, I see the usual weather of the day thus far, windy, windy, windy with some gray clouds. I do not see that illuminating green hue or rain or hail, so I pause for about 5 minutes. It is then that I notice the glow of green and the fact that the wind has stopped. Not just eased off, but completely stopped. I yell al the kids to get in the bathroom, I do not like the feeling in my gut. Kids in bathroom, one cat in bathroom and now the hunt to find the final cat.....oh lord, let me find him! I find him hunkered down under my bed dragging his claws in the floor as I try and remove him from his spot. I get the cat and myself in the closet and we wait. The warning is supposed to end at 8:45pm. 

My bathroom is very quickly becoming my personal sauna. Five people and two cats in a half bath that barely fits the sink and toilet. Oh yes, we are sweating and then to beat it all....someone farts!!! I can not help but laugh as my kids are gagging and complaining. How can this not be funny. We look like clowns in a clown car and now we all smell like turd. 

I have internet and power still, we hear a loud boom which truly I believe is one of our large trees hitting the roof... but then nothing. I check intellicast... it says the warning has been extended til 9pm... we sit and watch tv on hulu and wait.  

9pm hits and we are outta that cramped bath... no more rain, but I can tell it poured. We no longer have power and I grab a flashlight to check for what I think may be a tree in my house... thank goodness it was only the contents of a shelf  that for some reason had fallen. We are fine, my house is fine. I look outside and all of my neighbors are fine too. 

I  chat with some neighbors outside and then head in to go to bed. There is no power and for the last week I have not slept.

This is where is starts to go bad.... in my head at least........for the moment...................

The phone rings.. in my stupor I grab it and see a number that is the one Bill uses to call home on. I know that surely he would never call in the middle of the night unless........... yep my mind went there... unless something terrible had happened. Nope he was checking on us, he heard a bad storm had damaged homes in the area. I knew nothing of this and at 3am... I checked the TV.. all I got was that shelters had been opened... let me point out I was in a stupor and it was 3am... I now knew that not only were my kids safe but so was my husband... I fell back to sleep.

Unbeknown-st to me, something terrible had happened. It was not to my family or my close friends, but to other military families. A tornado had touched down in the housing area next to ours and destroyed several homes, injured people and caused severe damage. I found out this information on Facebook at 9am. HOLY COW!!!!

I am saddened to hear of this news and I am mad!!! I am mad because as a mid-west girl what I can not understand is why the warnings were not better published. Many of my neighbors did not seek shelter in their homes, many were in bed in a second floor room with no worries. There was a high school party going on a couple blocks away and those kids were playing in and out during this storm....... can we say lucky or just plain stupid! 

Sorry you all but come on...... why did the base not have their sirens blaring when the National Weather Service published the warning??? Why did the patrol cars not go about the streets with lights flashing and loudspeakers telling all to seek shelter??? Why did the forecasters on TV keep talking about cities no where near us????

I am saddened to say it took destruction by storm for people to now realize just how powerful mother nature is and to realize that maybe just maybe...this mid-west girl is not so crazy when she hides in her bathroom.

I pray for those who were impacted by this storm and I shame those who should have done a better job of warning them. I am also proud to say that the military has stepped up and the families here have rallied in support of their own. 

Bill-  I am fine and the kids are fine... this crazy mid-west girl has their back when mother nature is knocking. Do not worry about us, you stay safe and by all means......never call me in the middle of the night!!!! I may not survive a heart attack. Remember, no news is good news... I am sure that if something did happen on this end.. I would be able to get word to you very quickly,  I have my ways.

Wear you helmet and flak... and bring them home with you.... the crazy weather here warrants the need to possibly wear them even in your own home.

Happy Anniversary........an amazing gift ..Day 274+

Today is my 15th Wedding Anniversary. I was lucky to have married my one true love, my soul mate, my split apart. On this day... once again I am celebrating alone.. without my husbands presence.. but by all means not without his love. You see as a military spouse you get used to the fact that all important holidays and celebrations... will more than likely be celebrated without your spouse. You never celebrate alone, your fellow wives will be sure of that! This is one benefit to living on base, you will always feel loved by your neighbors when a birthday or celebration happens. These women fill that void and celebrate with you, for him. ( I was fortunate to also find this in great neighbors off base as well).
Today was different. My adoring loving husband gave me a gift that I will cherish forever. He made me cry.. not from sorrow or even from missing him... but out of pure love and emotion for him. He truly placed me on my pedestal......this is what I feel all women should be on and yes he is aware of this. Let me rephrase this.. 15 years ago I told him on our wedding day that as long as he makes me feel like the most important thing in his life....regardless of whether I truly am at that moment and places me on a pedestal above anything else.. I would always be happy and that life would be easy. See, I was honest from the beginning about my expectations. He laughed at me and said.. no problem.. that is easy!

He makes it looks so easy.. he makes loving me look easy.. I know that this can not be the case.. I am a wee bit difficult, but he truly shows me his love and tells me he loves me daily.... but today... today he topped even himself. He sent me an email telling me to go on his account and load a video and then come back to my email and read his Anniversary letter as it loaded. It loaded and I heard him talking... and then I heard the music. My husband recorded himself serenading me. I sat and watched and cried.... to be loved that much truly touches your soul. There were two other Marines in the video playing guitars and singing back up.. this was a full on effort. I then received calla lilies.... my wedding bouquet flowers. I also received a phone call and got to hear his voice and tell him just how much I loved him and how lucky I am to be his wife.

He is going to kill me for putting this video on here... I did not say he was the next AMERICAN IDOL... he is however, my idol and when you listen and watch know that love is deaf as much as it is blind...LOL

I love you Bill.... please stay safe and wear helmet and flak or this video is going on YOUTUBE!!! Please thank your fellow Marines for helping you on giving me this amazing gift. My heart beats for your return.......love always...ME.