Today has been a sad day for the Strike Eagle community, as word quickly spread that a pilot lost his life in a crash yesterday while on deployment.
I don't know him personally, though the community is small and we have many mutual friends.
I know that there is a 4 year old boy and a 2 year old girl who will grow up without their daddy. I know that there is a wife who recently said goodbye to her husband, much the way I did to mine in September, who never expected that he wouldn't be coming home. And there is a squadron from Idaho that has to stay the course for the next 6 months while knowing that the "welcome home" at the end will be very bittersweet indeed.
The F-15E community will come together for the family. There will be scholarship funds for the kids and meals that arrive to their kitchen. But their lives will never be the same again.
There is a house I can see out of my window where this family used to live, and there is another home around the corner in our neighborhood where a few years ago yet another wife received that dreaded knock on the door.
Most of the time I don't think about what Josh does as being dangerous.
But on days like these I remember.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
I can't use numbered days anymore.
Today was Josh's first day back to work. He had a PT test.
PT= Physical Training
You know, like situps and pushups and running.
And the ever-strenuous abdominal circumference measurement.
He passed.
You may have noticed in his homecoming pictures that he came home less of a man than when he left.
And he returned to more of a woman.
Life can be unfair, no?
Did I ever tell you about when Josh accused me of shrinking his jeans?
It happened a couple of years ago in Idaho. He insisted that my laundry skills were sub-par and were the reason his jeans were a little snug. If I recollect, he asked me to stop drying on high heat.
Then we went to the Bed, Bath, & Beyond one day and he hopped on a scale. Then he said, "Oh this one's broken, let me try another."
"Huh. This one's no good either."
By the third one he began to understand that I really hadn't shrunk his jeans.
Middle age. It'll get you every time.
Until you go to war and work out all the time and come home skinny.
Anyway.
We got all the cleaning done before showing our landlord around the house this morning, so that's another thing to scratch off the list.
We're mostly ready for the packers to come, which will happen a week from today.
In other news, I forgot for the third day in a row to mail my father's birthday card.
Dearest Father, your card shall be late. I blame your grandchildren, mostly because they cannot defend themselves.
Sincerely,
Your Daughter.
PT= Physical Training
You know, like situps and pushups and running.
And the ever-strenuous abdominal circumference measurement.
He passed.
You may have noticed in his homecoming pictures that he came home less of a man than when he left.
And he returned to more of a woman.
Life can be unfair, no?
Did I ever tell you about when Josh accused me of shrinking his jeans?
It happened a couple of years ago in Idaho. He insisted that my laundry skills were sub-par and were the reason his jeans were a little snug. If I recollect, he asked me to stop drying on high heat.
Then we went to the Bed, Bath, & Beyond one day and he hopped on a scale. Then he said, "Oh this one's broken, let me try another."
"Huh. This one's no good either."
By the third one he began to understand that I really hadn't shrunk his jeans.
Middle age. It'll get you every time.
Until you go to war and work out all the time and come home skinny.
Anyway.
We got all the cleaning done before showing our landlord around the house this morning, so that's another thing to scratch off the list.
We're mostly ready for the packers to come, which will happen a week from today.
In other news, I forgot for the third day in a row to mail my father's birthday card.
Dearest Father, your card shall be late. I blame your grandchildren, mostly because they cannot defend themselves.
Sincerely,
Your Daughter.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Catch-up
Hello out there!
Remember me?
It's Erin! I used to blog here.
It's been a little bit nuts lately in the Maple'hood.
Josh and I took off for an overnight getaway this past weekend. We have great friends who were willing to take in our kids for the weekend.
That might actually turn them from "great friends" into saints. Because, have you met my kids?
Alex and Derek had the time of their lives having a sleepover with their friends. When Alex spotted us at the door coming to retrieve her she literally ran off, hid under a bed, and cried.
It was kind of an underwhelming "welcome home" but at least we knew she wasn't distraught without us.
Josh and I didn't go too far, just to Raleigh for the night, but it was lovely to get away just the two of us. We shopped at a nice mall, and ate at Maggiano's.
Have you heard of this place? We had never eaten there before, but several friends had recommended it so we thought we'd try it out.
They had warned us that we'd need reservations for a Saturday night, and when we tried to make them we realized they were right. The only time available was 4:45.
But we enjoy eating with senior citizens so we were down.
There was a lot of food.
A lot.
And they have some strange thing in which they send you home with more food. Not just your doggie bag, but extra entrees "for tomorrow."
Well.
We are not the type to say no to extra food, but we weren't exactly sure when we were going to have time to eat it since we were staying in a hotel and not going right home the next day.
I would tell you how it all turned out, but I'm afraid if I use the term "post coital lasagna" I might lose a few readers.
So I wont.
We saw a movie on Sunday and then stopped in at the outlet mall on the way home. I had been there the week before and I'd seen a dresser that I really liked, but decided I shouldn't get.
You know, because we're supposed to be getting rid of stuff, not accumulating it.
But I was still thinking about that dresser and decided that if it was still there, I should get it.
Because there was only one, and surely it would be gone already.
Except it wasn't.
Maybe it's not as nice as I think?
But I still wanted it.
And we were driving the Corolla.
Josh wasn't so happy with the fact that
1) I wanted a new dresser.
2) We don't have room for a new dresser. And
3) That he had to try to fit a dresser into a clown car.
But he still loves me.
At least for now; but when we're tripping over each other in a much smaller house in California that love might run out.
Anyway. Our getaway was fun, but then we were back to reality.
Tomorrow morning our landlord will be here at the house, and since we're also moving, like, next week, it was a good motivation to start going through things room-by-room.
So we've cleaned and cleared out, and taken a vanload of things to goodwill.
And today, as my friend Amy put it, was the 8th anniversary of my 25th birthday. My husband interrupted our cleaning plan with a surprise 1-hour massage.
For me, not him.
It was lovely.
I am oily.
That is all.
Holla.
Remember me?
It's Erin! I used to blog here.
It's been a little bit nuts lately in the Maple'hood.
Josh and I took off for an overnight getaway this past weekend. We have great friends who were willing to take in our kids for the weekend.
That might actually turn them from "great friends" into saints. Because, have you met my kids?
Alex and Derek had the time of their lives having a sleepover with their friends. When Alex spotted us at the door coming to retrieve her she literally ran off, hid under a bed, and cried.
It was kind of an underwhelming "welcome home" but at least we knew she wasn't distraught without us.
Josh and I didn't go too far, just to Raleigh for the night, but it was lovely to get away just the two of us. We shopped at a nice mall, and ate at Maggiano's.
Have you heard of this place? We had never eaten there before, but several friends had recommended it so we thought we'd try it out.
They had warned us that we'd need reservations for a Saturday night, and when we tried to make them we realized they were right. The only time available was 4:45.
But we enjoy eating with senior citizens so we were down.
There was a lot of food.
A lot.
And they have some strange thing in which they send you home with more food. Not just your doggie bag, but extra entrees "for tomorrow."
Well.
We are not the type to say no to extra food, but we weren't exactly sure when we were going to have time to eat it since we were staying in a hotel and not going right home the next day.
I would tell you how it all turned out, but I'm afraid if I use the term "post coital lasagna" I might lose a few readers.
So I wont.
We saw a movie on Sunday and then stopped in at the outlet mall on the way home. I had been there the week before and I'd seen a dresser that I really liked, but decided I shouldn't get.
You know, because we're supposed to be getting rid of stuff, not accumulating it.
But I was still thinking about that dresser and decided that if it was still there, I should get it.
Because there was only one, and surely it would be gone already.
Except it wasn't.
Maybe it's not as nice as I think?
But I still wanted it.
And we were driving the Corolla.
Josh wasn't so happy with the fact that
1) I wanted a new dresser.
2) We don't have room for a new dresser. And
3) That he had to try to fit a dresser into a clown car.
But he still loves me.
At least for now; but when we're tripping over each other in a much smaller house in California that love might run out.
Anyway. Our getaway was fun, but then we were back to reality.
Tomorrow morning our landlord will be here at the house, and since we're also moving, like, next week, it was a good motivation to start going through things room-by-room.
So we've cleaned and cleared out, and taken a vanload of things to goodwill.
And today, as my friend Amy put it, was the 8th anniversary of my 25th birthday. My husband interrupted our cleaning plan with a surprise 1-hour massage.
For me, not him.
It was lovely.
I am oily.
That is all.
Holla.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
I know, I know
I've been neglecting my poor little blog these days.
And all of my Words with Friends games are about to be forfeited for lack of playing.
I am a poor excuse for an inter-amiga.
I blame my husband.
First he left for, like, ever.
Then he came home, but didn't go back to work. And so all I do is sleep in and go shopping and go out to eat and...
Well, I guess I can't really complain, now can I?
He'll go back to work sometime next week, and life would start getting back to normal.
Except that it wont.
Because, in news of the holy-cow-we're-moving-soon:
In 2 weeks we will have packers in the house boxing up all of our worldly goods; they will be hauling them off on April 6th. Which is really quite soon when I pause to think about it.
Next month at this time, I'll be curled up on the couch blogging on my laptop with its broken backspace key, from some house in California of which I know nothing.
Because we haven't found it yet.
Kind of a strange feeling.
But exciting, too!
Currently our plan is to have me and the kids fly to California, ship one vehicle, and Josh will drive the other.
Note to self: Buy plane tickets.
Another note to self: Distract movers while they carry the TV. Hope it breaks.
We're hoping to find a rental house close to Josh's school, and get settled in enough time to do a little traveling in California before his training starts.
Read: Disneyland
Josh spent most of today on the phone, arranging for our utilities to be cancelled, trying to get a PO box for forwarding mail, reserving a room in the TLF (temporary lodging facility), making other miscellaneous move arrangements, and...
talking to my grandfather.
When Josh got off the phone he told me that he had just taken a ride on the crazy train.
(Don't worry about my grandpa getting hurt feelings; there's a better chance of me hitting the lotto jackpot than my grandparents figuring out the interworld. And I don't even play the lotto.)
My grandfather was in the Army Air Corps back in the day. He was at Pearl Harbor for awhile, and he apparently had come across a postcard that Josh had sent him from when he was in Hawaii while en route to a deployment.
About 3 years ago.
So he had to call to ask him some important questions about Hawaii.
Like, is the old dormitory still standing.
Very important questions.
And my husband loves me, because he endured the conversation for at least a half an hour.
He didn't even give me a guilt trip about it, which is good, because I had three little letters up my sleeve in case he even tried.
P
T
B
'nuff said.
So now you have all my excuses for why I am a sorry excuse for a blogger.
Can we still be friends?
And all of my Words with Friends games are about to be forfeited for lack of playing.
I am a poor excuse for an inter-amiga.
I blame my husband.
First he left for, like, ever.
Then he came home, but didn't go back to work. And so all I do is sleep in and go shopping and go out to eat and...
Well, I guess I can't really complain, now can I?
He'll go back to work sometime next week, and life would start getting back to normal.
Except that it wont.
Because, in news of the holy-cow-we're-moving-soon:
Holy cow! We're moving soon!
In 2 weeks we will have packers in the house boxing up all of our worldly goods; they will be hauling them off on April 6th. Which is really quite soon when I pause to think about it.
Next month at this time, I'll be curled up on the couch blogging on my laptop with its broken backspace key, from some house in California of which I know nothing.
Because we haven't found it yet.
Kind of a strange feeling.
But exciting, too!
Currently our plan is to have me and the kids fly to California, ship one vehicle, and Josh will drive the other.
Note to self: Buy plane tickets.
Another note to self: Distract movers while they carry the TV. Hope it breaks.
We're hoping to find a rental house close to Josh's school, and get settled in enough time to do a little traveling in California before his training starts.
Read: Disneyland
Josh spent most of today on the phone, arranging for our utilities to be cancelled, trying to get a PO box for forwarding mail, reserving a room in the TLF (temporary lodging facility), making other miscellaneous move arrangements, and...
talking to my grandfather.
When Josh got off the phone he told me that he had just taken a ride on the crazy train.
(Don't worry about my grandpa getting hurt feelings; there's a better chance of me hitting the lotto jackpot than my grandparents figuring out the interworld. And I don't even play the lotto.)
My grandfather was in the Army Air Corps back in the day. He was at Pearl Harbor for awhile, and he apparently had come across a postcard that Josh had sent him from when he was in Hawaii while en route to a deployment.
About 3 years ago.
So he had to call to ask him some important questions about Hawaii.
Like, is the old dormitory still standing.
Very important questions.
And my husband loves me, because he endured the conversation for at least a half an hour.
He didn't even give me a guilt trip about it, which is good, because I had three little letters up my sleeve in case he even tried.
P
T
B
'nuff said.
So now you have all my excuses for why I am a sorry excuse for a blogger.
Can we still be friends?
Saturday, March 17, 2012
We've been tootin'
Reconstitootin' that is.
Josh is on his 2-weeks of "reconstitution" time. Meaning he doesn't have to go to work, and he doesn't have to use his leave.
Fun!
It's been so so so so so so so so so good to be together again!
So.
Thanks for all of your sweet comments on his homecoming! :)
We've spent lots of time doing nothing.
Because we all know that doing nothing is what I do best.
In between hours of nothing, we've taken the kids bowling, played outside, gone to parks, hit up Taco Tuesday as a family, and done lots and lots of snuggling.
And possibly some grown-up snuggling, too.
But we don't need to discuss that here.
Unfortunately our nothing has been interrupted by...something.
Moving, to be exact.
Tick-tock-tick-tock. The clock is winding down on our time in North Carolina.
We've gone through boxes that we never actually unpacked when we arrived here, weeded through the garage to get rid of old toys and trash, and done some yard work.
Our pile of trash and goodwill donations is getting huge.
Funny thing.
The Monday before Josh got home I was awakened by the sound of the garbage truck going by and remembered that I had forgotten to take the trash down to the curb the night before.
No big deal, we had some room in it still, and could probably make it another week without too much trouble.
Fast forward another week, and with all the excitement of picking up Josh at the airport and being back together, we both forgot that it was trash day, again.
Which actually isn't as funny as it is smelly.
Today is St Patrick's Day.
So I got up and made green colored pancakes for the kids before they set off on the leprechaun scavenger hunt we set up for them last night. And then we make shamrock crafts that I found on Pinterest...
hee hee. snort.
Sorry, I can't even type that with a straight face.
Naturally I did nothing of the sort. I usually don't even remember that a holiday is here until it's already arrived.
I don't know how so many of my mommy friends manage to be crafty and fun all the time and manage to take pictures and post all of their accomplishments to Facebook.
But can I just say, Stop it already! You're the reason my daughter has a list of preferred mothers!
Here's another shot that the photographer took last Sunday. I'm so glad she was able to come and get some pictures.
It was such a fun day for us!
After we left the airport we ate linner at the Olive Garden.
(Yes, linner. It was too late to be lunch, and not quite dinner time.)
About 10 minutes after we sat down Derek had to go potty.
Guess who took him?
Not me!
Then about 20 minutes later he had to go potty, again.
Guess who took him?
Not me!
The kids were all-daddy, all-the-time for the first couple of days.
Mama was chop liver.
No one wanted me to wipe their booty, brush their teeth, or put them to bed.
Hot diggity dog!
Josh is the resident childrens-game-player in this house, and I can't count how many card games and board games he's played in the last week.
And there's been a whole lot more football and wrestling in our living room.
Oh, and the weather has been incredible!
This is what Alex did the morning after Josh got home. He had to go to his briefings, so Alex helped herself to his uniform.
The family who rolls together, bowls together.
Or something like that.
And now back to tootin'...
Josh is on his 2-weeks of "reconstitution" time. Meaning he doesn't have to go to work, and he doesn't have to use his leave.
Fun!
It's been so so so so so so so so so good to be together again!
So.
Thanks for all of your sweet comments on his homecoming! :)
We've spent lots of time doing nothing.
Because we all know that doing nothing is what I do best.
In between hours of nothing, we've taken the kids bowling, played outside, gone to parks, hit up Taco Tuesday as a family, and done lots and lots of snuggling.
And possibly some grown-up snuggling, too.
But we don't need to discuss that here.
Unfortunately our nothing has been interrupted by...something.
Moving, to be exact.
Tick-tock-tick-tock. The clock is winding down on our time in North Carolina.
We've gone through boxes that we never actually unpacked when we arrived here, weeded through the garage to get rid of old toys and trash, and done some yard work.
Our pile of trash and goodwill donations is getting huge.
Funny thing.
The Monday before Josh got home I was awakened by the sound of the garbage truck going by and remembered that I had forgotten to take the trash down to the curb the night before.
No big deal, we had some room in it still, and could probably make it another week without too much trouble.
Fast forward another week, and with all the excitement of picking up Josh at the airport and being back together, we both forgot that it was trash day, again.
Which actually isn't as funny as it is smelly.
Today is St Patrick's Day.
So I got up and made green colored pancakes for the kids before they set off on the leprechaun scavenger hunt we set up for them last night. And then we make shamrock crafts that I found on Pinterest...
hee hee. snort.
Sorry, I can't even type that with a straight face.
Naturally I did nothing of the sort. I usually don't even remember that a holiday is here until it's already arrived.
I don't know how so many of my mommy friends manage to be crafty and fun all the time and manage to take pictures and post all of their accomplishments to Facebook.
But can I just say, Stop it already! You're the reason my daughter has a list of preferred mothers!
Here's another shot that the photographer took last Sunday. I'm so glad she was able to come and get some pictures.
It was such a fun day for us!
After we left the airport we ate linner at the Olive Garden.
(Yes, linner. It was too late to be lunch, and not quite dinner time.)
About 10 minutes after we sat down Derek had to go potty.
Guess who took him?
Not me!
Then about 20 minutes later he had to go potty, again.
Guess who took him?
Not me!
The kids were all-daddy, all-the-time for the first couple of days.
Mama was chop liver.
No one wanted me to wipe their booty, brush their teeth, or put them to bed.
Hot diggity dog!
Josh is the resident childrens-game-player in this house, and I can't count how many card games and board games he's played in the last week.
And there's been a whole lot more football and wrestling in our living room.
Oh, and the weather has been incredible!
This is what Alex did the morning after Josh got home. He had to go to his briefings, so Alex helped herself to his uniform.
The family who rolls together, bowls together.
Or something like that.
And now back to tootin'...
Monday, March 12, 2012
Pictures...
Wow! I woke up to an e-mail from Beth, our sweet photographer, who had already put some pictures up on her blog.
She is part of Operation Love Reunited, in which professional photographers volunteer their time to come take photos for returning troops. What a neat program! We are so thankful that she was willing to come out and document our big event.
Here is a link to see the pictures...
Now I just need to work on getting my husband home, again.
Dang that protocol that makes them attend briefings the morning after they get home!
She is part of Operation Love Reunited, in which professional photographers volunteer their time to come take photos for returning troops. What a neat program! We are so thankful that she was willing to come out and document our big event.
Here is a link to see the pictures...
Now I just need to work on getting my husband home, again.
Dang that protocol that makes them attend briefings the morning after they get home!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Day 180
:)
He's home!
We had a professional photographer with us today during our homecoming, so hopefully we got some good shots of all of us reuniting. I'll share them as soon as I'm able!
But for now, Josh and I have some catching up to do...
Thanks for celebrating with us!
He's home!
We had a professional photographer with us today during our homecoming, so hopefully we got some good shots of all of us reuniting. I'll share them as soon as I'm able!
But for now, Josh and I have some catching up to do...
Thanks for celebrating with us!
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