Amazing USMC Pysanky

(This was actually on March 10.)

I made an ostrich egg for my son-in-law. He retired from the United States Marine Corps last year. I had so many issues with this project and want to thank one of my egg peeps, Mark Malachowski, for all his help! We were able to travel this weekend so I could gift him with it. It was, by far, the most challenging Pysanky I’ve ever done.

Congratulations Tom!

And some photos of the whole process!

The bar has been named!

We have been trying to think of a name for our bar since we moved in. (Granted we hadn’t given it that much thought, but we would throw out random names.) Nothing was right.

The previous owners called it the Long Bar—I thought it was because it was a long bar…but it was their last name (LOL). Doh!

So I posted on Facebook and TiVo and got some good suggestions!

Hudson Bar
Time Flies
The Dirty Secret
The Dirty Habit
The Dirty Major
H³ Bar – Hudson Happy Hour
Major Bar
Barry McBarface
Bartholomew Drunkins
Hold My Beer
Pub Club
Ground Control
Major Tom’s
Major Tom’s Retreat
The UMF
Peep Bar
The Jolly Major
Oohrah Inn/Bar
Semper Fi Saloon
Major Intoxication
Major T’s
FU Bar
At Ease
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

AND THE WINNER IS…

Ground Control! Yes, lots of Ground Control to Major Tom references were made and suggested and Tom liked that one the best (and the bar is going to be his “me room” with all of his military memorabilia).

Twenty and done!

Oh, did I forget to mention Tom is a civilian again today? Twenty years in the USMC and today is the first day of civilian life! We aren’t quite sure yet what the future holds but we’re in it together! Cheers!

P.S. I realize this might seem really anticlimactic after 20 years—after all, there’s usually a big ceremony and celebration—but Covid really messed things up and honestly by this point Tom was just done and had no desire to go back for anything. That said, we are having a combo retirement/anniversary/housewarming in August…

Tom blew up the furnace.

Kind of.

He had to switch out our Nest and so he had been smart and took a picture of the wire setup…but for whatever reason his phone screwed up and he didn’t actually get the picture… So he was watching YouTube and winging it and it wasn’t working and the next thing he tells me is that something blew up (?!) or was burned or something in the basement.

WHAAAA—?!?!

I guess it could have been completely random but the timing was too perfect. So we had to call someone to come check it. So the poor cleaning lady had no AC for most of the time so it was probably 85° in the house (though it could have been much worse considering how hot it was). Thankfully the guy could come in two hours and it was just a $70 blown transformer and a $70 service call.

Good times.

Yes, I placed an ad for friends!!!

So I might have just posted a “We just moved in! Who wants to be our new neighborhood friends?!” get-to-know-us post on Nextdoor and Facebook (in a local Mom’s group). YIKES! A TOTALLY Jen thing to do though, right?! I had no idea what to expect… but (fast forward) it has been amazing!


Well it went over smashingly! By the time I was able to check back in I had four Facebook messages waiting for me and a bunch of comments saying what a great idea it was and they wished they’d thought of it, etc.

I think I added at least 10 new Facebook friends today. We have a socially distant park game planned for Sunday night with two families and someone is coming over for a driveway drink tomorrow.

A FEW DAYS LATER…

I was TOTALLY blown away by the responses. They just kept coming and coming. I think I’ve friended about 20 people now and have met probably 10 people in person thus far!! This might have been one of the best things I’ve ever done! We’ve felt so welcomed in this neighborhood it’s been amazing!!

I’m exhausted and I haven’t even really done that much today.

I can’t imagine how tired our movers are because they’ve been busting their asses since 8am. (Normally they load in one day and then unload the next day but the boss wanted it all done today!)

A huge thank you to Anna—my saving grace—taking the dog AND kids out of my hair ALL DAY. We’re also sleeping there tonight since the plans have changed about right times today and it will just be easier to stay there.

There is a tiny bit left for tomorrow so I’ll be back at it at 8am…and Tom will be back at work after his half day today (which was soooo nice).

We haven’t had a moving truck this small in 20 years!

So we obviously aren’t used to a smaller truck but we’re doing it a bit different today—loading some then taking it over and unloading, repeating until done. Since it’s not a multi-state move they don’t need to load absolutely everything at once.

I’m a bit anxious doing something totally different this time around but they said it should go quicker and we should have everything in our new house today. Normally it’s a two day process.

Here we go!

Why not look good on day three of moving?

I washed my hair today and tried a bun again and it looked horrible. I guess a bun only works for me on days-old hair…?! We’ll see what happens as the day wears on. 

Anyhoo. Guess what? Sandstone Pearl Shimmer and….Sunbaked Shimmer today. And it’s glorious. But no lipstick today because I don’t even want to think about it.

I kind of lost it today.

I was being so good planning what to keep out, which food was here and there, and packing some pans and plates and stuff for the new house…

Totally forgot about here.

I kept plates but nothing else. I was thinking the dishwasher had clean dishes in it…but I forgot we unloaded it. So it’s been a scramble…and we went to Anna’s for dinner.

We have two spoons and bowls for the kids’ breakfast, we’ll order food for lunch (we always do for workers), and then Chinese take out for dinner.

Moving fun #31 —Refrigerator move day.

A simple thing like unhooking the refrigerator turns to shit because the water valve doesn’t turn off to the fridge so we had a mad dash to find buckets and we had to turn off the water to the house and it still leaks. Only then did Tom remember from three years ago that there’s ANOTHER valve in the basement. What next?!

The calm before the storm.

Tom’s been at the new house painting the garage this morning (finishing up since his paint sprayer died last night and we had to buy a new one 😒) and I’ve been up since 5:30 but just getting rolling around the old house. Today we move the fridges around and it’s a logistical nightmare. My job is to fill the coolers with everything I think we won’t need in the next week to move to the new house.

Anyway. I did my makeup today to keep some semblance of normalcy.

Now you can all finally understand what military families go through.

And know that we survive…and you will, too. Also, maybe 20 years of training is why I’m surviving just fine right now (minus eLearning 😂).


People have said “I don’t know how Military families do it”.

Well, now most of the world knows a taste of how it’s done.

Birthdays can’t be celebrated as you like.

Vacations have to be canceled at the last minute.

Not knowing a date you can plan anything.

Emotions all over the place.

Unknown future state of life.

Here’s a plan. No, scratch that, this is the plan. Wait, that’s changing, this is the plan, yes, this is it. Oh, things are more serious than what we thought. The plan is this and we will update you with a revised plan as we go.

All holidays cancelled.

You can’t see your family.

You miss saying goodbye to a person when they die.

You miss a funeral.

You miss a wedding.

You miss your Anniversary.

You either embrace the suck or you lose your mind and happiness.

You can’t see your kids or grandkids.

The government pretty much dictates your life.

People are in danger.

Ok, also, these things are true-

You appreciate what you have.

You make the best of situations.

Dates on a calendar are just that and you celebrate things when you can.

You realize what’s really important in life.

You celebrate 4 holidays/birthdays at once.

You no longer judge people for having Christmas lights/trees up “odd” times of the year because you realize people do what they can, when they can.

Once your life gets back to “normal” you appreciate everything more.

You realize it’s ok there was a not so epic birthday because your perspective has shifted on what’s important.

You lean on your family.

You lean on your friends.

Your normal changes and you adjust.

You’re stronger because of your struggle.

In the end, it will all be ok. Even with tragedy here and there.


You will be stronger in the end of this journey. You will not be able to see it in the storm. You’ll feel weak, defeated and not sure how you can make it. When it’s over and the storm ends, you’ll stand taller, stronger, more capable and appreciative of what you have.

https://www.facebook.com/jenniferspencer.blazier – CREDIT!


Do you open your circle or leave it closed?

I never thought about my situation (being a military spouse) in quite these terms but as soon as I read it I knew it was perfect. 😢

I can’t tell you the number of times that I have tried to get into a circle of women and they just ignored me or barely talked to me. School, sports, work, business–take your pick. They have their friends and their circle and anyone not already in it is not really welcome.

I’m sure they don’t really think that much about some random woman saying something to them or asking a question–and they might answer or chat pleasantly for a minute–but then they go back to their own group. If they even let you in at all. It’s exhausting and annoying and depressing and I get tired of it duty station after duty station.

Which is why when someone actually takes a minute to talk with you and connect with you AND OPENS THE CIRCLE, you have made a friend (or friends) for life.