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FINALLY, OUR HONEYMOON!

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http://www.hollandamerica.com/

WE JUST BOOKED OUR HONEYMOON CRUISE!!!

Of course, I’ve been researching cruises the entire time Tom was gone but I got overwhelmed very easily…so he finally did his own research and narrowed it down to five cruises for me to choose from…and I was still having a hard time deciding! It was either cruise from Ft. Lauderdale before October (in order to use my free US Air ticket—-that I got for taking a bump last year—-before it expired)…or go from Charleston, SC, during Christmas, when cruises were a bit cheaper (and also so we might not miss being at home so much).

Another part of the decision was when to visit Kathryn, Marcus, and the girls. We had talked about going this spring or summer, but it could also be combined with the cruise… Another part of the decision was whether to get a balcony or not. Some ships had them, some didn’t. And we didn’t want to spend a TON of money…but we really wanted a balcony. So, I was trying to decide, wavering back and forth, back and forth, back and forth…when I got an email from Orbitz with some cruise deals. (I had searched Orbitz before, but when Tom was looking, we were using USAA because they had previously had the best prices.) I clicked on it just for the heck of it and—-what? $721 for a 7-day cruise with a balcony? At that moment, we knew we were booking a cruise that night! Here’s what the room looks like:

Deluxe Verandah Outside Staterooms

2 lower beds convertible to 1 queen-size bed, bath & shower, sitting area, private verandah, floor-to-ceiling windows. Approx. 249 sq. ft.
Holland America Reserved Room

We are cruising to the Caribbean on Holland America from Ft. Lauderdale. We haven’t researched the ports much yet—-and honestly, they weren’t much of a consideration when choosing a cruise (especially when we found the good deal). Our main concerns were taking a cruise for 5-9 days for a good price and hopefully getting a balcony. I’m more interested in the whole cruise ship experience, with the ports just being an added bonus.

  • Day 1: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
  • Day 2: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (HAL’s Private Island)
  • Day 3: At Sea
  • Day 4: Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
  • Day 5: Road Town, Tortola, B.V.I.
  • Day 6: At Sea
  • Day 7: Nassau, Bahamas
  • Day 8: Ft. Lauderdale, FL

So, we’re totally geeked! Now we just have to finalize travel plans (i.e. when we will arrive ahead of time, in order to visit with the Filipek clan) and get our passports! (We had debated not getting passports, since they’re about $100 each, but it’s much easier than carrying around a handful of documents…I’d need three: my driver’s license, my birth certificate, and my marriage license!) Now I’m just hoping I have my birth certificate in the safe…

A visit….and alone again!

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Dad and Linda left this morning after an 8-day stay with us. It was really nice FINALLY being able to show them our house! They brought Sassea, so that was interesting with the cats…we had originally thought she would just stay on the porch for the most part, but after a few hours, we let her in and eventually, the cats got used to her. It was hilarious watching, though. The cats LOVED Sassea’s bed and slept in it more than the dog! They also loved her water bucket and often drank from it instead of their own bowl. Of course, Sass retaliated by eating their food when we weren’t watching (or when we forgot to block it off). There was some growling, hissing, and snapping, but overall it went well.

Dad Lin Visit 2005

Dad Lin Visit 2005

Dad and Tom also worked on a wood project. Originally, way back when, it was supposed to be a shed. Then it was dressers. Then it turned into…a cabinet to showcase my grandma’s eggs (plus, eventually, some of my mom’s and some of my own)! I am so excited about it—-it’s gorgeous…complete with a glass door, hanging rack (for those on pipe cleaners), and mirror back (which makes it hard to take pics)! There’s even enough room at the bottom, depending on how many shelves we use, for an ostrich egg and maybe a kistka and some wax as a display! This will be SO much better than the tupperware box they were in before! I will take more pics when it’s fully done and cleaned up!

Dad's Egg Case

Dad also helped with some small projects around the house, including installing blinds on our kitchen door and staking up our willow that was getting quite sad.

As usual with family tourists, LOL, we took them on a tour of the base and surrounding areas, including a stop at the beach. The weather was a little cool, but it was nice for Dad who whines at anything above 70! 🙂 Dad and Lin took a few day trips by themselves to Wilmington and New Bern—-with a few stops to beaches along the way so Lin could collect shells. Dad had his new digital camera shipped to us, so we got to play with that all week, as well.

Meals were a bit harder to plan as compared to other guests…let’s just say Dad is a little picky. Let’s just say he’s a Vanilla guy, while most of our family is Rocky Road. (hehe) I’m not sure he could have survived the week without his PB&J! Tom and I still can’t get over the fact that neither Dad nor Lin really like steak. I mean, who doesn’t like steak? LOL But we all managed not to starve while they were here. One special treat was dad’s favorite carrot cake with extra cream cheese frosting. That certainly didn’t last long! We did drag Dad to a hibachi place, saying “You like chicken and shrimp, you like mushrooms, and you like rice—-how can you not like this?” Well, he ate it, but he wasn’t thrilled—-too many fancy ingredients like soy sauce and sesame seeds. Hoo boy. You gotta love him! The funniest thing is he kept saying “But I’m not picky! I’m easy!” HA! Poor Linda!

Dad and Lin enjoyed the cats and we enjoyed having a dog temporarily. We watched a few movies during which Linda entertained us with her, um, shreiking (we still can’t figure out how someone can be so nervous, LOL!). The weather was great—-not too hot and not too cool (although Dad pretty much wore shorts the whole time). Overall, it was a nice time!

Our $1800 weekend!

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We were tired of seeing all the pallets and crap gathering in our backyard, so we decided to have a bonfire, come hell or high winds (the past week had been totally calm, except—of course—for the night we wanted to have the fire). We had the hose at the ready and only had to use it once when a small bit of ash started a little piece of our lawn on fire (and by little, I mean about a foot section). Oh, and Tom had to chase down some escaping ash as it floated serenely away towards our neighbor’s house…but overall, it was fairly uneventful (thankfully). We visited, had a few drinks, and enjoyed s’mores. It was also the first time the guys all had their new shirts at the same time (Tom and Tom bought themselves one, plus one for Roger, when we were in Myrtle Beach):

The Three Amigos

We also found out that our old neighbors were having a garage sale at their new house. What a perfect time to put Tom’s car down there, I said! (We had planned on taking it down there to sit, since it’s on the main road, but just hadn’t gotten around to it yet.) So we printed the Kelly Blue Book info and went to drive it over (after the bonfire) and…the car was dead. Crap. I had started it a few times while Tom was gone, but it must have sat too long. Tom’s theory was that somehow the “alarm” button had been hit and the alarm went off (silently, since the horn doesn’t actually work) for who knows how long. Since we couldn’t do anything about it right then, we continued on to our neighbors for a dip in the hot tub (the first time, since they’ve moved). Tom assured me that sometime in our life, we would own a hot tub. YIPPEE!

In the morning, Tom jumped the car (and amazingly, the horn started working again!), drove it over, stuck a price on the windshield, and waited. We sat over there visiting for about an hour, and while we were there, there were a few people VERY interested in it. But, as luck would have it, the battery was really dead. The jump didn’t hold so we knew we’d have to buy a battery. We left to run some errands (get a battery!), go grocery shopping for our visitors this week, and do some house things. When we got home, we got a call from our neighbor with the phone number of a guy who was EXTREMELY interested in it. So Tom went back to put the battery in and meet with the guy. Excellent news—after only about one minute into the test drive, he said he absolutely wanted it and would give us the money Monday! WOO HOO!! That night, it was back to Roger and Ursula’s for dinner and games…which was fun, as usual! I had a little too much to drink (damn Tom for surprising me with tequila and margarita mix!) and I was home and in bed by 11:30.

Today was our monthly Walmart run. We’d heard (from online sources) that they’re slowly phasing out a lot of the low-carb products, so we wanted to stock up on some soup that we really like. They already don’t have the Russell Stover (?) Low-Carb Chocolate Fudge Sauce that we love…and they stopped carrying the low-carb Doritos last year. We also wanted to hit the mall (I had to return something) and we were surprised to see that the mall didn’t open until…are you ready?? 1PM! Are you kidding me? We knew it probably opened late, but we figured it was noon, so we weren’t too concerned when we got there at 11:50. We wandered through Sears then at 12:10 asked what the deal was… 1pm. What a crock. Needless to say we didn’t wait. That’s just asinine. Why bother even opening? Ugh. The rest of the day was spent napping and cleaning the house. And Tom just walked in to tell me we were invited over to use the hot tub tonight since we didn’t make it in last night… Cool.

Noisy New Shoes

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So I bought a pair of sandals recently and I’m wearing them today for the first time. And they make noise! Annoyingly so! With every step, I get an AUDIBLE *poof* of air…what’s up with that? Of course, I didn’t hear the noise when I was walking around the store before buying them… It’s almost embarassing. I hope it goes away with some wear, otherwise these won’t be work shoes any more!

I HATE FEDEX TODAY!

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I HATE FEDEX. But I also hate certain online companies.

So we ordered something that (unbeknownst to us) required a signature for delivery. Okay, had I known that, I would have had it delivered to the office. But I didn’t, so it came to our house. Of course, FedEx came before 5, so we missed them. I called to change the address and guess what? They can’t do that. Only the SHIPPER can do that. Oh, wonderful. So I asked if we could reschedule the delivery for after 5pm and she said she would do that. Fine, I can live with that. So come 5pm today (actually 4:35 when Tom got home) and guess what? FedEx had been there at 3pm! THREE! Are you kidding me? Tom called FedEx and was told there was NO WAY it could have been scheduled to be delivered after 5 since they have to be back at the loading dock by 5 (and we’re about an hour away). So the woman I talked to apparently didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. Wonderful. So now I call the SHIPPER to request they change the delivery address and…of course, they can’t do that. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. And the guy I talked to wasn’t very nice at all. Tom and I were FURIOUS. So at this point, our options are:

  1. Take a day off work to be there when the package arrives.
  2. Let the package return to the sender, place another order with the new address, and wait two more weeks.
  3. Drive three hours round-trip to get to the closest FedEx facility.
  4. Buy the item locally for $50 more.

I’m sorry, but NONE OF THOSE ARE ACCEPTABLE.

My last nerve.

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So, when Tom was heading home, he told me the good news…he’d have two “free” weeks of vacation after he got home (i.e it wouldn’t come off his earned days). Everyone gets it after being deployed, he said. He talked to a bunch of his friends who confirmed it. Cool, I thought. He said he could take it whenever he wanted (i.e. it didn’t have to be the first two weeks he was home) so we planned for him to wait and use it when my dad and Linda come down at the end of the month.

But.

He just called me to say “Guess what?” Turns out the “free vacation” isn’t free after all. Apparently it’s for tax purposes only (not quite sure why or how that works) and if you want to take it, the days come straight from your banked days. WHAT? Again, something EVERY SINGLE PERSON TOM TALKED TO apparently forgot or never knew themselves. I just don’t see how that’s possible…

So, the gist of all this is that Tom can’t take the full two weeks off like he planned.

And my overall happiness with the marine corps right now?? They’re on my last nerve. Granted, it’s not technically their fault, but it seems odd how TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME we are “assured” that certain things will happen, but when push comes to shove, it’s all a load of crap. (I’m specifically thinking back to the very beginning when Tom was promised that the USMC would help pay back his student loans. What a big load of BS that was. And saying they will pay for 75% of college classes. But oh, only if you give us more time. There are more, but I don’t feel like getting into it.) It just seems there are always hidden things…

Our grand plan…down the drain???

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So Tom and I have been getting REALLY excited because he found out (while in Iraq) that he can take college courses to finish his second degree—and the military would reimburse us for 75% of the costs. Excellent, no? That’s what we thought! We had it all planned out—he would extend his time by a year or two—just enough time to get his degree. He would take classes on Camp Lejeune or at the local community college. He’d graduate/have his degree just in time to get out and move home to Michigan (and be able to get a great job).

But. (There’s alway a but, right?)

Now he’s finding out more details. Of course, the people who told him about all this to begin with didn’t mention ONE THING about the caveat. Hoo boy. Oh, the military will pay for the classes…but you have to pay them back: you either stay in (I think it was) one extra year for every so many classes you took…or you have to pay EVERYTHING back. So, if you take any college classes, you’re automatically LOCKED into more time to pay it off. (I can’t recall the exact ratio, but I think it came out to us having to be here like four more years…which was NOT in our grand plan.)

The second problem, although not a military caveat, is that NONE of the classes Tom needs for the degree he wants are offered on Camp Lejeune. There wasn’t enough interest, so the classes have been cancelled. And as luck would have it, there are none at the community college, either. So, where ARE the classes? At MCAS Cherry Point, 1:30 away (oly 60 miles, but no highways). So, that totally sucks. If he wants to take classes, they have to be night classes, which puts him in the car a minimum of THREE HOURS A DAY and most likely puts him on the road late at night after having been up since 5 or 6. I am NOT happy about that. AT ALL. I got him home safe from Iraq—the last thing I need is for him to fall asleep at the wheel coming home from class.

So, for now, our grand plan has been flushed down the toilet. We have no idea what we’re going to do. He really wants to get his second degree (all the better to get a great job when we move home), but it’s going to be VERY hard with all the daily travel. We can’t afford to do it on our own financially (i.e. go back to school in Michigan), but in order for the military to pay for it, we have to stay in longer. His committment is offically up this August, so if he doesn’t extend (or doesn’t sign up for four more years), he’s done—and out!—in August. Worst case scenario, he’s done in August and then what??? Do we move home? Does he find a job as a civilian contractor for about the same money (more salary, but it evens out with the loss of the housing allotment)? EGADS. It seems nothing is ever cut and dried in the military!!

New dresser & armoire!

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I’m so excited! We’re getting a new dresser and armoire! Of course, the stuff I like runs about $5,000 total (damn Martha Stewart prices), so Tom found some other plans we both like and he’s going to build them with my dad when they come down at the end of the month! I can’t wait! Of course, this means we now have a Lowe’s bill again (we JUST finished paying off the last one this month!). But, we love Lowe’s since we always use their 12-months free financing!

Weekend at Myrtle Beach

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Our old neighbors and good friends, Tom and Karen, invited us for a weekend at Myrtle Beach. As it would be my first time there (I’d only driven through on my way home from Hilton Head last summer) I had no idea what to expect. Conversely, Tom was really looking forward to going to an old bar he went to 12 years ago during Spring Break.

We had a great time! On the way down, we stopped in Wilmington to eat at Carrabas, one of my favorite Italian places. Once we got there, we decided to hit Tom’s old bar, Mother Fletcher’s. It was WAAAY on the other side of town, so it was quite a hike—but that’s what he really wanted to do. All the way there, he kept saying “Wow, this is new. Wow, look at that. This wasn’t here before. This area has really grown.” And we just kept reminding him it was TWELVE years ago he was here! So we finally get to the bar, and…IT WAS CLOSED DOWN! Oh, did we have a good laugh over that. Well, poor Tom didn’t, but we certainly did! (I googled it when I got home, and I could find no reason for the closure.) So it was off to Broadway at the Beach to hit a bar. We ended up at Crocodile Rocks, a dueling piano bar…where we had to pay a $7 cover because we weren’t locals (argh!)…and it was soooooo crowded we could never even see the pianos! Of course, the boys decided they wanted to drink, so we spent way more money that night than we anticipated! After that, it was time for sleep so we headed back to the hotel!

The next morning, it was a bit chilly and overcast (probably 60-65) so that was somewhat disappointing—it had been 75-80 the past week at home! We decided to check out the outlet mall nearby…which led to almost an entire day of outlet-mall-shopping! We hit two separate malls, Tom got some new clothes (all on sale, of course!), and I got a few things. I really wanted to hit the QVC Outlet just to see what they had, but by the time we were driving by, we were on a mission for lunch.

Lunch was at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville at Broadway at the Beach. The food was good, although I always have a hard time paying $10 for a burger. But the margaritas were yummilicious…so yummilicious, in fact, that I had two (and just like that, I blew all my low-carb plans). And the Volcano Nachos were really quite good. And so was the Crab and Corn Chowder… After lunch, we walked around the entire Broadway at the Beach—a bunch of shops and restaurants and bars around a lake (click here to see the property map if you didn’t check it out above). We all made some small purchases and just had a fun time gallivanting. But, soon we were exhausted so we headed back to the hotel so we could all take a nap. We thought, how pathetic we are…exhausted at 6pm and wanting to sleep! All we did all day was shop and eat! So we agreed to lay down for 20 minutes. Three hours later, we finally all got up. None of us were really that hungry (we finished lunch around 2), so we thought we’d go out for appetizers and dessert. No one could decide where to go, so I made the decision: Rossi’s. My boss had suggested it so I figured it had to be good. Well, it was good. And fancy. And expensive. Which wouldn’t have been a big deal, had we not already spent a TON of money on food. So we ate cheaply and discovered we were hungrier than we thought we’d been… and all enjoyed really great desserts (we all wanted something different: Karen—Key Lime Pie, Tom T—Cannoli, Tom H—Tiramisu, me—Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake). By this time, it was after 11, so we decided to just go back to the hotel!

But first, we had to take some group shots—we had brought our camera, but hadn’t carried it around all day (so we missed some great shots, of course).

Myrtle Beach with Tom and Karen

Myrtle Beach with Tom and Karen

Stupid credit card fees

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I didn’t lose my credit card and I don’t think I’ve used it anywhere unsafe. However, there was an unauthorized charge for $80 recently so I called to cancel the card and have another reissued. Imagine my surprise when I was told there would be a $10 fee for new cards. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I have never heard of a fee for reissued cards before and I think it’s just asinine. But I was so flabbergasted that I couldn’t even think or respond—I just said fine. For a split second, I did consider just cancelling the card but it’s the one with our photo on the front that I love…

UPDATE

I wrote an email to customer service complaining about the fee and they said they will credit it as a one-time courtesy. I guess sometimes it pays to complain…

Homecoming Yesterday

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I woke up at about 6am and just could NOT fall back asleep…but I was happy that I slept the whole night (I had been afraid I wouldn’t sleep a wink). Tom called about 7am to let me know he was in Charlotte and was still expected in at 8:40. I left the house (in his car, per his request!) at 8:15 since the airport is literally only minutes away. As I drove by our friend’s house (Roger & Ursula), I saw they had hung a sheet/banner out saying WELCOME HOME TOM! I almost started crying right then! (I had wanted to do a banner, but long story short, it just didn’t happen and I knew he wouldn’t be heartbroken.) But it was SOOOO sweet that they put one up and I’m so glad they did!

So I made it to the airport, parked, and only had to wait about 10 minutes before he walked off the plane! I hadn’t really been emotional AT ALL up to that point, but as soon as I saw him, I started crying! After a few minutes of hugs and kisses, LOL, it was off to wait for the luggage (I swear, all 400# of it). Then he finally got to see his new car…and loved it! Of course, he drove home.

After unloading the car, saying hello to the kids, and eating our Cinnabons (that he brought from Charlotte), Tom took a two-hour nap. I know he could have slept a lot longer, but he wanted to start getting back on schedule. Then it was off to base so he could check in and return his weapon. Then we ran some errands (dreaming about DLP televisions at Best Buy, checking out replacement laptops at Staples, eating dinner at Texas Roadhouse—a new place that just opened but that’s one of our favorite restaurants from Lansing, and getting groceries at Sam’s Club). Then it was home, where we ran into some neighbors in the street. Then we watched some TV and were in bed by 10.

So how is it to have him home? Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Except for one thing. MAN, does he make a lot of noise when he sleeps! LOL! I mean, I know he snores, but let’s just say I didn’t get much sleep (hence my being up this early). My little prods that used to get him to flip over?? No more. Now I have to literally shove him to get him to move. I know it’s mainly because he’s STILL exhausted and because he’s not used to sleeping with anyone else…but if this is still a problem after a week, we’ll have to take drastic measures!!

We have a bonfire planned for this weekend so everyone can see him and we can hear all the stories…so we’re really looking forward to that and to seeing everyone. Poor Tom—after he left, two of our best friends moved from the neighborhood, one put their house on the market (and has two offers on it), and the last is just putting their house up for sale. We’re the only ones left!

Stay tuned for more post-deployment stories, I’m sure…

*Some details have been omitted due to my parents reading this blog, LOL…

Blah Easter

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I must say Easter wasn’t too terribly exciting this year. No meals with friends. No family. No Tom. Just me and the cats and a book—and not even a good book, either. (It was one of those I’ve had forever and finally decided to read and I only finished reading it because I wanted to know how it ended, not because I was really interested in it.)

WEDNESDAY MORNING!

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Tom just called and he will be flying into Jacksonville Wednesday morning about 8:30! 88| He said it was either that or 3:30am Tuesday—but he didn’t want me to have to be up that late. I said that would have been fine, for pete’s sake…like I will be able to sleep the night before anyway?!

California calling!

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Tom is in California! He landed about 2:30 EST and called me straightaway like a good husband! He just called again to say he’s at his hotel (the same one he stayed at on his way out) and trying to catch up on some sleep. He said the whole group of them (that came in today) are heading in tomorrow to see when they will be able to actually leave for their respective homes. He’s hoping this weekend…but with Easter and all, he’s guessing Monday at the earliest.

Germany calling!

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Tom called about midnight last night from Germany. He said they were way ahead of schedule, so if it continued, they’d also arrive in California early—by as much as a few hours. And even better news? There is no 96er this weekend, so he should be able to talk to someone about coming home ASAP! We’re still not sure how soon ASAP will be, but it’s possible it could be this weekend! Here’s hoping!

Closer….closer…

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It’s getting so close now I’m starting to go a little crazy. He should be in the air right now…having left three hours ago (2:30am Kuwait time). I’m half expecting a call in the middle of the night if he has the time when making a connection (I think he said Germany?)—since I got a similar call when he was on his way over. I’m still having a hard time believing he’s almost home!!

Tom’s in Kuwait

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After a very bumpy flight (he said there was about 20 minutes during which he thought the plane might actually crash), he arrived safely in Kuwait. He is still scheduled to leave tomorrow (actually 2:30am) and arrive in California at 11am on Thursday. After not talking or emailing with him for 3-4 days, I got to email him back and forth for about a half hour, plus he got to call me for a few minutes!

Understanding Cats, Part 2

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So this morning, I was awakened about 7am by Fuzzy’s god-awful crying. Crap, I thought, I must have forgotten to feed them before I went to bed…because he only makes that much noise when he’s starving and just can’t wait any more. I tried to ignore him, but then he came to my side of the bed and cried in my face. There’s no ignoring THAT nonsense, so I got up. And did he run to his food bowl (which was actually empty)? No! He ran right past his food bowl to the door! Damn cat woke me up because he wanted to go outside! UGH! This has never happened before, and I surely hope it doesn’t become a normal occurence. It’s just not acceptable to be forced up at 7am on a Sunday morning…BY A CAT.

Understanding Cats

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Sometimes I understand them just fine. When they hear me get up in the morning, they start crying because they’re hungry and want to eat. When I go into the kitchen and they start crying at the door, that’s obvious—I know they want to go outside. Fuzzy has always been especially good at telling me what he wants—he’ll come up to me and start crying. When I stand up, he will lead me to whatever he wants me to see. So just now he did this. I figure he either 1) was out of food or 2) wanted to go outside. From the extreme loudness and anguish in his voice, I was sure it was lack of food. So I got up from the computer and followed him. He ran to the food bowl—aha, I was right! But wait. There was food in the bowl! And he was eating it! So apparently, he wanted me to…watch him eat? Strange kid.

Fun Friday Night

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It started in the afternoon, with a team shopping trip to “the staplers” as we like to call it! I was extremely excited, because our list included a new laser printer and new scanner for me (upgrading from an inkjet all-in-one)!! Of course, I also enjoyed talking with all my buds there—I really miss them! Then, since we had all driven there separately (long story), Sue decided to call it a day and thought we should all head for Chili’s! So, we did! A few margaritas later, I actually had to leave for dinner with friends—my usual sushi buddies wanted to do something different, so they had picked Mexican. As luck would have it, it was at a restaurant right down the street! So I left one gathering to join another! In Jacksonville’s version of It’s A Small World, my friends brought one of their friends—actually, a classmate from a college class—and turns out, she knew Sue, my boss! She was the daughter of one of Sue’s old co-workers! We had a good time, then I headed back over to Chili’s where the gang was still hanging out having fun! We had a few more drinks and whatnot, and I’m just now getting home at 10pm! I made some comment along the way of “I won’t be able to do this as much when my husband comes home because I’ll want to go home to be with him…” and Sue said “No! He can just come join us!” Cool! I love my new boss!

Mail Order Scripts Rock!

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So I finally called TriCare today about the insane cost of the pills. Long story short, it’s really the pharmacist’s fault for inputting 91 pills instead of 90 (because TriCare authorizes those as a 90-day supply). However, I can get the same thing via mail order pharmacy for $9. Yes, by going via mail order, you automatically get three months for the price of one! OOH RAH! The only small drawback is that now I have to go back to the docs and get a new prescription—hopefully I can just explain the situation and have the doc write a new scrip. But this is definitely better than paying $36!!

It’s the principle

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So I went to pick up my birth control pills today (the new Seasonale three-month pack), expecting a $27 co-pay like last time ($9/month). Except this time, it’s $36. Huh? The pharmacist said that Tricare only covers THREE months of pills (30 pills/month for 90 total pills) so they have to charge me for four months since there are 91 pills. I am not kidding. I am being charged $9 for (basically) the sugar pills—or, actually, one of the seven sugar pills. This has to be a new thing since two months ago they weren’t doing this (and of course, the stupid pharmicist wouldn’t let me get a year’s worth at one time like I wanted). But this is truly ASININE. So now I have to call Tricare to see what the hell is up and if there’s any way around it (other than going to month-at-a-time pills instead of the three-month-at-a-time pills). I hate this. I hate being annoying with Tricare since they just paid $4000 for my surgery. And I know it’s only $9, but it’s the principle of the thing. Stay tuned.

Ain’t that a kick in the pants?

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Tom called me earlier this morning to tell me…

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(I’m building the suspense!)

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He’s fully checked out and he can leave at any time!! Yea! Except, of course, that his flight doesn’t leave until March 19th and there are no flights before that! Boo! So, he has the next five or so days to just kick back and relax—since he’s checked out, that means he doesn’t have a job to do! He did say he’s really ready to come home—apparently things aren’t running quite as smoothly as they were when his group was in charge and it’s extremely frustrating to watch (as I can well imagine).

He’s still not sure how long he will have to be in California. He was going to call them later today to see if they could A) give him any idea and/or B) tell them he wants to leave as soon as possible, best case scenario the day he gets there!

Whatever the case, the final countdown is on!

Weather Issues

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Today’s weather was perfect. PERFECT. It reached a high of 75 with a nice breeze and sunshine all day long…time to open all the doors and windows and fill the house with fresh air!

So what could possibly be the problem, you ask? This southern weather has confoozled my brain! What do I mean? I’m to the point now (after merely two years of living here) where I HONESTLY forget it’s cold and snowy elsewhere. Case in point, last week my aunt [from Michigan] sent me some pictures, and my first thought when I read the subject line was: “How can they be snowmobiling with no snow?” Then last night, I was talking to my dad and Lin and they were saying how they hoped to get in some skiing in the UP, and I honestly thought “But you don’t water-ski!?” If I stop to think about it, of course I know the weather is different back home (I mean, for pete’s sake, I lived there 28 years), but with the weather so nice here (well, so non-snowy—it does get chilly!), it’s hard to think about snow and cold weather!

So how can I move home with this mindset?? LOL It’s going to be a rude awakening, I’m afeared.

Non-Support Support Rant

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Long story short, I used to use this program I loved for making DVD slideshows. I say USED TO USE because I can no longer use it. Why? No idea! My best guess is that upgrading XP to SP2 screwed something up—that’s the only thing I can possibly think of (my computer crashed so when I reinstalled Windows, I upgraded to SP2—that’s the ONLY difference).

So I do what any normal person would do, and check the site to see if they mention anything (most sites will tell you if their program has issues with SP2). Nope, no mention. So I email tech support. They tell me it shouldn’t be an issue, but to check umpteen million other things on my system. So I check ALL umpteen million:

  • DVD writer software is current
  • slideshow program is current
  • slideshow CD/DVD support is current
  • all Windows updates are done
  • no other CD/DVD writing programs are running
  • slideshow software recognizes my DVD writer
  • slideshow software says on their site that my specific DVD writer is recognized
  • test DVD burn with another program

Everything checks out. I take detailed notes of what exactly happens during the creation/burn process (right up until the software fails) and send that info in. What response do I get? “Make sure everything is updated.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That’s what we started with before I spent an hour messing with it to give you all the gory details.

Okay, granted. I am not a paying customer—I am only using the trial version—but you’d think they’d want to help me so I would BECOME a paying customer, right? In the meantime, I think “Maybe I should purchase the software officially on the OFF chance that might make a difference” but then if it doesn’t, I’m out $70.

The most frustrating thing is that this program worked perfectly before. PERFECTLY. And now it doesn’t and I don’t have any idea why. And I love this program!!!

Sometimes I hate computers.

Tattoo history…and future?

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Ever since Tom and I met, we’ve both wanted tattoos. On my first trip to Lansing to visit him, we stopped at a few tattoo parlors to see if anything caught my eye—and it did.

I really wanted a celtic knot. But there was a problem. I only wanted a tattoo the size of a quarter—but the artists all told me that in order to get nicely defined lines for the knot, the tattoo would have to be at least the size of a baseball. Egads, no way. So there went my hopes of a tattoo. (I’m sure my parents are breathing sighs of relief at this point in the story, LOL.)

I seem to remember Tom wanting Wolverine (X-Men character) and me thinking it was absolutely hideous…so I didn’t really push the tattoo idea any farther! (He didn’t know at the time I didn’t like it—I only recently told him…so long after the fact that it didn’t matter anymore!)

So life goes on, and I’ve always kept one eye out for the perfect tattoo, still keeping the celtic knot on the back burner. (On a sidenote, my love for celtic knots was alive. It was evidenced at the wedding—our invitation had a celtic border, as did our wedding programs. I also owned a few pieces of celtic knot jewelry, as well.)

Then we move to Jacksonville, the home of Camp Lejeune and about 137 tattoo parlors…so the idea is refreshed in my mind. Along the way, I found out that I could get a smaller celtic knot and the design would be fine…but, I had started noticing and liking tribal tattoos. So I set off to find a great tribal tattoo that I liked. But nothing hit me. And if I’m going to alter my body in this manner, it’s going to be something I LOVE!

Fast forward to one afternoon working in the Staples Copy Center. A guy brought in some artwork to be laminated. Turns out it’s tattoo work. And it’s tribal. But not only is it tribal, if you look close enough, it’s actual words:

Pride Tribal Tattoo

Can you see what this says? PRIDE. I thought that was sooooo cool. He had about three pages of different words (I only showcase Pride since it’s one of the smallest ones), the most elaborate being NEVER AGAIN, which would go across your entire shoulder span.

But anyway, I thought it would be great if he could design one around the word FATE. Why fate? Fate has been how I’ve always described meeting Tom: “It was fate.” (This is also what we’ll eventually have inscribed on our wedding rings…if I can ever bear to part with mine for a few days.) I had actually thought of having “fate” as my tattoo, but I didn’t want a plain word. So, I had my heart set on a tribal fate—if the artist could design it. Of course, I wanted to think more about it (I’m certainly not rushing into this tattoo thing) so I put the designs away when Tom left.

Fast forward to about two weeks ago, when I really started thinking about it again. I decided to Google tattoos and tribal tattoos and celtic tattoos and see where it led. And it led to Chinese characters for words…like fate, love, honesty, truth, etc. And I thought that was perfect, too. That way I could say FATE without having the word… I sent the links to Tom and he really liked Commitment/Devotion. So we could have “matching” tattoos, each with our own special words.

So that’s where it stands. I just have to decide whether to get FATE in tribal or Chinese… Stay tuned.

T&W Oyster Bar

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$ • 2383 N.C. Hwy. 58, near Cape Carteret • (252)393-8838
Since 1971, T&W has had customers coming from near and far for steamed oysters served in rustic surroundings — even a roaring fire when the weather is right. Try the combination of two or more seafood items, steak, chicken or a burger. Guests will also find sandwiches made with fried shrimp, oysters, scallops or fish. T&W serves beer and wine and has an ABC license for brown-bagging. Don’t let the line fool you — the restaurant can accommodate close to 250 people, and the bar can handle anyone who stops by to feast on steamed oysters. Banquet facilities are available on site.

I had a few firsts tonight.

  • I ate oysters that were shucked for me (no self-shucking, thankyouverymuch).
  • I ate the best scallops of my life.
  • I choked on a Rooster.
  • I left an unfinished bottle of Smirnoff Ice on the counter.

Let me explain.

T&W’s was supporting Relay for Life by donating 10% of the night’s take. Jane and Dick wanted to go…so we went (and I’ve been wanting to try this place since it was recommended to me right after we moved here). Oysters aren’t my favorite seafood, but they’re not bad, so I was game. The cool thing? I discovered that they’re much better when someone else does the shucking! And I learned the proper way to eat them is on a cracker. Who knew?

We also ordered scallops and spicy shrimp. And the scallops were just TO DIE FOR! I haven’t eaten scallops many times in my life, but these easily topped the scale. So much so that we quickly ate the first side order and ordered another (which, unfortunately, we had to stuff down because we got so full—but we refused to let them go to waste).

So we’re drinking and eating and drinking and eating and the talk turns to a Rooster. What’s a Rooster, you ask? It’s their “specialty”—it sounded fairly hideous but with all the joking (including joking with our shucker), it was determined that I would do one. I tried to say no, but they weren’t having it. So, he starts building this in front of me: a saltine cracker topped with horseradish (then more horseradish—probably 2 TBS), topped with an oyster, sprinkled with pepper, sprinkled with two types of hot sauce, cocktail sauce, jalapeno juice, then a jalapeno slice. 88| I AM NOT KIDDING YOU. (There may have even been another few layers of hot sauce but I lost track.) It was literally 2″ tall so this wasn’t going to be a quick throw down. It looked pretty bad, but Dick said it wasn’t THAT bad (he’d had one the last time he was there). So, I went for it. OH. MY. GOD. You know when you watch TV shows and contestants have to choke something down and it looks like they’re going to upchuck right in the middle of eating it? Well, friends, that was me. IT WAS FREAKING DISGUSTING. I was sweating, my mouth was burning, my nose was running—and in the middle of all this action, I actually had to physically stop myself from throwing it up right at the bar. Jane and Dick were laughing and pointing and telling me I was turning red. Oh, what fun! LOL. I managed to choke most of it down, but spit out a huge chunk. Wow, horrible. (I honestly think it wouldn’t have been that bad without all the horseradish.)

So…then our second order of scallops came out and I wasn’t really that hungry anymore and it was all I could do to not vomit just thinking about that stupid Rooster (two hours later and I’m still a little squeamish about it). So it was about this time that our shucker guy came back, saw that I did the Rooster, and brought me another drink. I had said “no more!” but he brought it and opened it anyway. I was so full and so nauseous that I could only take about 4 sips of the drink and I left the rest there. (An unfinished bottle—alcohol abuse!)

But, all in all it was a fun time. I will definitely go back for the scallops (I think I’m off oysters for awhile).

Party Central

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Well, after having nothing much to do the past few weekends and being bored enough to ACTUALLY twiddle my thumbs (although for just a moment), this weekend is a veritable party central! To start, I got an email mid-week from our old neighbor, Roger, saying he was having serious neighbor withdrawals—a dangerous condition, requiring immediate attention. To rectify the situation, he was inviting all the old gang over for burgers and dogs…BYOB and BAD (bring a dish)…Saturday! I emailed him back immediately saying COUNT ME IN! The next night, I got a phone call from another old neighbor, Karen, inviting me to Tom’s wetdown Friday night! (Come to find out, it was almost a spur-of-the-moment thing, as he was promoted about a month ago, but they haven’t been around to have the party—and all the coming weekends are full—so if they didn’t want to have his promotion party three months late, it was this weekend!)

The wetdown was nice…not quite the same as my Tom’s wetdown last year (not as many people and not as much alcohol, if I do say so myself, LOL) but it was nice. I got to see their new (HUMONGOID) house decorated (I had only seen it empty before). There’s just space upon space upon more space—you don’t realize how big 2400sf is until someone moves in that doesn’t have that much stuff. (Yes, I’m saying Tom and I could fill it well!) The food was delish and the filets were cooked perfectly! I also got to hold Caroline—she’s finally off her monitor!! I held her forever and then got to feed her! (I tell you, the practice I had in Florida did wonders. I’m MUCH more comfortable with babies now. But don’t go getting any ideas.) I gave her back for the diaper change, though. LOL

Tonight was dinner at Mitchell’s. It was supposed to be everyone from the ‘hood, but it ended up being just the diehards—Tom and Karen and me (and Tom in spirit, as always). We had a nice time, although I wouldn’t really consider it a PARTY, per se. (I swear, ever since Tom has been gone (well, first Tom T. and now Tom H.), the get-togethers/parties just aren’t the same.) I got to hold Caroline more and feed her again. Ursula kept asking “Do you want me to take her? Do you want me to take her?” and I had to finally say “Take advantage when someone else wants to do the work!” The only thing that worries me (about having kids) is that my back hurts after some holding. I guess before we have kids, I’ll have to find some exercises to do to strengthen my back or something—because I don’t see any way on earth I’ll be able to hold a baby for hours on end as is sometimes necessary. (Is this normal or am I just a wuss?) We called it a night pretty early…totally not like we all used to be. Are we just getting older and more tired or has something else changed??