13 years and just 7 more to go

I can’t believe that I spaced Rodi’s anniversary date.  He enlisted in the Navy Jan. 4th 1996.  On Jan. 4th 2009 I was too busy watching Molly give birth to Faith that I completely forgot we were one year closer to Rodi’s RETIREMENT!!!!  Okay I know it is still seven years away but it’s ONLY SEVEN more years.

I long for that day.  I am proud of Rodi and the great job he does.  I am thankful for his service and the service of all our military members.  But I also can’t wait for this ride to be OVER.

I am looking forward to celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays with him in the same country as us.  This week he will be gone for JJ’s very first sectional gymnastics meet.  That was the two biggest events on the January calendar.  He will also miss Moe’s b-day, Nina’s b-day, My b-day, JJ’s b-day, His b-day (can you really miss your own b-day?), Bubba’s birthday next January, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years 2010, and possibly our anniversary this year and next.  I am sure there will be many other events he will miss along the way. 

Again I know this comes with the job, I am just ready for that part of our life to be done. 

I don’t mean to sound selfish, I guess I am just in a mood today.  I love him and the FANTASTIC job he does.  I even encouraged him to put in his paperwork to become a Supply Officer 9 years ago.  I think I knew then in the back of my head that we were in this for the long haul.  I know if he had stayed in the Nuclear field that he was in when he was enlisted  we would not still be doing this Navy thing. 

I am thankful for the opportunities we have had to travel across Europe and live in Germany those three wonderful years.  I have made long lasting, wonderful friendships along the way that I TREASURE.

I am thankful some of the things my children have been able to see and do because of our lifestyle.  I am also sad about some of the things they have had to endure.  I think I struggle with that part the most. 

Ahhh, okay, enough venting for the day.  Just came on to post about the fact that seven years from now Rodi will be able to retire….. now we just have to wait and see if he will actually do it.  That is an entirely different story!

Pictures from Commissioning day on the USS George H.W. Bush

I was freezing not sure how Rodi wasn't

 

We had to tell jokes to get them to smile...why don't boys smile for the camera?

My mom and I freezing before the event even began.

 

J & J take a minute to pose in front of the camera

The day before the commissioning Pres. Bush (41) paid an unexpected visit to the ship. Rodi was there to greet him.

Cinderella’s night at the ball

DIDN’T END LIKE MINE!

The ball was wonderful, Mike Ditka was an AMAZING speaker, Prince Charming and I managed to get in our dance for the year, The band was actually good, and my feet didn’t kill me until the very end.

We called it a night and headed back up to the 12th floor to our room with an ocean view.  Rodi did such and amazing job this year getting our room and making sure we didn’t leave the ball until they played just the right song for us to dance to.  Have I told you how much I love this man?!

If Cinderella’s magic hour was midnight mine must have been about 1a.m. That is when instead of cuddling with my handsome Prince Charming I was hugging the cold white toilet!  Yep leave it to me to get seriously ill the one night a year I have alone with Rodi in a beautiful setting like that.  Since we don’t drink I know it wasn’t that I had had one too many.  I think it was maybe the salmon I ate for dinner or a touch of the flu?  Whatever it was I was not impressed!

Cinderella….well sorta

So tomorrow night is the Naval Supply Corps Ball.  Yes a Ball.  Formal attire and all.  As I sit here and type I have on jeans, a t-shirt, ans slippers.  There is no make-up upon my face and my hair well let’s just say there is a lot of work to be done before I would venture out and about town.  And this my dear readers is how you would find me most days.  I do not get dressed up to stay home though some would say maybe I should (any fly-babies out there?)

It is hard for me to get jazzed about these balls yet every year there is one to attend.  Rodi would say that I enjoy going.  HA really the only thing I enjoy is getting my one dance a year with the man.  Last year we didn’t get the chance to dance (long story) so maybe this year I will get 2.  I am not getting my hopes up about that though.  One of these years maybe he will realize that it would be much cheaper to turn on the tunes and twirl around the living room a time or two.

This year I am wearing the same long black skirt I wore last year paired with a new top.  I love separates!  I will post a picture once I have one.  Trying to keep a modest look and still feel 30 something is NOT an easy thing to do.  Most of the formal wear out there is either WAY too revealing or make you look like you are a grandma.  Don’t get me wrong I hope to be a grandma YEARS from now.  I am just not ready to try on that look.  Oh and it is February, can we say COLD why is it that all formal wear must be sleeveless?????

I will quit my rant for now, I am just happy I found something to wear and I won’t look like a granny.

YeeeHA! HE’S HOME!!!!

That’s right Rodi is back!  He came home late Saturday night while the kids were still sleeping.  We surprised them with the biggest surprise of their lives around 6am.  That was a priceless moment that neither I nor Rodi will ever forget.

I will post more later but I have a hubby to go and enjoy!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

For Rodi…..

Someday soon you will be home where you belong. 

Someday soon we won’t have to talk via e-mail or phone.

Someday soon we won’t have to exchange pictures to show what we have been doing and where we have been.

 Someday soon we will be able to look at the clock and not have to count forward or backwards to know if the other should be sleeping or awake.

I am counting the days until that someday.

Missing and Loving you!

Amazing!!!! LOL

JJ:  Mom did you know that they invented Etch a Sketch in 1960?

Me:  Sure didn’t

JJ:  Isn’t it amazing the technology they had back then?  The people who made that must have been super smart. I bet they were like hero’s or something.

 Kids are great!  They say some of the best things.

Last Sunday Nina had a conversation with me that went like this:

Nina:  Mom do they make all kinds of things for dinner on Dad’s ship?

Me: Yes

Nina:  Like Pizza?

Me:  Yes I suppose they have pizza on the ship.

Nina: Then how does the pizza man get the pizza to the ship?

Just because

Just because I should be sleeping and am instead sitting here at the computer I thought I would share what I never thought I would be doing when I grew up…..

Never in a million years did I think I would live where I live and have COWS.

Never did I think one of the things on my to do list would be “call Mr. E about getting a round bale of hay”

Never did I think I would be on the board of a youth wrestling league

Never did I think I would be homeschooling my children

Never did I think I would be married with FOUR children

Never did I think I would be e-mailing and talking long (very long) distance to my husband rather than eating dinner with him and discussing the daily events.

Never did I think my Faith would play such a HUGE  role in my DAILY  life.

Never did I think I would be  interested in politics

Never did I think I would clapping and cheering for events such as going “poo in the potty”

Never did I think I would dread doing laundry quite as much as I do.

Never did I think that all these things would make my life feel so full and wonderful.  Some may seem to be a great challenge at times, but still, they make me who I am and for that I am thankful. Very thankful.

Grumblings of the Military Spouse….

This week we received a bill that had me questioning things.  It was higher than it should have been by quite a bit. I happened to get a call from Rodi and I asked him about it.  He suggested that I call and ask about it.

 So I called the company…MISTAKE!

The bill is in his name, so they won’t deal with me.

I stated that I had power of attorney even one that covers this area.

 Nope they don’t care. 

I instead get this garbage about him (Rodi) needing to fax them permission for me to access the information I am seeking.

So I am thinking to myself okay Mr. Andre when you are in the need of medical assistance or say someone is attacking you and you need the police to come to your aid,  you would understand if they had to stop what they were doing to help you because their wife needed them to fax them permission for something the power of attorney she already had wasn’t proof enough.  Forget that they went to a lawyer to get said power of attorney. 

I thanked him for supporting his troops and the families that they have had to leave behind.  I made sure he knew that he was making the day of a military family going through separation that much easier.  Then I hung up.

The issue has since been dealt with thanks to good e-mail communication with Rodi but had he been on the submarine like his previous deployments this could have been a nightmare!!!!

LT. Rodi we miss you and are sorry we had to load all this extra worry on your shoulders.  Believe me I thanked Andre for you as well.  Not so sure he felt the love though.

Homeschool Schedules

Just when I think I have the perfect schedule ready to go something happens and tears my schedule to pieces.

Today when I took the girls to the YMCA for their PE class I discovered that my M,W,F schedule had been vandalized in a huge way. M,W, and F mornings were set aside for Bubba and I to workout in the fitness center while the girls were in youth watch and Moe was in child watch.  We would then do classes after lunch and if need be we would finish up after dinner.  Well that just isn’t going to happen.  They will no longer be offering the morning youth watch as of October.  It just really stinks because the only other time of day they offer it is from 5-8pm.  Once wrestling starts next month there is no way we will be able to go in the evenings. 

We are there on Tues. and Thurs. for HS PE but they don’t offer child care during those hours.  Today Bubba, Moe and I took advantage of open swim while the girls were in their class.  Bubba swam laps and got in a good workout.  I on the other hand held Moe the entire time and that was about it.

I have got to figure out how I am going to fit in my exercise.  I don’t do well with late in the day workouts so it may be a real struggle.

Right now a typical day finds us picking up the house for an hour before we begin classes at about 9am.  We break for lunch around 12:30 or 1 and then at 2pm the kids independently complete those last lingering assignments for the day.  Sometimes there isn’t much to do and they are finished by 2:30.  Other days they go until 3:30 or 4pm  Just really depends on how much we can get in during the morning hours. 

Tuesdays and Thursdays we try our best to start on time and stay on task so that we are done with our day before we head out to PE class.  No one, including me, feels like coming home to do more school work after 3:30.

When I first pictured HS’ing life I saw something so different than the reality of it now.  Homeschooling moms and dads juggle so many different things in their day and each of us does the “school” day differently.  I guess that is the beauty of it.  I am not forced to conform to a certain schedule because it is what works for others.  I am blessed to be able to schedule our day around what works for our home. 

I am sure once Rodi comes home our schedule will go through another series of changes.  Those changes will be met with gladness though as he will be here, and that can bring nothing but good things!