For Becky

Okay, I know this is old information, because it happened in July, BUT it is still cool! When I was in Arizona for my high school reunion, we ventured out to the downtown area. Keep in mind that it is the off-season for Arizona, because it is so freakin' hot!

As we drove around we happend upon this cute little place an I immediately thought of Becky! I had to have one in her honor! And I will say that it was awesome! It came in a cute little box too.


I enjoyed a Key Lime Cupcake just for you Becky!

Becky, have you heard of Sprinkles?

Gathering and Promo Party

The weekend before Glenn left we had a gathering that included family and friends. It was a celebration of friendship and to congratulate Glenn on getting selected to LTC. It was a wonderful visit. We had family from New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas along with friends who traveled and neighbors.

On Thursday Gina, Glenn's mom, and her friend Doug traveled from New Jersey. They happen to arrive on my birthday! What a nice gift. We went to dinner and enjoyed nice company and some delicious steak! The next day we did the tourist thing and showed them around Fort Hood and the 1 Calvary Division Museum and memorial.

Here is a photo of the 1CD memorial. It has the names of the soldiers who have given their lives in the Iraq since the Division first deployed there. It is always overwhelming at the number of names inscribed.


Here is a great pictures of Glenn (with his eyes closed), Gina and Doug.


Another photo of part of the 1CD memorial.


This is Dean, Glenn's brother, who traveled from the Dallas area.


No party would be complete without the big water slide!


Or Rock Band! This is Sherryl, Dean's girlfriend.


Three super young ladies enjoying the day!

My fabulous Aunt had some signs made up. Unfortunately she wasn't able to come, but we missed her and the rest of my family in Dallas. Next time!


Me and my honey!


Dean and Glenn.



These are our awesome neighbors, Robyn and Michael!




Miss. Valerie, our other neighbor. So glad that they made it!


Gina, Glenn's mom, and my dad.



Sherryl and Dean. They make a nice couple!



Miss Millie, Renee and my mom! Always a pleasure to visit with them!


Cheryl and me. I've known Cheryl since high school; we shared a locker together! Very cool getting reconnected with her and her great family!


It was a great day spending it with family, friends and neighbors. Wouldn't have been the same without all of you!

Barnes & Noble Morning

So, as you know, today was the day that we put Glenn back on the plane to Iraq. Yep, sucks! There were a couple of ways that we could have handled the ole departure. We opted for keeping things as normal as possible to reduce the amount of stress. After the kids got off to school, I drove Glenn to the airport. His flight left at 8:50 AM, so we were at the airport about 8:10 AM. We, (I), decided that I would NOT go into the airport for a lot of reasons. One, it just drags out the whole process. Too much anxiety. Two, all of the pity looks from other travelers. Glenn is in battle dress uniform, people know that, lots of "oh, I'm so sorry dear" looks. Wasn't into that this morning.

I decided to take a positive approach to this departure. I had to look at where we have been and what is to come. We have already endured an 8 month separation, we only have 4 months left. For me, 8 months FLEW by, so I can do 4. Plus we are going to be so busy these next 4 months that it will just be a blur.

We said our good-byes, I waited just a minute to make sure there wasn't any problems and headed out. Since I had the entire day to myself, I didn't really make too many plans. First thing first, breakfast! The closest place was Sonic, so I enjoyed a sausage, egg and cheese croissant. Lovely. I knew for sure that Barnes and Noble was going to be in my future, so I decided to go there first. They open at 9:00 AM and when I arrived the doors were still locked. Awesome...................I was the FIRST one in the store!

Now, for those who love books, there is nothing like the Barnes & Noble smell. It hits you when you first walk in, new books and magazines, then the wonderful aroma of Starbucks whipping up something yummy! I knew that it was going to be a joyous event!

My first stop is always the magazines. There was a lovely selection and it made me very happy. I decided to shop the Tiger Beat section and get something for Sarah to cheer her up. Reading about celebs is always fun! I checked out some additional areas for something for Ryan. He got a very cool Hang Man book with scratch off puzzles! About this time I decided that a coffee sounded good, so I headed over to Starbucks. They had some new items on the menu and it threw me for a minute, because I'm so used to just ordering without looking at the menu. I opted for a Toffee Mocha Frapp Light with whipped cream. It was like a dessert! I also enjoyed a warmed Classic Coffee Cake.

While I was in line, a lady and her child, (Ally, about 2 years old), stood behind me. Now, I found some peace when I first walked into Barnes & Noble, until they got in line behind me. First of all, you ask, how do I know the child's name? Probably because mom had to say her name many times during the short time that we were in line, although it seemed like FOREVER! Now, looking back when my kids were little, if you say their name over and over and over again, eventually they will ignore you.................selective hearing (this ability doesn't go away). Alley picked up a small stuffed pumpkin, cool, no problem. Mom didn't have a problem with her playing with it. Then it dropped on the floor. Mom screeched, "Ally, don't touch that, it is so dirty!" I jumped, because I just wasn't ready for that loud of a noise. I thought, "man lady, maybe you should stay away from the caffeine today." She was very high strung. The place that I wanted to sit was too close in proximity to Ally and group. So, I moved just outside of Starbucks to a much comfier chair.

Well, mom speaks loud, as I discovered earlier and she didn't stop talking. I know a lot about Ally and her mom, way more information than I really needed to know today. Mom was there with some of her friends and she was interviewing a nanny. Ally doesn't like daycare, according to mom. Mom could pay $1100/month for a nanny. The interviewee wanted $2000/month. Good call interviewee! Mom continued to talk. "You will not find many people in this area that will pay $2000/month. You will have to move to Austin." OMG! Whatever! SHUT UP Ally's mom! You are ruining my solitude.

FINALLY, the interview ended and she left. I continued to browse and enjoy my visit to Barnes & Noble. I had a couple of birthday cards and thank you cards to write, so I plugged in my iPod and found a seat at the front of the store by the magazines and guess who comes back???? It had been like over an hour! Ally's mom................talking on her phone! Thankfully she went somewhere else in the store AND I did have my iPod in!

After I left Barnes & Noble.......................3 hours later! AWESOME! I decided to grab some lunch and head home. I ate my salad with chicken and watched Grey's Anatomy. All in all a pretty good day despite my honey leaving.

Back to the Reality.........

So, we knew that this day would come, just didn't think that it would come so fast. Two weeks ago Glenn came home on R & R. Today two weeks was up. We made the most of two weeks, filling it with family time, movies, games, house stuff and just being together, so we can't complain.

Last night, tucking the kids in bed was especially difficult. Your heart just breaks feeling their pain of having to say good-bye to their daddy again. It was hard the first time, but the second. No family should ever have to do that more than once. Although, funny that we accept it once. But that is the life of a military family. Trying to make them feel better, we explained that we have already endured 8 months apart, so now we only have a few months and we will be so busy with school, trips and holidays, that daddy will be home before you know it. Did it help, I don't know. Hard to say through the tears.

This morning was somber. Sarah was having a more difficult time with the good-bye part. She woke up quiet and weepy. She came in my room and I asked her, "do you need some help with your hair?" She began to cry. We were really trying to keep things as normal as possible. The kids didn't need to go to airport, because it would just drag out the pain. I didn't even go in this morning!

So, first Ryan left and he was okay, at least he seemed so on the outside. I don't know if he just keeps his emotions in or he knows that everything will be okay. We will talk to daddy on the computer and phone and we will see him in January. Sarah, on the other hand wears ALL of her emotions, and some, on both sleeves! She was crying while she was walking down the driveway saying, "bye daddy." OMG! Just had to choke down the tears. But I knew that once she got to school and into her groove, she would be fine.

We survived the first day....................again. Now we start the countdown.....................again.