Tag Archives: navy

Jinxing myself

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So yesterday morning we had the ideal get ready for school morning. I mean perfect. The best one since school started. I don’t know how it happened or if we will every be able to repeat the performance!

I was actually pretty worried because our ‘schedule’ over the past two weeks has been laughable. It’s pretty much stay up as late as you want, sleep in as late as you want. We were a mess. I tried getting the kids to go to sleep earlyish on Tuesday but didn’t really have any luck. So last night I put Omar to bed a little early because I figured he would have trouble going to sleep, nope. Right to sleep by 8:30. Mckenna on the other hand could not fall asleep! I don’t know if it was a combination of excitement and lack of a set bedtime lately but she was awake until about 10. So I was extra worried. I did have them pick out clothes before going to bed because that is always a crazy last minute “I don’t have matching socks, where is my other croc?” disaster in the morning. 

So I’m getting some internet time in after the kids go to bed and see this crockpot oatmeal recipe on pinterest. I love love love my crockpot but I have always been a little nervous about cooking overnight with it. I know they are safe but I just always feel like I am going to burn my house down while I am sleeping. But apple cinnamon oatmeal ready and waiting in the morning just was too tempting to resist and I had all the ingredients on hand! Amazing!

So around 11 I am making oatmeal crossing my fingers that it is going to turn out okay and I hear the pitter pat of little feet on the stairs. Now Omar is up. Seriously? So I tell him to go back to bed I am going to bed myself in a minute. Well I go upstairs and the little bugger is in my bed. At this point I don’t care, just want to try and get some sleep myself before the alarm goes off (I had drugged myself with NyQuil and was just waiting for it to kick in. What? I needed to sleep!)

Come 3 or 4 in the morning little miss Mckenna feels the need to wake me up to tell me she can’t get back to sleep. Really? Pretty sure I mumble-yelled for her to go back to bed. These kids are killing me!

Then at 6:18 she is back in my room exclaiming that she just got ready in 3 minutes, isn’t that great and now she is going downstairs for breakfast. I tell her there is oatmeal but then get up myself so I can go see how it turned out. Omar hears us but snuggles in for a few more minutes.

Mckenna tells me its good, then proceeds to tell me she didn’t really care for it. Why does she do this?! If you don’t like it, it’s fine! I liked it, I would just make it with less water next time so it is a little thicker. I like to add a lot of milk but this was already pretty soupy so too much mil would have been a disaster. I pop upstairs to tell Omar I have oatmeal ready and he is awake. And cheerful. That NEVER happens. This boy is my grumpy teenager in the morning who is the WORST to wake up. So he gets up and eats a bowl of oatmeal (and actually likes it) and brushes his teeth with no prompting.

At this point I am kind of feeling like I am in the Twilight Zone. But hey, I am going to go with it! Lunches are packed, hair is styled and we are out the door a few minutes early.

Then, I actually managed to leave the house in workout clothes so I go to my community gym and actually exercise! What in the world! Ran a mile straight plus warm up and cool down it was almost a mile and a half. I was super proud of myself and am going to stick with it. There is no reason I can’t go to the gym that is 1/4 mile from my house and run for 15 minutes 3-5 times a week.

So yeah. Best morning ever. I even am working on cleaning out my house. I didn’t just clean and stick stuff in closets. I cleaned SO much stuff out. My garbage can was full tonight when we took it out. Filed, sorted, and have a massive stash of stuff that needs to go to Goodwill.

Now let’s see how this morning goes, I have to say I am kinda digging a two day school week!

Honolulu Zoo

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DSC_0130aOne of our last ‘fill up two weeks off of school with fun’ fun days was to hit up the zoo. Of course when I suggested it you would have thought it was the meanest thing ever. They were turning into mole people in the days after Christmas, blinds closed, eyes glued to tv and video games. I finally dragged them out of the house and made it to the zoo all on my own, no gps needed. What a great feeling that is! Also bonus #2, I found a parking spot in the lot right next to the zoo. $1/hour parking, heck yes!

Let me go ahead and get my flower photos out of the way here. Can I just say that I love how well landscaped this zoo is? It is so beautiful and lush.

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First up, the Keiki Zoo, or petting zoo (keiki means kids/children in Hawaiian). One of my favorite parts is the koi tank that the kids can crawl through. The koi are huge and beautiful. The first time we came here Omar refused to go in so I am happy he actually decided to do it this time. Don’t my kids look like they like each other in that picture? False!

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It wasn’t too crowded which was great, we took our time and walked and walked and walked. One thing that drove us crazy was the lions! You could hear them calling from all over the park but we could never catch a glimpse. I know some new cubs were just born so maybe they were still inside but I wanted to get some pictures of mom or dad making all that noise!

We saw pretty much everyone else though. Thanks for cooperating zoo animals!

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The meerkats were cracking me up, they looked like three little old men on a park bench. And the baboon was mid-yawn, he just looks menacing but was in fact being very sweet, although look at those canines! Yikes! The lemurs and turtle were having a standoff which was quite amusing, they couldn’t get to their island and he was very contentedly sunbathing. And Ms. Rhino, well she was posing pretty!

And of course the awesome trees that are all over make for a perfect backdrop, I love the banyan trees!

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If you live here make sure you take a trip out to the zoo, they have military and kama’aina discounts! We paid $8/adult $4/kid. Not bad! Also you are allowed to bring in your own food and drinks so pack a picnic lunch and a blanket!

 

Diving into Christmas Break

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I don’t know whose idea it was to let the kids out already for break but it’s killing me.

Two and a half weeks of days to entertain my kids. Honestly it would be that bad, except for the fact that I have one child who wants nothing but to stay home, and one child who wants to be going, going, going.

This was our fourth day off of school. So far we have painted pottery, gone out for lunch, gone to the movies and checked out a stack of books from the library. I have a stack of Christmas craft ideas that I want to pull out, cookies to be baked and, if the weather would warm up, beach days ahead.

Of course I still have boxes of gifts that HAVE to be mailed TOMORROW! I tried going to the main office today but the line of cars to get into the parking lot was blocking street traffic and the post office on base was closed already. 4pm during the holidays? Absurd! Oh and I have to go to the commissary tomorrow too, crap.

Also my poor dog is going a little stir crazy I think… I’ve been taking him for a walk around our neighborhood while the kids are in school and haven’t since they’ve been out. Plus with all the rain the dog park is too muddy. I might have to drag the kids along for a walk so he’s not stuck in the house for another day either.

I got my Christmas cards today, I am really bummed by the way they turned out. I get the majority of them sent straight to my friends but have some come to me for all of my local friends. They were really dark. I do not love the printing job. So I am going to call Hallmark and yell at them. Which is pointless because they can’t really fix it. All the cards are out already. But I am upset because I loved the pictures I took of the kids!

Joint Spouses’ Conference 2012 Recap

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Okay so this was awhile ago but I had such a great time and took SO many pictures I wanted to share it. Also I had forgotten my camera and had to drive home and get it so after doing all that these pictures MUST see the light of day!

The Joint Spouses’ Conference is a military spouse conference that is hosted each year by one of the branches. This year Navy had the privilege and the conference was held on Ford Island.

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We had the CO of Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam open up the conference, then a really cute little message from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dempsey and his wife.

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I was actually second guessing my decision to go at the last minute, I was getting some major anxiety over the fact that I was going to know NO ONE! I found out the night before that one of my friends from football was going to be there so at least I had someone to eat with!

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We got great little welcome baskets and a tote bag full of more goodies. The entire conference was decorated SO well, I was very impressed! Those ladies did an awesome job!

There was a large list of workshops you could take: cooking, painting, photography, sailing, hula, lei making, business classes. You name it. I went with Lei Making, Beyond the Mai Tai, Hula and Chocolate.

First up Lei Making. I really enjoyed this and was amazed at how easy it is, just threading flowers. Tuber roses smell AMAZING! We also did a ti leaf lei which involved twisting ti leaves. It was not really complicated but my brain is old and tired! So I ended up with a ti leaf bracelet! This workshop was put on by the Hale Koa hotel which is a military hotel in downtown Waikiki. The women were great and VERY informative. Seriously I would love to take some Hawaiian studies classes!

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Sporting my new handmade lei of purple orchid and tuber rose!

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Next up was Beyond the Mai Tai, which was also hosted by the Hale Koa, but the bartenders this time. And yes it was still rather early in the day for drinking but what the heck. We had some delicious samples, got some great recipes and all got a little bit tipsy. Good times!

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Lunch was delicious! We had a ton of dessert and it was hilarious to see all of the photographers whip out their cameras to take pictures of the food. I know my husband rolls my eyes at me but it is so nice to be among like minded people!

 

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Our guest speaker was Mrs. Hawaii who happens to also be a Navy veteran and current military spouse. She was not your normal pageant queen but was really down to earth. She is doing some amazing work with childhood obesity and nutrition in Hawaii.

IMG_9907aWe also had some adorable little hula dancers but my camera was on a wonky setting and none of the pictures turned out.

After lunch it was time for Hula lessons! This was a class that was insanely out of my comfort zone. I don’t dance. Like, ever. Well maybe if I’ve had enough to drink but the mai tais had worn off by now! But this is something I really wanted to do and thankfully we had a great instructor, the same lady from the Hale Koa that taught me lei making! I don’t have any pictures because it’s pretty impossible to take photos and hula. But I had a GREAT time and actually remembered most of the steps!

Now, time for Chocolate making! This was fun basic intro to working with chocolate.

We had our ingredients laid out in front of us, ganache with some different flavorings like lavender, cocoa powder, cayenne, sea salt,  and nuts. I thought mine looked like the Hawaiian islands.

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And here I am with all of my finished truffles. And a chocolate dipped strawberry.

IMG_9919aI really liked the sea salt as well as the cayenne truffles. I accidentally gave Omar one of the cayenne ones when we got home. He was like ‘what is wrong with this, its burning my mouth!’ Sorry! My kids aren’t fans of ‘weird’ chocolates!

We wrapped up with some more food as well as a silent auction and a basket raffle and I was beat! I had a really great day and met some really nice women. Really my only complaint was that everyone had their iPhones in front of their face all day. We aren’t there to check FaceBook, we are there to meet people and have a good time. It was kind of annoying but whatever. I am really looking forward to going again next year, I think the Army will be hosting.

 

And here are just some random photos from the day:IMG_9874

 

 

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Ko’olina Lagoon aka Sometime you just need to go to the beach

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So after  long day of fun we decided to keep driving west until we hit the beach. One of the best beaches on that side of the island are the Ko’olina Lagoons. We grabbed a spot, pulled the ever-present beach chairs from the trunk, and just enjoyed this fabulous life we have.

 

 

 

 

This was one of the best sunsets I’d seen since we moved here, we are rarely over on the west side of the island and the sunsets just aren’t quite as pretty from Pearl Harbor, too much in the way!  Stunning.

 

 

Mckenna of course wanted to model for me… This girl loves having her picture taken but it’s hard to get one now where she isn’t posing like a crazy person. 

 

And then there is this kid who HATES having his picture taken but I can occasionally get such a wonderful shot of him I could die.

 

Okay, disgusting post I know, my kids are gorgeous, I live in paradise. What can I say, it’s a rough life!

 

Blah

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So.

I’m kinda sorta in a HUGE funk right now. And I can’t shake it.

I don’t want to do anything, housework, cooking, leaving my house, I just want to stay home in my cocoon and be pissed off.

So to ensure that I actually get out of the house as well as hopefully get me in a better frame of mind, I have been scheduling the shit out of myself. PTA, fundraisers, Humane Society, dog sitting, Family Readiness Group, training, lunches, playdates, coffee, football. Anything so that I am not sitting at home thinking about how much longer I am going to be alone.

This sucks.

This wasn’t in my plan for Hawaii. We were going to explore the island together. I had so many more spots that I wanted to go to as a family and as a couple. We never made it to a luau and I won’t go to one without him now because that is something I want to do together.

I haven’t snorkeled since he left. That was our thing, man. Something that he found out he totally loved to do and something we loved to do together.

I was chatting with him tonight and mentioned how much they had done and he said something along the lines of it hardly matters. Which I understand. I mean what we still have left is more than a normal deployment, we have MONTHS to go before we even have a normal deployment left!

And I am angry. And sad. I feel cheated out of my time with my husband. Time that we were supposed to have together as a family. Part of it is the lack of warning or warm up time, it was so, so sudden. Part of it is the shear LENGTH! I don’t know how Army and Navy IA do this crap for a year. Over and over again.

I am just looking toward this sea of months left and thinking about everything that he is going to miss, and then he’ll be home and we’ll have to re-integrate which always sucks because he’ll feel like so much has changed since he was gone. And it will have changed, we’ll be different, the house will be different. And it’ll take time for us to get to the new normal after being separated for so long. I don’t want to deal with all that! We were in such an awesome space together as a couple and a family before he left.

Anyways. That is my vent. It’s not a unique one I know but this deployment has been particularly sucktastic.

So, pray for peace in the Middle East and all that, I want my man home.

End rant.