Here's a confession post, and it's something I feel like I'm not supposed to say.

I really miss working.

Don't worry, I can already feel the mental slaps from hundreds of women, many of my friends, coming my way.

I never, ever expected that I'd be a stay at home mom. To be really honest, I never expected that I would have that luxury. I am incredibly blessed to be able to stay at home with my babies, and I know that. But I really, really miss working.

I suppose the grass is always greener. I know full well that if I had a 40 hour a week job, I would want nothing more than to spend all day, every day with my beautiful babies. And to be honest again, I don't really want to *not* be with them, either. There's no way I would give up watching all the firsts I've been able to watch happen! I can't stand the thought of someone else spending all day with my babies while we are financially able to let me do that.

But on the other hand... I miss leaving the house every day. I miss the majority of my conversation taking place with an adult. As much as I love repeating every single word KB says, which I do, (I did it just because it felt natural, but as it turns out, it really helps their verbal abilities. Who knew?!) I sometimes would just enjoy quiet. I sort of envy people who get to spend a little time in traffic, alone with their thoughts.

I know what's caused this. Besides the fact that it's been a little over three years since I held a full-time job, my new problem is that I haven't made SAHM/W friends in Memphis yet. Memphis isn't a typical military city, so there aren't a million wives and kids hanging out while their husbands/daddies are working. Jason hasn't checked in to the command yet, so I haven't met any of the wives of his coworkers.

The coolest thing ever would be to find a job where I could take my babies with me. I can hold off until they start school if I need to, but if anybody has any ideas, just let me know!

Obviously.

I just saw this cute questionnaire, (think old MySpace style) over at  The Misadventures of Mrs. Duh and I thought it sounded like fun. Besides, I haven't blogged in a while for one thing, and for another, it's nap time :)  Ahhh, quiet in my house!

September 06, Jason's first Ole Miss game

Oh my goodness, it's been so long since I last wrote. I plan on getting back to the 10 Day You Challenge just as soon as I have 10 days to devote. Our past month has been a whirlwind, and it was wonderful! We got to see our friends, our family, and most importantly to Katie Beth, our pets! Kidding about that last part.. Katie Beth made some serious bonds with her grandparents and great grandparents over the last month, and that is what I'm most grateful for.  So I'm going to chronicle our trip here, and I hope you don't mind. I won't do it all at one time, I promise :)

KB enjoying a little Yo Gabba Gabba on the flight

The first leg of our trip was in San Diego. Honey was asked to attend a Submariner conference - TANG: Tactical Advancements for the Next Generation. All I know is that he had a great time, made some awesome business connections, and was able to voice some ideas for the advancement of the submarine force.

While he was busy doing all that, KB and I explored the city. Oh. My. Gosh. I LOVED San Diego! Ever since we've been married, I've told Honey that I don't want to live on the West Coast.. I just don't feel like I'm a West Coast type of girl. And I'm still not, but San Diego could really change my mind. There was so much to do, the weather was perfect, and the city is so baby and pet friendly. There were dogs (on leashes, being properly cared for) everywhere! And all of their owners were nice enough to let my toddler squeal and pet them.

One of the dogs that KB fell in love with upon first sight. This was a such a sweet bull dog!

As for the baby friendly thing, oh wow! San Diegans love babies! Everywhere we went, men and women spoke to KB, commented on her, and made me feel like I have the world's most precious baby. (Which, obviously, I do..)  I loved that there is a Children's Museum that gets amazing reviews. We didn't go because I think KB was still just a little young to appreciate it. If she had been even 6 months younger, we would have gone and stayed all day.

Loving the giraffe on the carousel at Sea Port Village

Another high point for us was Sea World. Since we went during November, it was incredibly slow. We didn't feel over crowded, which was awesome. We got to see some pretty cute penguins, and KB was entranced. The Shamu show was a lot of fun, but not quite as exciting as I think they used to be since the trainers no longer get in the water with the orcas.

OMGoodness!  PENGUINS!!

Big squeals for Shamu and friends

The coolest part of Sea World was that it was FREE. Yep, free. Sea World, Busch Gardens, and a few other places take part in the Heroes Salute program, which allows service members and 3 dependents to attend one of the parks for free once a year. For more information, go here : http://www.herosalute.com/

Since Jason and I are such foodies, we loved the restaurant scene in San Diego. We were excited about *real* Mexican food, which you just can't get in Hawaii. We ate at some other great places too, like the Broken Yolk Cafe, Nicky Rotten's, and this hole in the wall pizza joint called Gaslamp Pizza. All of it was great stuff!

Loving the Mexican!

We had an amazing time in San Diego. I was so happy to wear jackets and jeans and not sweat in November, but to still have a great view of some ocean. So, from here on out, San Diego will be duly considered for future duty stations.

I've been looking for a reason to write, and I can't seem to think of anything. I think that's probably because my brain is SO full of things, I don't know where to start. Mrs. Duh is doing the same over on her page, and I thought it sounded like fun. So here we go!




Day One - Ten Secrets

1.  I can't sleep with doors open.  At least I used to not be able to. Jason broke me of having to have the closet doors closed, but the bedroom door is still a problem.

2.  Speaking of sleeping, which happens at night...  when I go to the bathroom and then come back to bed, I have to resist the urge to jump the last foot to the bed. I'm still scared that something is going to grab me from under the bed.

3.  I like teen fiction novels far more than I like adult ones.

4.  I've had my favorite pair of sweat pants since I was 18. The holes make them more comfy!

5.  I can't watch scary movies, and if I watch something on tv about ghosts, I don't sleep well that night.

6.  I once went without shaving my legs for 2 months, at which point my Dad told me I was disgusting and made me go shave. Hey, it was winter time, and I was only 14.. nobody was touching my legs!

7.  I can't stand to see a chair rock with nobody in it, like when someone stands up and it keeps rocking. My aunt once told me that it would rock someone's life away, and I can't get that out of my head! I always make sure the chair is still after I stand up.

8.  I love the middle name I've chosen for Garret because it sounds so good all together, but every time I say it, I think of a boy I *hated* in high school.

9.  I didn't crave sweets in this pregnancy until after I got diagnosed with GD. Then again, this was around the same time as Halloween, so the huge bag of snack sized candy bars in my kitchen may have something to do with it.

10.  I'm obsessively checking the Pers42 website, Facebook and Twitter feeds to see if they have made any announcements regarding DH's slate. I'm ready to know!!

1. A word that always makes me laugh is doo-doo. I'm embarrassed just writing that, and I'm sorry for being crude. But every single time I hear that word, I think of one of my brothers saying it when he was about 6, and it makes me laugh so hard.

2. If you looked in my refrigerator right now, the oldest thing you'd find is a container of low-fat cream cheese that's been in there for probably 4 months. I was on a health kick before we left for the mainland, and before I found out I was pregnant. When we got back from visiting family, we got hardcore into giving KB high fat items, so that cream cheese just hasn't been touched since then. I also sort of fell off my healthy wagon.

3.  If I were written about in the newspaper today, on the front page, the headline would say "Pregnant woman finds out she has gestational diabetes and crawls into a hole for three days" --  Seriously, I just don't even feel like talking about it. I even had a blog all planned, but I figure I'll wait until I'm a little less bitter to write it.

4. The last movie I saw was 50/50. At least I tried to see 50/50.. Jason and I were both so tired that we only made it about 30 minutes in before we left.

5. The best thing that happened to me in the last few weeks was ----  finding out that we are having a baby boy!

I always feel like I'm 23 years old, but in reality I'm almost 27 years old. Where did the time go? At least the past 4 years - where did they go?  Sometimes things happen in my day (like, you know.. changing a diaper, cleaning up diced avocado, vacuuming for the 3rd time...) that make me seriously question how I got here so quickly.  I'm not exaggerating when I say it feels like just yesterday that I was blowing off class to go to happy hour.


I wish my family understood better when I tell them - And here, I've got nothin.  You name it, my family (both sides) is understanding about it. For instance: 
We won't be home for Christmas. 
I can't tell you when or where Jason's next port call is, or when he's coming home.  
We've decided to get pregnant again while KB is still under a year old.
Our next duty station might be across the country from you. (We're still pulling for Millington, don't worry!)
We're spending 5 days of our two weeks home in another state to go to a wedding.
We can't come home to visit because we have to move to Hawaii that week.
Seriously, we have been extremely blessed with families who just get it.


If you saw me when I'm all dressed up for a night out you'd think I was a total girly-girl, but if you saw me when I was 12, played soccer on a boy's team and had a terrible haircut to match, you'd think I was a total tomboy.


I feel like I'm in a totally different universe when (2 answers here:) 1. I meet women who don't have real opinions, who kowtow to their husbands' ideas whether they be good or bad, who haven't taken the time to educate themselves on real issues and current events.  Now, no one get offended - this hasn't happened to me in a long time. But when it has in the past, I was just floored at how submissive and ignorant some women are. I just don't understand! 
2. When I'm around people who don't care about college sports, for whatever reason.  WHAT?! What do you mean you "don't have a team"?? And did I hear you say you DON'T LIKE FOOTBALL??  Leave my sight, demon!  -  Seriously, it just doesn't make sense to me. My girliest of girl-friends all still love football, watch play for play just like their husbands/boyfriends/brothers, and will scream at a ref when he needs to be screamed at. Maybe it's just a Southern thing?


In honor of this being MFF #60..... 60 months ago, exactly 5 years ago (so on September 20, 2006), I lived in beautiful Oxford, Mississippi where I was a Senior at Ole Miss and my life was totally different because Uh. Remember the first paragraph you read? I was a Senior in college. I ditched class for happy hour at Parrish's... or just to nap.  I had this super easy job on campus where I could just sleep at my desk a lot of mornings. Exactly 5 years ago was the weekend before my 22nd birthday, and Jason drove down from Memphis to take me out. He was so, so sweet! He bought me the John Mayer Continuum CD and took me to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants on the Square. So that part is the same.. I have this awesome guy making plans for my birthday. (Which is Sunday!!)

Right now, our weather is a little rainy, but what I'd really like is 70ish, sunny, with the smell of burning wood in the air and leaves falling off trees.
I like to let my hair down and go to sleep. Because that's the only time my hair comes down. Unless you've ever had a hair-pulling toddler, you don't get to judge.
Mommy Rambles made a post about heroes... my hero is  my honey, because he takes his job so seriously, and does what he needs to do without (much) complaint. I do the complaining for him :).
It's a weird combination, but I swear  'Nilla Wafers  and peanut butter  are a perfect pair!
Some may see the glass half empty and others may see it half full, but I just see yet another glass that's been left sitting around my house somewhere, and I need to clean it. Again.

My plans for this weekend include attending a party with friends but what I’d really like to do is 
- sit in the Grove with a ton of drunken idiots. Holy moly, I miss Mississippi right now. I miss Oxford. I miss Ole Miss. I miss the smell of pine straw and magnolias. I miss making fun of idiot girls running around hotter-than-Hades Mississippi in Ugg boots.. with Nike shorts and extra large fraternity t-shirts. I miss Rebel football more than anyone could understand, unless said anyone has also moved away and been unable to get back for a single game in 2 seasons. It's heartbreaking.


I consider the Labor Day holiday
- a reason to hang out with friends and eat a ton of food. But isn't that the point of most holidays, at least to some extent?


My favorite meal for cookouts is grilled everything, but my ??? wouldn’t agree. - Sorry, but I don't know anyone who doesn't agree here.


So far, my favorite part of summer has been spending time with my little family. This is the first summer that Jason and I have been together more than we've been apart. I've loved every minute!


When it comes to deployments, my philosophy is "time flies when you're having fun."  - You HAVE TO keep busy! This is a little easier when your husband is part of a sea command, I think, at least in the Bubble Head community. We are a small, close-knit little group, so we take care of each other. We plan shopping trips, dinners, lunches, drinks on someone's patio.. anything to keep our minds off the fact that we haven't gotten so much as an email in weeks.