Day 12: All Hail the Mom Taxi

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

Dorry to hear about your chipped tooth.  Survived a full blown and active Saturday.  However, I think that I should get bonus points for getting everyone where they needed to be on time, and nobody got forgotten!  It was good to see you on Skype. Leftovers again for dinner.  Good luck guarding the guns tonight!

Miss you,

Love,

Me

Translation: has anybody seen my Clone?

I lost my clone.  I do not know where it has run away to, but I need to find it.  Three kids and one driver, makes for one slightly stressed Mom.  However, we DID get everyone where they needed to go.

8:40 Illusive Middle Child was dropped off at District Wrestling Tournament as a helper along with mini muffins we made the day before.  Illusive Middle Child is totally stoked to be the person who litterally throws in the towel (or hits the referee with it) in order to mark the end of the wrestling period.

9:00 Oldest Child to Boy Scouts for Christmas Tree pick up.

9:20 Bake cookies for Fabulous Spouse.

9:30 Do not lose temper at Girl Friday who dropped measuring cup into kitchen aide mixer and just watched it get beat up.

10:30 Pick up Oldest Child from Boy Scouts.

11:30 Leave to drop off Fabulous Spouse’s Care Package at Post Office

11:45 Pick up lunch for Wrestling Coaches Room and Illuseive Middle Child.

12:15 Lunch with Illusive Middle Child

13:00 Basketball for Girl Friday.  She has her first game next Saturday.  Lets just hope that the refs are generous, because travelling is a generous description for what is going on right now, and there is only 8 girls on the team.  However, she does like it...and she "scored one baskets" today at the  park following.  How many points do you think that is?

14:00 Drop Girl Friday home

14:15 Back to wrestling tournament (finished Incarceron)

16:40 Home

That actually does not sound so hectic on paper.  I guess that I am just a complainer.

Day 11: I saw a giant Wiener!

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

Volunteered today.  Did not save the world.  When I stopped at Freddy’s, the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile was out front.  Too bad that Hebrew National still tastes better!  We had a great Pizza and a Movie night.

Miss you!

Love,

Me

Translation: Wienermobile! Enough said.

I love to volunteer.  Sometimes I can help people, sometimes I can’t.  Today was one of those days.  Feeling tired from too many late nights (Fabulous Spouse, I need you to tell me it is time to go to bed before 2 AM!) and scoring a negative ghost rider, it made me smile to see the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile outside the grocery.  It was totally unexpected, and I could not help but smile. …I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner…

It was also Pizza and a Movie night tonight.  It was Girl Friday’s turn to pick.  Therefore, we watched “Monty Python and the Holy Griddle” (otherwise known as Monty Python and the Holy Grail).  For the first time in a long time, all three kids stayed through the whole movie, and it was a REAL family night.  For the first time this week, we just relaxed!

Day 10: Homemade with Love

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

Glad to finally get to speak with you!  Sorry that our conversations were so brief though.  Oldest child has realized the perils of no assigned homework over winter break.  Double homework in January!  Girl Friday won a ribbon at the powder puff derby.  She is so proud that it is "Homemade with Love".

We love you and miss you!

Love,

Me

Translation: Tears=Prizes or a Soap Opera lost its ingénue

There are some things in life where nature trumps nurture every time.  Girl Friday is definitely that force of nature.  As we have missed the first half of the year of Girl Scouts in favor of cheerleading, we only got our powder puff pinewood derby car 48 hours ago.  There are two things about the pinewood cars that I have always held fast, do it yourself, and no crying if you lose (because you DID do it yourself).

Girl Friday painted her cube of pine to look like a Van Gogh version of a Thin Mint Box, and she was very proud.  It did not win.  However, we thought that it might have a fighting chance in the creative category.  Not a chance.  Every girl was given a sticker for each category to pick a winner.  Girl Friday did not pick her own in the Daisy Category (because in her astute opinion, you should never vote for yourself) and was therefore the only one without a vote.

The tears started, as the pretty, sleek, shellacked cars kept garnering stickers, and hers did not.  Not a one.  It was OK to not win the race, but this was different.  This was an indightment of her creativity!

One of the other Daisies conned a Senior scout who still had all her stickers to put three of her four stickers on Girl Fridays paper…giving her 3 total votes (bless her).  The silent heaving and crocodile tears began to seize up.  Somebody loved her... art.  Not enough to win the Girls' Choice, but enough to not have nothing (Yes, I know that sentance looks like bad grammar.  It bothers me too.)

Then, the leaders made their choices.  Guess you got the Daisy Ribbon?

I am ready for my close up Mr. DeMille...

...and that is how Girl Friday won her first People's Choice Award. (Notice the still red eyes, but not a single tear).  Gotta love an actress.  Hopefully she will buy us a house when she gets famous.

Day 9: Back to School or Cat out of Hiding

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

The kids have finally headed back to school today! (Yeah!)   The cat was happy to have her house back.
  We had another 710: 710 visitors from the UK to my Scrapbooking blog.  Hope to catch you tomorrow, as Girl Friday has a Cookie Rally.  I will work harder to adapt to your new schedule.  After all, any communication is a cause for celebration. 

I Miss YOU!

Love,

Me

Translation: “Call Me!” –Blondie

Call me (call me) on the line
Call me, call me any, anytime
Call me (call me) my love
You can call me any day or night
Call me

Today’s Family Gram started out one way in my mind, and ended in another.  It was good to get everyone back into a routine… even if it means getting up early to do it!  As the resident non-morning person, 6AM definitely came early.  However, the little ones were more than ready to get up and go back.  Oldest Child on the other hand would have been okay with a 10AM start.  The cat has been snuggling all day, as if to say thank you for giving me my house back. 

It is good to have inside jokes.  Ours is 710.  When Fabulous Spouse arrived at his first seagoing command, it was hull number 710.  Someone said that we had better learn to love it, because you will not be able to escape 710 the rest of your life.  This was no Jedi mind trick, it is fact.  Things ship in 7 to 10 business days.  Macaroni and cheese boils for 7-10 minutes.  710s are everywhere.  I have a Scrapbooking blog, and today, I registered my 710^th new visitor from the United Kingdom.

Tomorrow, Girl Friday has her big cookie celebration to kick off the Girl Scout Cookie Season.  Just because we are not busy enough, they have decided to have the girls race pinewood derby cars…Seriously! Now if you have a boy… and I have two… pinewood derbies are a big deal.  Since we have been MIA at Daisy Scouts, we got ours yesterday… and it is due tomorrow.  Luckily, it is supposed to have a cookie theme, so it only took a little convincing to have her make a cookie box! (Yeah! No cutting or carving of the car!)

Finally, Communication.  I guess this is the part of the deployment where I have my first hiccup.  For starters, my “Mommy ESP” definitely does not work across three time zones.  When couples fail to make a communication plan, then there is bound to be miscommunication, and both parties will blame the other for the problem.  Make a communication plan.

In my circumstance, I was under the impression that Fabulous Spouse would “get off work” between 4 and 5PM, so that he could eat dinner and have free time.  And, that would be when he would be dying to call or Skype me to talk about his day, and all the cool, boring or awful things that he was doing.  Having never shared that opinion or expectation with him, it is no surprise, that eventually, we miss a call in favor of working out with his new friends.  Now, understand, I have strongly encouraged him to make friends and build bonds.  How could he be anything other than hurt I appear cross via text that he chose to hang with them.  I have been encouraging him to do just that.

Communications plan is the Key.  It prevents disappointed kids, dejected spouses, and hurt and frustrated service members. 

Also texting sucks (pardon my language).  There is no tone or inflection.  Things “sound” harsher…and probably less respectful then they should… and a sentence at a time it is easy to get out of sync or frustrated that your I keeps showing up as an o.  So make it easy and have a communication plan.

Day 8: Hails & Farewells

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

Last day of winter break!  Went to the base for lunch.  Daisy Scouts, Boy Scouts and Church Planning meeting this evening.  Do you remember where we put the clone?

Oh, and Girl Scout Cookies go on sale January 13^th.  The new lemon cookie tastes like a lemon bar and a box of animal crackers had a baby.  Is that a good thing?

Miss you!

Love,

Me

Translation: Everyone is LEAVING…get your friends to buy cookies.

Hails and Farewells are a part of every military life.  If your friends are in the military…or military spouses there will eventually be a move involved.  That does not make it any easier.  So we celebrate with food.  However, due to Facebook and other social devices, we are no longer ships passing in the night.  However, who will now be my Margarita buddy? *sigh* Alcohol does not travel well via laptop (as Fabulous Spouse and the now disturbed little red laptop know).

Also, it is almost that time again.  It is time for Girl Friday to sell obscene amounts of overpriced (yet totally yummy) cookies.  Wanna buy a box? 

Day 7: Clean Up

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

Hard to believe a week has already passed!

I guess that means that it is time to clean up and do laundry then!

I am glad that we finally figured out the Skype.  It was good to see you!

We miss you.

Love,

Me

Translation: Where is a Laundry Fairy when you need one?!

Well, it seems like both months and hours have passed since you left, but we have hit our first official milestone! Only 52 or so to go!

Seriously though.  I would give just about anything to be a cobbler with my own horde of brownies and a laundry fairy or two.  Oldest Child and I did watch Hoarders: Buried Alive though, and he assures me that we are nowhere near that threshold.

However, motivated by scary floor to ceiling clutter, we decided to get Christmas put away and the tree out the door before school got back in session.  The kids enjoyed taking the ornaments off almost as much as they enjoyed putting them on.  So, tree down, stockings down.  Just inside and outside lights and the nativity left to go!

We also had laundry to muddle through.  To be honest, a missing spouse, or household laundry fairy, was scarier back when the kids were younger and could not fold their own laundry. Luckily, Fabulous Spouse has done a good job training his junior fairies, so even that went by rather well.  I guess that leaves the kitchen…and the freezer in the garage (which I am currently ignoring).

I can do it.  I can. No, seriously. Stop laughing, Fabulous spouse.  I can attain clean. Maybe...

Day 6: New Year’s Day

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

Slept in today, finally.  Hope that you are doing well at your briefs today.  Hope the time zone change doesn’t leave you to tired.  Quiet day planned.  Movie marathon tonight.

I think that the leftovers are angry that we have to clean out the freezer and have started a breeding program.

We miss you.

Love,

Me

Translation: Sloth Day

Every once in a while, we all just need a day to do nothing.  Today was that day. No work.  No cleaning. Fend for yourself and attempt to make a dent in the leftovers.  Try not to move too much.  That is what we did today.

Also, I decided that we needed a little family time, and frankly, the Xbox was tired and needed a break.  So, we had the teriyaki meatballs that were intended as New Year’s Eve snacks for dinner, leftover cream puffs for snacks, and hunkered down for a “Once Upon a Time” marathon.  The kids loved figuring out who all the characters were and had a great time until I forced them to bed at 10 PM.

However, the consequence of Sloth Day is this… twice as much work tomorrow.  I think I need to find me a Laundry Fairy! ;)