24 posts tagged “qotd”

Show us your favorite person in uniform.

Getting so big!

If you could dream about anything tonight, what would it be?

I'd finish the dream I was having the other night where I was back in England. I had just bought a blueberry scone and was waiting for my pot of tea to arrive, I was sitting a cute little tea shop admiring the English scenery....and then Gromit kicked me in the face waking me up.

It was shaping up to being a nice comfy dream of England until then. So much so that, I made my first cup of hot tea in a really long time (can you blame me- I only have one pot and no coffee/tea mugs...so I had to buy those disposable cups for coffee before I could enjoy tea again!)

I offered some of the tea to Andrew and he said it reminded him of all the tea we drank on the train rides in England. PG Tips...so good (but not what I was drinking...I was drinking good 'ol Lipton tea which tastes about the same is and is so much cheaper than the imported English tea).

What's your favorite season and why?
Submitted by [Susan]

Fall...

Crisp cool weather, cloudy days, foggy mornings, seeing your breath in the air when you brave the outside, vivid orange, red and yellow leaves, crunching through the leaves when they've fallen to the ground, drinking hot tea to warm yourself up after being outside, the wind whistling at the windows, fuzzy slippers, long pajamas (or footed pajamas on Gavin), scarves, hats and getting the winter coats ready for wear, Halloween, Thanksgiving and all the decorating and eating that go along with two of my favorite holidays, fires in fireplaces (ironic since I have an unnatural fear of fire), fall arts festivals, caramel apples, carving pumpkins, planting mums and pansies, putting away the summer outside toys,  baking cookies, not sweating to death whenever you go outside, the return of prime time television (no more reruns!), back to school sales, the way it gets dark by 5:45, the way the light changes in the sky and how all of a sudden you realize just how blue the sky can be....Fall is definitely my favorite season.

In honor of the upcoming Olympics, what could you win a gold medal in?
Submitted by TheFiercestCalm.

Multi-tasking :)

I've become very proficient at doing 15 things at once since having my son. Most of the time it involves holding him on my hip and carrying several things, to or from the car, or holding his hand and balancing a million things.

I can cook dinner while he's taking a nap, while I'm running the dishwasher and the washer and dryer, listening to the news/radio, keeping dogs from destroying the house or each other, talking on the phone and worrying about a million things.

Or I can cook dinner while he's rummaging through his "safe" cabinet, trying to hear over the clang of banging pots and pans, tripping over Tupperware containers and wooden spoons, talking on the phone, stirring two different pots, running the aforementioned appliances and thinking about all the things that are left undone for the day, and beating the dogs off the stove when they try to sample my cooking.

I read five different books at once, I can watch multiple tv shows (when I have the time to sit down!), I flip between at least two!, I even brush my teeth while I shower some days. I'm good at blow drying my hair while keeping Gavin from attempting to flush things down the toilet, I can walk two dogs while pushing a stroller and talk to Elizabeth.

I've got this multi-tasking thing down....but it's so exhausting I wish I could just focus on one thing at a time some days!!

If you could take a class right now and learn anything in the world, what class would you take?

There's several things I'd like to learn how to do, so I might take German, for one.

My husband's family is German, and he really wants Gavin to know some German. (We bought Muzzy DVDs for Gavin- the big giant green monster that teaches languages to young children, he LOVES it!) But I can't learn much from those- not anything too useful anyways. I'm considering trying Rosetta Stone in German, our library has it where you can borrow it, so I could do that before committing $$.

I'd love to be a better crocheter (I hope that's a word), I started teaching myself, but there's just only so much I can teach myself without any real knowledge of crochet!! I gave up on my crocheted whippets...I'll be paying someone to make those for me!!

I loved all my history courses in college- so I guess I'd  take one on the history of the British Empire, that's always fascinated me (mostly since I'm a complete anglophile!). The only thing I hated about history was writing papers- same thing for English Lit. I despised writing papers! But I think I would've enjoyed creative writing or journalism.

I also would love to take a photography class. I'm teaching myself that also (not easy when my camera keeps being dysfunctional!!) but I'd love to learn more about the technical side of photography.

I have always loved reading and learning, I just don't have time for it like I used to. Now I'm just trying to pass that love on to my son. It makes me so happy when he brings me a book off the shelf to read, and he climbs in my lap to snuggle in for at least a couple of pages :)

What is the most annoying stereotype people say about the country or place where you're from?

Oh there's plenty, I was born in Alabama (but I'm an Air Force brat and then moved all around until my parent's returned to Alabama). (And yes, we're currently stationed in Mississippi- which is the state most say is the one state that makes Alabama look good.)

I guess people that aren't from the South assume we're all backwards uneducated red necks. That's not to say that there aren't red necks...oh, there are!!! But it annoys me for people to assume that everyone is before getting to know people around here. Not everyone is a country bumpkin with no brain or class. We have electricity and culture, its just maybe a bit different than you expect.

I think people assume everyone in the South are closed-minded about anyone different from themselves. In some cases, yes, that's true- like all stereotypes, occasionally its not just a stereotype, it's a sad fact. But most people you meet are open-minded and caring individuals, or if that's not true, at least if they care (about whatever you're different about (views/religion/race))  most people are too polite (i.e. Southern) to be insulting to your face.

Its the one thing I always miss about the South when I'm traveling- hospitality and kindness, everyone here is so easy-going and polite. Smiles and waves abound. It's hard to feel welcome in many Northern cities ;)
And I like the word "y'all" way too much to ever feel like I fit in up North!

What's making you smile today?

A little bit of nothing.

Seriously. I am not looking forward to dropping Andrew off at the airport in the morning. I suppose I'll comfort myself with some good old-fashioned blogging and picture uploading when I get back, since I've been too busy helping him pack (and round up enough socks and underwear to last him way longer than 2 weeks in the wilderness) to update the blog with pictures from the beach. 

I just need to suck this up and realize it's preparing me for when he's done with the next phase of training and he finally becomes deployable. This month is nothing compared to a deployment and even those are nothing compared to what other wives go through when their husbands are gone to the big sandbox. So I need to put it all in perspective and just deal with it one day at a time.

I'm sure Gav will keep me busy busy...he's got two speeds now. Fast and faster. Amazing that he could barely walk in a generally straight line last week and this week he's running in circles. The best part is when I pull him out of the bathtub and plunk a hooded towel on his little head. And he takes off running. Streaking down the hallway, with the towel flowing behind him like a superhero cape. It's a-dor-able!  You know I captured it on videotape (well not the naked part, I put a diaper on him for the video because I realized I didn't want to share his naked pictures online). No need to give him any more fuel than necessary to hate me when he's older, right?

So prepare yourselves for a full-fledged blog-a-thon when I get back from the airport tomorrow...I know you're all sitting there so excited...right?

What would you like to accomplish this week?

I would like to achieve some sort of peace with our new assignment and upcoming move. Every time I think I'm okay with it. I regress and throw myself a pity party for a few days. Since I doubt this is going to happen by Friday, let alone August even....I'll lower my expectations a bit.

SO, this week I would like to accomplish being packed by tomorrow night for our beach trip, I'd like to not spend an arm and a leg at the outlet malls, and I'd like to have a good time on the beach with Andrew's family. I also hope to not get stung by any evil jellyfish, and perhaps remember to put on sunscreen (or remind Andrew not to forget to put on sunscreen, since he came back from water survival fried!)

What are your first thoughts upon waking?
Submitted by Cher Cabula.

Today: "It can't possibly be time to get up", "Ugh, I don't want to go running", "Hmmm, Gav's still asleep, so I think I'm just going to lay here and....zzzzzzzz"

I love it when Andrew doesn't have to go in early, because he almost always (if he doesn't sleep in) goes and gets Gavin up for the morning. Gavin thinks it is so much cooler to start the day with his Daddy than with Mommy ("I mean she's always here right?!") But this morning, Andrew brought him into me and Gavin was just so snuggly. He laid next to me (well, mostly on top of my head) and just hugged me and ooohed and ahhed at me. It was the perfect start to a morning. Until I got sick again, I've got some kind of stomach bug or something...I don't feel so swell sometimes!
It hit with a vengeance last night, and again this morning. So it was a good excuse for no running.

But now I feel like a bum now that I feel better- and yes, my grass does need to be mowed. I have an excuse for that too- its hot. But more seriously- the grass is still too wet, so I'm waiting for Gavin's afternoon nap to do it.

I guess in the meantime, I can upload pictures from Gavin's second first birthday party ;) He's a pro at smushing cake now...just wait till you see what I mean!

What's on your "To-Do" list today? What are you most looking forward to and what are you most dreading?

*Picking up flowers from nursery (We get $25 in free flowers for being base residents, I guess Housing is trying to encourage us to make the neighborhoods look nicer.) I can't pass up free flowers, even though I'm running out of room.
This is definitely what I'm looking forward to most!

*Calling clinic to see if I can get Gavin weighed/measured to see if he's big enough to fit in his new carseat (it's convertible- and I know he can fit in it rear-facing, but I'm wanting to turn him around before too long, since it will make the rides much more tolerable!!!) I don't want to wait for his appt at the end of the month.

*Running/walking dogs (Probably what I'm dreading)

*Finding something to make for dinner (mostly for me- Andrew still has birthday dinner leftovers, and we still have plenty of chocolate cake to eat!!

*Vacuuming/cleaning up so we can have a clean house to come home to after tomorrow! (Gavin's 2nd First Birthday party at Andrew's parents).