Dear Darla Diaries

this one's for my baby

and all you other people I love and can't see this holiday season :)

closest thing I get to a hug these days

Under the 30 day mark in the madness that is deployment. We both reached the 'Done' stage at the 5 month mark. Now it's all about cramming as much busyness in as possible to kill time.

Thanksgiving we will be helping host an all day block party with the neighbors. She's doing most the cooking and I'm providing extra table space and the TV for the Macy's parade and football games. Fair trade I think.

To all the rest of you: I'm thankful for YOU this year. Don't be a stranger and remember that someone does care, even if in their insane overscheduling habits they forget to tell you sometimes.

Kisses and hugs.
D

 

tear jerker for a sunday

I had to pick up the new Lt. Dan Band movie when I spotted it in the store yesterday. I hadn't seen it before, didn't have a clue what it covered but knowing what Gary Sinise does in support of the USO was cause enough for me. For those that don't know Gary Sinise and group of down home musicians got together and what started as a regular jam session evolved into a very committed support of the troops morale in the form of the Lt Dan Band. 

In the movie, which is a bit of a biography about the band and what it represents and their support, history in the military, Lt Dan Band and Gary Sinise, there is a very special song. Gina Gonzalez, one of the vocalists, wrote a piece that very strongly captures the essence of 'I Am a Soldier.'

 

Warning: This may make you cry.

inked: hooker style

Studio: Cute and Ugly. Trippstadt, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Website: CuteandUgly.de
Artist: Sarah Bauer
Victim: ME!

 

Rough Sketch

Stenciled on

Let the pain begin

Just a few pin pricks. bzzzzzzzzzz

I think I need to crochet Sarah something as a ThankYou! She is AWESOME. The husband better limit my fundage because I would sponsor that shop. Singelhandedly. I blame Uncle Sam.

Almost done. Only almost kicked her in the face, pure reflexes, once twice four times? I admit nothing. She kept giggling and my KindleAp wasn't quite distracting me.

Finally literally hooked.

these things generally happen to me

My Friday went off the rails a little and didn't quite ever recover. It's kind of funny when your friends and family guffaw a little because they know that not only is this the kind of thing that will happen you, but it does on a semi-frequent basis.

10:30a. Started the day a little later than normal, but nothing to write home about. Was a little disturbing to realize fall had set in fully and not only was it still 32F but the base too fog locked for incoming flights. Our patients had been deposited at a neighboring base and were being bused/ambulanced the 90 minutes to the hospital. The daily count was climbing, nearly double the recent fall numbers, but nothing I couldn't handle.

I am wearing my big girl panties and don't you forget it!

12:05p. Being the smart ass I am, I was showing off at my car while leaving the job. "Do you see this broke ass window?" I remarked to a coworker while rolling it up. "It likes to stay crooked and not close all the ..*groan/crumple/collapse." I stared in disbelief as it stopped mid-rise, fell into the door and the motor gave out. My coworker made a snickering comment about "that's what I get for showing off" and left me to my dilemma.

another boring night in the house

After returning home from a slightly scatterbrained shopping adventure with the MIL she noticed something missing. My absentminded tiredness had taken advantage of my pocket book again.

I left these loverly rockin' rubber boots at the store after purchase. And by at the store I mean under the shopping cart I parked in the rainy lot, along with two 12-packs of soda. After both calling the store and returning to it to check lost at buttdarkthirty also known as BedTime I found I'm without the stupid boots. Apparently someone needed them far worse then me. I was just coveting so I suppose I learned my lesson.

A few hours later I tried to knock myself out with our roof again. You think I would've learned my lesson last time. But no. Watered the cat, stood up and WHERETHEHELLDIDTHATCEILINGCOMEFROM? Hello Head. Hello Ceiling. Been well? Was better before you stuck your ginormous presence in my personal bubble. You don't say? I do say. Mind your manners. (Other than a slightly sore spot all is well.)

what the heck is this

It's amazing how 8 weeks can fill up in a hurry. We are on the downhill side of this deployment and lucky for me that time frame coincides with the holidays. I nearly had a panic attack when I sketched out what the last bits will look like and what I need to get done in both the personnel, health, home and holiday areas of my life.

I sure am an expert in staying busy.

I currently feel like I am also an expert in not blogging. My twin has taken off with flying colors. Her blog is chock full of those day-to-day earthquakes that happen when you a full time working mom of two exploding boys in the ages of 9 and 12. My dear Angel is also running crazy with her cup-a-cake business and all my newer mommy bloggers are either blogging their hearts out or mommying their brains out.

I feel just a little adrift. The MIL likes to jokingly refer to it as an early menopause. Listen lady, I tell her lovingly, just cause your medical conditions forced you into it early (i.e. same age as me) I (a) don't have any symptons that coincide with anything on ye olde internet (which we know NEVER steers us wrong) and (b) still want to pray for that baby miracle a LITTLE.LONGER. I'm only 32.

Maybe it's just the deployment. I'm working so hard to not focus on it, not whine about it, not look at the clock, not stalk the husband, not count the days and enjoy the fact that he's been fervently stalking and loving me in new and unusual ways that I'm just not seeing the daily blog fodder like I use too. This is life I suppose.

It'll come back to me internet and when it does I will smack the taste outta your mouth with it!

 

sick again, imtolditsjustaviralthingy

Monday. 03 Oct

Off to work as normal. The dwarfs and I. It's a German holiday so I am left without a coworker and my own devices. I meet-an-greet, do my shopping and end up home as the sun goes down. Nothing too out of the ordinary. Feels like a Monday.

 

Tues. 04 Oct

I have to bypass my excitement and anticipation of our weekly women's bible study group in lieu of hanging near my phone. (We're doing a very interesting study of the respect = love = respect dichotomy between husbands and wives.) I'm on the prowl for my event team that has flown in from the states for a party at the hospital I work at. I get the privilege of spending 8 hours on my normal day off driving them around the area shaking hands, introductions, tourist destinations, hotels and base passes with a flurry. (I call them mine because they were so cool. Ironically I was merely a tool in their master plan. They paid for it all. Brought it all and did it all. Mostly.)

Always available for morale boosting and nap support.

Wed. 05 Oct

The big party day. I woke up with a slight nudge in my throat and fully attributed it to my lack of sleep. When I'm a little backlogged my body can get very fouled but nothing a 12 hour nap doesn't cover. The event went off beautifully. Mark and I provided muscle, nudges, phone calls and delivery services for the day. The wounded warriors felt appreciated and the party throwers got their under-the-radar happy glow they were trying to provide. It was a marvelous success.

Warning flag. After the falderal I was getting remarkedly peaked by the minute. I had to sadly bow out of the evenings festivities so I could regain some energy in the form of my couch. At one point my sick brain was so clogged I forgot that the MIL was busily cooking lasagnas for the weekly Wednesday night couples study I attend. I thought it was just a cold.

05:45p. I handed the baked italian fare to my friend to deliver in my absence. I stumble onto the couch and wake up near 10p. The sore throat, throbbing head, fever, severe fatigue, piercing ear pain and vertigo feel like they are crushing me. I stumble to my room, up the endless stairs and crash until morning.

The MIL brightened my sick-couch view a bit.

Thursday night through Saturday morning pass in a blur. Sleep, drink, cough, lubricate, sleep, stumble downstairs, move to couch, doze through multiple seasons of NCIS, attempt a few bites of food, sleep some more, text the husband, nap, move to bed, sleep, grumble at the unrelenting head pressure and lack of useful drugs and repeat. I told him I would visit the ER after the 72 hour mark. No one likes a sick-faker. I'm a big kid. It's probably just a flu. Or a cold. Or the stupid HepA viral scare again. I hope to God not that.

Saturday afternoon, 08 Oct was a big day. I was able to sit upright on the couch without wanting to hurl. The headache had lessened a little and I was visiting the ER. My trusty Go.o.gle was thinking I was clogged up with Strep and possible Ear Infections. My vote was that the sinus drainage was causing near pain but not necessarily infection. I hate being right.

After roping a friend into driving me (I hadn't been able to stand without collapsing for nearly a week, I was most certainly not attempting driving) we headed out. 90 minutes in the waiting room because whatever I had didn't rank on the priority scale. I know how ER's work. It was the same hospital I spent 4-12 hours a working day at.

When finally ushered back to the lovely Maj Doc I wasn't that suprised. It was Viral they said. Not sure exactly how or why but their prescription sounded faintly familiar: Rest and Hydrate. (The doctor almost gave me a sick note for Monday until I assured her it was a federal holiday and was already slated off. She also agreed that we work in a very sick environment and it was ok to blame my work on The Bug.)

Go team. Husband, Twin, Buckwheat, parentals, MIL and local family friends were all of course pleased to hear I hadn't contracted something Dangerous and am on the mend. Husband actually said 'Of course it's a Viras!' being as how that seems to be my record in the last 2 years with medical professionals. (I get this one more time before he returns in 8 weeks and I will stay in that place until they give me a legit diagnosis or a super antibiotic that can return to me my former fairly impregnable immune system!)

Sunday I am pleased to report gave me 12 straight hours with only a minor headache and the rest of the earlier symptons. By 4p the brain crushing pain was back but I felt somewhat accomplished.

And I'm talking again. In the words of the MIL and Twin and Husband: You must be feeling better. I'm able to threaten my cat so I'm sure that's a good sign.

 

deployment tip of the month

Fix yo' shit:

I felt very accomplished last night ... I arm wrestled my toilet into submission. All three of our toilets had broken seats and after 3 months of landlord procrastination I took matters into my own hands. I went to store and purchased replacement parts, put on my fix-it hat and went to it. Who needs a deployed spouse, who can stand to pee? I have two strong arms and plethora of tools. After some sweating, swearing and cat interventions it was better than new. It's also blue. One down, two to go.

 

If at first you don't succeed call the repairman.

After numerous attempts at fixing our satellite and a forced two month sabbatical from the project, for our sanity, I've decided to contact a professional. The husband has been on me from the dessert, mind you he ISN'T here and we have sort of forgotten about it for the most part, but it's time to fix the TV. In Germany it isn't like the states. Our only fall back for entertainment is DVD rentals, library rentals and purchases. There is no other cable/local network options. I do miss the news channel. And my excuse list can go on.

 

When in doubt, cut them out.

The ever growing kitten is hitting puberty. I took him to the vet in hopes they'd neuter him early, since all of his body parts have fully emerged, but the techs looked at me in utter horror. At least 6 months! How dare you even ask!! How dare I ask? He rubs them on EVERYTHING. One day he's going to realize that I have girl smells and he's a boy and try to MARK HIS TERRITORY. I will be heartbroken if I have to eject him to outhouse status because you couldn't just snipsnip.

On the plus side he grew from 2lbs to nearly 8 in the last 2 months. He is as healthy as an ox and well on his way to the monstrous mark. I can't wait to see Shaun's face when he gets to see his bulk in person. Yes I did buy a kitten. This is what happens when you feed them kibble and water. No treats, he is all natural girth.

 

Busy is as busy does.

I was reading an old favorite blog when I saw they had closed shop. The reasoning was 'you can have a blog or a life.' I don't entirely agree with that statement but sometimes one does contradict the other. For instance if life is in a stasis mode you don't want to force blog fodder that doesn't exist. Likewise if you spend 80% of your daily time reading RSS, Twitter, FB and blog feeds you aren't living. It's just reaching a happy medium that I sometimes have difficulties. Us extremists only know how to live at one wall or the other. And for somet reason my friends get irritable when I tell them I can't be bothered right now, I'm leveling my level 65 night elf hunter! /fistshake /kickscomputertable

ink time again

You've heard it right boys and girls, the boy is deployed and it's time to get another tattoo! I, of course, couldn't be more eager. He, of course, is always more trepidicious. My original goal for the last forever years has been a forearm crochet tattoo. I can cross my eyes and practically feel the ball of yarn cradling a hook and nestling itself onto my left forearm. It's going to be teal blue and vibrant and lush.

Then the reality driven adult side of my brain kicked in. My other tattoos are fully visible, when I want them to be and 'professionally' covered up when I'm doing my military connected job. So 'professional' regardless of my desire to be a free bird in a muckymuck world. I. Want. A. Sleeve!. footstompkickkickwhine.

Instead of using the forearm I'm going to get it on the top of my left foot and I'm going to get a little more detail work on it. Not only will I incorporate a lovely hooking tat like HERE, HERE and HERE but I'm also going to work in my mother's maiden name and my maiden name (also known as my mother's married name/dad's last name.) Since I am a piece of my father and my mother and it was my grandmother's that gave me this addiction I thought it would be a nice touch.

I am super excited and at the suggestion of many friends am going to check out a local place called CuteandUgly! Her store is a cute and evil dark Alice and Wonderland vibe. If the chica that runs it is half as cool as her site depicts I may be a repeat offender. I have sent her an email querying an appointment time and will keep you all posted.

While looking up tattoo suggestion I fell into a new craft retro love. Isn't she brilliant? The photo links to the site.