Dear Darla Diaries

when did this happen

When we left the states for Germany they were fresh faced mouthy youngsters. Somehow they've morphed into teens in the past 12 months when I wasn't within arms reach of them. Thanks Twin! I thought you promised your boys would never grow up!

darn things kids say

Honey, your 12 year-old nephews status on FB totally said 'he's in a Relationship.' What is that! (Husband points to me skeptically.)
Babe, I met my future husband in 6th grade. You can't judge that boy.

#febphotoaday : happy

I just discovered this class I took in '02 hiding in my craft tool box! Oh Twin, I hate to break it to you but the cute one in the yellow fleece is nearly as big as you were in this photo!

if only it were so easy

Twin aka Alfalfa >> Me. Yesterday. 3:58 pm
    Dear twin. Your stupid aunt came to visit. She brought her friend Cramps with her. Ugh.

Me aka Darla >> Alfalfa. Yesterday. 4:00 pm
    My aunt is a whore and you should be so kind as to keep her on your third of the globe.

Alfalfa >> Me. Yesterday. 4:22 pm
    You wish.

 

Me >> Alfalfa. Today. 4:48 pm
    omg twin .. your aunt must be coming ... I'm feeling irrationally angry and hiding in my room - now that I'm home from work and the pile that miraculously made itself appear in my kitchen

Alfalfa >> Today. 4:49 pm
    I only have one bar on my twin. Will have to text you when I get home.

 

Me >> Buckwheat aka Baby Sister. Today. 05:21 pm
    lmao - you know I'm a girl when I came home from work. looked at a slightly rumpled house, distracted hubby doing nothing worng, awesome chick n dumplings MIL made and was instantly cranky. sometimes we need a Does Not Play Well With Others sign for no reason at all.

Buckwheat >> Me. Today. 05:23 pm
    : (

Me >> Buckwheat. Today. 05:25 pm
    it's probably the PMS signaling my aunts arrival in the next 24-73 hours /sigh

Buckwheat >> Me. Today. 05:26 pm
    Put out a no vacancy sign in your front window quick!

 

Oh look Honey, another Blue Light Special! And from the looks of things these babies are flying off the shelves!

Source: Holy Taco

 

this one's for my baby

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

'i'll scrape you up and reconstruct you'

My bestie, currently located in Japan, shared this beautiful tidbit on my FB. It is sooo true, and not only will it make you chuckle but you have to sing along. FRIEEENNNDDDS. bumbumbumbum.

 

a little sunlight amidst the fog

How do spouses handle deployment? It is a question often asked from civilians, nonmilitary and even other spouses. Well there are many steps, tics and habits we develop. For this post I will let you in on a little secret ... you ready for it? How about now? Ok: We stay busy! And we rely heavily on our friends to keep us in this state! Today was a phenomenal example of that.

The first part of the day was the satellite adjustment debacle. That marked the first set of friends I got too lean on: The neighbors. Nate, Louise, Krista, Kara and Ellie are part of my daily hijinks. Usually I bump into them in completely unplanned ways ... like when I see clouds of soap bubbles drifting over the back fence and I go out to investigate. It's like a faerie world ... dimples, giggles and skirts. Louise and I may banter over the fence or Nate may toss out a hail Hello! through the kitchen window when I get out of my car after a long day. Lovely people. They are a prime example of a loving, messy, God filled family. Just by being them is a blessing into itself.

The middle part of the day was filled with the MIL, Mark and Suse! For Suse's belated birthday we went to see HP7.2 and drug Mah (the MIL) out of her housesitting duties to do so. She may have not been feeling good when she was forced into the car but she was a popcorn stuffing, 3D glass wearing, happy fool throughout the afternoon. Mark and Suse were my first German friends and always give fun and exciting times. The translation lessons and easy banter are a great piece of the day. (Mark is also my main coworker and without him it can be a dreadful mess.)

interesting analogy

While digging through miscellaneous tidbits in my digital files this weekend I stumbled into an interesting tidbit I'm not excatly sure when I originally drafted it. It did ring an interesting chord with me and I wanted to share.

Life is like the local neighborhood football game. The teams constantly change from week to week. Some friends stay and some strangers flow in and out like the tide. You don't always like them, they don't always like you, but we all try and respect the game. Just like life, and it's unexpectedness, we sometimes are lucky enough for a curve ball to be thrown at us. This curve ball can come in the shape of spouses, kids and family. My struggle at the moment lies in the spouse.

Playing football with family can just be complicated. Sometimes it just seems like you are playing on the same team and sometimes it's opposing teams. There are days when one of us plays quarterback and the other the receiver or linebacker. Trying to support and bolster each other, of course. Then you click, and one second they're next to you and the next you are eye to eye with them through the bars of the helmet. Keeping in mind that this is backyard football, you remind yourself that you still love them, no matter what team they're on. You also have to remind yourself that it is in love that you want to smash them into the gridiron. That's the game right?

I had a moment this weekend when my football player seemed to turn in his jersey for a cheese head and a spot in the stands. I said, well two can play at this game, just think of me as an annoying cheerleader planted right in front of your seat asking you to do the wave and scream 'we will rock you' over, and over, and over and over again.

Don't you just love cheerleaders?

just ask the cat

There is a long and thorough blog post regarding a very in-depth 4-hour bruncheon I had regarding adoption (with Heidi a co-mil-spouse and successful adoptive parent this past weekend) stuck in my head. The words are swirling around and around playing a jolly game of duck-duck-goose. I want to spit them out in an a coherent 1-2-3 step post. From looking at adoption to bringing home the baby, including fees, timelines, clearances and filings. It just won't be drafted today.

I can't get ahold of my husband's voice and it could cause me to scream. I mentioned to him that Heidi and I had met in one of he-and-I's IM staccato communication that we are currently dealing with. Score for free US-style-text apps for iPhones. Boo for crappy 3G connections speeds on both ends of the world. Super Boo!!! for half assed broken iPhones. I mentioned that it's a good thing that Netflix was dirt cheap because adoption wasn't going to be. He had a very astonished two word phrase as a reply to the $40k price tag I quoted. Ironically for as startling as that price tag might be I am feeling at peace with the whole thing. I'm more at peace with that price tag then the thought of a house mortgage or for half of the big ticket items that we've purchased in our past, which aren't that many.

I just want to talk to him about it. Whining sniffle. For all the relaxed attitude that has happily woven itself into our temporarily boyless home ... which is much more appreciated than heavy stress ... there is still some anxiety. He gave a green light on adopting and all the strings and paperwork attached. I want to hear that he is willing to embrace the cost of a child and me seeking a loan or a realistic solution of financial means to cover the costs.

I just told the MIL that this is going to be a long 6-months. We are only about 16 days into it. Good thing I'm bringing home the new four-legged pet tomorrow. I will love him and hug him and call him pretty and obnoxious things. The countdown begins to a whole new series of superfluous posts!

my shout out to the s.cial netw.rk

this one's for heather who remarked the last post was the looooongest post ever! [but it was a really funny story heather!!]

:: it reads like a book :: the boy. twin and i. shandi. bridget. mom n aunt shortie. mom n dad. twin n boy. miss lyns. new kitty. SIL aarion n max. SIL n co. the MIL. angel. twin n butch. bridge's fam. grok n baby grok. buckwheat n sef. the original darla. alfalfa. buckwheat. FIL n joy. BIL chance n sam. bro Xtian. mark n suse. nest. mona n daniel. faith n co. jess n heather. chelse n drew. amors. cadence family.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

I am truly blessed to be surrounded via spirit, soul, skype, blog and in body (europe) by such a wonderful support system who will not only fill up every scrap of free time in the 6 months the boy is deployed (starting 7June) but will steal those few moments I don't have to spare. I love you all!

 

p.s. :: I apologize in advance because after posting this I realize I missed a few near and dear to my heart and as the clock is reading 00:06 and I really have to get a few hours of sleep it isn't fixable at this time. Moggie, Em!, Mags ... please understand.

p.p.s. :: i also apologize in advance for accidentally 'borrowing' some of your FB photos for this here post. ya'll are just so purdy!

p.p.p.s. :: purdy really is a word, so stop arguing. just ask 'urban dictionary' they are never wrong!