time - is not on my side

annnd just like that it's June. How did that happen?

I've been a little bit cagey lately, mostly because I don't want to jinx anything, but Husband has received his official end date of Active Duty service, and we've been in Go Mode since we got the date.

We are in the process of purchasing a cute little condo back in Washington, and I've transitioned from the company I worked for in Raleigh to the company I'll be working for after we move. As of right now I work from home, which has its ups and downs. I really love not having a 65 mile (each way!) commute, getting to sleep in relatively late, and wearing my pajamas to work if I feel like it - although I try to get dressed in work clothes anyway, to keep myself in Work Mode. Conversely, I will be very excited to get to see and talk to my coworkers, to leave the house, and to pass a STARBUCKS on the way out of my neighborhood! The only Starbucks on my drive to Raleigh was two miles away from work. I look forward to getting caffeine in my system long before I'm expected to think or react to work surprises!

Husband meets with Transportation next week to formally schedule moving dates, which will be fantastic. We are beyond ready to get past the 'wait' of this hurry-up-and-wait decision!

priorities

Things I Could/Should Have Gotten Done Tonight:
- folded laundry
- sweep/mop downstairs
- make dinner
- knitting
- quilting of The Thing I Am Not Knitting For My Sister
- sewing a shirt
- replanting the sad Wandering Jew in my kitchen
- removed labels from more empty wine bottles so I have fresh bottles for the peach wine

Things I Have Done Tonight:
- watched baseball
- internet

I've clearly got my priorities in order. Anyone who is still out there patiently waiting for an update - there's a few big life updates to come, and a recap of Ireland (or, more likely, multiple recaps of Ireland, because I could spend a lifetime in that country and still not feel like I've seen everything). To tide you over:

(Cliffs of Moher)

 (Kylemore Abbey)

 (we thought it was a castle... that's someone's house)

 (long way down - at Slieve League)

 (cliffs near Dunluce Castle)

 (Giant's Causeway from across the inlet)

(Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge)

PS - Happy One Year blogging anniversary to me!

Old Friends, Old Homes

Over the weekend, we took a trip down to Columbia to see one of our close friends who is currently stationed OCONUS - Australia, the lucky duck - but happens to be back in the US for a training course. Sadly, he could not bring his wife and daughter back with him this trip, so we didn't get to see them, but they seem to be living it up and really enjoying their time at their new duty station! 

We had drinks and appetizers at Bourbon (creole pimiento shells and cheese? ehrmagherd.), walked The Vista, and took him to The Oak Table, one of our favorite restaurants. The menu changes every few weeks, so no matter how recently we last stopped in there's something new to try. I am trying to be better about my diet, since I've gained 20 lbs since we left Washington, so we didn't order dessert.... A decision I almost always regret. Then again, I probably would not have been able to choose between the Charred Apple Cornbread, Textures of Chestnut, Pumpkin "Tres Leches", or (the one item that is always on the menu and is absolute perfection) the Butterscotch Bread Pudding.

Hush-hush: skipping dessert last night has led me to throwing together a little something for tonight... It's paleo, so it's good for you, right? Right.

In a moment of pure indulgence, Husband allowed me to order breakfast in bed from the room service menu (recommended accommodations if you are ever in the area), so this morning I woke up to a platter of fruit, pastries, eggs, grapefruit juice, and that sweet nectar of life - coffee.

Now I'm just trying to round up everything we need for Ireland - making a list, checking it twice, holy carp I bought the wrong plug converters emergency ordering the right ones for two day delivery, you know. My usual PANICFLAILIAMSOUNPREPARED routine.

Oh, hello again.

Just checking in.
I'm very tired from end-of-month insanity at work (and trying to prepare for being out of the office for two weeks), and very crabby from having the oil changed in my car (WHY must they always move the seat, reset my trip meters, change my mirrors, and turn my lights off every time no matter where I go??), not fitting into my old clothes because my commute gives me no time to work out, and discovering an order I placed through Amazon was fulfilled incorrectly and now we may run out of cat food while we're on vacation.
Yes I'm overreacting, it's quarter past eight PM and I haven't had dinner, but I don't want to eat dinner because I'm fluffy 'round the middle and insert insane thought cycle here I just want the very capable, fit body I used to have and the time to maintain it.
Perhaps in the upcoming months I'll be more reliable about checking in - I come home and veg on the couch any way, may as well come up with a few stimulating thoughts....
I'll certainly come back soon and post pictures of IRELAND! And possibly thoughts relating to how we chose Ireland, where we plan(ned) on going, what we see(saw), tenses depending on when I come back to the blogosphere.
Salad for dinner. Hold the grumpiness.

checking in

How on Earth do bloggers keep up with this nonsense? Sheesh. Life. Getting in the way and all that.

Just checking in to say I'm alive. Perhaps at some point I'll get used to my commute and will have time to keep a record of the lack of excitement around here. In the meantime, I'm going to finish knitting this gosh-blessed sweater....

stop the world, it's time to get off

have you ever been on a merry-go-round, having the time of your life,

when all of a sudden - 

you need to get off the ride, right this second?

immediately.

NOW.

well, Husband dropped the minor bombshell that he might be getting tired of playing soldier

and he wants to see what life is like on The Outside. 

the process to separate takes nine months to one year, but you don't know Husband.

Husband wants out TOMORROW.

so, obviously, I've been freaking out just a wee bit.

he's researching Masters programs, 

going to job fairs to see what the market looks like,

researching the areas we'd potentially like to move to
(it's actually quite exciting to think we could choose our location)

and making a timeline,

but (having done it three times, twice this year alone)

we know starting over is never fun,

and this time it will be without the income and benefits we are used to.

did I mention I've been freaking out a bit?

Husband always seems to land on his feet, so let's hope his lucky rabbit foot didn't hop away.

For Better or For Worse

I've been having a Criminal Minds marathon this weekend while knitting baby gifts for friends. I quite like crime dramas, and both Husband and I enjoy watching the BAU work through what makes these criminals tick. Plus the characters themselves are so well-written and interesting!

One of the pivotal characters is Aaron Hotch, the leader of the group. He is my favorite out of all of them, most likely because he reminds me of Husband: stoic, serious, ridiculously intelligent... and damn handsome. Part of the story of his character involves his relationship with his wife, Hayley. I won't give away the resolution to the issue, but the writers spend a lot of time focusing on how much Hayley resents Hotch and his work at the BAU because it takes his time away from his family... and that infuriates me.

She constantly asks him to choose between work and his family. I'm entirely aware of the difficulties she endures and the frustration she must feel, however - she married him knowing full well the scope and unpredictability of his job in the BAU. She has to be aware not only that he is passionate about the work he does, and he is very good at, and it's a very important job that stops people from killing other people. SERIOUSLY, WOMAN? How on earth can you ask that of someone you allegedly love? How can you ask them to give up a part of themselves, something that makes them who they are? What gives you the right to dictate his life? You're his wife, yes, and you certainly ought to have a vote, but how can you ask your husband to stop being who he is? Don't you realize that forcing him to give up something he so obviously cares about and is adept at will lead him to resent you and be miserable in whatever job he takes next?

Maybe I'm crazy, or is this just a side effect of being a military spouse? Have I given up any hope of control of my life or my husband's schedule?

Mt Rogers, Virginia

Good friends of ours invited us to go camping over Labor Day weekend -

they're some of our favorite people,

and we've loved watching their children grow over the last five years. 

It's so fun to think of how different the kids were when we first met them: 

Their oldest was only six weeks old!!

While we were there,

Husband and I took a quick hike along a few miles of the Appalachian Trail to see the summit of Mt Rogers, the highest peak in Virginia.

The hike started off with beautiful views!

Wild ponies at Massey Gap.

Picking up the Appalachian Trail!

You can see the white blazes that mark the trail,

all 2,000 miles (give-or-take).

There were so many beautiful vistas,

and climbing up a few extra feet earned one an even better vantage point.

About 75% of my hikes with my husband have this view.

He turns around to check on me every half mile or so,

more frequently if we are headed uphill and he knows I'm going to have trouble breathing.

Made it!

The view from the summit may not be the most spectacular mountain top I've ever seen,

but it's nice to block-check a state's high point.

If you're keeping track, that's two high points for my husband - Mt Raininer and Mt Rogers - and one for me.

Still - I've summited three mountains now, which is a nice starting point.

Hey!

I ran a mile tonight!

First mile in two months... At this rate, I'm on track to have run twenty five miles by the end of the year.

: /

Small potatoes after logging 500 miles, a 10k, a half marathon, and a full marathon last year.

I need to get back to that.

Shark Week! (ooh-ha-ha!)

Shark Week has been one of my favorite television features for years, but since we don't have cable I don't get to watch it in real time.

Let's be honest, until they find a Megalodon, Shark Week is fairly predictable.

So these days, in order to get my fix, I'm binge-watching Shark Week episodes on Netflix -

in between watching all of Robin Williams' movies.

What a heartbreaking bit of news that was! 

I've always loved Robin Williams as an actor and as comedian.

He brought such life and vibrancy to each character he played, 

his movies made me laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time,

and he always seemed so genuine and human in his interviews.

I'm since quite close to people who have battled various addictions over time -

hearing the news of his death and how it occurred scared me.

It could have been someone I know.

Internal demons are terrifying, and sometimes we don't know how to overcome them.

I hope anyone and everyone I know who is having trouble battling their demons asks for help.

Robin Williams will be dearly, dearly missed,

and so would you if you were to disappear from my life.

-

It's been a week since my birthday.

This year doesn't feel much different from last year, aside from all of the ridiculously epic life changes that have gone on since then.

My first paycheck from my new job came in yesterday

so I went shopping : )

I've regained more weight than I care to admit since this time last year, which I suppose is only a natural side effect of going from running +30 miles per week to running zero miles per week. 

Most of it actually seems to be in the bust, I've only gone up a half size in pants (just enough to put me up a size when I go shopping now), but I'm up three cup sizes in my bras and I need(ed) more shirts that fit! 

It seems like all of my favorite stores are having very good additional discounts off sale items, and I've shopped at new-to-me stores for the first time lately, which brought in a grand total of seven new shirts for under $100. Woohoo!

Now I just need to get my butt out of bed when my alarm goes off at 0525 and get running again!

blogging? what?

no idea how so many people can work full time and blog simultaneously -

then again, maybe not everyone has a +60 minute commute?

i'm still getting used to work

the drive

the job itself

how different it is from Washington

I also seem to have developed a summer cold,

or my body is just being pissy as it adjusts to 0530 wake-up calls

and, since August 7 has passed,

I'm now a year older

wiser?

closer to being able to be a curmudgeonly cat lady.

It doesn't feel much different yet. 

work!

I am SO GLAD to be working again : )

The 75-ish minute commute isn't too bad; I've been listening to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring for the last week. Twelve hours in and guess what? They just got through the Doors of Durin and have entered the Mines of Moria. TWELVE HOURS of audiobook - two hours of movie. I suppose after I complete LOTR in full I'll have to go back and listen to The Hobbit.

I like my job, too, which is icing on the cake. 

: )

And I think I may be impressing my superiors by learning quickly, responding quickly, and not getting quite as flustered as my counterpart when being barraged with eight emails at a time about the same issue. (Don't get me wrong, I'm getting flustered, but I have mastered the Honey Badgerly art of making faces at my computer while I get work done.)

only the lonely

being an Army wife is very lonely sometimes.

we've moved twice since December - it's been almost eight months since I've had a friend in the same physical location.

aside from the moving,

most Army wives don't work, especially not full-time.

they have time for spouses' clubs

FRG meetings

hey, let's get together for lunch or work out together some time
it hurts to see all the other wives of the unit getting to hang out together,
without getting so much as a text message invitation.

and now almost all of my friends are pregnant or parents,

which seems to isolate me even further - 

let's get together for a play date

I met her in the OB/GYN clinic, we were due the same month

sorry we haven't been in touch, life with kids is so busy

at least I start work again tomorrow.

where is my mind?

... certainly not on blogging right now.
then again, if one has nothing to say, why say anything?

the last week(s) have been full of me doing pretty much nothing - settling everything in to the house, hanging pictures (finally), getting used to my new car, and impatiently waiting to start my new job on MONDAY!

today I did a trial run of my commute at the time I would be heading to work. this means that your favorite late riser had to drag herself out of bed at 0645 - which is still not that early, but when one is used to 0900 wake up calls, even the enthusiasm of a new job is not enough motivation to pop out of bed like a toaster pastry.
the drive was easy, but long (66.3 miles each way! I could take ten miles off that by going a different route, but it wouldn't have any affect on the commute time-wise); having a book on tape made the drive go by quickly enough. I am a bit anxious about becoming disenchanted with the drive, but at the same time, anything I would be likely to find in Fayetteville would take almost as long to get there due to traffic and lights. for example, tomorrow I have to go in to the dealer and pick up my North Carolina license plate (BOOO! HISSS!! Bring back the Washington plates!). the dealer is only 20 miles away, but it is going to take me at least 45 minutes to get down there, and it's still closer than a lot of businesses I initially applied at.

anyway. it's still weird to not be driving my Jeep any more. I'm surprised at how emotional I've been over the situation, because I've wanted a new car for months now. I miss having a 6 cylinder engine - I've had to readjust my expectations of how quickly the car accelerates and when the distance between oncoming vehicles is too short for me to pull out into traffic. I miss being up high, and having the ability to get out of blocked parking spots by going over the curb in front of me without worrying about damaging the trim. since I wanted something under $12,000 that we could get paid off in four years, even without my future income, I didn't hold out for any of the bells and whistles that I was hoping for besides a sunroof. it has been very nice to have my iPod again, though. and, without a doubt, the gas mileage is exceptional. ... but I still miss my Jeep. I hope I'll start to like my car soon.

and that's the news from Lake Wobegon. 

settling in

Whew! We seem to be pretty much moved in. At least, as much as we can be without a dining table and down one dresser.

Want to see pictures?
: )

Hello, house. Hello, new car.

The porch could use a bit of work - I am looking for a patio set I like.

This is the living room as of this moment.

I took a poll on Facebook and Instagram about the furniture arrangement - as much as I love the chair in the corner, having the sofa where it is really cuts off the kitchen and dining area. I think I am going to rearrange back to the original arrangement (sofa against the wall, floating the chair) before our dinner company arrives tonight. 

Another teensy kitchen, another repurposing of existing furniture. These bookshelves are supposed to go on either side of the entertainment center; however, since we have the TV above the fireplace, there is nowhere for them to go. I needed a bar area and to expand my pantry storage, so I threw this together. I want to paint the tension rods black, and probably need to hem those curtains, but I quite like this arrangement. 

I put this basket on the stairs as a collecting spot for items we need to bring up with us.

So far, it has only contained cat.

I can only show you one room upstairs - the master bedroom. 

 I love the color on the wall!

Due to my lack of a second dresser, my bathroom is a wreck; my craft room is pretty much always a wreck and I've got a lot of fabric out for cutting a quilt kit; and I didn't get Greg's permission to take any pictures in Bear Country, but we've got a workout room with a treadmill, weight bench, and all of the free weights, and there's a spare room above the garage that is spacious enough for the sofa AND reclining chair we had in the Columbia apartment.

Come visit in a few months and you can have pear wine!

mission: accomplished!

Yahoo!

We are (pretty much) all moved in!

As with all military moves, there were a few hiccups:

broken dresser

cracked dining room table legs

TV must have fallen off the truck
manufacturing issue with the chair and ottoman I initially chose
no news on the job yet : (

and, of course, I can't figure out where I want my pictures, not to mention that we need to print out new pictures and update some of our frames.

I'm debating whether a few windows need drapery, and a few existing panels need to be hemmed.

There's a chair that desperately needs the assistance of this tutorial - which I will be attending to first thing in the morning.

Once I get all of those ducks lined up I'll post pictures : )

Countdown Clock

Tomorrow - second in-person interview, third interview total. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF PEEEEEEEEETE, please.

Tuesday - KEYS! HOUSE!

Wednesday - STUFF DELIVERED!!

Thursday's pretty quiet, so depending on the new after tomorrow's interview, there will either be an entire day devoted to unpacking or I'll need to go car searching. (First World Problem: But I don't want to drive a caaaaaaar, I like my Jeep! But if I'm going to be driving 50 miles each direction... I'm going to need something that gets better than "up to" 22 mpg.) I've got it narrowed down to the Chevy Cruze (which my little sister drives! but I'm not super excited about the airbag thing), the VW Jetta, or the Toyota Camry.

Friday - FAVORITEST HOLIDAY EVER, 4th of July!! 38 Special and Josh Turner are going to be playing at the Ft Bragg festival, I hope we get a chance to check that out. Josh Turner's voice gives me chills in the best way!

Saturday - my new chair and ottoman will be delivered!

And it will all be downhill from there.

fun over

Ok, now this PCS is getting to me.

I want a call about my interviews.

I want a job.

A hard one, that challenges me to learn new things and improve every day.

 

I want to get out of this basement.

I want my real bed.

I want to find where the damn hole is in this air mattress.

I want my treadmill.

I want my routine.

I want to run until I feel like me again.

one week down, one to go

it's been a quiet week in the basement suite, with the exception of the new hole in our new air mattress (thanks, Radar). obviously the patch kit included was top-of-the-line magic tape, which lasted all of four seconds, and more aggressive approaches (duct tape and super glue, duct tape and 9001 glue) have helped, but there's still a slow leak that leaves us in a semi-hammock by morning. we never end up fully on the ground, which is good, but I get the feeling Husband will soon leave for greener pastures in the form of a guest bed upstairs.

I think my interviews went better than I imagined - at the very least, I'm confident that I come off well in an interview.

1. - I received a secondary, formal application for the first interview.

I'm a little nervous about my chances for this position, since it is something I have no exact experience with, but I hope I accurately conveyed that I can be taught and am willing to learn. I should know by the end of next week about this one.

2. - I left the second interview with an offer, which was lovely, but at the same time... It's retail again, not a career-based endeavor, and while the hours are full time, the pay is more closely aligned with part time retail.

3. - This position sounds quite similar to what I was doing previously, so at least I won't be out of my element. I hope. The regional recruiter I spoke to said that my qualifications were good, and that she would be passing my information to the local office, so I will either get a phone call for an in-person interview early next week or... Or not, I suppose. 

Other than that, just one more week until we get our new house and our stuff back.

the fun has arrived

well.

here we are at Ft Bragg/Fayetteville, North Carolina.

...

There isn't too much to report at the moment: after a nice week in Kentucky with family, the move went relatively smoothly. The movers only took one day to pack and one day to load, so we found ourselves with an air mattress, two suitcases, and a clean apartment late Tuesday night. We spent our last few meals at restaurants we had not managed to stop into yet - if you're ever in downtown Columbia, SC, please do yourself a favor and stop in to Bourbon on Main Street. Order anything with the Cajun pimento cheese (which I will be attempting to recreate at the soonest possible interval) and try not to let your head explode at the four page bourbon menu - and enjoyed walking around what will likely be the only time in our lives we get to live in a downtown atmosphere. I can hold out hope that some company in Chicago will offer Husband oodles of money, but it's a pipe dream. We then stuffed suitcases and felines into vehicles and made the delightfully quick drive north, arriving just in time to head out to dinner with Aunt N. 

Aunt N and Uncle J are also stationed at Ft Bragg, and he is currently deployed. Aunt N has graciously allowed us to stay with her for the next two weeks until our new home is ready, so we have a suite in the basement to share with the cats. It's actually a pretty sweet set up - the air mattress I bought is about 18" off the ground, so we aren't afraid of leaking air and waking up with butts on the floor like we were with the last one. We have a full bathroom and a spare area to put the cats' accoutrements in, and we remembered to set aside the XBOX and smaller TV that Husband used in his room at Ft Lewis, so we have a few terabytes worth of movies and TV shows to watch (a bonus of deployments - people rip books, movies, and TV shows to external hard drives to take with them overseas, which get passed around until one either runs out of space on their hard drive or ends up with enough entertainment to get through an apocalypse...) I also downloaded twelve new books on to my Kindle from said hard drive, so we're not hurting for stuff to do if we decide to take a little time to ourselves. Oh, and of course I brought yarn. We're a little bit frustrated about having to learn a whole new installation and surrounding area, and of course we miss our friends and work networks (interchangeable phrases for the most part) a ton already.

Husband is going to begin inprocessing on Monday, and we're going to spend the next two weeks getting familiar with Fayetteville, Ft Bragg, and trying to wrap our heads around what we will be calling home for the next few years. Bonus round: I'm feeling like a badass because I have not one, not two, but THREE job interviews next week! Mom's sending good job vibes to me from Chicago, but I'm feeling rather pleased to just have interviews - THREE TIMES AS MANY AS THE LAST TIME I WAS SERIOUSLY JOB HUNTING!! OH - and Husband let me go shopping today, and I found some super cute skirts, a dress, and a lace top at Loft for less than the original price of the lace top. 

Basically, winning.