Earthquakes & Tsunamis

Right now, along with the entire global community, I sit and pray for those who suffering in Japan from this historic natural disaster.  After an early check-in, I know our relatives and friends who are stationed in Japan are safe.  Thank God.

Through these disasters, I am naturally inclined to think of our military families.  I've already heard reports of ships being sent out to sea to prevent damage to them along the coastline in CA and subs being torn away from their mooring lines in Guam.  When natural disasters strike or are threatened to strike, Navy vessels often have to leave port to prevent damage to the ports or vessels.  But, while the men & women aboard these ships are getting them secured, their spouses are left behind with the job of making sure that their families are secure.  There is always the risk of families being separated during natural disasters, but with our military families, this separation is also a necessary evil to maintain the safety of our country's biggest investments (thereby the safety of our country).  I think being quasi-landlocked at this point in our military fam lives that sometimes I forget those times of being a single married spouse/parent and take them for granted.  Nothing like being home alone when there's been an attempted child abduction and the perps have taken a good look @ you AND your kids or being pregos & about to give birth while the city is about to be evacuated during a hurricane and your hubby is stuck in a steel tube out at sea or having someone try to break into your house while said hubby is out to sea AND while YOU are at home alone with your children (only to have the local nimcompoop sheriff tell you that it must have been a racoon bumping into your door...yeah, a giant 160+ lb. raccoon who knows there's a woman and small children home alone)....or the Noreaster that wreaks havoc and shuts down 7 cities but your husband can't leave the submarine that's drydocked because they are responsible for her safety...all the while the entire area is flooding around him and wondering if the sub will just drop him off at our doorstep since cars are being trapped in floods left and right.  But the thing is, you can never freak out about being separated during these times because ultimately, you are responsible for the health & welfare...and SANITY of yourself and any little human beings (and fur babies) you may have.  Start adopting a bad attitude and/or stress about it and your kids are sure to follow suit.

Now, I sit and wait to see if there will be any damage to HI.  Our friends, friends by way of the military turned family through love & time, are waiting to see what fallout from Japan's earthquake & tsunami will bring to them.  Please send your prayers/thoughts out to them.  Our brother Al escorted Jaimee and the kids to higher elevation, only to have to return back down to Pearl Harbor to man a communication center.  To be separated from your spouse and/or family during such an uncertain time is unfathomable but necessary when you are a military family.  Jaimee has encountered attempted break-ins (WHILE SHE WAS HOME ALONE WITH TWO TODDLERS...and we won't go into the joke of a 911 call that she had to place only to have them tell her that she would need to hang up and call base police...ALL WHILE THE DUDE WAS STILL TRYING TO BREAK IN), flooding, a 10-month long 6-month deployment, and other such dramas that you think would only happen on a t.v. show.  Still, this family faces everything with such grace and gratitude for the blessings in their lives...they are a constant inspiration to us...as people, parents, and partners.  They truly epitomize the saying "when life gives you lemons...make lemonade" as I have rarely heard a complaint come from these two with whatever hardship they may face.  Their three beautiful children have always reflected their parents' beautiful souls and strength...always being THE models for our children.

Praying for your safety!

Hail & Farewell...finally.

It's been a week and a half since Sean finally got relieved and had his official hail & farewell...this ending our his department head tour and giving him a brief respite before moving into his post-department head/shore tour.  For those non-mil readers...let's start at the beginning...

My awesome partner was the Weapons Officer (WEPS) on the USS Tennessee.  That's a submarine and more specifically, a ballistic missile sub.  To be relieved simply means that the PWEPS (prospective weapons officer) finally took charge and became the WEPS leaving Sean to go on to his next duty station.

The Hail & Farewell (H&F) is a military tradition that is pretty self-explanatory.  It's a celebration to welcome incoming and thank/say goodbye to outgoing individuals of a group...in this case, the wardroom's (aka officers) H&F was to hail the new WEPS & CHOP (supply officer) and say goodbye to the Hubs & old CHOP.

Turning Over...

Yesterday started day #1 of the hubs turning over with the PWEPS.

I can't believe how fast these 3+ years have flown by.

We're in the homestretch...and I'm a little sad.  It's weird having been the "senior" wife in the wardroom during this past year in the shipyards with the CO geo-bacheloring and the XO is a newlywed.  We have a great wardroom and I've grown the absolutely adore all of the spouses.  From the rockstar newbie wives who don't even know how much MORE of a rockstar they'll be when their hubbies' tours are over to the more "seasoned" JO wives who have experienced so much as single married spouses/parents/women.  My fellow department head wives have all been pretty stellar and our XO's new wife...couldn't love her more.

I've felt blessed with this boomer tour.  The fast attack tour was rough and the schedule hellish at times...making this boomer tour (for me) feel like shore tour with a few underways sprinkled here and there.  Still, I know the crazy fast attack schedule made me thankful that even though he was gone for 90% of the time, he still was home for that 10%...unlike other branches of service where a 6-month deployment is only the HALF-WAY mark for others.

Still...as hardworking as our spouses are...I think plenty of kudos lie within the ones at home (those working outside and inside the home).  There's definitely a special type of personality that a military spouse needs to possess.  From the seasoned higher-up wife like Liza whose grace, wisdom, and strength has probably given her hubby an awesome piece of mind to know that his family has been more than well-taken care of during his various underways/deployments/patrols/geo-bacheloring to the nearing-the-end-of-the-tour-and-career-JO wife Melissa whose life as a mommy of 3 under 3 (two of them being the uber-adorable twin GallaGIRLS joining their uber-adorable big brother Jack) and hilarious exploits that would drive an ordinary person insane make her even more thankful for everything she has...definitely a woman who would've made an awesome DH/XO/CO wife!!

We'll be staying put...which is the main thing we wanted.  Giving our kids some piece of normalcy in this type of lifestyle is something we try to get when we can.  Although it would've been nice to be back home in DC...for once, we didn't want to go.  Let me clarify...I didn't want to go since with two mortgages (one being in the wonderful FLORIDA housing market)...buying a home in DC was not the best option.  We'll be home one day...but for now, I'll enjoy the constant uprooting to new places (although most of our time has been in VA so far...and by choice...hahahaha...nice to be close to home) and enjoying the culture of each different area in our lovely little country.

Hail & Farewell next week...can't wait and yet I can...

I hate you...

Cusinart coffee maker.

Seriously....3 times to make a damn pot of coffee.

Try #1) Coffee grinds come spewing out from the built-in grinder past the basket (that popped out unbeknownst to me) and into nowhere land behind the carafe and on top.  Of course...this has nothing to do with human error.  Really.

Try #2) Save all the ground coffee that escaped and put in basket.  Turn "grind" function off and start up coffee maker again.  Come down after 1/2 the coffee has "brewed" to find that said coffee is running down the countertops onto the dog food (containers luckily and not opened down food) and floor below...mingling with the coffee grounds I neglected to pick up.  Hold in expletives since children eating breakfast...incl. one child home sick from school.  Clean up HOT coffee mess and again curse the coffee maker since again, it has nothing to do with human error.

Try #3) Grind function off.  Hot coffee grounds dumped.  Carafe washed out of coffee & coffee grounds.  Grab other coffee grinder and grind another batch of beans.  Turn on pot and pray for a miracle..since again, it has nothing to do with human error.

Houston...we have lift off.

I have coffee and it's another brilliant start to Daddy Duty Day.  Seriously...only on single married mom days does everything go straight in the crapper.  But still...it's definitely laughable and keeps us in check to not sweat the small stuff.

Less than two weeks to go and I'll soon forgot how duty days & deployment/underway/patrol days felt...for a little bit at least.

Shhhhhhhh...be verwy, verwy quiet...

Although I wasn't hunting "wabbits"...I was "hunting" my lovable knucklehead Jax aka The Big Puppy.  Sean had duty last night and I was prepping the kiddies for bed.  When I was leaving the kids' bathroom I hear Jax scratching wildly at something on the ceramic floor downstairs.

I peek downstairs and he just looks at me in mid-scratch with his goofy look.  I go back up and hear him scratching again.  So...being the being the brainiac I am and wanting to outsmart my German Shepherd...I sneak downstairs.

Except...

It's kinda hard to "sneak" downstairs when your ensocked (yes, I did just make that word up) feet SLIP on the stairs...making your "sneaking" turn rapidly into barreling down the stairs and landing solidly on a newly formed gluteal area.  I am truly thankful that I decided to try to do something about these atrophied muscles and began working out a couple of weeks ago...and thanks to the hundreds of squats & lunges...my booty was ample cushion for the fall.  Pre-workout booty would've surely resulted in a broken coccyx or spinal injury...but I felt my bad boy absorb most of the shock.  Hahahaha.

Yes...I was solidly living up to the single married military spouse curse...all things go wrong when your spouse is gone (for instances that have occurred since I started blogging and independent of all the other instances that occurred before I started blogging see: here, here, here, here, here, this happened a few months before we got married, here, & here).  Still, besides the attempted abduction & almost missing the birth of my niece...it's paltry compared to what a lot of other spouses go through...alone.  

So...no complaints here.  Just something to laugh about.

Have a fab weekend and to those in DC...have a safe & WARM weekend!

Breeeeeeathe

I somehow turn off my alarm this morning and neglect to set a backup...thereby waking up at 7:23am...23 minutes later than the absolute latest I should be waking up...esp. today of all days!! Luckily, K-bear was already reading in her room...so I didn't have to spend 10 minutes getting her cute little booty up. After picking out outfits, I then go down and have to figure out breakfast...and really quick nutritious breakfast!!!

Plus, this is the morning I have to make cookies and prepare a meal for the JO's fam that is moving to VT tomorrow...and I'm so anal about my cooking.

Kaia's now on the schoolbus & cookies are in the oven....time to start on lunch.

Steaks are marinated, cookies are DONE. Grill is started and I finally let the dogs out. Dogs are in and wiped down of mud. Grill is OFF...yes, OFF. Either it is no longer working or the propane is out. I dunno...now I have 4 steaks I have to pan-fry...yuck and booooooooooooo. This is bordering on being a terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad day....but it's so petty compared to what others are experiencing...like real problems. Anyway...back to being anal about cooking...now I'm pissed since when the Type-A in me wants a specific flavor...I. Want. That. Flavor. Now this family will have to get a sub-par meal. ARGH.

Meal is done, cookies are packed...I shower. Meal is packed, we get lunch @ Chick-fil-A and drop the meal off. It's always sad to see nice people move. Navy lives always allow us to cross paths.

We come home after having a scare that one of the bridges would be up therefore creating the usual traffic mess....luckily, it's not up!! We get home, I poop, and Jaron is read to & put down for a nap.

I decide to be a good daughter for once and actually talk to my mother...because 1) I actually have enough time and quiet to be able to think and have enough patience for her & 2) I should be a better daughter & 3) I would have enough patience. My mom really is great though...she's a really, really wonderful mom. But, both sides are getting slightly annoyed over the conversation of a gym membership. My mom thinks it's a year but like Jan-Dec type of year and I explain that the contract should be good for a year from when you sign. She ends with wanting to call the gym. Good...that's good anyway...since there is a slight chance I might be wrong. Yes, you like how I said SLIGHT? This is what my husband has to put up with. Anyway...a slight argument over gym memberships and more annoyance on my part since my sister & I wanted to get her a membership for Xmas (her old one expired a while ago).

Argh.

2:35pm.

Let the rest of this day go smoother. Hahahaha. 40 minutes till K gets home and hopefully her & Jaron will have a better day. I figured I need to get tougher with them when we're on the phone and they feel like they don't have to use manners and/or listen to any rules we set forth immediately prior to the phone call or established rules. Hahahaha...at least they got a lot of sleep last night!!

Ok...thank you. I feel better now!

Hump day...hubby comes home day after tomorrow...and then goes right into work the next morning...on Saturday.

I complain...but really, it's really so trivial compared to what's going on to so many around me. It's definitely more laughable than anything.

Still need to catch up...

I've been meaning to post a quick recap of Sub Ball '09, but will do that soon.

But in the meantime, my wonderful, amazing, BFF sister had her (our) very first baby!!! Talia Mei Shih was born on May 8th and bringing lots of joy to our family! Kim's water broke at 2am and she called me at 2:30am, apologizing because we joked so many times that she'd go into labor when Sean wasn't home...and he wasn't! He was standing one of his rare duty days (department heads have only been standing about 4-5 duty days per month while the poor JOs (junior officers) are standing twice that amount...although I remember Sean standing a lot more than just 10/month when he was a JO). She apologized because she figured I had just gotten to sleep and that Sean was at work. I was confused since I thought it was maybe 6am...but it wasn't. I had to deliberate whether or not to get me & the kids (incl. the canine kids) up, packed, and drive up to DC with 1.5 hrs. of sleep and me starting to get sick. We had been planning on driving up on the 8th anyway for the weekend. BUT...being there for my sister's labor & delivery was really important to me...although I know that's one of those important milestones that military spouses/fams have to sacrifice.

Sean was relieving early on Friday anyway for a farewell for one of the JOs. Since the boat (sub) is in drydock and most of the landlines are disconnected...I wasn't sure how to get a hold of him. I was texting him like crazy and then decided to try to get a bit of shut-eye should I decide to head out soon. At 4:30am, Sean calls and I tell him what was going on...he was going to try to figure things out on his end. I fall back asleep and Mom calls at 6:30am...saying Kim's in the hospital and has an epidural and is at 5cm dialated.

Anyhoo...long story short...Sean's WONDERFUL COMMAND (the CO & XO) let him go (not after giving him some grief). I know we're REALLY lucky that they gave him liberty so his spouse could be there for her sister. My terrific hubby drops me off at the hospital at 1pm. Kim starts pushing at 2pm. Talia enters the world at 3:25pm!!! The whole drive up 95 I'm almost crying thinking that I won't be there for my sister...and simultaneously worrying that we'll die in a car accident going at 85 mph the whole trip up there...and then ruining Talia's grand entrance!! BUT...Talia's here safe & sound and just in time to make this past Mother's day, Kim's first official Mother's day. The whole Lee-Shih fam made it home on Mother's day with the help of Sean (*sigh*...he's so awesome). Mom & the kids welcomed them at their house while I stayed at Mom's sick in bed and not wanting to contaminate the new fam. BUT...I did get to say goodbye before we left. We popped by and I said goodbye from outside their storm door. Sooooo pathetic, but I wanted to make sure I got to say goodbye to my wonderful little niece...who unfortunately likes my awful singing!!! Poor baby.

Our Baby, as we've referred to her this whole pregnancy, is gorgeous and such a good girl already! She's got amazing parents and is so lucky to have them. They're going to do an amazing job (and already have). Kaia, Jaron, Sean, & I are just smitten with Our Baby and miss her so much.

BTW...want to know more about her name? Our kids' names were chosen to begin with a K & J after Kim & Jason. Talia's name is a combo of my name and J's sister's name Liane....although Kim says it's more for me...tee hee hee. Mei is for the grandmommies...Ming & Maybelle.

We'll see you this weekend, Talia!!! Oops...and you too, Mom, Kim, & J!! ;o)

Germs, Viruses, Bacteria...Oh MY!

So, since January the total count of infections have been 3 colds and a stomach virus (a nasty one that was luckily short-lived but managed to incapacitate almost the entire wardroom).

Daddy's leaving to escort another boat leaving the shipyard and it comes at a good time...SIKE! I'm trying to get ready for my sister's shower in DC this weekend and just praying that we'll know definitively his schedule so that I can plan on traveling with or without him. I'm not going to lie and say that it's harder to get myself, the kids, and the big dogs ready for traveling...because it's actually easier. I don't know if it's a military spouse/single parent thing or what...but when you have to depend on yourself to do things, they get done quicker. HAHAHAHA. Then again, Mr. Muscles is definitely some much appreciated brawn and eye candy. Tee hee hee.

Anyhoo...regardless, this week is all about shopping, prepping, and baking for my neice's impending arrival and even with this amount of work...I couldn't be happier. Plus, I got my two turkeys to keep me on my toes and wit's end...oops, I mean...;o)

Waaaaaaaay Back

I was reading a sub blog from Boise, ID...which happens to be the namesake of the boat the hubs was stationed on for his JO tour...his very LOOOOOOOOOOOONG JO tour. We seem to like having extra long tours. His JO tour was longer than most and his DH tour is turning out to be longer than most as well. Ahhhhhhhh...oh well. This past summer, the Hubs did hit his 11th year, but 15 years in since the USNA doesn't count for years served...booooooooooo. Hahahaha.

Anyhoo...someone had posted a video from their deployment which occurred a week and a half after we got married. Notice, I say deployment meaning 6+ months out. It was funny being in Kings Bay, where SSBN wives refer to the underways as deployments when, as a former SSN wife, they were mini-trips out to sea. That's an exaggeration, of course...but still, the length of SSBN patrols during a year compared to SSN underways/deployments is NOTHING. Then factor in off-crew...NICE.

A recent irk I've been having reading other sub wives' blogs/facebook-stuff are POSTINGS OF SCHEDULES!! STOP DOING THAT. Gee whiz...talk about lack of security for our guys. We're not talking about the generic "he's going on deployment soon"...we're talking specific timeframes of schedules and homecomings and such. Subby wives are usually pretty well-versed that our spouses' schedules are so classified that often our own families don't know any specifics and are usually surprised when they get the "Ok, I love you & bye 'cause I'm going out to sea". There is no discussion of schedules on the phone, over email, in public, etc. My poor friends and family ask when Sean's leaving or coming home and it's usually (well, before we came up here to VA for dry dock) "Oh, soon-ish..." Yeah...anyway, NCIS is supposed to all over that, but I've been seeing it more and more. *tsk, tsk, tsk*

Anyway...the video shows my hubby before the Navy paid for his PRK surgery. Hooray for Geekers (well, the shot with him ducking out of the way is him w/o geekers)! You'll be able to notice him...he's one of the handful of people of color and one of two officers of color (which is RARE to have more than one person of color in a sub wardroom)!! This was back when he was a LTJG...now he's an LCDR select! Yay, Hubs...we're so proud of you!

Leaving On a Jet Plane...

Ok, not really...but I am leaving in my Sequoia and will be moving to our old house near a base that has lots of jet planes! Does that count? Hahahaha. Ahhhhhhhh, yes, back to our old casa in VA Beezy where we never saw airplanes overhead, just jets from NAS Oceana. Pretty cool looking overhead and seeing those suckers...unless they flew low and the whole house would vibrate. ;o)

Anyway...we're (we as in not 'we' did it together but 'we' in spirit....hahaha) done with the pack out and the loading of our junk...errrr, stuff. Sean flew in after everything was said and done...not that he wanted to be here after everything, but the needs of the Navy first. My awesome hubby was so apologetic for everything we were going through...because not only did I have to do this by myself, it also was rescheduled numerous times; we changed companies; dealt with typical mover shiet (although our packers were AMAZING); and then lots of other non-move related caca popped up for me...like BIG TIME CACA. I'm thankful that I have the supportive partner I was blessed with and that he is not like other hubbies I know who think they're stay-at-home wives/mothers do nothing but eat bon-bons and such...yes, even some hubbies of military wives think that! Again, it takes me back to military spouse entry I wrote about the quote Kelly found:

"A Navy Wife is no ordinary woman. Operating for months at a time without the companionship or assistance of her husband, she routinely overcomes challenges that would give the average person a nervous breakdown." - Jeff Edwards

Well, tomorrow we drive up to VA. We'll wrap up loose ends here and then bid adieu. We'll pop into DC for Xmas and back down to VA to move in. Despite all the stress and everything...it's just nice to have the hubby home for a winter holiday season...and that at least he wasn't out to sea for this whole process. ;o)

In the Homestretch...

Wow, I cannot believe our time here in FL is finally coming to an end. Although Sean's still got a bit left of his dept. head tour, we are almost done. Sean's boat already changed it's homeport. So, he's been up in VA since last week. I've got the movers coming to pack us up this Thursday and then they'll load on Friday. Sean'll join us Friday night. I was a bit freaked about doing everything by myself, managing packers/movers, the 4 kiddies, and my sanity. But, Sean came in this weekend and we got a few things done. We're flying Mom down Wednesday to watch the kids while I take care of bidness with the packers/movers. *whew* Still doing basically everything by myself, but I'm good with the decision now. At least we'll be in DC by Xmas. AND...this is the first winter holiday season we've had with Sean since 2005!!!! YAY!

I'll leave you with one of our blooper shots from our 2008 Lee-Espiritu Fam Annual Holiday Photo That Will Probably Not Go Out In The Mail...AGAIN. ;o) Yes, my big puppy is a crotch-sniffer...and has no shame/qualms about it. It's our annual holiday photo that shows my husband with an extremely pained/irritated look since he has to wrangle the dogs and the kids while I set up the camera & shot (luckily we had a tripod this year)...and yet, not really since I usually have to wrangle the biggest Mama's kids...Remi (the chubby pit who is trans-species...she's really feline) and Jaron. This was off-centered and Jax was sniffing my bidness and well, it was only take #1. Just FYI, Sean's smile has never changed in these holiday shots. HAHAHAHAHA....poor guy.

There are definitely parts of FL that I will miss and this pool is definitely one of them! ;o) Not too mention the 70-degree weather that we'll be having this week! ;o)

Argh

So, we said goodbye to the buffest member of our fam today from an old fort at one of the local state parks. I was informed by said buff member of our fam that our move date (in two weeks) will have to be rescheduled...AGAIN. We also pray for the safety of said buff member and the rest of the crew...and for the sanity of their families that are in the middle of moving and/or getting settled into our new homeport....which was our old homeport. Hahahahaha.

Yay. I hope we can make it to DC by Xmas.

Surprisingly, this darn military life has hardened me and I'm just rolling with the punches. The only actual stress I feel is GETTING THIS HOUSE RENTED!!!

I'm posting on MilitaryByOwner.com this afternoon.

And what! ;o)

Gonna Open a Can of....

Yup. So, this article was published about what happened in our neighborhood. Nice to know that it literally happened in my backyard...literally. Anyhoo...one of the other moms is an attorney and we're (at least the two of us) are planning on heading over to the clubhouse and talking to the director about this nonsense of trying to keep things on the DL. Kinda like storming the administration building at UMD but at a country club...hahahahaha.

This is abso-freaking ridiculous.

Seriously.

How the fart are you going to keep quiet about an attempted abduction in your neighborhood when you could be warning other parents to stay vigilant with their kids??? I just dropped by and talked to the gate guard on the way in and he was shocked that I had heard about it. He's not supposed to comment on the situation and was surprised that I knew. WTF? He said that he and the Nassau County Sheriff's Dept. are working hard to get these guys (apparently it was two guys) and increasing patrol of our neighborhood. BUT...everything was supposed to be on the DL. The gate guard is frikkin' useless since our gatehouse/guard is more for prestige than for security. Plus, the gatehouse is only occupied during certain hours...something those predators obviously already know.

Again, WTF?!?!?!

If I hadn't heard about it from my friend in the development across the road, I wouldn't have remembered about that shady arse pickup truck two weeks ago (to the day) driving down my street and, now I realize, scoping out my children! My arse alerted other parents in the neighborhood and hopefully they'll be extra careful with their kids...esp. older ones they might have previously felt it was safe to let them venture out by themselves. I understand not wanting to cause a panic, but really...that's something you should give parents a heads up on.

Seriously.

Am I overreacting??

Attempted Abduction

So, apparently there was an attempted abduction in our neighborhood this past Saturday. Naturally, I am scare feces-less. The reason...I think this same person actually scoped me and the children out less than two weeks ago. The car he drove matches the description that was reported to the police. I remember being pissed at the kids for taking so long and not listening to me before we had to go to this change of homeport meeting at the base in Kings Bay, GA. Then we're running 20 minutes behind, Sean's waiting for us there, and as I'm buckeling the kids in their carseats, I notice a suspicious truck driving SLOWLY down our street. Of course, since there is still a lot of new construction going on in our neighborhood, I'm used to the construction workers or people coming through to look at the houses. BUT...this truck had some crazy tinted windows and was going slowly in front of our home, the both times it passed us. The thing is, it's late afternoon and the truck was in our neighborhood before the guard stands duty at the gatehouse. I remember being in a rush and forgetting to set the alarm but having had a bad enough feeling about that car, I go back and set it.

Now I find out that there is a predator out there who tried to abduct a child in our neighborhood AND knows that I have two little ones here too.

All I can say is THANK GOD for Jax and the world class protection training he's gotten.

I'm still on edge though and trying to explain it to Kaia without scaring her. So far, she's scared. Arghhhhhhhh.

Thankful

My kids are sick and I'm a newly "single" married mom. Still, I'm thankful that my kids have stuffy noses and are cranky (maybe more due to the fact that we woke them up around 5:45am to take Sean to the base) and do NOT have stomach viruses...probably one of the most contagious and ickiest things to go around a family! I CANNOT deal with nausea...so, yeah...I'm thankful my kids seem to just have a cold and hope that I don't get it ("The Fam" is coming into town this weekend). I'm also thankful that I got a few extra days to talk/see my buff partner. Stress was pretty high for us with our messy house, him leaving, the kids, and figuring out our home situaton ( when to list it on the rental market). Still...it was nice to have this weekend to see/talk to him for a little bit longer.

My spirits are good. Just have a butt-load of cleaning to do...but looking at it as a good thing. Only thing is...I DON'T LIKE TO CLEAN! ;o) I miss Sean and hate that he's not here since I hate to be the lone adult in the home. I always look forward to the adult interaction after a full day of refereeing/mediating my four human & canine blessings. I also have a total peace of mind when Sean's home since I hate being home alone at night...I'm always paranoid of what I'd do in a(nother) situation should someone enter/break in the house and how to protect the kids and myself. Jax is doing a great job with being protective. That big arse bark of his is enough to make Sean & I pee in our pants...and it's not even directed towards us. Plus, he's almost 100 lbs...so he's a pretty big deal. ;o) Jax gives me plenty of comfort knowing that he's an awesome deterrent...and can attack if needed. *whew*

Anyhoo...I stress as I write since there's so much to do.

TTFN.

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day to my baby, my dad, my grandfather, my brothers, cousin, etc.!! Today kinda sucks because 1) Sean's not here because he has to stand duty (24 hrs. on the boat) and 2) my dad's not here. We celebrated, sorta, yesterday with Sean...AFTER he got off of work. Basically, it was just a day of relaxation for him since he's been working so darn much and getting only a few hours of sleep a night. So, he got a nap in with the kids while I cooked up a feast for him (churrasco, lemon quinoa, grilled asparagus, & RICE). Today, he's working and we'll see him tomorrow evening. The darn photo album I made for him is coming in tomorrow too (instead of LAST WEEK...arghh)...I guess it actually turned out to be ok timing since tomorrow will be Father's Day part deux. I need to make my sweet potato stuff that's Sean's favorite and a fresh fruit tart for dessert tomorrow. Should I use my leftover chimichurri sauce to marinate chicken breasts? Hmmmm...anyhoo, I feel so bad for him because he's just been so exhausted!!! Poor guy.

Today is also bittersweet since, even though I have surrogate dads (Uncle Dan, Daddy Yuan, & Daddy Naik), I still miss my dad. It's been 9.5 years without him and even though it's a bit easier now, there are definitely times like this that missing him hurts a lot more. I also think what a crummy daughter I was the last few years of his life during his battle with alcoholism. It's hard not to regret how I felt and how I treated him but at the same time, it's all a learning experience. Anyhoo...losing my dad and others made a huge impact on my life...it's definitely too short to take people for granted. Life is definitely too precious and you never know when you will lose someone. I only wish that he would've gotten to meet my kids (all four of them...human & canine)...and Sean as well.

Still...today is a good day to reflect how blessed I was to grow up with the father I did...despite the alcoholism (which never made him an angry or violent drunk...EVER), was an amazing person and I learned a lot from him. He definitely taught me many important lessons...both directly and indirectly. I am also blessed to have such an amazing partner who is such a great parent. I know Kaia and Jaron have lots to learn from him too.

Happy Father's Day, Fathers!