In the life of me.

Debs contacted Dawn a few months back saying that she and I could have Dad’s old things, finally. Dawn went to pick them up last night. The hutch was found, but it’s in bad shape. I plan on scoopin’ that up and fixing it up. Dad had wanted me to have that for years, but it sat in a basement for 12 years. There is also a lizard from Mexico that one of our exchange students got my Dad. I figured since we may be moving to the good ol’ south west, I’ll take it and place it proudly on my new desk. There are tons of old books, some toys for my boys, a jacket from a prison my Dad worked at, and a cigar box.

Dad smoking cigars and his pipe were good memories. The smell of cherry tobacco still gets me to this day. That is why the cigar box filled with knick nacks is kinda important. The smell of it just brings warmth to me.

I guess after Debs settles in at her new place there will be more stuff. She packed room by room first before thinking about things and then she went through what was left and pulled aside things for Dawn and I. I am just so happy to be able to have more of my Dad. I know memories should be enough, but I look forward to snuggling in that old jacket and looking at the art that I made him when I was in school.

My sis should be sending the box soon so it is here before the movers come. I’m probably going to be an emotional mess going through all that stuff, but it’ll be worth it. Perhaps I can finally get that shadow box done that I have dreamed about making for years for the patches and pins from when Dad was in the Coast Guard and from when he worked in the prisons too.

*hugs*
~Jen

Alright, as most of you reading this know, Bry did not pass his language test to the Army’s standards. He was very close though. Mind you, native linguists have taken the same test and cannot get the best scores, they get the average scores from what we have heard. So it kinda makes you wonder why they keep messing with that test to make it harder when the natives can’t even score super well. He did try quite hard for the test and I honestly think he was just burned out. We just got back from leave and then he had 1.5 weeks of 8-9 hour days of nothing but Russian. It was like DLI all over again, only a shorter period of time. Because of the slightly below average score in one section of the test, Bry might have to reclass. Before it sounded like it was for sure he’d have to reclass. Now the unit is wanting to just have us move to EP and let them deal with it. Perhaps they will let him try again in 6 months again…which we thought was no longer an option. We still do not have a definate answer and I would love one this week because we have a meeting with transportation next week about when to pack up our stuff and ship it out. I have a huge urge to pack up stuff too. I need my ceramic stuff packed up and I think it’d be useful to pack up our books and such, just to have the guys in and out and then I know where my stuff is. Plus I can fib about my paint like I did last time. I am just so ready to be out of here. I want to get to wherever we are supposed to be so I can have this baby, be unpacked, and be done hopping around for another 3 years.

*hugs*

~Jen

Last week I got back from visiting my mother. For the most part the trip went well. John slept for a total of one hour on the 9 hour flight to get there and passed out at landing. How he can sleep with his head wobbling about worse than a cheap bobble head doll is beyond me. I let him nap an hour while we waited for our bags to come off the plane. He was not happy until we saw Gramma with the cheese crackers. That was an instant bond there.

Mom is skinnier than most of us would like. Granted, she has always been teeny tiney at 5′2 and being maybe 102 pounds when wet. She is down to 94 pounds and kind of puts Claista (sp?) Flockheart to shame with the skin and bones look. My mother eats, I witnessed it. She still eats like a bird though and she has the metabolism of a rabbit. Why can’t I have her genes?

Doc is good but ever the more frustrated at not being able to find a job. Possible employers want to talk to his previous boss (which would be himself) and then they have issues that he has not had more recent ER experience. On a good note, he and Bry got to go out golfing while we were there. Mom and I stayed in to watch Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

While there Mom and I really only had one tiff. It was about church, strangely enough about my old church and not my “new” one. Bry and I went to Catholic Mass on Saturday night and decided to go with Mom and Doc Sunday to my old church. Nice compromise, yeah? I thought so. Sunday morning I am all ready, John is all ready, Bry is halfway there while Mom and Doc are still getting ready. This is when Mom decides to throw the, “I don’t think you should go to church today” crap at me. I ask her why and she does not want people to ask questions as to why I am not taking communion on communion Sunday (mind you, my old church only took communion on the first Sunday of every month). I told her to stop hiding me away and let me go so I can see the people who wanted to see me and so I could see my grandparents one last time. I told her that I was not afraid of the questions and that I’d be more than happy to answer them. With that, I won the argument and all of us carted off to Community of Christ.

John got roudy right before the service started, cueing me into his need of a nap. I took him back to the nursery and got him down. I laid him down in his stroller and wheeled him out to our second row seat, blocking the isle behind me. G-ma and G-pa were sitting right behind us (it was that morning I found out that my G-pa is the only one in the entire congregation that does not know that I am Catholic. I knew he didn’t know, but I did not know that everyone there except him knew…kinda ticked me off). First off an announcement is made that the church has open communion and that as long as you were baptised in a church you can partake of it. Not so true for Catholics people. It was hard to focus on the word there since I kept debating just taking it anyway and confessing it later (if I had to) or ignoring it completely. First the bread was served and Bry waved it away. I looked away and my G-pa reached over and tried to push the stroller away. I had a firm hand on it because John was stirring quite a bit in his sleep. G-pa then seemed upset that they weren’t serving me (the first pew was empty and we were in the second. They could have served me if they wanted to, but they knew, so they didn’t). By the time the grape juice (yes, grape juice) came around G-pa was whispering frantically to my G-ma wondering why I wasn’t being served. It was then that I had a hormonal moment and started crying because this was not the way I wanted my G-pa to find out I was Catholic. I wanted to be allowed to tell him myself, not witness me not taking communion in the church I was raised in…heck, the church his parents were raised in as well as every generation after that.

After church we were all supposed to go out to chinese for lunch. All of a sudden, G-pa was too tired to go. I honestly think he just didn’t want to ask me about my new faith. He wanted to avoid conflict and I can respect that. As long as we can all still love each other, I am good.

I think it was Friday that we went to see G-ma and G-pa (before the church incident) for lunch. It was hard seeing G-ma and her mind slipping away. She made Chicken Ala King, but fogot how to make the gravy for it. It was just chicken and broth over egg noodles. Later I found and old picture and could swear it was one of my uncles as a boy. I showed it to her and at first she thought the same thing, later saying it was G-pa as a boy. Several times in the few hours we were there, she pulled out that same photo and kept asking us if we knew who that was. Right before we left, we measured John on the wall where all us kids have been measured, right by the fridge. She marked his spot and looked puzzled, “I forgot his name”. I played it cool and told her his name again. She even needed computer help and Bry helped her out there. Apparenlty it was prompting her for a password and she knew what it had to be. Bry figured out that there really was no password, changed it to what she wanted it to be before making a great judgement call to not have her have a password for her computer at all. I thanked him profusely for that.

Saturday afternoon we went to a cool kind of zoo called Hollywild (Google it). Instead of retired “acting” animals from commercials or movies getting put down, this zoo takes them in. It is a non-profit organization and wow…I loved it. First we took a safari ride in a bus with the windows cut out. We were given huge Jewish crackers to feed the Emus, Deer, Scottish Long Horn Cattle, Llamas, etc. The Rhino from the Zicom commercial resides there. It was amazing to be able to feed them that close and be able to pet them too! John loved it to pieces. I thought he would be afraid of the Scottish Long Horn named Tex, but he loved him all the more when he slobbered all over his hand. Seriously, that guys tongue can wrap around your wrist and cover you in goo. It was great! At the opening of the zoo there is a little area where you can pet/feed goats, chickens, sheep, and zebras! I loved up on that zebra! Mom made a chimp, lioness, and a parrot go nuts while we were there. I will have to post pics and video sometime.

In the end, John slept 6 hours on the flight home while we got none. He seems to still be adjusting, sleeping 11-13 hours a night and still taking 2 hour naps. He was amazingly good despite him cutting his 2 year molars!

*hugs*
~Jen