Drill Weekend

Matt's at his second drill this weekend. He's only texted me a couple times this morning so maybe they are keeping him busy and he will enjoy it more. I slept in until 9 this morning which is quite an accomplishment for me these days.

Tomorrow is the Christmas dinner formal for Matt's new unit. He drills 2 hours away. Tomorrow morning I'm getting my hair done at 7:30 A.M. and then driving up there. I'm supposed to be there by 11. I guess I'm a little excited. This will technically be my big debut as an Army Wife. I never did the Army ball or anything like that (distance was an issue).

I'm hoping that I will fit in better than at his work Christmas party. It's hard to explain but I feel at the Army party at least most everyone will have respect for each other and what they have been through. I have a issue with people not respecting my husband, us, and what we have been through. He doesn't. Just me. It's not like I think we are better than anyone or anything like that. I just think some people have no respect for our soldiers or their family.

Today I need have to write my paper for my Comp final. We read "The Birthmark" and have to write about man's quest for perfection. We have several topics we could relate it to and I chose cosmetic surgery. I've wrote the first paragraph, which for me is always the hardest. And now I'm finding myself blogging. Any comments?

I also need to go to Wal-Mart today to get some fleece fabric. I'm making a fleece blanket for Matt's battle buddy. They were roommates in Iraq and we both wanted to send him a gift for Christmas. He is from Oregon so I need to get it in the mail before too long.

I'm also hoping to have the house spotless for when Matt comes home.

School, leaves, and dresses

Last night I took a quiz online for my sociology class. I answered all the questions and I know I got them all right because I can use my book. But being the spaz I am, I forgot to hit save before I submitted my answers. So I got a 0 out of 10. I emailed my teacher and told her what happened but I have yet to hear from her. I guess worse comes to worse, I won't have a 100% in the class anymore.

Today I attempted to work on my 8-12 page research paper. I guess I had writers block or something. If I could just write it without have to cite everything I write, I would be done three times by now. I have such a big stack of crap I have read about my topic and when I go to look where I found what I am writing it takes forever. I have about 3 pages done.

Matt dealt with all the leaves that were over taking the yard today while I worked on my paper. He bought himself a leaf blower this morning. He says it blows 150 miles an hour. I'll take his word for it.

Tomorrow my seester and I are going to try to find me a dress for this Army dinner thing. Its not like the Army ball so I'm thinking I can probably wear a short dress. See the thing is, its almost winter and in a month it pretty much will be winter. I want a dress that I can wear and not freeze my ass tail off. I have seen a few shorter dresses with some sleeve action going on.

I think I may get one of those sweater dress deals also. I have a few dress type deals that I wear in the summer with tights under so maybe I could wear a sweater one to Christmas. I dunno.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!!

I'm in the Old Lady Group

At the community college I go to it seems as if most people fall into one of three categories: people 20 and younger, people 40 and old, or single parents. I fall into none of these categories.

Last night in my sociology class we had to get into groups of three for a group project. I sit by this one older lady in my class because she is in my other class and seems like a nice lady. So we decided we would be in a group together. Then the other older lady comes up to us and asks to be in our group. Ok no problem.

After everyone is in a group I kinda look around and there is one group of jocks, one group of preppy girls, one group on kids all from the same town, one group of nerdy girls, and my old lady group.

I mean I'm 28. Not 50. Am I a loser cause I'm in the old lady group? Do the other kids in class think I'm an old lady?

To make things worse old lady #2 in my group wanted to do our group project on the chapter on sex and gender, which involves transgender and hermaphrodites. She would not budge. That is what we are doing ours on. I mean I don't have a problem with it but its not something I wanna stand up and talk about in front of a bunch of 19 year olds.

They don't make staplers how they used to.

I have taken on Mama Kat's writing assignment again this week.

I have chosen to write about "They don't make ____ how they used to."

They really don't make staplers how they used to. I got a new stapler at work about a month ago and I haven't had to cuss at it or throw it in the trash yet. Before this stapler I had three staplers. One worked almost every time with three or less pages. Another worked about every other time on three to seven pages. It would also jam up multiple times a day, leading me to cuss and threaten it. Then I also have a heavy duty electric stapler that works every time for 20 or more pages. But the problem with the electric one is that it is across the room and I don't know how to put more staples in it.

Staplers these days are made from plastic. Remember the old metal staplers that worked??? I do vaguely. I think I was in third grade.

This is my new stapler. It says that it is a one finger stapler and will staple up to twenty sheets of paper. We will see. I'm not really a big fan of the green. I'd rather it be pink or purple. But so far it hasn't let me down.

The Smart Me

I just got home from school. The class I'm taking this summer is Practical Software Applications. Tonight we had a project in Excel due. It could be anything we wanted. I did mine on... well I'm not gonna bore you with that. Its work related and unless you know anything about grain bins, cubic feet, and density it wouldn't make any sense. At work we already had an Excel spreadsheet for inventory of grain bins that basically only multiplied two numbers.

Well I made a new way better spreadsheet. One of my formulas was so long that I couldn't complete it in Excel 2003. I had to finish it up on my laptop with 2007. I'm usually pretty modest but my project blew everyone else's in class away. My teacher said it was "excellent" more than once. No one else got an "excellent."

The old dude in my class said that I should write spreadsheets for people in my share time. Sign me up. How the heck would I start doing that though?

I guess after not being in school for 9 years, I forgot that I am smart. Until I started going back to school, I really didn't have to exercise my brain too much. I love it. Granted, I'll be glad when actually have a degree. Someday I would love to work from home. I just don't know where to start.

I'll be more happy when _______

I'm taking on Mama Kat's writing assignment this week. I haven chosen to write about "I'll be happy when____"


Well for the most part I am happy. I have a wonderful, devoted, loving, sexy husband. I have a caring, entertaining family. I have a little doggy that loves me more than life itself.

I will be happier when the Army finally lets go of my husband. I will be happier when our journey from Seattle to Illinois in his car with no air conditioner is complete. I will be even happier when he gets to see the home we have bought for the first time. I will be even happier when we get to ummmm... lay in our bed together for the first time.

I will be even happier when I can become the mother of his child. And I know this will make my husband and my mom reallllllly happy.

I will be happier when we have a fenced in yard for my little doggy to play in. I would be happier if he could play in the yard now but the neighbors big dogs would probably eat him and that would make me far from happy.

I will be happier when there are no idiots in the world.

I would be happier if crappy music were banned and radio stations weren't filled with garbage.

I will be happier when people learn to watch where they are going, mind their own business, and have a little common courtesy.

I will be happier when our house is paid for and all our other bills.

I will definitely be happier when I get to quit the crap job and can focus more on school.

I will be happier when I figure out how to link stuff in my blog, obviously I don't know how to do that.

Most of all, I will be happier in 27 days when I get to be with my husband again... forever.

Repost

I wrote this for school and posted it a couple months ago. I wanted to re-post for my new blogger friends that are also military wives. Here's to you and me!


This is an essay I wrote for school. It is supposed to be an extended definition essay. I wrote about what a military wife is. Here it is. Let me know what you think.


The Military Wife of Today

There have been many groups of women throughout the history of America that have helped to make this nation the land of the free and the home of the brave. Perhaps, the most overlooked group of influential women throughout the history of our nation has been military wives. As long as there has been military in our country there have been military wives. The military wife of today may have conveniences that make her role easier than ever before however, this does not make her life any more desirable. A military wife must be strong, patient, understanding, and loyal to her husband and her country. She will stop at nothing to make sure her husband is as comfortable and as happy as possible, even when he is thousands of miles away.

In the military, it is not the service member’s choice where they will be stationed or even if they will stay at that duty station throughout their career. A military wife will pack up all she owns to move to a place far away from her friends and family to be with her husband and will possibly do this several times. She will give up everything she knows to spend time with him. Or she will stay at home and wait for him if that is what they believe is best. She will patiently look forward to his return and never question her reasons for entering into such a marriage. Either way, she will do it whatever is best for her family’s future and do it with a smile. She understands that he has to do what he his told and she will never complain about it.

A military wife will deal with her husband’s deployment as a strong brave woman. She will stand next to him, smile, and take pictures with him on the day he leaves. She will never have felt as proud of him than on that day. She will soon fall apart and pick her self up again, repeatedly. A military wife will put her own needs aside to make sure that the package she is sending him makes it to the post office “today”. She will send a package on every birthday, holiday, and two or three between. She will become a professional at packing the comforts of home into an 11-inch by 8.5-inch by 5.5-inch box. She could also pack a bowling ball into the same box if her husband asked her to. The clerk at the post office becomes a friend rather than a stranger due her constantly picking up boxes and dropping off packages.

During deployment a military wife will also check her e-mail between ten and a hundred times a day, just to see if her husband has had time to send her a short message. He usually works between twelve and fifteen hours a day, in a desert and she understands when he doesn’t have time, but she continuously checks anyways. She will sleep with her phone by her side her every night. When a twelve-digit number is calling her phone at four in the morning she does not hesitate to answer because she knows it is her husband calling. She doesn’t get upset when after five minutes on the phone with him the call is disconnected. It can happen repeatedly and she is just happy to have heard his voice and know that he is alive and well.

While he is away a military wife will not hesitate to take over all shared responsibilities. She will mother, cook, clean, do the accounting, and take care of the cars, the lawn, and the pets. Also, she may possibly be working non-stop to help them with their future. She will stay very busy during the day and cry herself to sleep occasionally at night due to the pain missing him has caused. She will worry about him and patiently wait for him until he returns. A military wife will be proud that she can handle everything on her own while he fights for the country they both love.

Not all women are capable of dealing with everything that is involved with being a military wife. The women that can’t live the military life find out shortly after entering into it. Those who can, will do anything it takes to make their marriage stronger than they had ever dreamed of. They will ignore the things others will say such as, “How do you do it” or “My husband went to Europe once on business.” They know that standing behind their husband and his love for his country is their number one priority. A military wife would not change anything about her life except to have the man she loves home more often.

One more thing

This is a paper I wrote for school last semester right after we found out my grandma had cancer. I thought I had already posted it but I didn't. This will be my last post about my grandma. I promise. No more Debbie Downer here.


I believe that in life there are good people and there are bad people. The best example of a good person that I have ever known is my grandma, Esther. My grandma is more patient than anyone I have ever met. She is also a very considerate and kindhearted person. Another reason my grandma is such a good person is because her whole life she has been nothing but selfless. She has always put others needs before her own and never complained about anything. She will truly never be forgotten.

My grandma has always been a patient person. She gave birth to eleven children. Eight of her children are boys. She had three girls; one of her girls is mentally challenged and one of her girls died at birth. Their family lived on a farm and there was plenty of room for her children to find or create trouble, which they did quite often. When she would get real mad at the boys she would call them “little boogers.” She never spanked any of her kids because she says she was “just too soft-hearted”. My grandma took care of my aunt who is mentally challenged for fifty-five years. She took her to work when she had to work and cared for her in a way that no one else could have. When my aunt throws fits, cussing and yelling at anyone who crosses her path, grandma just tells her to calm down and be nice. I never heard her once raise her voice even in the worst situations.

In addition to being extremely patient, my grandma is nice and caring. My grandma has eighteen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She has no favorites. She loves each and every one of us the same, regardless of how often we are able to go to see her or how well we behave. Even as she lies in the hospital suffering, she will still ask people how their day was and is genuinely concerned with how everyone is doing, just as we are concerned for her. The other night, my cousin Jadyn was crying because we all know that grandma is not going be around much longer. Grandma asked Jadyn what was wrong. To which Jadyn's mom simply replied, that she was tired and she needed to get her home and to bed because she didn't want to upset grandma. Also, my grandma has never had one bad thing to say about anyone. Even when my grandpa and all my uncles are gossiping about someone, grandma just smiles. I’m sure deep down she has to know that she is a better person for not saying anything. The other day I thanked my grandma for coming to our wedding a couple months ago and told her how much it had meant to my husband and me. It wasn’t a traditional Catholic wedding like most of our family has had, but she told me, “Oh, that was a nice wedding and I had a good time.” Because my grandma is so kindhearted, she always looks for the good in every situation.

Also, my grandma is also a very selfless person. By being selfless, she always puts other people needs in front of her own. To be honest, I don’t think that she ever really wanted anything that life had not given her. She stayed home and raised all her children. She did all of the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and other household chores. She never complained about having too much to do. Even until the day my grandma went into the hospital, she woke up at six o’clock every morning to make my grandpa a poached egg and toast for breakfast. When the whole family would come over on Sundays, my grandma would always cook lunch for everyone. When I was younger, if I got sick and my mom couldn’t pick me up from school, grandma would come pick me up and take me to her house. She would give me soup and crackers and let me lie on the couch and watch television or just sit and talk to me. Being sick at grandma’s house wasn’t near as bad as being sick and having to go home because she was so nice to be around. Of all the good qualities that my grandma possesses, I believe that her selflessness is the quality that separates her from most people.

I have met lots of good people in my life but the best person that I have ever known by far is my Grandmother. She truly lived her life to make other peoples' lives better. I feel very fortunate to have a grandma that is as good of a person as she is. She has always been a patient mother and grandmother, a kindhearted and caring individual and has never been a selfish person. My grandma loves to smile and she loves life. Most importantly, she loves to see other people around her happy.

Cheating is bad

Here is what I came up with for why people cheat:

“The Storm” is a short story by Kate Chopin that is about an affair that takes place during a violent storm in the early 1900’s. This story raises the question, “Why do people in seemingly healthy relationships choose to be unfaithful?” The most widespread reason for cheating in a relationship is because there are problems in the relationship. People may also decide to be unfaithful because they are seeking revenge on their partners. Sometime people cheat simply because of their self-desire or because they have opportunities to be unfaithful. Infidelity can also stem from an unhealthy childhood and lack of being taught morals and how to treat people.

One common problem in a relationship that could lead to a person cheating is loneliness. This problem could come from having a spouse who works too much, travels for his or her job, or just does not spend a lot of time with his or her partner. When two people in a relationship are spending long periods of time away from each other, most likely one of them will become lonely. When my husband was deployed to Iraq for fifteen months, most of his male friends’ relationships ended within two months of their departure due to their girlfriends cheating on them. Most relationships will not survive these conditions and both people involved must be sure of themselves, their partners, and their relationships.

Another reason people give for engaging in infidelity is that they are not receiving enough attention from their spouses or are only receiving a negative type of attention. People may chose to cheat because they believe they can find someone who will treat them better and give them more attention than their spouse. For instance, a wife that is expected to cook, clean, take care of the children, and work could feel unappreciated and believe that she deserves to be with someone who does not expect her to do so much. She may meet someone who says all the right things, buys her gifts, and makes her feel special and then choose to cheat on her husband.

In some relationships, the passion in the relationship may gradually fade. Either partner may lose the attraction he or she once had for the other for a number of reasons. Some women and men may simply stop taking as much care of their appearances after they are married. A woman could decide that shaving her legs regularly is not as important after she is married as it was before. Also, having children takes a toll on a woman’s body and some men will lose the attraction they once had for their wives after childbirth. Passion could also fade in a relationship because the couple grows apart after time. Some couples after being together for ten or twenty years, will stay together only because it is easier to do so. Intimacy can become repetitious and boring after years together and the decrease in passion could cause a person to cheat in a relationship.

Sometimes when people are unfaithful to their spouses, it is because they are seeking revenge for something the other person did. A person could be unfaithful because they are continually accused of doing so. If a man is constantly accused of cheating he may believe that he may as well cheat and seek revenge for the accusations. Also, if a wife cheats on her husband, the husband could decide to cheat on her. I believe this is totally asinine and instead of seeking revenge the person should just give up with the relationship and move on. Two wrongs never make a situation right.

In a perfectly healthy relationship, a person may not always be totally satisfied. Being in a monogamous relationship simply cannot satisfy some men and women. They need to have multiple partners for their own self-desire and to boost their ego. Opportunity to cheat may arise and even though a person has no issues in his or her relationship he or she will cheat because the chance is present.

Another factor in why people cheat in relationships could be from a lack of morals or being around cheating during childhood. If a woman’s mother cheated on her husband when the daughter was young and the daughter was exposed to it, it is likely that the daughter would cheat on her partner as well. With so many people getting divorced multiple times, it makes teaching children to be faithful to one person for the duration of their life nearly impossible. Children learn from examples and it is almost more common for a child’s parents to be divorced or never have been married rather than being married forever.

I am fortunate enough to have parents that have been married my whole life and I’m sure this contributes to my views on this topic. Regardless of the reason a person may give for being unfaithful, I believe it is wrong and should be avoided, especially in marriage. A person that promises to his or her partner and to God to stay faithful to each other should do so. If the relationship becomes unhealthy, lacks passion, or the partner does something wrong, then person should end the relationship. Hurting someone’s feelings only for a person’s own pleasure is not only selfish, but is also wrong.

Texas Country

Texas Country music is a sub-genre of Country music that has become one of my favorite types of music. This type of music is more of a feeling than it is a sound. The lyrics of it usually have a carefree feeling and are often about honest, hard working people. These artists sing about having a good time, living on the edge, and taking life as it comes. The bands of this genre provide powerful live shows, which in turn, give them fiercely, loyal fans.

Texas Country primarily originates from Texas, with its roots being musicians such as, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. In the 1960s’ and 1970s’ Willie, Johnny, and some other musicians left the corporate Nashville scene and moved to Texas during the Outlaw Country Movement. Texas Country musicians are now anti-Nashville and this is even sometimes reflected in their lyrics. “Cross Canadian Ragweed” has a song called “Record Executive” that is about how the band will not sign a deal with a large, corporate record label because they believe all of their hard work and accomplishments will become the record label’s and not their own. There is a line in this song that goes, “I didn’t build it all just to watch it fall into your hands.”

Although most Texas Country artists are from Texas, some bands that fall into this genre are from other states and have re-located to Texas. For instance, “Reckless Kelly” and “Micky and the Motorcars” are bands who are from Stanley, Idaho that have both moved to Austin, Texas. Also Chris Knight is a singer and songwriter of Texas Country that is from Kentucky. Because of his reputation in Texas, a Texas governor named him an honorary Texan. Also, “Jason Boland and the Stragglers,” “No Justice,” and “Stoney LaRue” are all successful Texas Country artists from Oklahoma.

What a Texas Country band stands for and how it sounds varies from band to band. A lot of Texas Country songs describe the beauty of Texas and paint a picture of the Texas landscape. They depict features such as red Texas dirt, gravel roads, and long stretches of fences. They are also often supporters of the troops, although not necessarily of war. “Reckless Kelly” has a song that is about how our country sends young men off to war that are not allowed to have a beer but are willing to donate their lives to the land of the free. “Cross Canadian Ragweed” has a song called “Long Way Home” that is a narrative of a young man sent to Vietnam.

Many Texas Country bands are involved with charities as well. “Reckless Kelly” has a program that they are implementing at their merchandise area called “Reckless Kelly Care Packages.” They are collecting an assortment of items from their fans to send to service men and women overseas. Also, on April 19, 2009 “Reckless Kelly,” “Cross Canadian Ragweed,” “Randy Rogers Band,” and others were involved with a celebrity softball game, which was followed by a Texas Country concert. All the proceeds of this event were donated to several Austin, Texas organizations. In March of 2008, “Cross Canadian Ragweed” participated in three day, sixty-mile walk in which proceeds were donated to a reputable breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment fund.

This genre of music involves a variety of instruments. Almost every one of these bands includes an acoustic guitar and some of their songs will consist of only an acoustic guitar and lyrics. Other fundamental instruments include bass guitar, electric guitars, and percussion. Some other instruments that can be included in this type of band are the harmonica, piano, banjo, trombone, mandolin, and fiddle.

Texas Country music is a cross between Rock and Roll and Country, with some Blues and Honky Tonk thrown in. It often has lengthy guitar solos and a drum beat that makes people want to tap their feet and move their heads along with it. Most Texas Country songs’ lyrics are very catchy because they are something anyone can relate to. For instance, “Cross Canadian Ragweed” has a song called “Anywhere but Here,” in which they describe not changing who they are and leaving where they are in search of a good time. The proposal in this song is something that everyone wishes to do and it has a very catchy chorus.

Seeing a live performance of Texas Country is somewhat surreal. The beats, guitar riffs, and lyrics have a way of sending a chill over my body. When I saw “Reckless Kelly” for the first time, I was so captivated by the music and the performance that I barely realized what was going on around me. This is most likely what leads these bands to having such dedicated fans. Most people that go to these concerts know the band and the words to the songs, and may have traveled hundreds of miles to go to the concert. My cousin and I drove over eight hundred miles to Dallas, Texas on Labor Day of 2007 to go an all day Texas Country festival with twelve bands. My ticket cost twenty-five dollars and it was probably the best twenty-five dollars I have ever spent.

Texas Country music is different from regular Country music in several ways. Regular Country music tends to have a slower more depressing sound to it. It is often about a broken heart or unrealistic ideas. For example, there is a Country song about playing solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one. Now, I think I would realize after a few rounds that I was missing a card. Texas Country is a more upbeat, enthusiastic, and realistic form of country music. It has been described as “country with an attitude.” During regular Country music concerts, often the performers are not near as involved with the crowd and they do not have as dedicated following as with Texas Country.

Texas Country musicians rely on themselves to make it big and the best way to do so is through their fans and performances. This genre of music is becoming increasingly popular due to the amazing live shows, genuine music, and lyrics that are easy to relate to. Texas Country is a furiously, rocking type of country music that has become my favorite type of music.

Final

I went to my second to last class last night. I got a paper back I wrote on Texas Country music. I got a 100%. Go me!

We got our assignment for the final exam. We had to read a short story called "The Storm." It takes place in the early 1900s and is about a man and woman who are both married to other people that have an affair with each other. The assignment is to write about why people cheat. Seems a little weird to me. I'm not a cheater. I don't wanna know or learn anything about why people cheat. I believe cheating is wrong no matter how you slice it. I'll suck it up and bullcrap my way through it but I don't like it.

The first blog assignment that I have taken on!

Christina's (I would link her but I don't know how yet) assignment thinger:
Do you have 5 random things that are good? Leave out the buts, althoughs, and howevers and comment or blog about them. We all have so much to be happy and grateful about... let's share a smile.

1. Naps are definately good!
2. My husband is the best!
3. My dog is the best!
4. Common sense is good.
5. I love diamonds!