Ready, ready, ready, ready...ready to run

So... I am running away... from North Carolina. Wishing I could completely run away from reality. I guess Utah is about as close as I can get to that. I have decided to go to Utah for a few months. I figure I am going to come back when I get called for a house on base. I will probably hold my name on the list for a month or so. That way I can stay at least a month.

I am putting all my stuff in storage and just hoping everything works out.

catch up

The last 3 1/2 months
1. Thanksgiving- After completely ruining the 2008 turkey I tried again, and I made the most awesome turkey EVER! We injected it with flavor and wrapped it in bacon. It took forever to cook but it was amazing. Thanksgiving is my favorite time to be around a lot of family, but this year I spent it with Dan and the kids. We also took thanksgiving dinner to some of the Marines on duty.

2. CHRISTMAS- We had a GREAT Christmas! We drove to Utah and got to see a lot of Aunts and Uncles, cousins and grandparents. We missed the Hoffmasters, but we did not miss the horrible-ness of Indiana during winter :) The cousins went sledding, and we opened presents almost every day we were there. It was really awesome, I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family.

3. CNN interview- I got interviewed by CNN... Even though I was embarrassed about crying it was a really cool experience and I am glad I did it.

4. New Years Eve- Dan and I were planning to go to his CO's house for a New Years party. I was a little worried because my period was late so I took a test to see if I was going to be drinking that night... Needless to say the test said I was destined to be the designated driver of the evening.
On our way to the party a car pulled in front of me, and I hit her going about 45 mph. She was belligerently drunk. Our car was towed away, but gratefully someone came from the party and came and picked up us and the kids. We were planning to go home, but they suggested we go to the party anyways. So we did, and we had a blast.

5. DEPLOYMENT- A few days after the New Year, Dan left for Afghanistan. He has now been gone a month and it has been incredibly challenging. I feel really lucky whenever I hear from him. The hardest part for me is to see how it is affecting the kids. I think it is the hardest on Tommy. When ever he is too happy, he will all the sudden get really sad and say "I wish daddy could be here". Sometimes he bottles everything up and just explodes and gets mad at me. Georgia has been acting out and challenging me. She doesn't really express her feelings but she REALLY has been testing her limits. I didn't think Katherine would notice at all, but I think she actually did regress a little. She is fine now, but...

6. Number 4- So as I alluded to earlier, I am pregnant... with number 4. We knew after Katherine was born that our family was not complete with 3 kids. We were thinking we would adopt a child a few years down the road. Well... Our plans changed when I got a positive pregnancy test. I have had a really hard time telling people, I can hardly wrap my mind around being 25 and having 4 children. I hate when I go to the store now with 3 kids and people make comments. Pretty soon I will be hugely pregnant walking through the store with 3 kids and people will just think I am bat-shit crazy.
I am really ok with having another kid in the family. Dealing with all the pregnancy stuff with Dan being gone is really a challenge. I have had some morning sickness, but the real evil has been the fatigue. I could sleep 16 hours a day or more. But my kids don't, I have to be up, I have to do some laundry. I can wear dirty sweats 6 days a week, but I have to have clean clothes for the kids.

7. COLLEGE- I truly think it is college that gets me pregnant. I have enrolled in college 4 times, coincidence that I have 4 kids??? I don't think so. So I am in college now. It is free as long as I stay full time. It is online, and I have about a year and a half until I graduate... The school I go to is really flexible with family schedules. This time I am determined to finish!

Well that's the last 3 1/2 months of my life... Hopefully I will get another post in before another 3 months goes by... Maybe some pictures too!

Man, I hope I get laid tonight

"Dan, my mom reads this!"

"Ok, is she aware we have three kids and are currently married?"

"...sigh... Ok, but you have to annouce you are ghost writing this."

(Kim reads the previous three sentances)

"DAAAAAN!"

HEY! I'm Kim's husband Dan and I am ghost writing this blog. Do not adjust your computer screens, you just read that. That just happened. Really.

So, Kim got really into blogging a few months back, but it has been a while since her last post, so I decided I should do it. Now, the bad news. I am not equipped with a vagina.

Why does that matter? I don't know. But I thought it best YOU know. If I did have one, that would be weird.

So, I went in to this diatribe on FiST duties, but that got boring and I deleted it. Check out NAVMC 3500.7 Artillery if you are interested. Anyhow, Kim hasn't been up to too much. The kids are good. My job has been extremely bogged down in admin stuff lately, so I could use a break.

So the baby has been getting in to stuff. Georgia has gotten past her monster phase. The more things change I suppose. Kim loves me. She just told me.

Well, now I see why I didn't start a blog. You people are getting this for free. That's crap. You all OWE ME!

Love,

8====>

Dan

P. S. Check you out some FOTC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY8jaGs7xJ0

News article

Today I ran across a news article that was picked up by newspapers across the country. There was a very graphic article about a Marine that was KIA. This article included a pretty graphic picture of 2 Marines taking care of him during his last moments. Their justification of running the picture was to show the reality of war.

Defense secretary Gates, and the family members of the Marine asked the associated press not to run the photo. But the AP Editors decided it was necessary.


The caption of the photo reads as follows:

In this photo taken Friday, Aug. 14, Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard is tended to
by fellow U.S. Marines after being hit by a rocket propelled grenade during a
firefight against the Taliban in the village of Dahaneh in the Helmand province
of Afghanistan. Bernard was transported by helicopter to Camp Leatherneck where
he later died of his wounds.

My heart aches for the family. I know a journalist job is to take pictures and journal everything. But I think discretion needs to be used in what is published. I think it was incredibly disrespectful for them to run the photo.

I am not including a link, but if you want to see the article I am sure you can search it and find it.

In wars past photo journalism has played a role. There are pictures of us dropping the bomb on Hiroshima, Planting the flag at Iwo Jima, and pictures of the destruction at pearl harbor. So why is this one different to me?

I feel it is disrespectful to mass release a picture of such an intimate moment as this. Especially against the Families wishes, and against Secretary Gates wishes. I feel the picture maybe should have been archived if it was truly taken for historical documentation, but not necessarily released in such a public fashion.

I am very interested in other perspectives on this issue.

Dentist

I love my new dentist!!!

So I decided I was going to find a new dentist in town here in Jville. I LOVE my dentist in Virginia but it is time for me to take a big girl pill and be realistic about my time and find one in town. I asked around, called around, and got recommendations. I went into one dentist office in town Anderson and Slack. Everyone in town recommends this office, but I did not feel comfortable at all. I don't know why... But THEN I found :

Karen J. Armstrong, D.M.D.
Bethany K. Tant, D.D.S.
General Dentistry
(910) 346-5600

I have never been so impressed in my life!! First you drive up to this cute little house looking thing. At first I thought it was a little odd and I was slightly worried that it would be a dentist chair set up in someones living room. I was totally wrong but it is a very cute place :)

So then I walk in it is the largest most inviting, professional waiting room I have ever seen! When you walk in to the right is more of a traditional waiting area and then to the left was an area for children with video games, and a train table and movies. I loved it because I was actually ok with letting my kids play without annoying the adults in the other side of the waiting room. They had coffee and tea, and even a little table to sit at. All that in addition the the professional part of the waiting room.

The receptionist was incredibly friendly. She even called me at 8:15 because I thought my consultation was at 9:00, but it was really at 8am! They were still willing to fit me in at 9 for my consultation, which I was SO happy about.

So I had a fabulous consultation, they were very friendly and knowledgeable. I got to see before and after pictures of procedures in their waiting room. I definitely decided that I was ok with bringing my family here for their cleanings.

I know I am going on and on but I was really happy :) during my kids cleanings the hygienists were amazing. I wish I had gotten their names. The one who got Georgia was incredibly patient and actually got to clean her teeth. (She has been to 3 other dentists with no luck) Georgia was then so excited to get a prize from the little prize Machine they have.

Tommy did amazing as always. His hygienist was wonderful as well. He is starting to get his adult teeth in and is expected to start loosing teeth soon!


When I heard Tommy was getting his adult teeth I started to get very nostalgic. He is in kindergarten, loosing teeth... He is growing up so fast on me. It feels like he was just born... and now he is such a big boy! So much has changed in the last 5 years.

Georgia's revenge

Tommy started Kindergarten this last week, and Georgia does not seem to understand. She somehow got it in her head that Tommy gets to go to her favorite place in the world (the beach) while Georgia has to stay home with the baby. It really makes her mad, so she has been finding all new ways of having fun.

While I was doing the dishes I heard the wonderful sound of Georgia and Kat playing together, the cheerful giggles were all through the house. I was SCARED! But I was kind of thankful for the min. alone to actually get the dishes done, and they were obviously ok, so I went ahead and finished the dishes. I then decided to go to the girls room to check on them. This is what I saw...

Then to zoom in on it... Georgia put all her clothes, all the baby clothes, all the blankets and diapers she could find in the baby's crib!! Kat thought it was about the funniest thing she had ever seen, and Georgia was pretty proud of herself too. So then of course I had to refold everything! UGHHH

sign

This is a sign that has been at my work for the last week and a half. Usually I like to drive people nuts by editing the spelling and grammer on their signs. But I didn't even know where to begin with this one.... Why exactly is the must in quotations?? And why will Vicky be holding Debbie at the meeting?