As I was walking through the commissary today, I ran into a woman who was wearing an Oregon Ducks lanyard around her neck. I asked her if she was an Oregonian, or just a fan of the college team, and she said that she is actually from Oregon. When I mentioned one of the towns I lived in, her face lit up because she grew up just a few miles away from there. We talked for a few minutes, blocking traffic in the store, until I gave her my e-mail address. She needed to go meet her friend, and I could get my husband off to work. I hope that she writes to me; it would be wonderful to make a new friend from home.
It was so nice to meet someone who grew up near me. Most of the people I know here are either military or natives. With military families, I have only a 1/50 chance of meeting another Oregonian, so most of my military friends don't understand why Oregon is so important to me. Even well-traveled Midwestern people don't understand what it's like to grow up with mountains in your backyard, since this part of the country is relatively flat. To most of the people here, mountains are things you visit in other states, and while I respect their happiness with their home state, this is just not where I belong.
Sweetie is retiring in about 18 months. We are finally going to be able to choose our next location, although his job skills are in areas that aren't exactly common in the civilian world. I'm mature enough to realize that going home is probably not going to be an option for us right now, but I'm certainly going to keep my eyes open for possible jobs in the Pacific Northwest.
It would be awesome to go home for good. After more than four decades of roaming the country, I'm ready to settle down.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Peace and quiet
Sweetie took the kids to the base today, so that they could play at the playground and burn off some energy. It's nice to have the entire house to myself.
The bills are paid, the laundry is being done, my lunch is finished, and I'm on my way to quilt. I could get used to this!
The bills are paid, the laundry is being done, my lunch is finished, and I'm on my way to quilt. I could get used to this!
Monday, June 7, 2010
A new experience
This afternoon, our lawn care crew showed up at the house to take care of our lawn. I went outside to unlock our gate, and I discovered something gruesome.
There was a dead rabbit in our yard.
It had obviously been something's dinner, and since the little ones didn't notice it while they were in the yard yesterday, we suspect that it had been killed yesterday evening. We do have an owl that hangs out in our neighborhood, so it's entirely possible that the owl was the culprit. Also, our cat had been acting very strangely last evening, but I didn't see anything when I glanced out the window. The rabbit was probably visible to Lucky through the slats of the deck; I admit that I didn't look in that direction, and that part of the yard was in shadow at that time of the day.
Anyway, I took a heavy-duty trash bag outside to pick up what remained of the rabbit. I'm not going to go into gory detail here on my blog, but I will say that my forensic anthropology class was well worth every penny I spent on it. Because of that class, I knew what was going on with the remains of the rabbit, and I didn't get grossed out by what I saw. If I hadn't had that class, well, things could have been ugly.
I have to admit that I'm quite proud of myself. Not only did I not freak out, I was able to show my children something that they don't get to see every day. It allowed me to give them a little bit more knowledge about our natural world, and it helped them understand that even bacteria and insects have a role to play on our planet.
The challenge for me will be erasing what I witnessed from my subconscious, because I really don't want to have nightmares about it!
There was a dead rabbit in our yard.
It had obviously been something's dinner, and since the little ones didn't notice it while they were in the yard yesterday, we suspect that it had been killed yesterday evening. We do have an owl that hangs out in our neighborhood, so it's entirely possible that the owl was the culprit. Also, our cat had been acting very strangely last evening, but I didn't see anything when I glanced out the window. The rabbit was probably visible to Lucky through the slats of the deck; I admit that I didn't look in that direction, and that part of the yard was in shadow at that time of the day.
Anyway, I took a heavy-duty trash bag outside to pick up what remained of the rabbit. I'm not going to go into gory detail here on my blog, but I will say that my forensic anthropology class was well worth every penny I spent on it. Because of that class, I knew what was going on with the remains of the rabbit, and I didn't get grossed out by what I saw. If I hadn't had that class, well, things could have been ugly.
I have to admit that I'm quite proud of myself. Not only did I not freak out, I was able to show my children something that they don't get to see every day. It allowed me to give them a little bit more knowledge about our natural world, and it helped them understand that even bacteria and insects have a role to play on our planet.
The challenge for me will be erasing what I witnessed from my subconscious, because I really don't want to have nightmares about it!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Summer is here
The weather is warm (sometimes even hot), the sun is shining much later in the evening, and the kids are out of school.
Things are fairly quiet here. For now.
Things are fairly quiet here. For now.
Monday, May 24, 2010
The value of Legos
My baby turned three years old recently. She received a couple of sets of Lego Duplos for her birthday; they are both farm-themed sets, and my little girl is now playing with her new toys on the living room floor.
She's been telling me about the sounds each animal makes, and she's reading the numbers that are printed on some of the blocks. Most importantly, she's having the animals "talk" to each other as they travel around the room. She has a very active imagination, which I think is a very important trait for children to have.
All of my children have played with Legos, and I plan to keep Legos in my house for the rest of my life. I enjoy playing with them, too. :)
She's been telling me about the sounds each animal makes, and she's reading the numbers that are printed on some of the blocks. Most importantly, she's having the animals "talk" to each other as they travel around the room. She has a very active imagination, which I think is a very important trait for children to have.
All of my children have played with Legos, and I plan to keep Legos in my house for the rest of my life. I enjoy playing with them, too. :)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
A little better
After having so much trouble feeling connected to the world, I went ahead and reduced my anti-depressant medication this week. It seems to be helping. I feel more alive than I've felt in months, and that's definitely a welcome change.
Of course, it also makes me more emotional in general, so I find myself crying much more easily than I have since I started taking those pills. But that's okay! I like being able to experience life, with all of its ups and downs. Being a zombie just isn't my thing. I'm thankful that I had the medication when I needed it, but unlike many of my friends, I just don't see the benefits of staying on mind-altering medications for long periods of time.
Today was the first day in nearly a month that I used my quilting machine. Yesterday, Sweetie and I discussed selling the machine for what I still owe on it, mostly because I'm not earning any money with it. Since I've slowed down on my quilt making this year, even I was starting to think it wasn't worth keeping. Late last night, I received an e-mail from one of my customers, asking me to attend tonight's quilt guild meeting, so her cousin can give me a quilt to finish. Tonight, I received the quilt, and my customer told me that she has a bunch more quilt tops for me to quilt later on this month. I'm going to keep my quilting machine for a while longer! :)
I have a knitting meeting to attend tomorrow night. I'm going to print out my first shawl pattern and see if other knitters can give me honest feedback about my design. I love designing my own patterns, and I wish I had more time to knit all of them.
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to go without sleep once in a while? I could get so much accomplished, if only I didn't have to sleep so much.
Of course, it also makes me more emotional in general, so I find myself crying much more easily than I have since I started taking those pills. But that's okay! I like being able to experience life, with all of its ups and downs. Being a zombie just isn't my thing. I'm thankful that I had the medication when I needed it, but unlike many of my friends, I just don't see the benefits of staying on mind-altering medications for long periods of time.
Today was the first day in nearly a month that I used my quilting machine. Yesterday, Sweetie and I discussed selling the machine for what I still owe on it, mostly because I'm not earning any money with it. Since I've slowed down on my quilt making this year, even I was starting to think it wasn't worth keeping. Late last night, I received an e-mail from one of my customers, asking me to attend tonight's quilt guild meeting, so her cousin can give me a quilt to finish. Tonight, I received the quilt, and my customer told me that she has a bunch more quilt tops for me to quilt later on this month. I'm going to keep my quilting machine for a while longer! :)
I have a knitting meeting to attend tomorrow night. I'm going to print out my first shawl pattern and see if other knitters can give me honest feedback about my design. I love designing my own patterns, and I wish I had more time to knit all of them.
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to go without sleep once in a while? I could get so much accomplished, if only I didn't have to sleep so much.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Slip, slipping away
I'm not sure if it's my medication or my age that's causing time to slip away the way it has been lately. One day is blending into the next, and I feel like I'm not really living anymore.
It's frustrating, to say the least.
Something has to change. I'm tired of feeling this way. I want my life back.
It's frustrating, to say the least.
Something has to change. I'm tired of feeling this way. I want my life back.
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