Update on Stuff....

Ok, so I know I promised to be a better blogger but I haven't kept that promise!! Things have been super hetic around here. Usually, October, November and December are slow months at a law firm. No one wants to think about divorce. They like to wait and deal with it after the holidays. But we've been really busy so that's a positive sign. We've had some changes with work and it's been an unhappy thought lately. I know it's all for a reason but that doesn't make the change any easier. I will not be seeing a very important person in my life on a daily basis and it's been difficult to deal with it.

Thanksgiving was such fun! I spent it at my parents, of course. All holidays when Nick is gone from us are spent there. We had an awesome meal on Thursday, great pies (made by me!!) and fun family time. Mom, Stacy and I went shopping at JCPenney on Friday morning for a few things. Now, in the town my parents live in, the JCPenney is not a huge store and there are usually only a few people in the store. There weren't many more for Black Friday. I got some cute new work clothes. Having lost the weight I recently did, I was very low on work stuff. Friday afternoon, Stacy and I had a girls day. It was so much fun!! We got our toes done and had lunch. Amy was supposed to go with us but she stayed home because she wasn't feeling well. On Saturday, we drove out to College Station for more shopping. We went to the mall on a hunt for something for Daddy for Christmas but didn't have any luck. Thankfully, Mom was able to buy it online. So I still have Christmas shopping to do and hopefully I'll get it done soon. Zachary wants to decorate the house and the Christmas tree this weekend so that will be fun. I'll have to post pictures when it's done.

Changes

I know I haven't posted anything for a while but things have been quite busy lately. The second week of October I was out of town for 3 days for a CLE (Continuing Legal Education) seminar put on by the Paralegal Division of the Texas State Bar. We had a blast!! It was educational and I learned alot. I was on Wendnesday through Friday. When I got back into town on Friday, both of my sisters were coming into town for my birthday party Harold gave me on Saturday night. We had so much fun at the party. The theme of the night was Girl's Night In and we had cosmos to drink all night and karaoke. It was so much fun. My birthday was on the next Tuesday, October 20th and I had an awesome day. Nick sent me flowers, a beautiful arrangement that had purple roses in it. The same color purple roses that were in my wedding bouquet. Zachary and I had the best evening. Aside from Nick being home with us, he was one of my favorite people to spend it with. On Friday, the 23rd, Nick's gift to me was a spa day at a day spa in Harker Heights. I got a mud wrap, a facial, a massage and a manicure. It was fabulous!! Nick treats me like a princess! I'm so blessed to have him in my life.

Along with all of this, I received a promotion at work. I am now the office manager along with my paralegal duties. I've always felt like I've done this role anyway, now I've got the title to match it. There are some changes taking place at the law firm and I'm not too fond of what is going on but I am now being recognized for the work I've been doing.

I am also going to try and be a better blogger. I've been slacking lately so I'm going to try and work on that.

New Me

Most of the people that know me know that I am a pretty private person concerning certain things. In April 2007, I was working at a local law firm and I was fired. I didn't work again until July 2007. I also put on about 30 lbs., which was easy since Nick was gone and Zachary was little. I didn't like the way I looked and I tried other weight loss methods, with no luck. I kept seeing these commercials for Jenny Craig. I knew that if I stuck with the plan, I would be able to lose the weight. I started the program on May 4th. Initially, I was planning on losing 40 lbs., which would have put me at the weight I was when I graduated from high school. As the program progressed and I started losing the weight, I decided that 40 lbs was too much to lose. I re-evaluated and decided that 30 lbs was better. So far I have lost 25 lbs. And it has been the easiest diet I have been on. There is no thinking about the plan or the food. Everything is given to you and you add in fresh grocery items. I have weekly meetings with a consultant, who has been very supportive. I had all these clothes in my closet from before Zachary was born and even after that I haven't been able to wear. I can now fit in those clothes and I'm even buying clothes that are smaller than those. I like the way I look now and am happy that I did this.

Taking a Time Out

This afternoon, I got to talk to Nick on webcam. It was, as always, great. I love being able to see his face and the idea of being able to talk and see him when we're so far apart. After I talk to him, I always feel this sense of calm, always. Especially if I haven't talked to him in a few days. This afternoon, I went outside and it wasn't too terribly hot, so I decided to sit a while on the swing Nick built me. I sat for a while and decided that a glass of wine sounded really good so I went in the house and got one. As I sat on the swing, I looked up in the sky and it was a little gloomy. If you know me, you know that I love gloomy weather. It puts me in the best mood. Odd, I know. Anyway, I was so calm and I took time to just be with myself and alone. Zachary was so good; he was in the house watching tv and let me have some quiet time. I don't get to have quiet time that often so when I do, I cherish it. I took some time to reflect on my life too. I have an amazing husband who will do anything for me, and son that makes me happy I'm alive. I try to take care of myself but it's hard sometimes. As a wife and mom, and I think this is true of alot of women, you sacrifice so many things for others. I try to take time for myself in the evenings and do something for me. It can be something so little as making a pot of decaf coffee or some tea and having a cup or two. Or reading in the silence of the house. Or watching a movie. It's so hard to take a time out for ourselves but it's so important for our sanity. I know it is for mine.

Strength

As everyone knows, Nick is deployed on his 2nd tour to Iraq. The hardest thing for me to deal with has been taking on everything by myself and dealing with it. I have to look very deep in myself to find the strength I need. I have always pulled most of my strength from Nick. We've been together almost 15 years. To say I lean on him for strength would be just scratching the surface of what I depend on him for. Last week, we had a scare with the dreaded swine flu. One of Zachary's teachers was exposed to it and didn't tell anyone. She was not feeling well, went to the ER and was tested for the swine flu. It was confirmed that she did have it. So that meant that Zachary had been directly exposed to this terrible illness that we've all dreaded for so many months. When he told me 2 days ago that he wasn't feeling well, I was so worried that he had it. He started to spike a fever on Thursday night and was complaining that his throat hurt. Of course, I went online and began searching for the symptoms of the swine flu. And of course, that was the worst thing I could have done. Doing that always make the anxiety worse for me and yet I still do it. So I decided I needed to take Zachary to the dr this morning. I didn't know what it was but I knew that with me going out of town and Zachary staying with my parents next week, he needed to be looked at even it it was nothing. So we got an appointment, thankfully, and the dr looked in his throat and said she wanted to test him for strep throat. I prayed that that was what it was. As I was praying, I realized what I was praying for but I also realized that strep throat was the lesser of two evils. The test came back positive and Zachary was diagnosed with strep throat, thankfully. He was prescribed antibiotics and he will be fine.

I realize that I am not the only Army wife that is going through this but sometimes it sure feels like it. I have a great support system in my family but they are all 2 hours away. Be supportive of your friends who are going through this. It's so hard to ask for help and when we do, we hope you'll say yes.

Hankster the Fish

For a while now, Zachary's been asking for a fish. After alot of convincing by Zachary, I finally agreed. I bought all of the fish supplies online and waited until Zachary got home from his grandpa's house to let him pick out a fish. We went to Petco and he picked out a blue betta. I talked to the people that work at Petco and they said the best fish for young children are bettas. They live for 2 years and can live in a dixie cup. He had the name picked out a long time before we ever bought the fish. We came home and added the water and the conditioner to the tank. Zachary wanted to scoop Hankster out of the small bowl we bought it in. Zachary tried to scoop him and he flipped out of the bowl and he landed on the nightstand. I scooped him up and put him in the tank. Hankster's first minutes with our family were very traumatic! So after a few days we are all adjusting. I have been letting Zachary feed Hankster but he still hasn't gotten the hang of how it works. Tonight, when we got home, we went to check on Hankster and we needed to feed him. I told Zachary he could feed Hankster. After all, I want this to be an opportunity to teach Zachary about responsibility. I gave him the food and he came out alot faster than Zachary could control. So Hankster was fed alot for dinner. I told Zachary we needed to work on how to feed Hankster. He told me that he needed to go to fish school to learn how to feed him. I just laughed...he's so funny.

Websites

So lately I've been a little obsessed with finding interesting sites to visit. I like to read all kinds of articles. Not only on parenting but also on women's issues. I was on MSN this weekend and I clicked onto a link about birth order and what is says about you. As I'm reading this article, I start looking at the site it is on. It's call DivineCaroline. I love this site already. It's got all kinds of goodies for women, whether you're single, married, a stay at home mom or if you are a work outside the home mom. You should really check it out. I'll post the link at the end of this post. Now, while looking through this site, I came across a site called Beyond the Rack. It's a site that carries designer clothing at lower prices. I was intrigued at this site when I first clicked onto it. The site runs sales on certain items for 48 hours. It rotates with the clothing, accessories, shoes...all kinds of stuff. Another site I really like that I have been visiting for a while is called Bag, Borrow or Steal. It's a cool site that you can rent items that you normally wouldn't be able to afford. This is a smart idea. We've all had that reunion, party, business meeting that we have wanted to "wow" someone or everyone. This site allows you to do that and not break the bank. I know as women, whether you are married, single, a mom or not, we tend to do everything for everyone else before ourselves. We are forever buying our kids new sneakers, new clothes, new whatever they need and we don't treat ourselves like we should. This site allows you to do that and not feel those pangs of guilt I know we all sometimes feel. What a genius idea.....don't you think?

Links to the sites:

http://www.divinecaroline.com/

http://www.beyondtherack.com/

http://www.bagborroworsteal.com/

Just like me!

I've been trying to teach Zachary good health habits. This includes, among other things, washing his hands before dinner or after he comes in from outside playing. When we got home tonight, I told him he needed to go wash his hands while I started his dinner. After he washed them, he came running in the kitchen yelling "It's just like me!" I said "What is just like you?" He showed me his Spongebob bottle of soap. I asked him if he wanted to take a picture for Daddy. He said yes and smiled big for the camera.

Born to do this!

Zachary was bored this afternoon and asked to go outside and play in the pool. It's a kiddie pool and I needed to dump the current water and re-fill it. When I dumped the water, I put some holes in the side of the pool. I told Zachary that he couldn't play in the pool because it wouldn't hold water. So I asked him if he wanted to play in the sprinklers. He said yes. We hooked it up and away he went. He had been playing for about 10 minutes when he comes to me and says with a serious face, well as serious as a 4 year old can be soaking wet and with Spider-Man goggles on, "Mom, I was born to do this!" I said "Are you having fun, baby?" He said "Oh yeah!!" Isn't summertime great??

The Perfect Plan

On our way home from daycare today, Zachary told me that he had the perfect plan for when he turned 5. I asked him what it was. He said that when he turned 5, he was going to marry a girl. I asked him who he was going to marry. He said Averie, who is a girl in his class. He said he and Declan, a boy in his class and his dad is deployed with Nick, had talked about it over lunch today. I asked him if Averie knew about this and he told me no. I told him he should probably tell Averie since she was going to be a part of it. He's growing up so fast.

Rules

One of the things I have struggled with since Nick left is getting comfortable with being the only parent that is disclipling Zachary. I have been trying to figure out what works best for us. Zachary argues with me, on everything. So I have started telling him that I am the Mom and I make the rules which seems to be doing the trick. Before Nick left, we started having Family Movie Nights on Friday nights. It was a time for the 3 of us to spend together before Nick left. I decided to keep the tradition up after Nick left. I want routine and as much normalcy as possible for Zachary during this deployment. So since we are going to be going out of town and won't be here on Friday night, I asked Zachary if he wanted to have movie night on Thursday this week. He said yes. He went to see "UP" with his daycare today, as part of the summer camp program as his daycare. He saw the popcorn and candy display at the theater. He asked me if we could have popcorn with the movie tomorrow. I told him yes but only after we ate dinner. He agreed. Before he went to bed, he said he was excited about having popcorn for dinner tomorrow night. I told him that we were not having popcorn for dinner. He said, and I quote "Well Mom, you make the rules so we could have popcorn for dinner. You make the rules." While I'm glad he understands how I want it to work, should I be worried too??

Yellow Lights

This afternoon when I picked Zachary up from daycare, I went through the light that was yellow. Zachary said "Mom, yellow lights mean you have to be careful. You just drove through that light." I said "Yes but I made sure there weren't any cars coming." He said "Ok but you need to be careful." My little traffic guard.

Summer Time

Zachary loves to be in the pool or any type of water when it's summertime. We were at my parents place this past weekend and Zachary spent all last week there as well. I brought him a pool to use while he was there. He played in it every afternoon and had a blast. He loves the water!

Loving a Soldier

This poem, which I have had for a while, is for all my friends who are military wives. This poem is meant for wives but there are husbands who are going through this too. It's one of the hardest jobs you will ever have and I admire all the men and women who are going through it.

I did not write this poem but feel like it says what it needs to.


LOVING A SOLDIER


Loving a soldier is a high price to pay,
loving him truly is hard when he's away.

It's being alone with nothing to hold;
it's being young, but feeling old;
it's having him whisper his love for you;
it's whispering back that you love him too.

There comes a kiss and a promise for more,
as his plane slowly rises to soar;
reluctantly, painfully, letting him go,
while your insides are dying from wanting him so,
watching him leave with eyes full of tears,
standing alone with your hopes, dreams and fears.

It's sending a letter with the stamp upside down,
to a far away love in a far away town.

It's going to church to kneel and pray,
and really meaning the things that you say.

Being in love will foster your dreams,
of that far away soldier your mind fairly beams.

Days go by, no mail for a spell,
you wait for some word to hear that he's well.

Then a letter arrives, and you've given in,
to open his letter and read it with a grin,
yes, he is well and misses you so,
it's filled with the love you wanted to know.

Weeks are like months, and months are like years,
you wait for the day when you'll have no more fears.

Days go by slowly, how many have passed?

Yes, loving a soldier brings bitterness and fears,
loneliness, sadness and despondent years.

Loving a soldier isn't much fun,
but it's worth the price when the battle is won;
and remember he is thinking of you everyday,
he's sad and he's lonely while so far away;
so love him and miss him and hold your head high,
be strong and have faith, wipe that tear from your eye.

It's the high price you pay for loving a soldier…

My little listener

I came home from work today and told Zachary that I had a bad day at work and he said "Tell me about it" as he was watching TV. I asked him if he really wanted to know and he said "Yes mommy, I really want to know." So I told him what kind of day I had and he came over to me and gave me a big hug. He's such a sweet little boy and I'm lucky I'm his Mom.

Growing Up

We were on our way to Zachary's daycare this morning and he was excited all of a sudden for no reason that I knew of. He told me "Mom, I'm growing hair!" I said "Where?" He said "On my arm. I'm excited! I'm going to start growing hair everywhere soon!" That started my day off well....he's growing up so fast!

Little Triumphs

So Zachary came to me this morning to tell me that his toilet wouldn't flush. I take off the lid to the tank, thinking this will be easy, and look at it. I try flush it, obviously it doesn't work. So I keep looking at it thinking that the solution would come to me if I just stared at it enough. I decided to call Dad. Zachary gets on the phone to try and explain which doesn't go all that well. I get on the phone and Dad starts telling me how it should all work. In the middle of it, I start pushing on stuff. I pushed on 1 thing and the water started to fill the tank. After that, it worked! Yay!! Dad tells me that the part will probably do it again and that I will probably have to replace it. That's a problem for another day. Oh the interesting things that happen when your husband deploys.

Girls Night Out

These last few weeks have been especially hard on me and Zachary. With Nick leaving, the adjustment period was rough. I've got good friends around me, which I've never really had before, that have helped me with this. My best friend in Oklahoma has been so supportive. My family has been amazing.

But tonight was a total selfish evening for me. I got a pedicure, went out to dinner and then some shopping after dinner. I had a great time with my friend, Linda. It was nice to have a evening out and just have fun. I've been so busy with Zachary and work and making sure things are comfortable at home that it was nice to just relax with no worries for one evening. And now I'm enjoying some alone time....the perfect way to end the evening.

Moving forward.

I haven't posted anything for a while. Nick has just left for his 2nd deployment and we are coping...slowly. I don't remember it being this hard the first time but we didn't have Zachary either. But we are putting 1 foot forward everyday and making it work. I have my days but I am hoping that those will start becoming few and far between. I will make this work, not for only myself but for Zachary. It is very important to me that his little life is rattled as little as possible. I'm glad that I have the support of my family and friends. I know now that family and friends will be what support me and keep me up. It's so hard for me to ask for help; I don't do it. But I am realizing that if I do need to ask for help, I know where to go.

Spring Family Pics 2009

On April 17th, we went to have our pictures taken. We went to Portrait Innovations in the Market Heights shopping center. We had a really great photographer and that made the process simpler. Luckily, Zachary cooperated and smiled easier than we thought. The goal was to take most of the pictures of him with his cowboy hat, which we did. I love the pictures of him in his hat. The rest of the pictures are pretty good too.

IKEA

Nick and I spent the day together and we went to the outlet mall in Round Rock. Close to the mall is Ikea. I really didn't like Ikea when I first went into it a while ago but today was different. If you've been in the store, you know you really can't get out without walking around the entire store. I didn't realize you could get a meal in the store either. I picked up a few things for really cheap. I didn't spend as much time in the store as I wanted to so I am hoping to be able to go back soon to take a better look. And this time I'll be using a buggy that I will, no doubt, be able to fill up for probably about $100. Nice.

Johnson Family Vacation

Our family went on vacation from April 3rd to April 9th. We went to Sea World in San Antonio, visited my parents, Nick's grandmother in Houston and his grandmother in east Texas. Sea World was fun, especially with Zachary. I thought he would only like to watch the shows but he wanted to ride the rides too. He was only tall enough for 2 of the rides, the Shamu Express and the Journey to Atlantis. The Journey to Atlanis was a water slide and Nick had to ride with Zachary. He rode it the first time and he got soaked...and loved it. He wanted to ride it again. We took a break to see Shamu and then we took him back and they rode it again. He had such a good time and got a pretty cool sword out of it too.

After Sea World we went to visit family. It was good for everyone to have some time with Nick before he deploys next week. And we had a good time too.

Springtime in Texas

Zachary and I went to my parents place this weekend in Brenham. It's about 2 hours south of us in Killeen. The drive up there on Friday afternoon had me looking for bluebonnets so that I could take some pics of Zachary in them. I've always wanted to do that and never have. So when we got to my parents place, they were everywhere. We took some pics on Sunday morning. If you are friends with me on either Myspace of Facebook, I've posted the entire albums there.

I love springtime in Texas!

My amazing husband!

Today is Legal Assistants Day, which is what I do. So Nick came to work this morning and brought me a rose bush, a very soft teddy bear and my favorite candy. I said "I didn't even know it was legal assistants day. How did you find out about it?" He said "I heard it on the radio and went home to google it to be sure." I have an amazing husband. He loves me probably more than I deserve.

P.S. I'll post pics later...

I love to be organized!

Last night, about 3:30 a.m., my dog woke me up to go outside. I got up, let her out, and then laid down on the couch to wait for her to come back in. While I was laying there Zachary came out of his room to tell me he wanted to sleep with us in our bed. Now, for any of your parents that know that feeling when your kids sleep with you, you don't get any sleep. You're too busy making sure your kid doesn't elbow you in the face or kick you in the stomache. I took Zachary back to his bed but his pull up had leaked so I had to change his bed sheets. I walk to the linen closet and open it......and there are all of my bed sheets. Neatly folded, organized, labeled, and in plastic tubs for me to see. At 3:30-ish in the morning, I had never been so happy to see plastic tubs and labels. I changed the bed sheets, with a huge goofy grin across my face, and tucked Zachary back into bed. I love my plastic tubs and my label maker!

Bush Whisperer

So, we went out to eat tonight and when we got home we stopped to look at our front garden. We have a crabapple tree, many irises and amaryllis, another plant I'm not sure that I'm not sure I know the name of, and 3 japanese boxwoods. I think the boxwoods are dead, however my husband does not. So as we stand there looking at our japanese boxwoods, I tell Nick "I think these are dead." He says "No they aren't. When you scratch the branches, it's moist." I said "How do you know that?" He says "Because I am the bush whisperer." I laughed pretty hard....my husband is so funny.

The Coffee Shop Cafe

We are always looking for something to do on a Saturday with Zachary and we decided for this Saturday we needed to take him to Cameron Park Zoo in Waco. It's a really nice zoo and we've been there before. It's about 1 hour away from our house but we always have fun when we go. After we had been to the zoo, we took the scenic way home which included a drive by Crawford and through McGregor. I had never been that way so I thought it would be nice for a change. We stopped at a cafe in McGregor called The Coffee Shop Cafe. It's website is http://www.thecoffeeshop.us/ It's just a big ole' country cafe and the food is very good. I didn't cost us much to go either, it was about $23 for the 3 of us to eat. They have a buffet that you can eat from or you can order off the menu. Inside this cafe, there is so much George W. Bush stuff you can't even imagine. It's located on Highway 84, also known as the George W. Bush Parkway so you can imagine what type of stuff is inside. All that aside, if you are in Central Texas and you can stop by this cafe, you should. Your tummy will thank you!

New toys...

Ok, so does anyone else who has a boy feel like the toys for boys are against us?? Zachary's been having some issues at school, which I'm sure are related to Nick leaving soon for Iraq, so we told him that if he was good at school we would get him a have a prize; which in Zachary's world translates in a new toy. Nick picked up Zachary from school and they were off to Wal-Mart to get a prize. I get home and about 5 minutes later, the boys get home. Zachary gets out of the truck and I'm looking at this toy thinking..Oh good. This will give me a headache later. So after playing outside, dinner and a bath, we have taken the toy out of the box and put it together!!

1-Mom
0-Toy

Success!!

Zachary..the big helper.

So Zachary comes to me a little bit ago and says "Hey Mom, look at what I can do. I can fold this cape." He was wearing his Super-Man jammies..complete with a cape. So I said "Ok baby, show me." He folded it so well. And then he said "Ok Mom, it's your turn." I folded it but of course it wasn't as good as his was. Now....how do I get him to help with the laundry??

First Blog...

So, I thought that I would keep everyone updated on our lives through this blog. We are a military family, which means nothing stays the same with us for long. I am a 30-something mom of an amazing little boy, Zachary, who is almost 4 and a wife to a husband that I am lucky to have in my life. We are going to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary on April 20th. He is an active duty soldier in the U.S. Army and has been for 12 years. I work at a law firm as a full time paralegal working primarly in family law. I love my job, and my boss, who is also a very close friend and I treasure him dearly.

So, having said all of that...welcome to my blog, A Day in the Life of a Soldier's Princess. I hope you enjoy this journey with us!