3 days and I'm so not ready yet.

8 more days :)

I have been so busy lately I started a new job working a lot of hours. Avery started basketball and practices 2 nights a week. Before I knew it John was telling me he would be home in 2 weeks. I blinked and now I'll see him in about 8. Give or take for military plane issues. I don't think we have had a deployment yet where everything went as planned on the way home. I have so much to do and like no time to do it in. I'm looking into having a cleaning company come out and clean the house. That way on Sunday (my only day off between now an when he gets home) I can get the house picked up and they can come in and do the scrubbing for me. I want the house perfect when he gets here so it is easier to maintain. I also need to get someone to clean the carpets and the couch if I can. Yes I know the last little bit before they return from a deployment is like nesting before you have a baby. Nothing is ever right, nothing is ever clean enough, and the list of things you would like to have done before they arrive is long enough that even if you worked nonstop you couldn't finish it. Well, I'm off to try to accomplish at least one thing from my list before I go to sleep.

It's Cold Outside

Yesterday we finally got our first taste of snow since moving to Kentucky. There wasn't much but the kids were happy. Today, it is so cold out. The snow was still coming down this morning. Not heavy I want to say we may have 3 inches total. All of the county schools were closed today, but the ones on post are open. I put 2 frozen little boys on the bus this morning. I'll be armed with hot chocolate when they come home today. The high today is going to be around 20 and tonight the windchill will be -5. So my plan for the weekend... read and snuggle under blankets. The kids asked if they could stay home and do that today. I made them go to school so we can save days off for when John comes home. This cold weather looks like it is here to stay for a while. stay warm.

Facebook

Today I decided to spend sometime searching Facebook for friends that I have lost touch with over the years. I found quite a few. It's fun to see where everyone is today and what they have going on in their lives. Some people took a lot of work to find but it was totally worth it. Who knows I may feel the need to do it again sometime. With John in the Army Facebook is proving to be the best way for me to find and stay in touch with people all over. I'm terrible about making phone calls, writing email, or worse yet writing an actual letter. Facebook allows me to look at what everyone has going on and because I see their status I'm reminded to keep in touch. Avery keeps asking if she can have a Facebook account. I'm not sure but I think we'll let her soon because it will make being an Army Brat easier. I lost touch with a lot of my friends because it was a lot of work to write letters to everyone. I don't want that to happen to her. I found a friend from junior high that I haven't talked to in 15 years and another friend from my high school in Canada that I haven't talked to in around 12. It was so nice to talk to them again.
Gotta love technology. The world is getting smaller and that is a good thing for me.

My Wrecking Crew

When I had kids no one told me that I was creating my own wrecking crew. I spent yesterday cleaning my downstairs only to have it totally trashed again today. I sweep the floor over and over to no avail. Vaccuming is a constant here too. But my least facorites are the dishes and laundry. Ty still goes through several outfits a day and they all eat constantly.I thought that as they got older this would get easier but of course not. It is just differnt toys on the floor, bigger clothes to be washed, and the bathroom. Some days I'm not so sure that potty training is the sweet relief I was hoping it would be. Tinkle on the seat, floor, and anything else that happens to be too close. Well, back to it. Hopefully, I'll win by bedtime.

Reading vs Sleep

Ever since I learned to read it has been a favorite pass time of mine. Unfortunately, it has always been a struggle for me to balance sleeping and reading. Night time is the only time I can sit back and read uninterrupted. In 3rd grade I remember reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Super Fudge start to finish in one night then getting up and going to school. John gets mad when I read too much when he's home because I ignore him for a day or so while I read. When he's gone I don't have anyone complaining that the light is still on at 2am or snoring next to me so I keep finding myself reading still when the sun is coming up. I get up and handle my day with lots of coffee and like an addict I sneak in a few minutes where I can anticipating the time when I can just absorb the words for hours on end. Avery and Jay seem to have the same affliction. Jay reads every night in bed until I put his book up on the shelf and turn out his lights. He is always asking for 5 more minutes. Avery is allowed to regulate her own sleeping. At her age it just seems stupid to give her a bedtime. I figure she will live with the consequences of her choices. Nothing like being tired in school all day to make you go to bed earlier. I'm curious to see if Ty turns out the same.

Thank God for Darth Vader

No, not Star Wars Darth Vader, our algae eater. His permanent residence is in the 55 gallon aquarium down stairs but he gets to go on holiday and visit the other tanks upstairs. I usually try to move him around every other week but I've gotten lazy about the fish. I feed them daily and everything but adding water and moving him around hasn't happened in too long. Yesterday when I put him into Tyler's tank you could barely see the fish the sides were so gross. This morning almost everything is cleaned up. I thought it would take him a week at least to clean up that mess but he should be ready to go to Jay's room tomorrow. I was worried that I would actually have to physically clean the aquariums but Thank You Darth Vader for doing it for me and making my life just that much easier.