The Lily Pad

Here are the Rules: Pour Your Heart Out Wednesdays Write a post from the heart. Something that has been weighing on you. Something you feel passionately about. Something you've been wanting to talk about. A cause, a memory, a belief, a world view. Anything. There is no assigned topic, but if you are stumped, read some of the posts that are linked, and get ideas from there! I hate that I even have to say this, but, whether you are participating or just reading, please keep in mind that the people linking really are sharing something from the heart. So, please, BE RESPECTFUL. We might not agree with each other, but we can all accept someone's right to have a different opinion than we do and NOT attack someone because of this. Play nice. :) My husband and I both grew up surrounded by family, we had grandparents that we saw multiple times a week, and spent so much time with extended family. Our families played a huge part in our lives. Being a military family, we liv...

Wanna play?  Head over to SupahMommies via the top post-it and get sticky!

Let me preface this with two very important facts. 1.  Water is freaking expensiv e out here. 2.  Two neighbors whose houses were built by the same builder have had water pipes in the concrete slab burst causing weeks of work and damage. On Saturday afternoon I walked into the master bathroom only to hear that the toilet was running. Being the super handy woman I am, I lifted the lid off the tank to assess the situation and found that the floaty bulby thing had broken off the arm thingy that it lifts to plug the hole (bet you didn't know I knew such fancy plumbing words huh?).  I replace the lid and bend down to the turny off knob and turn off the water.  Tada!  Fixed til somebody comes to fix it.  Right? Wrong. Sunday evening I walk in that bathroom just to check on things and notice a decent amount of water in the floor.  I assess the situation and find that the turny off knob is dripping water.  Hmm.  It's a small little bitty l...

I want to write.  I want to tell you about our days, about what we've been doing and show you pictures, and have fun exciting stories to tell, but I can't make my brain formulate full sentances.  I'm just too tired.  This is what happens during deployment.  I hold everything together during the day and then my subconcious takes over at night and I wake up every hour, sometimes staying awake for an hour or two in the middle of the night. Eventually my brain is mush and you get weird rambly posts about me not being able to think.  I have some unisom and an appointment in 2 weeks for some ambien.  Hopefully then I can get my thoughts together. For those of you who know me in real life.  I'm not gaffing you off or forgetting you on purpose, just text or email or call me if I'm supposed to be doing something.  Even though I've tried putting things in my phone to keep myself organized, I have put 3 things so far in the wrong month.  Yeah.......

I keep missing Friend Making Monday over at {aefilkins} so tonight I stayed up super late to get in on the action before it was even Monday for me. OK, so maybe that's a lie, but I am up and it did post. I blame insomnia and I have missed doing FMM. So here are my springy answers to the fun springy questions! 1. Favorite things about Spring: The smell of freshly cut grass and pretty flowers. 2. What I'm doing for Spring Break: I'm a stay at home mom to a 2 year old in SoCa. Every day is spring break! 3. Favorite Spring flower: Tulips 4. Do you have a garden? No, but I have a lot of flowers and flowering bushes and grasses. 5. If so, what do you grow. I try to grow flowers, but the rabbits like to eat them. 6. Do you do Spring cleaning? Not really unless it's rainy and I can't go outside and enjoy the spring like weather. 7. What is your weather *really* like right now? {Just b/c it's "officially" spring, doesn't mean that it feels like it for some...

Go ahead, you know you want to. It's just hanging out there over on the right looking all cute and pretty, so just reach out and grab it! It won't bite, so grab it and let me know you did. I want to start a little button collection over there. :)

Early this afternoon, Madelyn and I were reading a book and we heard the doorbell. Madelyn immediately says "Daddy's here!" and I have to remind her that Daddy is "bye bye" and won't be home for a whole bunch of sleeps. We go to the door and peep out the peep hole only to see that nobody is there...so that means there's a package! Woohoo! We love packages. I pick up the box and see immediately that it's addressed to Madelyn and know that it is her "Daddy Doll". I am not sharing the first video I took of her opening it, it was very personal for her and she walked away from the camera and me to have a moment to herself. She is doing very well, but I can tell she's not sure how to process things, I'm not even sure how to process things so it's understandable. I'm just glad that she is expressing herself and hopefully soon we'll be able to find a way for her to express herself that doesn't involve a full on meltdown. :...

I've been in a bit of a crafting funk lately. I have projects to do and lists of things I want to complete but I've been feeling less than inspired. Until today and this evening full of checking out crafting blogs! Today I finished a skirt and made a ruffle sleeve top and now I have visions of other things running through my head. If I weren't so tired and concerned about Madelyn's sleep (or lack of) I would start something tonight. You can be assured that I will be mod podging in the morning though! :) On a completely different note, why does my 2 year old have to be so dadgum smart? She just brought me the sunscreen and wanted me to spray it on her. It's a twist top and it was closed so I "tried" pushing it and said it didn't work. She took it from me, twisted it open, and handed it back. I'd love it if I could get something over on her it would make some days so much easier!

The nsfbs in the title indicates that this post is Not Safe For Bonnie's Sanity. She will choose to read it at her own risk. I cannot be held accountable. If your husband is deployed or deploying soon, it may not be safe for you either. Enter at your own risk. I started writing these deployment posts as they were happening, in the interest of opsec (operational security) they haven't been posted in real time. As the posts and events get more general, they'll be a little more up to date. As of this posting, Chris has already deployed. The other day I had a conversation wherein I disclosed to my dear friend that I was feeling very indifferent about Chris' departure. I wasn't feeling the sense of dread I expected, I was just going about my business as if the 7 month deployment to a war zone was just another week in the field. It was kind of nice. I was proud of how strong I was being, although a little sad that I could be so heartless. Was this what 10 years of marriag...

Me playing Marine....and Chris posing for Madelyn's photo shoot. Madelyn and Daddy reading yeah...that... Helping Daddy with his bag... Her St. Patricks Day outfit! Yay beach!

Even though my mind is full of thoughts of deployment and I can't seem to focus on anything else, I have to. Here is a list, cause lists are very un-deployment like, unless you count the list of things to do, pack, or that can't be talked about over the phone. 1. Madelyn is still convinced that when Chris goes away that he is at a park swinging. I don't know where this idea came from and we just kind of roll with it, but it makes me wonder what's going to come up in therapy later. "My daddy was always running off to go swing at the park without me!" 2. I'm thinking about getting a bb gun to shoot the rabbits in my yard. They keep eating my flowers and my strawberry plants! It was one thing when they were eating the grass, but they need to stay away from my pretties! 3. Madelyn has stopped wearing diapers for the most part and is doing great! She is such a big girl and loves it! 4. I haven't been crafting or sewing (unless you count fixing a s...

Part three in the story of our first war time deployment. Catch up on parts 1 and 2 below. In the coming days and weeks I heard from Chris very little. I continued to write him daily and I collected newspapers for him. I didn't read them. I went on a media strike. Each morning and each night I turned on FoxNews and watched the bottom ticker for about 5-10 minutes and that was it. I didn't even listen to the news cast that was on. I just wanted to get a general update. I hated the body count, I still do. There is no need for it. I hated the randomness of it all. I just wanted to know one thing. Was Saddam dead or in custody yet. Once that happened I knew we'd be on the downhill slide and that's all I really cared about. I didn't know all that would be involved in the coming months and years. The details are fuzzy. My days, nights, and weeks all ran together. I remember the base was like a ghost town. It was sad and creepy all at once. The organization I worked for de...

Here is part II of my original post about our first war time deployment. I read this and realize that so many of the feelings are still true leading up to this deployment. Catch up on Part 1 HERE I am thankful that Chris left in the morning of a work day – it forced me out of bed and into my job of providing services for other military families. I had been up all day Sunday with getting things ready and preparing for the inevitable. He was supposed to leave at 9 p.m., I waved goodbye to him through a bus window at 2 a.m. Those hours were hard on me. I just wanted to sit and snuggle and cherish our last few minutes. He had to run around and make sure everything was ready. His anxiety and excitement wouldn’t let him sit with me in the heated car. Eventually he did and another Marine climbed into our backseat to get away from the cold and to rest a few minutes. At 2:15 I followed the bus out of the base, the route that Chris and I both took to go home every single day, the only difference...

I wrote about our first deployment on my now neglected blog, Frog E. Luv. Here is part 1 of 3 as I originally posted it in 2006. I have mentioned on here before that I am married to a Marine, however I don’t recall ever talking in depth about my political views, my thoughts on the war in Iraq, or what it was like to be at home with a husband fighting for the freedom of people I don’t know. I’m not sure how long this will be and I know for a fact that not everyone will agree with me, it is just the story of what I experienced. When Chris and I started dating he was in an anti-terrorism unit. What this meant for me was that sometimes he called, sometimes he didn’t. Sometimes he’d call to say that he wouldn’t be able to call for a few days. I never knew and still don’t know exactly what was going on. I don’t care to. Then he got orders to CA where he was stationed with a headquarters unit. What that meant for me was that he wouldn’t be deploying except in time of war. That was fabulous be...

Since all 4 (serioulsy people? that's all that commented? I need more readers!!!) of my commenters suggested leaving my deployment posts here, I guess I will oblige you. There are a few in the works as I am in full on preparation mode. I have some rules though, so listen up. 1. I will not EVER give dates, times, or places. You won't be reading in real time, there will be a delay whenever something is date specific - such as departure day. 2. I won't answer questions about specific dates, times, or places. So don't ask via the blog. If you know me in real life and want to ask, call me. I may or may not be able to answer. 3. Play nice. These are my thoughts and feelings and might not be right for everyone. You are entitled to your opinion and I encourage you to share even if it differs from my own, but do it nicely. No attacks. 4. DO NOT ever put specific information you may have about my husbands unit or a different unit in your comments. They will be del...

Sorry for the lack of posting around here and on ThreeG's lately. I promise that I am living and doing things, I just am not in a writing mood. Well, I am but it's all much more than I think I want to share here on this blog and I am contemplating another blog so that I can then have three blogs to ignore on a regular basis. What do you guys think? Should I do another blog that is solely my thoughts, ramblings, and experiences as a wife and mother enduring a deployment or should I just post those here with titles that will allow you to skip them if you have no interest? Then, on those lines...is anything I would have to say about deployment interesting enough for you to want to read? I need opinions, input, answers. So comment. If you don't, it will make me sad and I will have to cry even more than I have been and then you'll be that person that made the poor pitiful Marine wife cry just because you were too lazy to leave a comment. Ok, not really...but maybe.

Go check out my and Denise's creations for Suggestion Saturday ! Yum!

I have a nice long "rights of passage" post in the works for you as it has been a very exciting few days here on our lily pad, but I thought you might enjoy a video of Madelyn "shredding it with Jillian". How's your shredding going Tammy?