How could we hope to see His face

Well, my stress levels just jumped a notch. Man has his appt with the orthopedic dude tomorrow but he's been reading up on tendonosis. From what he can tell from reading and the constant pain he's in, it's actually likely that he'll get a med discharge for disability. We'll just have to wait and see. At best, he's likely to get reclassed which means get a different job. At worst, he'll get discharged with disability pay which is 10% of what he currently brings in. These things take a very long time to work out though, so we could just be sitting here for a long time or not long at all depending on the Dx and treatment plan`. I just hope they don't want us to move before this baby is a couple of months old at least.

Reprinted without permission, but this is how I feel right now:

From Cumorah's Hill
The Power of God

Listen to the wind blow lonely as a sigh
Nothing overhead but empty sky
Look up at starlight on a dark night
Are we all alone, an island in space
Or is there a plan where I have a place

Could it be that heaven is Man's imagining
Reaching for hope in childish dreams
Stories so old that we've outgrown them

Has God gone away or hidden His face
Have miracles ceased to be?

But the power of God is plain to see
There are wonders on every hand
To those who will see through eyes of faith
Beyond the mind of Man

For how could we hope to see His face
Who never could see His hand?

Some may see a rainbow as nothing more than light
Others see a promise and a sign
Every day wonders without number
Are here all around and wait to be found
By those who have eyes to see

For the power of God is plain to see
There are wonders on every hand
To those who will see through eyes of faith
Beyond the mind of Man

For how could we hope to see His face
Who never could see His hand?

Listen to the wind blow then listen once again...

Hindsight has shown me that for every wrench in the gears and for every 5 steps back we've learned or gained something incredible that I simply would not trade for an easy life. Not that I'm TRYING to make my life hard.

I was asked this question last week.. "if you could, would you change the past?"

I had to look at my sweet first child, her twinkly blue eyes smiling at me, and I simply couldn't say anything but "no."

The tooth brush song

There are some parts of getting ready for bed that are just not a whole lot of fun for kids. Like, all of the parts. Lately I've been singing songs while Tag gives himself his puffer at night. We were still having to sit on the two younger kids to get their teeth brushed until one night I struggled once more to convince Tag that it feels so good to have clean teeth, etc, and then I started singing The Wheels on the Bus, but then it struck my noggin that a toothbrush song would be more fitting, and I managed to strike gold as far as my kids are concerned:

The brush in Tag's mouth goes swish swish swish... (etc)
All through your mouth

The bubbles in your mouth go (at this point I wag my tongue across my upper lip to make a bubbly noise while still singing the tune)
All through your mouth

The tongue in your mouth goes (I wag my tongue again as above, but omit singing, so it's sort of a whisper bubble noise)
All through your mouth.

The Plaque on your teeth says "I am dying! I am dying! I am dying!" etc (hollered in a distressed, high pitched voice)
All through your mouth.

This song is so funny to them that they want me to keep singing even after their teeth are clean. However, I tell them that this is the special toothbrushing song that I only sing while I brush someone's teeth. At that point they run to the bathroom to fetch Pebbles' toothbrush so they can listen one last time, and all of the laughing, singing, and people watching her face distracts her enough that she doesn't mind brushing so much. She just watches these weird people with that scathingly skeptical look she gets on her pretty face and lets me brush as I please.

Any suggestions for additional verses? I'll try to think of some as well.

The morning dash

I woke up this morning after dreaming about trying to buy some food at a movie theater only to have my name pop up as the name of a wanted felon (who was old, fat, ugly, and MALE) when I stirred my sleepy eyes and saw that it was 7:19. Ack!! I didn't set my alarm for 6:30 last night. Thankfully, Princess had her tomorrow clothes ready to go and her backpack in its place so that when I woke her up she was only 10 mins from sleeping to ready. Fear of the tardy slip made her rush where she normally putters and we were still ready to go out the door a few mins before our 7:45 go time.

She dressed herself in this adorable taupe dress that has china blue flowers on it, getting thicker with floral toward the hem, but it was sleeveless and last night I didn't look too carefully at the shirt she chose to go under it. This morning she had her light blue shirt that has a very slight green cast to it (actually a pretty shirt) under this pretty dress and then she put her pink and yellow rain boots with it. I mentioned that she might want to go with pants today until we find a better shirt to go with her dress, but she wanted to go as was. ::sigh:: I was very torn on whether I should just let her walk out with that outfit, being a good supportive mom who appreciates her child's style creativity or a mom who wisely warns her daughter that she's making several fashion faux pas so she can shape up a bit before heading out. I erred on the side of gently suggesting pants, she stuck with her decision, and I didn't say a word after that. I refused to let the funny looking outfit diminish my pride and appreciation of my daughter. Moms, how do you handle such things? I know the dynamic will change as she grows and I'll have less and less input unless I prove myself the ultimate in chic.

::snort:: Bwahahaha! As if.

Me in 10 years: "Put a jacket over those spaghetti straps!! Layer with those short-shorts, no, ladies do not wear fishnet stockings, and are you sure you're not going to break your neck with those 4" spike healed thigh-high boots?"

Can anyone imagine my sweet Princess in such a getup? Of course not. That's because it'll never happen.

Do a little digging, and you find the nuggets

After looking around at education opportunities, I find that H&R Block offers full scholarships for military spouses.

Link

It's the basic course, but still! I've been interested in these courses for a long time. Now I just need to find about 10 Saturdays where I can get away and take 81 hours of tax classes. lol Think I can do it before Christmas? I hear that they just started a course last week so I might have to wait until spring for this one.

I taught my second class today, Basic Problem Solving again. I'm finding that practice really does help a lot even after just one try. I signed up to teach Acronyms in December which is another really easy class. I only have to teach twice in the next quarter and then I'm taking the following quarter off for maternity leave.

After the last couple of Christmases we've had, I'm thinking of bowing out of Christmas entirely this year, except for my husband and kids. Cards, phone calls, and then packing my hospital bag for the weekend after Christmas and an induction. Any objections from the masses? When I was pregnant with Pebbles, I asked Man to take care of gifting his sister but he never got around to it. That was pretty embarrassing but I was having contractions from stress with even just my side of the family to worry about. The following Christmas we moved here and were a mess. I think I ordered some things online that year but most of it is sort of fuzzy, especially with being in the ER for the three days leading up to and on Christmas itself.

This Christmas.... I'd really just like to take thing very easy. I miss enjoying the holiday, savoring the smells, lights, spirit, family, and preparing a few surprises for loved ones. We like to drive around and look at lights, bringing our song books so we can sing together and then come home to hot chocolate with candy cane stirrers. I have little advent ornaments for the kids to put on our mini tree, which is likely what we'll be putting up again since Pebbles is just the perfect age to be a tree terror. The commissary also has those advent calendars with a tiny chocolate for each day of December that my Grandma B used to send us when I was a kid. There won't be snow but there will be hats, scarves, and deliciously fuzzy socks and warm covers that are so hard to get out of when you've got a freezing cold wood floor to whisk all thoughts of sleep from your head as soon as your toes come in contact with it.

One day at a time.

25 years in one day

My Aunt R called me today to see if I wanted anything out of her garage. LOL! So far I have claim over a food dehydrator and a vacuum sealer. Woohoo!! Add that to the rice cooker and I've scored over $200 worth of small appliances. Apparently I get to go through her house any time I want before she has a yard sale. I'm going to take her some clothes pins and a thank you card. Nice trade? She's been garage saleing and flea marketing for 25 years or so, and now I get to reap the bounty in just one day. Of course I'll only bring home what I need, us having a household weight limit and all, but I have been wanting a vacuum sealer ever since moving out of Man's mother's house.

In other news, I just got a call from the dr's office to let me know that my blood test came back negative for 5th disease virus, so Freida is in the clear as far as fetal anemia and potential heart failure. Woohoo!

We ran some errands this morning after I sat and had a good hard think about how to organize my linen closet. I'm so sick of not having a clear plan with my house that I thought I'd tackle the worst beast we have, as far as chaos, wasted space, and boxes full of things we havn't even looked at in the 9 months we've been here. My linen closet is huge. It has twice the width of the door in shelf space which means, of course, that half of it is completely inaccessible which, of course, means that it holds over a dozen boxes of useless junk. I've made one small triumph. I got clear boxes and they now hold categories of items (nail things, first aid, eye supplies, and tooth/mouth supplies), and to the hair stuff basket I added two of those little containers that hold portions of infant formula in three chambers. The lid spins to allow access to one compartment at a time with a small pop-off lid for pouring, and the whole top also pops off for cleaning or, in my case, sorting. Each compartment holds a different kind and size of hair tie and the two of them nestle in nicely among the brushes and combs.

One day, one triumph at a time.

I need a nap.

Back to basics

I love it when people can teach me HOW to cook rather than just wave a recipe under my nose.

Recipezaar is doing a back to basics series in September, featuring several techniques, hints, and secrets both ancient and modern that make great chefs out of dorm junkies.

My favorite so far is the Challah Braiding class.

Here is the extensive class list. Gosh, I love this website!!

"So, there aren't any bad guys?"

This morning I heard a lot of emergency vehicle sirens and, on the way home from dropping Princess off at school, saw police officers handing out fliers to motorists. After a call to the PD it turns out that it's just information on how to stay safe now that traffic around schools is so much greater. "So, there aren't any bad guys?" "Absolutely not, Ma'am, not to worry."

lol It's a good thing to not spaz, isn't it?

I made a phone call this morning because I promised in a previous post I would, and it turns out there's a college here where I can get generals taken care of for only $20 per credit hour. How could I pass that up? There are also some grants I can work with due to my income bracket and family size.

It looks like I have fewer and fewer excuses to put this thing off. I'm aiming for next fall, after Freida gets fairly settled with life and Tag is also in school.

First tomatoes

For my first small gathering of (finally!!) ripened tomatoes, of course I had to make BLT's. Man had BL's, Pebbles had B and bread (she picked off the other stuff), Princess made herself a B and turkey sandwich, and Tag just ate B until he realized that with a family of five, we get three pieces each and that isn't very filling. So, you can guess which ingredient is the most popular around here. I had the pleasure of layering an entire medium tomato onto my sandwich. The breed of tomato that is ripening more quickly isn't a terribly juicy sort so it was nice to enjoy the full tang of garden tomato without having to wash my arms to the elbow afterward. I'll enjoy the juicier ones later, simply sliced with a sprinkle of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Bliss. :)

Sunday's funny kid moment: The Primary President asked the kids if they knew what sorts of service they could provide for their parents in the evening. One kid in my class raised his hand and said that if it's been a long day for mom to drink cold medicine so you go to sleep faster. Ha! Future insomniac, right there.

Labor Day weekend... Man had to work a normal work day on Saturday, but other than that we've just been kicking it in the afternoons after errands have been run and general cleaning accomplished. We got to visit my grandmother yesterday and, since she's thinking of moving out of the country soon, is massively downsizing her possessions, as is my aunt who was home for a few weeks. So they loaded down our van with things they never wanted to see again, including a large box of books, three bags of children's clothing, and a brand-spankin'-new rice cooker. Sweet!! I've used my rice cooker about 3 times a week for the last 5 years and it's finally starting to look a little worn. And Princess has a new crop of clothes to fit into! Blessings come in the most interesting, unexpected ways sometimes. I had just been lamenting to Man my lack of decent reading material as of late. The 4th Mitford book was in the pile and I devoured it today, once again gettng swept away in these amazing volumes.

They said that we should come back with a moving truck to claim an entire apartment's worth of furniture and, knowing my aunt and her love of flea markets, perhaps a third of the contents of their two car garage which has been lovingly stacked to the gills over the years. I'm sort of glad we had the extra chair in the van for this visit, seeing as I was mentally unprepared to be thus laden. I went through everything as soon as we got home and found homes for everything, whether in my house or someone else's.

College progress: None so far. I have contacted Captain to see if I could help set up an FRG with education as a topic to help motivate me to greater depths of research but havn't heard back yet. I was excited to be reminded that the AFTB classes I took can count toward college credit. Woohoo! I'll contact the education office this week to see about getting an appointment to chat with an advisor.

Oh my stars and little fishes... Heaven help me on this journey.

A new leaf

I have a large desk calendar on my desk. I love this thing. I have a couple of important numbers on it that I just don't ever remember, appointments, and it's right next to the phone and it's large enough that it just doesn't travel anywhere.

Unfortunately, Pebbles loves to climb into the computer chair and draw all over my calendar, Princess has been practicing her new writing skillz on it, and I think some greasy food got on there at one point or another as well. Ew.

I love it when a new month comes, I write those two numbers on a fresh page, and so far I only have 5 appointments on there for the entire month. For your viewing pleasure, an example of last month's page:

And a new month.

Of course, names and phone numbers have been obscured to protect my innocent friends and doctors. My apologies for poor lighting.

It must be in the water

He just keeps tasting things that suddenly don't bother him any more!

Man and I have had a couple of chances to have artichokes since moving here. Neither of us is really crazy about them even though they're pretty ok. We've just always considered it more work than anything.

So the other day the commissary had a pretty good deal on artichokes -- 4/$2. I couldn't pass that up. But what to do with them?

I cut two of them in half (I figured that these were yummy adult food and the kids didn't need their own) and nuked them, cut side down, in a glass 8x8" pan with a half inch of water. I think that next time I'm just going to steam them whole and cut afterward since nuking made the outer leaves somewhat dry.

Anyway, I took the choke out, or rather it sort of fell out when I grabbed the inner leaves and pulled. Then I smeared garlic butter all over the insides of each of them, slapped them on a med-low grill and served them up with aeoli. I would drastically change the aeoli next time since sesame oil ought to be a complement as opposed to a base, and I don't know that Worcestershire sauce goes with it at all. Or maybe we'll just try lemon butter.

We were having an extremely informal dinner of frozen pizza and these artichokes while Man spent some time with a game and the kids sort of grazed. I took a plate over to him and he idly tried a leaf before getting on with the game, but then (ok, get this folks) he paused his game and didn't pick it up again until he was done with his two halves. He said that it was the best artichoke he's ever had in his life. I had to agree with him. That was the sort of reaction he had to our first taste of brined turkey, ciabatta, and his first batch of herbed beef stew after basic training. After a few months of ox tail soup, anything tastes like a dream.

So here's the recipe I used:

Recipe Link.

I wonder what this would taste like with some good balsamic vinegar, or even a light hummus.

Sorry, no pictures because I didn't expect them to be such a hit and they were gone before I could even think of it. Princess got to taste one leaf before I finished mine and had that look kids get when it tasted good and they wished they had jumped on the boat before it was gone.