Ugh....

I am so bad about keeping up with this.  I should do better, I know!  I love to write, I just blame the small keyboard and my lack of motivation lately.  The only thing I want to do is sit in my lounge chair and wait...

For what? 

Funny you ask. 

I'm pregnant.

Yup, me, who wanted to wait at least another 2 years before I even considered pregnancy again.  But apparently whoopsie babies happen....

So I am due February 2, 2014.  But I'm thinking it will be another induction because of my last one.

So forgive me if I am not on here and active too much.  I'm tired and morning sickness lasts all day now....

Military Spouse Appreciation Day and more....

Do I have proven to be an awful blogger.  I don't keep up like I should.  So here is the 411...

Today is military spouse appreciation day.  I didn't receive a card or some recognition.  Wanna know something?  I didn't care.  My husband is a veteran.  He served 8 years, he put his life on the line in Iraq, he is the one with the emotional scars and lives with it every day.  I have not lived a life like he has.  I do not see what I have done to earn recognition like that.  I am the wife who waited for him on long trips, who made sure his uniform was pressed and clean, who made sure his belly was full and his heart happy.  I was a wife, just like the fireman, the policeman, the garbage man, and the plumber have.  They do not have a day to recognize them.  What makes us so special?  Because we spend more nights alone?  I doubt that.  Do you know that there are men down here in Louisiana who spend 2 weeks away from their family, then one week home, then are gone again?  They do not get Christmas or holidays off unless it is on their work scheduled week off.  They work hard off shore doing dangerous work.  Their spouses do not get recognized.

So, to sum up my little soap box speed here, I am proud to be a Veteran wife, but I do not see what I have done that was above and beyond extraordinary to make me feel like I deserved a day.

OK..

Now that that is over with, here is some great news.  I'm going to see my parents for 3 weeks!  I leave Sunday night.  I can't wait!!!!!

Separations

The hardest part of being in a new place is the distance from my family and friends.  I have never been more than an hour away from my family my whole life.  And now suddenly I am 1100 miles away.  17 hours of driving away. 

And now I'm 24 hours away from my best friend.

I'm so far from helping all of them when they need me most.

:(

I miss my Mama

Yes, I'm 28 (or will be in 29 days) but I am not afraid to admit I miss my mama.  She has always been my rock, even when we were at each other's throat.  So to be 1100 miles away hurts.

Especially now that she has back problems, shouldn't be picking up my wheelchair bound brother, and is in the process of moving the last of the stuff from VA to WV with my dad.  She is struggling and I am not there to help lift the burden.  I always help, I moved in twice and helped out for months on end, even after being married and having a baby.  Because if the roles were reversed my Mama would do the same.

So to be in Louisiana and not be able to help is breaking my heart.  Hoping I can convince my husband to let me go for a few weeks just to ease some of her stress.  And to see my little brothers and sister, my dad, and enjoy the mountain air of WV....

Libraries

So I will let you all in on a not-so-secret secret.  I LOVE LIBRARIES!!

I grew up reading.  My parents read to us as little children.  When we were still required to have naps we were allowed to lay in bed quietly and read instead of sleep.  And as I got older, my love of reading expanded from picture books to novels, science fiction, non-fiction.  To sum it up, I would be found reading my dad's "National Review" or a cereal box if I didn't have a book readily accessible.

To this day I have more books than I know what to do with.  I spend so much time reading that it is rubbing off on my 1 year old.  She will grab her books and "read" them- even if they are upside down. 

So to me libraries are almost as sacred as churches.  I love the peace I get when I walk into one.  All that information stored in one building.  All the opportunities to expand my world from the comfort of my reading chair is almost too much for me. 

And the library in Thibodaux is gorgeous.  It has the cutest children section with a little log cabin but right into the building.  It is a play house for kids!  There is checkers and coloring available, storytime and lap time, and always fun events scheduled for my little Munchkin!

And the selection for me is WONDERFUL!  I can't get over how prompt they are in getting me what I can't find.  If they don't have it, they will get it.  Which works for me! 

And I love coming into the library, seeing the librarians, and they know my name, my daughter's name, and they will chat away with me.  It gives me the constant feeling of small town USA. 

And the big bonus?  FREE books.  Not just the borrowing ones. They sell books that aren't being read for a certain amount of time to make space for more books.  5¢ a book, 50¢ a DVD, magazines are free.  But every month or two they give them away for free.  I have walked away with hundreds (yes, hundreds) of books in the past few months.  Children's book, history, art, science....  you name it, I grabbed it.  I even have a book in Arabic because the pictures were just beautiful.  I may break my own rule of not destroying a book and rip it up to frame some of the pages for the hallway.  They were that pretty!

So, to sum this all up- the library down here may be small, but it still rivals the ones back home in style, selection, and atmosphere!!!!

Job Hunt

So, tomorrow I begin my job search.  It is time.  My baby girl is 16 months old and living on one income isn't really working.  Sad, but true. 

So tomorrow I put out resumes and hope for the best! 

Keep your fingers crossed!

Babies, Clothes, and Consignment

My baby girl is now 15 months old.  And today I really got to see how much she has grown- and just how much I hoard....

See, up north we have a HUGE consignment called Weecycled Consignment.  A huge hall is rented and people consign their goods.  It helps them make money without the garage sale and for others to buy nice clothed at cheaper prices.

And I always went.  And always bought clothes.  And more clothes.  I bought for her sizes then and for the future if they were cute.  I would hoard them, put them in boxes and opened when needed.  But I refused to get rid of them.  When we moved from Quantico, VA to Thibodaux, LA, I knew I had to get rid of some of them.  So I got about 7 large boxes of clothes down to 4.  I thought that was plenty. 

Well, now we will fast forward to now.  My house is less than half of what I had in Quantico (ya, it was pretty big! And I do miss it!) and we don't have the storage amount we used too.  So I had to reduce even more.  I donated some to a friend with a little girl. And now I have discovered that New Orleans has a HUGE children's consignment. 

So, here we go!  I've been going through all the stuff I have been saving.  Memories flood in when I look at her baby clothes.  But it is silly to hold onto this if we are going to wait for at least another 4-5 years to have another one.  And my husband is thrilled.  The house is kind of a mess with the boxes in the house, but I have managed to get all of the clothes I want to save for now into an 18 gallon tote! 

Plus I have more boxes to go through.  I did my Polly Pocket collection- has to be over $150 worth all organized and ready to go! 

Here is to reducing the clutter and making money!