I Hate Passwords

Every time I set up a password, I think I'll NEVER forget this. And I use that one for quite awhile. But then, for one reason or another, I'll use a different one. After a lot of time passes, I can no longer remember the password I thought I'd never forget. I try about four of them and then I give up and request a reset.

I remember fondly the bygone days of yesteryear when our password was a 6 letter word I've NEVER forgotten! If only that could be my password forever. But alas, where it had an abundance of simplicity it lacked security. However, knowing you'll never forget your password brings a security all its own.

You know what else undermines your security? When you do something you've NEVER done before that makes you question your competence. Today I accidentally threw half an eggshell into the cookie dough as the mixer was on instead of tossing it onto the counter. I stopped the mixer immediately and spent several minutes sifting through the goo. I fished out some bigger pieces, but you know someone will have an extra crunchy cookie! Now, usually I toss eggshells into the sink. Unless I am making a mix, and then I stuff them into the box. And sometimes, I do things the right way, and actually break the eggs into a bowl and then add them to the mix. I guess I am going to have to have a routine now for everything. Oh bother.

I'm afraid it all boils down to I'm getting scrambled. Kind of like Humpty Dumpty. Hey, that'd make a great new password that I'll NEVER forget!

Before you go to sleep...

The following is a post written by my sister Crystle that has touched my heart and is shared with her permission.

Before you go to sleep...

I'm lying next to my Marine right now. He's got most of the covers, he's snoring and laying on my side of the bed.

I was 10 minutes late picking him up when he got to base (frantically changing clothes because I wanted to look my best for him!) He said it was no big deal, but I sensed he was a little hurt.

The school almost put Milynn on the bus to the youth center today even though I called and reminded them not to as her Dad wanted to surprise her there. (thank God for my good friend Amber putting a stop to that bus driver!!)

We were all so tired and on different eating schedules so we didn't have dinner as a family.

Matt was so tired he fell asleep before we could watch a movie or even have a very long conversation.

Sounds like a pretty lousy homecoming, huh?

Well that couldn't be further from the truth!

When I told Matt why I was late he immediately looked flattered and happy that I cared that much. (we've been together for almost 10 years-he's seen me look my very worst and best)

Milynn was so excited to see her Dad that Matt and I forgot about our anxiety and irritation at the school.

Since we ate at different times we decided to have ice cream dinner together.

And last- that man lying in my spot, with my covers snoring away- is the most beautiful sight and sound in the world.
You see just last Friday there was a helicopter crash in Afghanistan and it flew out the same day as he did. For two agonizing hours I thought for sure my husband was dead. The news only reported that it was a CH-53 helicopter and that's the one he works on. I ran to the neighbors house to hide out. (for some reason I felt if I wasn't home to be notified then he couldn't be dead- strange the irrational things one does when faced with a crisis, huh?) Tragically six Marines lost their lives and one of them Matt knew well. But luckily for me, my husband was safe.

And in 6 months he will be gone again. So even though we had some hang ups today- everyone of them turned into a positive. My family is whole again, at least for the next 6 months...

So maybe you and your spouse didn't have a great day, maybe you quarreled over little things or maybe you're just tired of his bed hogging...but I urge you, as a military wife who spends nights and nights alone, don't let those little things make you bitter towards each other. You never know what you miss until they aren't there anymore.

Before you go to sleep, remind yourself just why you love this person enough to let him/her steal the covers;)

Sharks and Fish

Now that it's winter, we have P.E. on Tuesdays at preschool. This year we have a new PE teacher and she's wonderful! She taught PE in elementary school so she has all the skills needed to be heard and get things jumping! Yesterday we had a rousing game of Sharks and Fish. We have a bucket full of shiny stain scarves in a rainbow of colors that get used in many ways that I had my mom and another mom make when I was the music teacher. The PE teacher yesterday used them for fish fins - the kiddos tucked a scarf in their waistband or back pocket and we started out with 1 shark vs 26 kids. The shark, standing in a shark tank (aka the gray rug in the middle of the basketball court) tried to pull off a tail fin as the kids ran past it. Next round there were more sharks, and finally we had 25 sharks and 2 little kids. One made it to the other side without losing his tail fin. What was funny were the kids who wanted to become sharks- sashaying up to the sharks and not really running and hoping to get nabbed, but trying not to be too obvious about it. Every round I was hugging or holding somebody while they put an ice pack on a bonked head. Ms. J doesn't watch our rugby boys playing rough often enough to realize what a fun misadventure this would be, although she was smart to put boys on the right and girls on the left.

Then our PE teacher made a tactical error. She put all the kids in as sharks and made 3 of us teachers fish. I dumped the kiddo in my lap and ran up to get MY tail fin! The other teachers are both runners and I'm chased by these kids every day, so I know all their tricks. We laughed that Ms. J didn't realize how uber-competitive we all were, so needless to say - the sharks didn't stand a chance. 3 teachers, age 30 and up, did not go lightly on little 4 and 5 yr olds. Not even to make their day. We lined up. Took our marks. And were off!!! I dodged a few sharks, had one little mean guy on my tail who I had seen diving for fish fins so I knew not to run in a straight line. Nevertheless, he pinned me to the sideline so I kicked it into high gear whooping and hollering the whole way. When I reached the finish line I still had my tail, a couple kids were down in the middle of the gym, and the other two teachers, who had a harder trail to blaze came in right behind me. Ice packs, hugs and laughter took care of the poor bruised sharks.

It was a great day. I'm gonna read Commotion in the Ocean today to make up for not letting any little kids win.

Piece of the Rock

I had a great laugh when my mom re-wrapped the rock from Christmas and gave it to Mike and I for our anniversary. It's been sitting on the counter and makes me smile everytime I walk by as I say to myself "we got a piece of the rock!".

I am waiting to hear back from Ronnie, our landscape designer and builder of the rock walls, to see which of the 3 big rocks we picked out will work best. While he is here placing the rock, we're going to have him take care of a few other things. It will be good to see him and his crew again.

Play practices have begun. Mariah chose not to try out for the Talent Show today. I think that was wise considering all she has on our plates. Remember the list? I forgot to add Forensics club to it. She just switched partners because the other gal kept not being able to practice their dialogue or attend competitions. Mariah was bummed to miss an overnight one in Kentucky. So now she is partnered and preparing for an upcoming competition with the kid who yesterday got out of school early because "his dog was in a play". No lie.

If there's ever a play that needs a cat.... she can't have mine! He's busy doing laundry.

In Just 98 Days

Mike and I will be on a cruise!! We are taking a 25th anniversary trip departing out of Miami and going to the ports of Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk. I can't wait!!!!! And no, I'm not worried - in light of that cruise ship disaster in Italy. I figure by the time we go, it will be safer than ever. I will make note of all the floatation device/lifeboat locations and expect a LONG safety briefing. The way I see it, I just have to be faster than the person next to me...er, us.

Mariah will be in the ensemble of Music Man. She is also trying out for Aladdin at a theatre several of her friends have recommended. Then there's the talent show and possibly volleyball - depending on how many days of the week there are in the next few months. If there's one thing I detest - it's overbooking and driving all over town to this and that. I just subtract 100 mommy-bonus points and call it a day.

Gib and I went to University of Evansville last Saturday. We were NOT impressed by anything. As a matter of fact, we bailed before taking the tour of the campus. I think it was the baked french fries that sealed the deal. In the South, we fry stuff like that, and it's a major faux pas to bake french fries regardless. The hidden soda vending machines also received bad marks; as did the toilet flushing instructions (up for liquid waste, down for solid waste) and coincidentally, buildings that resembled toilet seat factories (one of my dad's favorite expressions for blah buildings). We had alot of fun driving home in near gale force winds. Speaking of wind, Gib was in rare form and I was forced to open my window more than once. He blamed the Yankee Food and wants all Yankee schools off the list.

Indie got the internship at a school for behaviorally challenged kids. She'll spend the year working 2 days a week with 4th & 5th graders and two teachers. I haven't heard how her first week went, but I'm hoping it is something she finds to be enlightening, educational and rewarding. It may take time to reach that point, but I have faith in her abilities. I know she's busier than ever this semester, so I am glad she has her blog and will wait for a good time for a chat. Thinking about Indie and her internship reminded me of behaviorally challenged cats. Chino hasn't quite recovered and I've seen him looking (out for) Aussie. I'm sure he misses all the excitement. Grammy recently added new soil to the potted plant. I hope she looked for buried treasure first.

Taryn got to move to a new dorm room. She was unhappy with the situation where she was, and many of her friends are on the floor she moved to. Here's a pic she sent of the end result. I can only imagine the train of people walking out of one room and up to the next with all her stuff. I think she is super-de-duper happy about it. However, I think Mike will miss the room on the 1st floor right next to the door when it's time to take all her stuff home for the summer. Taryn was also able to pick up the math class she wanted that fits better in her schedule. So I'm guessing she has settled into her college routine of classes, working the front desk, and playing with the fun people on the 2nd floor. And I just know that I listed those in the order of importance for Taryn too.

I am fish-sitting her Betta fish. I have 3 furry helpers. They have been keeping a close watch on Fishy to see if he swims up to the top of his bowl. I am really hoping that Fishy is smart and stays well below the surface. If not, Taryn may end up with a red or green Betta instead of her pretty blue one by the time she takes Fishy back with her. And I want Taryn to know I realize and appreciate her extra effort to leave a Hansel/Gretlesque electronic footprint. I haven't had the pleasure of a words with friends game yet, but I have been poked on facebook and received a few texts (refer back to the photo of the dorm room) so I know she's doing good.

Mike is hosting poker tonight. I'm holed up in the computer room the cats. (refer back to the picture of Pixie and Fishy to see what's going on in here.) I am anticipating a new pair of shoes (for me) since his skills were honed in the family Texas Hold Em night on Christmas. And I get two chances for payout - Gib plays with the guys. However, I'd be lucky to get a bag of skittles out of the dude if he wins. Gratitude only extends so far. But then again, we did bond on our last road trip.

Monday Blues

Once I have all the kids home, I get used to having them around. When they go back to school, I miss their antics, faces & voices. I feel like I'm in a bit of a funk for a few days. Today is especially bad. Probably because it started out with a bit of a migraine which is winding down now, thankfully.

It wasn't the most productive idea to spend time on reviewing the college research I've done for Gib. But, we have an invitation to an open house next Monday, and I wanted to see if it was worth it. So I slowly reviewed all 8 universities that have pinged the radar while trying to find the energy to form impressions and gather facts. I really need to start a spreadsheet but that will take time and I probably should be on my A Game when I attempt to begin that project.

Turns out there were 3 which had college preview days to choose from for next Monday. I have a hard time making decisions when working with a headache, so it only took me a few hrs to sign up for the one at University of Evansville. It's not too far away, which I like.

Next month, on February 20th (another school holiday) I might sign up for one at Union University which is in state. I'm just a little bleh on that one, but I don't know why. I do want to look into a state school, if only for tuition comparisons, but really, they all leave us just a little under-impressed. Gib did say his number one criteria was out of state, and secondly not too large. March and April also offer college visit days at other universities that fit the bill, but I don't know if I want to go to that many. Choosing wisely is part of the process, and a winter trip to Southern Florida in the name of college research does have its merits.

So my kids - Adventurous or just eager to leave?! Pondering that will not help the Monday Blues, so I'll just go with adventurous.

All Good Things

Winter break is over. The kids are back in school. Indie and Taryn are returning to their college campus' this weekend. Mike is taking Taryn back tomorrow. Indie said she was going back on Sunday, but she is so eager to get back into her usual routine, I wouldn't be surprised if she left early too.

But we sure had fun while it lasted!

Coming up:

Mariah is trying out for Music Man. And then there are tryouts for the school talent show. She plans on trying out in the solo vocal category. Pretty soon we have to apply for out of zone student so she could get on the grandfathering policy at Gib's high school when he's a senior. The sad thing is many of her friends won't get grandfathered over and she'll be losing an excellent peer group. This is why I hate rezoning when it splits middle school and doesn't follow the feeder pattern. However, Gib's high school is a preferred choice academically and in the environment of the school. Mariah hears the art department is much better too, so I think it will be somewhat of a balm. I tell you, one of the things I'm happiest about is by choosing the Art Path we don't have to spend several evenings weighing the pro's and con's, selecting classes, and playing if this-then this with all the choices. Making 8th graders decide what their potential college major would be - engineering, math, science, english, etc., while still in middle school is ridiculous in my opinion. Could be the fourth child syndrome, but I'm not too worried this time around. Mariah is gifted mathematically anyway, so she'll have upper level math classes without being on that track. Whatever direction she ends up taking for college, she'll be ready. Right now, our little sweetie is planning, quite impressively I think, that she wants to be her own boss, run a coffee house or some kind of quaint place with food and drinks, while showcasing/selling art. She figures she'll pair up with a culinary major at her university and they'll go into business together. I suggested there be workshop space for art lessons and cooking lessons. As a parent, I know I'd love to drop my child off and be able to hang out and relax on the premises. In this county at least, there's money to be made in "camps" of all varieties. One could say if this plan were to move forward, Mariah should choose the business track at high school, but we both decided college was a better place for that and the only way to get in the good art classes is to be on the Art Track. She has my support 100% because I KNOW she will WANT to employ me regardless of what she ends up doing and we can be a family run business. Since she utterly shot down my wonderful idea of being an international buyer, with me along to be some kind of assistant with a probable and extremely valuable handicap parking bonus, I say she owes me.

Gib just needs to focus, focus, focus... and I don't mean on his xbox, but rather on getting the best grades he is capable of. And since I know he's a smart kid, he just needs to stay on top of things. I'm going to start investing some serious time in the college search during the next few months. For me, I feel very compelled. I'm sending my child somewhere to live apart from us, and I want to know it is the very best fit possible, hopefully with some scholarship money attached, and that he'd be happy there on his way to success in adulthood. We'll line up a couple more campus visits this spring, and by the end of summer, I'd like Gib to not only have taken the SAT/ACT but to have a top 5 list of universities. So we need to hit the ground running and fairly soon. At some point the weather and timing should line up and his eagle project can move forward. The details of city ordinances and lining up his assistance is taking some time, but as long as progress is being made, we don't care about the pace. Pretty soon fundraising should begin for his Hawaii Scout Adventure this summer. I think Gib will be fairly busy.

Indie is now the Chief Justice of the honor council so that will add some extra workload to her schedule which includes about 16 credit hours. She is also interviewing for an internship at a school to assist with behaviorally challenged students. If she took 20 credit hours, I believe she could graduate early with the double major, but she has decided to spend the last semester next year interning and polishing off her upper level classes. She'll be able to walk with close friends at graduation, and have a valuable college resume to apply for graduate schools. The Great Books class this semester should be interesting, possibly nerve-wracking, and above all, I imagine it will be one she looks forward to the most. Her professor adores Indie's personality--probably because it is a mirror to her own. They became quite close while on the Armenia trip and discovered a joy of teasing and playing the most diabolical practical jokes on each other. Unfortunately for Indie, Professor D owes her big time and Indie knows she will just have to wait for it. A semester on pins and needles, this should be good.

Taryn will be working on campus at the front desk and has weekend duty for the entire semester. She gets a gleam in her eye when she talks about Nuclear Engineering, so it will be interesting to see what happens with Intro to Nuclear Engineering. She already took Nuclear Reactor Operations which she really liked. Sounded like it was alot of button pushing, watching the results and hoping you didn't screw up. Physics, Calc 3 and Spanish 2 will round out her busy semester. We've been told by several people that the Navy is looking for female nuclear engineers to put in Nuclear Subs. The very first females allowed on subs are finishing their year long military schooling and headed to their assignments now. If Taryn chose to go that route, at least we know she's a good fit size-wise for a sub. Hopefully there will be demand for female nuclear engineers in other fields as well if only for the ability to choose where you want to live. She thinks Japan would be cool. They definitely have alot of nuclear reactors, and sushi, which are two things she really likes. I think the thing I will miss the most with Taryn returning to MS&T is that means all conversation will be done via WWF, infrequent texting, and stalking her electronic footprint to see what is going on in her world. See Taryn?! I can do geek lingo too. But it's funnier in real-time.