I am Me.

I have been getting bombarded recently with a lot of mom & wife talk about how women are "losing" themselves in their husband's lives or careers...or in the raising of their children.

::sigh:: Where to start with this?? I am me. Whether I am changing diapers, reading "Green Eggs and Ham", or making plans to move a household a thousand miles away. I am still me. Maybe I don't get to spend as much time on my hobbies as I'd like...but I think that's just a part of growing up. Someone who chooses a career over spouse & kids might make the same sacrifice, but no one dare says she has "lost" herself. She's empowered and her own woman...even if someone else is making up her schedule and determining what she does and when in her job. She might report to 40 different managers, but she is strong and motivated, not under the thumb of corporate America. ...According to those who think wives and mothers are "lost".

Which is fine...do whatever you want. Like Barbie says, "Be who you want to be." If that "be" is a wife, a mother, a sister, an aunt, a lawyer, a photographer, a manicurist, or the chick who scrapes the gum from under the table at the mall food court...BE IT. And be it WELL! Working full time, part time, or as a mother (who might also be working full time or part time), means you will probably have to give up a few hobbies...but if you like what you're doing, then do it full tilt. Hobbies aren't who you are. You are you...in every way. :)

And apparently I am a little goofy. Go figure.

My take on Thai.

I made a Thai Coconut Curry Soup this weekend...but I modified it a little from a recipe on the back of a stock box.

2 boxes College Hill Thai Coconut Curry stock
1 can coconut milk
1/2 - 1 cup shredded or matchstick carrots
1/2 - 1 cup chopped green onions
2 cups broccoli (break up the larger pieces)
1 head of napa cabbage, shredded
1 - 2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons curry
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger


I put a little oil in the soup pot, and did a quick saute of carrots, onions, broccoli, ginger, and the dry seasonings. Poured in stock, added cabbage, cooked until boiling, added coconut milk, lowered temp, allowed to heat through.

It was really quick...the original recipe called for noodles, but I just couldn't see noodles in this. So I replaced it with the cabbage. Everyone loved it!

Happy Birthday!

My "baby" turned 2. I think we need to cut the baby talk...I often call her baby...baby girl, where's the baby...etc. And the other day she was playing with one of those little doohickeys that help you bathe a newborn in the tub. It's just a little reclining thing to help keep baby's head above water. She says, "What is it?" Mommy used it to give you a bath when you were a baby...but you got bigger and didn't need it anymore. She got sort of angry looking and said, "NO! I'm not bigger! I'm a baby!" Welllll...got news for ya chicky. You *are* bigger!

She's still not using a toilet. In fact, she won't even sit on it. Or go near it. But she will let me know when her diaper needs to be changed. It's actually a little weird. "Mooooooommy!" What? "Diiiiiiiiaper!" You want mom to change your diaper? "UH-HUH!" As if I'm an imbecile. I dunno, maybe to a 2 year old, I am an imbecile. :)

I Hate Spin Class.

NEVER ever doing THAT again. Ever. EVER.

I think titles are overrated.

My mom took the girls to the beach for a bit this weekend, cute pics from that. Eric comes home soon...I feel anxious and excited. As I count down this last 30 days and I feel that excitement of one more day gone...I also feel a little sad, b/c I know that when he gets here for his 30 days, I will be counting down that exact same length of time. I went from 30 to 20 days really quickly. I didn't even realized it was going by.

I wanted to do SO MUCH when he got here...but now I don't want to do anything but lock the family in the house for his 30 days and try and just exist together in the same place for as long as possible.

I think I am staying in Florida while he deploys. I think it will be easiest on Jocelynn. At least let her finish out the school year. Maybe go to the new Post during the summer. Get used to living in a new place before we have to also get used to living in SNOW. I had planned on having our house all packed up and ready to go...and with everything in it's place I feel weird. And sad.

Blahblahblah, et cetera.

Getting more and more into this school routine. Not happy about conforming to society standards, but I do it for now.

Still undecided on what will be happening when Eric gets his duty station assignment and will be deployed.

Have attended my Doula certifications...that's awesome, and I feel like I learned a lot. Have lots more to do, though...most of it on my own time, so there is no need to rush. I have something like 2 years to complete my packet and get it turned it. I don't think I'll need 2 years (maybe 6 months?) but it's nice to know I could if I ran into issues and needed to!

Getting a little anxious as Eric's return date draws near. I feel like I really haven't done any of the things I wanted to do while he was gone. :( Oh well...I'll have 12 months to try again soon.

Trying to find a new place to live is hard. I can list 100 things I don't like about where I am right now...but as soon as I see a new place, I can list 100 reasons why it's not as good as where I am RIGHT NOW. Lol. The fickle woman! ;)

Jocelynn seems to be getting on in school really well! But I think she's that kind of kid. Gets on with everyone pretty easily.

Finishing up my 3rd book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Only felt so-so about it at the beginning (especially after reading King's intro...could the guy BE more of an asshole??)...but now that the intro is further from my mind and I am further into the book, I think I want to stick this out and wait to see how it ends. I might sneak off tomorrow to get book 4 at Barnes & Noble.

Enjoy your week...

School Daze.

Soo...I may have mentioned I feel like I am being punked every time I show up at Jocelynn's school. If I show up on time (or just before time) I might wait anywhere from 10-25 minutes to do the drop off or pick up. If I arrive 2 minutes later...it's a ghost town and everyone has disappeared.

Morning: Leave home 8:15. Arrive at school approximately 8:25. Sit in line for 14 minutes.
Afternoon: Leave home 2:55. Arrive at school about 3:00. (And surprisingly, there are already about 15 cars ahead of me.) School lets out 3:30. I sit in line for approximately 40 minutes.

Morning: Leave home 8:20. Arrive at school 8:30. Gates closed. Classes already started. I have to sign Jocelynn in, she takes a tardy pass to her classroom.
Afternoon: Leave home 3:30. Arrive at 3:41, I am the only parent in the parking lot. I wonder if it was a half-day and I effed up big time. I see a teacher, she says all kids left in line after the pick up line ends would be in the aftercare.

I don't understand how they're doing it! It must be a complicated system of walkie talkies, traffic light manipulation, and underground storage where they are hiding all the other parent vehicles! (Unless it's so very elaborate that all the other parents are in on it too!)

I paid $7 for a school agenda...It's basically a book with a calendar, and a reading list. Jocelynn is too young to understand the extra information in it. Times tables, measurement conversion charts...history blurbs. I could have printed out a calendar from my computer and ripped a sheet out of a spiral notebook to write down the reading list. I am sure it's more helpful for older students who have multiple subjects, teachers, and projects that need to be completed. But in Kindergarten...Usually it's just a little smiley face. Sometimes there is a note paper clipped to it to let me know things like...there is a child with peanut allergies in her class.

Of course, I didn't need a piece of paper to let me know that. Jocelynn is BEST FRIENDS with the peanut allergy kid! "Mom, don't send peanut butter in my lunch box because that means I can't sit with my friend at lunch!" Oh. Joy.

When does summer start?