Friday Craziness

There has been so much craziness going on I haven't been able to stay on top of things that I should be...like blogging. I have some updates I will try to share over the next week both for myself and to share.

Saw this Best of Craigslist Post and just have to share it.

$1360 / 1br - 400ft² - One bedroom Sublet (Upper East Side)

East 95th Street at Third Ave

One bedroom available in a two bedroom apartment on the upper east side! Available now until August, with option to then take over lease. Listing is in Normandie Court on the Upper East Side. All building information is available here: http://www.ogdencapproperties.com/residential-property?hi=normandie
Serious Inquiries MUST answer all 50 questions below, please. Thank you!

1. how often do you eat ice cream,
2. please rate the movie space jam on a scale of 1 (worst movie ever) 10 (best movie ever)
3. how many pairs of shoes do you own
4. what are your thoughts on late night dance parties
5. please describe your day to day hair style in one sentence
6. rhianna or beyonce, who is better
7. do you have respect for justin timberlake
8. if you were a genie in a bottle, what kind of bottle would you be inside
9. would you rather i always be there when you call or always be on time
10. name all the original members of nsync
11. if you had to buy shots for an entire bar, what would you get
12. how often do you play spider solitaire
13. is britney or christina more famous
14. do you judge people who spend a day hungover in pajamas
15. true or false, candy is a food group
16. do you drink carbonated water
17. is ginger ale the best soda
18. where do you buy your bagels
19. how high up do socks have to go before they are no longer considered 'ankle socks'
20. velcro shoes - yay or nay
21. how many pairs of skinny jeans do you own
22. whats your opinion on gingers
23. please rate yourcooking skills on a scale of homeless-top chef
24. coke or pepsi
25. please name 3 trashy tv shows and 10 guilty pleasure songs you enjoy
26. do you or do you not love tim gunn
27. do you craft
28. what is the most expensive personal care product you own
29. are you a fan of christmas trees
30. what was your last halloween costume
31. if you had to be a character in step brothers ,who would you be
32. if you had a russian alter ego, what would their name be and would they have one eyebrow or two
33.what color are your nails right now
34. are you or are you not excited for the mad men premiere
35. please screen shot your most used emojis
36. send me the last 10 tweets you starred or retweeted
37. please provide your last 3 grocery receipts so i can see how closely our tastes match
38. how often do you use post its
39. are you a supporter of baking cookies for dinner, or just eating the dough
40. is there ever a reason to be up before 8 am on a saturday
41. what is your definition of a "housewarming gift"
42. thoughts on windbreakers?
43. what color are your sheets and how good are you at replacing a fitted sheet?
44. What was the theme song of Dawson's Creek
45. Red or Blue bag doritos?
46. what is your perspective on matching socks?
47. are you a fan of pickles?
48. what is your main source of news
49. Are you team LC or KristinCav?
50. What Disney princess would you be and why 

 

Apt is located near Central Park

 Just love this ad.

Books and The Love of Reading

Amazon Question Today 

What is your all-time favorite opening line to a book?

Not sure I really have a Favorite but there are those which stick with us through life:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."
- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859)

"Call me Ishmael."
- Herman Melville, Moby Dick (1851)

"There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it."
- C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)

"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow."
- Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)

When Mr Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton."
- J.R.R. Tolkien (John Ronald Reuel Tolkien), The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955)

Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell

First Line:  Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.

 Last Line:  "After all, tomorrow is another day."

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum

First Line:  Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife.

Last Line:  "From the Land of Oz," said Dorothy gravely. "And here is Toto, too. And oh, Aunt Em! I'm so glad to be at home again!"

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

First Line:  IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

Last Line:  With the Gardiners, they were always on the most intimate terms. Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, really loved them; and they were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the persons who, by bringing her into Derbyshire, had been the means of uniting them.

 
 

A Glimpse of Our Life with PTSD

It is not often I willingly will talk about War or the after effects but here we are finishing out the month of March and marking the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraqi War.

I remember when my husband was training up to deploy in 2003. Separation was not too much of an issue for us since he had been a commercial fisherman in Alaska, we were used to being apart (not that we LIKED it, but it worked). The thought at the time was 'why in the world am I getting ready to send my 34 year old husband to war?' "What did we get ourselves into?" "How can I do this full-time by myself?"

I never wanted to be a single parent, not that many people want that for their own life. I knew I could handle everything by myself but I didn't want to at all. We lived in a remote area with no military support structure at all. We had only lived there a few years so we really didn't have many friends.

Needless to say I survived deployment so did the kids and so did my husband, to a degree. Flash forward to Spring of 2005 and a homecoming. He looked like my husband but I wasn't convinced. This man was hard in mind and spirit. He expected things to be a certain way and if they were not and he had to do it there would be trouble.

There were fights, OCD moments we had never had before, there were outbursts, freak outs in the grocery store...I had no idea what was going on but I knew he wasn't on drugs but he was drinking quiet a bit. What was going on? We were not prepared for the fighting to continue once they got home, no body prepared me for the after effects of war.

Physically, my husband is 85%, he has a knee injury but mentally is a whole other ball game. For the last 8 years sleep is hard to come by, the slightest noise is cause for alarm and vigilance. What can be worse is if I hear the noise and I end up anticipating what he will do if it wakes him up. Sleep is a distant memory.

To look at my husband you see nothing wrong...live with him and you will see the difference. Like many things there seems to be a cycle when it is worse than other times thankfully I have support and resources available to me 24/7. The VA Caregiver Program has allowed me to keep my husband safe and stay home with him permanently.

For a further look inside click here.

Update on the Chaos

The normal level of chaos in our house seems to have diminished.
We have finished with Girl Scout Cookie Sales and are now heading in to enCamporee time. I have completed my second term at WGU and have a bit of time off until the new term begins. The kids have been working hard in school and are really looking forward to Spring Break even if it is only a break from routine.

We had another VA appointment cancelled on us the day of the appointment. That drives me nuts and I would change providers but DH is comfortable with this provider so it is best to not rock the boat. We had our quarterly visit from the visiting nurse on Wednesday, went really well but my 'burden/stress level' was more than an 8 so they wanted to recommend counseling. I don't need counseling at this point and I explained after the fact that we are just coming down from a chaotic couple of weeks and that things will settle down. If they don't settle down I will ask for the referral.

While I am not super religious, hit you over the head with a Bible, or anything like that, I read the Bible and pray regularly...I have an unspoken prayer request, God knows what is up but just say a quick one for me and that will work.

Darling Daughter decided she was going to slack off on some of her school work so yesterday we enjoyed some Saturday school...about 4 hours total. Amazing what she can accomplish when she puts forth the effort. She makes me a little nuts with her ditzy routine she likes to pull on me. She has not figured out we know better.

Dear Son is really showing some progress in school but he has been slacking off a bit as well...must be some Spring Fever. The best part with him though was watching The Hobbit after he read the book and him telling us how he remembered that part of the book. He was so animated. He is also really looking forward to seeing Jurassic Park in 3D since he has only seen it at home.

Trying to make some plans for the summer, which hopefully will include a move from this house. DH has started packing up things we don't use on a regular basis.

So I guess you could say that Chaos still Reigns over our house but at a different level than it did last month.

You Can't Go Back in Life

I think there are many times in life we wish we could go back and have a 'do over'...reality sinks in and we know we can't.

On Monday we took a drive through the past on our way to my little nephews birthday party. The party was at the Bowling Center where DH and I met and was my first job. I was almost 19 years old and my grandma just had brain surgery. I got a job as a waitress making $3.50 an hour and minimum wage was $3.25 in Washington. I ended up working for this same company for 5 years and learned many different jobs along the way. I was able to leave this job and get a great 'grown up' job based off my work experience.

Walking through those doors though was strange. I knew no one there but it looked so familiar. It was like stepping back in time where you are just the bystander. Very weird. We took the kids and showed them some of the different places we used to go all the time. NOTHING is the same. The movie theater is now closed, the pizza place is gone...just strange to see this once booming area reduced to so little.

Makes me glad it was different so we could remember the fun we had before without being haunted by events of the past. Just another of those life lessons we learn along the way.

Free Your Mind Friday

Welcome to Free Your Mind Friday

If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?

Well considering the fact that I am 44, I probably would have had children much earlier in life. There are any number of things I would 'do over' if there was a chance...like that first marriage = mistake. DH and I were not ready for life together when we were younger and we both knew that but I would have wanted my same kids earlier in life.

There are times I would have had more fun and not let 'stuff' stop me from the things I really wanted to do. I have no complaints about my life how it is now.

Question

Amazon Kindle Facebook Fan Page asked this question today:
 
Who do you credit for your love of reading?

(Question 11 of 30 in our National Reading Month Book Challenge)

My love of reading comes from my mom. My whole life she was never without a book. She encouraged readers in her kids. I learned at an early age to never leave the house without a book or something to read. I would sit at the breakfast table when I was little and read the cereal box over and over again. I love to read.

I have been known to read a book until it falls apart. Since I got my Kindle a year ago I have read so many great books, I have 1500 titles in the 'cloud'. We can never go to Costco without checking out the book section.

So my love for reading comes from my mom and I am so grateful to her for that.

Monster in My House

There is a Monster living in my house. It lives right along side of us and tries so hard to take control whenever it feels like it. I wish there was a rite or ritual to exorcise the Monster from our lives but there isn't. The VA has tried but I think it makes the Monster worse at times instead of better.

There is no warning to when the Monster decides to come out, we have no control. The Monster gets his mind on something and like a rabid dog will not let it go. I wish and pray I could make the Monster disappear but I don't know how. Love and patience doesn't seem to help as much as we would like it to.

The Monster has a name but we only refer to it by letters...PTSD. This Monster has changed our lives forever. The kids handle it really well, they refer to the Monster as "Episodes" more than anything else.

The medications from the VA only help part of the time. The Monster makes my DH believe he is unworthy of additional benefits he could get. He can't work anymore but he wants to do something, what he has no clue.

The problem is the Monster is living in my Love and to get rid of the Monster I would need to get rid of my Love.

Week in Review

What a crazy week we have had here at my house.

Last Sunday we started with an early morning Girl Scout Cookie Booth Sale at a local Goodwill. The sales were pretty bad but the store was busy. DD was slightly down and decided the Goodwill was not a great spot to begin with.

Monday we were at a local Credit Union and DD and fellow Girl Scout did a great job on sales. The sun was shinning but cold.

Tuesday we took the day off from cookies but Mom and I went to the fabric store. Then we had Girl Scouts. Finally, I wrapped up the day with taking DH to the VA for an over night sleep study.

Wednesday morning came way too early and by 5:45am I had picked DH back up and headed for home. The dogs were really glad to see him. Picked up Girl Scout Cookies in the afternoon for our booth sale that same evening. The girls did great even in the rain.

Thursday we had another Cookie Booth on the other side of town.

Friday we had a late morning sale and while it was slow we enjoyed ourselves.

Friday my brother and his family came to say good bye to mom.

Yesterday morning my uncle came and picked up mom for the Portland airport. I think the kids in NM were happy to see G'ma. Mom called last night and they sure sounded happy.

Working on homework to finish my class for this term and enjoying some piece and quiet.

Free Your Mind Friday

Week 6

If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?

So funny to read this question today and all I could think of was the Clay Walker song, If I Could Make a Living. I guess may answer would be just that doing what I already do everyday. How great would it be to get rich doing the one thing which comes so natural to most people.

My Husband and Kids make me happy everyday, even on those days when they drive me nuts, yesterday. Yesterday I would have been bankrupt if happiness was the currency. What a crazy day to attempt to get anything done. The kids were behind in some of the school work so I was in push mode with them.