Fall/Winter

Here in Whidbey, Fall lasted all of a week or so. Now it's straight on to Winter. Roads have already started icing at night in Seattle, the winds are whipping around and throwing trashcans over, and the temperature isn't much above Brrrrrr!

I can't let that stop me from doing anything... the countdown is on and the list of things I need to get done keeps getting longer. (I am sorry I am not able to post/say over the phone/type in email a specific date due to OPSEC - know that is't getting closer! Way close!) Over the course of this deployment there have been many ups and downs, as you can probably tell from my posts. Lately, I have been a roller coaster of emotions because of the number of things I feel I have to do. I feel as though there is so little time and so much to do. You don't realize what living like a bachelorette has done to the house until you have to really clean it, which I haven't done yet. The perfect outfit must be picked out, the perfect dog must be perfectly groomed, the cars must be perfectly cleaned, groceries need to be in the panrty (what have I been eating this whole time he has been gone?), the house must by spick and span - which included putting all of the laundry away, and the perfect meal must be prepared no matter what time Jared comes home. I guess I have these high expectations for myself that I know I won't get to. I found a hidden basket of clothes in the hall closet that I don't remember putting there and just found a day ago. Hmmm, how long has that been there? The cars are a wreck. I have looked like a homeless person driving around with all of my belongings piled into my Explorer on more than one occassion - "just push all that crap over, there's room for you!" Luckily, the people that have helped me out this deployment are the ones that are still keeping me sane. Even when I forget to brush my teeth AGAIN and have to turn around and go home, which makes me late for bowling, they are still there to say, "you can breathe around me." Even when I drop my cell phone into the dirty dishwasher and it lands in all the goo, they sympathize and tell me I should have gone back to bed. Even when I want to find a gym that offers pole dancing for something "different" to do, they help me load up 2 cars with 10 people and go... twice! (it's a workout, you should try it if it is offered near you) I am so thankful for my Navy Family who has helped me get over the humps, talked about our lady lumps, and talked me down when someone makes me mad and all I want to do is give them a few big bumps!

Back to Homecoming... it's coming soon! I have made banners and signs and I have flags, I think I am ready. I am going to put a banner above the front door of our house, I am going to cover up the builder's sign at the front of our neighborhood so that everyone can see that Jared's Squadron is home, I am going to put flags in our yard. I don't care if our house looks like the Griswald's, I want to make sure Jared knows I am so glad he is home. Once he walks through that door and realizes dish duty/cooking duty/cleaning duty/laundry duty are all his again... that may be a different story. But at the front door, he will be glad he is home! :) (such a nice wife, eh?)

A funny moment from the past week: As you know I am on a bowling league and my partnet is Kendall. Our team name is Pin Pals (get it?) and our team slogan is, Strike or Spare we'll always be there (lame, I know)! Anywho, last week I was late because of the brushing the teeth thing. Well, I got to bowl and what do I do? I throw... the ball... BEHIND ME! I then step on my big toe and proceed to fall to the floor laughing. So far I am the only bowler who has done that. But you know what? At least I had cute bowling shoes on! Maybe I wouldn't have done that if I had our team shirt on, but no... they had to come in the mail yesterday. From now on though, team shirts and cute bowling shoes it is!

Back to what I was saying at the top of this post, Winter is here... and it is cold. They say it doesn't snow in Whidbey that often. Last year was the first big snow they have had in a while. I don't think this year will be any different. Seeing how it is this cold already, I think it is going to snow and it better snow enough to make a snowman. This cold weather makes me want to crawl back into bed and snuggle, or curl up on the couch with a blanket and someone warm and snuggle. Soon though, my snuggling partner will be back and my feet will be warm once again. It's just a matter of time! The song Two Is Better Than One by Boys Like Girls, feat. Taylor Swift, is one of my favorites right now and will be playing in my head when Jared steps off that plane. Makes me cry every time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJiExALbTak&feature=related

I hope everyone is doing well, staying warm, getting ready for Thanksgiving, and putting those lists together for Black Friday shopping. As always, there will not be a Christmas letter from us... maybe a Valentine's day letter... it's not that we don't care... I just forget. Sorry. I love and miss you all!