Change is a Part of Life

So many changes I am not sure where to start . MSG is full in on his Med board. He is at the point now that the VA is evaluating his percentage. Hopefully we will hear something soon. I graduated from college. I can't believe it. I am so grateful to my hubby for allowing me the chance to go. Since MSG is retiring we had to find a place to live. We decided to make Missouri home. We bought an amazing house at the lake. We don't have a boat or anything like that yet but its on our list. I start a new job this week. It is only part time to start but it is at a wonderful place and I am so excited to be working somewhere that I will be able to retire from. Change is good. It is a normal part of life. It is scary and exciting but necessary in order to keep moving forward.

Had to Take a Break

I didn't realize it had been so long! OK, so a quick update is in order...

MSG started the MED board process this month (February). Things are kind of up in the air. It is nerve racking not knowing what to expect.

I am working a full time job now- I hate it. I would love to get to the point where I am doing what I love. That said I just started my last semester of college. This means that in June I will be a college graduate. A goal I have had for a long time and will have finally met- I am a little excited.

Junior joined the Army. He just graduated Air Assault school and got promoted to PFC. He and his girlfriend of the last 2 years have decided to get married. That means that I will be posting wedding DIY.

Gamer is still in college and working fast food part time. He is doing great but still not driving.

YouTube is also now working fast food with her brother. This is nice since it gives her her own money.

Miracle turned 2! She is officially in the wonderfully frustrating stage of wanting to do things for herself and not being able to express herself.

We have been house hunting which is really not as much fun as I thought it would be. In an attempt at keeping my sanity this blog is going to be my refuge. I hope to master its working so that I can have various heading and such. I look forward to posting about meal planning, house finding (being positive), wedding planning, the family, oh and eventually my garden complete with chickens.

 

Just Under A Year

So MSG has been having health problems for just over a year now. His condition has prompted him to make the move toward retirement. This December 26th he will hit the 20 year mark and he expects our exit date to be around June of 2015. I am panicking.Junior is almost done with basic training then AIT and on to jump school. Gamer still is not driving (super frustrating for both of us) so I am his ride to school, work, library, and basically anywhere else.YouTube is doing great in school but still hasn't seemed to grow out of the drama portion of her teenage experience. Little Miracle is the only one who is doing exactly what I expect her to be doing. She has kept her schedule of doing everything early (walking at 9 mos, opening doors at 13 mos, etc..) and has full on hit the terrible 2 stage. I am trying to finish my degree. I have 4 classes left after this term. I thought I was going to complete in April but received updated info putting my graduation off until June. That's right, the same time MSG is supposed to be retiring. I need to get a job so we can put some money away. Except MSG has made it clear that he will not take on my other obligations in order for that to happen. So, some how I am supposed to drive everyone where they need to go. Do all the household chores to include MSG's normal chores, since he can't do anything as he is recovering from surgery.I am also supposed to complete my school work and get a job. Oh and I have to find a way to pay for school that doesn't involve getting a loan since my GI Bill is about to run out. Oh My Life! At least I have a family to complain about and for that I am thankful.     

Oh The Daily Struggle...

Struggling... everyone has some sort of struggle at sometime in their lives. This morning I have come to the realization that I have deal with an absurd amount of struggling. Now these aren't massive change the world type struggles. In the grand scheme of things my struggles only affect me. However they are struggles and well I am honestly quite tired. To begin with- I creak, crack, and crawl out of bed as co sleeping with my 20 month old well is not restful. I descend the stairs to be bombarded by questions of- what are you doing today, or wheres such and such... all I want is coffee. Coffee that I must drink away from everyone since they find my vanilla creamer offensive- so I am shunned. then there is the shower that unless I get in before the baby wakes up I must take amid plastic fish and stacking cups- hazardous conditions. I get out and leave the baby to play in the "rain" of the shower and dress but before I finish brushing my hair the baby is "weady". I wrap her in a towel she wiggles free and now I am chasing a naked slippery baby...it;s not even 9 am.

Don't get me wrong. I love my little daily struggles. I know there will come a time when I don't have them and I will miss them. I wish the bigger ones would take a rest now and then so I could enjoy the silly ones more though...  

Camping With a Toddler Update

Okay, so we have been back from camping for two weeks. I know it seems kind of a long time to let pass if writing a reflective piece but my darling husband had surgery and other things were happening. Anyway, depending on who you ask will depend on the response you get. I thought our Miracle did well on her first camping trip. We could have brought more toys for her to play with (her bike and some toy cars would have been great) instead of thinking she would be fascinated with nature and play in the mud. Also, since I am not much of a fisherman I should have plotted out the trails and swimming areas better. I was a little board chasing the baby and playing at the play ground. We brought way to much food. I was afraid the toddler would want something and we wouldn't have which would bring on a tantrum. That was not the case and their was a little store that had whatever we may have needed. All in all, the little one did alright. There were only a few melt downs but we deal with those anytime she isn't ready to transition.
                                                     

New Phase

It has been about a month since I have eaten any meat. I am still occasionally eating eggs and cheese so I have not completely crossed the vegan threshold. Cooking for my family of carnivores has been a little harder than I thought it was going to be. I am trying to incorporate what I am eating with what they are eating. So cooking meat separate and then adding it in for them as part of the finished product- This worked really well with a Spanish rice and beans dish I made recently.

As a family we have decided to send summer out with a bang. We are planning a four day camping trip to Montauk state park.We are really excited and so are the kids. If you are a parent of teenagers you know what a big deal it can be to get them excited about anything that has them leaving electronic devices behind. This has really been my husbands deal and he wants to make sure he gets to do it before his surgery and the possibility of not being able to do something like this again.

Anyway I digress. My husband, the ultimate carnivore, has been doing most of the planning of our trip. He has even been setting up menus- which I thought was interesting since at home he only cooks if he can grill or wants eggs for breakfast. Oh and ramen noodles- which I refuse to cook because that is not food. So my loving husband "forgot" that I wasn't eating meat and didn't have anything but potatoes on his shopping list for me to eat. This is going to be an interesting trip.

A Little Rant

       I am not one to complain. I am a pretty easy going person. So much so, that I have been described as Switzerland and a push over. Two things have been bothering me. The first was a person actually said to me the other day- "Well, your older son isn't really part of your family anymore since he doesn't live with you".
What? I am absolutely flabbergasted by this comment. For those who do not know my lovely family consists of my husband (MSG) and our four beautiful children (Junior, Gamer, YouTube, and Miracle). Junior left at the end of July for basic training. Some how him leaving and going to basic translated into him no longer being a part of our family and me no longer his mother. Really!!!
         

July, 2014

     The other issue I am having is the baby and I were in the market today. I needed milk, bread, eggs, and some fruit and vegetables for the week. There were a lot of sales going on (which is pretty common in between paydays). The biggest deals were on snack foods. Right by the door was a large display of chips. You know the ones that "Bet you can't eat just one". They were on sale for a $1.50 a bag. We walked past them to the fresh produce. I really wanted to make fresh vegetable soup and some apple- carrot juice. A 5 pound bag of apples which had about 13 apples in it was $4.99. A 3 pound bag of granny smith apples were selling for $2.50. There are 5 of us in the house so I went ahead and picked up a bag of each. That works out to be about an apple a person for maybe 4 days. $7.49 for fresh apples or a bag a chips a day for 4 days at $6.00. We would never eat that many chips in 4 days but it is just an example. My family would probably only need two bags of chips to cover 4 days, so only $3.00. Anyone else see a problem with this?! It makes me so angry. I want to stand in front of the store and say boycott the junk and just buy fresh. Then maybe we can get decent prices for fresh produce. I know so many families who can't afford to buy the fresh fruit or vegetables it makes me sad. Shame on our government for not have their priorities straight and making the health of the American people suffer for their greediness. Help a mom out!