A lovely weekend

So hubby and I got to go away for a marriage enrichment weekend with the Guard.  I think it's safe to say we both had a very good time.  We ended up sitting with 4 other couples and that became our "group" for the weekend.  If you had asked me who I would end up spending time with before that night, those people probably wouldn't have been high on my list.  Not because of them, just because there are other people that I've known longer and thought I would be more comfortable spending our time with.  Friday night we arrived and headed down to the bar area to meet.  The group we ended up sitting with in the class was the group there.  During the short session Friday night, we laughed and had a good time.  We were dubbed the fun table by one of the leaders.  Class ended around 9:00, and we all retired to our rooms and were asleep in very short order.  It had been a long week.  Saturday morning we had breakfast and sessions until lunch.  We were, again, the fun table.  The agenda was pretty much thrown out the window, and some spouses were dragged out of denial of this deployment.  At one point, my hubby and another guy were playing "football" with a wad of paper.  One of the speakers snapped their fingers, and they both jumped and slapped their hands down on the table.  They looked like little boys caught misbehaving at school.

After class, we all headed to lunch together, and we all enjoyed ourselves.  Conversation flowed and there was a lot of laughter.  We headed back and most of us took naps.  That evening, we ended up going to dinner together, and again we all had a good time. 

I'm glad that I had time with my hubby without the stress and pressure of work.  I'm also thankful that I had the opportunity to create relationships with some of the spouses I may not have previously done so with. 

And that fact that it was entirely free for us?  Even more awesome.

Leaving

Hubby and I are getting away this weekend for our last getaway before he deploys.  We'll be back Sunday.  See you!

Love endures sleepless nights

I had a long post about PB's sleep problems, but Blogger ate it.  And I told it all in anothe post.  Just know, that love endures those nights, even when your child is well past the age of being awake all night. 

Some of my Favorite Things

I have a couple of posts that I typed a long time ago and never finished/posted.  I'm revisiting those to see if I want to add to or delete them.  This is one that I needed to read tonight.

These are a few of my simple pleasures in life

• My husband...I love that he feels as if he is the half that makes me whole.
• My kids...I love their laughter and silliness.
• My home
• Flowers
• Sewing
• Crafting
• Reading blogs
• Brain Age on my DS
• Good music

These are not simple pleasures, but I'm trying to learn to enjoy them anyway...

• Exercise
• Healthy diet
• Going to bed at a decent time (fail tonight)

I need this reminder today

Today, I need to remember this.

Another love post

I love our home. And 5 cubic feet of mulch later, it looks so fresh and ready for spring...and I'm exhausted. So that's it. Now I'm off to watch a movie with my family in the back yard.

Fun Monday #13

Robin (the PENSIEVE one) is our hostess this week, and she wants us to share our favorite Quotable quotes and words that inspire.

My first quote has been my favorite since the very first time I read it.

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. " Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have a portion of this quote on a postcard over my desk.

"Every oak tree started out as a couple of nuts that stood their ground."

I love this one because it seems to suit my hubby and I. I know we are nuts, and that people didn't think that we would make it, but we've been married for 10 and a half years now...and still very much in love.

Be sure to visit the other Fun Monday participants!

and another Friday night flight

We went to pick up Bug today. Her plane was 5 minutes early, and hubby and I had a little date night before we actually got her. The ride home was fun, talking about television shows from when we were kids. Now, we're off to soak in the hot tub and head to bed. I'm taking my mom to a quilt show tomorrow.

He'll always be my Valentine

Heather at OMSH is having superfab give away from Shannon of It's A Mad Mad Squirrels World. They want us to tell them how we met our Valentines.

I was living here in the Mid-Atlantic region after graduating college and (stupidly) following a boy here. That didn't work out, so I moved in with my father to save up some money and wait for bestest friend to graduate so we could move on. It was my nephew's birthday, and my stepmom was having his birthday party at a local kids play place. Hubby was the room helper for his party, and he knew my nephews mom. He thought I was "cute" but I was holding a baby (my niece) and had a ring on my finger (to keep guys from bothering me). I thought he was cute, but he was talking about his daughter, so I assumed he was married. Somehow, he finds out that I'm not married, engaged or otherwise involved, and asks her for my number. She makes sure she tells me that he is divorced and has custody of his daughter. He calls and asks me to go out, and I agree as friends. I'm not planning on staying in the area and I'm not looking for a boyfriend. A few weeks later, I meet his adorable daughter. Her and my nephew hit it off, so they come over often. We're going out, enjoying each other's company. Then he buys me a ring for Valentine's Day. Just a ring, a pretty sapphire ring. Except late that night, he looks over and says "Marry Me." I said "Yeah, right...are you serious?." "Yes, I am." Oh..."uhm...yes."

And 8 months later we were married. I always tease him that I fell in love with Bug, and he was just the baggage that came along. But he knows, I couldn't live without him. I feel lucky every day to have found my mate, my other half, my Valentine.

My other half, almost missing.

"Don't worry about the Birthday Party...don't worry about picking up the kids. Just come home."

"Okay...Why? What's wrong?"

"I've called 911, and they have an ambulance on it's way. I was working on the jeep and it rolled on me."

"OMG, I'm almost there."

Yes, this is the conversation I had with my husband at 11:17 am Saturday morning. I arrived to find our jeep in the road, my husband holding his head with a towel, and blood everywhere. Minutes went by, during which I moved the jeep out of middle of the road, and finally the paramedics showed up...then the police and finally the ambulance. The whole time, he is talking, he's moving, he's coherent, and that gives me the most comfort and hope. Somehow, even through the terror, I'm certain that he is going to be okay. He's going to have injuries, but he's going to survive. And that is what got me through calling his mom, answering all the wonderfully kind State Trooper's questions, literally driving like a maniac up to the hospital. But I digress. They load him into the ambulance to drive him the open space in our development so that he can be medi-vacced up to the trauma hospital. Of course, the ambulance drivers have no clue where that is. I could have pushed the gurney there faster, but they were doing the best they could. When we (myself, my mom and my Mother-in-law) reach the hospital some hour later, he has arrived, as has my Sister-in-law and her husband (they live near the hospital he was taken to). We are taken back to a room where we are to wait while they do all the tests they need to do. I feel amazingly calm. The nurse finally comes a little bit later, and tells us we can see him for a few minutes...He has a neck brace on, his head is bandaged, he's in nothing but a hospital gown, and he has dried blood all over him. But he's awake and alert and talking, and then it hits me so hard. I almost lost my husband. After several CT Scans, X-Rays, different doctors and several hours, they decide that he is one of the luckiest people in the world. A vehicle had rolled over him, the tire rolling over his head, and he has no broken bones...all he has is a gash in his head (now with 6 staples), several spots of road rash and bruises, and a shoulder that he thinks he may have damaged again. Seriously...that's it. I'm so amazed and so thankful.

I've known that I love this man for over 10 years. We have been through some amazingly hard times in our life, and we are still together and in love. He is truly my best friend, my other half. Without him, my life would not be as beautiful, as fun, as frustrating and as full as it is now. I would truly feel the wound of his loss for the rest of my life. And so I am so very happy that I won't have to...I look forward to living with him for many years to come. And next time, he'll remember to chock the wheels and apply the parking break before removing the drive shaft from a vehicle.