Accidental Hiatus

There are a lot of reasons bloggers take unannounced or even accidental breaks from updates. No need for apologies, of course, but some possibilities for reasons:

Husband going to grad school? Check. Basically single-momming it a few days a week.

Starting a full-time job? Check. No more naptime blogging for this one.

Celebrating an anniversary? Check.

That's 5 years, folks.

Oh, and another big reason some of us might put blogging at the bottom of the priority list?

Yep, check.

Baby #2 due April 3rd.

4 Years!

And the dress still fits :-)

We are actually in Washington, D.C., today preparing to celebrate my brother-in-law's wedding, so this picture was taken on Tuesday (and the post was scheduled). I'm hoping the monuments are open again because I really wanted to walk them at night with B (and Cora in the stroller). We'll make a night of it in one of my favorite cities regardless of the state of the government!

Previous years' dress pictures:
3rd anniversary
2nd anniversary (with a bump)
1st anniversary

And here's a wedding photo, because who doesn't love that?

We definitely didn't have a boring first dance!

7 Quick Takes (Indiana Inaugural Edition)

— 1 —

We made it to our new home state of Indiana quickly and safely over this past weekend.  And I am coooooold!  My new agenda is to find some actual winter clothes!  They have to be cute, warm, easy to both chase a kid and nurse her in.  This is going to be a quest, I gather.  I have a look in mind, it's just a question of money and that last caveat (who sells nursing-friendly sweater dresses??).

— 2 —

We are crashing at my in-laws' place just north of Indianapolis for now, but the day after we got in, B's dad took us up to Fort Wayne (just over a 2-hour drive) to help us look at apartments.  We looked at three and made a decision that day.  We gave the movers a call, and we'll be moving in next week!  For some stupid reason, I forgot to check if it has a dishwasher, and I've been having mild panic attacks all day that it doesn't (it's not listed on their website).  I guess it's good that our pact is you either cook or do the dishes, and I'm usually the cook.  But I also love to bake, and I'm on my own as far as "hobby cleanup" is concerned. No turning back now, though.  I guess I'll just find out on Monday.

This apartment also requires me to scale a flight of stairs, which I'm not so keen about. It will be the first time in almost 4 years that I'll be living on the second floor, but there's no one above us and we have our own private (indoor) staircase.  We also have our own one-car garage, a patio, and we're a mile away from an great park/YMCA, and another mile from an awesome library that has a "Born to Read" program for young babies!  The icing on the cake (other than the fact we don't need to buy a snow shovel) is that we're an easy five-minute drive from B's grandmother and his aunt and uncle.  I'm actually really excited to live around all this family.  They all have already offered to babysit, too.  They love Cora!

— 3 —

And who could blame them?  She is pretty cute!  And she already shares my love of maps!

Learning to navigate her new home!

— 4 —

Cora has had some interesting physical development milestones lately. My MIL found an old baby fork in her drawer so she put some of last night's dinner on it and gave it to her to see what would happen. After Cora gnawed on the back end of it as she usually does with spoons, she turned it around and fed herself off the fork!

Baby Cora can also get into the crawling position, but only seems to be able to crawl backwards.  She can then drop down on her stomach, pivot, and barrel roll.  And as of this week, she can get herself back into a sitting position.  Her favorite thing to do, though, is stand up.  She can't pull herself up yet, but she's trying soooo hard.  She also has tried to just stand up from the middle of the floor (unsuccessful as well). We usually just sit there and hold her up or prop her up on some furniture and sit behind her.  I'm not sure if she'll ever really crawl, since I think she'll want to walk instead.  According to my mom, that's what I did, so hey, it worked for me.

— 5 —

B and one of his brothers went to a political debate that was being held here in their hometown on Wednesday.  It was the gubernatorial debate for the Indiana candidates.  Aside from trying to teach Baby Cora how to say "gubernatorial," B also mentioned that the Libertarian candidate looked like he 'smoked pot in the woods.'  I saw the picture of him and immediately recognized Rupert from "Survivor" fame!  He does look like a barefoot hippie . . .

One of these things is not like the other . . . [Source]

— 6 —

I don't talk much about the baby products I use, but I did a TON of research on strollers a year ago, and I think it paid off!  I knew too many people who were disappointed with their pretty-but-flimsy travel systems, and we didn't need the car seat part of those anyway.  Instead, we used a Snap-N-Go (bought at a consignment store for cheap) until Cora was big enough for her "big girl" stroller around 6 months, but I still LOVE what we got for the long haul.  

Behold, the Baby Jogger City Mini:

In the course of a week, she went from wearing a onesie and no pants or socks to THIS giant bundle!

We had to wait to use it because if you look closely, the straps are still at her ears, and that's the lowest they go.  I also have a tray that goes on the front, but she has no real need for it yet. The maneuverability of this thing is great, and it folds soooo easily! My only beef with it is that I can't fit my giant diaper bag in the bottom, but it hasn't been that big of an issue yet. I keep a quick-changer system in the back pocket and then just throw my small purse in the bottom.

I promise I'm not being compensated for this, I just really love our stroller!

— 7 —

B and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary the day before our movers came for the packout.  Our big "celebration" this year involved eating freezer pizza and drinking champagne while my neighbor looked after Cora for a few hours.  And we also got ready for the movers, namely by throwing stuff into the hall bathroom. I've forced B to join me in taking the same picture by the lamp each year (and amazingly all 3 of our anniversaries have been celebrated in Pensacola, even though we lived there just over 2 years).

Also known as "The Decline of Formality"

I also took one this year with just the two of us.  I can't decide whether to do it with the children or without each year.  I like to see how the family changes and expands, but we also do pictures for Christmas cards each year that shows that.  What would you do?  For now, I think we'll just take both.  Hooray for digital, right?

For more Quick Takes, check out Conversion Diary.

3 Years!

It's my favorite day!



It's kind of amazing to think that even though B was in the military, we have spent all of our anniversaries under this same roof in Pensacola.  What wonderful and adventurous years they have been married to my best friend. Here's to many more in wherever life takes us!

It fits again! (But only after I nursed the baby, LOL!)

Check out the dress in other years:

2nd Anniversary attempt (pregnant!)

1st Anniversary

One of my favorite wedding pictures!

Some Thoughts on the Lip Dub Proposal

Unless you've been living under a rock, I'm sure by know you've at least heard of the "awesome" lip dub proposal that went viral on YouTube.  It's pretty cheesy; you can watch it here if you don't know what I'm talking about.

While the idea is cute, and I love musicals, with all their happy singing and dancing, as much as the next girl, I would have told this guy NO.  No, Isaac, I don't want to marry you.  And you have Bruno Mars and his crappy lyrics to thank for that.

This song irks me, which is kinda sad because I generally love the music of Bruno Mars and his vocal style.  If you really listen to the lyrics of this song, however, it's about being so drunk that you want to run off to some drive-thru chapel and get married on a whim.  And the fact that this is an acceptable thing to sing about on the radio gives a bit of insight why the divorce rate in our country is so high.

The second line of the song goes, "We're looking for something dumb to do."  I've done a lot of dumb things in my life, but getting married is not on that list.  And it shouldn't be on anyone's dumb list, if they actually hold their vows sacred.

Maybe it's because I got married in the Catholic Church, which I think does an excellent job of teaching the importance of each sacrament, marriage included, that running off to a "chapel on the Boulevard" after drinking some "dancing juice" doesn't appeal to me.  Actually, the wedding coordinator at the church informed me that intoxication can invalidate the sacrament.  Instead of 'pre-gaming' to settle my nerves, I had a Subway sandwich.  It wasn't too hard to save the drinking for the reception afterward.  I was also informed that the Catholic Church suggests and engagement spanning between six months and two years.  Granted, I know of at least one couple that got a priest's blessing to make it sooner (oh, military life), but I think these guidelines are good.  Six months gives you enough time to see if you're making a mistake (and to take the premarital class required by the Church), and my best guess is if it takes you more than two years, then you're focusing on the wrong things.

The one line that probably bugs me the most is, "If we wake up and you wanna break up, that's cool."  Why in the hell would that be in the song you use to propose to your girlfriend??  I'm sure at least one person involved in that lipdub/flashmob charade had the exact same thought running through his or her head.  How could they not? I'm pretty sure Isaac was hoping for a lifetime commitment here, not a one night stand.

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but if I were the one proposing, I would think this thing completely through.  And completely through obviously includes the lyrics of the song.  I mean, they're kind of important, right? I don't care how catchy the freakin' beat is, do people actually listen to lyrics any more? Or maybe everyone has stopped listening to the verses and only hears the refrain?  I don't know, but I hear it all, and all is not well.

weekly family meetings re-visited

A year ago, I posted about our Weekly Family Meetings. I wanted to give you an update about how this is going. You can read about it in detail here, but the basic premise is that every Monday night after dinner, we have a family meeting inspired by the Mormons' Family Home Evenings (but with our own Catholic spin, of course).

We have been doing really good in regard to consistency.  The only ones we've missed are when B has been out of town or when we decided to go out for dinner on a Monday night.  I just called the latter "date nights" and let them substitute for it, since it rarely happens--even before we had a baby, it was rare.  

I'll just go one-by-one through the agenda and give a progress report.

1. Weekly highs and lows.  B still hates this part and still refuses to participate.  Sometimes now, he'll give Cora's highs and lows as a joke.  To work around his refusal, I'll often just ask him about something we did together and say something like, "You enjoyed that, right?"  This occasionally leads into a nice discussion about whatever.
2. Schedules.  This is still nice to re-hash every week so I know we're on the same page.
3. Issues/Conflict Resolution.  Most of the time, neither of us have conflicts since we seem to resolve them sooner, but there have been some persistent issues that get brought back up.  That's when you know they're important!
4. Bible Study/Lesson.  We're still picking a book of the bible and reading it.  I wish I had written down which ones we have done.  I remember doing Proverbs, Revelation, Job, Jonah,  We can usually do about 6-7 chapters in one meeting and then just do that each week until it's done.
5. Rosary and/or Prayers and Praises. We have essentially combined this with #4.  We either do the bible OR a rosary now.  Neither of us are huge rosary devotees (working on that!), but at least we're getting more comfortable with it.  During Advent, each week we did a different rosary (different set of mysteries) and read the full scripture that went with each mystery.  I really liked that.
6. Words of Affirmation.  Probably my favorite part.  And now we each give words of affirmation to baby Cora, too!
7. Treats!  Sometimes this is just ice cream from the freezer, but it's still a good way to end a meeting!

The other day I decided to add something each week to our meeting.  I guess it will go before #4 because I don't think B would be interested at all after the Bible stuff.  Basically, I want to do a small prayer using the ACTS form that I learned a few years back.  Thanks to this acronym, it has stuck with me!

A - Adoration.  Tell God how much you love him!

C - Contrition.  Ask for forgiveness from your sins.

T - Thanksgiving.  Say what you're thankful for.

S - Supplication.  Ask God for help for you or a friend (or an enemy).

My only beef with this form is that I often flow from Adoration to Thanksgiving because they seem intertwined to me.  I find it really hard to tell God how much I love him without thanking him at the same time.  So I'll make the Thanksgiving part 3 earthly things that I'm thankful for.  I hopefully can get B on board with contributing at least something to this prayer, but I know it will take time.  Neither of us grew up in a house that did anything more than pray before meals and go to mass together, so I can understand his hesitation.  But at least we're trying!

 

a picture and a winner

It's me and B's 2nd anniversary today!

I've been slaving away in the kitchen trying to re-create our wedding cake (and not doing so hot; that story to come later in the week).  We're going out for our fancy dinner tomorrow night, since the restaurant is closed on both Sundays and Mondays.  Gotta love the South.

I also decided to try on my wedding dress. At 24 weeks pregnant. Yeah, I'm nuts.  But here was the result:

The back zipped all of an inch.  The goal is for it to fit next year!

And, in other news, let's share the winner of the Amazon.com gift card giveaway!

Okay, right in the middle.  The winner is Lily I!  All those extra Swagbucks referral entries paid off.  I will be emailing you shortly!  Thanks everyone for entering.

CREDO retreat recap

I "dragged" B on a Marriage Enrichment Retreat this weekend, and I'm so glad I did!

I first heard about these retreats back when I took COMPASS in Norfolk, and I'd been wanting to go on one so badly! Now that B is on shore tour, it was much more feasible, but the CREDO website never had any listings of ones near us (most were in the Jacksonville FL area, which is too far of a hike). Apparently they don't list everything on their website, because I found out about this one from a friend and it was never listed until it was way past full. I also found out there was one in Mobile this coming weekend, which was never listed as well.  My suggestion: call your chaplain and ask! I wish I had done that when we moved here. Anyway, I'm just glad we're getting to do this before Baby W arrives.  It was very easy for us to get the call on Thursday and agree to go!

There were about 15 couples total, and most had kids of varying ages.  Some of them had not had a weekend together away from their kids since they were born!  There was maybe one other couple around our age, but the couples varied in length of marriage from under a year to 24 years.  And as I said before, they put us up--FREE OF CHARGE--at a resort on the beach on Alabama's Gulf Coast.  It did not disappoint!  I saw the room bill when we checked in, and the going rate for this place right now is $150/night.  We also got five meals for free.  Thank you, military!

Here are a few pictures of the place:

Yes, I dragged my body pillow there.  Pregnant girl has to sleep somehow!

View from our room's balcony: inlet from the Gulf

Also a view from our balcony: the parking lot

Hotel as seen from beach

Best pic I could get of the pool.  More pool on the opposite side of the bridge

As for the retreat itself, it was done pretty well.  Some of the stuff we had hashed out before and was a bit of a repeat from our pre-marital one-day class that the Catholic church made us take.  Also, since I studied Child and Family Development in college, including a few classes on relationships and family life, I knew a lot of it.  But I did learn a lot too!  If anything, it was nice to just re-connect with my husband.  We didn't turn on the TV all weekend (except to check football scores, but we did that together), we didn't have internet, and I didn't even bring a book with me.  We were given some free time on Saturday afternoon to just have fun together, so we hit the beach and the pool.  And took a nap :-)

Since the retreat is done by the chaplains, it was obviously religious in nature.  CREDO actually stands for Chaplain's Religious Enrichment Development Operation.  However, it was mostly just based on a belief in God.  The name of Jesus was never spoken, but the chaplain did read the "Love is patient" passage from Corinthians at one point.  That was about as religious as it got.  Most of it just focused on communication and personality types, with a few other topics thrown in.

Overall, I would definitely recommend any of my military friends to take advantage of this opportunity!  I know for some it may be hard because you never know when a schedule is going to change, but go ahead and sign up if you can.  Then, if you need to cancel, there will be a very happy couple ready to take your spot.  It doesn't cost anything, so it's not like you lose a deposit!  There are also other types of retreats that they do, listed on their website.  On their Facebook page, I even saw that they have done Family Retreats, where the kids come and you do it as a family.  How cool is that?!

my own Prince

I know everyone is super-duper excited about the Royal Wedding tomorrow, and some are even waking up at the crack of dawn to watch it!  It interests me slightly, but mostly because everyone tells me that my very own husband looks like a spitting image of Prince William!  I had a former co-worker see a picture of him on my desk a few years ago, and tell me so.  (I actually had to Google a picture of Prince W, because I had no idea what he looked like.)  Then, just after the engagement was all in the news, B and I were out at Pensacola Gallery Night, and a group of drunken retirees stopped to tell us they thought the same!  Apparently even B's own sister has been thinking this too, so now I know we're onto something here.

 I'll let you be the judge:

Both in uniform

a Catherine and her Prince

a Catherine and her prince

Yes, I made him stand by the TV so I could compare

B's face is slightly more round, and his nose is cuter (although he thinks Prince William has a "cool" nose, whatever that means).  Prince William is also a few inches taller than B, which is fine with me, since I'm only 5'2" and I don't enjoy craning my neck.  But they both have an oval face, pretty blue eyes, and a big-toothed smile (oh, and some premature balding).

As for me, the story from my mother has always been that she wanted to name me Catherine Elizabeth, but then decided that was too many letters (thanks, Mom!), so they settled on Catherine Ann.  Kate's given name is Catherine Elizabeth, and I think she looks like our previous CO's wife (who is about 10 years her senior, but gorgeous).

So I've got my prince, but if someone could hook me up with Kate's wardrobe now, I'd be all set!

weekly family meetings

I'm not gonna lie, I partially got this idea from the Mormons and their Family Home Evenings.  The idea was originally planted in my head from my studies in Child and Family Development,   Every week, B and I have a "weekly family meeting," and I get asked about it often.

So the first question is why is it called a "family" meeting, when it's just the two of us?  Well, in my opinion, I've always disliked the phrase "starting a family" in reference to having children.  I believe that your family started the moment you exchanged vows.  That's not to say that people don't start a family before legally getting married, but once you jump the broom, even without kids, you've made a new family.

Semantics aside, our weekly family meeting has a certain agenda but it is flexible and will definitely change as time goes on and we add little ones into the mix.  I think having the kids grow up in a household that does this once a week will make it a lot less awkward later when we need get through the big issues together.  It will just be something they've always done and don't question (here's to hoping!).  We're Catholic, so I infuse the Bible and religious practices into our meetings, but this practice does not need to be only for the religious.  (Instead of Bible stories, maybe you can read a book together?)

Here is our agenda (you can choose to open and close in prayer if inclined):

1. Weekly highs and lows.  Each person shares their favorite part about last week and also their not-so-favorite part of last week.  Oddly, this is is the only part of the meeting that B does not like and often refuses to participate in (see, it's like already having a child!).
2. Schedules.  When is little Johnny's soccer game again?  Do you want to go to trivia night?  When is that science project due?  Have the family calendar in front of you during this so you don't forget everything.
3. Issues/Conflict Resolution.  We use the "talking stick" method--basically, I just grab some object like a marker and only the person holding it is allowed to talk.  We try to use "I-statements" to air grievances and settle arguments.  There are a lot of books and resources out there on conflict resolution, so feel free to try some methods out until you find one that works (and don't be afraid to change methods based on development).  Once we have older kids/teens, this might have to move toward the end of the agenda so that the flaring tempers won't interfere with the rest of the meeting.
4. Bible Study/Lesson.  For now, B and I just pick a book in the Bible and read it aloud for about 15-20 minutes and then talk about it.  We did the entire book of Ruth in one night, but we've now been doing the Book of Job for about a month, reading it by sections.  For kids, there are a lot of Sunday-school references on the internet that you can pull from.  Adding an activity like coloring or a craft obviously requires more planning, but can be very helpful for children.  If you want to pick a verse of the week to memorize, this is a great time to introduce it.
5. Rosary and/or Prayers and Praises.  I won't lie; we generally don't do the rosary unless we have a short Bible reading (usually the end of a book).  I like doing it though, and I want my kids to be comfortable with it.  (I can't even imagine saying a rosary with my parents, and I wasn't comfortable leading one by myself until just a few years ago.)  Also, now is a good time, if you don't do this at dinner prayer, to give praises for all that you are thankful for, and to pray for those in need.
6. Words of Affirmation.  Each family member says something nice to each other family member.  Can just be a compliment, or it can be thanking them for something they have done recently.  I love this.
7. Treats!  Enough said.

You may notice that many of these can be incorporated into your family dinners.  Even though B and I eat dinner together every night, I do like to take the extra time to just focus on these things uninterrupted, especially the religious part.  Plus, I think having it scheduled keeps us more accountable.

Does your family have a weekly meeting ritual?

why today is special

December 13th is a great day!

1. My cousin's birthday - she'll be 28, which kicks off the deluge of birthdays for the same age in my family (my sister, another cousin, and my husband will all be 28 between now and mid-May)
2. My nephew's birthday. I can't believe he's 7.  He's the cutest kid ever. (I'm pretty sure all proud aunties say this?)

Here's him singing with the church choir on Christmas Eve 3 years ago (he had just turned 4). He's got brown hair and in the middle. Watch it 'til the end, and you'll KNOW which one he is, I promise.




Sorry, my sis had to put the camera down and go get him off the altar steps because he started crying. Next year, they did pretty much the exact same set but all the kids were on the floor instead of up on the steps.  And they have him to thank.

3. Two years ago, I said YES!
Here's the story from our old wedding website:

B had been back from his 7-month deployment for less than a month, but we wanted to take a trip to celebrate and just spend some time together.  We decided to go to Charlottesville, VA, to hit up some wineries and see the land of Thomas Jefferson ("TJ" as the locals call him).  After a fun day touring the University of Virginia, we had reservations at the Clifton Inn for dinner.

When we got there and B said his name, the host said, "Ah yes, I know that one. Table 5."  I should've been suspicious then, but I just pinned it down to his very memorable last name.  Then they put me right by the fire in front of this big window where I could see out into the winterscape of trees (even though it was dark, it was still very pretty).  We sort of had a competition going to see who could order the better course. But it was all too good; it was the fanciest and best dinner either of us had ever eaten out. As B put it later, "that place doesn't know how to make bad food."

After dessert (I won that one, at least for me), the staff brought our check and a little after-dinner chocolate/toffee treat.  B then told me not to "dive into that" yet, and that he had something for me. He then stood up (I swear he said "okay here goes" but it might be my imagination), then he said, "Catherine James, I love you very much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.  Will you marry me?"  And then I saw that he was down on one knee and had a ring. I said yes, of course.

We talked for a bit after that, and then the staff/busboy came to get our check, which we had completely forgotten about. Our waiter came back out with champagne for the two of us and we drank, and I tried to eat the chocolate-toffee thing, but I couldn't get it down. So I'm really glad B waited until after dessert because he totally would've spoiled the food. I also busted him on forgetting my middle name--he said it was going through his head the whole time, it just didn't come out of his mouth. 

He bought it on Black Friday and kept it a secret for over 2 weeks!

Reflecting on this now is interesting.  I think a lot of us ladies had it in our heads how we wanted a man to propose to us one day.  I was never one of those 'planned my whole wedding before I met the guy' types, but after I met B and we got serious, I did give some thought to a proposal.  I had kinda wanted it to be outdoors, in private.  (Actually, my dream proposal was to take a hot-air balloon ride followed by a picnic where he would pop the question.)  And I always thought he would ask one of my friends for ring-shopping advice.  But he did none of those things, and y'know what?  It was awesome.  I love my engagement ring, and I loved his proposal, even those neither of them are what I "had in mind".  I may have planned the wedding, but the proposal was entirely his.

There is one thing that did happen that weekend that still makes me laugh.  A work buddy of mine knew we were heading to Charlottesville for the weekend, and she had already asked me if I thought he'd propose.  I really didn't think he was gonna do it until the spring.  But as we were driving up there on Friday, my work friend texted me saying something like "Have fun in C-ville; I'll be waiting for the special text!"  B and I don't keep things from each other, but there was no way I was gonna let him see that.  And I also knew they'd never met each other (they never did after the fact either).  So anyway, B proposed Saturday night, and on Sunday morning when I started making the phone calls, I sent her a text that simply said "special text :)"  Two years later, I still have it saved in my phone.  (Okay, yeah, I need a new phone.  T9 isn't awesome anymore?)

one year later . . .

. . . it still fits!

Amen.

nine months

 As of today, July the 3rd, B and I have been married 9 months.  Enough time to make and pop out a baby, and if I were like my friend the Dadmeister, that baby would've been born yesterday.  But alas, we are not parents yet, we are not expecting to be parents yet, and we are not even on the same continent to perform the prerequisite activities it takes to become parents yet.  I kinda doubt B even realizes that today is nine months, nor does he probably care.  The only date he has ever wanted to celebrate of our entire relationship is our wedding date.  I tried to make up an anniversary date when we were dating (it was in February), but he never really was into it even though it would've given him a good excuse to skip Valentine's Day (which he's not much into either).  So the next 'relationship length of time' celebration will be October 3rd.  And it better be awesome.
 


p.s. No, I've never seen that movie. But I do like me some Hugh Grant.

bloody rejection!

Apparently, I'm not good enough for the Red Cross any more.  I used to give blood all the time in college.  Granted, I usually came pretty close to passing out every time, but just lay me back, put the wet towel on my neck, hand me some juice, and I was back on my feet in no time.  Four times a year at least.

Then I joined AmeriCorps and my weight dropped.  I probably hit just over their limit, but I was already passing out before, so I refrained.  Then I moved to Virginia and got on Accutane.  No doubt in my mind that I could not give blood while on that drug.  So I've been off of that for over a year and decided I should try giving blood again after a 4 year hiatus.  Made my appointment, drove the mile downtown (could've walked, but decided it wasn't in my body's best interest due to the history of fainting).

I'd only given at blood drives before, so going into a Red Cross donor office was a new experience for me.  WHICH I ABSOLUTELY LOVED.  I may never go back to blood drives again.  I also loved having an appointment so I didn't have to wait around in some dorm/student center/office park and watch all the double-reds jump the line.  I'm telling you, these things backed up in college - we were all so eager to give!

After my mini-physical, the nurse(?) delved into the questions.  The answers to these for me used to be "no, no, no, no, no...etc."  But now they're not.  And one "yes" in particular knocked me out of the running.  My honeymoon, of all things!  Cancún, Mexico is apparently a malaria threat.  We only went there because the swine flu made it a pretty cheap place to visit last fall.  Apparently we were taking risks in every direction with this trip!  (And luckily all we ended up contracting was Montezuma's Revenge.  Er, maybe that wasn't so lucky.)  Anyway, because of our week in Mexico, I can't save up to three people's lives until October 11.  And by then I'll probably be pregnant or something and not be able to donate once again.  I did still get my coupon for a free pint of Ben & Jerry's and a Red Cross ice cream scoop, so the day was not lost.  And our lesson for the day, kids, is that it never hurts to try!  So if you're feeling inspired, go give blood because I can't.  Or go party on the Yucatan Peninsula so you have a good excuse not to (and then still try and get the prize anyway).

Here's a picture of me enjoying myself on my potentially malaria-ridden honeymoon!

all blogs need a first post

Hello world.  Since it's my first post, I suppose I should introduce myself to the blogosphere-at-large.

I'm Cat.  My initials are C.W.  There's a low-rated broadcast television station with the same initials.  My sister-in-law had the initials before me.  I got mine on October 3, 2009, the day I married my husband.

I am a military wife.  A submarine officer's wife, if you want specifics (and I generally want specifics).  So yes, I'm a milspouse.  But what does that actually mean?  I don't stand 3-section duty, eat midrats in the wardroom, sleep 6 hours at a time in a coffin bed, sit in at captain's mast, or refer to cleaning time as "field day."  I never had to cut my hair against my will, I've never had a job I couldn't quit willingly and without repercussion, I've never used blousing straps or shirt stays, and I don't have shiny gold dolphins pinned to my chest.  That's his life, not mine.  And he's deployed right now, so his life won't factor in here until later--when he (we?) starts shore tour.  Can't wait.

We have no pets, we have no babies, and we're not even starting some grand adventure like my friends in California and Italy.  The aforementioned shore tour is in Pensacola.  There are no subs in Pensacola.  There's not even a port in Pensacola.  We've been in Norfolk almost 3 years - subs and ports and shipyards everywhere I look.  I lived in Jacksonville prior to moving to Virginia, so I'm no stranger to north Florida.  I'm originally from Lawrenceville, GA, and attended the University of Georgia in Athens.

This blog is more than the story of our life.  It's my musings on just about everything.  It's my current thoughts, my future ideas, my view of past events.  It will contain things I think people should know, and links at every possible turn.  It will also contain my unapologetic opinion.  My blog, my opinion.  If you don't like it, stop reading.  I'm a knowledge junkie, a grammar nazi, a devout and zealous Catholic, a slight tomboy, a cubicle-life escapee, a former AmeriCorps member, a Soprano 2, a beach lover, a semi-picky eater, and a slightly clueless yet eager domestic goddess.  And I'm sure all of those things (and more!) will make great blog posts in due time.