On Leaving This Crazy Lifestyle

I've mentioned it before, but my husband is leaving the active duty military very soon. (Terminal leave starts Aug. 17).  I have a guest post up today over at Many Waters, explaining my views on the matter.  Here's a taste of it:

My husband’s job search has been a big adventure, but I, personally, have very little to do with it.  So instead I want to focus on what his military separation means to me.  For one, I can only call myself a Navy submariner’s wife for just a few more months. It all goes away August 31. For the past few years, I’ve let his military service define our relationship and also myself . . . read the rest here

And if you found me from Poe's blog, welcome!  If you're wondering, we still don't know where we're headed next!

The Olympics!

Is anyone else as excited as I am about the Olympics starting tonight?

I have a long history of love for the Olympic games, starting precisely 20 years ago.  It was then that I cheered on my favorite gymnasts Shannon Miller and Dominique Dawes at the Barcelona games.  I was 8 years old and living in Atlanta then, which had already gotten the bid for the 1996 games.  My mom bought me a little t-shirt with the Olympic rings on it that I wore proudly.  I may even still own that shirt.

And, oh, the 1996 games.  It still amazes me that I just lived in the right place at the right time.  Instead of taking a vacation that summer, we went to the Games!  My 12th birthday was the beginning of that summer, and I asked my mom to decorate my cake with the Olympic rings.  I got her to copy them perfectly, too--every over and under of interlocking was meticulously inspected by me to make sure they were right.  She even made black icing for that one ring, which is a feat in and of itself.  I can now spot phony rings from a mile away.

My mom also found us a way to volunteer our way into those games, due to our Girl Scout connection.  I got to volunteer at tennis, archery, and cycling.  The events we went to with tickets were gymnastics, women's basketball, the gold medal baseball game (RIP, Olympic baseball), and equestrian.  Some of my family from Florida came into town to join in the fun as well.  I remember getting up bright and early one morning and heading downtown to watch the men's marathoners run by, too!

Atlanta's mascot Izzy still remains my favorite!

Then after those Olympics were over, we went to the Paralympics!  Table tennis, volleyball, and have you ever seen someone swim with no legs?  I have, and they were way faster than I am.  I think the best part about the Paralympics was that we got to attend the closing ceremony.  I have very fond memories of the summer of 1996.

A phoenix named Blaze was the mascot of the 1996 Paralympics.
Perfect fit for both Atlanta and the paralympic athletes.

As for now, I had to explain to B how much I love the Olympics.  You would think he might have known that already, but in actuality, he was deployed during the last two Olympics.  That means the Games helped me cope with the crazy Navy lifestyle.  The Beijing ones fell right around the halfway mark of his first deployment, and the 2010 Winter Olympics started the day he left.  I went over to a friend's house to watch the opening ceremonies and was so caught up in the Games for a bit that I forgot to be sad about his leaving until two weeks later.  (Yeah, that is how to kick a deployment's butt!)

In case you were wondering about those funky London mascots . . .

So, what about you?  Are you excited for the Olympics or just indifferent?  My only bummer is that I won't be able to watch the Opening Ceremony tonight, as I was invited for a fun night out with friends (and no baby!) to see my friend perform in a musical.  I guess I'll catch it later, but starting tomorrow, my bum will be glued to the couch soaking in all of the amazing achievements of the best athletes in the world!

7 Quick Takes (Crazy Week Edition)

— 1 —

Baby Cora finally rolled over!  Well, she's still in the realm of normal for that, but I was tired of seeing posts from friends whose babies are (a lot) younger than mine about it.  She only rolls from tummy to back, still only onto her left side, and it often takes some coaching.  Here's a video of the fourth time she did it:

— 2 —

On Saturday, some friends invited me to hit up the local farmers' market.  I brought baby, all excited to buy some nice produce and maybe some fresh flowers.  About ten minutes after we got there, we got caught in a torrential downpour!  We had previously decided to go to lunch at a certain place within walking distance once we were done with our shopping, so we decided to head over early.  I was trying to push the stroller while holding an umbrella, and it just wasn't working, especially once my umbrella inverted itself in the wind.  The car seat part of the stroller has a canopy, which apparently isn't waterproof at all.  I was soaked, baby was soaked, everything in the diaper bag got soaked, too (even her extra clothes).  I spent Saturday night blow-drying the car seat cover with a hairdryer.  I now keep an extra towel and onesie in my trunk!  The worst part: we never even got to buy anything at the market. I think I'm going to try again tomorrow.

— 3 —

I'm pretty sure it's unrelated to being caught in the rain, but this house got hit by a nasty illness this week!  I started feeling nauseous on Monday afternoon, and it got progressively worse that night.  I'm talking 'multiple-trips-to-the-bathroom' worse.  I also alternated between shivering in our 77 house and then being way too hot.  When baby woke up for her usual 4am feeding, I ended up passing out on the floor of our bedroom before I could get to her!  Well, I was really only out for a half a second because I sorta made a decision that my legs were going out on me, so I should just let them.  I plopped on my bum, head between my knees, all while having to listen to my baby wailing in the other room.  (Worst. Feeling. Ever.)  Luckily, B was home, so I hollered for him and he dealt with baby until I regained my composure.  He left for his monthly trip the next morning, so I am sooooo glad he was here!  I had him call me as soon as he got up the next morning to make sure I was okay.  One of my biggest fears of being a mom was what to do when you got sick!  It's not like you can take a day off.  I guess you just deal with it.  Luckily, this sickness got out of my system pretty quickly, didn't hit baby or B nearly as bad (although each got a taste of it), and I'm back to normal.

— 4 —

On Wednesday morning, I decided to take Cora to go watch the Blue Angels practice on base!  She hears them all the time over our house, so the noise did not even phase her one bit.  I went with a friend who also has a baby around Cora's age, and he was a little more into it, watching the planes and such.  Cora was just happy to be out of the house, I think.  It was sooooo humid though!  Everyone had sweat dripping down them by about 10 minutes into it.  I was so happy to get back into my air-conditioned car when it was over!

— 5 —

I was reading a publication from the college I graduated from (the college within my university), and found out they changed the name of my major!  I actually really like the switch--from Child and Family Development before to Human Development and Family Science now.  I've always hated telling people my major because they only seem to hear the "child" part and expect me to be some sort of Super Nanny/Mary Poppins type.  The truth is that I have no desire to work with school-age children (age 3-12), and I only took one class on the development of that age group.  In school, I was much much more interested in family dynamics and relationship theory.

— 6 —

We "officially" started solids with Cora last night.  She wasn't all that interested, which we expected based on the times we had just tried to hand her stuff off our plates.  There's obviously more of a story here, since I didn't plan on starting these until later (although not too much later, as she'll be 6 months old next week).  I'll be doing a more detailed post on this one, but here's a fun picture to hold you over in the meantime:

Sweet potato, everywhere!

— 7 —

I left my keys hanging out of our front door all night last night.  I hate it when I do stupid stuff like that.


For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!