Filed under: Everyday Chatter
When people talk about how God told them to do something, I wonder how they know that. I onced asked somebody how you know when God speaks to you. Never was really sure. Until last night.
There has been this thing that weighs heavily on my mind. Very much so. I hardly ever talk about it, I walk around like it’s all good, but it’s constantly on my mind. I just keep it to myself.
So, last night I ran into a person that I would never in a million years have probably even thought about, but I knew him from high school. He was honestly shocked to see me, as he told me that about 2 weeks ago, he had a dream about me. In his dream, he says, I had to make a decision and I didn’t know which way to go. Then he ran into me in the store and how strange was that? I had no idea he even lived anywhere around or near Jackson.
Anyway, long long long story short, he told me that God had put it on his heart to say some things to me, and he didn’t want or mean to be offensive, and he didn’t even know why he felt that he needed to say what he was about to say, but he said it. And I started getting ready for the crazy to come out. But it didn’t.
Ya’ll, the things he said to me, no one could have known. They weren’t general things about what I had been thinking or feeling, they were very specific, almost as if he had been living inside my head for the past couple months. You know how you have something that you know you need to do, but for whatever reason you don’t. Well, he knew exactly what I had been thinking that I needed to do,but was honestly afraid to do it, and he told me to do it. And he told me that once I did it, God would show up.
That’s not all he said, but the conversation was enough to let me know that God has been hearing me. He sent someone in the very least form and manner that I would ever expect with my confirmation. I don’t know how this is supposed to work out, I don’t know why he sent that person to me, but we do have a history which has always been a little….different? Not romantic in the least, just different. Put it like this, I was not nice to him in high school, and not particularly anytime I saw him after that.
Anyway, these things I now know: God works in mysterious ways, unknown to man. He may not come when you want him, but He’s always on time. When He speaks to you, you’ll know it. Now, I have a very hard thing to do.
Filed under: The Mommy Files
You all know how outraged I was when they told us that Aidan wouldn’t be able to come to school for the first week in August, right? Well, I expressed my disgust in an email sent to everybody that I thought might be remotely related to the school. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to read it and know that I was HOT.
Anyway, when the closure was first announced, we started making plans for Aidan to go elsewhere. Either to Tim in Memphis, or to Granny & Paw Paws. Finally it was decided that he’d go stay with Granny & Paw Paw during his school break.
Well, after that they decided that they would, in fact, offer childcare at the school, so you could bring the kiddies. I’m not taking Aidan because he’s gone. Tim just can’t believe that I went through all that and then I’m not even going to take Aidan to school that week. After I jumped up and down and went off on everybody in an email, then NerdGirl and I plotted and planned our next move, then we get what we want, and I’m not even going to take him.
Here’s my take on it. It’s the principle of the matter. For so long, I’ve let the director of the school just do whatever and I’d comply with a smile. At some point, you have to show people. I’m not of the variety to stand for nothing and fall for anything, and the okey doke does not work on me. Just because I tolerate most things, that doesn’t mean I’ll tolerate all things. That’s all I was trying to prove, and I think my point was well taken. So, am I wrong for not taking the chap to school?
Filed under: Everyday Chatter
….. blogging, that is.
….. I mean spinning.
….. Wait. I meant to say bringing my lunch.
….. Did I mention reading for my classes?
….. Or waking up early.
….. Or scheduling that stuff for our vacation.
….. Or (dangit!) registering Aidan for school.
….. And about doing all that stuff on the corner of my desk? Blech.
I would continue, but I just don’t feel like it. What is it that you just can’t seem to do?
Filed under: The Weekend in Review
…..played tennis. Well, actually I played tennis. Did I tell you guys I had taken up tennis? Friday night, I went to a tennis mixer, and Saturday morning I went to run some drills at Tennis South. While this is a whole other post within itself, let me just say that I had been playing bourgeious tennis at the Reservoir Y and when I got to South Jackson…. it was ON!
…..went to sleep and left Aidan up by himself. I felt so sorry for him with me upstairs in bed and Tim on the couch. Both of us knew we needed to wake up, but neither one of us could. You know it’s bad when he comes to you and says “Mom, can I have some Oreos?” And you tell him no, get candy instead. Why? Because he can reach the candy by himself. I would have had to get up and get the Oreos. Finally, he gave up and went and laid down.
….. had an impromptu barbeque with NerdGirl, Smoochy, and Lovegirl as special guests. Let’s just make an understatement and say that Tim and Smoochy hit it off properly. Any man who likes beer and pork is certainly Tim’s kind of people. The kids played. NerdGirl and I watched t.v. and ear hustled the men’s conversation. We discussed hip hop music, Joe Jackson and Air McNair. NerdGirl brought wine. All was well!
….. fell asleep again. This time Nadia was up with Aidan. It was raining outside, the kids were upstairs watching a movie. Why not sleep? And why is it that AidaNadia get along like they’re both the same age? Aidan really does work his sister’s nerves. Way to go, Aidan!
…. ate leftovers and watched Army Wives. Does anyone watch besides me? Was anyone cheering for Joan when she killed that dood?
What was up with your weekend? What were the haps around your way?
So…you all probably don’t remember this post when we were on the way home from Oklahoma at Thanksgiving and Tim got a ticket. I teased him relentlessly about it, I must admit. And I enjoyed it.
As we were riding home again from Oklahoma on the 4th, everyone in the car was sleep and I was driving. I noticed lights behind me and I knew that I was certainly speeding, so I braced myself for my ticket. And Tim woke up. Ya’ll, I have never seen a person so giddy to see another person get a ticket in my life. He even took photos with his little funky iPhone.
He photographed the inital stop….
He photographed the approach. At this time, for some reason, the police went to his window. With such a broad smile, he was willing to hand over my drivers license and registration and engage the officer in friendly conversation about how fast I was going. He even told a friend that called me later to check the blog for the pictures of my ticket.
And there I am signing what? The WARNING!! Bwaaaahahahaha!! After all that, I didn’t get a ticket. Thanks to Tim being so friendly and Aidan in the backseat saying “Mommy, when are we going to be free to go??”, the officer took pity on me and gave me a warning. Tim was disgusted.
The moral of the story: My family is crazy, but they get you out of tickets!
Filed under: The Mommy Files
I saw this at one of Aidan’s basketball games. I immediately thought *GASP*….why would someone let their kid get a spiderweb (or a semblance thereof) in his head? One day as we were all sitting at the dinner table, one of us mentioned that Aidan needed a haircut. Then Nadia suggested that he get a mohawk. Tim and I looked at her as if surely she was someone elses child to have even suggested such foolishness. Her response, “What? It’ll be cute!”
So, that conversation, and this picture got me to thinking….is it really crazy to let your child do this kind of thing? If you think about it, what is really appropriate at what age? Some people balk at the thought of grown men wearing cornrows…but they also balk at teenagers wearing them….and they also think its not right for young boys to wear them. Cornrows, long braids, hair designs….when is it ever okay?
The answer in our military household is certainly going to be “Never.” A couple weeks ago, I suggested that maybe we should let Aidan’s hair get a little longer so he could have a tiny little afro. Tim met me quickly with a swift “Negative.” So, for us there will always be a clean cut little boy. But, really, is it so bad if in his preschool years, or even elementary school, you let them get the haircut of their choice, or wear the braids? If not then, when?
Filed under: Psonya & Tim
Really, I did have a post. Did you come back at noon? I’m sorry. Today has been one of those days. So, I’l just post it tomorrow instead. I even forgot what it was about now.
So, I know that Cuba is Cuba and the initial thing is how awesome is that? Babs’ comment below summed up my initial reaction. However, so as not to lead blogworld on and to show Tim that I have a handle on passive-aggressiveness, there are some downsides to Cuba.
1. The base is the only place you can go. You can’t go out into Cuba, and Cuba can’t come in to you. So, there’s really no local culture. Just an American base.
2. The living area on base is only about 5 miles long and wide. So, go outside of your house, mark a 5 mile radius, and stay in it for months at a time. That’s where we will live, work, play, go to school, etc.
3. We have to stay in base housing, so Tim loses money.
4. We have no idea where or if I will work. I’m sure I’ll find a job — in fact, I look forward to having the opportunity to do something different. But, it’s quite the thing to move out of the country with the same bills you had in the Country with nothing but a hope that you’ll work.
5. Even though you can leave to go home to the States, it isn’t inexpensive.
6. No one knows what Tim will be doing there. They might assign him to 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week.
So, you see, there is a huge amount of uncertainty that comes along with moving the family to the lovely 5 mile island of Cuba. Tim, being the man that he is, ain’t really feeling placing us in any kind of jeopardy just so I can enjoy the Cuban experience. Plus, there’s hurricanes. Dang! I didn’t think about hurricanes…..
Filed under: Everyday Chatter
but right now I have to work! Come back later, round noon. In the meanwhile, I just have several random thoughts…
You guys know me so well! My choices were 3, 1, 2. However, Tim’s choices are 1, 3(?), 2. He said that I was being passive aggressive with the way I wrote the post because I only said bad things about two options. Umm, I think the bad thing about Guantanamo Bay goes without saying…it’s CUBA.
Remember about 2 weeks ago when people were dogging ole boy out about breaking up with his girl in an email. How much of a loser he was for leaving her at the alter. Yeah, well this morning she said that it didn’t happen like that. They spoke about it before he sent her an email, and she knew well before the wedding that she was not getting married. She never even put on her gown. Does anybody who called him a loser feel stupid? You should.
Oh, and Chris Brown didn’t beat me up. Or my mama, my sister, my aunt, my cousin, or my friend. He didn’t owe me an apology. And unless Rihanna was your girl, he didn’t owe you one either. So….why are people talking about it was too little too late? He didn’t beat YO azz, why do you even care?
Seems as though I’m feeling rather pissy today. I’ll try to correct that before my noon post.
Filed under: The Mommy Files
This week at Aidan’s school they’re learning all about Community Helpers. Yesterday they had a visit from the firetruck, and Aidan was very pleased to report to me that he could now stop, drop, and roll. He also explained to me that while the fireman is driving the firetruck, the other firemen are in the back naked. What???? He says the fireman told him that while he’s driving the other firemen are in the back putting on thier clothes. And, according to Aidan, if you’re putting on clothes, you must have started out naked. Really, can you argue with that logic? Yeah, yeah, I’ll fix it later…
So, today they have a fun day and they can dress up like community helpers. There was a lifeguard, a doctor, and a fireman — all great community helpers. But, if you know Aidan, you know what he wanted to be….
Filed under: Psonya & Tim
Good Morning, Fab 14! Happy Monday! I know, I’ve been a bad blogger for the past couple days, and I apologize. I was going to start this week with a weekend post because we did have quite the lovely weekend, but I’ll do that tomorrow. Do you mind?
Today, I want to talk about something that I wasn’t going to blog about. But, I figure that it’s something that happening in life right now, and it might make for an interesting story — and maybe you’d like to go on our journey with us.
Remember that I was moving to Memphis? Well, that was because Tim had decided to retire from the Navy and live in Memphis. Then he got promoted, so now retirement is off the table. Which means that he has to take orders to another duty station for the next 3 years. We decided 3 years ago when he left Norfolk and came to Memphis that no matter what happened, when he left Memphis, we would all leave together. So, our journey begins.
What happens is that he gets a choice of orders, and he has a chance to accept the orders that he likes. We’re now at the point where he has gotten his options:
Option One is that he can stay in Memphis for 3 years, after completing an approximately 8-14 month tour out of the country, and without his family.
Option Two is that he be assigned to a ship in Norfolk. Said ship would sail the deep blue sea for anywhere from 10 days to 12 months at a time. When he isn’t sailing, he’ll be at home. When he is sailing, Aidan and I will be in Norfolk looking at each other crazy.
Option Three is that he travel to Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba, and we live there for 30 months.
And there you have it. The first decision that we have to make is certainly not an easy one, either family or career wise, but we do what we have to do. Saturday night, Tim and I listed our choices in order of preference. What do you think my list is?
