Farewell to Wisdom

On this past Friday, I said goodbye to my wisdom teeth.

Although Chris was not able to leave TBS for the day, or early, I am lucky enough that I have really good friends who were willing to take me to the oral surgeon, wait while I had it done, buy me a smoothie, get my meds, and put me to bed when we got home.It was actually pretty fun because the girls sat in my bed with me and watched Say Yes to the Dress with me. I kind of wish we could do that more often, because it was really fun!

I have never been under anesthesia. I felt totally loopy. I just could not believe how quickly I fell asleep. I didn't feel a thing. And then all of a sudden I was awake, and the ladies in the room were talking to me, and the first words out of my mouth were "Was I nice?!" I am not sure why I was so concerned about that, I guess I must have thought I was going to be a jerk. They assured me that I was very nice and then I wanted to see my teeth, but they were already gone somewhere.

They brought the girls back in the room to talk about what to do for the rest of the day and the week and go over my medications. My medication regimen wasn't too hard to handle but it was my first time ever having to take Percocet, so I wasn't sure how that would go. In the car on the way home, I was very moody. I started crying because the girls couldn't understand what I was saying (with giant pieces of gauze occluding the majority of my mouth). And then I tried to tell them that I looked and sounded like Jay Leno. (I assume this is because my jaw was numb, so it felt like it was huge and jutted out.) We went into McDonald's to get smoothies and I about started to cry because I thought kids were looking at me funny. Then we went through the drive-through of CVS to get medications and I almost started crying because I thought the pharmacist was laughing at the way I talked. It was time to get me into the safety of my own home where I could be as moody as I wanted to be.

Percocet is hilarious. Not only does it make me sleep for about 12 hours, it also makes me narcoleptic. I can't even tell you how many times I would be sitting up, Facebooking, talking to Chris, watching a movie, sending a text, whatever, and I would suddenly wake up and realize my fingers were still typing nonsense, or Chris was waiting for me to respond or finish my sentence. He finds it quite entertaining.

Eating hasn't been fun. It's incredibly tiring because you can't really open your mouth very wide or use the back half of your mouth. A lot of things don't taste good and mostly I just eat because I have to with my medications. If I don't eat with them I get sick. Proof of that was this morning-you would think that on the sixth day I wouldn't have to worry about throwing up but that's just what I did today. Then I fell back to sleep for a really long time. I haven't really done much yet today, which isn't the best idea since my parents will be here tomorrow night sometime. Their flight comes in at around 7:00pm so I would think they should be here by nine. Chris is so excited. Last night he was running around the house, giggling and quoting my parents and practicing his Minnesota accent.

The first few days were pretty brutal; a steady stream of Percocet going into my body and lots of sleeping. Chris wasn't too grossed out by my bloody gauze in my mouth. He spent most of Friday and Saturday just lying next to me in case I needed anything. I felt bad because I had to wake him up at 0400 because I needed something for nausea, and it was so bad that I knew if I even moved an inch I would throw up. Luckily the Phenergan worked and I didn't throw up. I mostly just bugged Chris to go get me ice for my face. You know the frozen Arbor Mist, Daily's, and Mike's Hard Lemonade adult juice packs? Well they make amazing ice packs for after wisdom tooth extraction!

Nalli didn't leave my side these past six days. She was especially attached the first three days when I wasn't moving around much. She would watch me move around the room, as if she was worried I was going to fall or something. It was pretty cute.

She may have also just wanted snacks.

I followed the rules post-op fairly well, except the other night Chris and I took the dogs on a walk and I decided it would be a good idea to try to run a little, just to see if I could. I could tell that I was running funny; at least it felt funny to me, but I did it. And then I needed two Percocets when we got back. Lesson one. The second rule I didn't actually break, but I was about five seconds away from imminent disaster. I had gone to get a lemonade and had the straw unwrapped and in my mouth, about to put it in my lemonade and use it when I got this feeling of absolute "OH CRAP, I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO USE THIS", and I'm sure my face went totally white if anyone was looking at me. That was too close for comfort. I do not have time for dry sockets!!

Chris helped me clean up the basement the other night. He is a great help when he wants to be, but I did have to go around behind him like my mom did to me. I remember when she would ask, "Did you vacuum here?", knowing full well that I hadn't, but if I looked at the spot she was looking at and it didn't look too bad, I would tell her that I did. Well, my husband pulled just that move on me, when I asked if he vacuumed behind the hamper (after moving it and seeing all of the little hairs from his last haircut back there), he put his head down and said, "no".

My husband has  made me into a mother.

Yesterday one of the wives came over to hang out with me while I made some food for the next few days with my family. She needed some new recipes and since I own about fifty cookbooks, it was worth a shot for her to try to look through them. She found a few recipes while we tried some other ones. I need to do some cleaning today and tomorrow but I do feel like I am ready to have my family over!

Dinner was amazing last night. I stuffed cornish game hens with pineapple stuffing, made BBQ potato wedges, and a saute of squash, mushrooms, and tomatoes. We didn't get to eat until late because Chris had a combat engineer field experience. And when he did finally get home we had three guests. Our landlord had to come over because at about six, I went downstairs to find water leaking from under our water heater and air conditioner. We thought it might be a quick fix, but it turns out they had to replace our water heater last night. Our landlord knew a really good plumber who was able to come over and take care of it right away, and so he did.

I had to stay up a little while after they left because they tracked a bunch of mud in bringing in the new water heater, so I wanted to clean that up before it stained anything. And then I had to wait up for my dear husband's laundry, because he likes that way THAT pair of cammies fits (the other four pairs aren't good enough, I guess). Oh well, it meant I didn't have to feel guilty about sleeping in this morning. I still got up to make Chris breakfast, but then told him I was going back to bed because I felt ill, and sure enough I threw up half an hour later. You know we've been married less than a year because I managed to keep it down until I knew he was out of the house.

There is artillery going off on base again today. Honestly I don't think I will ever get used to that noise. Every time I'm still like, "WHOA! What was that?" I think it's so weird that we are miles from base and can still hear and feel it. I have been very jumpy, though. The other day Amber was sweet enough to take me to the commissary and wait around while I tackled my huge shopping list. She would finish her list and then come to find me, and I would look up and she would be standing at the end of my cart, and I would jump two feet in the air. It was terrifying! Last night when our water came back on, all of the pressures had to re-stabilize, so the toilets, showers, and sinks would all make this awful, loud shooting noise every time you used one. My poor little heart couldn't take it no more.

Knowing my parents are coming tomorrow, I looked around and realized there were just a few finishing touches the house needed. I want to get some throws for the couches, and found some that were very cute and matched well. I was at TJ Maxx, so I also found a clearance rack that I can never seem to walk away from.

Oops. Especially considering we have a shipment of clothes coming from Kohl's today as well.

That is all I can write about today! I really need to get my butt up and at 'em, get something cleaned or work on dinner. I have no idea when Christopher will be home. I need to make sure we make the most of our time together this week and weekend because he will be gone all next week again. Oh field experience, how I loathe you. At least my parents and brother Nick will be here to distract me. Knowing how quickly the four months has gone since I left Nebraska, I know the ten days they are here will fly by as well. That makes me sad because there's no way we can fit in all the stuff we want to do in ten days! And not long after, we will move to Florida and then they will just have to come visit again.

Ups and Downs

I have had to keep thinking happy thoughts all day because work was not fabulous by any means. Being PRN is great, but sometimes it sucks because you come in and you have to sweep up what someone else left behind. And sometimes the people before you don't do everything they were supposed to so you have to try and figure it out. Sometimes being a nurse is like being MacGyver...but usually it shouldn't be. It seems that everything hits the fan when nobody is around to help, so of course when I realized I needed a whole bunch of things I didn't have, nobody was around to help me find it or explain how to use it.

Being  a new nurse is super fun sometimes.

Luckily it all worked out and at the end of the day I was calm, collected, and caught up. I got home, cleaned up, and then headed over to my friend's for wine and a movie. We had about 9 bottles and cracked open a few of them. We watched Steel Magnolias because the girl from Missouri and the girl from Georgia hadn't seen it. C'mon now! I think everybody loved it.

Or maybe it was the wine.

Regardless, it made me miss my mom.

Ruby is standing at the end of my bed staring at me like she has been possessed by the devil.

I can't stand that dog.

Noise Advisory

I woke up this morning to an oddly sunny morning with the rumble of thunder in the distance. It wasn't actually a long rumble like normal, though, just little short bursts of rumbling. How odd, I thought?

From what I understand, it's supposed to rain today, so then it made more sense. And then I read that there is a noise advisory on base from 0600-1700. So that noise is actually artillery. I'm praying that it doesn't rain on my husband this week. I know exactly how many pairs of cammies, underwear, and socks he took with him. And I really hope it doesn't rain.

I'm watching "Orange is the New Black" on Netflix-totally addicted. It is a VERY clever show.

I need to get up in a little while. Mostly because I'm hungry, but also because I need to clean the house before everybody comes over tonight! Rachele is working the pool so I might head on over there while I can. Work hasn't called this week yet (I'm PRN for those of you who don't know) to ask me to come in. I'm hoping to get a bunch of work in before my parents come to town. I want a big paycheck before they get here!

Katie flies in on Thursday and stays with me until Saturday. Brandt and Lukow graduate on Saturday, so she finally gets to see her man after six weeks of OCS! I remember those days. They were awful! But they don't really end! Because once again Chris is gone, without his phone. I can't wait for him to come home, as always.

Lucky for me, we made steaks on Sunday night, pasta on Sunday afternoon for his friends, and I had made some apple dumplings earlier in the week You know what that means?

I haven't cooked yet since Chris left. And it has been wonderful. All I have to do tonight for the party is make a little guacamole. I am glad for that, because I've been so lazy. I did, however, get some lunches together on Sunday to take with me for some of Chris' friends in the barracks. They have been ragging on me because I sent a lunch for one of the other single Marines.

Poor Chris-I was feeling very emotional and lonely long before he left this time. First it makes very snooty toward him, and then it makes me all needy and on the verge of tears. So he spends the first half of the day trying not to tick me off and the second half giving me hugs every five minutes so I don't cry. It's not fun to say goodbye.

I love the ways I try to spend my time, though. I went to IKEA yesterday and got a little four-box shelf for all of my cookbooks. They barely fit. I can probably buy about two more cookbooks before I run out of room.

Oops. If I hoard anything, it might be cookbooks.

Ruby has been driving me crazy. She doesn't like noise when the Princess is trying to rest. So the artillery on base and the vacuum and "Orange is the New Black" on my laptop is severely irritating her. I put her outside. She can stay out there until she can calm down. I am SO excited to have everybody over tonight! I'm making margaritas!

We got our company cookbook put together, and I am considering getting a couple of extra as gifts because I am so proud of us for getting it put together. HUGE shout-out to Tara for coming up with the idea AND putting it together. It's going to be fabulous-we have some really great cooks amongst us.

Okay. Time to clean. Time to get ready. Party in 8 hours!

Exhausted by 1000

I decided not to go back to sleep today when Chris left for work. So I have been cleaning ever since. Sheila will be so proud when I tell her about all the cleaning I have done.

I can't decide if it's a good thing that my mom was a clean freak or not, because every time I think I'm done cleaning I put my Sheila eyes on and suddenly it looks like I'll just have to attach a rag to my hand. It's going to be a very busy next few weeks-this weekend a couple of our friends from Omaha who are training at Quantico are going to come over and spend a little time here with us. I'm hoping to cook a good meal for them and let them relax!

Next weekend, Katie comes from Omaha to stay with us because her boyfriend, Brandt graduates from his senior session of OCS. I'm hoping to show her around town and base a little bit. And just two short weeks after that, Mom, Nick, and Dad fly in! And they get to stay a little over a week. I am so excited to have them here, but also nervous because I want the house to look nice for their stay.

So, today, I scrubbed all the kitchen appliances, toilets, hardwood floors, windows, doors, shampooed some carpets, dusted all the woodwork, did the dishes, cleaned out the pantry and fridge, vacuumed, and I'm not done yet so I know there will be more.

The boys leave again next week for a field experience which means Chris will be gone and without his phone yet again. I am hosting a little Master Chef party on Tuesday and Wednesday night there will be a presentation of the Marine Corps Band here. Lots to do and little time!

My latest paycheck made me very happy so somewhere in here I need to get some more hours. I LOVE contributing to the bank account. It makes me feel so important! I do feel that I lack in the cleaning, cooking, and doggy-loving though with all of the hours I put in.

Tonight we are going to see Trace Adkins with our fellow couples and some single Marines. I have heard that Trace can be a really big jerk, but if he plays "Every Light In The House", "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing", or "I Left Something Turned On At Home" I will forgive him. Especially since the last one is basically the theme song for TBS, or the Marine Corps in general, for wives.

Ruby is locked in her kennel for a while because she has decided she will not be Furminated today, which means I am not going to have her running around leaving little clouds of poofies all over my newly vacuumed and scrubbed floor. Nalli got her nails trimmed today and was able to enjoy four snacks for being so cooperative. Her duck is locked away because she decided to rip out its "soul" (what most people refer to as the squeaker) even though she and I had JUST had a conversation about not ripping out the stuffing.

Rotten animals.

I hope it doesn't rain at the concert tonight, but I do hope it cools down. The past week and a half has been in the 80s and it has been so enjoyable. When it gets hot here I just want to go home. Nebraska heat feels entirely different and about a thousand times more bearable.

I am a cruel person. Chris' cousin CJ owns a farm and sent me a video of his vet lancing an abcess on a calf last night. He told me to show it to Chris, so I tried to do so after serving him strawberry and cream cheese Toaster Strudels this morning. He refused to watch it, and it's probably good because I wouldn't have been able to eat mine either. That is not a pretty video.

Sometimes when I am running around trying to get the garbage out to the curb (Chris' job) I like to pretend I'm Santa. Especially when I have one of the really big garbage bags. And then I hear beer bottles clang against each other and think I probably wouldn't make a very good Santa.

Anyway, this cleaning fairy is off to dust a shelf or something.

I'm Going to Blogger Hell

It's been nearly a month since I have even visited my own blog, let alone written anything. This is why I am going to blogger hell.

I have excuses! I have lots of them. Most of them just include the fact that I have been busy, that I have been working, and that when I'm not working I'm too tired to blog or I have a thousand other things to do.

I don't understand how people work and have kids. I don't even understand how a nurse gets through a 12-hour shift. I have 8-hour shifts (they usually become 10-hour shifts with all of the paperwork and whatnot) and they exhaust me. Of course, where I work I have about 20 patients on the regular. I guess you just suck it up and do it?

This past weekend we went to Virginia Beach. There was a SpouseBuzz Spouse Experience in Norfolk, and some of the ladies who work there had asked if I wouldn't mind volunteering. This was planned almost two months ago, and I had really been looking forward to it. They were kind enough to put us up in a room with two beds for two nights. The Spouse Experience was at the Hilton.

I had a blast. I really feel like I'm doing something special when I write for SpouseBuzz and volunteer for them. I remember how I used to feel before SpouseBuzz--like the things I was doing were not important and that I was not being a productive member of society. The event really changed my mind about that, and showed me how much what I am doing impacts a service member's life. The little things we do add up to huge things, and sometimes we are expected to do the huge things as well.

This experience was a little different from last time because this time we had a very inspirational wife's story. She is the wife of Joseph Kapacziewski, an Army Ranger who lost his lower right leg and endured forty surgeries before returning to Afghanistan for five deployments. He is also the author of Back In The Fight, a book which I cannot wait to read.

His wife, Kim, is amazing. She is so down-to-Earth, so honest, so inspiring. She told us the story of how she first learned her husband, Joe, was injured. She got a phone call from his cell phone that said, "Ma'am, your husband has been injured. At least two of his limbs have been affected. We'll let you know more when we know more. Have a nice day."

She had to wait TWO weeks to see him. It was the first time she had heard her husband scream out in pain. She spent the next SEVEN months in Walter Reed, taking care of Joe while he recovered. That became her job.

And I guess her story is so inspiring because she reminded us how how important the little things we do are. What's even more important is knowing that at any point in time, we might have to give up everything to take care of our husbands. To go to the hospital and stay with them to brush their teeth and shave their face, in case they can't. And no, it might not sound important, but from the side of a loving wife and a nurse, I know it is.

I was just looking at the listing for the book on Amazon, and I am amazed that someone rated this book with one out of five stars. Sometimes, people just need to sit back and shut up.

We got in to Norfolk late on Friday night, so we went down to the restaurant in the hotel and had dinner. We went to bed fairly soon after because the event began the next day around 8:30. The next morning we got up and headed downstairs. I helped set up tables and was approached by one of the leaders for a very special job. A Vice Admiral was coming to speak and she needed someone to watch her car at the front while she did so, in case she had to leave quickly. It was a perfect job to pass off to my husband, and I think he had a lot of fun in doing so. The Vice Admiral teased him about washing it while he was out there with it.

I couldn't believe the amount of ribbons this Vice Admiral had. It is so cool to see a woman who does so well in the military. And she was very humble, too. She remembered everything she was told about Chris and I and thanked us profusely for taking care of her vehicle.

It seemed that the event was over just as it began, so we ended the day wearing our t-shirts that say "Kiss Like They Deploy Tomorrow" and taking some photos. I was so glad that I was able to convince Morgan to come down and go to the experience, because she was hesitant. I felt a little bad stealing her from her husband as well, because it was their first anniversary the next day!

When we finished, it was looking pretty dreary outside. And not long after it started raining. So we waited it out a little. Morgan and I stepped down to the bar to use our complimentary drink tickets from the hotel. When we had first arrived on Friday night, our first room was dirty. Unmade beds, trash, and a towel on the chair that Chris was convinced was "proof that someone sat naked on that towel". Our second room smelled like smoke. I was not terribly impressed by all that but the free drinks were delicious, so I guess I can't complain. I'm not the type to really get mad at customer service; I only get mad enough to get something to make it right and then I don't care. I was tired more than anything.

We went to Virginia Beach after a couple of drinks. It is a quick drive and easy to navigate, despite numerous one-ways. We were so excited just to see the water it didn't matter anyway. We ran across the beach and into the water. I didn't even care that Chris got his shorts all wet (until he realized his phone was in his pocket and he had to give it to me for safekeeping).

That night we went to have a fancy dinner on the beach. YES, on the beach. We didn't see the sun set but we did see it grow darker around us and it was beautiful. We ate at a Mahi Mah's on the beach. I must say that my sushi was pretty darn delicious, but it was Morgan and Chris' calamari that really took the cake! It was a delicious dinner!

...

Sorry, had to pause the blog because the EVIL fluffy one decided that at 7:21 she was not going to wait for me to let her outside, so made eye contact with me and peed in front of MY closet. NOT Chris' closet, MINE.

So I'm over Ruby for the day, and probably for the next week.

It was time anyway, we have gotten along for almost two weeks.

Back to the weekend-Sunday we went out for breakfast at Pop's Diner, which is not on the water but is delicious and cute. After that we went to the beach. It was pretty cloudy, but we decided to wait it out, along with a thousand other people along the beach. We bought a volleyball and played a little game, and even had a couple of people join us. Chris and I talk A LOT of trash to each other when we play sports.

He once told me that I was not nice when we played basketball. (I still use elbows and nails.) He obviously never played girls' basketball in high school.

Anyway, we played in the sand and the water for a few hours. I can't remember the last time I tasted saltwater! It was a very odd experience for a Nebraska girl. We buried each other in the sand, and Chris and I (creep me out sometimes) had the same idea to build a "sandman" at the same time. This happens a lot, where we both get bright ideas but don't confer with one another so we do the same work with different results. Anyway, his turned out to be pretty cute.

We finished up our weekend with a pit stop at Taco Bell on the way home. I don't think I have ever actually gone there, sat down and had a meal. It wasn't the worst thing I had ever eaten. Chris promised to drive on the way home, so he did for about 2.5 hours before his complaining was too much for me and I offered to drive. He sat in the back and drank beer with Chris Hawley. I love traveling with the Hawleys for two reasons:
1.) Morgan can have fun no matter where we are or what we are doing.
2.) Chris has to be pee more often than I do, so it's always his fault that we stop.

Chris is gone again tonight so I won't be seeing him until tomorrow night. He will be gone all of next week as well. Seems like just a couple of weeks ago he was gone all week...

Oh wait, he was.

Field experiences get more and more often now as we get closer to the end of TBS. Luckily the spouses have figured out how to pass the time by getting together and having cooking competitions! Kat hosted our last party, with a competition based on taste, presentation, and originality with a secret ingredient of BACON. Yes, bacon.

There was bacon grilled cheese, apple-bacon pie, bacon pinwheels, bacon chocolate chip cookies (me), bacon broccoli salad, bacon-wrapped dates (overall winner), bacon dip, bacon rice krispy bars, and bacon-wrapped bananas (also me). I know I forgot some things but it was all FABULOUS. I felt disgusting for days following, but it was totally worth it.

The winner was Lisa's bacon-wrapped dates, which she had pitted and stuffed with cream cheese and a walnut. They were absolutely phenomenal.

Fellow spouse, Tara, got this amazing idea to put together a Charlie Company Spouse cookbook, and originally we had thought we would just be putting in the recipes for things we had brought to our events. We got to talking though, and realized we should be submitting our tried and true recipes.

Poor Tara. She has probably gotten at least 50 recipes from me thus far, and I don't think that I am done. Our next event is a Master Chef cook-off again, and this time the secret ingredient was chosen by me-it's avocado! I have asked that people tell me what they are making so we don't get six bowls of guacamole, and so far the recipes have my mouth watering. I am SO excited for this party! After our artery-clogging bacon party, I am very excited to have a party that has potential to be...a bit healthier?