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?