I guess we are not fitting in as well as I'd thought

I have taken my car to the shop multiple times since we have been here for mostly minor things. My check engine light just wants to be on, no matter how many times they fix the car. Last time my car was at the shop, they called me to ask me if my car was from up north! They said "this is the worst rust we have ever seen on a car and we do not know if we can replace the part you need without everything falling apart!" also, "did you know your struts squeak when you hit a bump? They are very rusted" Yes, we are from Ohio. Yes, I can hear my struts squeak. How is it that they noticed that, but could not hear the loud, high pitched ringing coming from my car 3 times? Ah the south! They got the part in just fine.

It's a Girl!!!

We now call Michaela "little mommy"







Happy New Year everyone!!!

Blueberries Do Not Fit Into a 14 Month Old's Nose

I just thought everyone would be comforted in knowing that we figured this out today. I am sure there are ways to make them fit, but that is not what we were going for. Have a nice day.

Merry Christmas!

Yay Sunshine!

I am sorry guys. I cannot pretend i miss the snow, or chill at all. Joe does. He thinks that Christmas lights look unsettling down here. Most people would, but I have feared winter and its blues for about 10 years now. Not this year! I am so happy. I have wanted to move south for so long. South Carolina specifically. Merry Christmas to me. Now if I could just find a southern state that wasn't so southern where people drink unsweetened tea...then move all of you there too.

Happy news, Joe is off next week. Do not get excited, he has to check in Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning to prove he has not left the local area. Property of the USAF.

More fun news. The next baby doctor appointment is Monday!

It will be in the 70's this week here. Hehehehehehehehehehehe. Taking the kid to the park.

Give Mommy a Hug!

The Salvation Army

The high yesterday here was 72. I had to go to Walmart. Outside there were volunteers from the Salvation Army. It was sunny, everyone was in a good mood.
There is nothing heart warming about someone standing outside and ringing a bell in 72 degrees. In Ohio, in a couple of feet of snow and dark, those people make you want to dig into your purse and see what change you can find, what you have and could give. Here, you smile and greet them and walk right by thinking "what a beautiful day can't wait to get season 4 of Lost!".

Baby Girl's Name

I never officially announced that we are naming the new baby girl Morgan Barbara Fischer. So that's that. It is official.

Awwww, poor us. :p

No Food poisoning. 48 hours later, I was attacked mercilessly by the same stomach flu. Everyone is better now. Luckily, Joe was feeling fine and it was the weekend so he could take care of Michaela. Unfortunately, Joe had made plans for us to get a behind the scenes tour of the zoo that he volunteers at yesterday for my birthday, but we will have to reschedule. We also missed our monthly parents night out Saturday when I fell ill. I couldn't decide between seeing Bolt or The Punisher anyway. Any suggestions? Maybe one will still be out next month. Oh well. I am happy we all feel fine today!

Happy Bday to me! Part-Oh good lord someone please help me!

So we went to dinner last night. Joe, Michaela, Morgan and myself. Nice family dinner for my birthday! Yay! Then we get home and Joe falls asleep immediately. It was 6pm. Strange. So I just got Michaela into bed and unpacked a few things and went to bed around 10. 11:30 Michaela starts crying, sounds very upset, so I go to see what is wrong and her hair, nighty, crib, bumper, sheet, blanket are covered in vomit. She does not want me to put her down, but I need to clean up this mess(most of you know I have an iron stomach, doesn't bother me a bit), so I need help. I carry Michaela to the bedroom and see Joe in the master bathroom throwing up. He saw my face and asked what was wrong. I explained the situation to him, but he could not be in her room, so I had to put her into the pack and play until I cleaned her room. She could not lay down, so I held her on the couch until midnight(not my birthday anymore). She slept. We called the doctors this morning and were informed that a stomach flu virus is going around. Happy birfday..............to me.

No, noooooooo

You've all seen Michaela's artwork. Sometimes while working on a masterpiece, she eats the crayons, you know, to help her creativity. I must then take them away and she becomes very, very sad.
Today she was coloring and put a crayon up to her mouth and said "no", then put the crayon to the paper again. A couple of seconds later she puts another color up to her mouth and said "no, noooo" and continued to draw!! Eventually, it was too much and we got 3 great pictures before we had to stop with the crayons!

Happy Bday to me!

I think birthdays are great. I actually forgot about mine several times this year, but I have a lot on my mind and I am even more forgetful when I am pregnant. We are moved in to the new house. I am stuck between "wow I love having this much room" and "Oh my good lord someone please help me!"
I received several wonderful calls today, but my favorite was from Lucas. "Hi Aunt Faif! Happy Birfday.............to you."

This is my belly this morning!! I had to poke her and move her for the ultrasound yesterday and now she has decided to kick back!!

So what name do you guys like best? Jordan, Morgan, or Madison? Madison has the most votes, but I am pulling for Morgan.

Ok, a sneak preview

More to come for sure

Turkey

My 1st turkey ever! I stuffed it with lemon juice, salt, parsley, celery tops and bottoms, carrots, half of an onion. Rubbed it with salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme and cooked it breast side down. Probably the most tender turkey I have ever had. 15lb turkey, 8 people, 1lb of leftovers, dark meat mostly plus the bones and neck, which I will use to make soup. I baked 2 pumpkin pies. I made deviled eggs with a secret ingredient. I can't keep secrets, I put a splash of hot sauce in the mix. Turned out fab, none left. I made green bean casserole and a sweet potato casserole with marshmellows. Our friend Brandon brought mashed potatoes doctored with cool whip and garlic salt. Excellent! Very smooth, even I ate them. Casey and Jeremy brought salad, fresh veggies and a box of stuffing mix which I doctored with giblet stock, celery, parsley and onions. mmmmmmmmmmmmm. We had a good day :) It was so nice to have guests. Michaela and Coin played so nice together. Pregnant mom loves her food.

First Steps!

Michaela took her first steps yesterday!!!! She can take 4 or 5 at a time and then falls to the round giggling!!! I never realized what a surreal experience it is watching your baby walk on her own for the first time. Your life doesn't just change the moment you have a baby, it changes you every day from that moment on.

Stuff

Michaela is stuffing half of a whole wheat waffle into her face at one time. I had to drag her away from playing ball last night at bedtime. As soon as she awoke this morning, she crawled right for the ball saying "ball, ball, BALL!" Michaela is very good at throwing the ball and kicking the ball. She speaks pretty clearly half of the time, but she is not walking yet. She will get it.

I am reading "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle". It is going to take me two weeks, I think. I have been keeping busy cleaning and organizing. I am hosting not 1 but 2 Thanksgiving dinners here this next week, all before we move. Why? Because I'm crazy.

Speaking of moving, I have no news yet. Soon is all I've got. I may find out today. I am not holding my breath. The house as I told you has 4 bedrooms. I forgot to mention the 2 and 1/2 bathrooms. Very exciting.

That's all I have. New pics on photobucket. Happy Holidays!

Moving

We are moving. They found us a 4 bedroom house. It is quite large. The yard is nice and all fenced in already. They will pay to have movers come and move our stuff again. We will fill out paperwork on Monday. I will have more details then. Oh boy.

Every day we go to the park.

On the bright side, it is November! On the south side, it is all we have to do.

Artist??

Her first picture last month
Her pictures this month

As you can see, Michaela's drawings are getting darker, and more intense. Last night she decided to go more modern sculpure.

Give me a Break!

The VERY NICE-not kidding daycare on base hosts a" give parents a break night" once a month. They open thier doors to all airmen's children from 6:30-10:30pm for $3 an hour. If your spouse is deployed you do not have to pay.
We are going to see Madagascar 2. Yep, dropping the kid off for some adult time to watch a kids movie premier. We are going to do this every month. We visited the daycare center and Michaela and I both loved it. HUGE difference from the centers off base!! Yay!!!

South Carolina Political Ad

"more gun control, more taxes, liberal ideas. That is wrong. is wrong for us!"

The south is the south. Not shy about it at all. Things are simple down here.

With that being said, how is it that Ohio elected George W. 2 terms in a row?

Every 4 years, the country remembers that Ohio exists. Way to redeem yourself home state.

Halloween will rock next year!

We had all decided to stay at home and pass out candy yesterday. I dressed Michaela up just in time for her to take her first nap of the day at 5pm. She is refusing naps because she cannot breathe when she lays down :-(. Trick or treating was from 5-8. She finally woke around 6, still not in a good mood, still crying most of the evening until I let her play in the candy bowl. (everything was wrapped) Joe is now sick and sat on the couch refusing to pass out candy because he did not feel like it. Michaela was in bed before 7 because she was so unreasonable and then Joe asked me why I seem so cranky.
Pictures of the good time. Luckily you cannot see the constant stream of yuck coming out of Michaela's nose.

Ultrasound

The ultrasound is November 25th. Please post your guesses here!! I can feel the baby move now. Just a little bit!

mmwwwaaahahahahah!

I edged the yard today. Not so much edged as dug a small ditch between the grass and the sidewalk, then poured salt in the ditch. hehehe it was fun!

God Bless America

We failed a yard inspection today. Interesting, our yard has looked the same for a month. I'm sure this has nothing to do with our relationship with the housing office. Oh no, please don't kick us out of this craphole and pay us almost a grand a month to live in a rental!

B is for Bliss

Emails and a Good book

Michaela is playing by herself. She has not cried because I am not on the floor this morning. I wonder if that will last, or if it is simply the cold, cough, fever, infection causing her calm disposition. Michaela looked at a fake tree at the Airman and Family Rediness Center yesterday and said "tree". She also looked at a picture of a monkey and said "monkey". It is so amazing to see such a bright one year old. She does these things that make me think she is brilliant. Then she sticks her hand in a board book and sits on it and can't figure out why her hand is stuck over and over until I have to take the book away. Michaela and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" have to spend some time apart.

It is 36 degrees here right now. When we woke up it was 34 and moony. I love it. The sky is a light shade of blue, instead of an obnoxious shade of bright, but I can't wait to fill my day with emails and a good book.

A Place to Live

I went to the housing office in search of answers. It was after1pm. I had not eaten lunch. There is a man who handles everyone who walks into the office. He is a cross between Milton from Office Space and George from Sienfeld. (sorry if I butchered that). He is a squirrely guy, but it is in no way endearing. I just wanted to know why families with one child were moving into 3 bedrooms. This was leading me to beleive that they had 3 bedroom homes available. I made him so nervous, he insisted I spoke with his manager because "um, ah she m-m-may buh be able to explain things better than I uh I am"
The lovely housing manager assured me that everyone is screwed just as equally as us because this is the most poorly run business in existance and that she is entirely powerless against the stupidity and lack of communication and technology. That was nice of her. She could not explain why someone could not figure out that almost all jobs at this base are understaffed, so they will continue to send more people, but why they have not built more houses before tearing the others down. The only houses they have torn down are the ones on the property they plan to expand the golf course on to.
So after most of my questions were answered by a "we have no idea what we are doing" I left assured that we would be in a new house soon. Possibly next month, but possibly not until March of next year. On the bright side, we may be in a 4 bedroom, but they don't know.

Toddlers at Mother Goose Daycare breathe a sigh of releaf

Michaela made it through a whole week of daycare without brutalizing any small children. ..as far as I know. She did manage to bring home a nasty cold and cough the first day. I, of course, have that now. But my training is done and is good for a year, so when we are finally moved into a new place, they will probably make us move again because they are tearing down all of the houses. More on that next blog.
Michaela actually liked daycare and only cried once when I left. She got to practice her new skills a lot more there than she would have at home. Everytime I came to pick her up, she would turn to me, smile, wave and say "hi!" in that sweet little voice. Then I would get her report card for the day and realize she had not napped and took her home and put her to bed at 6pm, just barely getting dinner into her before she passed out. It was a good experience for us both.

Everything going on

We miss Ohio. My computer has a virus. That is why there are no new pictures up. I can't work with these pop ups. I am also going through the training for the home daycare, but after I went pregnant on the housing office today, they would like to move us next month. I may do part time care, but most likely not until next year. Who am I kidding? I will probably not do it.

Things are great here. The temp dropped into the 60's and 70's. It is so nice. We even had to turn on the heat. Crazy. Maybe we will see snow this year. I could do without. Joe still loves the snow. What does Michaela know of that freezing, beautiful, desolate road hazard?

Speaking of Michaela...She had her 1 year check up on Friday, the day after we returned from Ohio...8am. She did great if you consider screaming the entire time, even before the doctor arrived great. She received 4 shots and had blood drawn. She is 20lbs 8oz, 29" long. That puts her in the 50th percentile for both. That is good. The doctor also felt her molars coming in, which explains the screaming.

Thank you all for all of the wonderful gifts. Michaela is a lucky girl. I am glad we were able to see almost everyone, even if it was just a short while. trips home go by way too fast. I cannot believe we have been home for 4 days. I am still trying to unpack and catch up on laundry. It's nuts.

Joe is no longer on 12 hour shifts, so our life should no longer be impossibly draining. I put a lot of thought into it, and decided draining sums up that situation best. Joe decided I should go with a bunch of friends to the spa and get a prenatal massage. He is awesome. The most important part of that day was realizing we are not the only ones who feel drained. That situation is not unique here. It helps to know.

Thats all I think. Maybe I can find the time to tell you about how I went pregnant on the housing office soon. TBC

I Love Art!!

I received my college diploma today. Graduated with an associate of arts. I will now quote the blondest brunette I have ever worked with..."Oh...I love art!" Yep, she could get an associate of arts too, if only she knew what it actually was. This makes me feel sad about taking 10 years to accomplish this.
Yes, that did actually happen.

Ulatrasound

The ultrasound was awesome. We got pictures this time. We did not get pictures the first one with Michaela. The baby is 5cm long measuring at 11weeks and 5 days pregnant; 4 days less pregnant than originally thought. The due date will remain April 13th. No big. Michaela was a week early. The baby's heart is beating 163 times a minute. That is very good. The fluid around the baby looks fantastic and plentiful, which is probably why I feel more pregnant than I am, but it is healthy for the baby. Good stuff.

:-)

This past weekend, as we were getting ready to go to the aquarium, I asked Michaela and Joe to guess what Michaela was wearing there. She has this blue dress with little fish on it. It is so cute. I told them she was wearing that dress becasue "I am so clever and Michaela is never going to be embarissed of me and the cute things I dress her in when she gets older" As soon as I said it Michaela started laughing hysterically. We all laughed.
Just because the kid doesn't speak our language doesn't mean she can't understand it.

Oh the anticipation!

Baby Doctor Today. Ultrasound to get a good EDD. 9am . Can't wait.

Georgia

Atlanta is amazing. It is a giant city with fancy hotels and 10 lane highways. Pictures will be up on photobucket soon.
A few things I discovered in Atlanta:

All southern cities smell like fried chicken

There are many people from the north in Atlanta

Michaela hates sitting still for more than 2 hours in a car

Michaela loves people dressed up as giant saltwater fish

I do not know when to tip valet parking attendants(before, after, both?)

The aquarium is SOOOOO worth the trip!!!!

I have been spoiled with the Cleveland zoo, zoo Atlanta is not impressive

Georgia has a serious gas shortage. Most of their gas stations are totally out.

Watching Fox and Friends

It is impossible not to watch the news this month, actually, this year.
I would like to express, not my views on politics, and/or the economy, but my love for Jack Johnson. I was once in the closet about loving Jack Johnson, but that was short lived. I love Jack Johnson. Enjoy his lyrics here.
Lyrics to Good People :
You win
Its your show, now
so whats it gunna be
cause people
will tune in
how many train wrecks do we need to see?
before we lose touch of
we thought this was low
It's bad gettin worse so

Chorus:
Whered all the good people go
Ive been changin channels
I dont see them on the tv shows
Whered all the good people go
We got heaps and heaps of what we sow

They got this and that and
with a rattle a tat
testing one two,
now whatcha gunna do?
bad news, misused,
got too much to lose
gimme some truth
now whos side are we on?
Whatever you say
Turn on the boob tube
Im in the mood to obey
so lead me astray by the way, now

Where'd all the good people go?
I've been changin channels
I dont see them on the tv shows
Whered all the good people go
We got heaps and heaps of what we sow

Sitting round feeling far away
so far away but I can feel the debris
can you feel it?
yo interrupt me from a friendly conversation
to tell me how great its all gunna be
you might notice some hesitation
cause whats important to you is not important to me
Way down by the edge of your reasons
its beginning to show
and all I wanna know is..

Whered all the good people go
Ive been changin channels
I dont see them on the tv shows
Whered all the good people go
We got heaps and heaps of what we sow

They got this and that
With a rattle a tat
Testing one, two
Now what you gonna do?
Bad news, misused, gimme some truth
You got too much to lose
Whose side are we on?
Whatever you say
Run the resolut but in the mood to obey
Station to station desensitizing the nation

OUCH!

Yesterday, I was laying on the floor playing with Michaela. She crawled up to me because this is what I was trying to get her to do, but then she put one hand on my forehead and took the other thumb and stuck it up my nose, grabbed and pulled up towards my brain. Her little nail was scraping the inside of my nose! When I removed her from inside of my nose, I sat up crying. My nose was dripping blood, quite a bit of it. There was enough blood to fill one sheet of good paper towel. It was a shocking moment. Michaela sat up perplexed. I don't think she has ever seen me cry. She just looked confused. My 11 month old beat me up, gave me a bloody nose yesterday. She may not look like me, but we know she is mine! My little brute princess :-)

Daycare

I don't even know where to begin. There is no quality daycare down here. The 1st daycare I visited is a definate NO. Oh good lord no. The workers were not interacting with the kids. They had a tv that was on all the time. There are no locked doors, no security. No high chairs. No outside play area. The "teachers" were all wearing sweatpants. Ugh. What a nightmare.

The second one I visited, I may go with. They have everything the first did not...except security.
I don't know what to do. I think there may be 1or2 acceptable centers in the area, but they are full of course. I just need 1 week of care in October.

Sweet !!!! Part awesome!

We went to visit Jeremy and Casey Sunday to celebrate Casey's birthday. We went out to eat in North Carolina. There is a big difference. I ordered unsweetened tea and I got unsweetened tea.
Someone, not even our waiter came by and said "more unsweetened tea?"
Instead of answering him I just sat there saying "you guys did you hear that? He said unsweet tea like he knows that I want unsweetened tea!!!" Everybody was just staring and I realized he was waiting for me to answer. Oh yes please! Then he brought me the correct beverage and so did my waitress and I ended up with 3 cups of unsweetened tea in front of me!! See how it all comes back around!

City Girl Nees a Venti Grean Tea Lemonade Sweetened With Splenda

South Carolina does not have one single NFL football team, major league baseball team, or MLS soccer team.
They have a college team called the Gamecocks. They make shirts and flags and blankets and rugs that say "Go Cocks!"
I am not kidding.

Yay baby doctor

My first baby doctor visit was fine. We heard a heartbeat and I was told everything looks good and I am about 10 weeks along, or its a big baby already. I do not have to go anywhere else for an ultrasound and I feel pretty confident about the doctor.

I went to the cleveland clinic for Michaela, the Independence office with the marble floors, glass doors and fountains.

The better of my two choices down here is Palmetto Women's Healthcare. I was there for about 3 hours. I had to peek my head out of the office door to ask if I would see a doctor anytime within the next 24 hours.
Before I went pregnant on the receptionist, we were in the waiting room for a half hour. The receptionist had a few friends hanging around. There were two women who forgot how to bathe in the waiting area. I could not tell if both of them were pregnant. There were two children with them; an obese, cute, but obese baby, and a 3-5 year old boy. They both watched as the boy peed himself right down to his shoes, then proceeded to climb all over the only cloth chairs in the waiting room. They did nothing, all though, several minutes later one of them walked up to the boy and smacked him. That may be why. No one will ever know because she did not tell him, or anyone in the room.
This is why when the girls sent in the midwife to apologized for our wait and explained that the doctor had a lot of difficult patients today, I understood.

I miss the Cleveland Clinic, even though I am still getting bills from them.

Not now Lumburg, I'm kind of busy. I have a meeting with the Bobs.

Major Milestone for Baby!!!

Michaela has mastered the temper tantrum!!! Yes!!! She throws herself on the floor, cries and flops from front to back violently. Sometimes, if she can't reach what she wants, she will stand, reach for it, then let go and fall hard on her butt several times before throwing herself on the floor to flail around. I imagine that is because she can not stomp yet. You can't realize how funny it is until you see it. I may attempt to take video of this milestone, but ignoring a tantrum does work, so that may not be a good idea. It is very hard for me to walk away...because it is so funny, but she can't see me laughing, or she will have more!! Aaahhh yonkers!!! Mommyhood.

We're Rich!!!

We just figured out that Joe makes $5.75 an hour. Consider this fair warning to anyone who would like to talk to Joe anytime soon. Now that we are not getting a housing allowance, we are going to have to live without a couch or bed, tv, or internets.

"You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world."-Tyler Durden, Fight Club.

Oh Crap.

Why are rules normally in place? There is typically a reason. In the military, no one knows why they have certain rules and most of them just do not make sense, or work anymore, but they are followed mindlessly. There is one rule that actually makes a bit of sense. If you are a family of 2- 3, you qualify for 2 bedroom housing, a family of four, 3 bedrooms, five, 4 bedrooms and if you have more than 3 kids you are crazy and the air force does not support that. That is the rule word for word exactly. Now Shaw AFB decided that since they were not using 75% of their housing because it will all be torn down soon and families continue to move to Shaw because they have plenty of jobs to fill here, that this rule was not at all useful.
I went to the housing office today to prove to them that I am pregnant and we need more room. The guy explains to me all they have are two bedrooms now because there was a time when they had so few families living on base that they just let couples with no kids move into 4 bedroom houses. I did not go pregnant on this guy because the air force has turned housing over to a private company. A company who took a look at the housing on base and decided to that it was not worth remodeling and are going to demolish all of housing and build new. This guy belongs to the private company and it is the air force that screwed everyone up by deciding that rules are actually no good. You have to make exceptions when a rule makes sense and is not messing with peoples lives.

My Doctor

My Primary Care Manager; my doctor, his name is colonial Jonkers. He he. Pronounced yonkers. Hehe. Silly words are sillier when you put colonial in front of them.

Enjoy Michaela very soon

We will be home in two days. I never thought I would say "I can't wait to get to Ohio!", but I have said it many times this week.
I can't wait for you all to see Michaela. She does lots of crazy things that rational human beings would not do. She licks her fingers and sticks them in electrical sockets, dives head first from your arms, smacks you when you try to serve her green beans, smacks herself in the face trying to clap, screams at the top of her lungs in public places, tries to find the tallest object in a room so she can pull it over on herself, chews on couches, licks walls, laughs when she sneezes, bounces up and down when she poops and cuddles with you so she can steal your glasses and destroy them. That, ladies and gentlemen, is why I love my job...all those reasons.

It all looks the same!

We ordered Chinese food earlier this week. The lady on the phone gave me directions to the resaurant. She told me they were located between a gas station and a KFC. I was worried I would never find it.

Wow, Who would have thought

They finally tore up the side of our house. Found out it is a bad drain. Now they must replace it, and the side of our house.

Is this a joke?

We have a horrible, unbearable smell coming from our drains in our kitchen. I was told to pour bleach down the drains. I used a whole gallon of bleach last week. The smell got worse. So I called maintenance out to have a look. They checked for a gas leak and told me they would put a super powerful drain cleaner in my drain, but could not get ahold of this magical liquid until Monday. That's fine, I like waking to the taste of stagnant water and headaches all day. The baby loves it too. Today they return. This guy has a bottle of Liquid Plumber Foaming Snake Pipe Cleanser that you can pick up for $3.00 anywhere. They dumped it in my drain, told me to wait an hour. I asked him how long I had to wait before I called them back to let them know it did not work.

Yes, that is a light and electrical equipment packed inside her fish tank.

Bugs Bugs Bugs Bugs

I am a little skittish about bugs. Not spiders, not flies, but big 3 inch cockroaches and fire ants. People down here laugh at northerners because they have never heard of fire ants. How am I ever going to let Michaela play outside? Fire ants come back when you think you have gotten rid of them. Cockroaches in the home do not mean you have a sudden infestation, oh no! Get used to them, they are family and neighbors. I bought some raid roach houses. They seemed to be working, but then a couple of roaches showed up in the middle of the day upside down. The woman nextdoor told me that the houses just bait them inside. I have problems killing anything and I just found out that I am baiting these things in to my house to die. Super. Special. I was also told there is something I can buy to keep bugs out of the house. I will find that soon. Everybody here is an expert on pesticides. This may explain some of my previous posts. Something to think about.


Pictures soon!!!!

Stereotypes Aren't Real. Please!

Sumter has a mall. It is carpeted. It takes about 2 minutes to stroll through. It has a Footlocker, a lady's Footlocker, a Kid's Footlocker, a sneaker locker, a champs, fried chicken, fried chicken, great steak and fry, Mr. Chicken, a Sears that sells only electronics and a department store called Belk. We passed about 5 waffle houses, 13 Baptist churches, 7 fried chicken places, 2 Walmarts, 1 KMart, and 2 trailer parks to get to the mall. The mall is 6 miles away. Down here incoming traffic has a stop sign to parking lots and existing traffic must keep moving.

While driving around on base I saw a truck that had 2 American flag stickers, 2 support our troops magnets one large confederate flag sticker and one little sticker in the shape of a heart and inside of the white heart it said "I 'heart' my USA"

Equal Opportunity Employer

We went to housing on Monday to ask them what we needed to do at this base since Joe applied in Texas 3 weeks ago for housing.
Let me first say that housing takes up 3/4 of the base. They are currently spending lots of money wrecking half of the old housing to build new housing.
The man helping us looks up suprized when we told him that, and told us we were not on the list in front of him, but that meant nothing because he had not printed a list today. We arrived at the office at 2pm. They work until 4pm. So he shouts over to the lady sitting next to him, who is talking with the lady next to her and asked her about people waiting for a 2 bedroom house. She says "I havn't even looked at that today". She was nice enough to stop gabbing and look through her sea of post it notes to tell us "no...oh wait yes, we have some people waiting".
The man helping us then looks through his sea of post it notes to eventually tell us to come back next week; Joe waisted his time applying early. Thats not how they do it here.
I made sure I made the man uncomfortable with my Faith stare, Michaela screamed and we left.
Has anyone seen that commercial where the guy works with a bunch of monkeys and/or asses? It was like that. Even mild mannered me had to ask Joe how he is nice to these people. He said "Just smile and nod, smile and nod."

My Secret Weapon

I was told by a few people that southerners do not like northerners. But we have a secret weapon. A blond haired, blue eyed, pudgy cheeked, barefoot beauty with a 3 tooth smile!!!! As long as we have Michaela with us, they LOVE us!!!! They love us so much they feel the need to talk to, help with and touch our child without asking. The only place she is not warmly received is at the Catholic mass on base. Aaahh, the warm fuzzy feeling of home one hour every week!

Sweet!!! Part 3

We went to Applebees last night. Why do we do this to ourselves? There is a Chili's. It is good, but expensive, a Ruby Tuesday. It is filthy, not good and expensive. That is all that is close, aside from the BK on base. (yuck) Applebees it is. We had the same waiter who is sweeter than the tea. I ordered an unsweet tea. Joe ordered a Pepsi. I got what I wanted(wow) and Joe got a diet pepsi(ha ha).
Just a side note about the food down here: if you order a ceasar salad, you will get 3 cups of ceasar dressing and a few leaves of lettuce. There are bacon bits in every salad here. I ordered an oriental chicken rollup and I think I got gravy on it instead of orange sauce.
The waiter came by and said "i'll get more sweet tea for you" Instead of looking up from my dish of ceasar dressing, I quickly reminded him it was unsweet tea, not noticing that Joe's glass was empty. The sweet waiter brought me an unsweetened tea and Joe a sweet tea.
The commissary opened today. Being the 1st of the month, I could not even walk in there, but I got some food and have decided I do not need to leave the base any time soon, so I will put the boring food stories to rest for now.

Thought for the Day

If you were a dinosaur what would you be? I am going to start calling Michaela poopasourus wrex. In addition to cuteasourus.

Sweet!!! Part 2

We have no food here. The commissary closes at 5pm on Sunday and does not open until maybe 10 on Tuesday. It is Monday. It was 5:13 on Sunday when I decided we needed food here. So the family has been going out to eat. Yesturday we went to Applebees. We had a sweet waitress who I will try to quote here "Hi yall! How yall doin? I'll be takin care of yall. Can I get yall somethin to drink for yall. Yall." I may not have used yall enough. After holding my head for a moment so it did not explode, I ordered an unsweetened tea. Unlike the SWEET waiter from the other night, this one did not forget about us!! Score! But she brought me a sweet tea. I sent it back and she corrected the problem. We received our food. Joe did not get what he ordered, or anything that even sounded like it, but did not want to send it back because it takes at least 30 minutes to get food down here. I drank my tea. The waitress was on top of it and brought me another tea. It was sweet.

Sweet!!!! Part 1

Rachael, Alyssa, Lucas, Michaela and I went to lunch at Applebees. I go to use the restroom, so Rachael orders me an iced tea. The waiter comes back with a sweet tea. I ask for an unsweet tea. The waiter, in a southern accent says "well this is sweet tea" I inform him that I would like unsweetened tea again. He then says. "This is sweet" pointing to the tea "but this is sweeter" pointing to himself. Right, just bring me my tea. I will be back in a few minutes down here means you may see me within 20. I was thirsty.

Disclaimer

I would like to share some of the funny stories about living in the south with you all. I would like you to keep in mind as you read, that I feel very blessed and happy to be here and I am very excited about our new adventure.
I also wanted a place to vent about the usual frustrations that come along with our situation, while giving you a personal look into what I am going through at any given moment. I may sound negative, but I mean to be light hearted.
I do hope I can find the time to keep it up.
Pictures are a problem right now. It could be several weeks. Sorry.