The Square Peg

22 - The # of years (to the day) ago I went on a blind date (set up by my co-worker) and met Moose.
21 - The # of years ago I married him. I was 21. He was 23.
20 - The # of years the Air Force has been moving us around.
19 - the # of times in the day he tells me he loves me, my butt looks good in my jeans, or that I'm hot. I never get tired of hearing any of those things.
18 - The # of couches I think we've had that have been used and abused by my men wrestling on it.
17 - One of the anniversaries he missed because he was deployed. I was particularly sentimental about this one...17 years on the 17th...and it fell on a Saturday, the day of the week we married.
16 - The age Ryan started driving...and we learned there was a whole new dimension to praying, loving and worrying about your kid.
15 - The # of TDY's Moose has had.
14 - This how old Ryan was when Moose taught him to shave. It was a serious dad moment for Moose; he came out of the bathroom a little teary-eyed. His little buddy was rapidly becoming a man.
13 - The # of vehicles we've had...Chevy Sprint, Toyota Tercel wagon, Plymouth Grand Voyager, Chevy Luv, Ford Ranger, Ford F-150, Honda Accord, Hyundai Elantra, Chevy Suburban, Chevy Trailblazer, Ford Ranger, Hyundai Sonata, and an Acura TSX, whom I affectionately call "Jack".
12 - The # of months we spent in marriage counseling. Cost us $100 a week and thousands of $ in credit card debt. Dr. Scott's rule that our session couldn't be discussed for 24 hours (smart man), left us with no choice other than to go to Sears to anesthetize our pain. LOL Took us 3 years to pay it off. It was worth every, single penny.
11 - The # of houses/apartments/trailers we've lived in.
10 - The # of years we had a teenager under our roof. We survived, but not without accruing our fair share of gray hair.
9 - The # of jobs I've had.
8 - The # of dogs we've had: Beemer, Samantha, Mickey, Misery, Dixie, Willow, Mocha and Zoe
7 - The # of hours it takes to drive to TN to visit our family from Georgia. Closest we've lived since joining the AF.
6 - The # of times we've changed bases. Illinois, Washington, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Georgia. 
5 - The # of wedding bands I've bought Brian. He bent 3 at work (to the point of being unwearable), lost 1, and then I got smart and bought one made out of tungsten. I couldn't get it engraved, but it's pretty much indestructible.
4 - The # of candles on Drew's birthday cake when we gave him a new bike. He broke his arm an hour later.
3 - Ryan's age when Brian adopted him. They celebrate their anniversary every July, sometimes in big ways, other times in small ways.
2 - The # of kids we had on our first wedding anniversary. We lived in Spokane, thousands of miles from home with a 3 year-old, a newborn, and no babysitter. It was a cozy celebration indeed.
1 - The number of months until we move to Germany and start a whole new adventure...just the two of us.

I've worked off and on since I was 15 or 16. The jobs I held while the boys were being educated at home were part-time jobs. I didn't work full-time until a few years ago, when Ryan had graduated and Drew was close to being done with high school. I've always loved the relationships I made at work, and I was definitely stretched and challenged (especially by one particular person I worked with).

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of my quitting work outside the home. It wasn't an easy decision but it was definitely the right one. The original plan was to find another job to replace the one I gave up. You may be wondering why I gave up a job before finding another, especially in this economy, but there were extenuating circumstances that dictated I get out of that place ASAP. I looked for another job for a couple of months and went on a few interviews, but nothing earth shattering or wonderful banged on my door.

One day Moose asked me how I was enjoying being home. I told him I was really enjoying taking care of things at my leisure but I also missed making money. He knows how much satisfaction I get from looking at a paycheck and knowing I earned every, single dollar. When I asked him how he was enjoying my being home, he quickly and without hesitation told me he loved it. He said the house was more calm, peaceful, less chaotic, cleaner, more organized and that life basically just ran smoother all the way around when I was at home managing things. (Wow, who knew I did all that?! Go, me!) The decision to stop looking for a job was pretty easy. Living without my paycheck took some getting used to, though. When I noticed the date on the calendar yesterday, this 'anniversary' popped into my head and I realized that even though I've always loved working, I really enjoy being at home. It's been a peaceful year, and I was able to join Moose on some business trips that I would've missed if I'd been working.

And speaking of Moose...

Today a lady spoke for a few minutes at church and when she began to descend the platform, Moose immediately got up to assist her. She's healthy and mobile and all, but the stairs coming off the platform are pretty short and they're painted black (making them harder to see), and I could tell she appreciated the help. (What? You mean I'm not the only one who's afraid of falling down the stairs in front of everybody?) Anyway, before he even got up, I knew he was going to offer to help her. Why? Because he's a gentleman. There are men who are nice, courteous, polite or whatever, and then there are gentlemen. Do you know what I mean? The dictionary's definition of a gentleman is "a civilized, educated, sensitive, or well-mannered man." and Moose definitely fits that description. In fact, one of the qualities I love most about him is the way he protects others and anticipates how he can help or assist them. And when he got up to help, my heart just swelled with love, admiration and respect for him.

Often underestimated because of his quiet nature, but never, ever outclassed, Moose is truly

Several years ago when I worked day shift and Brian worked nights, we started going on a date every Saturday morning. Back then we'd drive to Starbucks in Macon (at 30 minutes away, it was the closest one) to enjoy some coffee and conversation before going to lunch. Since we were little more than passing ships during the week, this was a great chance for us to reconnect, refocus and re-energize our relationship. We'd tell each other the details of the week that got pushed by the wayside and talk about the things coming up on the horizon of life. Our boys were old enough that they didn't call us on the cell phone every 20 minutes (probably because they didn't care where we were or what we were doing) and the uninterrupted time together was heavenly.

Brian was eventually moved back to day shift but our Saturday dates had proven to be too valuable to give up. A couple years ago, my happy place opened a store in Warner Robins (I'm pretty sure my purchases pay Starbucks' electric bill.) and we changed our game plan a little: we started going to Hardees for breakfast and then to Starbucks.

We've invited Ryan and his girlfriend Sam to join us a few times and now it has turned into a regular thing. And Drew's scheduled has changed, so he's been hooking up with us too. And even though our Saturday date is bigger, louder, and more lively than when it began five years ago, it definitely still qualifies as heavenly.

We got to tour the Casemate Museum at Fort Monroe while we were in Virginia earlier this week. It was pretty neat. Our tour guide was really great. Her name was Solveigh (pronounced “Solvee”). I like saying that. Solveigh. Solveigh. See? Fun. Solveigh knew a lot of interesting things about the history of the fort. And she carried a big, wide brimmed, colorful hat that she waved around sometimes and motioned with as she talked while we were inside the museum. She didn’t wave it around outside though; it was on her head keeping the sun out of her eyes.

What an incredible day! Good coffee, great weather, and lots of fun!

Communion with coffee & donuts was pretty cool. And the sugar was a good fuel boost for the climb.

I wondered on the way to Stone Mountain how long it would take us to get to the top, but after getting out of the car and feeling so small against its sheer size, I figured we'd be doing well just to make it all the way up. We weren't far on the trail when Moose, Drew & Tasha each stumbled within a few minutes of each other.

The view from the top was hazy, but spectacular.

We wondered if the H marked a helicopter landing pad, or the portal entrance to Hell.

Going down was as challenging as going up. I commented as we started our descent that whereas they'd only stumbled and didn't fall, I'd actually fall and walk out of the park with a skinned knee. And about halfway down my left foot slipped on a wet rock, my right knee buckled, and I landed on it.

Beautiful, isn't it? :-)

Stone Mountain info - The top of the mountain is 1,683 feet above sea level. Carving depicts three Southern heroes of the Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. Carved area covers three acres, is recessed 42 feet into the mountain and situated 400 feet above the surrounding ground.

For your reading pleasure, I am enclosing bits and pieces of some of our conversations today. Enjoy~

We reached a level area on the way up and paused to enjoy the view.
Brian: "Oh, good Kodak moment."
Drew: "There are no bears here, Dad."
A little while later we reached another nice viewing area and Drew hollered "Kojak moment!" How does he even know who Kojak is?

Tasha (3/4 of the way up the mountain & breathing heavily): "Gosh, this is kind of taxing on my respiratory system."
Drew: "Yeah, it's hard on my reservoir system, too."

Tasha (to Brian regarding his hiking boots): "Are those steel-toed boots?"
Drew: "No, his toes move sometimes."

Drew (dodging a very large mosquito): "Holy crap! That wasn't a mosquito; it was an Apache helicopter!"

Hope you had a good Easter, too!
Peace.

Moose and I were walking around site-seeing this afternoon while we're in Washington, DC for a few days. When we were checking out Barack's new digs, we saw a squirrel sitting on the top of the seat back on one of the benches. Moose had the camera so I asked him to take it out and snap a picture. While he was reaching for it, the squirrel got down off the bench, scampered over to where I was standing and started climbing up my leg.
I'm not kidding!

He stopped just below my hip and stayed there. I really wanted to pet him but was concerned about being bitten, so I shook my leg thinking it'd scare him off. But of course, squirrels live in trees and they're used to the wind blowing during storms, so not only did he not get down, he just grabbed onto my jeans a little tighter. Then he focused his gaze onto the pocket of my hoodie, where I put a half-eaten bag of Fritos leftover from my dinner.

I guess he realized he had invaded my personal space because he climbed down and sat on the ground. I tossed him a Frito and he grabbed it and ran off. I guess that's all he wanted. Crazy, huh?
And it all happened so fast, Moose never had a chance to get a picture. Bummer.

As I write this, my husband is readying his uniform for work tomorrow. He's been in the Air Force for just under 20 years. I've watched him get a uniform ready many, many times throughout the past 20 years, but today I realize that there are fewer opportunities to witness his pride and meticulous scrutiny as he irons and straightens ribbons (medals) than ever before. We're definitely on the downhill side of this journey.

As I mull the approaching 20 year anniversary of Brian's enlistment, a few things stand out in my mind. In no particular order, they are:

• Our second son Drew was born eight months after Brian enlisted, at Fairchild AFB in Spokane, Washington. It cost us $16; eight dollars for each day I was in the hospital.
• For our first base, Brian listed only bases in the southeast on his "dream sheet". We were assigned to Washington state. Gotta love the AF sense of humor.
• Military families are often known for having equal numbers of "stripes 'n brats". Brian was in 20 months before the number of stripes on his sleeve matched the number of arrows in our little quiver.
• The single greatest benefit we've had as a military family has been the commissary. I'm not sure how we would've made ends meet without it. For those who don't speak military, that's where we grocery shop on base. And the prices increase every January. This is in conjunction with the small raise we get every January.
• Considering our world has been filled with men who have the same haircut (for the most part) and wear the same uniform day in and day out, not a single military house has had even remotely the same dimensions as any other military house. This meant new curtains, rugs, blinds, etc., in every single one.
• Brian came home from tech school one afternoon and said he wanted to be an instructor someday and teach new recruits to do their job. He attained that goal 9 years later.
  When he went to Airman Leadership School (ALS), he took home the John Levitow award; the highest given in professional military education.
• When he went to the NCO Academy, he came home with a Distinguished Graduate (DG) award.
• He took 5 US flags with him when he flew a mission over Baghdad. He gave one to his mom, one to mine, he's saving one for each boy, and keeps one for himself.
• We've called Illinois, Washington, North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas home. Georgia twice. They say to bloom where you're planted. Military folk bloom where they're transplanted, and transplanted, and...well, you get the idea.

The attack began around 12:45 pm; that's when Moose walked through the kitchen door from the garage. As he put the bags of groceries on the counter, he noticed something was out of place. The sight of a single can of shaving cream on a piece of paper in the living room doorway floor caught his eye. He leaned slightly forward to read the sign. There were 3 lines.