We would leave the cover off our pool year-round if we didn’t have so many trees in the back yard. Now that they’ve all fallen, we uncovered it today.
I missed seeing the water this winter. As I sat outside and chatted on the phone with my friend April, it was mesmerizing to stare into it again. The pool is like a sanctuary of sorts for me. I don’t know what it is about water, but I do my best meditating, relaxing, and connecting with God by the pool (and in the shower).
Sometimes I lie on my stomach on the diving board and watch the dragonflies skim the top of the water’s surface. Other times I flip over on my back and close my eyes and listen to the birds as they serenade me. I hear Mocha, tired after playing ball with Moose, walk down the steps, stop on the bottom and slowly turn around to dunk her back end into the water to cool off. I hear the squirrels playing in the branches of the tall Georgia Pines.
It is here that problems seem smaller, stress loosens its grip, and peace begins to reign inside me once again. I feel inspired, thoughtful, and calm.
Where’s your sanctuary; the place you go to get a new perspective?
This has been going around on Facebook but I thought I'd post it here. It's an easy way for you to get a feel for just how square this peg really is.
1. I don't have a middle name.
2. I wanted to be a linguist for the United Nations when I was young. I also wanted to be a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall. Go figure.
3. I've been a military dependent all but 6 years of my life (Army brat, AF wife). I've lived in/visited 13 countries, and 34 states. The places left to see on my bucket list: Australia, Fiji, and Japan. And I'd really love to go back to Europe at least once more.
4. Because my first marriage was to an abusive man, I spend time building relationships with girls who are vulnerable to hooking up with guys like that in an effort to pass along lessons learned. It's very important to me that women understand their value; not in a feminist "I am woman, hear me roar" kind of way, but in a healthy, truthful, balanced way.
5. I started using Mary Kay cosmetics when I was 25 years old and haven't used anything else on my face since finding it. Facial moisturizer after a shower is a must! In case you're wondering: no, I don't sell it. I'm a cheerleader, not a salesperson.
6. I love to work out but hate to get sweaty. But you can't kickbox, salsa dance or do some Pilates moves without breaking a sweat. At least, I can't.
7. I always put on my left shoe first. Yes, I am a southpaw.
8. I can only eat Skittles and Gummy Bears in even numbers. I'm not sure why; I don't feel that way about M&M's. I eat those by the handful. :-)
9. Moose and I met on a blind date. We knew we completed each other right away.
10. I enjoy few female singers. Pink is one of them. I wish she would cover the song "My Redeemer Lives". I bet she'd rock it big time.
11. I could sit in a public place for hours and just 'people watch'. That, and make fun of how they dress. Which brings me to my next point (although I'm including it here rather than giving it its own place on this list): I haven't seen a person yet who can pull off skinny jeans. Not the super skinny girls, not the emo boys, and definitely not the fat chicks who think those jeans elongate their legs. Skinny jeans should be explunged from the fashion world.
12. I don't enjoy cooking. If I ever volunteer to make food for you, know that I think VERY highly of you.
13. I like to change my hair - a lot. Whatever color or style it was the last time you saw me, it won't look like that next time you see me.
14. I'm a detail person. I love the challenge of organizing big projects.
15. Cleaning is therapeutic for me.
16. I do not understand morning people. Perky & Awake don't open until 10-ish.
17. I believe traditional religion has made it difficult for people to connect with God.
18. I want to be in a Saturday Night Live sketch. And I want to anchor Weekend Update with Seth Meyers.
19. Driving fast and listening to loud rock music purges a lot of anger.
20. I am an extremely observant person about weird stuff like body language, symbolism, patterns, and my surroundings.
21. I was kicked off the cheerleading squad in high school for missing the first pep rally & game of the season and then lying about why. Lessons learned from that experience are still with me today. In fact, I've advised my boys many times in relation to lessons from that single event. Thank you, Mrs. O'Steen!
22. I've been in the delivery room with half a dozen friends when they had their babies. Being a mid-wife is a closet dream of mine.
23. I am a blend of serious and silly. I have two best friends; one of whom is more serious than I am; the other much funnier.
24. I'm half Italian and half Hungarian. The flags for both countries is red, white & green, but their colors run in different directions. I wonder if that says anything about my personality. Ha!
25. I love interviewing people (not in a brash, nosy kind of way) and I'd love to host my own talk show someday. Ellen Dengeneres is my favorite TV host, hands down.
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.
We got a new mailbox.
No, I don't really think you care about my mailbox, which is why I never told anybody that we replaced it in the first place. However, after hearing from more than one or two people that they drove right past the house because they were focused on looking for the orange Tennessee "T", I thought I should let everybody know: we got a new mailbox.
We no longer have a white mailbox with a faded Tennessee logo on it. We now have a black mailbox with the house number in white.
Boring, I know, but until I get the money to brick it up the way I'd like and get one of those super cool plaques on there, please be advised that the landmark you previously associated wtih our home is no longer. So erase the faded orange T image from your mind and replace it with a boring black mailbox with white letters. If you need me to, I'll be glad to take a pic and post it on here. Just let me know.
Thanks for visiting. Y'all are welcome anytime, as long as you call in advance. If you're dropping by and it's about dinner time, bring some food with you. If it's after dinner, bring dessert. If it's early in the moring, it would behoove you to have Starbucks and a Hardees steak biscuit with ya.
Peace.
In the 11 days since the election, I have gotten a few emails and texts from people with varying pictures of the “new White House”. These are supposed to be humorous images of what the front lawn will look like after our new President-elect takes office.
I am offended.
And embarrassed.
And confused.
Confused about how people can express such fear of one man getting a new job one minute and then talk about how God is their rock the next. If you believe the latter portion of that sentence, why are you worrying about the former?
If you’re one who has experienced God’s love & forgiveness, I hope you’re not one of the people fanning the flames of the hatred fire and fortifying the racial walls between people. Surely our time would better spent praying for wisdom and clarity for President-elect Obama. Rather than stereotyping and mocking part of his culture, maybe we could start praying for his safety since some small minded, hatemonger is probably going to attempt to take Mr. Obama’s life.
I hope we wear the knees out of our jeans praying for our new Commander-in-Chief.
Zoe's crate is kept behind the couch, and the bars rattle a little when she goes into it. So today when I went into the kitchen to get some lunch, I thought I'd check on her to make sure she wasn't trying to drag the blanket out of the crate since I heard her go in there but hadn't heard her come out yet. When I looked in on her she was sitting very ladylike in her crate, facing the back of the couch, but looking at me out of the corner of her eye as if to say "I know you're watching me and I'm not doing anything".
I told you she was clever.
Hmmph. At 2:36 this morning, my "baby" turned 19.
He can eat with utensils, wipe his own butt, wash his own laundry, clean a house, add and subtract, read, manage a checking account, knows how to carry on a conversation appropriately with an elderly adult, change a baby's diaper, and appreciates cute kids and puppies and the joy their innocence brings to the world. He lives true to himself while being a loyal friend and wannabe commedian who knows how to enjoy life. He'll be a great husband, father, uncle, and world contributor.
Mission accomplished. Where did the time go?
my never-ending battle
My 411
- Eva M.
- After struggling to fit into the proverbial round hole, I figured it was more honest to embrace the natural facets of my personality: passion for God and people, off-the-wall logic and a twisted sense of humor.
I'm an Air Force wife and former homeschool mom who writes about people and relationships, my faith, and my family. I love my crazy, beautiful, mosaic life...and coffee.