Come again?

I'm exhausted. How do moms get anything productive done? And by productive, I mean something that isn't going to have to be repeated again within 3 days. Laundry doesn't count, dishes really don't count, cooking, doesn't count, screaming at the kids, definitely doesn't count, banging my head on the wall, nope, that doesn't count either. They are good kids and for the most part, if I tell them something, they do it, if I tell them no, they don't complain (but they do ask again in 15 minutes). But, they talk constantly, can't be left alone (this one I can't figure out: as a child I would go in my room and read for hours), and love to emit high-pitched whining noises that will eventually make my head explode. However, they have quit screaming at each other in the morning. Wes told them if they didn't knock it off there would be hell to pay. They obviously believed him. But children are so weird. Like, if you tried to flip your breakfast spoon, with milk, over once to put it in your mouth and it didn't work, why would you try it again with cereal on it?

Things I miss about being childless:
being able to wake up in the morning at my own pace and deciding if I want to check my e-mail before breakfast.
Walking around naked and not having to check to make sure the door is locked.
Being able to read without being interrupted.
Listening to loud music with offensive and suggestive lyrics.
Having sex that lasts longer than 15 minutes.
Having enough energy to have sex that lasts longer than 15 minutes (there's something wrong when as newlyweds you argue over who has to be on top because neither one of you have enough energy to do it: I should add that I won because we all know that men will do anything for sex).
Being able to have a full conversation with my husband without being interrupted.
Being able to watch TV.
Being able to go to bed when I want.
Having a completely silent house.

I think that's it for now. I'm sure there are others, but this will do.

Zoo and other types of animals

My family looking at the elephants.

We went to the zoo this week. It was fun and it's a nice zoo, but it's small enough that if we went after lunch (instead of spending $20 there on lunch) we could still see everything and be home for dinner. Lesson learned.

See the x was worried about the children learning about God but instead they were learning how to cuss. Victor told me that one of the songs they were learning had the S word in it. I asked which song it was. He said you started out by yelling the S word and then it went "to the Lord." It took a lot not to fall down laughing. I calmly told him it was "Shout to the Lord" and that's why they screamed it. I've heard kids mess up a lot of church things, but that's the first time a cuss word was incorporated. VBS is over now, but the kids really enjoyed it.

The week went great, for the most part. However, I keep waking up to the sound of screaming children. I do not like this. It makes me wake up in a bad mood. Therefore, we are trying to solve this problem. I'll let you know how that goes. Allison also asked her daddy when I was going home to Wisconsin so they could spend some time together without me. He then explained, again, that we were married, I lived here and was now their step-mom. But she hasn't said anything bad to me, so that's good.

Alright, need to put the rugrats to bed. Hope everyone had a great weekend. I know I did.

Huh???

Maybe these things make sense when you're a mom.
First scenerio: All three of us were playing a board game (kiddie scrabble). You have 7 tiles, you play 2 and then pick up 2 for a total of 7. We have played this game 3 times in the past three days. About 15 minutes into the third game, Allison looks at me when it's her turn and declares, "I don't remember how to play!"
Second scenerio: Victor and I were playing a game. I finished my turn. Victor looks at me and asks (very seriously), "Is it my turn?"

Survival of day one

Except the day isn't over yet and I got really badly sunburned at the park because I figured I would take the sunscreen to the pool instead. Bad move. I am now crispy.

The kids have been great. They are at VBS right now, learning all about, gasp, God. Heaven forbid. And I should add, I don't have a problem with people meeting on-line. I have a problem with people who cheat and then take the kids to live with someone they've never actually met. Ironically, one reason she left was because Wes didn't make enough. Now, Wes got a great pay increase and her man is out of a job. Evidently he never owned furniture, as every piece in the house once belonged to Wes (including the bed they sleep in) and they're down to one car: guess who paid for that one too!!! Anyway, the kids were great. They ate good, they played good and minimum fighting. This afternoon we went to the park (see above) and then played board games. When they get home we'll have snacks (fruit and yogurt) and then baths and then bed (with story, of course). Victor had three plates of food for dinner (a relief because you never know what kids will eat) and Allison asked why I don't hug them more because she would like that (Victor said he wouldn't, but he's shy). So far, so good. I'll keep you posted.

Insta-mommy

We picked up the kids yesterday. Apparently the x decided that even though my husband won't be here, I will. And this woman has only met me twice and I've only met the kids twice and she didn't even know we were married (she does now), but she decided that it would be great for the kids to stay with us for at least two weeks. Now, I'm not a mom, so I really can't judge, but under these circumstances, would you let your kids stay for two weeks or longer? Then, she called and ripped Wes a new one because we took them to church and enrolled them in vacation bible school. Yes, that's right, we intentionally TOOK THE CHILDREN TO CHURCH!!!! I mean really, what kind of evil, twisted, wicked people are we that we would TAKE CHILDREN TO CHURCH. Maybe she's just scared that we're going to tell the children that she's a ho for moving ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO LIVE WITH A MAN SHE MET OVER THE INTERNET EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS STILL MARRIED AND SHE TOOK THE KIDS TO LIVE WITH A MAN SHE MET OVER THE INTERNET. Right now, her mommy skills aren't looking all that great to me. We would never tell the kids that anyway. One day they'll figure that out on their own. "Oh, one morning we said good-bye to daddy, got on an airplane, and when we got off, we went and lived with this guy and mommy slept in his bed." Yeah, they won't figure THAT out on their own.

Anyway, I'm freaking out because I really haven't had all that much kid contact since I babysat in highschool. And I really, really have to work on my dissertation proposal and I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do. But I have a few things planned and Wes will be back on Thursday night, so it shouldn't be that bad. The kids are really well behaved, but even well behaved kids are still kids. And they go to bed later than I do, so that may be a problem. I'll let you know how it goes, and please, if you're a mom, send me suggestions.

Other than that, I hope everyone had a great weekend.

The neighbors

I thought you might like some pictures of the neighbors.

This is the view from our master bathroom. This is directly behind us.

Just in case you weren't sure what that is, here is the frontal view. And they're busy. I guess Virginia has some sort of ordinance against burying dead pets in your backyard. Creepy.

Two steps forward, trip over a box

This is Chicago. The traffic was really, really slow. Which was actually good because I'm not used to driving in traffic anymore.

This was my view (the truck) for most of the drive. I'm pretty sure this picture was taken in Pennsylvania

Ok, I know that nothing is in focus, but look how brightly colored those flowers are!!! This is Maryland.

This will be a killer week. Wes will be at sea all week. I will not see him again until Saturday, and when he gets home, we go pick up the kids. Welcome to my new life!

Yesterday I spent hours getting the master bedroom into shape. My desk is in here, and I need to unpack my dissertation stuff so I can start working on it. So I cleaned and put away and vacuumed and stuff. I even cleaned the masterbath. It look really good. And then I brought up two boxes labeled "desk". Can someone please explain to me how two small boxes need a desk the size of my entire master bedroom? Although, I am glad I organized and cleaned before I brought them up here. Today, that's all I'm doing: getting my desk in shape. Oh, and going to the store to pick up cards for father's day. And laundry. And I really should wash the kitchen floor. And I need to e-mail about 10 people. And I'm starting to feel really overwhelmed.

I was having a freak out morning. I've moved half-way across the country to be with someone I have not spent all that much "real" time with. I don't have a job and don't have qualifications (yet) to get a good paying job. I don't know the area. I don't have any friends. I was starting to feel really, really scared. What if things don't work out and fall apart quickly? What do I do? What if Wes starts making outrageous demands, like my ex-husband, and I can't do them and he throws me out? Irrational fears, I know. We've gotten along great. We get along great. It will be fine. Then I got a phone call. From one of the other navy wives. She just wanted to welcome me to the area and knew that I was a new navy wife and if I needed anything, to just give her a call. She was very friendly. And I felt much better when I got off the phone. I also went to church yesterday. Wes was at work, so I went by myself. I didn't meet anyone, but they have women's groups, so I can meet people there too. I do have a lot to do (unpack, clean, write a dissertation proposal, buy a wedding dress, get invitations, get a photographer, you know, little stuff like that), but it's going to be ok. I even took stuff up to the attic all by myself (I'm afraid of ladders). It will be ok.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of here yet. We haven't left the house all that much yet. I hope everyone is doing well and not having irrational fears like me!
(Every time I type in masterbath as one word the spell check always wants to replace it with masterbate. I just thought that was funny.)

I'm here!!!

Well, the guys who came over to help Wes packed up the truck managed to pack everything in my apartment in less than 2 hours. I think it's because I had packed and organized everything so well. We left Sunday morning and drove until we reached the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Once we got out of Illinois, I had never been in any of these states, until we reached Maryland. Indiana and Ohio look like Minnesota and Wisconsin, except with more trees and fewer cows. I even saw a few live deer. Pennsylvania is beautiful. Absolutely amazing. I do have a few pictures taken along the way, but I'm not sure where my camera is right now. We got here about 6:15p on Monday. Tuesday we did a lot of running around for errands and we unloaded the entire truck except for the piano. We put all the furniture where we wanted it (most of it upstairs) and everything else in the garage. Yesterday, we started unpacking. At one point, Wes looked at me and stated that he had just realized that I had more stuff than him. Duh!!! I unpacked almost all of my books yesterday, the masterbath and some of the kitchen stuff. Wes hadn't finished unpacking from when he moved, so he did that. We will have a lot of stuff we still need to go through and organize, but right now, we just want everything to go somewhere. And, I don't remember where I put the bolts for my bed, which is now going to be the kids bed. Hope I find those soon. Last night, a friend of ours (and Charley's) came over and helped unload the piano. Today we're going to take the truck back, go see a movie, run a few more errands, and go out to eat. You need a break every now and then. Well, just wanted to let you know the move went well, and things are going really, really good. Hope you are all well.

Wes is coming tomorrow!!!

This is what my apartment looks like right now.
Wes is coming tomorrow. I'm not exactly stressed, but I'm a little overwhelmed. First, I have to finish packing stuff and cleaning today and changing addresses etc. I have a ton of stuff I had wanted to sell but haven't. I've decided to take it all to goodwill because I really don't want to pack it all and then just have it sit at the new place. After seeing my grandparents, I don't want that experience in my own place any time soon. Besides, I'm out of boxes.

Wes is getting here tomorrow. I knew this day would come, where I would move and we would really be "married" but I didn't expect it to happen this quickly. And, I realized I married someone who since 1999 I have seen, in person, a total of 2 months. Since we've been married, I've seen him 10 days. Now, I don't regret my decision and I am happy with the direction my life it taking, but it will definitely be filed under, "yes, your father and I did something stupid, but we're not going to let you do that!" Kind of like my parents. My mom was 21, divorced, with a three year old (me) and my dad was a 19 year old freshman in college who wanted to be a professional drummer. They eloped after dating less than 6 months and moving across the country together. His best friend gave them, at most, 10 years. Next year will be their thirtieth wedding anniversary. So, why do we consider stuff like this stupid? We all know at least one person who dated someone for 5 years, got married and quickly divorced. I guess it all depends on your commitment and the circumstances.

But, I now am confronted by the fact that not only am I now a wife, I am a "military" wife. I'm also a step-mom. Marriage alone is a big step. Add those other two facts and my life is about to completely change. Let the adventures begin.

So I had all this funny stuff I was going to post, but apparently my brain is only funny in the car, so I can't really remember anything. I hope everyone has a great weekend. The next time I post, I will be living in Virginia Beach!!!