Someone pissed off God

So, we live several miles away from the Great Dismal Swamp, which has been on fire since the beginning of Aug. Many days it is very smokey and we can't really leave the house.

Earlier this week there was an earthquake.

Navy Bean and I are leaving today because of Irene.

Someone really pissed off God.

ps. Wes has to stay because he is considered essential personnel for his command. No, he is not on a ship. I wish he were, he would be safer.

Fly away

I'd love to be telling you about all the neat stuff going on here. There's a ton of stuff. We've got bluebirds in our box and they have 4 eggs. We have a great garden going. Wes is taking the month of June off, so we've been going to the zoo and stuff like that. It's all good.

These radishes are delicious!
The Navy Bean won't eat them though,
she's says they're too "sour."

But, this post is going to be about how the Navy Bean was almost killed in a freak wind storm.

In order to keep my sanity, we got the Navy Bean a swingset. Before it got hotter than hell here, we were probably outside for 3 hours every day. She LOVED her playset. We loved her playset. The playset was all good.

Then, one day we were outside, and in less than 10 minutes, the sky went from sunny with no clouds to pitch black. The Navy Bean was in the fort part of her playset, and as Wes and I were heading to get her and take her inside, a freak wall of wind, (about 70 miles an hour) picked the playset up, took it straight into the air and dropped in down. With the Navy Bean in it. We were terrified and screaming and she was screaming. Those were probably the worst moments of my life. Go back and look at the picture of the playset. Look at what is around it and behind it. Yeah, nothing but ground that is as hard as concrete.

The back wall of the fort is a tarp. Thankfully, she was pushed into the tarp and didn't hit her head of any of the wood. She came down on a very small shrub. Pretty much the only shrub in the yard. She walked away with 2 quarter size bruises and that was it. Oh, and a fear of wind (but only in our yard, everywhere else she is fine).

The Navy Bean showing you how big she is in comparison to the shrub she landed on.

She is fine. She was back outside within two hours, lamenting the fact that her playset was broken. Wes has fixed it, but now it's so hot we don't go out much. And she's afraid of the wind.

But she does talk about it. "Big, big storm and big, big wind come. They take playset up, up, up and throw it down to the ground! Navy Bean go up, up, up and then down to the ground. I really scared. But I okay now. God keep me safe. Storm go away. I no scared anymore."

Thank God he did keep her safe.
I don't think I could live without seeing this face everyday.

New year

Wes is home. I can't remember if I already told you that. During his vacation, he decided to get stuff done around the house. Mostly, because he wanted to feel useful and like it was his house again, and also because we didn't have anything else planned (and we all ended up getting several colds too, so not like we really wanted to do much of anything). He painted the downstairs bathroom. I had picked out the color and even bought the paint, before he got home. I had actually done all that before I got sick. This picture doesn't really show how pretty the color is, but it is much better than the old, boring color.

Since painting this room was on my list of 101 things, I painted two of the walls. And, I got to mark it off my list. Now, I just need to make curtains for it, and find a few more things to put on the walls.


We also painted the dining room. I also had this all picked out before Wes got home. We have a chair rail in the room, but the paint was the same color on top and bottom, which just looked weird to me. I picked out a nice shade of gray, since our curtains are burgundy. Wes was happy with the gray, and I painted the room myself (another thing on my 101 list). However, we also have these weird pillars, and I wanted to paint the interior of the wainscoting a brighter shade of the curtains. Wes was not so sure about that, but I finally convinced him (after he bought two other shades that he ended up not liking. I have no idea what we're going to do with that paint.).

Part of the problem was that the top of the pillars were white, which is NOT the same color as the rest of the paint. So, we painted the top of the pillars to match the room, and the bottom the gray color, with the red.

I'm not actually sure why I wanted to paint the dining room. It's not like we use it. But, it is the first room you see when you come in the front door. And now, I think we're going to try to find a china cabinet/buffet on Craig's list and then maybe we'll start using it.

I don't think the red looks bad with the curtains, but Wes is not so sure. We're going to get a rug, to make sure the chairs don't scratch the floor, and I think we're going to try to find one with various shades of red in it. We're also going to put up artwork that has both colors. He wants me to find new curtains, but I think it looks just fine the way it is (these pictures were taken when it was dark, so we had the lights on. In natural light, the contrast isn't so noticeable).

So, that's what I've been up to.

Slow-mo

It's January, and still, not normal. But I can't really explain how it's not normal. Most of the time, I'm perfectly fine. I still need to nap, to reset stuff but otherwise, I'm back to my regular routine. However, when I turn my head quickly (or sometimes, not too quickly) I can tell I'm not 100%. (Yes, this makes driving a pain in the butt.) It's kind of like those bad 80's movies, where they're at the carnival and suddenly everything is in delayed slow motion. You know things are moving more quickly than your brain is processing them. Annoying, but not a disaster anymore. I still haven't had the MRI done. They said they have plenty of spots between 1 and 4 AM!!!! Yes, I'll be right there. But, Wes will be home soon and even though I hate the thought of taking out all of my earrings again (11 earrings: they take forever to get back in), I should probably just do it.

So, overall, I'm thankful that things are the way they are. They could be much worse. The worse part is the Navy Bean. She's fine when we go places or when I leave her at the babysitters (home, mama! pointing at the door so I will leave), but at home, she has become quite clingy. I have to stay in her line of sight. And one day, while we were napping (yes, together), she started talking in her sleep. Mama go? Mama go!?! (the panic was evident) Mama go!!!! and then she started wailing. And because she was asleep, I couldn't comfort her, because I wasn't mama, I was just some person. I know she won't remember this for long (hey, why is half the neighborhood standing in my kitchen over my mom and why are those guys taking her into that truck, and who is this person who is taking me away?) I'm thankful she is only two and this won't scar her for life. But, until this happened, I told her "mama will always come back." Now, I tell her, "mama will make sure there is always someone to take care of you." And I guess that's really the best I could ever do anyway.

Stop the rocking

So, the vertigo attack happened on Oct. 21st. I'm still not normal. I am home, by myself. I can drive. I can cook. I cannot handle stores (good thing we're doing Christmas in mid-Jan.). Lots of movement makes me dizzy and tired. But, I can take care of the Navy Bean, even if it means way more TV than I would like. I spent three weeks in Texas. It was a good trip. And then my father-in-law drove us home, and stayed for a week.

I had my ENT appointment today. They think it was just a very strong (and pissed off) viral attack to my right ear. They are going to do a MRI just to make sure I don't have a tumor, but they seriously doubt it (they just want me to remove all my earrings again). And, not related to the vertigo, I am apparently mildly deaf in both ears. Now I actually have an excuse when Wes asks why I can't hear him.

I feel like this has derailed a lot of things I was trying to do, but it also make the deployment go by a lot faster. Still, it would be nice to be back to normal.

Falling into vertigo

I was going to tell you about all the projects I have going on: the new plants, the paint I bought, the stuff I'm making for the Navy Bean's birthday. But then, I ended up lying on my kitchen floor for an hour and half, in my own vomit, trying to get the Navy Bean to get my purse so I could call someone. The neighbors broke in through the open kitchen windows, called 911, took care of the Navy Bean for 2 days, while I was in the hospital. My mom came out and today, my parents are driving us to Texas. Vertigo. It's no laughing matter. I could take care of myself. I still can't drive, but I have neighbors who could do that for me. But, I cannot take care of a very active (almost) 2 year old. So, to Texas I go, for about 3 weeks. That's how long the doctor said it may take. I hope it doesn't take that long, but right now, I would believe it.

@#%*&!!!

This post was supposed to be written from Greece (#3) where I was going to visit Wes, with the Navy Bean. His ship is in port for a full week and we were going to take a military flight to get there ($20 a person). It is October, so we were assured that we should be able to get a seat, no problem. See, it works in order of importance: military personnel with orders (and their families, if they're being transferred), military personnel on leave, spouses with military personnel on leave, unattended spouses and families (that would be me), and then retirees. Usually, this flight wouldn't be that busy because there wouldn't be families trying to fly overseas for Christmas or whatever. However, a bunch (20 or so) of army guys with orders showed up the afternoon we were trying to leave. I was number 8 (and 9 for the Navy Bean) on the waiting list. Only three people on the waiting list got on the plane. Stupid Army. I just keep reminding myself that those Army guys were probably going somewhere most of us don't want to be. But, since the flight only leaves once a week, it meant we wouldn't get to see Wes. Sucks ass.

If you have to suck ass, it might as well be a cute one!