Random Goodies

**Random goodies...haha, that sounds dirty...yes, I'm very mature!

**I keep meaning to turn the channel but I haven't yet, so I've spent the whole morning watching ESPN...that's my punishment for being too damned lazy to find the remote.

**I love Phineas and Ferb!

**I have to say that I'm pretty happy that the 49ers won last night. I don't know why, but I've always had this aversion to the AZ Cardinals.

**I need to go grocery shopping, but it is payday and I'm procrastinating because I really don't want to wade through the mess of retirees who show up at the Commissary on paydays. We don't really need to eat...

**My Christmas shopping is finished!! Yes, I mentioned it yesterday too, but it feels so good that I feel the need to share it more than once.

**Of course, I still have to wrap and ship those presents...UPS Store here I come. I'm too lazy to actually pack my own boxes.

Alrighty, well, I've gotta go wrap those presents, stick a sharp pointy thing in my eye and go grocery shopping...enjoy the randomness people!

Another Semester in the Books

I know I've been a bit slow about blogging the last couple of weeks. I have been busy finishing up this semester. Today I took my last final of the semester (and feel about a thousand pounds lighter). I am super excited to have a few weeks off. Next semester my classes are all online, so I will get to hang around the house and do some volunteering for the kiddos' classes. I am really happy that I won't be commuting for two hours every day to school. I am also super excited that it will be my LAST semester. Then I'll officially be a college graduate! I am still wrapping my head around that one. I love learning and being in class, so I'm a bit frightened at the thought of no longer being a student. I am also a little nervous about how all my plans will pan out. Hopefully, next fall, I will be the teacher rather than the student. That's a whole other bundle of nervousness that I won't subject you to for now. For now, I'm going to go enjoy the fact that all my Christmas shopping is done and I can focus on reading whatever I want! I just started Breaking Dawn and am really anxious to get into it and see how the story ends.

The Joys of Cold Weather and My Middle Kiddo

My middle kiddo was born in Hawaii. For this reason, he firmly believes that he is Hawaiian. I have tried numerous times to explain to him that he is not, but he's not buying it. I swear, the kid will end up living in a little beach shack with a great view of the waves he plans to hang ten on. (At least I'll have a place to crash on vacation!) Most of the time, his belief that he is Hawaiian doesn't have a huge impact on our life. However, when cold weather rolls in, this belief becomes the bane of my existence. This is the fight we have on a regular basis...

Me: The bus is coming, get your coat on.

Middle kiddo: Nope, I don't need a coat.

Me: It's cold outside, you need a coat.

Middle kiddo: I'm Hawaiian, I don't wear coats.

Me: You are not actually Hawaiian. Put on the danged coat.

Middle kiddo: Noooooooooo.....

Me: Ok, my dear little Hawaiian, put the coat on...

Middle kiddo: I don't wanna!

Me: I know, but it's cold here on the Mainland and little Hawaiians do wear coats when they are on the Mainland.

Middle kiddo: Fine, but when I grow up and move back to my homeland I'm gonna throw my stupid coat in the ocean.

Me: I'm pretty sure that would be bad for the fish.

Middle kiddo usually mumbles something about stupid coats and fish, puts his coat on and boards the bus with a look on his face. Having this fight with him is really frustrating. But, it does amuse me too. I sometimes worry that our Army lifestyle with all its moving will make our kiddos feel a little homeless. You know, that they won't have a place they can always go back to like I have with Arkansas. Despite the frustration I feel whenever I argue with middle kiddo, it relieves me a little bit to know that he does have a place in his heart that is his "home". Now if I can just figure out how we're gonna pay for him to attend University of Hawaii, I'll have it made.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Yay! It's Tuesday which means I can empty all of the random thoughts out of my brain and call it a blog...

**My children have done nothing but fight this afternoon. Is it bedtime yet?

**I took my Spanish final today. I am officially done taking foreign language for my degree, YAY!

**I always had a sneaking suspicion that Tiger Woods was secretly a douche bag.

**I have completed my Christmas shopping!! Now I just have to get it all wrapped and shipped.

**My MIL is coming to visit this weekend.

**We watched Elf last night. I always forget how amused I am by that movie.

**My oldest kiddo has started reading The Boxcar Children Mysteries. I love that he's reading stuff that I read when I was his age.

**Middle kiddo got Super Mario Bros. for his Nintendo DS. The hubby and I might have spent several recent nights playing it after the kids have gone to bed.

Well, I've gotta go finish making dinner so we can get the kiddos fed and to bed, then spend another romantic evening fighting over whose turn it is to play Mario...

A Day That Will Live In Infamy

Today we remember those who lost their lives in the attack on Pearl Harbor. When we lived in Hawaii, we visited the Arizona Memorial a few times each year. Before you get on a boat out to the memorial, there is a brief movie about the history of the attack. Most of the time, the movie is introduced by a park ranger (because the Arizona Memorial is a National Park). However, on a couple of occasions, we were honored and lucky enough to be there when a survivor of the attack was there to introduce the movie. Listening to their stories was amazing. We never visited the memorial on December 7, but there was always a big ceremony and any survivors from the American side and from the Japanese side are there. The memorial is a wonderful tribute to those who lost their lives on that terrible day. If you are ever in Hawaii, make sure you visit!

Flag over the Arizona Memorial

The oil drip from the sunken USS Arizona

Books that I've Read Recently

It's been a while since I posted about what I've been reading. I figured I should give ya'll a quick update because I know how interested you are in my reading habits...

**I have made it to the 10th book, Ten Big Ones, in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I say it every time, but seriously these book are hilarious! They are quick reads and full of laughs.

**I read The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto "Che" Guevara for my history class. It was interesting, but if you aren't into memoirs this one won't be your cup of tea. Honestly, if I hadn't had to read it for a class, I would never have picked it up. There are some really interesting insights into the hows and whys of the revolutionary movements in Latin America during the 20th century, if that's what you are in to.

**I'm gearing up for the end of the semester and finals, but somehow I have still managed to start two other novels. I'm about a hundred pages into Eclipse from the Twilight Saga. So far, it is much better than New Moon (meaning that I haven't wanted to gouge my eyes out yet or screamed at Bella for being so whiny). I'm also thirty pages into The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike. I'm really enjoying it. I probably won't finish either of these until finals are over, but I'll be sure to share my opinions of them when I do get through them.

Hope you are all reading something interesting...feel free to share :)

Not the Brightest Light on the Tree

I know, I know...I'm behind on my blogging. This semester is winding down and finals are coming up, so it's been hectic for me. Here's a funny story about my puppy to make up for it though...


This is Abbi...



She's chasing a bug. She does a lot of that. (Really has nothing to do with this particular story, but it's a cute pic...) Abbi is our almost-one-year-old mini pin. Normally she chases bugs, sleeps on the back of our couch, poops in the floor then spends the night snuggled up with middle kiddo under his mound of blankets. We love her (all expect for that pooping in the floor part).

The other night, the hubby and I had just gotten in bed when we heard Abbi whining. After a minute, the whining turned into crying. So hubby got out of bed to make sure middle kiddo wasn't laying on her or something. Hubby checked the bedroom and Abbi wasn't there so he went down the hall and found Abbi standing next to the kitchen trash can with a piece of bread crust between her paws. The little darling had gotten into the trash can and pulled out the crust. She knows that she's not supposed to be near the trash can. In fact, she knows this so well that she started whining and crying while she was digging in it. The little brat told on herself! We had to laugh because if Abbi had just kept quiet we would've never known she was even near the trash can. Needless to say, Abbi spent the night in the kennel and we once again realized that she's not the brightest light on the tree...but she sure is one of the cutest...