I might not make it

That's right... I might not make it today. I'm sensing a 2pm bedtime this afternoon. I stayed up WAY too late on the phone with my bestie last night (but we haven't TALKED in a while - just G-Chat-ed, so it's OK). And then this morning? I randomly woke up at 6:30... ok, I probably had to pee, but when I woke up, I realized that I MIGHT be walking with my neighbor at 7... so I shot her an e-mail to confirm (hopefully), got ready (not really... I'm totally walking in my PJ's today, since I essentially slept in workout gear last night) and ate breakfast. Well... we're about to walk NOW... at 8. And get home, just in time for me to go to the Thrift Shop... which I'm "Opening" this morning.

Go to bed 2 hours late? Wake up 2 hours early? Do TWO energy taxing things in ONE day? I'm totally setting myself up to eat a sandwich tonight for dinner. Good thing Hubby won't be here... he's not a fan of "dinner sammy's"

I should probably get those sneakers on (and attempt to stop yawning...)

-Betsy

Busy Day!!

Yesterday was a busy day around here!! And I'm a LITTLE surprised at the fact that I woke up with hubby, and after 30 minutes of lying in bed trying to go back to sleep... decided to GET UP. Wha-huh?!? Ok, so it's 6:45, I've read all my e-mails, checked all my blogs, done a few internet searches, had my breakfast and am writing today's blog post. Weird.

So yesterday... I had planned on sewing. Baby presents, maternity clothes, alterations... it was a "craft room" day... until I randomly decided (ok, not really randomly, but close enough) that I needed to make spaghetti sauce (I buy the giant cans of sauce from Sam's Club and make my own sauce, cause it's what keeps hubby happy). Which of course, meant that I needed to make bread (this WAS unexpected) to go with the obvious dinner choice: Spaghetti with sausage. And my dad-in-law wanted to WATCH me make dough last time I was there... but we ran out of time, so I decided to do a "cooking video" (Very low-tech) of how I do it. Except my sound input was from the wrong spot... so it's really a silent movie with no written words to help out. Oh well... I'll have to try again when this batch of dough is gone. And THEN, a friend came by to visit (and pick some stuff up) and suddenly, lunch was late. So I grabbed a PB&J and scarfed it down... but needed... SUGAR!! So I made cookies, like I've been meaning to do for days (but was also unexpected). I chose a half recipe of In Katrina's Kitchen's Award Winning Cookies Recipe. Very yummy. Best chocolate chip cookies I'VE turned out (they are not my forte).
But P.S. They're the same recipe as Nestle Toll House on the back of the bag... with an extra half cup of flour... for future reference. However, I think the extra flour helped make them not totally flat, like I usually do.

Don't they look delicious? (borrowed from her blog post)

I did still get the latest baby-present finished... and hopefully I'll figure out how to take a picture of it soon. Warning: this may require a trip to Target with my camera. Can't wait to see the looks on people's faces, haha!

Maybe today I'll get some sewing done... of course, that will be around grocery shopping, yoga, watering the garden, making corned beef and soda bread for dinner, and folding laundry...
-Betsy

Today Only!

OK, because I was "cold called" by The Hunduddle Hussy on FB... and I've given up on the daily themed posts... today's post is saying

Click here: http://www.circleofmoms.com/blogger/model-lady
Then click on the little thumb on the right and watch the number go up another vote.
Then if you wish... go to a different computer and repeat until all your computers are used up.
It will make Lady happy... and the Hussy happy... and I can stop reading about how we should all vote on FB ;).

Now: off to find something Bean wants me to eat...

-Betsy

Wordless Wednesday (NOT) - Renewal

 To be honest, I'm a little glad that Easter is almost here... and not because of the joyfulness of Easter and the reminder of what it means... but because Lent will be over. This is probably part of the reason Lent isn't 30 days (which passed a few days ago, which I know because my flossers ran out, and it's a 30 pack I opened on Ash Wednesday). It's 40 days. You get tired of it... but it's not done yet. And you SO can't complain, because 40 days without some luxury is nowhere NEAR as bad as starving in the desert or assisting in your own crucifixion. Thanks Jesus. I'm REALLY glad you don't require either of those of me. (Not kidding here)

So, because Lent ISN'T over... you can count on at least a few more regularly scheduled themed posts... because I gave up lazyness for lent, and thereby am not allowed to think up (read: utilize) any of the multitude of reasons for NOT doing something I should. On a good note, I have flossed my teeth EVERY NIGHT (ok, I missed ONE), and written a blog post every weekday. I've done slightly poorer on the working out every day, and completing all my "to-do" items (in actuality... I stopped keeping a to-do list... so that could go one way or the other on the success scale, but I'd say that it's "lazier" than not). However, there have been many times I've said "you're just being lazy" and kicked myself in the butt. It's gotten less and less the further we get from Ash Wednesday... but I'm trying.

So since I have another project that is supposed to be this week's Thing Thursday (which means I need to get on it, since it's half done and is supposed to be posted tomorrow...) This is my "Wordless Wednesday"... obviously, with words ;).

-Betsy

Inspiration

I need me some inspiration.

And some motivation.

And probably some other forms of "ation" :-P

I need to put together a portfolio. I need to NAME all my art pieces (ugh). I need to get in the car early in the morning or mid-afternoon and take advantage of the "perfect light" and take more pictures, and I need to do it ALL THE TIME. I need to research some craft-fairs and either print up stock, or get stock printed. 

I need to JUMP IN and DO what I've been talking about for so long now.

I need to get over the fear of failing and just DO it. 

Can I get a boost of confidence on here?

-Betsy

This year, in review.

In making holiday schedules and future plans, etc, I realized we have TONS of stuff going on still before the year is up.

And being the analytical mind I am... I came up with these stats, that I had to share.

We will have traveled over 25 times this year.

5 of those trips were "short" - an hour and a half one way. 

(that means 20 were 5+ hours one way)

7 of those trips had multiple locations/events to attend.

9 of those trips were to My Home

3 of those trips were to Hubby's Home

1 of those trips was "Just for Us." It was 4 days long.

10 of those trips were to visit friends,  

5 of which were weddings.

15 trips were to visit family

 

there are only 52 weeks in a year!

It's a good thing we don't lease our car...

-Betsy

Venting Space

I need a little venting space this morning so I can go be Christian.

I love my hubby, he did NOTHING wrong today, however... it's Life I'm mildly perturbed with at the moment. See, hubby doesn't always go to work at the same time in the morning. Sometimes it's 4am (yuck) and sometimes it's 10am (yay!) and sometimes, he wakes up, and decides he's gonna take another 1/2 hr or hr of sleep... just because? I dunno, I don't ask at 6:30 in the morning. And it's not important enough to wonder about later.  So last night, I decided I needed to get my sleep schedule back on track, so I was setting my alarm for 7am. 1/2 hour after hubby NORMALLY gets up to leave for work. So what happens? I take my Clariton last night, and at 12:30 in the morning, remember the "may cause sleeplessness" warning that had me taking it in the morning. Crap. Oh well, can't go back in time, I'll just wait it out. Well, at around 2, I finally got tired. And at some point, hubby decided he wasn't going to wake up until 7:30am... so when my alarm went off at 7, and I hit snooze, someone was there to give me a hug... and again at 7:09, so I asked "when are you getting up?" Response: "half hour." So I think... I'm gonna really annoy him if I let my alarm go off 4 more times before he gets up... I'll turn it off.  Meanwhile, my iPod had it's volume turned off last night so I wouldn't wake up hubby while I was poking at it waiting to get sleepy. So NO ALARMS for Betsy. 8:45, my "not enough water, wrong amount of sleep" headache is keeping my eyes closed and I realize that in 15 minutes, I'm supposed to be leaving the house to work the Thrift Shop. So I write this LONG status on Facebook, and realize that it's not enough venting for me (I'm always being accused of festering, when in reality it just takes me longer to vent, and if you let me finish it all goes away - if you stop me in the middle, I need to start over later) so I'm taking the extra 10 minutes and writing here. SO THERE!

So why is it, Life, that on the days I set my alarm, hubby sleeps in late, and the days I don't, he goes in to work on-time and I sleep late??

Off to be Christian with a Special K Protein Shake for breakfast, sore from yesterday's weight lifting session and run, with a "not enough water/sleep/something" headache.

Thank you for letting me vent.
I do not apologize for the length of this post. hahaha :)


-Betsy

it's stinkin hot today!!!

So I went outside to mail a few more etsy orders (yay!!!) and on the way in, I decided to stop and weed some of the garden (hubby keeps talking about how it needs to be done, which translates into "Betsy, please weed the garden some day soon" - not really, but HE'S surely not home to do it during the week!). So I stop and manage to pull out TONS of this creeping grass that I noticed has choked out at least one of the bushes that HAD been growing there.

In the process, I noticed I was sweating - because a bead fell off my forehead onto my cheek!

I came in, and took this pic with my webcam, because I was outside, mostly standing still, for less than 30 minutes. I suppose I should have listened to the weather channel people when they said "heat advisory in effect" huh?

At least I got 2 more orders in the mail, and the garden looks a MILLION times better!

Because I have good blogger friends :)

So many (if not all) of you know that I'm a military wife. I follow a few blogs of wonderful ladies who have the same "occupation" as myself, and I had at attach a very wonderful blog post by one of them today. The funny part? It's "recycled" on her blog - as in, she doesn't have time to write today, so she's posting an old one. And IT'S the one I HAVE to post a link to at the bottom of this post.

It's part of the answer to a question I was asked a month or so back by a good friend and new military wife... "Who's in the military?" It was multiple choice... A) Hubby. B) Both of us.  My answer was a resounding "B". With a caveat. I know... you aren't supposed to combine multiple choice with essay answers, but I don't care.

It's obvious why "A" could be correct - Hubby is MOST DEFINITELY in the military. By why should "B" be my answer? What is it to be "in the military" and in this case... "in the Marine Corps"?

1) You move every three years (or so)
2) You go on deployments
3) You're in training whenever you aren't on a deployment
And you're doing it all for the love of God, Family and Country
(and more yes, but still... those are pretty big components)

Why wouldn't I fit into those categories?

Every time Hubby is told to move, I move with him. I uproot any connections or jobs that I have at the time, pack up my stuff and head out of town. And I do it because there's no way I would be able to let him move away from me. I do it willingly because he's not moving on a whim, he's doing it as a duty to his country. God, Family, Country.

Hubby has only deployed once (I consider that luck, him not so much), but it will happen again. Just because HE'S the one that goes to the "sandbox" doesn't mean that my life here carries on as usual. I only get to talk to HIM as much as he gets to talk to ME. I only get letters as often as he does. I get JUST as many e-mails from HIM as he gets from ME. I serve a deployment each time he does, and I do it because I love him, and am proud of his love of country. God, Family, Country.

Training is a HUGE aspect of the military - and I am constantly in training also. Am I learning hand combat techniques or how to shoot a gun? No... well, not always. But I am learning the finer points of our finances. I am learning how each of the tools in the garage works. I am learning what all those acronyms mean so I understand what he's SAYING when he gets home. I'm also learning how to sleep in such a big bed by myself. How to tuck myself in at night without a goodnight kiss. How to get up and get about my day, knowing that I'll be eating dinner by myself tonight in front of the TV before putting myself to bed, alone, again. But it's a sacrifice I'm willing (though maybe not EAGER) to make. I give it up to God, for my Family, who's serving my Country.

So I am part of the military - I may not be an officer like Hubby (nor would I want to be), and I may not fight in wars like they do (nor do I want to), but the Military is a family, and I am part of it. My sisters are my military wives, my neighbors and friends, and we are all serving our God, Families and Country - right along side our husbands.

I do not hate the Marine Corps (anymore), and I might have to disagree slightly with Birdie when she says the "The Marine Corps doesn't care about the wives" - they do care... just not a lot :-P. But you will find no stronger, self reliant, independent, loving, supportive, sacrificial woman as a Military Wife.

So check out Birdie's page to see what inspired me to write this post - because she says it better than I do :)