Our Much-Needed "Staycation"

Usually on long weekends like Memorial Day I try to plan a trip somewhere fun to explore. But we had been so busy up until now, and with my father-in-law still in the hospital, we were afraid to venture too far from home. I was a little bummed about it until I came across this idea of having a Staycation - an at-home vacation, where you take advantage of the fun stuff in your own backyard that you haven't done but have always wanted to do. What a great idea!

We started off the weekend by staying home on Friday night and grilled a nice dinner and enjoyed eating outside in the beautiful weather - and to my surprise, Wyatt ate it with us! We had friends over on Thursday night so we were snacking on some leftover veggies from the veggie tray I had made. Wyatt surprised me by eating an entire carrot and a few bites of green pepper! Then he downed an entire piece of grilled tilapia and ate some of the pasta salad! For a moment I wondered if Tommy had picked up the right child at daycare! These are not foods he has eaten in the past. I was so impressed!

On Saturday we loaded up the Highlander bright and early and headed toward Richmond to visit the Metro Richmond Zoo. It was wonderful! The zoo was never one of my favorite activities as a kid, but I love it as an adult. Wyatt thought the monkeys were hysterical as they were swinging around in the cage. It wasn't long before he was "ooh ooh"-ing and "ah ah"-ing like the monkeys and jumping around imitating them!

After the Zoo we stopped by "Donald's" for some fries. Wyatt loves their french fries! After lunch we went to Grandma's for Wyatt's nap and Tommy visited his dad at the hospital. Then, Tommy and I took off for our night out on the town! This was very exciting for me because Tommy planned and implemented the entire evening! Scoring major bonus points from me! First, we checked into the Wyndham hotel and got all gussied up. Then we headed to the Hanover Tavern for dinner and a play. The Hanover Tavern was built in 1791 (yes, I said 1791 - you read that correctly!) and was recently renovated. It has an amazing historical background and played a big role in WWII.

We ate an amazing meal (Tommy's steak was quite possibly the best we've ever had) at Michelle's, the restaurant inside the Tavern, and then saw the play "I Ought to be in Pictures," at the Barksdale Theater there onsite. It was wonderful!

Sunday morning we both got to SLEEP IN! And not just sleep in, but sleep THROUGH the 6 a.m. hour when Wyatt typically calls for us! I didn't wake up until 7:40 a.m.! And what could make a morning more complete than enjoying a nice toffee nut latte (me) and hot chocolate (Tommy) together with some danish and coffee cake at my favorite locale, Starbucks?

After that, we spent some more time at the hospital and then had a late lunch/early dinner with Cindy and Jake at Kitchen 64, this cute, funky little restaurant in Richmond that reminds me a lot of the Cafe in Ames. As close as we're going to get, anyway! This is quite possibly my new favorite Richmond restaurant, and I'm sad we haven't discovered it before now!

Back at home in Quantico on Monday, we decided to explore the Prince William Forest Park via bike. Tommy loaded up our bikes and Wyatt's bike trailer, and off we went. This little treasure is just about a mile down the road from where we live and, as it turns out, is a beautiful park run by the National Park Service! Unfortunately, we didn't properly scope out the park before hopping on our bikes, and we ended up riding a 5-mile stretch of the steepest, hilliest part of the forest. It was not what I would call fun. My butt hurts a lot today. However, after we called it quits we took the scenic drive and discovered a beautiful, nearly flat area that we would love to return to and spend a day riding. Maybe next time!

So, I would consider our Staycation a huge success! We accomplished a lot while spending some quality family time together and still accomplishing our overall goal of spending time with Tommy's dad. Tommy also spent quite a bit of time mowing several of his dad's properties yesterday to help him out.

How did you spend your Memorial Day weekend? Leave me a note!

Tommy's 5 Minutes of Fame

Good morning!

Here is the link to the Quantico Sentry newspaper article about Tom (my father-in-law) and Tommy. It will pull up as a PDF so just turn to page 2 and you'll see the story. It's a very nice article. We snagged about 20 copies in the print version, so let me know if you want me to mail you one!

http://www.dcmilitary.com/quanticopdfs/090521QSentryPDFDownloadFiles/090521QSW_QSPrint.pdf

Blogging Hiatus

Sorry for the blogging hiatus! It's been a jam-packed couple of weeks!

My parents were in town for the past week for Tommy's graduation from TBS!!! Let me tell you how excited I am that he is done with this class. Check: we are BOTH excited that he is done with this class! Life is sooooo much easier (and nicer) when there are TWO parents in the picture to help with Wyatt! It was a lot to handle working full time with my commute plus being responsible for everything household and Wyatt related these past 7 months! Glad it is over, and hats off to my hubby for doing such a great job. He finished in the top 1/4 of the 280 Marines who graduated this course!

My parents joined us at Warrior Day, which is a day they set aside before graduation so you get a "taste" of the Marine Corps life and what they've been doing at TBS. Wyatt was awestruck by the fly-in and landing of 3 helicopters. He got to go inside each one and inspect them, and had a blast trying out the controls! The only problem was helping him understand that they were not, in fact, his. He proudly proclaimed, "MINE!" and was very reluctant to give up his turn at the helm of the aircraft! We also got to check out and inspect several of the amphibious assault vehicles, tanks, etc. and we were this close to getting to go on an AAV ride. We were all suited up in our 30-pound flak jackets and helmets but they stopped the exercise when someone in the AAV hit his head inside the vehicle and received a concussion and 6 stitches! My dad was pretty disappointed!

Most of Tommy's family got to come up and celebrate graduation day with us. It was a day that was made very special for him by the Pulic Affairs Office on base, who showed up at the request of a retired Lieutenant Colonel who used to work with my father-in-law, who retired from the Marine Corps a few years ago as a Sergeant Major, to videotape the event. My father-in-law couldn't be there for the graduation because he is in the hospital right now. I haven't posted about this on here for several reasons (namely the difficulty of it all as well as for privacy reasons), but my father-in-law has adult lukemia and underwent a stem cell transplant right after Christmas. It's been a very difficult process for our family and we've spent nearly every weekend in Richmond in 2009. Tom is currently hospitalized with Graff vs. Donor disease, which means the new and old white blood cells are fighting over who gets to take control of his body. So the PAO came to videotape the ceremony and a message from Tommy to Tom and sent him the tape in the hospital. They are also doing a wonderful story on the father-son aspect of this that is scheduled to run in the Quantico newspaper soon. I'll post a link when it's available, hopefully tomorrow!

After the gradution, we celebrated with family and friends with a backyard BBQ at our house. We had a great time and beautiful weather. We finished off the week with a wonderful trip to the Potomac Point Winery, dinner at the Globe and Laurel (a local restaurant filled with Marine Corps memorabilia), and a quick trip to Richmond to the hospital and a BBQ with Tommy's family.

All in all, it was a great week and we loved having my parents here visiting. Wyatt was in his glory with Grandma and Grandpa around, and as always, we enjoyed their company and the great seafood, steak, and many bottles of wine. I am now enjoying my post-TBS life for a few weeks before reality sets in and Tommy heads to California in mid-June.

Big Girl Panties

So I was talking to my friend Jen the other day (who already lives in Japan) and she was telling me about this person she met who hated living in Japan. Jen told me how she wanted to tell her just to buck up and “put her big girl panties on,” which I thought was hysterical!

Then yesterday I found myself pretty strung out. On Thursday I heard 3 drug cases at work, all of which resulted in students and parents CRYING and begging me to let them graduate or not kick them out of school. Then daycare called and told me to come pick up my kid, who they thought had pinkeye. After an hour at Urgent Care, I took Wyatt to CVS to get his prescription, where I attempted to entertain him for another hour, and during which time the woman told me three times that my insurance was not valid. Umm, it’s TRICARE. It’s government issued and universally accepted. How is it NOT VALID?

Wyatt was starting to freak out, and while I’m giving her Tommy’s Social Security Number for the third time in an hour, he decided to stand up in the cart whilst still buckled in. I had to unbuckle him because he was twisted up like a pretzel, and then he proceeded to run away from me in CVS. When I finally caught him, I drug him back kicking and screamingto the pharmacy counter where she had finally figured out how to properly enter my husband’s information. And then the pharmacist told me that she was sorry, but they were actually out of the medication I had been waiting over an hour for.

My inner monologue included several curse words, a pre-written note to the manager, and a laundry list of things I could do to this woman’s car that I knew was likely parked outside. I seriously almost lost it.

Instead, I mustered up as much maturity as I could, and said, “Fine. I’ll just take my sick two-year old over to Walmart and wait there for an hour.” I bet that showed them.

When I finally got home from Walmart, Wyatt was still freaking out, work was calling my cell phone, and I had 5 hearings to reschedule for the next day, since I couldn’t obviously take Wyatt back to daycare.

Friday was even worse. I was calling into work all day for stuff, and I messed up something pretty major. I was in charge of handling the arrangements for our graduating seniors’ farewell party, and get this: I forgot to order the food. So people show up to this party that I invited them to, and there’s no food, no cake, no punch. And I’m not even there to fix it. For the love of God! I was so upset with myself.

Wyatt was being a cranky pants(not that I blame him), and Tommy came home with lots of great news (note the sarcasm) about the next two weeks and another stack of paperwork for us to plow through for our move to Japan – which, by the way, they informed us we should not worry about until Tommy goes to his school in California. Which, by the way, is not realistic in the least, and means that my cats won’t be able to accompany us on the plane. In the midst of all this, we learn one of our parents has been hospitalized.

At this point, I am trying so hard to keep it together but it just isn’t working.

My friend Michelle stopped over then to pick up the May baskets I had made for her boys, and when she pulled up she took one look at me and asked me what was wrong. At which point I burst into tears and started babbling incessantly. And then Michelle did what any good friend would do. She told me to put my big girl panties on. Not that bluntly, mind you, but the message was pretty clear. Figure out what to do, and do it.

And she’s right. Things are sort of a mess right now, and it’s not going to get easier anytime soon with Tommy leaving for California for 3 months. But having a pity party isn’t going to solve a whole lot, so I might as well figure it out. Starting right now, because we just got back from Urgent Care again, and Wyatt has some crazy virus now.

So I did the only thing I could yesterday. I drank a glass of wine. I got a pedicure. I went shopping. My last stop? I went to Target and bought three new pairs of Big Girl Panties. One in pink, one in black and one in green. And today I decided to put the pink ones on first, one leg at a time.

Now. If I could just get that wedgie out of my a**.