Hello everyone!
I hope everyone's Halloween was super spooky! We had a GREAT day here - for many reasons, but most of which is that I seriously have the cutest freakin' kid EVER! Seriously - he was SO cute dressed up in his little golfer outfit!! One lady told me that he was the talk of the neighborhood! I took him to the library Halloween program in the morning with my friend Michelle and her two boys. It was so much fun and there were a TON of people there, and everyone kept pointing at Wyatt saying how cute he was! Then at trick-or-treat tonight I found out that there had been a discussion amongst the moms and they had decided that Wyatt had won the title of "cutest kid" there!
I really don't know who had more fun today, me or Wyatt. Not only was he so cute I just had to keep pinching his cheeks, but it was so much fun to see him get excited by the other costumes. Elmo was at the library program, and that was a BIG deal! And the firetruck came to our neighborhood tonight with McGruff the crime dog! Couple that with the fun dancing we did and the 3 lollipops he ate and Wyatt was in heaven, and I was in heaven watching him.
The other great thing is that Tommy got picked up by Alpha Company!!! This is GREAT news for us! I am super proud of him and we are both excited to get this journey moving. As I write this (at 8:30 p.m.), he is still at work, and has been since 5 a.m. I really admire his dedication to serve his country and know he'll do well in this school.
Also, it was a good day for me in the friend-making business. I know this sounds weird, but when you're married to the military, meeting friends is sort of like speed dating in some ways. You have a quick convo and if you don't hit it off, you move on. And everyone knows it. No one takes it personally, it's just part of the deal. It can be a long process of elimination, but today I hit the jackpot. I met this woman at the library today whose son is just 5 days older than Wyatt and her husband is also here for TBS! We are going to try to get together next week. And tonight after trick-or-treating I had chili at my neighbor/friend Holly's, and got to meet two of her friends that I really liked, and exchanged contact info. So, it was a great day for all of us and I am counting my blessings that things are going so well for us.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
And so it begins!
I realize that I haven't posted much about Tommy's experience here in his school, so I thought I'd give everyone an update since some of you have been asking. He will be participating the next 6-7 months in a training designed for new Officers. During this training he will be tested mentally and physically, and toward the end of the training they will tally up how well he has done and use this information to determine what his "job" in the Marine Corps will be (he puts in a list of preferences) and where we will be stationed for the next 3-4 years.
Here's the deal. What they didn't tell us before we came is that they actually assigned over 400 people to his Company, which has only 300 slots. Now I'm no mathemetician, but that means about 25% of the Marines will be dropped at some point in the first 2 weeks. Which is tomorrow.
So, we actually don't know if he is going to be in this Company or not. If not, he won't get another chance to pick up in the next class until late DECEMBER!! Yeesh.
So far, he is enjoying what they have done, and he really wants to continue. They have said they will be evaluating them on their Swim Qualifications and PFT's (Physical Fitness Tests) to determine who gets to stay and who goes. So far, Tommy got the highest Swim Qual class he could get, and his PFT is today. He typically does fine in these areas, but you never know, and as he said, he is now competing with 22-year olds, and he is no "spring chicken"! I have every confidence he will be fine - after all, he is pretty amazing, but keep your fingers crossed!
Here's the deal. What they didn't tell us before we came is that they actually assigned over 400 people to his Company, which has only 300 slots. Now I'm no mathemetician, but that means about 25% of the Marines will be dropped at some point in the first 2 weeks. Which is tomorrow.
So, we actually don't know if he is going to be in this Company or not. If not, he won't get another chance to pick up in the next class until late DECEMBER!! Yeesh.
So far, he is enjoying what they have done, and he really wants to continue. They have said they will be evaluating them on their Swim Qualifications and PFT's (Physical Fitness Tests) to determine who gets to stay and who goes. So far, Tommy got the highest Swim Qual class he could get, and his PFT is today. He typically does fine in these areas, but you never know, and as he said, he is now competing with 22-year olds, and he is no "spring chicken"! I have every confidence he will be fine - after all, he is pretty amazing, but keep your fingers crossed!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Adventures of a SAHM
That's "Stay at Home Mom" for those of you who are wondering! Sorry for the acronym; I know Liz Kurt is thinking "Did I teach her nothing?" But, my world is all about acronyms right now living life on a military installation.
Anyway, many of you have told me you especially enjoy my stories on the blog, so here's another one for you. So I heard about this thing called Classy Kids Consignment that is a semi-annual seasonal sale here. It's baby and kids stuff. You name it, they got it. I decided to brave the waters and did not, in fact, heed the warning on the web site that although children were welcome, they might not be...convenient.
BIG mistake. First of all, that information should be reclassified to say that bringing children is dangerous. I rolled up in my little mazda a few minutes after the doors have opened and saw the line. Immediately it hit me. You know those sales where they have bridal gowns for free or cheap and everyone is pushing and shoving like mad to get a gown? Suddenly the picture was very clear to me.... this was one of those sales!!!
Panic hits me. Am I going to be able to do this? I rush around, trying to get Wyatt out of the car seat and into the umbrella stroller. That should have been my 1st clue: there are no "big" strollers allowed. Just umbrella strollers. Well, I rarely use the umbrella stroller, so it takes me like 5 minutes to get it set up, and another 5 to figure out how to strap him in there. Alas, I get it, and away we go!
I enter the sale (read: warehouse), and am handed a "Hold" slip. What? What is a Hold Slip? OH...you're new. She explains that it is for bigger items you can't carry around. I look up for the 1st time at the warehouse. Holy mother of God! I knew at once that I was outmatched by these women. There were things everywhere. Strollers, cribs, furniture, bedding, toys, racks and racks of clothing. Exersaucers, bouncers, bottles, rocking hourses, rocking chairs... and women running from section to section. Oh, dear. Where do I go first? Toys. I hate paying full price for toys. But before I can pick up something to look at, women grab it from the table. Pushing, shoving, strollering across my feet or into Wyatt.
It took me a few minutes to realize that "Excuse me" was not in these people's vocabulary. I try to move on to the clothes section but Wyatt does not want to move on. He throws a minor tantrum and like any good mom, I pluck a truck off the table and give it to him, clearly ignoring the posted "Please do not let children play with toys" sign. En route to the clothes section, I see a booster seat we need. Suddenly this other mom locks eyes with me and I see she, too, wants the booster seat! We both stroller our way over and I get to it first. Score one for the girl from Iowa! But now, I have a stroller, a truck, and a booster seat. And only two hands. Oh wait! The HOLD ticket! Thank goodness for hold tickets.
We find Wyatt's clothes size and start rooting around. Baby Gap, Gymboree, Children's Place, Tommy Hilfiger.... jackpot! After a few minutes, though, I am exhausted from competing for my place in front of his clothes size and give up. I go to pay, and that's when I see the line. By this time Wyatt has had it. He is squirming, wanting out to run free, and I am struggling to hold the things and my purse and keep him in the stroller. I am sweating, because I have on a fleece jacket, and have been running around like a mad woman. Finally we get through and pay, and everything goes in the car. I can't figure out how to collapse the stroller though, so it goes in the trunk fully assembled. I collapse into my Mazda, exhausted! Who knew?
A few days later I am looking through my purse and I find a handout they gave me at the checkout line. Sunday is Dollar Dash! Everything not already sold is just a dollar! Hmm.... my brain starts calculating. Sunday comes, and I need a break from being in the house. It has not escaped me that I haven't been anywhere alone in 3 weeks. I leave Wyatt with Tommy and decide I'm going back to the sale to do this the right way.
I arrive a few minutes early this time, sans jacket or purse. Just my money in my pocket. No stroller, no child, nothing to carry. I have properly stretched ahead of time and am ready for the mad dash. And Dash it was. I have never seen such a thing, but this time I was ready, and I scored some pretty great stuff! And I felt better about myself for having conquered the Classy Kids Consignment on its last day.... until the March sale, that is ;)
Anyway, many of you have told me you especially enjoy my stories on the blog, so here's another one for you. So I heard about this thing called Classy Kids Consignment that is a semi-annual seasonal sale here. It's baby and kids stuff. You name it, they got it. I decided to brave the waters and did not, in fact, heed the warning on the web site that although children were welcome, they might not be...convenient.
BIG mistake. First of all, that information should be reclassified to say that bringing children is dangerous. I rolled up in my little mazda a few minutes after the doors have opened and saw the line. Immediately it hit me. You know those sales where they have bridal gowns for free or cheap and everyone is pushing and shoving like mad to get a gown? Suddenly the picture was very clear to me.... this was one of those sales!!!
Panic hits me. Am I going to be able to do this? I rush around, trying to get Wyatt out of the car seat and into the umbrella stroller. That should have been my 1st clue: there are no "big" strollers allowed. Just umbrella strollers. Well, I rarely use the umbrella stroller, so it takes me like 5 minutes to get it set up, and another 5 to figure out how to strap him in there. Alas, I get it, and away we go!
I enter the sale (read: warehouse), and am handed a "Hold" slip. What? What is a Hold Slip? OH...you're new. She explains that it is for bigger items you can't carry around. I look up for the 1st time at the warehouse. Holy mother of God! I knew at once that I was outmatched by these women. There were things everywhere. Strollers, cribs, furniture, bedding, toys, racks and racks of clothing. Exersaucers, bouncers, bottles, rocking hourses, rocking chairs... and women running from section to section. Oh, dear. Where do I go first? Toys. I hate paying full price for toys. But before I can pick up something to look at, women grab it from the table. Pushing, shoving, strollering across my feet or into Wyatt.
It took me a few minutes to realize that "Excuse me" was not in these people's vocabulary. I try to move on to the clothes section but Wyatt does not want to move on. He throws a minor tantrum and like any good mom, I pluck a truck off the table and give it to him, clearly ignoring the posted "Please do not let children play with toys" sign. En route to the clothes section, I see a booster seat we need. Suddenly this other mom locks eyes with me and I see she, too, wants the booster seat! We both stroller our way over and I get to it first. Score one for the girl from Iowa! But now, I have a stroller, a truck, and a booster seat. And only two hands. Oh wait! The HOLD ticket! Thank goodness for hold tickets.
We find Wyatt's clothes size and start rooting around. Baby Gap, Gymboree, Children's Place, Tommy Hilfiger.... jackpot! After a few minutes, though, I am exhausted from competing for my place in front of his clothes size and give up. I go to pay, and that's when I see the line. By this time Wyatt has had it. He is squirming, wanting out to run free, and I am struggling to hold the things and my purse and keep him in the stroller. I am sweating, because I have on a fleece jacket, and have been running around like a mad woman. Finally we get through and pay, and everything goes in the car. I can't figure out how to collapse the stroller though, so it goes in the trunk fully assembled. I collapse into my Mazda, exhausted! Who knew?
A few days later I am looking through my purse and I find a handout they gave me at the checkout line. Sunday is Dollar Dash! Everything not already sold is just a dollar! Hmm.... my brain starts calculating. Sunday comes, and I need a break from being in the house. It has not escaped me that I haven't been anywhere alone in 3 weeks. I leave Wyatt with Tommy and decide I'm going back to the sale to do this the right way.
I arrive a few minutes early this time, sans jacket or purse. Just my money in my pocket. No stroller, no child, nothing to carry. I have properly stretched ahead of time and am ready for the mad dash. And Dash it was. I have never seen such a thing, but this time I was ready, and I scored some pretty great stuff! And I felt better about myself for having conquered the Classy Kids Consignment on its last day.... until the March sale, that is ;)
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Stuff I Worry About
I think it's funny that I know I worry about stuff I cannot control, yet I do it anyway and can't seem to not do it. It's almost as if I would be better off without that knowledge, because knowing that I shouldn't worry about it, but doing it anyway, makes me worry about why I am worrying about it. ACK! I am so annoyed with myself.
One of the things I have been worrying about lately is, where will Wyatt say he is "from"? I mean, people ask you all the time, "Where are you from?" When I was in Iowa, I would say, "A small town about 90 miles north of here called Wesley." Now that I live in Virginia, I say, "I'm from Iowa." Then I tell them where Iowa is. Seriously. [Insert big eye roll here].
Anyway, I digress. So, the question is, Where is Wyatt From?!?! He was born in Iowa, is now living in Virginia, and in 6-9 months will be living in yet another state. This makes me sad, because I want him to have a "From."
I'm not sure why this is so important to me right now. Most likely it's because we are in transition, but I like to have something to blame, so I blame NSP (my old job). We make the Cyclone Aides (orientation leaders) do their introduction: "Hi, I'm Megan Parker, I'm a senior in Journalism and Mass Communication from Wesley, Iowa." Every year I have a discussion with at least one Cyclone Aide who doesn't have a "From" - and, inevitably, they grew up in the military and moved a lot. So, what do I do, as a good student affairs practitioner? I tell them to pick the place they liked best. GAG.
This is what I'm worried about. I want Wyatt to have a home, a place he grew up in, a source of pride and for this place to be part of his identity. I love that I grew up in Iowa. And I feel like it's my job as a mom to give him the same stability and security I had, but I'm not sure I can.
Maybe some of you out there might have opinions on this. Especially those of you who grew up moving a lot. Where are you "from?" I need some words of wisdom here.
One of the things I have been worrying about lately is, where will Wyatt say he is "from"? I mean, people ask you all the time, "Where are you from?" When I was in Iowa, I would say, "A small town about 90 miles north of here called Wesley." Now that I live in Virginia, I say, "I'm from Iowa." Then I tell them where Iowa is. Seriously. [Insert big eye roll here].
Anyway, I digress. So, the question is, Where is Wyatt From?!?! He was born in Iowa, is now living in Virginia, and in 6-9 months will be living in yet another state. This makes me sad, because I want him to have a "From."
I'm not sure why this is so important to me right now. Most likely it's because we are in transition, but I like to have something to blame, so I blame NSP (my old job). We make the Cyclone Aides (orientation leaders) do their introduction: "Hi, I'm Megan Parker, I'm a senior in Journalism and Mass Communication from Wesley, Iowa." Every year I have a discussion with at least one Cyclone Aide who doesn't have a "From" - and, inevitably, they grew up in the military and moved a lot. So, what do I do, as a good student affairs practitioner? I tell them to pick the place they liked best. GAG.
This is what I'm worried about. I want Wyatt to have a home, a place he grew up in, a source of pride and for this place to be part of his identity. I love that I grew up in Iowa. And I feel like it's my job as a mom to give him the same stability and security I had, but I'm not sure I can.
Maybe some of you out there might have opinions on this. Especially those of you who grew up moving a lot. Where are you "from?" I need some words of wisdom here.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The Pumpkin Patch
I have always wanted to take my kid to the pumpkin patch. Last year's attempt was not very successful (think cranky baby + exhaustion + roadside pumpkin stand), so we decided to give it a try again this year. We were visiting Tommy's family in Richmond this weekend so we decided to go check out the Ashland Berry Farm, where Tommy worked in high school.
Now this is not just any pumpkin patch. It was crazy - HUGE pumpkin fields, a straw bail maze/obstacle course, a haunted forest, a haunted house, a Christmas store, a Fall store, a lunch place, fields of berries (as the name indicates), a pond with huge fish in it... you get the idea. There were so many people there it was a little overwhelming!
Tommy's mom, sister Kelley and her son Jake (Wyatt's cousin), and the three of us all piled in the hay rack and they took us out to the pumpkin patch and it was SO fun to watch Wyatt and Jake find their pumpkins and try to carry them. We did the $20 all-you-can-carry special so we loaded Tommy up with 6 pumpkins and paid our tab! The boys also went through the hay bail maze thing. It was ENORMOUS! I have never seen such a thing. It had lots of obstacles like drawbridges and stuff so it was a lot of fun for them.
I did get a little wave of Iowa homesickness while we were there though. There were a few contributing factors, but the final straw was when we went to this restaurant and it had grits on the menu. I was like, I don't want grits! I am from Iowa! I just want regular food! Completely irrational, but I was missing my family being there and with Tommy starting class on Tuesday I was beginning to realize our little game of "House" was about to end. Anyway, Tommy's family probably thinks I'm nuts, if they didn't already, but my pity party is over now and I'm okay, I think.
Now this is not just any pumpkin patch. It was crazy - HUGE pumpkin fields, a straw bail maze/obstacle course, a haunted forest, a haunted house, a Christmas store, a Fall store, a lunch place, fields of berries (as the name indicates), a pond with huge fish in it... you get the idea. There were so many people there it was a little overwhelming!
Tommy's mom, sister Kelley and her son Jake (Wyatt's cousin), and the three of us all piled in the hay rack and they took us out to the pumpkin patch and it was SO fun to watch Wyatt and Jake find their pumpkins and try to carry them. We did the $20 all-you-can-carry special so we loaded Tommy up with 6 pumpkins and paid our tab! The boys also went through the hay bail maze thing. It was ENORMOUS! I have never seen such a thing. It had lots of obstacles like drawbridges and stuff so it was a lot of fun for them.
I did get a little wave of Iowa homesickness while we were there though. There were a few contributing factors, but the final straw was when we went to this restaurant and it had grits on the menu. I was like, I don't want grits! I am from Iowa! I just want regular food! Completely irrational, but I was missing my family being there and with Tommy starting class on Tuesday I was beginning to realize our little game of "House" was about to end. Anyway, Tommy's family probably thinks I'm nuts, if they didn't already, but my pity party is over now and I'm okay, I think.
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