Don't Pass Out!

Yesterday I went to the mall since they were having a blood drive. I have always donated steadily since I turned seventeen, every church blood drive, all the ones at college except the year after I got my tattoos, so I always go. Eastern North Carolina is critically low at the moment so it is very important to donate if you are able to!

I got to the mall around 2pm or so and I unfortunately was there almost two hours. I had some computer trouble with my maiden name and my married name and then the woman taking my blood kind of messed up. She told me the vein was bruising and not working and asked to try my other arm. Translation: you missed the vein and now it is bruising under the skin... I've donated enough to know that! But I had already been there a long time at this point so I told her to do the other arm. The left arm worked fine but for the first time ever it was painful to donate for me. Normally I feel the needle go in and then that is it, nothing else. This time it hurt the entire time they were drawing the blood... I didn't say anything but I was not a happy camper.

After I collected my tshirt and free cookies I drove home to spend time with Ryan before rehearsal. I had big band aids on both elbows so naturally he made fun of me a bit! I wasn't hungry, I had already chugged a water bottle, but he insisted I eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before I go. I got to rehearsal and someone actually brought in pizza for all of us! Score. I had a slice and we rehearsed for an hour or so then took a ten minute break.

Like I am known to do I went outside to smoke and then came back in to chat more with the nonsmokers. I had another slice of pizza, some more water, and then we jumped back into the scene. All I have to say is thank God the guy playing my husband had his arm around me. We got maybe ten minutes into the scene and suddenly I felt horribly sick to my stomach. I started sweating and I felt incredibly overheated and then my vision started to go dark. Bless his heart my fake husband felt me sway and prevented me from hitting the floor as rehearsal ground to a halt.

How embarassing!

They got me into a chair and I had more water and tried to breathe. I had a mini Hershey bar in my bag left over from our readthrough Monday so I ate that and slowly started to feel better. I think my blood sugar just dropped like a rock... it was very strange. Like I said, I have donated many many times, but I have never almost passed out like that! I was mortified. At first the director was worried I was ill or something but then I mentioned I donated blood and everyone relaxed. That had to be it. I took it easy the rest of the rehearsal, I sat more than my character is blocked to do but I made it through the night and was able to drive home and go to bed early (after making sure the Gamecocks beat Vanderbilt!).

My husband (the real one) said I must just be getting older. In college I could donate and then run to class then work for a few hours then rehearse without an issue. This time it took me a lot longer to bounce back, even being hydrated and eating. Noted. Next time I will be sure to take it easier!

Motto of the story: Don't donate blood on the day you have rehearsal. Passing out does not leave the best impression!

Rehearsals

I had my first rehearsal Monday night, just a read through, where we sit around a table and basically read through the script. Last night we got on our feet and are moving forward for the next seven weeks! Part of me is terrified, there is a lot of yellow highlighter on those pages! But part of me is also very excited. The cast seems great so far, a nice diverse group ranging from students to not, and the crew I have met has been good too.

The only downside is I do see a lot less of my husband. He usually gets home from work as I leave for rehearsal. I get home after 10pm and he is usually ready to go to sleep at that point! Yesterday he had duty so I went and had lunch with him, but haven't seen him since. I am hoping he gets home a little early today so we can have dinner together or something! Once it gets closer to the show Ryan will be in 29 Palms for training (most likely, 99% sure at this point) and will not get to see my show. Boo. He can come to a rehearsal before he goes to try and see it, but it won't be the finished product. Ah well... I know neighbors and friends (and family) have told me they will be there so I am still very excited.

That's all that is really going on right now. Rehearsals, ballet (last night was fun... an hour of rehearsal then ballet class then another hour of rehearsal!), housework, playing with the pup and other such things. It is busy, but not much to write about unfortunately.

I hate that my blog has gone so far downhill the past few months. I miss having interesting things to write about, things people actually would want to read.

But this is all I have. For now.

Routine to Random

The past week or so since I have written (possibly more) haven't been terribly interesting. I mean they weren't bad or anything, just not something I thought worth blogging about. Some highlights, but not enough to make a blog entry worth reader's time. At least in my opinion.

But things are changing!

Firstly, Breanna (the lovely Mrs. Sykes) and I have been taking an adult ballet class for the past few weeks. You can read my views on it on my last SpouseBUZZ article here.

Home life has been the same. Applying for jobs and spending time with Rylie and Ryan.

Rylie loves to go under our bed, Ryan decided to join her and they spent an hour playing. Cute.

Sometimes Rylie just wants to be close. Ryan was napping on the couch and Rylie kept kissing him and bugging him, so this was my husband's solution.



We love playing Draw Something! This was my husband's latest creation and it was so cute I had to save it!

Now our Rylie is very very destructive! She is a powerful chewer, so all of her toys recently have been completely torn apart. She literally had one nylabone left! So today we ran to PetSmart and got our pup some Powerful Chew toys. For over an hour she chased this Kong around the garage trying to get the treat out and now is chewing her bacon flavored HARD plastic S. Pup is still chasing the stuff around the living room.

Now last week a friend of mine posted on my Facebook that the Community College was holding auditions for Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. I got excited and decided to give it a go and audition. I was pretty nervous, it has been a long time since I really auditioned for anything! I left really early and got to the theatre almost an hour early and naturally it was pouring rain. I forgot my umbrella so I went in looking a little bit like I swam there.

Ever enter a room and realize everyone in the room know each other already? I had one of those moments but luckily theatre people are pretty welcoming. Being a newcomer I wasn't sure how good my odds were but apparently it didn't matter..... I got cast!

This email arrived at 12:15am this morning, just as we were going to bed. I think I scared the crap out of Ryan when I screamed! I forgot how amazing it feels to see your name on a cast list! And Mollie has a lot of lines... I am going to be busy for the next seven weeks! Rehearsals start Monday and I am really looking forward to it. I will be out of the house and doing something I love. Perfect.

 Of course the show is in October (psst Jacksonville ladies, please come!) and Ryan is due to be in California for training the entire month. Sigh. It always tends to work that way doesn't it? Out of the six or seven shows I have worked on or been in since Ryan and I have started dating I think he has made maybe three of them. Not too bad but I wish he could come to this!


So hopefully I will have more stories and things to share soon now that I will be getting out of the house more. And thanks to everyone on Facebook and Instagram who already said congratulations and other such things, it means a lot to me!

The Weekend We Actually Did Stuff!

As you can tell from the state of my blog my husband and I have been kind of homebodies living in North Carolina. We spend our weekends together, usually watching Netflix (PS - Anyone else watch Doctor Who?? SO obsessed!), going to the beach or occassionally a movie. Well this weekend we socialized and got out of the house... and it was terrific.

Friday was a mandatory fun day with Ryan's unit, a beach bash. The sky was gray and rainy all morning so I wasn't thrilled to be going, but I am glad I did. We always heard the beach on base was terrible and drove to South Topsail. Wrong! We loved it! The surf was pretty rough from all the rain and storms but it is a nice beach. There was good BBQ and other things like horsehoes and a rock wall behind the dunes but we stuck with the beach. We played football and swam mostly. Well I tried to swim but it was a really strong current. Ryan would get in and end up a mile down the beach trying to body surf.

I actually got to meet some other wives/girlfriends and I got along with them.... alleluia! It has been a sloooow process for me meeting people so I am very thankful. Ryan recently got a new guy Ben in his shop and he and his wife Chelsea are great, we all stayed at the beach way after everyone else left and have the sunburn to prove it! Chelsea got me addicted to a new beach habbit, searching for shark teeth!

I was nowhere near as good at spotting them as she was but I have a nice little start to our collection. Whenever we go to the beach on base I know what I will be doing! After frying in the sun the four of us went back to our house and had a nice cook out together and lit a fire in our firepit to enjoy some wine with. For once it didn't rain! So Friday was a good day!

Once again Saturday loomed all gray and rainy. We had planned to meet Nicole (from Flip Flops and Combat Boots) and her husband Danny at the Snead's Ferry Shrimp Festival but the weather was not looking promising. We gave it some time and the downpour started to fade so we decided to chance it! Glad we did!

Sure most of the day was spent at the beer tent, so obviously we had a blast! I had some good peach beer and we all tried some shrimp at some point throughout the day. It is a small world and a smaller Marine Corps, because Ryan ran into one of the guys who worked in the office that recruited him. The last time this guy saw Ryan was when my husband was seventeen years old! But he does have a very distinct walk that makes him completely identifiable. We sat with him and his wife and friends and had a great afternoon.



Nicole's picture... I am stealing it because I was camera-less and didn't take any phone pictures!

As you can see my right shoulder is already quite burnt.... after sitting in the sun on that bench for hours my back went from the red of my shoulder to straight up lobster. It is that fun sort of tingly sunburn that is very very uncomfortable! We wore sunscreen at the beach but I now know never to ask my husband to buy sunscreen because he thinks SPF 15 is acceptable. Have you seen how pale I am!? Blonde hair is a sign of the permanently untanned.

After a few hours at the Festival we went back to Nicole and Danny's and ordered pizza. Nicole and I took a trip to our house to get Rylie so Rylie and Miley finally had a puppy play date!

I think Rylie sufficiently annoyed the bejeezus out of Miley but she was a very good sport! They ran around and shared toys and whenever Miley laid down Rylie bothered her again until she got up. She is still such a  puppy! I think Miley also got a thorough spit bath from the neck up from Rylie's tendency to give kisses and chew on ears....

Sunday we went to church and sat on the couch and watched Netflix. We were beat!

Fantastic weekend though and totally worth the sunburn.

Give Away Winner

And the winner is....

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Congratulations Skinnie Piggie!! Send me an email with your address and we will get the bracelet sent your way (:

Thanks to all who entered!

Give Away - Marine Bracelet

One of my readers Suze recently had a bracelet made by Pink Diva Cami Designs for a friend of hers, but she accidentally ordered the wrong one. So Suze generously offered to give it away via my blog for any Marine Corps ladies who would be interested in it!

The bracelet has two charms, a cross and a heart saying Half my Heart is Deployed with what seems to be Marine Woodlands/Winter cammies around the wrist part. Suze was hoping someone out there whose Marine is deployed or about to deploy could enjoy it! Follow Rafflecopter below to win. The only mandatory entries are that you follow my blog and comment if it is for you or a friend whose spouse is deployed or about to!

I will leave the give away open until Friday night! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NJ Visit - 3

Last part, I promise!!

Sunday we got up early and went to mass. Some family flew out and couldn't be there, but most of us made it. The church we went to we have been going to for decades. It was the church I was baptized in 24 years ago and probably even my mom was baptized in! It goes way back. So during mass the priest did a special blessing on Babci and Poppy and all their friends and family got to celebrate and acknowledge their 65 years together. My uncle colorized their wedding portrait and had it displayed in the house, and of course we got plenty of pictures of the happy couple together.

After Mass

After church we went to the Holiday Inn and had a huge family brunch together. We pretty much took over the entire restaurant!

Speech!

The cake made by my mom's cousin, a baker!

Cutting the cake

 Sunday we spent saying goodbye to more family and spending time with Babci and Poppy. We also got to see my other two brothers who live in town. We left Monday much later than we planned, but we knew we had to leave early or late to miss traffic.... and late won out! We said our goodbyes and left NJ around 3pm. We hit DC in time for rush hour to Ryan ok'd a stop in Alexandria!!! I was so excited! We went to our old apartment and had dinner with our neighbor Adam (he said it made his Monday) and even saw Carrie. Rylie loved running around and everyone was shocked by how big she got! I believe Adam compared her to a baby polar bear.... :P

On our old stoop. Some things never change.

 We got on the road VERY late after that... around 10:30pm with six hours to go! Oops. I told Ryan I was fine to keep driving so he could sleep and drive later. Well the last hour of my drive was torture. I felt myself getting tired and chugged my diet coke and opened the windows. Ryan told me to wake him when I got tired but I didn't want him to be too sleepy to drive either. I made it another three hours into North Carolina before I gave up around 1:30am. I drove from NJ to VA and then to NC... I was done! I passed out in the car and woke up three hours later in our driveway at 4:30am.

Tuesday we just were lazy bums and tried to sleep and watch Doctor Who on the couch.

Amazing vacation if I do say so myself!

NJ Visit - 2

Saturday we celebrated my Poppy's 90th Birthday! It was so wonderful to see all of my family... it was like the rejuvination boost I desperately needed. My Poppy loves Mexican food, so we had a huge fiesta for him. There were enchiladas and chimichangas and dips and sangria for all! We had sombreros and leis (for some reason?) and a special poncho for Pop to wear throughout the day... and he did!

Ryan finally got to meet two of my cousins from Florida who couldn't come to our wedding and I met my cousin's son Gabriel for the first time. It was also the first time Babci and Poppy were meeting their great-grandson! Gabriel has spinal bifida so traveling wasn't an option for him for a long time, but he flew like a champ and I know it meant the world to Babci and Poppy to finally get to meet him.

This will probably just be a photo bombing post now...

Girls and Babci and Poppy

All the siblings and Babci and Poppy

For as long as I can remember Poppy has his video camera out at family events.

There is food.... so Ryan, Poppy and Dad parked!

Rylie Girl got in on the action. She did leave the lei on all day!

Gabriel and his Great GrandPoppy

SO cute!

My immediate family



Darn camera strap... should have moved it!



Our little family!



EVERYONE!!! Even the pups! My aunt holding Rylie breeds and shows labs, so Rylie listened to her!



Ryan and I with the Birthday Boy

So sweet




This may be my favorite picture. Love them so much.

 

Make a wish Pop!

All smiles

Then Poppy stopped everything and said, "Wait! The oldest Marine must pass a cake to the youngest Marine!" and handed my husband a piece of cake. Priceless. I didn't get a picture of the pass, too many people in the way, but this is the aftermath. I teared up, it was so touching!

After cake we piled into the living room and watched a photo DVD my aunt and uncle made. It had pictures from Babci and Poppy growing up, some I had never seen before, their kids and then their grandkids. It was remarkable to see them grow old together and the family they made.


 And one more post to come!

NJ Visit - 1

First off, I have to apologize for the state of my blog lately. It is pretty obvious I have hit a slump, both online and off, but I am working to fix them both. I am still applying to jobs left and right (trying to get a day job specifically.... retail is always there but we are trying to make me not have nights and weekends working... or telemarketing for my own sanity!) and not having the best of luck. There is a job fair for spouses next week on base, so I will be trying that, but two of the maybe four companies I am eligible for I think are call centers. Sigh. I would go insane in less than an hour! I did that sort of work before, and it is so not for me.

Anyway.

Last week Ryan, Rylie and I jumped in the car and drove ten hours up to New Jersey to see my family. My grandparents have some huge milestones in August, on the 9th my grandparents celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary and my grandfather will be 90 on the 21st! So the last weekend in July became our celebration time.... my family came from all over the country. No one was back in school yet and it worked out beautifully. Only three of the fifteen grandkids couldn't make it. In all fairness those three are in California, one is due to have her first baby any day, the other has a toddler who would not have done well on the red eye flight and the other just started clinical hours for her job. We missed them, but this was the biggest gathering our family has had since probably my grandparents 50th!

We got in Thursday night and Ryan, my dad and brother and I made camp at my aunt's house and my mom stayed with the pups at my grandparents house. Rylie did so so well with so many people and being in a semi new place, I was a proud puppy mama! She is only 9 months old so having 30+ people around in one space was definitely a challenge!
Friday we didn't have plans so my dad took us into Coney Island for the day. I may have gone when I was really young but I don't remember it, Ryan and Stefan have never been. We debated going into the City itself but it was just too hot! Dad drove us over the Verazano (*shudder*) and into Coney Island.
 

 Our first stop was the aquarium. My inner kid LOVES aquariums, so even though it was overpriced and packed with kids on school trips I really enjoyed it. Ryan got in free and we all got a discount just for being with him, but we still had to pay $27 to park and get one ticket! Ugh. We walked around all the different exhibits and elbowed the kids out of the way to get some nice pictures and see the sealife up close. Perks of being an adult, you're tall enough to see over everyone anyway!

Hello!

We went to the sea lion show too. Of course as soon as we sit on the metal bleachers the sun comes out and slowly roasts us in a huge crowd of people. But the show was really good! I even saw Ryan laugh once or twice.

Just kidding, I'm a Walrus! :P

 By this point we were starving so we hit the boardwalk!

You know you are getting old when you see rides and decide eating is more important and afterwards you are SO full you know if you even go on the ferris wheel you'll get sick! Food won out obviously. We went to the original Nathans and spent way too much money on hot dogs and fries.

That would be a chili cheese dog with sauerkraut and onions. YUM. I also had a corn dog and fries. Yes I felt very sick afterwards.

 We kept walking after lunch and made it out to the pier. Tons of people were fishing and actually catching fish. It was like seeing the old men from the stereotypical stoop chatting about the good old days, except they were fishing while doing it!

 I thought the fishing was neat until I saw this sign.... yikes!! I am of "child bearing age" so no fish for me! And none for Stefan as he is 15!

We ended up driving in horrendous traffic back through the city. I really wanted to stop and walk around, but I was the lone one out. We did get to drive right past the Freedom Tower though!

We got home and had a lazy night watching the Olympics and just vegging out. There may have been a late night dinner at a diner. Just sayin. Wow, this got much longer than planned.... more tomorrow!