A Day in the Life

I have seen a lot of bloggers do a 'Day in the Life' posts and last Wednesday I decided to give it a try! With my phone in hand I did my best. I took a lot more pictures than I expected to and I still didn't get as much as some other bloggers I read (way to go guys, you made it seem easy!) but I tried. So here we go....

When I wake up in the morning I usually hit snooze two or three times check the weather and my email on my phone...

And if I have time usually I peek at the Chive too. Ryan got me hooked on the site/app and I have become a huge chivette. He only has himself to blame! I purposely picked this picture because there is the Genie. In Latte Art. Awesome.

Usually by now the Dup comes sauntering in to our room from the couch (which she sneaks out in the middle of the night to do, NOT allowed) or wiggles out from under the bed. We do a puppy stretch before going outside. 

She has her morning potty break and usually runs around until she hears the magical B word...
 

Breakfast!!! This dog knows the words dinner and breakfast by heart. We use them sparingly in our house.

While she eats I usually head to the bathroom and start my shower.

But without fail she finds me when she is done eating. Rylie loves to curl right up near the shower so when you emerge to reach your towel you practically have to leap over her and pray you don't twist an ankle. But it is cute.

My beauty routine is pretty low key... eye shadow and cover up (never expected to have such awful skin at 25, really acne?) and trusty chapstick.

Most mornings I do blow dry my hair. The Dup hates the blow dryer but she has to be close by regardless. Afterall, the loud handheld machine may attack Mommy at any moment.

Once I am ready for work the Dup and I go outside for a rousing game of fetch. Such a lab.... she loves tennis balls and running back and forth until she cannot stand up any more. Now that the weather is warmer I should start doing morning walks with her... but fetch seems to be a hit.

As it gets time for me to go I say, "Time for work! You want a treat?" and the next thing I know she is patiently waiting in her crate for a milkbone. Oh that face. I hate to leave her but we gotta pay the bills!

At this point I am in the car. Ugh. I hate taking selfies, but for the blog, why not?

My commute is so lovely... ten or fifteen minutes max. I am post rush hour and never have any problems. So I usually get to work pretty early.

I open the library, sometimes myself, sometimes with coworkers. This particular Wednesday was our monthly staff meeting day. I was blessed to go to the afternoon meeting this month so I opened alone. The morning meeting does mean going home earlier, but it also means fighting gate traffic to be at the main library for 8:30. Any milspouses out there know the hell that is gate traffic and understand my kvetching there! Back to opening the library... I normally turn on my computer first so I can clock in and have my systems open to check in books and read my email. KCCO!

I then turn on all the computers for the patrons and start emptying the dehumidifiers. We have an OLD building (like it was a barracks in the 1940s old) so these are essential. Without the dehumidifiers we get tons of mold, not just on the walls but in the books too, so we cannot have that. On rainy days and in the summer we empty these babies morning and night, sometimes in the middle too on bad days. In the winter rarely at all. But yay for moldy water?

As I am opening the library I usally prepare my breakfast... a bagel or a freshly microwaved strawberry poptart. Breakfast of champions, I know, but I am not really big on eating in the morning.

As that heats up I kid you not I take a moment to stop and smell the books. I LOVE the smell of books, especially old ones. And if I am standing in the non fiction section I get it in droves. I heard they make a candle with book smell, I may have to buy it. I have a problem. I honestly thought I failed my interview for this job when I gushed about how I love the smell of books. Only once I was hired did I learn that both my manager and coworker said the same thing in their interview so they knew I'd work out! ;)

Once we open I am at the desk working on my project. I am currently making a running list of all the book series we have in the library. I am doing the name of the author, the series and listing all the books plus marking which ones we have and which ones we should order. This week we were also logging what we did at work every fifteen minutes to show the government how busy we are and how having us understaffed is not a good thing. Thank you sequestration! You know how tedious it is to track yourself all day for fifteen minute incriments? And the week before a long weekend? It was rough.

Then in the early afternoon I got to drive over to mainside for the staff meeting.

My coworker came back from the morning meeting with a huge cherry slushie for me, so naturally I took it with me to my meeting for refreshment purposes.

This meeting rocked because there was cake for all the May birthdays and anniversaries. Man, I love cake.

Unfortunately our meeting ran long which meant when I was going back to work I got caught in afternoon rush hour gate traffic. No bueno. Sigh.

When I got back to work I took a late lunch (practically dinner). Every lunch I take I fully abuse my library aid status and read a book. Wouldn't you? And before you ask, no, we cannot read on the clock. I wish!

I usually eat my food in the staff room then go outside, especially if it is nice, to read the rest of my break. I also fully enjoy the ospreys flying overhead.

The afternoons and evenings are the busiest at our branch so I took no pictures. Fail I know, but I never have my phone on me at the desk. I keep it in the office and only check it sparingly. So I worked on my project and helped patrons until it was closing time. Also no pictures.... but it was basically the same as opening any way.

I then ran to the exchange real quick to grab some bad habits for the hubby and I before heading home.

Again, I miss rush hour so my commute is pretty smooth!

I love the nights Ryan gets home before me and dinner is ready when I get home. It doesn't happen a lot so I relish the nights it does. No one wants to cook at 7:30 when they walk in the door! Technically tonight was leftover spaghetti he brought me home from a command dinner, but it was from Olive Garden so I was a happy camper. Man I drink a lot of Diet Coke...

Evenings, especially weeknights, we mostly just cuddle on the couch and watch TV. Favorites include How I Met Your Mother, the Big Bang Theory, and our newest favorite Duck Dynasty.

I had to be stealthy taking pictures of Mr. "I hate having my picture taken" so you get a semi artsy sillouette shot of my husband as we watch Duck Dynasty.

Then we move to the garage, sometimes with a glass of wine or a beer, and smoke and talk about our day. It is one of my favorite parts of the day (not because of addictive substances) because we really have some awesome conversations/debates during this hour or two leading up to bed time. Ryan was checking our investments (a very popular topic in our garage) so I got to sneak this one.

By this time it is late enough for bed. Generally I make our lunches and coffee for Ryan in the morning as we slowly unwind.

The Dup comes in and we all hunker down for the night.... usually with Rylie diving under our bed and making herself comfortable. Our house has no boogey man, we have a Dup.

So that is a semi-typical day in the life of me. Not the most thrilling, but it was fun to see and track and try for one entry. What is a day in your life like?



(I realize I am posting this a week after my putting it together, my blog app was giving me issues! Hopefully I can blog about our wonderful weekend in Jersey this week and get that up for you all. Thanks for reading!)

Wine Walk

This past weekend Ryan, Rylie and I drove down to South Carolina for some needed family time and Mother's Day. I had to work Friday so we had a late start (and somehow I drove all four hours) but we had a really nice weekend. Saturday we went to the Lexington Wine Walk and had a blast! We took a cab both ways so my mother in law, Ryan and I could all enjoy ourselves and we definitely did!! 

Once we got to the walk we received our wine glass and wine coozie! I didn't even know wine coozies existed! All along the street local businesses had table with wine, food and freebies. Our coozie collection has grown, a ladybug necklace somehow stayed on me all night and light up bracelets made the night flash. There was live music and I had a hook up at the table with the sparkling wine so I was a happy camper!

I even got to slow dance with my husband :D Perfect night!

 
 And my sister in law is adorable! We were all up late Saturday and needless to say Sunday was pretty lazy and quiet!! We left to head home pretty late in the afternoon and somehow I ended up driving three quarters of the way again :P We got home late and Ryan went right to sleep as he has been on the range ever since. Poor guy is getting up at 3am everyday! Today I didn't work so I saw him for a whole two hours before he went to bed. Only two more days and we will have a similar schedule once more. 
 
 

 The Dup had fun too despite hating the car (and the cat... But that's another story!). This is the closest I've ever seen her to sticking her head out the window of a moving vehicle. My dog is weird. 
 
 

Happy Mother's Day

 Happy Mother's Day!

My mom is one of my best friends and I'd be lost without her. Thank you for being there for me always. Your advice, wisdom and guidance made me the woman I am today. I love you!

And a Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother in law, Babci, Skeetsie and my godmother Aunt Eileen. I am blessed to have such amazing women in my life. I love you all!

 

 Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!
 
 
 
 

Military Spouse Appreciation Day

To all the wonderful Military Spouses out there, I just wanted to say thank you. To my blogging friends, thank you for getting me through some of my lowest lows and celebrating my highest highs. To my real life military spouse friends, thanks for the drinks, the movie nights and the general gripe sessions you've endured at my side. I never realized when I met my husband that being a "military spouse" would become a part of my identity, but it has. Now, don't get me wrong, I take no credit for anything my husband does... he does his job and he does it damn well. I am proud of him and his accomplishments... and that is what they are. His. But I am proud to be on this journey with him.

Sometimes that means spending a holiday or a birthday or anniversary alone. Sometimes that means going to Walmart at midnight to get baby wipes so he can "shower" in the field. Sometimes it means living 3,000 miles apart for nine months while he goes to school and you hold down your "good" job and save money to buy your first house. Sometimes it means a tearful goodbye knowing he is deploying for the next 6-8 months. But it also means cherishing every moment we have. It means enjoying each holiday, from Thanksgiving to Saint Patrick's Day, in case you are apart next year. It means long, bone crunching hugs and sweet kisses that have to either last awhile or make up for lost time. It means phone calls long into the night ignoring the fact that you have work in four hours. It means your heart skips a beat when you unexpectedly get a text message or an email. It means having so many first kisses that you lose count.

There is something to be said for being a military spouse. They are some of the strongest, kindest and most adaptable people I have ever had the honor of knowing. Near and far I am proud to consider them my friends. Thank you. Thank you for being there for me when I needed you, for advice when I was lost, and for just listening when it was necessary. I appreciate every one I have met and I know these relationships will last a long time. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Lonely?

I came to a semi startling realization lately (with some articles like this one and this one ... they definitely helped me on this path... well, you'll see). With Ryan in the field and a deployment on the near horizon it was not a revelation I enjoyed having.

I am pretty lonely these days.

When my husband is home, it is terrific. He is my best friend and I love spending any available minute I can with him. Working at the library means working evenings and weekends... so that time we do have together with opposite schedules really is precious. But when he is at work (whether for the day, the week or in the future 6-9 months) I am pretty lonely.

I have friends in the area, don't get me wrong. It isn't like I don't know anyone like I did at this time last year... but I am disappointed I did not bond with someone in a super close way. There is no one I am comfortable calling randomly to say, "Hey, I'm bored... want to do something?" No improvised movie dates, drinks or anything seem to ever happen. When I hang out with people it tends to be in groups where I know one person really well and everyone else knows, well, everyone else. I didn't expect to feel like an oddball out after living here a year. I know friendships take time, but it is pretty disheartening to feel this way. At 25 the WAAH I don't have any close friends sort of phase should be over, don't you think?

There are some wonderful people I know here, but I haven't moved beyond just good friends with anyone. No future BFFs seem to be in my horizon and knowing I am about to face a deployment without someone like that makes me dread it more. There are amazing military spouses (and civilians) in this town, I just wish I clicked with someone on that level.

Does this make any sense?

I may just be rambling, and because this is my blog I think that is allowed... but it still sucks. My best friend lives in New Jersey and is moving futher away in the near future to Rhode Island. Most of my family lives in other states and my own family, even being in the same state, is a good seven hours away. There are some days I just want to jump out of my skin. The Dup is a great bud (you know, for a dog) but there are even days I wish I could just depend on someone else to entertain her. There cannot even be improvised roadtrips because with work my time is wonky and with The Dup she hates the car. I have to pay to board her if I didn't want to bring her somewhere as I don't even have anyone nearby I feel comfortable to pet sit for a few days. We are in the unique position of being married for awhile (not newly weds at any rate) and having no children or any forseeable ones for some time (like after this deployment maybe). Lots of people around here have kids or have been here long enough to have set social circles. Having a job usually helps that and while my coworkers are wonderful there are not many of us (um, like three others besides me at my branch) and they are older than me with kids and lives.

Hopefully something will change. I know I can volunteer or do more things to meet people, but the rare times I seem not to be working I want to spend time with Ryan... great for our marriage but it will bite me in the you know what in a few months when he is no longer around.

Thanks for reading this nonsensical assortment of words. My poor blog has been so all over the place lately I do appreciate any of you who are still around. Maybe things will change.. hopefully I can push myself in that direction and out of my comfort zone and make it happen. You never know.



PS - The chair is totally covered under warranty and a free arm will be here to be repaired in the next 4-6 weeks. Ultimate win right there! The furniture person was very apologetic about the wait but it is free so it does not bother me in the slightest. That chair will just be moved to the back of the dining room until I can get it fixed!

Being an Extra

The episode of Revolution I was an extra in back in January finally aired (The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia)! I was very lucky to catch myself three times even though they were pretty quick!!

 When the main character ran through the market place I caught myself and my friend Kat standing there. It was a moment I didn't have to pause and stil managed to catch it! I jumped off the couch because I was so excited.

This momet I knew  was coming so I knew to watch for it. It was super quick and it took me forever to pause and capture it.

This momet happened before the other two and I didn't even see it... Ryan did! He yelled "I saw you!" And rewound and froze it.

I was in other scenes but they moved so quick I couldn't see myself anymore. But I am happy with what I got! It may not much but it was a ton of fun and I hope I can do it again (: