Pictures

This post will be a random assortment of pictures from my cellphone. I have been meaning to post them all week so I just sort of put them all together and will just write modified versions!


My friend Meghan (who I love for helping me get my job!) and I went out to dinner last week. Usually when we go out for dinner we go to DSW. It's a thing. These shoes were Michael Kors, originally $140 or so on sale for $85. I texted them jokingly to Ryan but he was working so never answered. They were high. I mean hiiiigh. A good friend of mine would have referred to them as "shit kickers". Of course when I get home Ryan asks me where the shoes are... I told him I couldn't afford them! His reply... "So? You could wear those to work, right?"

No.

These I really REALLY want. Size 9.5. My birthday is Sept 8th. :P I was never a fan of the booty style, but I tried these on and LOVE them. So much. Only $49!

I made this peach pie last night. The L is for our last name. But the peaches were so so juicy that the pie was falling apart! I should have used a bit more flour in the mix to bind it, but it was still good. Our chef neighbor Rigoberto came over and had some too and said it was good. We also had a bottle of my Dad's home made plum wine which was excellent, as always.

Now last week was the Family Fling at camp. Ryan said he would go. So I drive home to get him, get literally MORE than half way there and he texts me saying he has to work. Ugh. Thank you Marines. I know not to be pissed, it isn't his fault, but I had to turn around and drive back to camp. In rush hour. On the beltway. Alone. Ughx2. I left camp at 4, got back at 6:30, and went nowhere! Except the gas station. Anyway, sitting on traffic I see that little display of geniusness. A guy with his foot out the window and smoking and driving.

Now before anyone says anything about me taking a picture while driving, I didn't. I was at a dead stop when I took that picture. His lane was actually moving so he WAS driving and doing that. People.

Hope you enjoyed the random conglomeration.

I'm Done!!!

No more camp! No more commute from hell!!!!



Last night kind of sucked... but I am too exhausted to get into it now. Just had to share the joy of being done with camp. Not the story of why I was up until 3am and then overslept on my last day of work and for the first time all summer.

Bed now.

Tomorrow Ryan and I are driving to NJ to surprise my Poppy for his 88th birthday! Lots of family will be around, no one except my parents really know we're going to be there, so I am pretty excited.

Perhaps more later!

Two More Days

Just TWO more days and I will be done with camp.

Ugh.

Is it Saturday yet?!?!

Last Week!

I am SO excited that it is the last week of camp!!!!! Part of me cannot believe it is week 9 already and the other part is wondering if it were possible for time to go any slower. Our numbers (of campers and counselors) are MUCH smaller this week. Luckily my two co-counselors are still here. The camp itself has had some counselors who work at other sites come down for the week to help us out since our numbers were too low. Imagine after two months with the same people having this weird cluster of people who worked together that amount of time too thrown in with you! It is a bit strange. Well as for kids, tribes had only seven kids or combined to form a normal size, but not Cherokee. Oh no. We have 16. Did I mention 15 boys and ONE GIRL?? How do some tribes have eight, nine, or ten girls... and we have one?!?!

Plus we have 5 LTS! (Reminder: LT = Life Threatening, meaning a kid with a life threatening food allerguy...) So we have five bright red fanny packs between the three of us which carries each child's Epi-Pen. Carmen, Kaego and I are rocking it. Yahhoooo....

Today we had three campers out, including 2 LTs and our only girl! So we had thirteen six year old boys running around like crazy all day. Oye vey. My feet hurt so badly when I got in the car to do my hour drive home. And it is so hot and humid.



Is it Friday yet???

No. Saturday! Friday means working OT (over time, the kids who stay after camp) then working til 9pm to help with site breakdown. It's paid, what the heck. Hubby has a parade anyway and won't be home til outrageously late. So I need my weekend! And three weeks off before my next job starts.

It helps knowing my paycheck will be three times bigger next month. Man oh man it helps!!!!

Such A Slacker!

But the good news is....

I GOT THE JOB!!!!

I start September 7th. And the best thing, the commute is SHORT. I mean, maybe two miles at most. After driving forty minutes one way and an hour the other it is going to bliss. I can walk. Or take bus. No beltway!!! My amazing friend Meghan works for this company and passed on my resume and I interviewed Monday. My friend from school Jen did too and even better, they hired her at another location with the probability of her transfering to mine.

Speaking of awful commutes check out mine from this morning...


It was light and a little overcast when I left the apartment. I was on the phone with our family friend Fran when I looked up and saw that. It started to drizzle slightly and I said, "Fran, I think I gotta go." Not a moment too soon as the skies opened up. I have never driven in anything like this in my life. I couldn't see two feet in front of me. I would have pulled over but there is no shoulder on the parkway and I was NOT about to go into the grass. Every now and then lightening would blind me and it took me ages to go at barely 30 miles an hour. The roads instantly flooded and I was honestly following the brake lights of the car in front of me.



I hit the beltway and it stops. Like dead. There was even blue sky!! I was shocked. But when I hit 270 I saw that tree. I had to go around three lanes of traffic to get to my exit. Then all the traffic lights were out... AGAIN.

Surprise surprise I get to camp and there is no power. You'd think after last time they'd send us home. Oh no. The owner, who is in Phili mind you, doesn't want to close. So there is no swimming, we have to be totally outside all day for everything and it is hot as heck and a pain in the neck! Finally they get some sense and do early dismissal at 12:45. I got home by three as car line as usual took an hour but Ryan got home early too! It was great.

We just had a nice dinner and now are drinking some wine. <3

Slacking

Sorry I am slacking on updating! Work has been crazy and I had my first "grown up job interview" today. At least that is what I am calling it. I think it went really well... I almost thought I had it when he mentioned one other interview tomorrow and three others, including a distant friend of mine from college! Eek! I find out Wednesday so please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Work has been so hectic, that and Ryan having duty and oil changes and broken nails and visiting uncles and a bloat we had a lot to do. All shall be explained in detail soon, I promise. Don't lose faith on me now!

But my uncle is almost here and we're going for dessert. I promise to update more very soon!

Surprises!

So I had a pretty long day today. Ryan left for the Iwo parade at 5:30, I woke up less than an hour later and got ready. Drove to work. Work all day with typical camp drama and lots of six year olds. I even worked OT (Over Time) today, so I was at camp three hours longer. Worth $30? Maybe. I am trying to save up to go home August 20th to surprise my Poppy for his 88th birthday so every bit helps! It wasn't too bad, just a long day.

Then I am driving home. I even took the beltway as it was post rush hour! Ryan texts me and asks me to go to Bolling to get him a 6-pack, he needed it after a parade day so I had no problem. I tried to use my GPS to get there faster instead of driving home and then going and I ended up all sorts of turned around. Not good. But I get what I need at the Class 6, crack and grab Burger King (ew I know) on base, and go home. I have my backpack, dinner, two bags, my drink, and my phone in my hand when I walk in the door. Or stagger depending on how you look at it. I throw my stuff down and flip on the light and see this...



A DESK! (Don't mind the dark awful quality of my cell phone picture)

My husband somehow between 5:30 and 8:00 and a PARADE went out, got a desk, got it in the apartment, and all set up! He was telling me he worked all day, only got half an hour comp time to come home and eat before the parade, and he somehow did this! I literally gasped and cried out, "We have a desk!!" before I tripped over my backpack and literally ate some of our Turkish Rug.

Still happy. Despite the rug burn. I cannot wait to tackle him in appreciation when he walks through the door!

No Power = No Camp!!!

So a HUGE storm went through the DC area yesterday afternoon. Ryan and I went and saw Inception (REALLY good!) and the storm went through during that time, so we missed the whole thing! We go into the theatre and it is over a hundred degrees and we come out and it is about 20 degrees cooler. Then trees were down everywhere as we drove to the cast party to celebrate the end of the opera.

Well our campus where we have day camp had no power. All street lights around were out. So no day camp!!! They tried to keep us around a bit, in case it came on, but it didn't so I got free pizza and left by 1. So so nice. I even took the beltway home with no traffic!

I came home, napped, and then cleaned like crazy. I even made dinner. Then Ricoberto and his girlfriend Tanya, our neighbors who are both chefs, were outside and we all ended up talking and sharing wine. They even tried my meatloaf! It is a recipe from Nicole's blog at Flip Flops and Combat Boots actually for Cheeseburger Meatloaf... and they liked it! I was very happy about that. So thanks Nicole!!!

Now my Summer Essentials Partner, Michelle at ~A'Etonou Family Adventures~ sent me an awesome package... and an award! I only hope my package even somewhat measures up to how great yours was. So thank you. I am going to post about what I got tomorrow because my pictures of what I got aren't working.

But onto the award!



So what you're supposed to do is:


1. Copy & paste the award on your blog.


2. List who gave the award to you and use a link to her blog (or hyperlink)


3. List 10 things that make you happy.

1. My husband Ryan!
2. My family and my lovely lovely friends.
3. Being onstage, working in the theatre.
4. Travel. I love going to new places and trying new things and seeing amazing sights.
5. Fireworks. I LOVE fireworks.
6. Reading a really really good book.
7. Sitting on the couch with Ryan and watching a movie.
8. Rollercoasters.
9. Chocolate. Preferably with peanutbutter.
10. My puppy... well my mom's I guess now. Dippy is the best dog ever.

Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know!

I am going to pass this on to Skinnie Piggie as I love her blog!

A Tired Blogger is Not Productive...

Well, the good news first, my job is safe! Damage control was done majorly so I feel much better. I was such a wreck Monday night so it is a relief to not be so worked up.

But work is still killing me. The commute and the day itself just turns me into a zombie. I just want to come home and watch tv and do nothing. The apartment needs to be cleaned, wedding needs to be scrapbooked, pictures need to be sorted, dinner needs to be cooked... it just seems lke so much sometimes. I know it isn't, but I just feel so tired lately. Ryan has another parade tonight, for some reason they had 3 this week, so we're both in the same boat of exhaustion and work. At least I get paid tomorrow, 2 weeks worth plus all my training, definitely going out for happy hour tomorrow with some fellow counselors!

I want to jazz up my blog, make a button.... someone said they would help me but I forget who and now I just don't have the energy to go back that far in entries and look! I am happy I finally figured out how to do the 3 column layout though.

Sorry for being a Debbie Downer readers! Hopefully after Saturday, the last showing of the opera, my life will be a little less hectic...

Geeze

Worst. Day. Of. Work. Ever.

I almost lost my job. As did my 2 co-counselors. So far we're ok, not going to go into details on the internet for obvious reasons but we made a mistake, owned up, and now are waiting to see how it goes... hopefully it will turn out alright.

Just pray my Monday (my awful awful Monday) does not set the tone for the rest of the week.

Ugh. :(

Thank god my amazing husband makes me feel better... even when he is on duty. I went to the barracks and talked to him about everything and Ryan just is wonderful. He said I couldn't have done anything different and he was proud of me. He used some of his sleep time just to sit and talk with me and help me. Man oh man I love him so.

Now it sucks, but I am going to my empty bed and try and sleep without my Marine at my side.

Days Five and Six

Of course when I decide to do a blogging thing for 30 days I start missing them left and right!

Day 5 - Your Favorite Quote

I have so many to choose from that this may be difficult. I actually kept a quote book in high school that I would try and put two quotes a day in. I will just steal some off my facebook page that I love and leave you to see!

"To be Irish is to know that in the end, the world will break your heart.”

"Sweeping eggshells still at 3 A.M.
We're trying far too hard
The tattered thought balloons above our heads
...Sinking in the weight of all we need to say
Why's and what if's have since long played out
Left us short on happy endings."
-Josh Groban

"I love acting. It is so much more real than life."
-Oscar Wilde

"Strangers are just family you have not yet come to know."
-The 5 People You Meet in Heaven

"I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each others dreams, we can be together all the time." - Hobbes (As in Calvin &...)

"There are two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle."
-Albert Einstein

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Sometimes you have to go out of your way to get into trouble. It's called fun."
-Robin Williams

"Acting is pretending that you're not pretending when you're actually pretending."
-Ted Danson

"Life offers you a thousand chances ... all you have to do is take one."
-Under the Tuscan Sun

Day Six - Whatever Tickles Your Fancy

Hm...well I guess I will just say my parents have an exchange student for the month of July. His name is Fernando and he is about sixteen and from Spain. Pretty cool. He arrived last night and my parents said he is still in the pretty nervous and shy stage, but I am sure Stefan will drag him out of that real quick. And to make things worse his luggage got lost! My family is going down to the new house in North Carolina this weekend so if his luggage doesn't come today he cannot get it til next week!

My parents are coming to DC the weekend of the 10th-11th so I will get to meet him. I have to say this kid is lucky to get my family. My dad loves showing people New Jersey and New York, especially if they have never seen it before... on the day of my Bachelorette thing he took Ryan and Josh into NYC for the day as Josh had never gone before and they had a blast! So Fernando gets to go to North Carolina, Washington DC, NYC with the program, Philadelphia... and who knows what else? Lucky guy! Apparently his English is really good too, and since my thirteen year old brother is the only one in the house now who speaks any Spanish that is a good thing. Especialy considering the level of Stefan's spanish... not that mine is any better!



It took me almost two hours to get home in traffic yesterday. So not cool. And the kids have had the full moon messing with them this week. Everyone is hitting and being extra bad, it is exhausting! Let's hope it passes. I hate yelling at six year olds!

Ryan has the Friday night parade tonight and is off Friday-Monday. I have camp AND rehearsal tomorrow, no camp Monday but rehearsal Monday night. So much for a long weekend!

Reminder - Still accepting questions for my Q&A blog post! I don't have many so ask away!!!!

Camp

So... the kids are adorable of course. Tiring. Keeping sixteen first graers in line is no easy task, but my fellow counselors and I are making it. The worst thing is the commute. I am SO not a morning person and it is killing me. I went to bed last night after day one at 10!!! Luckily the husband joined me as today was a parade today and he was up very early.

Yesterday I actually got up BEFORE Ryan. When your husband is in the military and you wake up and leave for work before he does... there is just something wrong with that!! By the time I kissed him goodbye and was going out the door he was just waking up. Ugh.

Getting too work the commute is not too bad, I am leaving early on purpose as to avoid rush hour on the beltway. I got to work over an hour early but if I leave later I risk sitting in horrendous traffic an being late for work! So I will keep the early hours for now. I was so exhauted when I got home yesterday I actually just laid down on the couch and refused to move. Ryan gave me a beer, ordered pizza, watched Mythbusters with me, and then forced me into the shower and into bed to go to sleep.

I am more awake today. I found a better way home today so it took me less than an hour instead of the nearly hour and a half it took yesterday. I made my lunch, packed for tomorrow (including my crazy hat for Crazy Hat day!) and I am about to get in the shower before going to bed nice and early.

How the heck am I going to do this next week when I have to go to rehearsal/shows right after camp???? Oh man oh man I am in trouble...

CVS, TriCare, Dry Run, Recipe

Random post but I wanted to write it while I still remembered.

For all you wives... if you have TriCare and ever need a perscription filled know that CVS accepts TriCare!! The Naval Hospital here is over 45 minutes away and to get there is a real pain. I was waiting to see the doctor and I needed my old meds refilled so I went to CVS expecting just to pay an arm and a leg. They pharmacist and I were chatting and he just entered Ryan's information into the computer and it all worked! So if you all ever need perscriptions and don't want to do a long journey, ask the doctor for a hard copy (the paper) instead of instantly sending it to the pharmacy on base and you can take it to CVS. Since I can walk to CVS that is my new game plan for prescriptions! $3 generic, $9 regular... way cheaper than even my old insurance plan! Now aside from me this information may not be useful for anyone but I thought I would put it out there anyway.

Is it bad it took me one sugar free red bull and three diet cokes to get through the dry run of camp??? It also started two hours later than a regular camp day an there were no kids. Oh I am so so in for it! Pray for me for Monday. I am so nervous about my commute and doing it all right!

I see everyone sharing recipes so I am going to share what I made for dinner tonight... it is really easy to make, may not be exact, but it is quite yummy.

Apple Pork with Sauerkraut

4 Pork Loins (or whatever the boneless ones that look like chicken breasts are)
Bottle of apple juice
Jar/Can of apple sauce
Can of sauerkraut (can use fresh if you wish! but the can is easy and cheap and just enough)

Serves 4

-In a frying pan put the defrosted pork in with the apple juice. I use enough to just cover it basically.
-Simmer each side til pork whitens, a couple minutes each.
-Now if you use the canned sauerkraut open it and pour the sauerkraut into two or three folded over paper towels. Over the sink squeeze it out. This removes the excess liquid and makes the sauerkraut less bitter.
-Mix applesauce and squeezed sauerkraut in a bowl.
-In a 9x13 dish (or casserole dish, can cover with lid if you want to, I just did the glass 9x13 dish) coat the applesauce/sauerkraut mixture on the bottom in an even layer.
-Place pork from pan on top of mixture.
-Pour drippings/juice from pan on top of pork.
-Heat in oven at 350 for about 40 minutes.

Cooked pork should be 155/160 degrees when fully cooked. Serve with mashed potatoes and enjoy!!! This picture is sort of what it will look like...

picture from tasteofhome.com


You will have to let me know if you try it and like it! It is a recipe my mom uses and now I use. You can also substitute all the apple things for pineapple if you so wish...

Last Day Off

Well, last week day at any rate! Tomorrow is the Dry Run of camp, where we basically do a normal day of camp without the campers so we know what we're doing! Then Monday I will be on campus by 8am... so up at 6? Ish? Hour or so to drive, leeway for traffic... ugh. Note to self: Next time make sure you know where you will be living before you find a job!

Now there are TONS of confidentiality issues with camp and the kids, understandably so, but I just need to throw that out there. I will never discuss the name of the camp, any of my campers, or any personal information on them. Even if I have a demon spawn of Satan as a camper, nothing will be mentioned!! I probably will just talk a lot by how tired I am or if I like the kids as a collective whole or not. I love to blog, but I will not jeopardize my job to do so fully.

I probably didn't need to say all that but it is also for me. I may get tempted to kevetch but I know I cannot.

Still looking for a job for fall. Gosh I hope I find something good!

I have some friends from Disney who are now working at the brand new Harry Potter world and I am quite jealous. I want to go so badly! Hell I would LOVE to work there even. But that would be even worse of a commute than the one I have for the next nine weeks!

Ryan will have some comp time soon so I will head to the barracks so I can actually see my husband for a bit today. I know we both cannot wait for parade season to be over! He is miserable at work and I hate seeing him that way, and I miss him!

The downside of getting our internet so late made me not able to do a lot. I haven't had the time to upload my personal wedding/honeymoon pictures. I wanted to totally revamp my blog and get a three column layout (STILL cannot figure that out) plus a scrolling bar for buttons of blogs I follow (HOW???) and somehow get a button of my own! I wanted my blog to look redonkulously cool with graphics and pictures. Now I am copletely out of time to sit and fiddle and figure it out. Boo.

Well, wish me luck fellow bloggers. I hope to keep this blog up and moving regardless of exhaustion levels!!

Finally...

WE HAVE INTERNET! AND CABLE!

I am sitting on a chair in the living room watching tv and updating my blog.

Is it sad I now finally feel like we're all moved in? Haha.

No wifi yet so I am tethered to the modem, but we'll get a router soon (when I mention that fact to Ryan!) and I will be totally back in business.

Of course I start my new job Monday. Last training day, a dry run of camp, is all day Saturday. Then Monday I start the commute from heck and kick it with six year olds for the next nine weeks.

Am I in for it? Please tell me I'll be ok! I can do an hour commute at the crack of dawn on the beltway and be in charge of 20 first graders, some of whom have life threatening allergies? Right?

Goal for the summer: Not have to use an epipen on a six year old.

Seems reasonable enough, right?