Long weekend

King of the water bottle. Wearing his "bracelet" he found in the room. We found 1 straw, 1 penny, one round plastic shape that goes in a sorting toy, a spiky ball, and a plastic connector that he is wearing on his wrist.

Hey water bottle, how are you?

Looking south from my room's mini patio.

South from the patio, but not zoomed in.

Looking straight ahead. We faced the Chinese zen garden.

Looking north.

Matthew playing with the lei they gave me at the party.


Thursday night we flew out of here, but not before Matthew decided to "swim" in the dirt at daycare and stick a huge handful of dirt in his mouth. I saw him do that since I was also on the playground with my own group of brats, I mean afterschool kids! They passed Matthew over the fence to me while he was spitting mud out of his mouth. I guess they couldn't handle it and he couldn't handle the dirt either.

We got to Phil's finally at 10 pm and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but 2 Little Tykes peddle cars in good shape at the dumpster. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I'm not too proud to dumpster dive. I'm a dumpster diver and I'm proud of it. There was also a cute little corner desk in sad shape I saved for my aunt. The couch looked pretty good in the dark, but that's one thing I'm a little leary about saving. You never know what happened on that couch and probably don't want to know or have it in your house. Phil, on the other hand, was mortified. He is ashamed to be married to a proud dumpster diver. I made him carry one of the cars in and he was practically running back in saying (and I quote), "I hope no one is looking." I must be a major trial to the man. I feel a little sorry for him. So our vacation was off to a great start in my opinion.

I didn't feel that way the next morning at 5:30 am, when the alarm was going off. But we made it out of the house at 7 am and to our destination by 10:15 am, so that was good. It was a very nice lodge, set in very pretty surroundings, but winter is not the ideal time to go to the lake. In fact it's kindof mean to a person that grew up spending summers on the lake. Matthew and I got settled in and planned to go shopping and out to eat with the other wives. It didn't happen. The whole event so was unorganized that we all stayed in our rooms waiting for the guys. We ended up being put in a great location within the hotel and a cool room. One wall of the room was rock. It had a high vaulted ceiling. We had a fridge, which was nice. I could keep opened of bottles of apple juice in it. The tub was narrow and small, but that was my biggest complaint.

At 6 pm we made our appearance at the lula party. The wives that attended received an "I love me" award and a gerber daisy in a vase. (Us wives call the wall that all our husbands awards go on their "I love me" wall.) So now that I have 4 certificates thanking me for my contributions to this and that, all army related, I could start my own "I love me" wall, but I prefer to mix mine in with his and make his look more impressive. I decided it was time to take Matthew back to the room after he got mad at me and threw a plastic coconut ball at the back of a pregnant lady's head. He was furious I took him away from his dad, but he fell asleep pretty quickly. Phil's recruiting station had the task of cleaning up the party so he had to stay longer.

Saturday we went shopping briefly. I got a 48 cent lip balm at Bath and Body Works. Phil called me a big spender. We ate at a mexican restraunt and all went well till the very end. We were finishing paying the bill, when Matthew crawled under the table and decided to stand straight up. He did so with enough force, the whole table shook and the sound was loud. The high society ladies at the next table were saying, "Did he hit his head?" And of course he started bawling. Second time in 2 days I just wanted to sink through the floor.

We got back and I started getting ready for the ball. I had several failures before I got my hair fixed. We finally call around enough, we confirmed where the daycare was and when it would be available that night. We dropped Matthew off and he just ran away straight to a huge ball. Phil started pushing me out the door and said bye to Matthew. Matthew didn't cry or anything. Which is why I started cry, I guess. I held it back, but I have to admit, it was harder for me then him. We stood in lines for the next hour and half and went through receiving lines. Finally, it started and I could sit down. The ball was fun, but it didn't run as smoothly as it should. An example is they insisted the men sit down when they were all protesting they weren't supposed to yet. A high ranking officer saluted the fallen soldier's table with wine instead of the water that was even written in the program.

Everyone said the food would be awful, but thankfully it was good. We paid $35 a plate so I'd hoped it would be good. What do you get for $35 a plate? For me it was a fillet of salmon, some bland rice, green beans, a roll, and a piece of cheesecake. For Phil it was a 3 strips of beef, a baked potato, green beans, a roll, and a piece of cheesecake. After it was over around 9:30 pm we sprung Matthew from daycare. He was lying in a bean bag with his blanket, watching a movie with the other kids. The moment he saw Phil he shrieked and started to struggle to get out of the bean bag. Once he was out, he was running for the door. He was out of there. He wasn't even going to wait for his shoes. As he was trucking by the kids, one of the boys called out, "Goodbye Matthew." He must have made a friend, but he had no time to spare getting out of there to say goodbye. We gathered up his diaper bag and shoes and headed off for the room. Matthew refused to let his dad have me (which I admit hurt my feelings). We changed and decided we weren't ready to call it a night, so we went bowling. Bowling might have been the most fun thing we did the whole weekend. Matthew is so strong, he was able to lift a bowling ball off the ball return! I was amazed.

Sunday we woke up and it was snowing in earnest. There had been a dusting the night before, but this was a little more. Phil had classes at 9 am and wasn't supposed to be able to leave till noon, but they dismissed them at 9:20 due to the snow. I had been getting ready and packing, so by 9:50 we were back on the road. We got to Phil's around 1 pm. Isabel was so happy to see us. I could hear her meowing before I was all the way down the stairs. She's never been left alone before. We unloaded and relaxed for a few more hours, until I decided I better go back home before it got too late and I was too tired to drive. When I got home, I could hear Pan meowing the minute I stepped into the back porch. Even a veteran of being left alone was happy to see us. When I woke up this morning Pan was sleeping on my chest and Missy was sleeping on my legs. Do you think they didn't want me going anywhere?

Today Matthew and I unpacked and went to school. It started snowing in earnest when I was at school, but I still don't think it will amount to much. I hope not. I have to attempt my stupid eye appointment again. Wish me luck!