The Chicken Story

Dennis and I have been married only 2 Thanksgiving's. The first Thanksgiving we went to our friend's and this year we ended up making a turkey roast because we went to Dennis' platoon sergeant's house. So in all fairness...I have never cooked a turkey. However, this story is not about a turkey....

Sitting here, my last day in Wiesbaden, Jennifer and I decide dinner will be oven roasted chicken, pasta sides, cheese and broccoli casserole and biscuits. Sounds delicious, I must say.

Finishing up the experience in Wiesbaden, Jennifer and I complete one last trip to the gummy bear store downtown (amidst the mass of downtown traffic, German parking, and sheer confusion). We bundle Kaylin up, and we're on our way. Yeah we get some funny looks from the Germans because we don't have her in a heavy coat but she's got warm clothes on and a few blankets, she's fine for an outdoor trip that lasts 10 minutes. Anyways, we successfully retrieve our new stash of gummies for Dennis and back in the car.

Off to the Commissary we go to pick up the chicken for dinner. Naturally we get all the ingredients and realize we are having issues finding a chicken. DAMN. We wander around the whole store, Jennifer in the lead, me pushing the cart with Kaylin. Around the corner into the frozen section...there it is...the last chicken. We snatch it up, holding it like it is golden. A few more items and we're off with our prized possessions!

We swing by Burger King for lunch and head back to the house. After attempting to thaw the chicken in a water bath in the sink while washing dishes our dear chicken makes friends with a bowl of warm water instead. About an hour later we pull the chicken out, its soft and moveable so we figure that its done. Jennifer goes to start getting it seasoned and all the sudden I get a call....

"Hey, come get the ickies out of this chicken!"

"What?! I can't do that, I've never even cooked a turkey!!" I exclaimed not quite ready to lose my chicken/turkey inside taking out virginity!

"Me either! Just come do it!!! Plus its a chicken, not a turkey!!" She yells back. I set down my computer and head to the kitchen with Kaylin. I look at the chicken in the sink and sigh. I have NO idea what I'm about to do. I ask Jennifer one more time what the heck it is supposed happen, and she replies, "Take off the neck and remove the insides..." Greatttt....

I pull on the neck a bit and it doesn't give. Duh, vertebrae! Now I have flashes of anatomy class in my head. This is going to be interesting to say the least. I decide the neck can wait and flip over the bird, trying to avoid as much contact with it as possible. CRAPPPPP. The inside isn't thawed! I toss it under some warm water hoping to avoid having to wait longer for dinner. However after a few minutes this too fails. *sigh* The insides are frozen solid and not giving way.

But waittt...there is a MICROWAVE! YES. Hello waves of heat going to nuke and flash cook this chicken. Plate...check...chicken...check...turn the dial and BAM. A few minutes later I pull the chicken out...OH NO...

Well I guess it went in too long because the outside is cooked a bit and the inside is still frozen. *sigh* Guess we'll have to resort to the water again. I run the water inside the bird in attempts to assist the thawing process. All the sudden...DUN DUN DUN!!! We have success...the chicken has now lost a kidney. A FREAKING KIDNEY. These parts aren't nicely placed inside or anything like a turkey, they are still completely in their normal place. I remove said kidney and return my focus to the rock hard, frozen insides. After a little while I decide that since the water is only scalding my hand and the insides haven't budged (except for the lone kidney) I'm going to try to remove the neck again. After some pulling, pushing, knifing and swearing I finally break the neck free of the bird. Why the damn thing is left on has left me completely curious!

Now that the chicken no longer has a neck, I can clearly see the little bit of a path to the other side of the chicken. Now water can drain out of the chicken and hopefully I can remove the rest of the insides with less difficulty. The rest of the insides came out without much effort, I found the other kidney, the liver, heart and stomach. I studied and oogled at each of the parts to make sure my diagnosis was correct. By the way, they are gross looking! I rinse off the chicken and pat the damn thing dry. I set it on a plate to await seasoning and Kaylin begins to fuss because she is hungry. I feed her and Brian (Jennifer's husband) goes into the kitchen and comes back out telling us we are going to order something because that chicken does not look right!

So much for our attempt at oven roasted chicken. Next time I'll make sure I don't add the chicken and the microwave. Needless to say, the chinese food place delivered twice this weekend.

And my heart goes on....

So originally I was posting about the lack of my husband calling. It was really starting to bother me. I was getting to the point that I was becoming spiteful of everyone that told me, "no news is good news" and "be strong" because honestly until you are dealing with the same situation you have NO idea what that feels like. It is easy to be strong and happy when you hear from your husband, however that is not always the case when you go days and days with no contact. It is completely and totally agonizing and every minute sucks more and more.

If you are in this situation, I totally sympathize with you, if you have been then I am sure you know how this feels, and if you have never been then I hope you never are. It isn't a fun time, it can be very lonely and difficult. Being busy doesn't take your mind off the hurt, anger, or sadness it just makes the time go by faster. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes its not. But the only way to look at things is that it is one day closer to being done, one day closer to seeing him, and one day closer until this can all go away...for a while anyways.

Really?!?!?!?!

So for some reason I cannot get yesterday out of my head. I was watching a friends boys for her while she goes to many of her recent doctors appointments. Her boy(may be boys) have ADHD and are being put on meds and things. Well they have counseling sessions and parent only sessions. So to help out since her hubby is down range with mine, I've been watching either one or both of the boys. I don't mind, they are typically good boys. Well with all these new appointments and things she's got a lot to tell her husband. I totally understand that, she is learning a lot and she wants to share it with her husband. Well he called and she was telling him things, and in a rush to get to an FRG meeting. The phone cuts out, which definitely happens from out there. Well she hangs up and goes, "Ugh, I'd rather not hear from him at all then get a short phone call." I'm like, "Seriously?! No you don't. I haven't heard my husbands voice in over a week and you're complaining about a 3 minute phone call?" She goes, "I'd just rather not hear anything." I know she was more saying it out of frustration but at the same time I was really ticked.

At least she HEARS from her husband. I hardly ever get anything, and I haven't heard his voice in over a week. I know my husband is busy and stuff so its not like he's ignoring us, but her husband gets in contact with her every single day and she's complaining that she doesn't get enough time?! Seriously?!?!?!

Realizations

So as hubby goes off for our first deployment I have some realizations that have come to light.

#1 I hate left overs! Okay this is nothing particularly new, more so just a statement. I'm so used to cooking for two that it's hard to actually think of anything to make when he is gone. Especially because I don't really want to eat much to avoid having leftovers! I don't think food tastes as good reheated...except for the pork green chili we make. That is AWESOME left over. Bleh, this is going to be a long year.

#2 I hate having to take the trash out! Gah it annoys me. Yes I took it out when he was home but I still hated it. Lol

#3 I love wearing his shirts to bed, especially the ones that smell like him. It makes me think I'm being hugged by him.

#4 Unfortunately the world doesn't stop for me. Which sucks because I think it should. On the same level I think its nice that time itself doesn't stop.

#5 Wine tastes good no matter what. Especially the sweet wines. They are a huge win.

#6 Keeping busy only works for so long. Then you get tired of constantly being busy and having things to do. Like tomorrow, I've got nothing planned and I sure do hope that it stays that way.

#7 I can't work an iPhone to save my life. I'm still so illiterate at it! The guys at the tax center laughed today when my phone rang. Since I don't know how to change the ringtones everything is stuck on what Dennis had it on. So "Black and Yellow" came on and I laughed. Apparently I could totally pull off the rocker/rapper chick look. *rocker pointer finger and pinkie!!!*

#8 I hate the music on my iPod. I'm so used to Dennis' music I hate mine. Like HATE. It doesn't help that I only put the CD's I have on there. So its all old music and everything.

#9 Dane Cook can make anyone smile...at any time.

I think that's all for now...off to call maaa Dadddyyy!!

The Morning After

So after our last, "blow out" party for the guys I realized one simple thing. Partying does not have as much appeal as it used to when its 2 am and you realize your child will be up and ready to go in only 6 very short hours. I'm so exhausted today and I didn't really drink that much to begin with! I'm not sure if its the cold that I have or the fact that I slept like shit because someone *coughDenniscough* sleeps like a crazy person when he's drunk. Either way, I slept like crap and got up with Kaylin at 7 this morning. Dennis lovingly told me he only needed "30 more minutes" and even set a timer. Got up 45 minutes later and then was back asleep by 10. I tell ya, you'd think that he planned this all.

The house is somewhat picked up, but there is still beer cans and bottles I'm too tired to pick up. Not that I even drank that much. I'm just beat to a pulp...maybe I can sleep in tomorrow? FAT CHANCE.

Not Just Another Pretty Face

So I was cleaning today and came across a realization....My husband picked the wrong career for me to be just another pretty face.

A few years ago while I was in my high school pretty girl days, my dad told me that it was a good thing I was pretty. The story:

I volunteered at a local hospital for all of high school. My senior year I got selected to work in the ER and get high school credit. (SCORE) One night while talking to a security guard that I frequently talked to we began talking about the mountains. *Ensue city girl* I hate loath camping; sleeping on the ground, freezing my butt off, peeing by a tree, and bugs...definitely not my thing now, so there was no chance of it being my thing then. He said he loved camping, no gps just a compass and a map. Again, city girl. I've never used a compass, never even seen one. So I asked him what it was. He explained what it was and how to use it...totally crazy to think about! Anyways the next evening at dinner I proclaimed I learned something new yesterday. My dad, being the lovely man that he is, asked me what I learned. I proceeded to tell him about the compass and how it wasn't just a math tool! He laughed, quite a bit actually, and then said it was a good thing I was pretty. My face dropped and I said, "HEY!" I got the joke but hey he was right.

Fast forward to now, almost 5 years later. With the upcoming deployment I've realized that I have 2 roles to fill now. Mommy and Daddy. So I've decided that my husband picked the wrong career so that I can be just another pretty face. I have to role up my sleeves and change the car oil, mow the grass (okay I haven't done that), shovel the snow, do the grocery shopping, wash the clothes, and clean the house. Not only am I taking on all the typical Mommy tasks, I am now taking on all the additional Daddy duties as well! Sure I can have my days where I act like a total girl, twirl my hair and snap my gum. But the majority of the next year will be growing as an adult, Mommy and Daddy.