That Poor Little Girl

This evening while browsing on Facebook I was looking at the weather info for this upcoming "storm" we're supposed to have. Now as native Coloradans fully know, you'll believe it when you see it. We get told we're going to have 6-12" of snow, and wake up to see a light dusting of snow...shoot we're still able to wear our flip flops out of the house.

Anyways, while browsing on a local new's channel's Facebook page, here I came across this story and I felt that immediate pain in my heart.

Reposting for a friend/fellow military wife: One of my very good friends Brandy Johnson Allison has a daughter in district 20 in the springs. They had an event today called DOUGHNUTS FOR DADS and her daughter lexi's dad is currently deployed.. Brandy filled out the paper work so that Lexi could get her doughnut, and Lexi chose not to go up when all the dads were in there. When she went to get her doughnut they asked where her dad was. When she answered Deployed . they refused her getting a doughnut.

We're supposed to be a military community, a military NATION. I was 13 on 9/11. I knew nothing about The Twin Towers, what they were or why planes crashing into them was such a big deal. I knew very little about terrorism, mostly what I'd heard and read in my short years in school. I was in 8th grade and I still remember it like it was yesterday. I got off the bus and someone came up to me and said,

Did you hear?

Hear what?

A plane crashed into the Twin Towers!

Oh. *Honestly confused, but I shrugged it off*

I had no idea that day was going to become one of the biggest days in my life. We were taking our DALT tests that day. District Assessment Level Tests (they've since been replaced by CSAP in Colorado). I remember because it took me 3 days to redo that test. Stupid standardized testing. I remember being in class that morning and hearing students being called out of class 1 by 1. People panicking and pulling their children out of school, bringing them home to offer some sort of protection. Suddenly it was my name called on the loud speaker. I thought it was strange that my parents were pulling me out of school but I wasn't going to complain, I got out of those stupid tests.

At the time my mom was working for a toy store, and because we were supposed to be home alone until my step-dad had gotten home that afternoon from work. It wouldn't have be long, but my mom said she didn't want us to be alone with everything going on. Like I said, either way I got out of DALT's.

Long story (not so short)...we all became a united nation. We stood behind our troops, singers like Alan Jackson and Toby Keith wrote songs about that day, for months it was all that was talked about. For years we rallied behind our Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, and Sailors. You saw American flag's on people's cars, outside their homes, and people said with pride, "I am proud to be an American". As a nation we stood behind the president as he invaded Iraq. I remember watching that broadcast in March, we were on spring break and after we went outside to have a snowball fight with the neighbors. We went to war. Yellow ribbons were everywhere we turned. People had "Support Our Troops" Magnets on their cars, trucks, and vans.

And now, now we have grown so "used" the the aspect of war that we don't see what is being fought for. That little girl, little Lexi has a Daddy who she hardly, if ever sees. She may or may not understand that her father may never come home again. And the school refused to give her a doughnut because her daddy was off fighting for their very RIGHT to serve those doughnuts. The school should be ashamed.

We all really need to step back and become one nation again. My heart aches for that little girl. I can't imagine how upset she was. Honestly, I don't even know how I would handle that as her mom. It probably would have taken every ounce of pride for my husband I had to not storm into that principal's office and raise all sorts of hell. However I wouldn't stand for it. I would NEVER want Kaylin to have to go through something like this because her Dad has chosen to be in the military. No child should ever go through anything like this. Its not like he's a deadbeat dad, who's chosen to do drugs, party and do nothing with his life. Her father is DEPLOYED. To me, and I hope you, that is one of the most honorable things a man can ever do.

Dear You

I know this is going to sound petty and wrong...BUT....

Yup. That is all. :)

When I Grow Up

For some, knowing what you want to do day in and day out, every day for the rest of your life comes naturally. It's encoded in your DNA. For others, its like marriage...you test out a few careers, decide which aren't a proper fit (usually in high school with a bunch of various retail, host/hostess, and waiter/waitress jobs) for the ideal, "rest of your life".

And after reading Kristen's blog on how her 12 year old self totally thinks this her is cool and Brittany's blog on helping her kids with homework I remember just what it was like deciding on my career or my "adult job" as I've come to call it.

I've had my fair share of odd retail jobs. From a party hostess at Chuck E Cheese (oh yes, I went there) to a shoe guru at Shoe Carnival, and finally a sales associate/cashier/anything-you-want-me-to-be at Walmart...I've seen a lot. On a side note, I took Kaylin to CEC last week and they had a birthday party going on. Can I just say the dance at our local (not sure about nationwide) CEC hasn't changed since I worked there in 2004? Really??? Time to update that. And another weird thought, I was devastated and emotionally gutted when we got back from Germany and the two Shoe Carnival's in town were closed. Anyways, these jobs all solidified one fact, I did NOT want to work retail for the rest of my life. Getting paid barely minimum wage, and 20 hours a week is pretty ballin in high school. But now, after a baby, and seeing what a decent paying job (anything over $10 an hour) with full time hours makes...retail is DEFINITELY not the way for me forever.

Moving on, I remember when I was a kid and my sisters and I would play school. I would always be the teacher, I'm the oldest its my born right. :) I remember finding worksheets online, making up math problems and spelling test to give to my sisters. Oh the joys I had getting those red pens and marking all over their papers. Not because they were all that wrong, but I had given them worksheets that were too hard for even me. So I guess in a way they were all wrong...but not for a good reason.

Then enter high school. The first 3 years were centered around school, volunteering, and (my juinor year) working. So my senior year, I was set to graduate with more than enough credits. I decided that even though I wasn't going to "slack off" in my core classes, it didn't mean that I had to stick with gym (I hate changing), art, or some other lame form of an elective. So I did what every high school senior does, and throws in useless credits and free periods. My useless credit, teacher's assistant. Now my teacher was pretty  awesome. I can't tell you the number of times I skipped out and took and extra long lunch break at Chipotle. But, upon the endless grading of tests and quizzes, entering grades into the computer, and making new transparencies I decided that my goal of nursing was definitely a better fit.

See around the same time we were playing school, I began to watch ER and fell in love with the show. I've always been interested in the medical field. But watching ER made sense to me. The fast paced, move quickly, just work to save someone...it all fit like a glove. Quickly I found an old step pump, a few pairs of rubber gloves my aunt let us play with, and baby dolls. The basement of my grandparents house transformed from a 1 room school house, to a "full blown ER". Complete with 3 doctors (my sisters and I), "patients" and "charts", which were bunches of computer paper and wasted ink so my sisters and I could "diagnose" what was wrong. The basement even led outside, which allowed us to have a makeshift ambulance bay. We were high tech. I even found one of my grandma's old thin robes and wore it as my doctor's coat. Oh yes, I was one bad ass doctor. My sister's weren't always keen to play along, and when they did play it didn't last long usually. I remember my grandparents always saying that we had set up an ER in their basement again.

Anyways, from a young age I was amazed by the human body. The different types of connective tissue, the brain, the way stuff works. I received The Giant Book of the Human Body one year so for a little while I was convinced that my body was powered by little men (you'd have to read the book), from chewing to moving my fingers. Silly book, teaching kids like that.

I guess for me its sort of always been there, and now I can't wait to get back to it.

Because I've got "Moves Like Jagger" Stuck in My Head

United Kingdom, 1960's. Amidst Beatle-mania, a rock band arises that will change the world forever, even into the new millennium. Who knew that even in 2011, we'd have artists singing about Mick Jagger!

Firstly, I do not get the fascination with him. Not even the 1960's Mick Jagger. I mean at least back then he wasn't all sunken in, wrinkly, strung out looking. Even the feathered hair is a turn off, I mean shoot that should have been left for Farrah Fawcett.

I can't, for the life of me understand why Ke$ha would even consider kicking a guy to the curb unless he looks like Mick Jagger. Has she seen a picture of him lately? I definitely did some googling, he is not an attractive looking guy. His smile makes his eyes wrinkle, his mouth is huge, and he's got wrinkles on top of wrinkles. He is not attractive in any way. I'd probably kick a guy to the curb if he looked like Mick Jagger, because that is not hot. Could you imagine going on a date with a guy who looks like Mick Jagger? You get there and people think you're going on a date with your dad or something. Then when you hold hands and look longingly into each other's eyes, people think you're a freak and back away slowly. Think I'm kidding? Play that scenario out in your head, I'll wait...yup, see told ya.

Or imagine that guy coming up to you in the bar. "Can I buy you a drink?" All your friends look around because he looks like a creeper. That's one of those situations where you set the drink down, doesn't matter if its full or empty and you walk away. Quickly. And hope he doesn't get the wrong impression and follow you to your car. I know for a fact that would be my experience. An old creepy guy wanting to buy me a drink? No thanks, *walk away quickly, don't look back...maybe he won't follow*. Yup. I would walk away, possibly run, if he had "moves like Jagger".

Come on Maroon 5, are we seriously at that point? The weird tongue thing that Mick Jagger does? Here, I'm going to stick my tongue out at you, its sexy. See?! Uh, no. No its not. Stick your tongue out at a girl in ANY situation and you're going to be met with a raise eyebrow, a disgusted look, and the fastest shut down you've EVER seen. A woman does not want to be treated like a piece of meat. And if she says she does, well then you need to find a better woman. If you even think you're going to kiss me using any of Mick Jagger's moves you've got another thing coming too.

Can anyone enlighten me? What's the appeal of Mick Jagger? I'd rather have Channing Tatum, Jake Gyyenhaal or Keanu Reeves before Mick Jagger. How about a song about their moves?!

An Idiot Abroad

Traveling is on probably 90% of the world's population's bucket list. I mean who wouldn't want to see The Eiffel Tower, The Statue of Liberty, The Pyramids of Giza, etc. I sure as heck know I'd love to see some of those places. Yes, I've seen the Eiffel Tower and its freaking awesome. But still I know I'm missing out.

Insert British Podcaster, Karl Pinkerton, a few travel savvy friends, and an endorsement from Sky 1 (a British channel). Karl is totally anti-travel. He rarely leaves his comfort zone of London. Until his friends decided to send him to the 7 wonders of the world, put him up in so many various scenarios, and film it all for the entertainment of the people.

Now anyone who knows me, knows I'm not a huge fan of reality tv. I think its gotten way out of control (Jersey Shore...come on!) and everyone and their sister wants their 5 minutes of fame. But An Idiot Abroad has definitely peaked my curiosity. Between Karl's disfunctional friends who put him up in the dingiest hotels, have him to the most ridiculous things, and Karl himself who is absolutely hysterical, the show makes for some fantastic entertainment.

What comes out of his mouth every now and then, is priceless. I can't tell you the number of times that I've sat here and cried because of this show. He is so funny. But he's a good sport, he tries what his friends want him to try, does what people tell him (mostly) but he's always, always got something to say about it.

Seriously. If you want to watch, or have any interest in all...let me now. I will show you how to watch it free online. Completely and totally worth your time. And you'll fall in love with Karl. (Not car)

Why I HATE teething

Ugh honestly as a parent I don't think I've experienced more pain, hurt, and helplessness than when Kaylin doesn't feel good. Watching her hurt I wish I could take it all away and put it on myself, 10 million times over. I (like many parents I know) have spent sleepless nights sitting in rocking chairs so their baby can breathe. Now I'm not trying to make this a pity contest on who's the best parent.

Kaylin has had colds, ear infections, diarrhea, and puked all over the place. None of that compares to teething. That miserable, achy, just hold me and don't let me go, all around fussiness that comes with those pearly whites popping through those tender swollen gums tops it all.

I always can tell when Kaylin's getting a tooth (or typically in her case, teeth). Usually its a few days of fussy, clingy, grumpy baby followed by days of endless diarrhea (to the point I'm changing her OUTFIT 3-4 times a day), a slight fever and even more irritability.

Today has been no exception. Poor baby has a diaper rash from deep in the pits of hell. I lay her down on the floor and the tears fill her eyes. It breaks my heart to even think about! Even more heartbreak as I wipe her tender little butt with a wipe in hopes that she will feel better in a few minutes. I do my best to let her air dry and I scoop her and cuddle her. But I hate thinking about how much pain she's in.

I hate teething because

10. Even though she loves to eat, and still will eat, she gets pickier.
9. She clings all day long. To the point you can't even pee alone.
8. She's restless. Naps are half the length they usually are.
7. She chews on EVERYTHING. Shoes, toes, fingers, toys, and anything else that can fit in that pint sized mouth.
6. Teething = Diarrhea
5. Diarrhea = instant diaper rash.
4. Diarrhea + diaper (full or dry doesn't matter) = the runs all over the outfit, seat, play area and parent.
3. Instant diaper rash =  an extremely painful, tedious, and fit throwing diaper changing experience
2. Diarrhea always gets on that outfit you were looking to wear out of the house, 2 minutes before you need to leave. Requiring a complete wardrobe change.
1. Have I mentioned the chewing, fussing, crying and diarrhea??

Here at "The Wall"

Wal*Mart. The holy grail of retail stores. At least for those who are/were overseas (like me) or for those who do not have any close by (what a shame!). You know the place you go to get just about everything at anytime of the day and to go laugh at people. Lemme tell you, when I was in Germany I missed "The Wall" as I've come to affectionately call it. I missed the people of walmart. I'd look at the website and laugh for hours. Some people.

Anyways after reading Traci's rant about customer service and driving etiquette I decided to recall some of my favorite stories from when I used to work at "The Wall". As many of you don't know when I was in college up in Greeley (oh Greeley...) I worked at one of the Wal*Mart store's up there. Now Greeley is quite the town, 15,000 college students, a meat packing plant that pays cash (so you can guess who works up there), and then the "good" side of town. Thankfully I worked at the Wal*Mart on the "good" side of town. But that doesn't mean we didn't get our fair share of crazy people.

I worked as a sales associate but I would "moon light" as a cashier most of the time. They were always short handed and too busy, especially on the weekends. We'd always have people coming in buying 2 and 3 shopping carts full of food. Nothing really out of the ordinary, especially around payday. However, there were always people who would make checking out difficult. We always had one group of people who didn't speak English and would bring their 2 (at least) shopping carts through the 20 items or less line. *glare* Unfortunately we weren't supposed to turn them away, however I have to admit I had a few times. I just couldn't deal with it.

There was one time, I was working a belt like and we had the same family come up to the check out. They unload their cart as I start scanning and making the typical small talk. "Hi, did you find everything okay?" I knew they wouldn't answer but it was worth a shot. I got the typical blank stare and then the nodding of the head. I continued to scan all their random food purchases. After a while, everything blurs together and it doesn't even matter what they are buying. I get about half way done with the belt and I come across a shirt. I had walked past this display that morning, it was right outside the infants department. Everything in there was $5.88 cents, Wal*Mart special. I rang up the shirt, spun the triangle around and went to load the shirt in a bag and the man puts his hand out.

"No, no different." He said to me, in his thick accent.

I looked back at him. "No sir, I saw this display myself. These shirts are $5.88" Sometimes people like to say that it was a different price than what the items ring up so that they can save a few dollars.

He shook his head at me and continued to tell me, "No different." I closed my eyes and tried not to get irritated with him.

"Sir, they are $5.88." He put his hand out and I returned the shirt to him. He placed it at the end of the belt and repeated, "Different."

I nodded finally understanding what he was trying to say, "Oh you mean separate. SEPARATE." I placed the black divider at the end of the items and he placed the shirt at the end of the belt and I continued to scan his order. I totaled everything up and I gave him the amount. He paid in cash and I handed him back $5 in change. I scanned the shirt that he didn't want added to the previous order and gave him the total. It was just over $6. I gave him this total and he handed me back the change that I had given him.

"Sir, I need .35 (or so) more cents." He turns to look at me.

"Huh?"

"I need .35 more cents. You gave me $5.88 (or whatever it is), I need .35 cents." He looks puzzled but I show him the total on the little screen, he reaches back into his cart and hands me a can of beans. What the heck am I supposed to do with this?! We aren't bartering, you can't hand me a can of beans and expect me to take that as the .35 cents you owe me! "Sir, if you want to return that you have to go to customer service."

He took the can of beans back to customer service and returned handing me the money to pay for the rest of the shirt.

Sometimes we gotta love people of "The Wall"

Grocery Store Etiquette

Okay seriously? Am I the only one that has grocery store etiquette? I mean it doesn't take much but common sense, however I guess common sense is something a lot of people are lacking anymore.

On a side note, what the heck was going on today?!?! After taking my Little to the doctor we stopped at the commissary on Carson to check prices on diapers (heads up dear military friends they ARE cheaper at the commissary here...) and holy buckets!!! The line was out of control! Thankfully I wasn't actually buying anything but it still surprised me.

Anyways, we headed off to Walmart for a bit of light shopping. I needed something to store all these darn scrubs in, seeing as I've completely run out of room. So I pull into the parking lot and everyone and their sister seems to be there. I mean its Friday afternoon and its like everyone is stocking up for WWIII or something! (Sort of the same as the commissary at Carson) Kaylin and I cruise around looking at the different shirts and scrubs, and head back to the plastic storage. Personally, I hate buying plastic storage containers, they are SO expensive! I'd rather hang stuff up or something of that nature. But oh well, what can you do at this point.

I find a plastic storage container I don't mind, more than I really want to pay but then again I don't want to pay anything. We mosey around the rest of the store, picking up a few things for Kaylin for breakfast, some coffee creamer, and gatorade. We head to the check out and naturally there is a mile long line, it's Friday afternoon, at WALMART. Its like playing a game, how many people can be in the same store at the same time? Ready, GO! I found the self check out line and parked the cart in front of it, counting the people and praying it didn't take very long. I had one thing on my mind...it was almost 3 pm, I hadn't eaten much of anything yet and it took everything in me not to buy junk food while I was there. I wanted to get out of the store, and head to Albertacos...which I had been promising myself since we left for Carson to begin with.

I take a look in my cart, juice, waffles, sunflower seeds, CRAP! I had totally forgotten about the 2 mozzarella sticks I had gotten from the deli for Kaylin and I to share in the store. I can't go through self check out because the weight of the empty container of mozzarella sticks will cause drama. I steer my cart out of the line and head for another check out. Perfect this one only has a few people, and the guy in front of me has 1 item! It'll be a breeze! Or so I thought...Naturally the line I was in was the slowest of them all, how this always happens I will never understand. The two ladies in the front of the line have quite a bit of groceries, when I worked at Walmart my item-per-minute average was between 500-700 every day. How hard it is to scan, bag, and twirl the bags around I will never understand. My goal was always to get that customer out the door as fast as I could with the least amount of bags possible.

Anyways, I'm standing there waiting to load my few select items onto the belt and the guy in front of me is standing at the end of the belt, with his 1 item! I figured he wanted to wait for the ladies to get their stuff closer to the end, that way he didn't get into their personal space (I've seen that happen too). No biggie, the cashier is scanning stuff and the belt is getting more and more empty. Okay, that's definitely enough space for your $4 bottle of Listerene. Go ahead, put it on the belt. Step forward, so I can load up my stuff. The guy didn't move! Instead the cashier got closer to the end of the ticket, 5 items left...4 items...3...2...1..The dude still hadn't moved from his position at the end of the belt. The hungry part of me wanted to shove him forward to be able to load up the belt, but the part of me knew that he could kick my ass and then some didn't want to move. The dude didn't move until the women had checked out completely and were walking away from the lane!

Gah! I was so irritated as I quickly stuffed my stuff on the belt so the people behind me, who had a cart full, could load up the belt too. I'm not sure if I'm just anal, OCD, or remember from my cashier days (I'm sure it's some unhealthy combination of them all), but I always load the belt and the cart a certain way. It makes it so much easier on the cashier when all the cold stuff is together, all the boxes of hamburger helper are in the same place, and all the meat is in a nice chunk. I'm not saying what order they should be in, but I'm saying coming from experience its SO much easier if you do it this way.

Anyways, the rant was more about the guy who would not move up to save his life? I mean I totally get the personal space and everything but would it have been that hard to move out of the way so the rest of us could leave as quickly as you?

View This :)

So I was talking about my blog with Kristen and she mentioned about her views on her blog. I told her it was neat that she knew how many people had checked her blog in one day and all that jazz. You know BLOG STATS. I remember telling her I wish I knew how to do that...

LOW AND BEHOLD...she knew a way. :) So after taking Kaylin to the doctor, price scouting at the Commissary, and picking up a few things at Wally World I opened up my computer and checked the usual websites...Facebook, Hotmail, Googlemail, and then clicking on my blog to attempt to come up with some sort of interesting thing that has happened to me this week, I clicked on my "stats" tab. Huh, this is pretty popular I guess. :)

I've got quite a few hits on this blog, and to be honest it kinda makes me proud. Not that I ever have anything to say that is massively important I'm still excited that more than my measly 5 family members have viewed this thing. I've got views from the US, Germany, Australia, South Korea, Italy, the UK, Belgium and more! How neat is that?! Being a military wife it really shouldn't surprise me, I've got friends in a lot of these countries but its still neat to see. :D

I'm sure I'll have something more to talk about this evening, but for now its a good start. Lol!

Text Speak

Those close to me, (and even some who aren't) know I can complain. Lately, I've tried to get better because there isn't much use to complaining constantly. Those people only bring people down, and who wants to be around THAT?!

But this time I have, to complain. I HATE TEXT SPEAK. I hate it in text messages, blogs, Facebook, basically anywhere. It's stupid, lame, and frankly makes people look less intelligent. I will rarely, if EVER write like that. I've got education and I'm not trying to be something I'm not. I see it so often on my Facebook news feed and it drives me nuts. I don't understand how hard it is to type/text out, "I love you." Instead of "i luv u". Really? Hitting 4 more buttons is going to kill you? I know the majority of you, especially the younger people like myself, can text like a pro. The extra millisecond it would take to hit 4 more buttons wouldn't be anything.

I'd always complain when I'd get "luv u 2" from Dennis. I told that it doesn't really feel like love if you can't spell it out. There is just something about, "I love you" rather than "luv u". Same thing with "u", "2", "c", "b", "k"...now I'm guilty of "K" every now and then, but still, "Okay" is 95% of the time my answer if its going to happen.

I can't even begin to explain how annoying it is when I see a serious post of Facebook or something full of "thx, u r great."

Okay, rant over...