New found respect

Yep, it's there. I've always thought pinstripes were pretty badass. What a talent to paint those minuscule little lines so perfectly straight and neat, often next to other things.

Me, I can't even get a damn stencil to work properly! After stencil long some names on these buckets (made even harder by te curved surface) I had to go back with a tiny brush and try to straighten up sole edges and curves. Not as easy as you might imagine. At any rate, here is the progress of my camo project so far.

Back at it

I spent another whirlwind weekend on the road. After getting off at 8 am Friday morning we hit the road, headed for Kansas and visits to as many people as is possible to see in a day and a half. We are copious amounts of very good food, enjoyed company, rode a 4 wheeler, played some skip-bo, watched some football and just hung out.
Now we are home. I am approximately 40 pounds heavier and have come away with a monstrous head cold that knocked me on my ass for the better part of the last two days. I am finally able to breathe and my ears are no longer threatening to explode. I have decided to use my sick day to do something productive. I have begun working on the camo buckets for my friend again. (My laptop hard drive has crashed, so homework was pretty much a no) I did manage to almost fully camo the entire set of 5 buckets. All I've left to so now is add the black into the camo and do the stenciled names and seal them. I am hoping to finish the camo and touch ups tonight and start the sizing an stencils for the names tomorrow. School is winding down and I, for some reason, am back to working only 3 days this week, so I have some time. My next projects will be to make a tablecloth for my cousin and teach myself to knit and crochet. I'm actually looking forward to being able to do a few projects again! Since my computer is down, these pics will be out of order, but I'm sure you can guess how the progression goes.

A 3am rant about corporate greed

Ok, so not so much a rant, just venting some annoyance. Look, if you want to leave your Thanksgiving dinner early to fight crowds and save like 8 bucks on a tv, good for you. Sadly, if you wish to do that, there are scads of people that would equally rather spend their "holiday" with their families that are basically being forced to come serve your want. Sure, we get monetarily rewarded with bonuses and such, but it's really not worth it to give up my holiday. I don't even KNOW my schedule next week, because they still haven't posted it, but I already do know I won't be having Thanksgiving this year, unless by some miracle I have to be given the weekend off. I'm certain my Thursday will consist of going to work Wednesday night to prep for Black Friday, coming home at 8 or so, going to bed, getting up, showering and going back to be there so they can let in crowds of people at 9. That's 9 PM ON THURSDAY! What the hell? Corporate greed and the need to chase that dollar is costing a lot of families a very important holiday this year. Just remember that when you are out fighting over toys.

Hectic!

Totally slacking on this thing.  To be honest, I have been so incredibly busy and I don't see it letting up any time soon.  We have officially gone to Christmas hours at work so I have to now be up at 245 am.  It is ridiculous. So now I have to be away from home from about 3 am to 4 pm when I finally bring my kids home from school.  I like the hours and the pay but man I am tired.  I don't hardly have time for homework or even sleep!! 

It seems like everytime I turn around I am doing something else for the boys school.  Jaxon has homework, there are projects and activities.  Man, I thought I would catch a break having them in school!!  Shows you what little I know about it. 

Halloween has come and gone, and the boys greatly enjoyed it, they got to hang out with cousins they rarely see and had a good time, even though we didn't get a whole lot of candy.  We did fair pretty well, not like they are complaining.  They never get candy so this is still a treat. 

From now to the end of the year, I will probably be fairly out of it.  I still have NO idea what our thanksgiving plans are, where we are going, when I will be working, who we will get to see.  Christmas is also up in the air.  From her until January second, I am pretty much just taking things one step at a time and trying to march on through.  Eventually things will even out and everything will end up fine.  Usually does.

A Declaration of Love

Today, October 9th, is my best friends birthday.  I never dreamed I would have such a great friend in all my life.  As a military brat and then military myself, people in my life come and go.  I do manage to get close to a few, but a lot of my friends I keep at a distance because I have learned that things change.  Even my very best friend, Parker, is not one I speak to often, but that is the beauty of our friendship.  I don't have to, nor do I have to worry about it.  Maybe that is selfish of me, but that is the kind of friendship I need.

We have been through a lot, Parker and I.  Deaths, births, and a couple of awesome surprise visits.  Together we have remained sisters in the world of chaos.  Our dynamic never changes.  We have grown up, lived close, lived far, married, and added, repeatedly, to our families.  No matter what happens in our lives, we always end up being those two crazy kids, who at 15 just happened to sit next to each other in a class that neither of us really wanted to be in! 

No matter how long we are apart, how great the distance, or what troubles we go through in our lives, I know that we are there for each other.  We may not be up on the most current of events for each other, but really that stuff is trivial anyways.  What matters is that when we see each other, she is the one person I can just talk to, like we never stopped our previous conversation.  She has accepted me for all my crazy weirdness, my harsh attitude, my brutal honesty, hatred of just about everything and my need for reassurance.  She has never doubted me and I've never doubted her.  She has never given me reason to mistrust her, and has always been there when I've fallen.  I have been her rock and she has been mine....numerous times.  I don't know what I'd do without her and her amazing family.  A family that has always accepted me as one of thier own.  Sisters I would do anything for (and have, I might add).  A mom that is always so giving and gracious, kind, funny, and LOUD, lol. 

There is never a dull moment with these ladies and I am thankful for it.  I love them all and I cannot wait to see them again!! 

I just basically wanted to say, Happy Birthday, Parker.  I love you, and always will.

Of course you won't read this because your ass is not on facebook and I don't have your email, but I know your awesome family will come through for me here!!

Continuing Camo

So I haven't done to much work on my camo project. Things keep coming up. Really there is not to much left to do. I have gotten the inside painted. I went with solid black inside simply because it seemed the way to go. I have also done the base coat green on all 5 of them. They are ready for the actual camouflage paint but that's probably the most time consuming and will mean I will have to do one at a time. I may work a bit on that today. After that I will simply need to individualize each one and put on a clear/seal cost. They are gonna be pretty awesome I think.

My Journey Through the Valley of the Dead

I have been sick.   Very sick.  I have been layed up for about a week.  I am tired, week and not at all pretty so look at. 

This isn't the cutesy, red-nosed, mussed-up hair, whiney sick you see on tv.  I really though I was dying.  It was messy and gross, and not at all pleasant. 

My kids have been sick on and off all weekend, and somehow that translates to me being virtually bedridden for an entire week.  I had to call off work Monday, thinking, "ok, one day won't hurt, I don't go in until Wednesday, I'll have time to recover and get back at it."  

HA!  I did lay up Monday, I even had to have Ryan leave work at a half day so that he could care for either me or the children (at that point, I didn't care which, I just wanted to die).  Needless to say, he came home and I slept.  And slept, and slept.....dead to the world. 

Tuesday-- I felt a bit better.  I still had a pounding headache, but the hubs brought me soup so I figured I'd have a crack at it.  I ate some soup, it stayed where I put it....major improvement.  I was all but ready to get back at it the next day.  Go back to work, earn some money, buy some concert tickets...you know, awesome, good things.

Wednesday--Yeah, I went back to work.  BAD IDEA.  I felt nauseated almost from the minute I got up.  I was pale, shaking, sweaty...terrible.  I trudged through and finished the day and then suffered in my chair until it was time for the boys to go to bed.  Then I lay in my own bed, slowly wasting away in a puddle or sicky sweat, again wishing I were dead.

Thursday--I wasn't dead.  I suppose thats a good thing, but really, I could have gone with dead. I would have been ok with that.  To bad, I was still in the land of the living.  I was not quite as sweaty, pale, and weak, but I was dehydrated and it felt like there was a battle raging in my stomach.   Out of curiousity, I dragged myself out of bed and checked my weight (I'm trying to learn how my body reacts to things).  I was down 6 lbs.   SIX POUNDS!!??  That is six pound of sheer dehydration.  No food, no water, no movement.  That was everything I had stored up to make my muscles work. No wonder I feel so terrible.  I resolved to eat something and drink as much water as possible.
1 liter of water and one meager grape later, I'm back in bed, wishing for death.  I did manage to change the sheets and shower though, so that was a plus.

Friday--  I'm still alive.  Truth be told, I feel much better.  My headache is gone, I've already had 1 liter of gatorade and am working on a second.  I have gained back 4 pounds of water weight which is good.  I inhales one of those Cambell Chunky soup things, so my appetite is back.   I still have the gurgles but I think I might live.  Then I find out its going to be 54 degrees tomorrow.  54, really?  It's 83 right now---Yeah, thats a 30 degree drop.   Then it's supposed to shoot back up to almost 90 by weeks end.  I have a feeling I am not finished with my journey through this valley of death.  I've got my fingers crossed though.