MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #13

So over on Wife of a Sailor, Wife posts questions for other bloggers to answer on their own military spouse blogs. (Still with me so far?) And since the kids are watching a movie with my brother, I thought this might be fun to fill out while the kids try and talk my brother into “camping” with them in the living room.

1. My spouse and I rarely agree on…

quantum physics (he’s forever trying to sell me this “theory” but I don’t buy it because (1) just because you can’t disprove it doesn’t mean it’s true, (2) I haven’t seen evidence with MY OWN EYES or felt it with MY OWN HANDS, and (3) it’s really funny to be devil’s advocate around him (like he gets SO FRUSTRATED with me, he can’t stand it; but hey, I keep him on his toes. Keeps his arguments stronger if he were to ever talk to Stephen Hawking in person, ya know?).

but always agree on…

parenting issues (discipline, manners, not spoiling them, etc.), how cute our kids are (we’re biased, okay?), and when I need a coffee break (I probably look like a crazy mess).

2. If I could use one word to sum up the way I feel right now, it would be…

ALRIGHT.

Really. I’m sitting here, listening to the kids’ movie in the background, tired from the day but not tired at all. Today was my first sub job of the school year and I am happy to just be working. This morning the kids, two dogs, and I went for a walk and spent some time in the park. After work I drove the kids to gymnastics. My husband is NOT deployed and in fact, doing the exact opposite: going home to visit his family for a reunion, many of whom haven’t seen him since WAY before the accident. We weren’t able to afford plane tickets for all of us to fly out to his home state but very excited for my husband to see his family.

Our children are healthy. We have wonderful friends. Sure, we are tightening our bootstraps or shining our belts or whatever the phrase is for penny-pinching and sticking to a tight budget but hey, who isn’t? I have ended my relationships with Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Uggs, IKEA, and Coach: This isn’t good-bye but rather, see you later.

Yup. I’m alright. ***tear***

3. One of the things my spouse does that grosses me out is…

reusing his socks. They are soooooo disgusting! I mean, really, would it be too hard to de-wrinkle them so they’re not dirty stinky grenades in the closet or under the bed AND toss them directly into the washing machine? STOP REUSING THEM ALREADY! YOU ALREADY HAVE A BAZILLION PAIRS OF SOCKS SINCE YOU BUY A NEW BATCH EVERY TIME WE MOVE, FORGET TO PACK THEM, AND/OR LOSE THEM! WHY DO I NEED TO MAKE YOU THROW THEM AWAY WHEN THEY HAVE GAPING HOLES??? GROSS!

And that, my friends, was ten years and eleven months of griping in one paragraph.

4. My readers may think I’m crazy for doing this, but I really love to…

go dancing with my friends! It’s so nice NOT worry about a babysitter (since it’s been either my husband or my brother; the latter costing a case of Rockstar each time, sheesh!) or spending money on alcohol. Sam’s Club sells margaritas in a bottle and you can’t even tell I’m carrying alcohol in my water bottle!

5. Frankly, my dear, I don’t…

believe parents when they say that they don’t understand why their child/children do or say the things they do. They learned it from somewhere!

I have no one to blame when my four-year old says, “WHERE’S MY FUCKING TWINKIES?” in the middle of the grocery store. I have no one to blame when my first grader calls your child a dumbass unless of course he really is a dumbass. I have no one to blame when my son draws the internal view of the human body as seen from a zombie’s point of view in the middle of Starbucks.

No one. Not even my husband. We both swear but those words were from me or my permission to watch that classic movie Zombieland.

Fuuuuuck, give me a break already!

LMAO! Your turn!

Day 1: Zumba and scrubs

My kitchen floor was disgusting. I swept on a daily basis. I Swiffer’d once a week. But getting down on your hands and knees to look at corner and backboard grime is appalling. Initially it was pretty gross and I was very thankful I didn’t paint my nails this weekend. I’ll admit it might have been a little fun to scrub with my new brush from the commissary. Several Disney songs may have escaped my lips.

I tackled that stupid floor only because I felt so good after taking Zumba for the first time in a few weeks. My hubby being in town and our short summer break combined with my favorite instructor on vacation makes it very easy to skip the gym. I went back today with a vengeance.

A vengeance against my belly fat.

I’ve been having problems with my knees over the past year. Silly injuries that wouldn’t have even affected me ten years ago. Not paying attention to form when you Tootsie Roll (that’s the dance move, not last week’s MilSpouse Friday Fill-in question). Not keeping your knees bent for impact. Not to mention, a possible toe break at a pole dancing class last year. Thinking that I’m ten years younger and I can wear Apple Bottom jeans, boots with the fur, and still get low-low-low-low-low. Extra poundage sure doesn’t help.

So I’m doing the samba in class, out of breath, music blaring. I start to slow down and as I do an image came into my head. My sweaty head.

I saw this belly –that’s grown and shrunk over the years, accomodating three wonderful children, serving as evidence for my love of sugar and carbs and sugary carbs– as temporary. Sort of like a heavy belt around me that I didn’t need. After that image I danced harder.

That image worked for me at that moment. We’ll see which one pops into my head tomorrow. Yes, two Zumba classes in two days. Sure, I feel good at 7 pm tonight but how will I feel tomorrow morning? How will I feel tomorrow night? We shall see…

This morning I scrubbed half the floor then caught up with that awesome show on Lifetime called Drop Dead Diva. (Love love love the show! It’s sort of Clueless meets Ally McBeal, the good years.) I got such a warm fuzzy from that show that I scrubbed the other half.

The kids had a dentist appointment so I, get this, READ while I was waiting even though I had some witty revelations I really needed to get off my chest. I had three bags of clothes that the kids or I have outgrown and donated them to Goodwill.

Despite my headache at 1:30 pm, I did not have a Coke Zero nor did I stop to have a caffeinated beverage at you-know-where.

I do have to admit I started decluttering while my husband was home but only because of our daughter’s birthday. Most of my family were planning to attend and some of them need beds at various times of the day. I don’t know about you but I’ve got some uncles and some nieces who just crash after they eat at a party. Maybe it’s the rice or the beer or both but someone usually fell asleep within the first hour. Sometimes they’d fall asleep on the nearest couch. One of my nieces just had a baby so I figured she’d definitely need her own room to nurse or change a diaper. The downstairs guest bedroom looked nice for the first time since we moved in when there was nothing in it.

There you have it: exercise, scrubbed the kitchen floor, donated clothes, read, no Facebook or Starbucks.

OMG. I can’t believe it either.

Tomorrow’s job will include the junk drawers and if I’m ambitious, the pantry as well. (I’m scared of the junk drawers. It’s a compilation of our worst fears. Will we ever need that extra set of ear plugs? What if New Kids on the Block come back into town and I can afford to see them? Won’t I need earplugs? What about random nuts and bolts from IKEA DIY furniture? See what I mean?) What do I do with cake plates and cupcake stands? Where do I store party supplies? Do I need to go to IKEA?

I will leave you with one thought. You probably shouldn’t let your kids watch Zombieland, particularly if the youngest is going through a copying phase. We were choosing ice cream this afternoon and L was mumbling something about Twinkies.

I asked the older two, “What is she saying?”

Our son, the oldest, tried not to laugh and said, “I don’t know.”

Our middle, the older daughter, said, “She said, ‘WHERE ARE THE FUCKING TWINKIES?!’ “

***sigh***

If that wasn’t a FB status update worthy moment, I don’t know what is.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #8

So over on Wife of a Sailor (http://wifeofasailor.com; I still don’t know how to make that blue link appear), Wife posts questions for other bloggers to answer on their own military spouse blogs. (Still with me so far?) And since the kids are outside on the trampoline while my husband fires up the grill, I thought this might be fun to fill out while I’m watching Zombieland for the bazillionth time and listening to our big dog and new little dog fight in front of me.

1.If you could have a private concert with any singer, who would it be?

Do you even have to ask? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I can’t even think about them without saying that vowel. I saw them twice in concert in my younger days, including free tickets for designing a poster for JCPenney. Before we made the move from Virginia to California, NKOTB announced their reunion tour and guess who got tickets for a concert three time zones away…

That’s right. That’s me, baby.

That's me in the middle. HAD to take pics with these random fans. Their shirts say, "I'M LEGAL NOW, DONNIE!"

It was the first concert in California before they announced more dates so the truly crazy fans made it to that San Jose show. Would you believe Lady Gaga opened for them and I was like, “Meh”? I chuckle at that now especially since I wanted to see her when she came to Sacramento this year.

"Blockhead 4 Ever" and "Once a Blockhead, Always a Blockhead"

Then I saw them again in Fresno and oh my goodness, it was awesome too! I would love to be one of those fans who keep seeing them and maybe even going on one of those fan cruises but I can’t justify seeing them when I’m not working. I’m sure they’ll be around for a long time.

2. Is there anything you do to supplement your family’s income?

I just started working as a substitute teacher in our kids’ district this past spring and I love it. I do miss being in the classroom but it is pretty nice not to have homework and be choosy about who you sub for and where you sub. Also I don’t always get to sub at my kids’ school but when I do it’s really convenient.

3.During your pregnancy (whether past, present, or future), what did you nickname your unborn baby before you knew the sex?

We didn’t know the sex of our son because he kept moving in the ultrasound so the technician couldn’t tell. I don’t recall any nicknames though I had a hunch he was a boy (eating protein nonstop was my clue) and called him Rafael. My husband didn’t like that name so we went with something else.

4. Have you ever won a blog giveaway? If so what did you win?

No, I haven’t. I just started following blogs when I first created mine. Still a newbie, I’m afraid.

5. If I looked into your refrigerator right now, what would I find?

What a time to ask! My husband is grilling for our daughter’s birthday tomorrow. There’s a huge beef brisket with a dry rub, several pounds of pork and chicken soaking in some sort of soy sauce and garlic Filipino marinade, homemade pico de gallo, leftover Sangria from the fourth of July, and other random produce for his spaghetti bolognese. We have A LOT of shanghai lumpia in the freezer and if you ask if I made it, I’ll say I fried it. Ha!