Natural Disasters

As you may have heard from the news, today there was an earthquake in Southern California, and because of this, I can now say that I have indeed experienced an earthquake.

Ok. So, maybe the quake was SO weak and short lived where I live that I actually had myself convinced that I had knocked into my TV table and its rocking caused the chair I was sitting on to also rock beneath me. It's just that it happened too quickly and I was by myself so I had no one to affirm what I had felt.. so I just kind of shrugged it off as... "that was weird".

It wasn't until about 30 minutes later on facebook that I noticed friends writing about surviving the earthquake that I realized what I had experienced had NOT been some strange figment of my imagination... it was an EARTHQUAKE!

Yes, it's true, there's not much to my earthquake story. The only reason why I am writing about it now is to proclaim that I have in my past 4 years as a military wife experienced most (if not all) of the natural disasters the United States has to offer.

I was living in the Panhandle of Florida 3 years ago when Hurricane Dennis caused my husband me, our two dogs, and one that we were dog sitting to evacuate our home. I was even there when Katrina tore through Mississippi and Louisiana. Sure, Katrina to me was not much more than strong winds, rain, and the threat of tornadoes.. but the after effects of Katrina.. the devastation.. the fuel shortages.. were all very real to us living only 30 miles from the center of the storm.

And, of course, last year.. there were the Southern California wildfires that had me out of my home and more scared than I can ever remember.. but I won't go into that since if you scroll back in my blogs you can read all about THAT experience.

Oh, and of course.. I grew up in Pennsylvania and did experience one or two blizzards in my day.. even though.. I remember blizzards as nothing more than hot chocolate, cinnamon buns, days off school, jumping off the deck, and taking the unexpected vacation to paint the living room!!!

So, now I've mentioned earthquakes, hurricanes, (the threat of) tornadoes (as a direct result of the hurricanes), wildfires, and blizzards.

I don't know about you, but I'm thinking maybe I should invest in some flood insurance. What do you think?!

:)

Maybe, Just Maybe

The countdown is really on now for D Day. Hubby's going away party has come and gone. Our last visitor has packed his bags and gotten on the plane for home. There's nothing left to look forward to.. except the countdown.. the last moments.. the waiting.

Have you ever had the hiccups... and when they go away you think you might still need to hiccup for the next couple minutes but no hiccups come out? And then you find yourself constantly checking whether you're going to hiccup or not? Well, this may very well be the WORST example ever.. but that's kind of how I feel right now. I keep doing these checks on myself. Every now and then I stop what I'm doing and do a check.. am I OK now? Am I STILL OK?! BUT WIAT, am I REALLy OK?! and the answer so far has been pretty much unequivocally, yes.

I'm fine.

Just like with hiccups.. after they go away and you're expecting one to come out at any second... it's a bit offputting that despite the fact that I keep expecting some kind of breakdown.. it isn't happening.

Maybe this deployment will be completely different. Maybe it really will be 10x easier than the last. I mean, Even since Hubby has been home I have grown accustomed to 2 week, 4 week, 1 week etc. absences. Maybe when deployment day comes.. I'll hug Hubby goodbye and something inside of myself will NOT fall apart. Maybe this goodbye will be just like all the many goodbyes we've had over the past few months.

I don't know.

All I know is that for now, I'm holding up firmly.

It helps that two weeks after Hubby leaves my parents will arrive in town.. and I know that any loose ends that Hubby leaves behind my parents will be sure to tie up nice and neatly before they go back to the East Coast. I know that by the time September arrives and the school year starts, my life will be neatly in order and once school gets going I won't have very much time to dwell on missing Hubby.. I will be too busy surviving.

So. Maybe, just maybe this deployment won't rip my life apart the way the last one did. Maybe, just maybe this one will be very different.

Here's to the hope of maybe.

:)

Temper Tantrums

When I was in college I used to babysit this 3-year-old girl on Friday nights who threw temper tantrums that should have gone down in the record books. These temper tantrums were full throttle..she must have used every ounce of energy she had left inside of her to crawl screaming around her entire downstairs for 30 minutes.. while slobbering everywhere. I can only imagine that the time that she SCREAMED at the top of her lungs for 45 minutes while in her highchair at dinner she must have done some damage to her vocal chords.. But, I'll tell you what, that girl was committed. Her temper tantrums were absolutely amazing.

and.. today and a little bit yesterday and for a few moments last week... I really felt like I wanted to be like that little girl and scream at the top of my lungs.. slobber all over the floor.. and throw myself around my house. For some reason I think that girl must've been onto something. Throwing a temper tantrum like that must really relieve a lot of frustration and anger. Not only that, but after 30 minutes of screaming and rolling around on the floor.. it seems to me that you'd have to be too tired to remember what upset you in the first place.

With hubby's deployment looming ahead of me and a going away party that seems to be crashing and burning in my face,who knows.. it is possible that I just might find myself rolling around my living room floor one afternoon screaming at the top of my lungs. I can't make any promises that it won't happen.. that's all I'm going to say.

:)

happy and sad

Right now I am very happy and very sad at the same time. I did the inevitable today and actually glanced at a calendar. It was one of the scariest things I've ever forced myself to do.. especially when I realized that time with hubby is numbered to less than two weeks now.

I'm starting to feel a little bit like the person I was last March when he left for his first deployment....you know.. the person who is so overwhelmed with what's going on that life begins to feel a bit like a fog.. and the fact that I'm still functioning as a normal human is somewhat of a miracle.

But.. I'm happy. Hubby and I have been spending some great quality time together lately.. we're happier than ever...Life is good! Well, life is GREAT except for the fact that in less than two weeks I will be suffering through my own form of self-torture (aka DEPLOYMENT).

hmm.

This Saturday we finally took our jet ski out.. and.. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN that we went back again on Sunday! We found this GREAT lake about 30 minutes away from our house that allows jetskis on the weekends. The lake was HUGE with tons of little beach areas all around that you can beach on and hang out on between jetskiing. Both times we went we took some buddies along with us.. our jetski only holds two but we have the coolest raft for two that the jetski drags behind. Riding the raft was a mixture of the most fun you've ever had AND fearing for your life as you bounce around the lake. The best thing, in my opinion, was beaching on the side of the lake and laying on the raft. Pure heaven on earth.

Tomorrow we will probably go to Disneyland and finally make use of the tickets my students gave me for an end-of-the-year present.

Hmm.. So, can you understand how I say that right now I am So very happy and so very sad at the same time? On the bright side, though.. happy and sad together sure beats the hell out of sad all on its own. :)