Because I'm a girl...

Because I'm a girl, Addison has come to me for relationship advice. I know, he's 9 years old, and wants my take, as a girl, on his love life.

He had a girlfriend for a long time, even though I'm pretty sure they didn't even talk to each other, but that's how they roll in fourth grade.

He told his girlfriend last week that he thinks they "should see other people." His words exactly, I almost peed my pants when he told me that but managed to keep a straight face. This is serious stuff, folks.

Addison decided he wanted to ask out another girl in his class, and is very nervous about it. She lives up the street, so he made three separate papers asking her out in different ways. He is too chicken to go put one in her mailbox.

Yesterday she was rollerblading around the neighborhood and Addison said he asked her out, and she just smiled and walked away. He's been grilling me ever since then, asking me what it meant, because I'm a girl, so I would know.

"Maybe she's really shy?" I offered. It wasn't good enough for him so he's still pestering me, asking me about when I was young and how we did the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing.

Son, I told him, I didn't have a real boyfriend until 8th grade, and if I could remember 21 years ago how we got "asked out" I'd be more than happy to tell you.

And so it goes...

Because I'm jaded...

Because I'm jaded, I'm not really looking forward to going back to Savannah tomorrow. We already went and looked at houses, made an offer, and had a horrific time of it (Thanks again, DR Horton, you asshat company).

I'm trying to remain optimistic, because honestly, time is running out and we need to find a house. I'm not desperate for a house, but it would be nice to find one that fits most of our criteria. We're not looking for a dream house, we're only living there for a few years, but we would like to enjoy it while we're there.

So, back to the grindstone Saturday morning. I'm excited to meet our real estate agent and talk some Sox. I'm not happy to spend my Saturday going house to house instead of watching college football from the couch.

I'm trying, I really am. To be jaded this early in the whole real estate experience doesn't bode well for anyone. Time for me to change my mindset to that of a genteel Southern gal (hey, I did say At-lanna the other day) from the Masshole attitude I usually have.

Because I'm mean...

Because I'm mean, I often make fun of my dog, Baby. She's a 12-pound Silky Terrier, and to put it nicely, her cuteness makes up for her lack of brains.

She's not terribly stupid, but after Bessie, our first daughter, a Black Lab mix, any dog seems stupid.

Baby has proven me wrong today though. She's a regular Lassie-loyal to her boy, no matter what.

Every morning, I jokingly tell Baby that she can't go to school with Addison. She stands at the door and watches as he walks away with his friend and cries. Ok, cute, I know, but yesterday she surprised me.

When Addison opened the door to go, Baby dashed outside, ready to go to school with the boy. She tried it again this morning.

I owe you an apology, Baby, but you still can't go to school.

Because I'm sick...

Because I'm sick and feel like crap, I want to share a picture:



In the recliner is my grandfather, Big Daddy (real name Albert) and my son, Addison Albert. I am so grateful to have been able to see Big Daddy two weeks before he passed away. I'm still in denial that he's gone, and it still hurts every day.

Even though he had some bad days, my mom said that he was feeling good that day. He even had a Bud Light, so of course I did too.

I'm not a life coach obviously, but I like to be reminded to let people know who matter to me how important they are in my life. Make it one of those days, don't let it be too late to let those you love know it. Life's too short.

Back to Square One (Friggin MoFo's)

Because if I wrote here everything that has transpired in the last week, anyone reading this would have to take a couple breaks and probably stop reading, I will wrap this all up very neatly.

We retracted the offer on the house. Five days of waiting and getting jerked around? Sorry, this girl only takes so much before she starts biting back. It's the Irish fire in me. Mess with me, I will mess right back with you, and even harder. It's the way I roll and it seems to work pretty well.

I don't want to name names (DR Horton Builders) but needless to say, the price offered on the house wasn't even the correct one. I can see why the builders-who-shall-remain-nameless are in the middle of a management change.

So, the Nash family is going to invest more time and money into househunting, hopefully next weekend. Oh, and yes, it will be with a new real estate agent also. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. NEXT!!!!!

There are angels out there...

I've been wrapped up in all this house crap that for just a few minutes I need to take a break from it and write about something else.

I've mentioned Twitter before, and today I started "following" a lady who goes under the name inspiremetoday. She sent me a message thanking me for being a military spouse and sent me a link to her blog with a very inspiring post.

Basically, she wrote a song for her daughter, and it became a hit. I listened to the song on the blog site, and immediately started crying.

Being a military spouse is no picnic, but, that being said, we also have women like Gail Goodwin who recognize us and even write songs about us. It humbles me, and it makes me feel good that there are those out there who not only support our military men and women, but us spouses also.

I don't seek out recognition for being a military spouse. It's who I am. In the same vein, my husband doesn't go around bragging about who he is and what he's accomplished in his time in the Army. I will sometimes do that for him (Best Ranger '04, three Bronze Stars, rank of master sergeant at 13 years of service-sorry Adam, but someone's gotta do it-you're a rock star!)

My mom has told me it's always harder on the person left behind. While I understand this, I also think being in a foreign country where your life is on the line everyday is harder. I really have no clue as to what Adam has done overseas. Just knowing that his tours of duty aren't over have prevented me from asking. We've made a deal though-on his retirement day, he's going to tell me everything he's done and isn't going to stop talking until I know everything.

Then I plan on getting him to write a book or screenplay or something-I know it's got to be that good!

Here is the link to the blog post:
http://www.inspiremetoday.com/gail/2008/10/inspiremetoday-brings-inspiration-to-iraq/

Cross Your Fingers, cross your toes

My life has come to a standstill. We made an offer on a house Sunday morning. We are still waiting to hear back. Last I heard was that it was going desk to desk, because it's an offer to a builder, and three people make their comments on the offer then they all vote on it. Who knew? Not this girl.

Anyway, it's killing me. I hate waiting. Have no patience, never have. My back is all tense and my stomach is in knots. I've barely ate the last two days.

I was told we should know something in the morning. At this point, I'll be glad to hear something, anything, so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that it all works out.

I'll post more once we hear something and figure out what we're going to do. Until then, I can't even think to write anything else.

Savannah or bust...

Tomorrow morning begins our great adventure. In January, we will be PCSing to Savannah, Georgia. (PCS=Permanent Change of Station) Adam will be working at Hunter Army Airfield so we are going house hunting Saturday in the area, specifically the town of Pooler, just west and north of Savannah.

It's our first PCS move - ever. Adam has been here since starting basic training in August of 1995. I moved here April 4, 1996. It has become home, and I'm very sad to move, as I've written before. Tomorrow reality will hit me full in the face.

I'm excited to go and discover Savannah. We visited one night in 1997 and didn't get to see barely anything, so being able to live right there is an adventure waiting to happen for the entire Nash family.

Will let you all know how it goes on Monday or as soon as possible. Heck, I might even bear good news about finding a house! Please pray for us, or if you're not religious or don't pray, please keep your fingers crossed for us! Thanks...

Adrenaline Overload...bank robber style

Yesterday began like any other day. Sent the boy off to school, then Adam and I went to his Honor Roll program. I got home about 9:45 a.m. and got on the computer. From the desk, I can see out the front window.

When I saw two Columbus Police Department cruisers drive by, I thought, hmm, that's strange, since I live at Fort Benning, but whatever. Then I kept hearing a helicopter, which is not unusual living on an Army post. I usually don't even notice the helicopters but this was non-stop chopper action.

I went outside and saw that it wasn't a Blackhawk, but a police chopper. The two cop cars were parked on the side of the road, idling, with no officers in them. A couple minutes later, I looked back outside and saw an officer, so I went outside and asked him if there was something going on I should know about.

"We're looking for someone. I recommend you go in your house and lock your doors."

Hey, no problem, copper, I turned and ran back into the house and immediately called Adam.

I'm going to try to keep a long story and longer day short. In a nutshell: a man robbed a bank in Columbus, then came onto Fort Benning. The electronic device in the money bag was traced to this neighborhood. The police and FBI were here looking for him. They blocked off my entire neighborhood, not letting anyone in, and commenced to go to every single house in the area and search it, including mine.

All of the schools here were put on lockdown about 10:30 a.m. By about 2:30, a half hour before dismissal, I started getting antsy-I just wanted my son. I drove up to the school and waited outside until the lockdown was lifted at about 3:20 p.m. I got my son and came home, relieved to have him with me physically and safe.

This guy still hasn't been caught, and I'm remaining vigilant, but I'm no longer scared. Regardless, all the doors and windows are still locked up tight today. Sigh....hopefully life will get back to normal today.

Just Call Me Martha...thankyouverymuch

Check me out, cooking it up like a real person! I made this chicken cacciatore bake last night. They are chicken breasts coated in Shake N Bake with some parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, cooked on top of diced tomatoes and quartered zucchini. I served it over cooked penne.

I was quite proud of myself. Adam gave me an A- for the meal. I asked what the minus was for - he said because I've never made it before. I told him I didn't know it was even possible!

So I guess I can cook. Whoopee! Still, don't expect a dinner invitation quite yet-I'm still taking baby steps.

Tonight's dish will be spaghetti pie via a recipe I found on recipes.com. Going to make it now since Addison has his last football practice tonight, and his last game tomorrow-yayyyyy!

Comfort Zone

I really hate grocery shopping, especially at our commissary, because even though I'm there early, they never have my dog food or bacon if it happens to be on sale. It really irks me, but that's not the point of this post.

I decided to go outside of my comfort zone of easily prepared meals and frozen foods and actually try cooking something different. I picked up a package of Shake and Bake for chicken and noticed a recipe on the back for Easy Chicken Cacciatore Bake. I looked at all the ingredients necessary, and wouldn't you know, I knew exactly what they all were. Whoopee!

I'm excited to try it out tonight, even though I know Addison doesn't like zucchini and diced tomatoes, but oh well, that's why I bought fresh broccoli for him and I will attempt my first ever boiling of fresh broccoli. Yes, I'm that bad.

Tomorrow night I will try out spaghetti pie. I found a very simple recipe for it at www.recipes.com. My mom used to make it when we were younger and I loved it.

Will update tomorrow how it all went! Wish me luck!

Feelings of inadequacy

I suppose this post can go along with my post from the other day, about how I'm not a cook and I don't enjoy cooking.

Last night we went to a get-together with a lot of Adam's old co-workers. Technically, they're all co-workers since they're all in the same unit in the Army, but now Adam works in a different office and building.

Anyway, most of the people there were officers, majors and colonels, and their wives. There were only a few other enlisted couples, which is fine, because I really don't care what rank someone is when they are in civilian clothes and in a house.

If you don't know me well, let me explain. I'm the girl who drinks beer and watches sports. I'm feminine, don't get me wrong, but I'm not a wine and gossip type of gal. This has bothered me in the past, but I usually get over it.

Last night, though, I left there with major feelings of inadequacy. While sitting in the living room, watching the Texas vs. Texas Tech football game, I glanced around and realized I was the only woman at the party watching, along with Adam and a bunch of other guys. Okay, fine, whatever.

Then dessert was served. Many of the wives had brought dessert, including homemade cheesecake and other stuff I didn't even know what it was. I felt inadequate. I don't make homemade anything, unless you count fleece blankets and cross-stitches.

I sometimes wonder what went wrong with me. I don't want to sit around and talk about kids. I don't want to talk about Grey's Anatomy or the new Coach purses. And I honestly don't think there is anything wrong with anyone who wants to do that. It's just not me. That's what bothers me. Am I missing some sort of gene that I should have as a woman?

All in all, I had a good time, everyone seemed to think I was cool because I write for The Bayonet even though I don't work there. Everyone was super nice and I had the opportunity to meet a lot of new people. None the less, I don't feel up to par as a woman and that sucks. Oh well, time to watch some football!