Yesterday my day started out with my fancy car telling me my Left Front tire was low on air, it even gave me the pressure reading. Cool.... I was on such a tight time schedule that I considered not putting air in it. I figured that was a bad idea and thank goodness the Stewards here in Carthage has free air. Yea. So I filled it and off we went. When I got to the dealership I mentioned that it was low, could they just look at it. In my frustration with them, they didn't tell me anything and I didn't ask. As I was examining my receipt last night I read this line "Tire has nail close to the side wall, should have tire replaced" Well thanks for pointing that out to me....

This morning after I dropped Tyler off at VBS I decided to go to the MWR Auto craft place to see if they fixed flats. Yes, just pull it in and we'll fix it. YEA. I am thrilled they can do it. So I pull in and I tell they guy about the dealership telling me about the nail. I guess they can fix it without taking off the tire so he starts looking at the tire and spraying something on it to find the leak. Can't find anything, so he starts taking it off, after he gets the lug nuts off he bangs it with this mallet, thinking it was stuck to the axle. He bangs it a couple of times till he finally figures out he left one lug nut off. Ha Ha. He gets the tire all the way off when it dawns on me that the dealership rotated the tires....... Oh Crap I say. I tell him and we both have a great laugh. Is that a blonde moment or what?

He ended up taking off the Left rear and never did find the nail or the leak. He was extremly nice about the whole thing and said if it did lose air again to bring it back in.

I made an appointment with the local Chevy dealer to get the oil changed/tires rotated in the Tahoe thinking we were driving it to NM (more on that another day) so I shuffeled kids and got there right at my appointment time of 9:00am. Me not knowing anything about cars, asked if they could just peek at the brakes while they have the tires off rotating them. Sure they have time. Silly me never thought to ask how long that would take. They had told me the oil change and rotation would take about an hour. I added on another 1/2 hour for the brakes. About an hour and 15 minutes after I gave them the keys I thought I should go check and see how long it is going to be. She told me what they had done so far and that they had just started the breaks, well how long does that take, about 35 minutes per axel. I told her I didn't have time for it, I needed to leave please just finish the oil and put the tires back on. She went out and talked to the guy, came back and said he can finish the brakes about 35 minutes longer. This is at about 10:15am. At a little after 11:00 I go back in and ask if I can pay, well he doesn't have all the stuff in the computer. I proceeded to tell her how unhappy I was and that I told her I had to leave. At about 20 after 11:00 I finally was able to pay, I didn't actually drive off till 11:40 - 2 hours and 40 minutes after giving them the keys.

Now I have to write their service manager a little letter.

After Church Dylan decided we all needed a little target practice. He got out his pellet gun and his airsoft gun and everyone got to shot a couple of times. Just incase we are ever in need of a shooter to scare off the wild animals that are getting closer to the house.




He then decided we needed to go on a recon to make sure the coyote wasn't hanging around up by the trees. In route I spotted some berries, blackberries, choke cherries, we think some blueberries and some wild grape vines and several apple trees. (no coyote)


We decided to pay the neighbors a visit and looked at their grape vines, and kids picked some of their delicious raspberries and then they headed to the pond to look for frogs. Dylan started throwing one of the apples in the pond and DB went swimming. Didn't take Tyler and Jason long to shed their shoes and shirts and wade in. After seeing how much fun they were having, Dylan finally striped down and headed in. Nothing like a dirty pond for a good afternoon swim.

Last year in KS we bought Dylan a tent that was on sale for maybe $5. Thinking it would be great for him when he and his Father went camping. The boys got it out this weekend and the first night they set it up on Dylan's queen sized bed. It filled the whole bed, it is that big. The next night they set it up in the other bedroom and they all three attempted to sleep in it. It is a great tent and I wish we would have bought 3 for all the boys. Who knew????

Last night while making my very intriguing list of interesting things about me DB was outside barking away at something. There have been lots of Deer roaming about so I assumed this was one also. I caught a glimpse of something out the window way out in the field. Again I assumed it was a deer. DB usually stays by the garage while scaring the vicious deer away, so when it sounded like his bark was getting further away I thought I should check it out. When I get outside a see another glimpse of the animal in the field and realize it isn't a deer maybe a dog. So I yell at Dylan to come help and I start running to where I think DB is. To get there I have to run thru thigh high wet grass (it rained alot yesterday) and as I clear the buildings and the trees I see the animal, it is a coyote. Like a good dog DB is coming to me and the coyote is following him. Great!!!! Finally he stops and Dylan gets out with the leash and also sees it. He watched us quite a while before turning and heading further out in the field. DB loves other dogs so I am shocked he was so willing to come to me when I yelled and whistled for him. The coyote seemed much more interested in him than DB did in the coyote.

Since I can't think of anything interesting I thought it might be fun to do a list. Here are some things you might not know about me.

1. I grew up on a Cattle Ranch in NM. My parents have lived in the same house for close to 48 years.

2. I wore glasses from third grade till 2005 when I had Lasik surgery, I now have 20/25 vision. I think before it was 20/400.

3. I have known my husband for 25 years.

4. I have a degree in Accounting.

5. I played Volleyball, Basketball and ran track in high school, I actually won a couple of medals in track at the state track meet.

6. I have eaten calf oysters aka Rocky mountain oysters aka calf balls before.

7. Terry and I have lived in 12 different houses since we got married.

8. All three of my children have been baptized in the Church Terry and I were married in.

9. My graduating class had 15 students, Terry was one of them.

10. I have been to the top of the World Trade Center.

Remember a while back when I told you the boys brought home 2 tiny frogs and a tadpole from the neighbors pond, well the frogs escaped the next day or two. The tadpole has been alive this whole time living in a plastic container of water. And like all tadpoles do, he turned into a frog, guess what, he escaped.

Yesterday the boys caught another one. Isn't he cute as can be. Jason is holding him.

It seems like for the past few years all I have been doing is waiting, waiting for the next assignment, waiting for housing, waiting for deployments, waiting for deployments to be over and so on. I think I forgot to live while I was waiting. I am sure that is adding to my frustration and anxiety.

DB had to make a trip to the vet for a rash on his neck that was infected. While there they wanted to do a heart worm test. Sure. This test finds many things besides just heart worms. He doesn't have heart worms but he does have a mild case of Lyme disease. He is on a round of medicine for that. I guess Lyme disease is very common here. Great!!!

Jason is still loving summer kindergarten. He loves being a big boy riding the bus and seems to enjoy being at school. This certainly makes me feel better about sending him in the fall.

I ran into a friend at the commissary and she was telling me that her daughter who is a little over one, maybe close to 18 months, refuses to eat anything that isn't homemade. She said that while they were in Leavenworth she decided since she had time to make all her baby food. She was laughing about how hard it made things now. She won't eat pizza, or McDonald's and she was excited she got a bite of hot dog down her the other day. The mother is kicking herself now, I said wait till she has another couple of kids....

Someone told me it doesn't start getting cold here till October, yea we have two more months before I wonder why on earth anyone would live here. There are some military here for the second time. I told Terry I really didn't need to come back ever again, of course saying that he will get his Battalion command here.

Oh and did I mention that lots of people have told me that last winter was mild and that we didn't get very much snow at all.

I wrote an email to housing today and sent it to anyone that I had their email address, which included the top housing guy, the garrison commander and a few other folks at housing. It was not personal just addressed one issue I felt was a little crooked on their part and one of their policy's that I disagree with.

Most likely on the policy issue I will get the standard, sorry that is what works for us and no one else complains about it. But if no one ever says they don't like it, and goes along with it, because they don't want to make waves nothing ever will change.

And as for the other issue just letting the boss know about it makes me feel better. It may be perfectly okay for them to be doing what they did, but to me it just doesn't look or feel right.

Who knows when or if we will ever get offered a house on post. In the next few months Terry and I will have to come to a decision that is best for our family regarding where we will live for the next few years. It is one thing to do temporary housing for a year, I don't think I should live like this for 3 just waiting to get lucky. There are about 17 families behind me on the list, I am not the only discouraged person.

This has certainly taught me some lessons. I will be much smarter next time we have to choose a post, living arrangements and many other things.

And again I turn it all over to God and for the first time all summer I can honestly say " who cares about housing".

They guy or guys worked hard late into the evening on Friday trying to get the hay baled as rain was expected on Saturday and yes it did rain. Kids were so thrilled and wanted to play on the bales, after the one time on the bale for a picture I outlawed going near them. Much to my dismay DB decided to sniff, scatch and pull the strings off the bale closest to the house. OOPS.



You can see how much taller the grass is than DB.

This morning Jason came in my room around six, after bugging the cats he settled down under my blanket that is pulled down to the bottom of the bed every night and went to sleep.

Dylan just returned from a week of boy scout camp. He had a wonderful time and only missed mom and brothers a little. I am so proud of him for going and learning all kinds of new things. More stories to follow later.

Mom missed him a ton. Jason and Tyler ran to him when they saw him. Too bad I didn't have the camera out for a Kodak moment.

In a couple of weeks we will head to NM to visit the relatives there and have a little vacation from Northern New York.

You know the old saying, "when life hands you lemons make lemonade". Today I got another handful of lemons, and I am tired of lemonade.

The house we were hoping to get on post is no longer on notice and if it were a O-6 (Terry is an O-4) that was on hold till August, very conveniently changed his hold date to a day before the house was to be offered to us. But for some reason the house is no longer on notice so it doesn't matter even though it makes me very angry.

So....back to the waiting game.

When I go to bed at night my mind is still flooded with memories of Kirk, and it always takes my mind a second to really believe he is no longer with us. Today's pictures are of a camping trip. Right before we left to Germany, Terry, Derek and Kirk went Camping up near Chama NM. I wish I knew all the stories of the trip, but I do know that at some point Derek ran out of tortillas and Kirk sold him one for $20. I think they had a great time caught a few fish and told a few stories. Kirk was almost 6 when I married Terry so he grew up with him in his life. Here was this cool guy playing army in real life. How cool is that. They both looked up to him, but I really think Kirk admired Terry.

Do we drive or do we fly? Yesterday I was ready to fly, today I am thinking we should drive. Pros and cons

Drive
Pros
flexibility
slightly less money
Spouse will be able to drive back with us

Cons
4 days in a car with 3 kids
Putting more miles on car
gas prices - although I do hear it is cheaper when you leave NY

Fly
Pros
quick we are there in a day

Cons
more money
3 or 4 hours to airport to fly out
4 hours from Albuquerque to my parents house
stuck with the dates
will be difficult to get spouse on same return flight

If we fly it will be hard to get spouse on the same return flight which will be a pain in the bottom in both Albuquerque and where ever we are flying to.

We have been patiently waiting for someone to come cut all the grass for Hay. My neighbors said it is usually done by this time of the summer. Well yesterday he did it. My three foot plus grass is now on the ground ready to be made into bales. I am wondering if all this stuff in the air gave me a very nasty headache yesterday.

Megan, Angie and I finally organized a girls night out last night. We all lined up our sitters and headed to TGI Fridays for a tasty dinner. I couldn't resist ordering a Margarita and the waitress carded me. How funny is that. We all had a good laugh as she is looking at my ID and then she says "I would have never guessed your age" Ha Ha.... She must have thought Angie and Megan were teenagers. It reminded us of the time in Kansas when the waiter very stupidly asked if Maggie was Angie's mom. HELLO - Goodbye tip.

We decided while we were without kids we should give out toes some much needed attention. One guy also talked us into eyebrow waxes. So we looked great when we got home to our sleeping kids and babysitters.

It was great to get out and have some girl time. We certainly need to do it more often. We also decided to try to get someone to come to our houses for a pedicure party. Hope that works out.

I hate to even put this on here in fear that it will jinx us. Last Monday a K&E came on the list, which would have put us 3rd to be offered a house with two homes on notice. Housing says they didn't expect him till August. Tuesday I get an email from Housing asking me to call. When I finally talked to her she said that Garrison Command had taken away the K&E status for a few months of the person that came on the list early, which puts him behind us on the list. That puts us 2nd to be offered a house with two houses on notice.

It is funny how this all works out. The way houses are offered here is the first person on the list is offered the first house to vacate. The house I want in the right school district vacates at the end of July. When it came on notice I was 1st to be offered a house, but we knew at least one more K&E was expected in July. We also knew that a house in the other neighborhood was going to go on notice we just didn't know when.

During the time when housing wasn't returning my emails and phone calls, the house in the other neighborhood came on notice with a move out date in mid July, which means the 1st person on the list (the expected K&E) will be offered that house leaving us to be offered the house in the right school district.

So keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer that all goes according to plan and on July 24th we get offered a house.

Flashback from Germany

The guys went to a Artillery party at the German base in Ida Oberstein. Shown are Casey Randall (standing) JT Townsend, Pete Kremzar and Terry and SFC Riley Keys Where are they now? Casey is at Westpoint, JT got his MBA from the University of Chicago, Pete is in Saudia Arabia.

Lots of people do lists, here is my list why I like where I live (only applies to Summer time)


1. No Drama

2. Kids have room to run and they aren't bothering anyone else.

3. Dog has room to run and he isn't bothering anyone else.

4. When the kids are crying it is only my kids involved no one elses.

6. No one hears me yelling at my kids (only applies indoors)

7. My boys have become friends, real friends.

8. No Drama

A boy and his Dog

Plotting against a snail

Off to Summer Kindergarten

Looking cute

Just try to get that ball away

After putting everything in God's hands I feel much better. I decided that if we have to stay in this house longer it will be fine. The kids and I had some nice visits with the neighbor and he (my neighbor Karl) fixed my lawnmower and even mowed, raked and hauled off some grass for us. So really it isn't that bad.

We did receive some news yesterday that the housing situation might change. Will update you later on that. But it might be really good news.


Jason started summer school for Kindergarten yesterday. They are busing them there. At 7:45am here came the bus for his first day. He seemed a little shy, but got right on and it didn't seem to bother him at all. I had to pick him up yesterday so we could go to doctor appointments and the first thing out of his mouth was "Tyler I rode a bus". He thinks that makes him such a big boy. He is very proud of himself. It kind of makes me cry. My baby is growing up too fast. I thought maybe he might not want to go today, but he hopped right on the bus this morning, again I almost cried.

My neighbors brought me fresh raspberries from their back yard today. I really believe that God gives us little signs to let us know he is here and has not forgotten us.
While they were at our house Dylan spied a moma skunk and 3 little ones crossing the highway by their house (the neighbors). We ended up walking down to their house to look for the family of skunks (they had already made it into the woods) and then hung out at their pond full of some sort of small catfish and all kinds of frogs. The kids brought home 2 tiny frogs (smaller than a pencil eraser) and a tadpol. Wonderful!! The frogs have already escaped once.

It also rained 3 inches at my parents ranch in NM, another gift from God. We truely have so much to be thankful for.

My frustration level is at an all time high with housing. We were bumped again by another Key & Essential person. My contact at housing says this person wasn't expected until August. I know that housing must be a hard thing to anticipate, but for the person right at the top close enough to touch a house, but not grab it it is very frustrating. I really have to turn it over to God. I have no control and the roller coaster emotions on top of Terry being gone aren't very healthy for me. It is difficult enough with your spouse being deployed, and add on the disappointment every time someone bumps you really can make you depressed. We are at our lowest level since we got on the list 7 months ago. That makes perfect sense doesn't it. Anyone with any words of advice please leave a comment. I could use the wisdom.

Terry got to fly somewhere else and fly a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). He said it was very cool to fly. Here are some photos from his trip and of where he works.

Terry with the UAV.

Baghdad apartments from the air.

Mosque on Camp Victory

Another photo of Camp Victory.

Terry's words "Yep those are Cows."

Al Faw Palace where Terry works.

Staircase in Al Faw Palace

Hallway in Al Faw Palace

Bat house (for furry little mammals?)

Stryker and Humvee

Pallets of Bottled Water

I don't know why he keeps complaining about the air there!!! (Sandstorm)

Because life would be boring if we didn't change our plans every once in a while, there is a change in plans.

Terry is coming home in August to join another unit (3rd Brigade) to redeploy to Iraq some time in Decmember. General Oates signed off on it today. He is going to try to join us in NM on our little vacation there and drive back with us.

I haven't told my kids yet and might not till we get to NM just to make sure it is really going to happen. I don't want them getting their hopes up.

Terry works in a palace that is an island. These grass carp are in the pond/lake.

This is the front of the palace where he works.

Pizza and salad for the 4th.

Finally Terry took his camera to work and took a couple of pictures. Baby steps for sure. Some guy from Chicago sent 2000 pizzas to Iraq for July 4th. Terry got a piece. The salad looks better than anything I have eaten in the past two months.