Insight of the Moment

The Second Quarter Ends: The Consequences and the Glory?

2012-02-09T23:52:00.001-05:00

You know there's something going on when the urge to schedule, organize, and plan is gone. I can't summon the passion. Two weeks of paper after paper, final after final, and presentations and deadlines and Thesis chapter corrections, that if this were mid-century, I would "take to my bed."

But if I were to become affected by the life dampening effects of stress, I might have tweaked my neck and back muscles on both sides in the same week rending me almost completely useless. I might be able to sleep for 9 or 10 hours straight each night with or without the aide of wine, tylenol PM, muscle relaxers, ibuprofen, or a combination thereof - not that I would ever advocate that.

I might have gone to the closest Med-Spa, contemplated BOTOX and then purchased enough (non-BOTOX) services involving lasers that will last 5 months costing over a month's worth of disposable income. Then two days after that I might go to the nearest hair salon, willfully endured three hours of multi-dimensional highlighting plus dark color glazing, eyebrow waxing, and trimming and blowdrying. Just maybe.

I might have been told that I was expected to produce 40 pages by the end of February and that my break was not intended to enjoy the time off but to work, because I am, after all, being paid for it. After said information was imparted, I might have had a feeble minded and whiney inner monologue. I might have eaten 5 pieces of pizza after that too. Maybe. Possibly.

Speaking of which, it's a good thing HusBand is home all the time because if I were to be stressed out and hopeless, I may indulge in binge eating (with a cup of green tea of course) of all the chocolate and delicious other food items that await the vulnerable.

I might also become obsessed with Pinterest.

Or with how to Look Better Naked. Or with stupid F@#$ing Facebook games.

I might somehow be able to resist the urge to drop $200 at TJ Maxx because it would take effort to try on clothes, but would have no problem handing the credit card over for furniture, throw pillows, and home accent pieces from Pier 1.

I might be so sunlight-deprived from weeks of being cooped up in my newly formed cave (aka cat-room-turned-study) where the 'chair of enlightenment' mocks me, and I see no use in point in reemerging because :

a. It's a tease
b. I have so much more writing to do anyway so why start now
c. If I go out I may never want to go back in and turn into someone who lives in a tent just to enjoy the beautiful nature

If I were in such a state of mind, these would be very serious concerns. Fortunately, I am well adjusted and impervious to the effects of stress. Grad school is supposed to be... unfun. Melodramatic blogging will achieve nothing, let alone solve my problems or write my thesis for me. Lucky for me I have a good handle on everything...

Choosing to remain a vampire.

My classmates and I have developed a survival strategy that just may work. It's called... Happy Hour.

Thesis Pondering and Ramblings

2012-01-30T22:38:00.000-05:00

We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse.
- Rudyard Kipling

Rough start to the year but I can say that my head has remained above water, albeit barely at times. The amount of work I have had to do in two weeks was previously incomprehensible to me. Lots of writing, lots of reading, research, citations, a woefully late nights getting very little accomplished. There is more to come, but I think the worst is over.

Somehow, HusBand still loves me.

Chapter 2 of my thesis has been submitted (as a very rough draft). I have sent it to a couple interested family members; my dad has already sent me corrections (via USPS!!), with an alleged "liberal" use of his editing pen. "There is a lot of room for improvement," his short email proclaims. Combined with what is sure to be Dr. B's abundant editing reprisals (for having made him read the thing), writing Chapter 3 will be all the merrier.

About one more week and the quarter will be done. Then full speed ahead, undistracted and focused (except for facebook, pinterest, kitties, tv, sudoku on my cell phone, sleeping, working out, running, stupid errands... you name it) on the damned thesis.

Still, better to have two crappy chapters done than zero perfect ones.

Chair of Enlightenment

2012-01-20T12:07:00.000-05:00

The other day I finally found the chair I wanted for our newly reclaimed (from the cats) den. I've been trying to turn this small windowless space into a good spot to study and finding the perfect reading chair is part of the transition. The chair is small and the curved back is actually really comfy. But the important aspect of this chair is that you still sit upright in it. No slouching! And no sleeping in it.

LOTS of fun, cute, small furniture at Pier 1. I have a feeling I'm going to be a repeat customer.

Here is a pic of another chair that was a close second.

The red chair was ultimately THE ONE because it was more comfortable and HusBand preferred. Again - lots of cute chairs like this one and my red one. I'll probably go back soon to get an accent pillow.

I am completely overwhelmed with the amount of work I have to do in the next couple weeks. It got to the point last night where I was so tired I didn't make my goal of 3 pages of my thesis. I'm not even sure I'll make my quote for today either. Sometimes, it's almost better to just let it happen as it should and pull a horrible all-nighter and create genius in one grand effort.

I'm not a fan of that approach at the graduate level because there are so many more questions to be answered and the papers are so long and often involve complex topics. For example, I have to write about the Russo-Georgian war and conflict theory that explains it. Not super hard, but my returned draft from my prof was heavily edited. All this work and lots more of it.

I must toil now. In the Chair of Enlightenment.

Predictions of what 2011 would be like

2012-01-15T15:31:00.000-05:00

This is pretty cool. Some of it is silly, but some is spot on.

Predictions of what 2011 would be like in a 1911 newspaper.

Predictions for 2111? I wonder what be in existence that we cannot conceive of now. Like the internet.

Changed

2012-01-12T00:02:00.000-05:00

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Changed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

From the outskirts of the town,
Where of old the mile-stone stood,
Now a stranger, looking down
I behold the shadowy crown
Of the dark and haunted wood.

Is it changed, or am I changed?
Ah! the oaks are fresh and green,
But the friends with whom I ranged
Through their thickets are estranged
By the years that intervene.

Bright as ever flows the sea,
Bright as ever shines the sun,
But alas! they seem to me
Not the sun that used to be,
Not the tides that used to run.

I'm finding it much easier to do random poetry searches of fellow Mainer Henry W. Longfellow tonight instead of write a paper that's due in about 8 hours. This poem inspires me. We all have changed and we lose friends through time and often not for any other reason. This is sad to me, but what can be done about it? Life, jobs, major and minor crises, other friends, family, and neglectfulness fills our time. My friend who preserved my sanity during my last deployment called me today. I miss her.

I can count on only one hand the people I have considered true friends. Time to let them know.

And on the Fourth Day, She went to Staples

2012-01-08T21:28:00.000-05:00

A trip to Staples is all that is needed to make me happy. It was my first day out and about after the tragic running accident that left me all banged up.

A good office supply store puts me in great spirits in short order. Truly, the potential for organization and productivity from the goods and services offered in that store align my stars right into the foreseeable future. Today I limited myself to the following:

500 Index Cards!! For meeting weekly and monthly quotas.

Binder clips and paperclips to keep everything together.

A stapler! It works perfectly. Too bad it isn't red.

HusBand was a good sport. We went to Panera Bread and Trader Joes after that.

I'm healing up ok. My head stopped swelling on Day 3 and now I'm left with the nasty deskinned spot on my left knee. If I could walk around all day in shorts or a skirt I'd be fine. But no, I have to put on the scratchy, uncomfortable polyester blend Class B uniform tomorrow. ACUs the day after that.

Such is my life.

Appreciation

2012-01-04T21:32:00.000-05:00

Appreciation is felt for the good samaritan, a man named John, who happened upon me today on the west side of the Pentagon. I had just righted myself after connecting with the sidewalk cement, roughly 0.88 miles from the parking lot where my GPS usually acquires enough satellites to start running.

0.88 miles into my 6 mile run, feeling all brave for running in the cold, my toe got stuck on a section of sidewalk and down I went. First knees, then left arm and shoulder and wrist, and momentum kept me sliding onto the left side of my face and forehead.

Yes, Aunt Judy, it was in the daytime.

It was shocking to both body and psyche and I could only imagine what the passing rush hour traffic thought of my graceless act. Prior to my short journey to connecting with the earth, I saw John off in the distance on the sidewalk walking toward me. Now I was wondering if he really was there or if I had imagined him.

Embarrassed, enraged, humiliated, cheated (out of a good run), and self pity all accurately describe the emotions of my precious moment. I cried like a girl. I figured I could stand so I did, pathetically clinging to the chain link fence next to the sidewalk. What a display.

John approached, asked me if I was ok.

"I've had better days."

He saw my face, looked at my head, asked me a few questions to determine my lucidity.

Today was Wednesday, Obama is still president, and Romney won the Iowa Caucus. What a state of affairs.

We decided that I wasn't seriously injured, could walk ok, and due to the swelling in my face and stinging in my knees, my run was over for today. John walked me back to the Pentagon Memorial where we parted ways. I thanked him, so grateful. I would definitely have done the same for him or someone else.

THANK YOU, Mr. Good Samaritan - Mr. John Anatoli (sp?) - may I see you on the trail again someday but in better condition.

I ran the rest of the way back. Back to cry in HusBand's arms and to escape the humiliation of that moment. HusBand took good care of me - dressed my wounds, gave me ice for my swollen nugget, and made me dinner. It IS nice to not have to go through something like this alone.

So Thank You good samaritan, thank you HusBand, and thank you cousin/pharmacist Kristin for your help tonight.

The good news: my knees, while banged up, are ok along with feet and hips. I can get back to running quickly I hope.

The bad news: I have a weird misshaped, deformed head with road rash.

Blog Anniversary! Year Two

2012-01-03T20:32:00.000-05:00

Today is the second anniversary of Insight of the Moment. Started it right after the wedding to chronicle our travels and adventures, but also to start an individual writing habit. I think it's done just that with an occasional surge in writing but sometimes with weeks-long breaks.

I have a few loyal readers, mainly Kris, mother-in-law Deborah, those who receive this in an email, and someone named Taylor. Sometimes I think the greyhound blogger near Atlanta reads it, since I sometimes read hers, and my new running coach and fellow blogger Shelly who writes an excellent runner's blog. Not sure though.

Sometimes I wonder if Doctrine Man reads it.

I think a few Facebook friends check it every so often which is cool. And then there are the stalkers. :)

My best blog writing tools are:

http://thesaurus.com/
http://dictionary.reference.com/

I am often at a loss for the right word.

With your own blog, unless it's themed (mine is not), you can write or post whatever you want, no matter how random.

See? Mostly random. Bunch of kitties and then a view of HusBand in the kitchen at the end. Maybe someday I'll get focused. But for now I rather enjoy changing topics with the changes in life.

School, running, gym, travels, friends, holidays, kitties, thesis, fun and parties, shopping, cars, interior design, maybe politics, Army stuff, fashion, real estate, and fun pictures. That about sums up my blog "theme."

Office Space

2012-01-02T19:48:00.000-05:00

As part of achieving my #3 goal for 2012, I may have found my little office space. It's one of three so I have choices around the apartment:

My new "office" for now.

This is ok but comes with plenty of distractions (kitties, HusBand, tv).

This is nice too but I tend to fall asleep 30 minutes into studying.

I think my new little spot will work. It's fairly quiet and I can think in here. I need to make the den a little more office friendly with a better chair and maybe a rug for the wood floor. It's already a great space!

Obligatory clip from the movie Office Space.

Goals for 2012, in lieu of Resolutions

2011-12-31T17:25:00.000-05:00

Here it is - THE last day of 2011. I ran 5 miles at a 8:29 pace and fought for it the whole way but there was NO way I was going to walk. I didn't take my usual GU gel so that may account for my lack of energy. No excuses though and certainly no excuses going into 2012.

I love the concept of New Years Resolutions, but they have to be realistic otherwise they will never stick. The first day of a new year is a symbolically great day to make a change, but any day throughout the year is also a good time.

Here are eight goals for 2012, ones that are attainable and realistic yet still challenging. (I refer you to #8 as the most challenging.)

1. Step up my effort to do special things with HusBand and enjoy each other's company. More travel perhaps? Special meals. Chess games.

2. Put my best effort into writing and finishing my master's thesis. This really will require a lot of discipline on my part and a change in some of my habits.

3. Continue to establish a place to read, write, and study. I have a plan for our den but it needs a couple pieces of furniture. I really need it, so I'm going to make this one happen - my future depends on it.

4. Continue my 6 mile, running comfort zone but pursue training techniques to be faster. Run at least 4 races of varying lengths to keep up my motivation. With this comes gym workouts and diet. They are all connected. Maybe I will even get a running coach once and for all.

5. Explore creative writing - enter writing contests or find other means of getting feedback. Exploit friends and family if necessary. Maybe an online creative writing degree will be my next academic endeavor.

6. Make friends. People need people and I am no exception.

7. Try to read one fun book per month. A lofty goal considering my current academic load, but try anyway...

8. Be more tolerant of those things that drive me bats#@t crazy. There are many. This is the hardest one of all.

Now that I've written it, these goals are pretty lofty. I can only do my best and I'm sure I will fail from time to time. It's inevitable. The resolution part comes in a commitment to keep trying, even when you fail at something.

There it is. No longer committed to daily entries after today, but will post when the inspiration hits.

Happy New Year everyone!

Goodbye 2011: Not a Bad Performance

2011-12-30T22:58:00.000-05:00

A vodka tonic with orange starts things off right. Two is even better.

It's time for reflection. This blog, while not thorough, has captured some of the more significant events in my life this past year. So I'll take a stroll down memory lane, in chronological order, and we'll see how it turns out:

1. January 21 - it was the last full month of my last deployment to Iraq. It was busy, but it was torture, just wanted to get out of there. I was preparing for my reunion with HusBand. I am happy to look back and see that I was at least thinking about this.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/01/expectations-post-deployment-reunion.html

2. January 29 - HusBand's internet was shut down while in Egypt. The Egyptian people were protesting in Cairo and demanding new leadership and a better life. This was crazy stressful while Kris was actually preparing for the worst, had no internet, and I was the one redeploying back to the U.S. in a week. HusBand's parents were beside themselves... Will never forget it.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/01/chronic-unpredictability.html

3. February 9 - I used the publishing delay function on blogspot so that it would post after I got back. I waxed philosophic on my various "lasts" in Camp Victory, Iraq. It is so exciting leaving a place you don't want to be even if it was to go to Texas. I was so freaking happy to see HusBand in that tent in Fort Hood. It all worked out, even if things did not work out exactly as we had planned.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/02/here-and-there.html

4. March 18 - We took a giant road trip across the country after my obligatory 2 weeks of "reintegration training" after returning from Iraq. We did a bunch of stuff in Florida, Savannah, North Carolina, DC (found our awesome apartment thanks to Shelly!), and retrieved all three shit monsters. HusBand and I are independent free spirits and were not meant to be cooped up in car for long periods of time. Even if it is a brand new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland with satellite radio. Regardless, I think visiting all the countries at Epcot center was our greatest achievement.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/03/11-countries-in-15-days-epcot-center.html

5. April 5 - April was a grand month of rediscovering all things great about availability of goods and services in the US of A. I did, however, get a wake up call about my house. The last tenants were not so... good. But most of the things wrong with the house were things that had not been kept up with over the year. Spent the rest of my time in Texas trying to fix it up to try to sell it.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/04/amanda-in-real-world-adventures-in.html

6. May was an interesting month overall. Osama bin Laden was killed, I had some crazy painful dental work done very quickly, and I visited Minnesota for the first time. The dental work really stands out though...

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/05/less-than-ideal-enhanced-dental.html

7. June was the month I moved to Virginia. HusBand did a lot of work getting the place ready. We spent several months getting it fixed up the way we wanted it. Moving those damn cats was the most traumatic part. I wrote one entry in June and one in the beginning of July chronicling that time period.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/07/getting-settled-process.html

8. July 4, 15 - We got to spend our first 4th of July together in our nation's capital, literally at the Washington monument. It was fun and crowded. Later that month we finally ate our wedding cake top. My parents had saved it in their freezer that whole time and I drove it back from Maine after visiting during the summer. It was so damn good, I was actually really surprised. Also that month, Amy Winehouse passed away and I went through some challenging adjustment issues. HusBand said I just needed to start school. He was right.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/07/independence-day-and-eating-15-year-old.html

9. August 1, 9, and 23 - I'm posting the entire month because a lot happened. August 1 was my official promotion day to Major. Kris took me on a helicopter tour of DC and Maryland - totally loved it. Bought me sushi for lunch afterwards. Also that day my friend Shelly gave birth to her baby girl Odessa. It meant so much to me to be there. I visited her the next day. The next week I had my official promotion ceremony. A colonel I worked for at Fort Hood promoted me and Kris put my rank on. Shelly was there! Crazy. Such a special day. Later that month we got hit with an earthquake and a hurricane in the same damn week. Also - I started school that month. Big month for me.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html

10. September 2 - I posted a very typical "lessons learned" blog about school. It was kind of a culture shock to get back into that environment. I really enjoyed it and am still enjoying it. Also in September, I got my new 2009 Volkswagen CC Luxury. Loving the heated seats and automatic transmission.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/09/school-first-week-lessons-learned.html

11. October 9 - Army Ten-Miler. This was a huge event for me. And for HusBand. 10 miles is a long distance. I worked my butt off for it and really didn't know if I was ready. It was fun though and even more fun when it was over. Afterwards, I promised myself that I wouldn't let all that effort go to waste and have kept up with a consistent 6 mile distance.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/10/army-ten-miler-race-prep.html

12. October 17 - October is also HusBand's birth month. We went big. His father got him a gift certificate to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse which overlooks Reagan National Airport in Crystal City. It was EXCELLENT. And we went to see DC United play in RFK Stadium. I enjoyed his birthday quite a bit. I hope he did too!

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/10/united.html

13. December 1 - Not a significant event but I LOVE this entry because there is a picture of the sunset from my parents' front window in Maine. I took it when I was there for Thanksgiving. On December 1, I resolved to write at least one entry every day and I have actually stuck with it!!! Most entries are not profound, but I proved to myself that I can write every day. More writing to come from me. You better believe it!

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/12/finishing-strong.html

14. December 4 - It was really important to me to have a decorated apartment. Kris and I enjoyed spending Christmas together after being apart the year before. The place felt so festive and nice.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-has-arrived.html

15. December 9 - I sold my house in Killeen, Texas. I had to pay almost $20,000 to get rid of it. It lost about $10K in value and with realtor fees and VA loan closing costs for my buyer, it added up. I was mad. Really mad for a while. But it's done and the money was already set aside so it wasn't a significant financial impact. But still, no one buys property thinking that will happen. But I didn't want to just let it depreciate or fall apart some more...

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/12/closing-raging.html

16. December 11 - This was seriously one of my most favorite days this month. I ran an 8K race in DC, with Shelly, and then we got burgers and talked, and it was just one of those super emotionally fulfilling days. Yes, I'm all mushy. Good girlfriends are hard to find for someone like me.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/12/true-story.html

17. December 20 - I started a new total body workout that Kris introduced me to. I needed to get refocused in the gym to compliment my running and it was just the thing I needed. We've actually worked out a couple times together. Most of the time we do our own thing, but I really like working out with him.

1. He doesn't screw around in there, he's focused and I like that. I work harder too.
2. He's wicked cute
3. It's fun to work out together and have that in common.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/12/fitness-coercion-success.html

18. December 24 - Christmas Eve Day was CRAZY. We went to a Vikings-Redskins game courtesy of father-in-law. Then drove to Wintergreen Resort by way of Starbucks (somewhere along the way) and had a nice dinner and a fire. It was so much fun.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-eve-with-husband-nfl.html

19. December 25 - Of course Christmas Day deserves mention. Best Christmas I've had in recent memory. My previous Christmas in the states was in '09 and that was two days before the wedding. Sorry but no - that was stressful and I about lost my marbles. This Christmas was incredible and relaxing. Kris and his mom Deborah deserve all the credit. I was all ready for stress and tension - but no. It was great.

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/12/between-holidays-building-momentum-for.html

20. December 27 - Anniversary Day. Two years married to Kris and it was really nice. We did a bunch of shopping and then had an incredible dinner. I can tell that this might be the way of the future for us since we will eternally be bookended by Christmas and New Years. But I'm sure we will make up for it with trips and fun and excitement during the rest of the year. Local and low key was in order for us!

http://www.insightofmine.blogspot.com/2011/12/two-years.html

Well that's it! 20 significant mentions. Not feeling all that bad about it to be honest - lots of ups and downs and adjustment. That is the key element in all this - it was a year of getting used to being back, getting adjusted to being married, and trying to figure out who I am again.

It's now time for looking to strengths, capabilities, abilities, and potential - not deprivations, weaknesses, disadvantages, and insecurities long past their expiration date. Less isolation and more inspiration.

One more day of 2011. I will go for one final run, make my plan for next year, and make merry with my wonderful HusBand and friends until the new year makes its presence known. One last chance to do great things in 2011.

Productivity

2011-12-29T20:44:00.000-05:00

Today has been a good day for getting stuff done. Not in a meet-a-weekly-quota Communist kind of way, but a casual, knocking-a-few-things-off-the-list way.

Did some laundry, errands, stopped by Starbucks, Loft to spend a gift card (Thanks Mom and Dad!), read 3 chapters of something, tan, gym, Christmas stuff put away (with HusBand's leading effort), and a day ending with a yummy meal and a Cabernet Franc from Barboursville Winery.

Outdoor chessboard outside of Starbucks. Love this!

Awesome Starbucks deal - buy one lb, get one free!

Skating rink.

Christmas put away - so sad.

Vase as an improvised wine decanter. We obviously need a real one!

Settling in with kitties.

Perfect spot.

Lucky shot.

Two more days left. More productivity ahead!

Consequences of Making Merry

2011-12-28T22:11:00.000-05:00

My starting point with this entry is relocating to a quiet spot in the apartment. Difficult at times because HusBand and I sometimes have conflicting interests - usually involving the big tv in the living room.

So I reclaimed the tv/dvd combo, a remnant of deployment #2, that had been moved to the "den" for a recent visitor and am now watching holiday movies. Watched A Christmas Carol earlier - 3 days late I admit but still within regulatory time frame dictated by tradition. Am now tucked in bed watching The Holiday (2006) with Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, the adorable Jude Law, and lots of other big names. I LOVE this movie. Just two cheesy love stories against the backdrop of the holidays.

Earlier today I had lunch with Shelly for the last time. So sad. I will miss my good friend.

Now is that time - the post holiday I'm-so-fat-must-do-something-drastic time of year. Women around the world understand this. With a husband who requires that two pounds of butter to remain in the house at all times for baking emergencies, this may be a challenge. Need to lose around 5 - 8 pounds. Just stating a fact. The gym, running, and diet - diet is the hardest.

Christmas + Anniversary meals + cold weather and darkness + husband who likes to cook + stalling metabolism = the perfect storm of weight gain. Must take action.

So I did just that. I ran 4 miles today and after about a week off, it HURT. I was able to average an 8:30 miles, but with physical discomfort the entire time. And 20mph wind. Back on the wagon.

Two Years

2011-12-27T21:40:00.000-05:00

Well here it is, the big day. So far it's been fun, except for the dark skies and rain we've had here. We shopped it up at DSW, TJ Maxx (HusBand now understands), and Best Buy.

Then out for an incredible dinner at i ricci near Dupont Circle in DC.

Crazy expensive, but probably the best wine I've ever had.

The waiter admitted that they bring out their decanters for the best wine. It was incredible!

New Christmas dress from HusBand, necklace from Deborah. Earrings also from Deborah, hidden by hair.

2nd course - pasta - incredible.

The pasta course did me in. I should have just cried uncle there. It was so delicious. I could barely continue after that.

Wearing everything new - except the ring (and of course the man), two years old.

Dupont Circle Metro

We were going to take the metro home, but decided on a cab after seeing the next train wouldn't be there for 20 minutes.

The best part about anniversary day - it wasn't really stressful at all.

Funniest wedding memory ever - me getting my first reality check via HusBand - "chill out!"

Tomorrow needs to be a dedicated clean up and reorganization day. There's a lot of clutter in this tiny apartment.

Feng Shui is badly needed.

Between Holidays: Building Momentum for the Grand Finale

2011-12-26T20:39:00.000-05:00

Christmas morning

After a lovely Christmas, we find ourselves bookended by holidays. Yesterday, as we all know, was Christmas day. Tomorrow is the second anniversary of my marriage with Kris. First anniversary actually spent with him.

We have a fun day of returning Christmas gifts (code for buying more stuff!) and a lovely dinner out in DC somewhere. Maybe some cleaning up and some movie watching.

Alison got me Space Camp! And the parents got us three Jack Ryan movies. The first three of course.

I must admit, this is my favorite part. The stressful buildup to Christmas is over, now the fun. Free time, shopping, planning for the new year, and playing with new Christmas presents. Any good deeds and positive acts help build momentum going into the new year. Why wait for the countdown, I always say. Start now!

I will get a couple more runs in, and a couple more times at the gym. Some reflection on what has been accomplished and what the future holds is still in order. Five more blog posts left in 2011. I will make it happen!

С Рождеством!

2011-12-25T16:51:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas! Today marks a very significant day in a certain part of the world. 20 years ago today, the Soviet Union fell. On December 25, 1991 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev conceded power and in its place the Commonwealth of Independent States was created.

Flag of the Russian Federation

Gorbachev's policies of glasnost (openness/publicity) and perestroika (restructuring/reform) opened eyes as years of repression and controlled media limited outside exposure and understanding of the rest of the world.

Gorbachev's biggest problem is that you can't have a little bit of freedom of expression and open political dissent AND maintain communist party control. You can't have it both ways. The people demanded more and criticized Gorbachev for not doing enough.

The Baltic States began to demand autonomy followed by the Transcaucasus region. The government refused to allow separation. Then the central asian states began Nationalist movements.

Then the Communist attempted coup d'etat in August 1991, during which Gorbachev was kidnapped and removed from leadership for three days, failed after massive protests and military rebellion. There was no turning back the clock after this.

On December 25, 1991 the hammer and sickle flag came down and the Russian Federation was created.

Russia has taken a few years to get on its feet, not to mention the 14 other countries that were created once the USSR was dissolved. Russians are still recovering from over 70 years of isolation in Soviet Society and this is often reflected in the population's preference to return to a centralized government. Choosing for oneself is often intimidating or even useless if an election is predetermined anyway.

Merry Christmas to Russia! Hope you enjoyed the little history lesson. Very festive. :)

A Christmas Eve with HusBand, the NFL, Starbucks, and Wintergreen Resort

2011-12-24T22:36:00.000-05:00

Main square at Pentagon Row - very pretty right now

This Christmas Eve day has been unlike any I've ever had. It is the first Christmas Kris and I have spent together as a married couple. The last time we were together at Christmastime was the two days before we got married in 2009. That was an entirely inexplicable level of stress.

Today, however, was both busy and fun. We woke up with a sense of purpose and unwrapped presents and packed for our two day resort getaway.

Post Christmas devastation.

We both did pretty well - someone got a red Tumi Ducati backpack to go with someone's red Ducati motorcycle.

Then we got on the road to FEDEX Stadium to watch the Vikings play the Redskins. A big thank you to Kris's dad for the tickets. Great Christmas gift.

Someone was happy to go see the Vikings. Or watch points acquired for fantasy football in person.
AND - someone had a new Christmas shirt on.

The NFL experience was sensory overload. There is a lot going on with the band, cheerleaders, players, announcers, and the moron fans sitting all around us. Seriously. You don't see a tenth of this stuff on tv.

FEDEX field.

We had super great seats.

Up close!

Redskins cheerleader in little santa outfits.

We left after the 3rd quarter to beat the traffic, but the final score was 33 -26 Vikings! Having become a recent fan of the Vikings (by marriage, naturally) I was a happy sports fan. AND, the Patriots beat the Dolphins 27-24. Merry Christmas indeed!

Obligatory game day pic. We were bundled up!

Great fun. I saw Kris make friends with a couple of random Vikings fans. Commonalities mainly derived from fantasy football leagues more so than loyalty to any one team. How the internet has changed people...

We got going after the 3rd quarter and headed west towards Wintergreen Resort - about a 4 hour drive but not too far from Kris's mom in Charlottesville, VA.

Christmas Eve sunset - from the jeep's passenger seat

We finally got to Wintergreen - of course there was a Starbucks stop involved delaying us only slightly.

We checked in, found our HUGE room - basically an apartment with a full kitchen, living room, two bathrooms, separate bedroom, dining area, and a fireplace - the best part.

We went to our dinner reservation and then came back to light the fire. It's going pretty well now but was difficult at first. Tomorrow, when we wake up, we'll get to see the entire resort in daylight. Pictures are sure to follow.

Merry Christmas everyone!

The End.

Christmas Spirit Achieved

2011-12-23T22:52:00.000-05:00

Good day - decent day. Shopping complete and getting ready for the big weekend. Had a great time over at Mike and Shelly's with our gift exchange tonight. They are leaving soon - I can't believe it. :( There are some friends, precious few, with whom you can talk forever about ANYTHING. I appreciate it each and every time Kris and I are around them.

Feeling much better now.

Below are pictures of the evolution of our Christmas tree and the presents accumulated beneath them. Santa has been good.

After the tree went up, fake presents for show.

Some real presents mixed with fake ones.

Max presents - accumulated from HusBand, me, and family.

It All Comes Together

2011-12-22T22:16:00.000-05:00

Today's typically boring Intel Reasoning and Analysis class was actually very enlightening. The first four weeks were tied together with a 1957 movie called Twelve Angry Men. Old movies are hilarious with the strange (for 2011) pattern of speech and cinematic direction. Not to mention that a movie like this would never do well in today's special-effect, action saturated world.

12 Angry Men

The entire movie takes place in a jury room with no action. Twelve jurors have to decide the fate of an 18 year old who allegedly stabbed his father. A unanimous guilty verdict would bring the death penalty. 11 jurors initially vote for a guilty verdict and one, the lone dissenter, Henry Fonda's character, questions the evidence.

It is a study into those elements that could prevent an objective examination of a problem. Each person brings background, experiences, biases, and emotions that can weight heavily on a final decision. Also very relevant was the "group think" dynamic.

The lesson we are moving towards is in the intelligence world, dissent, questioning evidence, and creative approaches should not be discouraged. Although group dynamics often dictate otherwise.

Most stressful week yet, and its not even over. Hope to wrap up with some lingering tasks.

One final statement/observation: some things are great in theory (like maybe communism?), but horrible in practice. The enlightened human may know what is right and what should be done - but things like upbringing, values, biases, and emotions prevent it from happening; no matter how hard they try. Absolute right, by universal standards, may never be a realistic right for an individual, flawed human being.

Humbug

2011-12-21T22:02:00.000-05:00

Bah!

Christmas? What Christmas?

I feel like I haven't seen the light of day or had any thoughts of Christmas in forever (or since last weekend which at this point feels like forever). School has taken over. Christmas isn't real.

Finished my last paper today but it's still just a 90% solution that I will try and fix tomorrow morning before I turn it in. Stress!!!! A nice paper on the collapse of the North Korean government. Not that it has happen, but if it happens, what would the U.S. do? This article was written before Kim Jung Il died. Great article, got me right in the holiday spirit!

And the shopping, it's not done yet. Have a lot to do to get ready. But after tomorrow - done for a week! Of course I have to read for the big thesis, but it will be so nice to relax. Blinding Flash of the Obvious - BFO (an actual edit comment from my thesis chair on my proposal).

Ok, this is a total sad excuse for a blog. An embarrassment. Brain drain is to blame. I gotta get up early tomorrow.

Perpetual emotional distress, I tell you. Holidays, when combined with real life, is really a lot and compressed into a small amount of time making the overall effect even worse.

Bah!!

Fitness Coercion Success

2011-12-20T22:29:00.001-05:00

After another super long day of school, and a super long trip home (via metro), I had no choice but to go to the gym since it's super dark at 1745. I have abandoned any further attempts at running past 1500; self preservation being my #1 reason.

So I decided to blow off some steam, at our local Bally Total Fitness, with a mile warm up on the treadmill and then a total body workout. Kris found this workout in an issue of Men's Health Magazine and really likes it. He raved about it so much that I decided to give it a try, albeit reluctantly.

Unfortunately, the workout isn't posted online but there are similar versions. It is designed to build muscle mass and since my body is a state of equilibrium with running and not burning enough calories to aide in any weight loss, I need to shock it with something new and interesting. This workout is just the thing for both shock, and something interesting.

I worked out with Kris last Friday and today did it on my own. There are three variants with the differences consisting of number of sets and/or reps but each time the exercises are completed in the same order.

Once every three days you will do either A, B, or C workout. Today I did the B workout and it consisted of the following:

Dumbbell clean and press - 5 sets of 5 reps
Barbell Squat - 2 sets of 10 reps
Straight leg dead lift - 1 set of 20 reps
Chest supported row - 3 sets of 5 reps
Pullups - 15 reps
Barbell Bench Press - 5 sets of 5 reps
Barbell curl - 3 sets of 10 reps
Farmers Walk - 2 sets

Without getting into specifics on how to do each exercise (google them!) I do give myself the flexibility to change it slightly if equipment isn't available. For example, I will use the pull-up machine since I can't do pull-ups without assistance....yet. I might substitute dumbbells for the barbell for bicep curls (exercise 7). There are a lot of great alternative exercises.

And, one of Kris's special additions: we do abdominal exercises between each exercise. Kris favors the decline sit-up, but anything will do such as crunches, leg lifts, whatever. You could even do the "plank" for a minute to work your core muscles.

I didn't think I'd like this workout because previous full body workouts just didn't seem to be hard enough. This one is a smoker. The reps are lower so you can use heavier weights. The trick is figuring out what weight is best for you. I always fear injury, especially when doing squats and dead-lifts so I keep it light.

My intent is to do this workout twice a week and eventually work up to three times a week. I don't want to sacrifice running, in fact I'd like this to augment my running.

A final admission - despite my hesitation and pessimism about this workout, I think I'm really going to like it. Ah, the powers of marital coercion!

The Power of Index Cards

2011-12-19T20:46:00.001-05:00

What's what?

So I realize that this may be a busy picture. There's a Kremlin Rising book in the background along with a bluetooth headset and GPS watch. In the foreground is a stack of index cards and a glass of wine. It happens to be my night stand.

Let me tell you, the wine was badly needed after my long day. I got to school at 0645, in class at 0800-1040, another class from 1200-1300, then working on Thesis Proposal turn-in and a mid-term for one of my classes. I was working on it until 1900. Exhausted and I'm not done yet.

I learned a new technique for organizing notes, quotes, and references today. At first glance it seems really old school. It involves writing stuff down on index cards. How antiquated. However, after Dr. B was done with his presentation, I had bought in to the whole scheme.

For each source (book, journal article, interview) you have, you number a index card. Then you number also write down which page a fact or quote comes from. Another index card has the bibliographical and footnote information. So for one book I could have 1-45, 1-56, 1-235. That means from source #1 I have three pieces of information. After this numbering process is though (implies a lot of reading), you organize the cards according to content, then structure chapters and paragraphs. The goal is, when you're done, to lay them out on a flat surface and have a visual representation of your paper.

Sounds silly for a 5 or 10 page paper, but when you're dealing with a 100 page thesis and 50+ sources, this sounds like a great idea just to keep track of everything. Still a lot of work.

Proof of Sunday

2011-12-18T18:23:00.000-05:00

Sundays are not a significant day in the Groth household, other than the usual get-ready-for-the-craziness-that-will-be-next-week activities.

Here's proof!

View of Tree from computer - proof of studying?

Sleepy kitty - proof of nighttime adventures and general naughtiness during other times of day.

Post Sunday afternoon 8 Mile run proof.

More proof of 8 mile run.

In all honesty, I must disclose that I took a break at the 4 mile mark. I ran from the apartment all way to the capital building and stopped for ten minutes to enjoy the view, drink water, and bask in the grandeur of the U.S. Government (yes indeed!). The first half was at a 8:40 pace. The second half was much slower. In fact at 6 miles my pace was a 9:06 average so I picked it up on the way back to get the average pace back down below 9. Distance covered, but was really two separate 4 mile runs.

It was chilly out today and I learned that Gu gel becomes more goo-like in the cold weather. Took some effort to get down.

Proof of more studying - makeshift desk on the floor in the bedroom. Didn't really work out.

Football all day long - Go Pats!

See? Proof of Sunday. Bring on the week.

A Tough Topic

2011-12-18T00:49:00.000-05:00

So the U.S. military has "officially" left Iraq and the media is abuzz with news and chatter. Should I care? Here are some links if this topic interests you:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57344752/last-u.s-troops-leave-iraq-as-war-ends/

http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-troops-leave-iraq-ending-bloodiest-us-war/story?id=15180860#.Tu18W5hbmpE

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/17/world/meast/iraq-troops-leave/index.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16234723

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/12/17/last-american-troops-leave-iraq-marking-end-war/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=143905549

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/world/middleeast/panetta-in-baghdad-for-iraq-military-handover-ceremony.html

A Different perspective, if you're interested.

CNN has a great website depicting U.S. casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan and where they are from in the United States.

This topic isn't one I'm ready to write about yet, nor will I be for years to come. I'm not sure that it was worth going to war in Iraq, nor am I sure that the three years of my life lost for this cause were worth losing. I'm not sure that it amounted to anything positive nor did it advance me personally or professionally. I'm not sure that I'm in a place to evaluate it without some sort of emotional bias. Maybe I will never be in such a place.

Here is one moment of OIF I (in 2004 I think), where I got to meet up with Shelly for a very quick 60 minutes in Baghdad. We never served together in the Army, but at this time, it was nice to see a friendly face.

Super Mouse!

2011-12-16T21:55:00.001-05:00

Mouse with Powers (i.e. right button)

The answer to all my problems arrived today. It magically appeared on my circa 2008 MacBook right out of thin air! More accurately, sitting at air density-rich 15 feet Mean Sea Level, HusBand came back from his Toys for Tots run at Toys R Us and placed it on my computer for me to find.

I've gone through a few computer mice in the lifetime of this computer. I usually use the computer mousepad with its lone, solitary button. I admit I've been negligent in my MacBook maintenance and the grime from Kuwait and Iraq settled into the keys and stuck in the mouse button. I'm sure there's some Texas dirt in there too.

The separate, external mouse I have been using lately, another single-buttoned abomination, has not met my needs especially with all the writing and editing I've been doing. Sure, its bluetooth capabilities are impressive, more than frustrating when it started losing the signal right in the middle of doing Millionaire City contracts. Apple's Magic Mouse sure is neat looking but I was desperate for the ability to right click again. It has a laser-tracking engine and has the ability to scroll using the surface of the mouse itself. Whatever. I got used it, but I need to RIGHT CLICK!!!

Boring, right button-less mouse.

My locally-designated Super Mouse is a Microsoft, USB powered wireless product. As you can see in the first picture, it is pink!! It has a track wheel, but most importantly, it has a left and right button. These things are important. Super Mouse has already enabled speedier spelling corrections and photo "save as" capabilities. Perhaps HusBand is the real hero in this story for giving it to me.

And yes, HusBand already pointed out that it was a slow day if this is the most significant thing to happen to me.

Feedback in Academia: A Solution for the Needy Ego

2011-12-15T21:29:00.000-05:00

My notebooks grow larger by the day.

There are people who conscientiously decide to be lifelong students. They avoid the working world as long as they can in favor of advanced academic degrees.

Today it finally came to me; consistent feedback is inherent in academia, yet is often lacking in the real world. Every paper, test, book review, and presentation is an opportunity to hear more about yourself in the form of a grade and, if you're lucky, feedback and comments! We like hearing about ourselves, both good and bad.

We all like attention.

A paper from last quarter.

Sometimes in the "real" world, you are paid to show up to a job, do it well, then go home. Sure there's room for advancement and growth, and even the annual performance review, but nothing satisfies the old ego like a 91 on a test.

A damn good performance, but not quite perfect. I can improve and do BETTER next time!!

And then you have an opportunity because "next time" just happens to be in two weeks.

Also, college courses are temporary. If you really don't like one, you just wait a semester, or in my case 10 weeks, and it's over! Move on to classes that you choose and you think you will enjoy!

Rare is the person who can find satisfaction of this nature in their job. I know I haven't. Not every test and paper is an overwhelming success, but I do get the occasional "atta-girl!" and a real sense of satisfaction of creating something worthy of reading. I don't know if I will write anything, in this graduate program, that will be publication-worthy, but I do feel that it's contributing to my overall writing ability, discipline, and is reminding me what it takes (the time it takes) to produce a quality paper.

I admit it. I LOVE the feedback. I will probably be in school for the rest of my life. :)

The Best Christmas Movie

2011-12-14T20:37:00.000-05:00

Presents are wrapped, cards are written! White Christmas is on in the background. It is HILARIOUS! What a different time.

It's one of those movies that I'm sure I was forced to watch several times as a kid but really don't remember it.

The BEST Christmas movie ever is A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott. You probably remember George C. Scott in the movie Patton.

Opening scene, the speech, is the only part worth watching.

A Christmas Carol, the George C. Scott version from 1984, is truly the best. I've been watching it practically every Christmas for the past two decades. He is the MEANEST Ebenezer Scrooge. Just watch:

I can't wait to watch this year in the comfort of my own home, with HusBand and kitties, Christmas tree, hot cocoa and liqueur of my choosing, and knowing that chances of getting rocketed are very very slim. AND, I have only truly mind-expanding (one hopes) academic work ahead of me, not daily 12-hour work days of drudgery. Ah, but those days are behind me. Ten days out from Christmas. Lots to do!

Tuesdays are hard, Running is hard, Chocolate is yummy and Evil

2011-12-13T21:27:00.000-05:00

Today I really don't have anything funny or interesting or even insightful to share. It was an average Tuesday (aka butt-kicker). I have 0800 class, then a 2 hour 40 minute break, then another class. On the dot, at 1555, I am yawning - just dying for my last class to end.

That last class is actually with my thesis advisor. He's a great instructor and the class is interesting, but it goes on. And on. And on.

Whatever! Suck it up, thesis student! Yep!

Then after I got home through aggressive, mean-spirited, impatient DC traffic, I went for a run. It was dark already but I thought my orange shirt would help. Turns out it didn't. I was the jackarse on the trail in the dark. I was sure with every passing bike that I was going to get run over. I feel that way even when it's light, but tonight was very ready to dive off the trail into oncoming traffic on the George Washington Parkway if need be.

I need some better gear for running in the dark.

Regardless of causing drama and problems with the bikers and other runners, I ran 6.21 miles in 52:53 which comes out to an 8:30 pace. I wasn't running like the wind, like in the 8K race on Sunday, but still fast (for me). I think it's pretty cool that an 8:30 pace feels like a 9:30 pace did a few months ago. How much faster can I go? I want to find out.

The Pace Calculator site Cool Running is a great site for calculating pace, overall time, and distance. There are a bunch of other calculators on there too.

I am proud of me because I know how hard I've worked on it. It takes months to build up. It really isn't easy and I'm finally, after 6 months of being here, seeing it pay off. I think I will write more about my adventures in running on this blog because my Facebook friends have got to be tired of me carrying on about it, posting times for every training run.

I think I'm a slightly above average runner and I base that self-assessment from my standings in races that I run. I'm usually in the top third of all women. In this last race I placed 21st out of over 300 women in my age division. An 8:08 pace for an 8K race - not impressive. One chick averaged a 5:45 pace. Now that is impressive.

Finally, here is a picture of glorious Christmas chocolate which is largely responsible for my expanding waistline despite all the running.

My body is used to running and won't burn calories like it used to. Time to switch it up in the gym again and maybe add a weekly speed/sprinting workout. Damn chocolate. I love it so!

Thesis Proposal Shock Therapy

2011-12-12T18:54:00.000-05:00

"Raise your right hand and repeat after me," Dr. B instructs the five thesis students sitting horseshoe-style around a table.

We comply.

"I will not, upon seeing my corrected thesis proposal, have a heart attack. Stroke. Seizure. Freak out. Nor will I get upset and have a panic attack over what I am about to see. I will understand this is all part of the process."

We all groan and repeat his foretelling words. How bad could it be? I'm a decent writer, yes?

Then he hands back our thesis proposals.

This is one page of 13. They all are marked up like this.

Then he gave us the "editing legend" so we can decipher our corrections.

I apologize if you can't see it clearly. It's a bunch of undecipherable hieroglyphics.

I have to correct and resubmit it by next Monday. I have no idea when the final version with accompanying administrative paperwork is actually due. The University keeps changing the deadlines and requirements. Ugh. Correct it, I will. And yes, you will probably get to hear all about it.

A True Story

2011-12-11T20:38:00.001-05:00

At 0618 my phone rang. I was scared for a moment.

"Hey Amanda, I'm at the Marriott, it looks like it's easier to get a cab than I thought, but I'm warm so I can just hang out."

My friend Shelly had abandoned our plan and gone all willy nilly. The "plan" was for her to leave her apartment in Crystal City, grab a cab from one of the pre-staged cabs that are always parked in front of a nearby hotel between 0645-0700, and then call me when enroute. Yikes.

A moment of brief panic - I was checking Facebook and still in my pajamas. Kris, in a saintly sacrificial gesture, was lovingly cooking eggs for me in his iron skillet. Might have been a wee bit of regret that he was sending me out into the cold elements to contest my athletic ability in the urban jungle of DC all alone. But I doubt it. Fortunately, HusBand understands the importance of a good breakfast prior to any exercise.

"Give me 20 minutes. I just need to eat and get dressed." I really hoped she wasn't already in a cab on the way over.

"Ok, did you get up late or something?" Um, what to say...

"No, just need to grab something to eat. 20 minutes is good." Already closing computer, moving in the direction of the bedroom, coffee in hand.

We hung up and I was in motion. Today was an exciting day. It was the Capital Running Company Jingle-All-The-Way 8K road race. It would be Shelly's first race in over a year (something about being pregnant, giving birth, recovery time) and I was wicked psyched (to use the Maine vernacular) to be running with my friend. We have known each other since Russian class at the University of Arizona circa 1999.

I threw on my clothes, threw pre-planned stuff in a bag, scarfed down yummy eggs, and bagged the bagel and almond butter Kris had prepared.

At 0635 the phone rang again.

"I'm in a cab, rolling!"

Shit. "Ok, see you out there!"

We had to get there early to pick up our race packet, pin on numbers, attach timing sensor strip to shoes, drink coffee, pee, poop, drink water, consume gel, consume more water, pee again (maybe), turn in our bag of stuff while we ran, and get a good spot in the starting chute for the race start. There really was a lot to get done. Another important factor was the unknown. We didn't know exactly where to go, didn't know if there would be any issues, didn't know if Occupy DC would interfere the race setup...

I ran downstairs and Shelly was in a Hybrid Prius cab parked in front of my building. I jumped in and off we went. The cab was warm - that was something. We had, the night before, abandoned our initial plan of taking the DC Metro since it started from Franconia-Springfield at 0700. Scheduled arrival time at Federal triangle would be determined by the Metro gods and that was something we were not going to take a chance on with all the single track delays on the weekend.

Driving across the 11th Street Bridge, the sun was just coming up. There were no other cars on the road. It just looked cold out.

At 0645 we arrived somewhere on Pennsylvania Avenue, paid the cab driver and made our way towards an ugly disheveled encampment known to be part of the "occupy" movement. Then we saw the gleaming white canopy tents for our race. We were two of about six people wanting to pick up race packets and the race organizers weren't ready for us yet.

We lingered about, bitched and moaned, hemmed and hawed, griped and groaned, agonized over the frigid conditions, cursed the presence encampment obviously NOT choosing to run the race. Finally, they gave us our race numbers and t-shirts and we were on our way in search of Starbucks.

"WAKE UP OCCUPY!!!" Shelly yells in the direction of the tents, eliciting chuckles from runners and race organizers in the vicinity.

Our chosen Starbucks was closed, the nerve of them. But down the street a bit, we found the J.W. Marriott which had a Starbucks inside it!

"Occupy Starbucks" was in full effect. Shelly and Amanda style.

Life was good. We had a peppermint mocha (Shelly) and chai tea latte (me), seats, a good staging area, and decent hotel bathrooms at our disposal. Thank you J.W. Marriott. I am indebted to your kindness.

90 minutes later, we had accomplished all of the pre-race tasks specified above except turn in our bag of stuff and line up at the start line.

At 0838 we left the hotel to enjoy a warmer world than the one we had left prior to the Starbucks run. The sun was out and its warmth could be felt in narrow strips not being used by the swarm of runners that were gathering.

I turned on my GPS watch and fortunately it acquired quickly despite the tall buildings blocking its line of site. We turned in our consolidated bag of stuff, found a couple patches of sun, and waited to line up with the crowd near the start line. At 0850 the herd started moving.

The running duo. Pre-race.

It was soon 0855. Then 0900. Any minute now. We would not run together - we operate under a strict, non-emotional "every woman for herself" philosophy. See you at the end between the two flag poles but on the street. Avoid "occupy" at all costs.

Then it was 0905, then 0910. The crowd was jumping up and down, trying to keep warm.

Santa walked by. He had Race bib #1.

Then it was 0915. %^$$#$^^&*@#$#@!!!!!!

It's FREAKING COLD OUT HERE!!!

Then an announcement. "Thank you for your patience. We have a police-related delay. We will start when we are cleared."

Good grief. I forget where I am sometimes. And here we were between the capitol building and the White House. Awesome.

Then Shelly's limits had been reached. "Let's go over there next to CVS and stand in the sun."

So we cut across the crowd of waiting runners to find some more patches of sun. Then finally, at 0925, another announcement.

"We have just received word that we are cleared to start. Please come back to the start line, we will start the race in 2 minutes."

Yay! Two minutes. Then finally, after all the fast runners started, we were off!

GPS start, good luck to Shelly, and we were RUN-AYNG!!

My first couple of miles were fast. By fast, I mean 7:30 or faster. For some reason I was able to maintain it and it felt pretty good. The course was, as advertised, flat and quick. My pace got a little slower but I ended up with a total time of 40:23 which is a 8:08 pace. Unfortunately, according to my GPS, I actually ran 5.09 miles which is longer than the official course length. Race courses are always longer - the race officials have to make sure that with any possible scenario that it would at least be the advertised length.

Also, I did a little bit of swerving around people adding some length. 40:23 at 5.09 miles is a 7:56 pace though. Just sayin'...

Me, post-race. Patriots hat in show of support for their game against the Redskins today.

Shelly kicked ass, although I really had no doubt that she would. She ran well under a 9 minute mile average pace. Super proud of her for getting out there and running an 8k as her comeback race. I was very impressed.

After the race, we met up and caught the metro back to Pentagon City where we got hot tea and a burger at Champps for our post-race meal. We were freezing again by that point.

It was a great experience and we really performed above and beyond our expectations. I think this goes down as one of my best races. The hard work paid off!

Arlington Cemetery Wreaths

2011-12-10T12:50:00.000-05:00

Every year Wreaths Across America sponsors the wreath laying at Arlington National Cemetery. The Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine founded the project in 1992 and the project has gained popularity every since.

HusBand participated this year. There were thousands of people trying to get into the cemetery this morning. The gates of Fort Myer were backed up with cars and people parked all over the place wanting to be a part of it. There are not enough wreaths to go on each and every grave but maybe some day there will be.

My contribution was giving Kris a ride to the chapel gate on post since parking would be impossible anyway. He said it was really crazy with lots of people and very little organization, but a nice thing to do since it holds significance for family and friends of those buried here.

Tonight is Kris's company Christmas party. There will lots of yummy food and a gift exchange. Looking forward to it!

Closing. Raging.

2011-12-09T13:04:00.000-05:00

All the papers to be signed

When HusBand returns from his arduous day of work, we shall sign the papers pictured above thus ridding us of the house I purchased in Killeen, TX in 2007. Thanks to the housing crash, this house did not appreciate, in fact the whole neighborhood went to crap and foreclosures are rampant. Something about troop strength decreasing at Fort Hood, over saturation of new housing developments, and other myriad factors further worsened the situation.

No, I can afford the mortgage AND cost of monthly utilities. It's just stupid to pay it when I'm never going back there (if I can help it) and there's no light at the end of the tunnel where the value of this house is concerned and the likelihood of getting decent money for it. I'll start applying the money saved from the mortgage and (f)utilities to replace the gouging I'm about to get you-know-where.

I have to wire about $20k to the title company company later today. Hard earned deployment money. Gone. Screw you Amanda.

Well, some people choose different spending behavior in their youth. Other people choose X, Y, and Z that stays with them their whole lives. I chose real estate. Look how well that turned out.

Really, really angry today.

Sell it before the tenants destroy it!

There will be a few stiff drinks consumed tonight.

>:-(

Always Thinking

2011-12-08T22:10:00.000-05:00

Today at school a topic of study and discussion was thinking. Critical thinking, creative thinking, innovative thinking. Cognitive and meta-cognitive thought. We actually talked about this for a painful 2 hours and 40 minutes in class.

The eggnog latte I got on my break helped, but not much.

Essentially, I understand a definition of critical thinking (apparently there are many) to be not only thinking about the problem at hand, but being self-aware of HOW you are thinking about said problem. We learned, in readings and through discussion, that critical thinking is a system, model, or process that examines all aspects of an issue and presents alternate hypotheses and broad perspective(s). It is necessary to remain open minded, have a creative spirit, and have a willing attitude to accept new possibilities.

True, we are all locked into what is most comfortable and what suits our own narrative. Boy, am I stuck in a very unhealthy and negative pattern of thinking on a couple aspects of my life. Might employ the use of critical thinking skills to see if I can bust out of it. My biases make it unlikely however.

One classmate mentioned the "bias blind spot" - that we are not aware of our own biases. The more we think we are not prone to their influences, the more vulnerable to our biases we become. We see ourselves as better than we really are.

There's a reason we see the world the way we do - good, bad, or indifferent, yes? However I have always maintained that there is a solution to every problem. Sometimes it's not possible through changing your environment (or factors in it), but changing the way you see the problem from within. No one wants to go through the agony of changing themselves in order to solve a problem. Makes me feel sick inside at the thought... :(

The Thinker

Self Imposed Pressure

2011-12-07T19:59:00.001-05:00

I have learned over the years that I can accomplish far more if I am in an environment with some kind of externally imposed pressure. As kids, we are always subject to this pressure with school, sports, parental requirements, etc. But as adults, we have to figure out a system to be disciplined in order to accomplish things above and beyond an average existence.

I'm not knocking anyone for enjoying life, maintaining the status quo, not seeking advancement or growth of some kind. That really is ok. And SOME of us are lucky enough to have an innate drive to constantly improve in every aspect of their lives. I am not one of these people.

I wish I was. If I don't have a plan, system of accountability, obligation, written contract of some kind, then I am a lost soul. Therefore I am compelled to use the instruments of self imposed pressure that are at my disposal. It usually involves money, but the benefit always outweighs the cost.

For example, the best way to keep motivated and strive for faster times in distance running is to sign up for road races. I've written about this before - D.C. is a GREAT place for road racing. There are so many races to choose from. But if it weren't for a 5k, 5 miler, 10K, 10 miler, what have you, I really feel like my individual gains are for nothing and I have no real motivation to run farther or faster.

Wet, nasty shoes from this morning's water-logged 5 miles.

This weekend, I'm running an 8k (roughly 5 miles) with BFF Shelly! Every time I go out and run, I think about that race. I like to run at least 5 miles, sometimes more, and imagine that the pain and discomfort I feel is similar to what it might be like during the race. OR, even better, that I should hurt now so I won't hurt during the race.

Today. Drenched. The five other runners I saw on the trail waved or gave me the head nod. It was a bad ass kind of run. :)

And then I try to "train as I fight" by eating and drinking those things that I would eat and drink before and after a race.

Favorite recovery drink.

Running is easy to do and does not depend on lots of specific equipment or other people. I will continue this for the rest of my life or until I am no longer able to.

Another challenge I impose upon myself is academic. Getting back into grad school has reminded me of how I truly thrive in this atmosphere. I'm not an excellent A+ student. Never have been, never will be. But it makes me read and write things I never would have had I not been in that environment. I feel that if I'm not in a situation to expand my mind and explore new ideas and thoughts, I will never grow as a person. It's one thing to travel and see new things and different people (which I also like to do) which is external exposure to the world. And it's something else to expose your mind to the world through books and writing which is equally important.

After this graduate program, I think I will need to continue academic work in some capacity. Writing has always been an interest but I haven't had much of an occasion to write fiction or stories which I would really like to explore. Writers don't need a formal education to write, but the structure of the academic environment will propel me towards some type of accomplishment. That would be my goal anyway.

Additionally, I have entered into some mutually beneficial contracts with HusBand which serve to keep us both honest. ;) Contracts that are sealed by the legal obligation found in electronic correspondence (email). Of course verbal versions of these contracts are negotiated ahead of time. I'm sure there will be more such contracts in our future.

Finally, there is the public pronouncement method in order to ensure a task will be completed. By declaring that I will write a blog each day for the month of December, I will do my very best to complete it. Honestly there is no reason why it won't happen. I kept my self-imposed pressure reasonable - to a simple daily post. Today I am exceeding the standard. No one reads this anyway, so it's actually for my own benefit rather than anyone else!!

Here is a totally unrelated picture for your enjoyment.

More presents under the tree than yesterday

I had a very successful shopping trip today and wrapped as much as I could stand. I achieved this through a detailed matrix of people to buy for versus cost. And then from that matrix, combined with other shopping needs of the season, I came up with a detailed list.

I know, I'm a dork. I wasn't raised this way but it's what works. It might be the military, but the Army didn't teach me this either. Simply learned behavior as an adult. I've also learned enjoyable and justifiable procrastination techniques such as writing this blog.

I have to read for class tomorrow. Something to do with thinking about thinking. This should be good...

Bad Kitty!

2011-12-06T20:14:00.000-05:00

Bad Sugar.

This is a very naughty kitty. She is hiding because she is bad and she knows it!

She CONSTANTLY poops on the floor just outside the litter box. And THEN she likes to drag her butt on the rug or the floor matt in the kitchen. We're talking major skid marks.

So disgusting.

And THEN, there is naughty kitty #2.

Bad Lara

This naughty kitty is on the Tumi!! Of all places to lay down and take a snooze, my lovely school book bag, the Tumi, is not a good place. And she even makes a sexy face whilst being naughty.

The third one, not pictured, has taken to random hissing and growling for NO good reason. Nick, the skiddish beastie, reacts to any sudden movement.

Must be the tension of the season.

Real Estate Escapism

2011-12-05T20:09:00.000-05:00

After reading all Sunday about Ted Robert Gurr's Relative Deprivation theory, I needed a break. I found it in the form of Millionaire City, an addictive Facebook game.

Hard to see, but I have contracts to collect, businesses to cash in, and still lots of room to expand!

It's one of those pseudo-simulation games where you can build a giant city with businesses and residences and set up rent contracts for tenants that you have to collect later. Contracts can vary in length, and in my case, are determined by the optimum time I can check the game again. Usually it's one day, but I've been known to set up 3-day contracts (longest possible contract time) if I'm going away for a short weekend.

I think it fulfills my need to buy real estate. Real life isn't going so well on that front. For example, I'm trying to sell my Texas home and will have to end up paying out of pocket in order to get rid of it. You know the story - house lost value, realtor fees, VA mortgage closing costs for the buyer. Next thing you know I'm paying more than I care to admit, on this public forum, to get out from under this damn house. Hooray for the housing crash...

Application of RD theory is relevant here: expectations have decreased therefore I'm not motivated to incite collective violence as a result. I knew this would happen and saved my money for it.

>:-(

Best to have it gone and not pay a mortgage or utilities or trust my property to a tenant that will let the place deteriorate. In the meantime, I'll build my vast empire on Millionaire City.

Christmas has Arrived

2011-12-04T17:36:00.000-05:00

Today marks the official start of the Christmas season in the Groth household. Hard to get in the spirit without decorations but soon after the tree and decorations went up in our little apartment, someone went Christmas shopping and someone else stayed inside and studied. Guess who did what. :(

The place looks really festive now.

Our little tree will be seen from the street and intersection below.

Santa hangs out on the couch. I noticed later that someone was lurking under the tree.

Stockings hung (stuck, with tape) on the... bar?

Snowmen

The Abominable Snowman eats the chinook.

I have a tough couple days ahead of papers and studying, but will try to get some shopping in. It's nice to go to a store and shop rather than HAVE to resort to online shopping (as was the case last year from lovely Iraq).

For now, back to my papers. Boo...

Trying to Start, Starting to Try

2011-12-03T17:32:00.000-05:00

Today is a day of productivity, only I've stalled in this endeavor. I'm supposed to be writing a stupid little three page paper only I can't seem to wrap my brain around it. It's the first paper of the quarter - it's slow going.

We made good use of our time earlier. Picked up dry cleaning, Jeep maintenance and wash, braved the masses at the commissary and purchased enough groceries to sustain us through the zombie apocalypse, put bikes in storage, and got out the Christmas stuff.

HusBand says we can't decorate until my paper is done. That would be SUCH a great procrastination activity too! As it is, I did all the laundry, put away lots of clothes, and organized my scarves and purses.

I WILL get this paper done tonight. The goal isn't to write a brilliant paper (contrary to my FB post), but to just write a paper. Early submission and several revisions result in a higher grade with this particular instructor, so a sort-of-ok-paper submitted early is better than a great paper on time.

Christmas decorating tomorrow if I can just get this done. Starting is the hardest part.

Ultimatum

2011-12-02T23:05:00.000-05:00

"Pet me, or else."

"Please make those other cats go away and maybe I'll start pooping inside the litter box."

Early Christmas?

2011-12-02T16:54:00.000-05:00

Today was a pretty fun day, although it should have been a day of hard work. In lieu of studying, I took a two hour drive to see my mother-in-law in Charlottesville and to collect my clothes that I ordered a few weeks ago at a CAbi party she had hosted.

I should have gone on Wednesday but a death-like condition in the form of an aggressive cold kept me on the couch watching reruns of House all day. And unfortunately today was the day that she was feeling sick - quite the pair, the two of us.

I didn't stay for long so she could get some rest, but was very happy to have the clothes. CAbi stands for Carol Anderson by invitation and you can buy the clothing at a party or online. I went a little nuts and bought a lot of clothes that night, but felt that they were really unique pieces and great quality. It was like an early Christmas - I had forgotten what I had ordered!

I had to send a jacket and a top back in exchange for a smaller size, this is some of what I brought home today:

One of my favs - long lightweight gray trench.

Light lavender lacy floral top.

Comfy gray stripes.

Drapey long sleeve top. Complements any figure.

The jacket and top that I had to return are beautiful pieces too - will post pictures when I get them.

Now I have to write a couple of papers this weekend. I'm really behind from being sick this week. :(

Finishing Strong!

2011-12-01T06:32:00.000-05:00

Sunset view from my parents' front window.

This blog seems to have become overwhelmed by events. The Army has a stupid acronym for it which I will NOT use, but the truth of the matter is irrelevant. In effort to revitalize the blog (and myself) I shall endeavor to post one entry per day, for the entire month of December, no matter how stupid or irrelevant it may be.

It's like a reverse New Year's Eve resolution - I want 2011 to be a strong one on the back end.

Readers are sure to enjoy ramblings of my school struggle as well as the beginnings of my vaunted thesis. Readers will also read of my holiday preparations, first anniversary spent with HusBand, continued fitness goals, and a myriad of other "firsts" and unique events.

Posts might be short. I can't commit to great works of literature in times like this.

Bags

2011-11-07T18:49:00.000-05:00

So it may be apparent to you that blogging has taken a back seat to academic writing. I'd share that here, but it might put you to sleep. I'm building up my confidence in that area anyway.

I'm done with my first quarter - grades will be out next week. So many of my grades are determined by heavily weighted papers and finals that occurred in the last two weeks, so I'm really not sure what to expect. Hopefully nothing less than a B!!

A couple weeks ago, I got a new backpack for school. In all honesty I returned a Coach purse after a case of buyer's remorse and got a new Tumi backpack. It was still expensive, but considerably less so than the Coach and I can justify it for daily use.

New Hotness.

The old one had been through two deployments and just looked so... Army.

Old and Busted.

Even Sugarkitty knows that bag has seen better days.

Ok, so might need to put some away.

We might be out of control, but it's good to have options!

United!

2011-10-17T10:02:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was a very special one. It was a weekend of extravagant birthday activities.

We celebrated the passing of another year for HusBand and what will be the first of many more holidays spent together.

The event that we both enjoyed the most was seeing DC United play Chicago Fire here at RFK stadium. I had never been to a professional soccer game before so it was all new to me. Let me tell you, television can't even capture half of the experience.

We had pretty good seats and could see everything clearly. For the uninitiated, there are two 45 minute halves in a game with a 15 minute halftime. The clock runs continuously throughout, even when the ball goes out of bounds. At the end, they play two or three more minutes to make up for that time but the crazy part is, that time isn't added back to the clock. That extra clock timer is kept somewhere else. Seems like it might be an opportunity for subjective time-keeping to me but I guess that's how it's done.

What I wasn't prepared for was the insane fanfare. RFK stadium wasn't even close to being at capacity, but it was still an experience. Apparently in soccer, fans like to beat drums and wave flags. And the bigger the better. Drums that got the crowd riled up and set a beat for chanting throughout the game.

And the flags! The two big fan sections that I could see each had 20 or so flags with DC United symbols and colors. They varied in size but there were a few enormous flags. A ringmaster of sorts would get the crowd to bring them all out at once at the right moment.

This picture doesn't do it any justice. The big striped flags in the center were massive.

And THEN, DC United had the opportunity for a penalty kick at the end of the game and scored! In one fan section a giant DC United flag came out and covered the whole crowd. In another section, the drums went crazy and someone set off a smoke grenade. The place went nuts!

Short lived lead.

We had to wait 90 minutes of game time for one goal. And THEN, in the subjective 3 minutes that followed, opposing team Chicago Fire scored two goals and it was all over. Everyone was sad then.

Kris and I were hoping that it would be a victory in honor of his birthday. We did get DC United shirts so we'll be all set for next year! We are hooked and we are going back.

Other birthday events this weekend included a Dunkin Donuts run on Saturday morning and a trip to Murphy's of DC Irish Pub, which is a popular New England Patriots bar, after the game on Saturday night. We went after the game for a quick drink. More of a recon mission.

Sunday was presents and Kris got sleepy-time themed gifts from me. Slippers, sleep pants, and a bathrobe. Also a nice "going out" shirt, wine, and protein bars. :) He also got awesome Bed Bath and Beyond gift certificates and a gift card for Ruth's Chris Steak House. That was the birthday dinner.

It was a wonderful meal. We went to the Ruth's Chris in Crystal City and enjoyed the view.

Watched the plans at Reagan land.

We each had crab cakes, spinach and pear salad, steak and shrimp with potatoes, and chocolate cheese cake. AND an awesome bottle of pinot noir. We rolled out of there. Really fun. AND to top it off, the Patriots were playing on tv in the background and won. Woo hoo!

We got home and then waited for the crowning event of the day. The Season Two premier of Walking Dead.

It did not disappoint. We were on edge the whole time. It's going to be a great season. Sunday nights will be great from now on!

Blog writing = procrastination for me. Got to hit the books. Big papers due this week and next.

Army Ten Miler Race Prep

2011-10-08T21:14:00.000-04:00

It's finally here! The night before the Army Ten Miler. You know I like to have everything "all set" before I go so HusBand I did a lay-out of all necessary gear.

This stuff wasn't chosen randomly. Oh no! It is a careful selection resulting from months of experimenting and learning what works best.

My stuff is on the left. My water bottle, which I will carry in my left hand, has a zippered compartment where I'll keep one of the gels (in between the two outfits) and my keys. Below the water bottle is Lanacane anti chafing gel. This stuff is great. You put it anywhere body parts rub together or rub against clothing. Experience tells you where you need it.

Below that is my time-tested, desktop-on-a-wrist, Forerunner 305 GPS watch. Shirt, shorts, and shoes are all Adidas. Love Adidas shoes, the shirt and shorts just happen to fit pretty well.

In the middle are four Gu Energy gels. These have been tested as well. Expresso is the best flavor. Trick is to eat one 15 minutes before running, then eat one every 45 minutes thereafter.

Socks are Wrightsock. I don't run in anything else. Wrightsocks are double layered and are the best at preventing blisters. I started wearing these during my first Iraq deployment in 2003 after a doctor told me she wore these for marathons. They are expensive but when it's your feet, it's worth it!

HusBand's stuff on the right is varied. He got a cool t-shirt at the ATM Expo today. His shorts are Livestrong Nike. The black and yellow works with the Army theme. His running shoes are Asics and he wears Nike socks. His hydration system is a North Face waist pack with two 12 (I think) ounce bottles. This thing is neat. It also has zippered compartments for gels. Water will not be a problem for him. He will also be wearing his NikePlus Pedometer watch. It's fancy.

Coffee timer is set, breakfast food identified, timeline pretty much established. We'll see how it goes. My biggest worry is always going potty or HAVING to go potty before I run and not having enough time. Some things are beyond our control!

Look for #13127 and 13140! See you on the course!

Poor Ben, had to tell him no doggies were allowed on the course!

Crunch Time

2011-10-07T22:41:00.000-04:00

Good grief it's October already. I have four more weeks left until this academic quarter is over. The pressure is on - lots of big papers to complete between now and then.

Have narrowed down the thesis topic and am VERY excited about it. Don't really want to publicize it on here due to its sensitive nature, but would gladly engage anyone in a conversation about it on email.

This is a book I'm working through for background reading. Might give you a hint on my topic.

Sunday is the Army Ten Miler. I think I'm ready but I really won't know until mile 5 on race day. I caught a sniffle a couple weeks ago and it took a week or so to recover. Not ideal so close to the race.

The new car is awesome! I really am loving it. No buyer's remorse here. It is a great city car.

Finally, on the eve of a three day weekend (no four days in academia!), I have a lot of WORK to look forward to. Lots of writing and reading. Awesome. :)

Bullitt 2374

2011-09-26T13:12:00.000-04:00

It's official. The Bullitt is gone. To the future owner of #2374 - I took good care of it. Spent 2 of the 3 years I owned it in covered storage during deployments. Mainly driven in Texas and a few miles on the roads of DC.

Had some great times driving across the country in this. It was mainly used on long trips before deployment and again after a deployment.

It's a neat car - only 7,000 made in the US. It was the most powerful GT for 2008 with the added cold air intake.

Based on the 1968 movie Bullitt starring Steve McQueen, it is known for the grand car chase scene.

Whoever owns it now - enjoy!

Last pic of the Bullitt

Upgrade

2011-09-25T10:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Kris and I went looking for a new vehicle for yours truly. I've enjoyed the Mustang Bullitt, but it's time for a change. Traffic around here is too stop and go for it to be a pleasant ride. I wanted to switch to a foreign luxury car of the same year model (2008) without paying much of anything. I soon learned that it wasn't that simple. We started out at BMW of Alexandria. I wrote to my BFF Shelly about it and thought it might be worth imparting on this forum:

Here's what I learned yesterday from the BMW place. For the year of my car and what it's worth, I am trying to buy into a very different market. I think I will need to spend anywhere from $5 - $10K more to make up the difference in value. That is reality and I have to realign expectations. Another thing I learned is that I'm not really willing to take a bare bones, no extras BMW to save a couple thousand. I drove that 2009 Volkswagen CC (very similar to the Passat) first and I honestly went to bed dreaming about it. It was beautiful and loaded with everything. I want it. Next I drove a 2007 328i BMW. It hadn't been detailed but really had nothing special to offer. By that I mean no power adjusted seats, no nav, sat radio, stuff like that. After that I drove a 2006 Mercedes C class. Aside from the gay emblem on the front, it was a really decent car. It was just not THE ONE for me. It actually had satellite radio on a rather crude display. Had power everything, a sun roof, not sure about heated seats. It drove pretty well too. Better than the BMW. So I learned a lot, but in the end, four hours later, walked away. The final offer, up on me leaving, was they wanted about $7300 for the Volkswagen after my trade-in. They weren't giving a whole lot for the trade-in either. Definitely not blue-book value. It would probably be worth it but I didn't have it in me to stay there any longer. So I will have to reconcile choosing something that is

a) American made and comparable to the Mustang
b) choose something foreign but get something much less or older than what I really want
c) spend a little extra and get what I really want and love and then stay in that class of car from now on.

I think "c" is where I'm headed. Kris loved the Volks as well. It was just so damn nice all around. I think I might go to the VW dealership and see what they have there. It's a little more affordable but they are good cars. I might go look some more on Monday.

2009 Volkswagen CC VR6 4Motion

The CC I looked at was a 4 cylinder, 2L engine. I felt it had enough power, but I would like to drive the VR6.

Finally, it was just one dealership out of many in this area. Maybe another place will give me more on a trade-in for my "specialty car" Mustang Bullitt.

Of course I welcome your input on this topic.

What I Learned at School Today

2011-09-23T23:47:00.000-04:00

School is an amazing place if you let it be. It opens your eyes to things you would never see on your own. It also makes you think about things that would never have even imagined would be worth thinking about. I should have done this a long time ago.

My master's degree program focuses on the strategic and global view of the world.
In my classes we examine policy, security, and culture and of course there's always an interesting context to each discussion.

We have examined international political theory through a zombie infestation scenario. Theories of International Politics and Zombies, by Daniel W. Drezner set the stage. Are you a realist? Liberalist? Neo-conservativist? Social-constructionist? Based on your political view, how would you handle it?

The husBand and I personally can't wait for The Walking Dead: Season 2 to come out on 16 October. It just happens to coincide with someone's birthday too!

We also have looked at demographic trends (some countries are declining in population due to low birth rates and high mortality rates). The planet will have approximately 9.5 billion people on it, but will be concentrated heavily in parts of Asia and Africa.

Watch this - Hans Rosling, a professor of global health, spoke to the U.S. State Department in 2009 about "mind set" and global data. If you have a few minutes, watch this video.

Most of us are mistaken in what we consider "the developing world" to be. It is far too broad of a term to be of any use.

We have also discussed the demographic trends of Europe with increasing Muslim and African populations. I am reminded of the movie Children of Men (Clive Owen, Michael Cain, Julianne Moore, 2006) with respect to both birth rate decline and migrant populations in Europe.

In Children of Men, the year is 2027 and women suddenly are no longer able to have babies, the world collapses, but Britain soldiers on and has the challenge of supporting the remaining populace. Refugees are sent to a ghetto somewhere. The movie is centered on the halt of new births but all of these other issues are very realistic.

Finally, in a class dealing with social-psychology, we examined social identity. There are many ways you can identify yourself depending on those groups with whom you most associate. Most people have one identity that is stronger than others. For example, I might be American, military, officer, Army member, student, runner, Mainer (-ah), Violette family member of the French Canadian Violettes.... but prefer to think of myself as just a student. AND, these identities change over time and are internalized by your surroundings.

The question of the day is if you were all by yourself, with no one else on a deserted island, would you have an identity? If identity is merely a comparison of who you are to someone else, would you retain that which makes you belong to a group if that group is not present? Sure, you would hang on to the memory of it and associate yourself with those groups in your mind, but over time would it really define you? You're all alone!

Perhaps if you had someone to talk to:

Wilson!!!

I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings. School has confirmed my fears that I have been woefully out of touch, but I am delighted that I can relate and correlate much of what I'm absorbing. I have four ten page papers to write, a powerpoint presentation to give, a point papers, and about five cultural short papers to complete in 6 weeks. Oh, and then there's the thesis...

Getting a Grip

2011-09-21T23:40:00.001-04:00

It would seem that I am not very diligent with my blogging efforts. Since the last posting, I've gone through three more weeks of school, 9/11 came and went, Kris and I ran a 5K race, and continue to train for the big ten miler in a few weeks.

I've learned more and more about myself in the context of school. It's all about the caffeine, food, sleep, and ORGANIZATION. It turns out I'm obsessed with organizational techniques. I've made lists, updated my planner, updated my calendar in MS Outlook at school, and have drawn out my "ideal" week with an estimate of how many hours I should spend on thesis reading/research vs time spent on classes. I do this or come up with something new every few days.

I don't have a handle on it yet. The big papers for each class are looming and I haven't made sufficient progress to get that warm fuzzy.

In other news I updated my look.

This was necessary. I needed a change. I also may change out my car as the Bullitt really isn't conducive to the traffic here. Of course the new car has to be "right" and under the right financial conditions. I don't want a car payment. End of story.

I continue to develop my thesis topic. Found out that what I originally wanted to do has been extensively covered already. So I'm searching for that new angle on an old problem/dilemma. I think I have a chair already too. He is the type of instructor with whom you have to maximize your time. He's busy busy!

Right now I'm failing to get any sleep. Today's run left me with reminders of my old glute injury a year ago in Iraq. Hurts! Took motrin. Now must sleep.

School - First Week Lessons Learned

2011-09-02T22:15:00.000-04:00

My first week of school is over and I feel like I've been hit by a ton of bricks.

I mean, books.

I've learned a LOT in this first week though. Several take-aways for me to survive in graduate school:

1. Get OVER any fears of speaking in front of other people. My grade will depend on it.

2. Read assignments critically, learn about the author's biases, and do I agree or disagree and why. Scan and pull out important information. There isn't time to read everything. I think I still want to read everything.

3. For my school, there are a lot of badges and cards I need on a day to day basis. Make sure I have everything the night before so I'm not freaking out in the morning. That's a bad, bad feeling by the way.

4. Leave EARLY. DC traffic is no joke as I'm finding out. Arriving early ensures plenty of time to gather thoughts and review notes before class.

5. Get ahead. This week I felt like I was WAY behind doing the readings the night before. Three days this weekend will be my opportunity to get control over all this material.

6. Food - PACK A LUNCH. Kris was hounding me all week about bringing food and I just spent money on lunch and coffee there at school. This isn't good at $10 a day. On one particular day, I have two 2.5 hour classes back to back. I felt like I was dying in the second class from low blood sugar. Need a better plan for this.

7. The gym and running suffered this week. I believe getting a handle on all the reading and papers this weekend will help me develop a good plan to work that in.

8. Sleep - Got to be in bed by 2130, asleep by 2200. Earlier is better. I am NOT one of those people to function well on 6 hours of sleep. If need be, I will, but there is no reason for it here when only my ability to manage time is getting in the way.

I know there are more. There have to be. This week was all about learning logistics and timing. Need to be efficient but thorough. The looming thesis should and will consume a lot of my time so I will need to learn to prioritize appropriately and balance my time and resources between course work and the thesis research.

Very interesting courses though. I think once I get over this painful adjustment period, I will really enjoy it!

Earthquake AND Hurricane in the Same Week?

2011-08-28T16:00:00.002-04:00

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake on the east coast is a very strange event. But to be hit by a category 2 hurricane in the same week? I guess I shouldn't be surprised by hurricane, but I was definitely taken aback by the earthquake.

The earth is an ever changing ball of molten rock.

Here is a great website on earthquakes on the east coast as well as general information and facts on earthquakes:

http://www.nesec.org/hazards/earthquakes.cfm

Turns out, earthquakes on the east coast - not really unusual. The Northeast experiences an average of 40 - 50 earthquakes per year. Some are in the ocean.

Hurricanes are plentiful. Some of the more memorable or destructive are described here:

http://www.hurricaneville.com/historic.html

Hurricanes have a season, earthquakes do not. Earthquakes can happen at any time.

Not comforting.

The DC area seemed to have survived the hurricane last night. We didn't lose power and there doesn't seem to be any damage outside. Everything is drying off right now. But as I type, it is pummeling New York and the New England states.

As a precaution, we bought a couple of candles. Didn't need them but they will still serve a purpose to make the place better.

Hurricane Candle. Yummy.

A View Like No Other

2011-08-28T11:25:00.000-04:00

On my administrative promotion day, 1 August 2011, Kris treated me to a Lakota ride. I felt kind of silly as this was supposed to be a promotion "present" of sorts (followed by a yummy sushi lunch afterwards). I would not have my actual ceremony until almost two weeks later.

It was a great day and a unique opportunity to view Virginia, DC, and Maryland like few people can.

UH-72 Lakota

Pre-flight.

Really nice interior but not much access to the pilots up front.

Different being a passenger. Almost tossed my cookies near the end.

I took a few videos, but this gives you an idea of our perspective.

Washington Cathedral - pre-earthquake.

National Naval Medical Center

Our friend Shelly gave birth here on August 1st! Visited her the next day but of course was not as speedy as the Lakota.

Plane taking off on RW28.

BWI

View from the cockpit. Note the cute pilot on the left. ;)

Fort McHenry

Nationals Park

I drive by the Nationals Park every day, but this is a better view!

Taxiing in. Mission complete.

Yes, I got to be a tourist for a day. It was part of a flight to continue to familiarize Kris with all the places he will need to fly in the future and I got to tag along. I hope to do this again someday.

Later next week:

Real promotion day. In a new league now and am so happy Kris was there. We are well established in this next phase of our lives. Lots of craziness but lots of fun!

Exploring Options

2011-08-26T10:18:00.000-04:00

Looking ahead to the academic year in front of me, I'm faced with lots of reading and writing papers. The quantity of books I was issued yesterday was clear evidence of the many hours of work ahead of me.

Much of this will require individual discipline. I will need to stay on track with coursework as well make steady progress on the vaunted thesis that I'm expected to complete by the end of the year. I want to make this painless as possible and I believe that will entail choosing a topic of research that I genuinely enjoy.

I have an obsession with the anti-utopian and the post apocalyptic. I am intrigued by stories about the human struggle, finding much more value in conflict than day to day level-headedness, peace, and prosperity. I was born with this intrigue.

Favorite books are We (Zamyatin), A Brave New World (Huxley), 1984 (Orwell), One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Solzhenitsyn), and The Road (McCarthy) to name a just a few.

Literary fiction mostly, but some actual accounts of personal human struggle. The Stalinist time period is most interesting to me.

I think this interest may be related to my attitude and outlook on life. The glass is usually half empty, but I AM grateful for the half that is there. I'm told that I was very serious as a child, but whose fault is that? I know I don't do myself, and anyone else for that matter, any favors by clinging to negativity, but if it's an inherent trait, might as capitalize...

So, how to put a dark and perceptibly negative attitude to good use? Still working on it. But I can certainly appreciate the study of humankind's obsession with the horrors of the past. How did we get there and how do we avoid it again? What is the likelihood of future horrors resulting from current conditions? What are contributing factors? How does this affect the US?

It's all about the thesis this year (i.e. huge research project with a long paper) and I'd like it to not be a painful struggle. I only wish to study it, not experience it.

The clock is ticking.

Earthquake Day

2011-08-23T19:04:00.000-04:00

Today turned out to be a crazy day. One doesn't expect to experience a 5.8 earthquake while waiting in line to buy a ton of books at 60% off (earth shaking prices!).

But there I was. In line behind Mike, Shelly, and baby Odessa and the room started to rumble. It felt like thunder but it kept going and the intensity increased. I immediately thought of some sort of terrorist attack, and then maybe an explosion in the metro. The metro was right below us.

Shelly and Mike dropped their books and took off. I followed suit. There was nothing strange outside but everyone was reaching for their phones. Mike and Shelly were on their way home by then and I couldn't even send a text to Shelly the system was so clogged. Was it an earthquake? I began hearing people talk about their friend so-and-so who works at one of the Smithsonian museums across town who felt it. Another was in Maryland. Another in Pennsylvania.

An Earthquake? Here are some cool maps of the event:

After things had decidedly calmed down a bit outside, I went back for my deals.

A whole bunch of neat books I won't have time to read.

All of Kris's heros.

There's no arguing that we desperately need bookcases. That will be another adventure.

Got back to the apartment to a mirror that had fallen off a wall and some crooked pictures but that was it. Oh and some freaked out kitties.

Ok, so maybe not. Got on the phone and tried calling Kris. Turns out he was in the AIR. He had taken off at 1:30pm and missed the whole thing altogether. Only knew something was up when he heard over the radio that no one could land at Reagan National. Some people miss all the fun.

My aunt and uncle in Louisa didn't miss it. I hear they have a decent sized clean up. My mother in law in Charlottesville didn't miss it either. Neither did a cousin in Richmond.

Never mind that I ran 4 miles in my fastest time yet. Never mind anything else I had planned for today. Today, 23AUG11 is henceforth a day when I bought books for wicked cheap and an earthquake struck Virginia.

Love - Hate Relationship

2011-08-23T09:19:00.001-04:00

Meet my training partner - the Garmin Forerunner 305. My parents gave it to me for a birthday gift prior to my deployment to Iraq in June 2008 (#2).

Garmin has come out with newer, smaller watches (this one is huge on my small wrist), and probably with better features since then. They are expensive and this one provides lots of data so I'll stay with this one a while longer.

This watch is still $199.99 on the Garmin site, so I guess it's not that old.

The biggest problem I have, here amongst the high rise buildings, is getting it to acquire satellites. Once I'm in the open I have no trouble.

This watch has changed how I plan my training and has an impact on my run itself. This watch will display your pace and average pace, elapsed time, clock time, distance, lap time, heart rate (comes with a chest strap), mini map, and probably other features I don't even use.

Data fields are customizable

But honestly, all that information can drive you crazy. It's easy to get obsessed with it. The data fields are customizable and can rotate between displays. Mine it similar to the display above except I have it set to display four data fields.

One of my favorite features of this watch is the interval workout. You can set it to distance/distance (for run/rest interval), distance/time, time/distance, and time/time. Love it. You can tell it what pace you expect to run and it will beep at you if you fall below it.

Also, for normal running, you can set distance and time alerts. Mine beeps at me every .5 miles and every ten minutes. Unfortunately with all the traffic noise (planes, trains, and automobiles - literally!) I often don't hear the beeps so I'm forced to look at the thing more often. Ha!

The pressure is good - you have real data to measure your performance. But there comes a point where you have to leave the thing at home and just go for a run for the fun of it. Or just bring a simple watch that tracks only time and call it good.

Not at that point yet! I'm going to put in four today. I have a number in my head that I hope to achieve. This damn watch will provide me all the information I need to get there.

The Trail According to Me

2011-08-22T21:30:00.000-04:00

I can already tell that physical exercise will be a necessary stress relief with my new schedule. My first week of school has been great, but it's clear that it will be like nothing I've experienced before. I think it will be just the challenge I need.

I've written about the Mount Vernon Trail and I'm still tearing it up every other day with my lightning-like speed. Ha!! But it's been encouraging to see the slow but steady progress.

Part of the Mt. Vernon Trail

I subscribe to the "train as you fight" mentality and have tried to do most of my running in the morning. This is because the big event, the Army Ten Miler, will be in the morning so might as well get my body used to running in the AM. And ALSO, it's been so awful hot and humid here so running in the morning has been out of necessity.

It has only recently gotten cooler and it is easier to run or bike in the afternoon. Today, after school, I took out the mountain bike and went north on the trail to Theodore Roosevelt Island. Was about a 5 mile ride. The trail is different at 5 pm than it is around 7 or 8 in the morning. In the morning, there is ONLY exercise being done. It is the rare person taking a leisurely stroll.

In the afternoon it's a bit different. There are families hanging out, riding bikes with their kids, watching the planes take off at Gravelly Point Park - a popular point on the trail. And just like in the morning there are runnings and bikers but LOTS more of them.

At places, the trail gets clogged while at others it's all about dodging runners, walkers, kids, slow bikers (if on your bike). As a runner, you get to hear "on your LEFT!" or the annoying "ding ding!!" of a bike bell. I hate those things. Like I'm going to dive for the ditch or something.

Having successfully navigated through and around all of these intense athletes and pleasure seekers alike, I arrived at the Island.

I chained up my bike and grabbed my water and valuables off it and crossed the footbridge to the island. No bikes or cars are allowed on this island. This island "stands as a fitting memorial to the outdoorsman, naturalist, and visionary who was our 26th President."

Because today was an active rest day for me (ran 6 miles yesterday), I walked the 1.3 miles Swamp Trail around the perimeter of island. There were a few trail runners but I was alone for much of my walk. It was INCREDIBLE. Were it not for the sounds of traffic on the bridge to the south of the island and planes taking off from Reagan National, I would have forgotten that I was in Washington, DC (technically it's in Arlington, VA). About half of the trail was a walkway over a swamp. The rest was a dirt trail. No pavement whatsoever.

Some guy in a blue t-shirt lapped me three times. On one offshoot trail there was a dude standing there reading a book. He was nice enough to redirect me back to the main trail.

I'm definitely coming back in a few days to run laps.

The Daytona 500 back to the apartment was uneventful. I survived to enjoy the fried catfish Kris was whipping up in the kitchen. Yummy!

Winehouse...

2011-07-26T17:21:00.000-04:00

Today in the gym I listened to Amy Winehouse's "Frank". Probably a strange selection for a Back/Bicep and core muscle workout, but recent events pushed me in that direction. Plus the gym is the only place where I listen to music these days besides while driving the Bullitt.

I really do love her album "Frank" better than "Back to Black." Her sound was so unique, so original. In my mind, despite all of her issues, drug and alcohol addiction, I figured she'd clean up one day and eventually get back to the business of music. Give us some more of that great sound for which she was famous.

Someone with that much talent has something to live for, right?

She is someone I wanted to see in concert someday.

My favorite song is "In My Bed." "What is it About Men" offers unique insight too. I'm all about insight.

Dead at 27. No more Winehouse music.

Amy Winehouse

The New Normal?

2011-07-21T21:23:00.000-04:00

When one returns from a year-long deployment, one cannot help but want to slip back into what was previously known to be "normal." I think it's natural to want that familiarity of day to day activities and habits that were comforting and felt like home. It is a place with both physical and emotional properties. The problem, as I have repeatedly discovered, that no such place exists upon return. That place is stuck in the past.

The military has put a great deal of effort in helping service members readjust to the daily life back in garrison. The theory is, by providing an artificial adrenaline rush similar to what a soldier experienced in combat, the transition to home life wouldn't seem so drastic. And of course there is lots of counseling available and first line leaders are supposed to monitor those at higher risk for dangerous behavior.

What about those stuck behind a desk all year? Ok, so I was stuck in a palace and had good food, a nice gym, places to run, good comms, px, and all kinds of great stuff. Big Waaaaa, right?

Indeed. A year of boredom takes its toll too you know. And the Army has very little set up for recovery from that. I've been in a permanent state of transition from when I got back. You've read about some of my adventures but essentially I stayed in Texas waiting to leave for about four months. During that time I was working to get my house ready to go on the market and see HusBand as much as I could.

Getting here to Virginia is really great but it still feels odd. I feel like I'm still visiting most days, like I don't quite belong yet. And living with the better half for the first time as husband and wife... well it is an adjustment. We are wrestling with silly issues mostly with finances being the most significant. Isn't that what they say though? Finances are the biggest problem in a marriage? I think we have worked out a solution that will work well. (Pay goes into one joint checking, we figure out what needs to stay there to pay the bills, then we take what's left for our personal spending.)

I've learned there is no "right" or "wrong" way of doing things - whatever works for us is best.

I start school at the end of August so I do have a lot of down time. While this is all well and good, I feel pressure to be productive and when I don't, I feel GUILT! This is internal pressure but still...gets in the way of enjoying the new life and new home. So what is my new normal? I don't even know yet. I will have to just wait a few more months.

In a very insightful conversation with best friend Shelly, I revealed that I am relieved in that I know enough, have lived long enough, to not overreact to my discomfort. It's all too much to analyze (new home, new job that I haven't started yet, new part of the country, living with HusBand) so best to just let it ride and go with it. That really does help.

And just last night I returned to a familiar behavior that really sets my mind at ease and lets me enjoy my time off. I dug out a little blank notebook that I'd been hoarding for a few years for this exact purpose. I made lists.

First I did my budget again. I love working the numbers. I will probably do this several times.
Then I made a list of things I must do every day. Lifestyle things that I want to work into my daily routine while on leave so they become natural. There are only four: Exercise, take vitamins, read 2 chapters of brainy school books, clean apartment.
Then I made a master To Do list and prioritized it. That is my all time favorite. Then the next day I can just look at the list and pick out those things I've chosen to be highest priority.

This simple effort with lists in a notebook is lifelong behavior that has ALWAYS helped me feel organized. I can revise those lists or move to clean pages and make new ones. AND it helps me to be productive, as much or as little as I want to be, and then truly enjoy the free time left over. It's a return to the familiar in a new setting.

It's a Semi-New Normal!

Organization notebook atop school books.

Independence Day and Eating 1.5 Year Old Cake

2011-07-15T15:35:00.000-04:00

Still settling into the new apartment. When does it cease to be "settling" and give way to being "settled"? At this very moment, I am a hostage inside my own home, waiting for the movers to come remove cardboard boxes and packing paper. I can't dispose of them myself without risking a fine from the apartment management. :(

So I wait and play Zombie Lane to my heart's content. Poor HusBand is off dealing with a broken windshield in the Jeep. Good thing we have insurance.

Two fun events, as of late, the 4th of July and Tuesday of this past week when we officially celebrated our first wedding anniversary - even though it has been a year and a half.

The base of the Washington Monument proved to be a very popular spot.

Biking across the 14th Street bridge.

Lots of boats in the Potomac wanting a good view of the fireworks.

We hung out with Shelly and Mike and some of their friends. Our bikes are in the foreground.

It was really crowded. I am happy we did it, but I'm not so sure about going there next year. There are tons of neat sites all over DC that are great for fireworks viewing - I'm certain we'll find something better.

While HusBand and I were apart all last year, my parents kept the top of our wedding cake in their freezer. During my brief trip to Maine last weekend, they pressed me to finally unburden them with it so I threw it in the Jeep for the 12 hour trip back, hoping it would make it.

Was simply delicious and a very fun night. ;)

The groom is missing a button and nose and has a gimpy right arm, but the bride faired perfectly!

Dinner that night was a nice steak salad, home made margaritas, and chocolate cake!

Sometimes I still can't believe that we, along with all of our collective stuff, is under one roof at last.

Getting settled - A process

2011-07-03T22:50:00.000-04:00

I have been here in Arlington, VA for about two weeks now and, just like every other time I've moved, getting settled in is quite a process. But this time merging of the two households and living with husband permanently makes it different. I still feel like a tourist but once I start work I'm sure it will seem like a reality.

Before I left, there was nothing in the house but lots of room for kitties to run around.

The three day trip across the country from Texas was fun in the Bullitt with the Sugarkitty and Nick.

Caged Sugarkitty.

Sugar - positioned directly in front of the AC in a hotel room in Little Rock.

Nick - lounging on the bed in his red harness at hotel #2.

Upon arriving we got to work unpacking boxes but had time for a little shopping and cupcaking:

Stocking up - cheaper that way!

Cupcakes at Georgtown Cupcake - aka DC Cupcakes of TLC fame.

Wicked yummy.

Of course we got to work cooking too.

Mushroom Lasagna - amazing.

Fried yummy breakfast in an iron skillet. Delish!

We have had a great time so far and have tried to balance productivity with fun. We have the mountain bikes working and citified (better tires and lights) and plan to have many adventures on two wheels.

The DC area has so much to offer with wonderful, unique restaurants. We will get to then all. Eventually.

I leave you with this incriminating photo. Cats on the couch. Knowing full well they aren't allowed to be there.

New Beginnings of Life with HusBand!!!

2011-06-08T00:00:00.001-04:00

HusBand and I have been some traveling fools lately. I visited him in Pennsylvania when he was going through flight training, then he visited me for a week and a half here in Texas when he got done with it. We both visited his Dad and some other folks in Minnesota a couple weeks ago, and then this past weekend I flew to Arlington, VA to see him in our new apartment.

Of course the trip was multi-purpose. I had to bring a cat first and foremost. Driving across the country with two is bad enough. Three - not an option. Especially in the Bullitt.

Miss Lara and I flew in style on Jet Blue.

I think the drugs had worn off by now.

Now I'm left with these two:

Nick - much in need of anti-anxiety medication.

Sugarkitty - sweet and adorable but yells at me every morning for breakfast tuna.

The new place in VA is kinda small. It's not the 700 square foot apartment we had in Killeen once upon a time, but it's certainly not the 1800 square foot behemoth (relatively speaking) that I'm in now.

This place is somewhere in between but many perks. During my brief stay, we wanted to make the most of the time and make some decisions about color schemes with both paint and drapes. We will be living in a bustling area and there are many city-type noises that come with the whole experience. So thick, noise-reducing, light-blocking drapes were in order.

We decided to paint one wall of the living room a nice blue to go with eggshell drapes and brown furniture.

Taping off the ceiling and baseboard

I did all the edge painting.

Halfway done

Painting the columns

All done!

Next is the curtains and hopefully to get rid of those wretched cheap blinds. We have chosen a nice tan brown color to paint the bedroom. Probably won't start on that room for another couple of weeks but I can't WAIT to get to it.

It's fun to make our home truly ours. It's a bit of money, but will be so worth it in the end.

Minnesoooohta, ya?

2011-05-31T23:54:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've written but I'm going through one of those phases where I don't feel like doing anything. At all. Living somewhere between not-gone-yet and ready-to-go, it's limbo again for me and HusBand. We're spending time together, but in the form of a week or weekend at a time.

He's in the new place in Arlington, and I'm still in crapville battling some new form of black-lung it seems. Going on 10 days with a violent cough and if I hadn't already seen so much of the damned hospital on Fort Hood lately with post-deployment appointments, I'd go tomorrow.

Last weekend was superb though. I got to go to Minnesota (straight shot north from Texas by the way) and see where Kris spent some of his time as a youth. The father-in-law has an amazing piece of property with lush trees and grass and a pond with some sizable fish. And their house is beautiful. He and his wife joke about not leaving, but I see why. Plenty to do with upkeep on the place, but it's so peaceful and beautiful.

I got the classic tourist experience with the Mall of America. It was quite a place. It took a while just to find parking but find it we did. I am actually proud of us. We exercised some restraint and walked out with only Pandora bracelet charms (me, wore them), shoes (one pair each), and a yummy Haagen-Dazs ice cream cone (one each but he tried to eat half of mine!). We walked through the Nickelodeon-themed amusement park, and ogled the giant Lego creations strung above the Lego store. HusBand observed at least three (was it four?) Caribou Coffee shops.

Kids in a candy store - the store being the whole freaking mall!

We also saw some of the Minnesota Zoo which had to be one of the best zoos I've ever seen The animals looked really healthy and each had an authentic environment to live in. Very fun, lots of monkeys.

We also took a drive through downtown Minneapolis. Didn't have time to get out and wander about but it looked like a mighty thriving city. Oh yah, loved the connecting bridges between buildings so you can go from building to building and stay warm in the frigid Minnesota winter.

When some of the craziness dies down, I'm sure we'll go back and descend on the state again.

You betcha!

I Can't Help Myself

2011-05-09T03:11:00.000-04:00

I can't help it. Here are two videos I posted on Facebook that literally made me laugh out loud (LOL for you cheesy types).

I have watched both videos at least 20 times and if it's good enough to make me burst out laughing, kitties giving me weird looks, then I must share with you. Enjoy!

The Lonely Island video with Michael Bolton was featured on last Saturday's SNL and has some naughty words. But it's The Lonely Island after all! Incredibly hilarious.

This second one is all over the place but I first saw it after a tip from one of my readers (thanks Taylor!). No bad words in this one, but just a doggy... you'll see!

In the Pet Store today...

2011-05-08T20:28:00.000-04:00

Insert your own caption here.

I have no words for this.

Less Than Ideal - "Enhanced" Dental Techniques

2011-05-07T01:50:00.000-04:00

Today was a day of necessarily evil. Actually there were a couple days of necessary evil this past week. This morning, I went in to have my 3rd, 4th, and 5th crown prepared. On Wednesday I endured numbers one and two. If you've ever gone through the process of having crowns, you might identify with the trauma of the whole thing. Maybe I'm just being dramatic, but it is really a painful and uncomfortable process.

Thanks to being away for a year, I have to get seven crowns completed and all seven will have been prepped within one week by the time it's all done. Preparation is the process of taking impressions and the dentist drills away all the enamel, part of your tooth, and filling to then place a crown, or cap over what's left.

This is a great website that explains the procedure. Crowns and Bridges and Preparing a Crown

Fortunately I don't need any bridges, just crowns. I was supposed to have 3 or 4 done before I deployed but ran out of time. Most dental offices around here need at least 4 weeks for the crown to be manufactured in a lab and everything needs to be completed now because I won't be in Killeen too much longer. I have been advised to have gold crowns on those molars in the back of my mouth that won't be seen because gold is the stronger and more durable than porcelain. I will get porcelain (tooth colored) caps for those teeth that will be seen.

I really hope this is a smart choice - not wishing to look ghetto fabulous.

In the meantime, I have temporary caps covering those teeth. Temporary crowns are made of acrylic right there at the dentist's office. They are not as sharp and don't conform to your natural bite as well as the real crowns do. You can't eat certain foods with the temps nor would I want to due to the pain caused when chewing anything with some resistance.

Off limits:

Nuts
Raw carrots
Hard candy of any kind
Chips
Granola
Steak
Chewy bread
Peanut or Almond butter (crunchy)

Ok, so I made up the last few but I know I won't be able to eat any of those foods without shooting pain through my teeth. Soft foods, cooked vegetables, bananas, rice and pasta, yogurt, cottage cheese, and soup! HusBand says I should go get something with more vitamins like Ensure too. Maybe I will.

Having to go through all of this dental work in such a short period of time is not "ideal" my dentist says. Yes, yes, I can't do anything in a normal, humane way. She is very young, and very focused on her work, rushing from one patient to another. I think she was taken aback when, after administering the local anesthesia (a lot - and two different types) I had an emotional breakdown.

Knowing full well how uncomfortable and painful this whole process would be, I was really dreading this second session. We discussed how much work it would be and then decided to work on three teeth instead of four. Then she stuck a huge needle in the back of my mouth, where my lower and upper jaw met to numb the bottom teeth. I always feel the needle go in and then the sharp pain of the anesthesia permeating the tissue. I feel each injection. It takes an eternity. I am sweating and my whole body has stiffened and breathing becomes labored just trying to remain very still while this giant needle was stuck in my gums.

And then I could feel it building slowly. Frustration and panic. Tears started flowing. After she had stuck another needle with a different kind of medicine at the site of each tooth, I was done. I don't know why, maybe it was the "epi-rush" side effect making my heart beat faster that caused my reaction. In no time I was full on sobbing. Felt like a moron, truth be told.

"Was it anything we did?" she asked.
"Noooooo..... I'm ok." I sobbed.

They got me some water and I recovered. I had to get this done. Just reducing the whole thing to something I have to do helped. I don't want to have to worry about getting this done when I'm in school.

The good news is that I have only two more to go and then wait until the gold and porcelain crowns are made. Hopefully it won't be too bad when they put them in. But it took me a year before I could chew on crowns I had done about ten years ago. What a mess. New "enhanced" weight management technique maybe?

Less than ideal indeed.

What's It Like Over There?

2011-05-06T22:51:00.000-04:00

Al Faw Palace on Camp Victory

I'm often asked, what is it like in Iraq now? Honestly, I don't feel very equipped to answer this question since I spent my last deployment entirely confined to Camp Victory in Baghdad. So any answer is from my own perspective which I feel is lacking in content and very narrow, but I will give it anyway.

(I give credit to Stephanie for this blog - for asking me the question a few days ago!)

US troops aren't out there on the streets and in the communities anymore like we used to be. But I guess judging by the lower number of indirect fire attacks, IEDs, or sniper incidents, even reported in the media, it's a lot better and casualties have significantly decreased. But fewer US troops in Iraq can also be the reason for fewer incidents.

Some reporting comes from the Iraqi military and police and it's sometimes difficult to know if they are reporting what's actually happening or just reporting what their superiors or what they think the US wants to hear. But it is the Iraqis, themselves, who are clearly in charge of their own country. Overall, it's definitely not the same place it was in 2005-2006.

I think that soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines can feel proud for their work in this country based on how conditions are now. It is a significant achievement given what the security situation used to be but is still a work in progress. Time will tell exactly how much the US military has affected Iraq for the better.

The Fate of my Smile

2011-05-04T01:19:00.000-04:00

It took a while but I've finally reached my 100th blog posting. It is fun and I certainly think I will continue it into the forseeable future.

Ever since I got back from my glorious 40-ish days of post-deployment leave, I have been scurrying around trying to reset myself. All of the Army's deployable units are in some part the ARFORGEN cycle (reset, train/ready, and available), designed to provide soldiers and leaders with some predictability with the constant deployments. Usually a unit can expect to be in the Reset phase for approximately 6 months before ramping up training to prepare to deploy again.

Reset is for both equipment and soldiers. Equipment will be cleaned, repaired, replaced, and then returned to the unit. The same can be said for what happens to individual soldiers. Those six months of reset are designed to be low key, predictable, and offer plenty of time to fix and resolve those issues that need to be addressed after a year of neglect. It's also a time period where soldiers may transfer to another duty station. But before moving, it is preferrable to get your own personal reset completed first.

In my case, I am considering that I'll be going into a grad school program and really don't want to be dealing with it while I'm trying to study. Without disclosing my full medical picture, you can imagine there are certain routine annual exams a woman should endure each year. Also I will finally get some more attention for this sprained glute muscle that still bothers me from so long ago.

I have a ten mile race to run in October for goodness sakes!

I think the absolute worst thing all soldiers have to fight, kick, and scream about is dental care. Thanks to the lovely mineral well water and less than exceptional dental hygiene habits that were not considered to be a priority by anyone in my family while growing up, I now have ongoing dental issues which become more extensive after each deployment. My habits, now, are corrected thanks to the tough but well-meaning words from a dentist early on in my military career.

I found myself needing a long overdue cleaning (the army will give you only one a year anyway), a few cavities to be corrected, and a number of crowns which are to replace the more-filling-than-teeth situation I have going on right now. The Dental system here at Fort Hood is so overwhelmed and mismanaged that many soldiers are probably not getting any care at all because it is so hard to get an appointment.

Knowing full well the amount of work I needed done I was proactive in making appointments. Problem was (mismanagement), the only appointment available was TWO weeks away. And I couldn't make another appointment (2 weeks later) until that one had been completed. And THEN they would do only one thing at a time. Just a cleaning, or just one cavity, and no crowns before all the cavities had been taken care of.

When I saw that I would never get through this process I appealed (to a skeptical E4 at the front desk) to be seen off post dentist. I met with a tattoo covered ex-soldier, with a dialect right out of the hood (maybe it was Fort Hood) who looked over my file. It was his job to see if soldiers qualified to go off post for dental care based on... I have no idea really. Either way, he helped me out and got me into a dental clinic (near a Target, Old Navy, Starbucks, and a liquor store) who could see me the next day for a cleaning. He was very nice and sympathetic to my situation and time constraints.

They were so nice at this new clinic and I immediately kicked myself for not doing this earlier. The dentist recommended doing a couple more crowns beyond what the Army dentist wanted to do since those teeth would eventually be crowned anyway. Long story short, I go under the drill tomorrow to get half of them taken care of and then the other half two days later. Ill have 7 temporary crowns when they are done. Then in three weeks the real crowns will be ready. I think it will be painful.

In fact I'm sure it will be. But I'd rather get it done now than deal with it later. Army medicine does not have the best interests of the individual soldier at heart. They are merely trying to keep up with a huge population that is either just returning from war, or needs to get fixed before going there.

The Faces!

2011-05-03T08:34:00.000-04:00

Have you ever been perplexed? Befuddled? Out of sorts?

Feel like you're always looking for something?

Is no one listening to what you have to say?

Not getting along with others?

Feel like hiding?

Maybe it's time to stretch out and relax.

Surround yourself with your favorite things. (Sugarkitty likes Runner's World and a Tall Skinny Caramel Latte.)

Sit back and cross your paws!

Tell those around you what it is you need.

Finally, take a little snooze and read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl on your pretty pink-flower-stickered Kindle.

These cats are hilarious.

A Nod in the Direction of Crazy

2011-05-03T00:16:00.000-04:00

I realize I am way, way behind on blogging. Many reasons - none of them all that good. TV, the endless voider of deep and insightful thought , bewitches me nightly. The constant allure of all the food in my fridge and pantry has me obsessed. With both the eating and not eating of it all. Also, there may or may not have been solitary wine consumption on one or two nights.

I might have become paralyzed by all the deep profound things scrolling through my brain, and then distraught that no topic stood out as a clear winner. Especially that you might think it is stupid.

And then I may feel like a failure for not at least practicing that one thing I wish to improve and that I will be doing a lot of in the next year at grad school. Said feelings of failure might have become compounded with other daily indiscretions relating to exercise, diet, reclusiveness beyond even my comfort level, possible hoarding tendencies, and guilt of how to purge all of the Americana and classic country styled heirlooms scattered among my undesirable belongings (HusBand and I are trying to adopt a more contemporary style when we finally merge households - a style that NO ONE in our families would relate to).

Oh! And all of those little nuggets of my past that I have yet to be able to change with obsessive thought and meditation. I'm still working at it though.

Negativity begets negativity. (Believe me, I roll my eyes at myself constantly.)

Recognition of the positive:

Osama bin Laden is dead! Death of bad dudes can be a positive thing. This 10% vindicates, for me, the 39-ish months spent in Iraq, doing something that I hope is considered important decades in the future.
I got my hair colored and cut! Not blonde and really cute. Love it.
Saw HusBand over Easter in Harrisburg, PA. Such a great time, so hard to leave again.
Changed arrangement of living room furniture creating better energy. Good feng shui.
Finally figured out how to work the sprinkler system so it isn't watering the grass twice a day on M, W, and F. Just once. Small victories.
Exercised discipline enough over the TV in order to finish Sophie's Choice - a book I started in January while still in Iraq. Really good!
Registered for the Army Ten Miler ten minutes after registration opened. Registered HusBand too. ;)

Definitely going through a "what does it all mean" phase. Like a midlife crisis only I hope this isn't the middle of my life. Trying to find purpose in the overwhelming amount of time not well spent. Deployments tend to do that to you. Give you a whole boatload of time to think about where you are and where you aren't.

Enough to make you want to stay inside all day, watch repeated episodes of Hoarders, Income Property, and Bethenny Ever After, play with your three cats, drink wine, and make To Do lists.

Um...

Such a vicious cycle!

Letting Go of "Stuff"

2011-04-12T01:31:00.000-04:00

This is my first blog using my new fancy iPad 2 that HusBand bought for me when we on vacation. It's really strange at first, this giant iPod-like tablet, but after getting used to it, my MacBook feels almost cumbersome. I still prefer a real computer for real typing and uploading photos so I don't see it going away anytime soon. But once I get an external keyboard, figure out the photo thing, and find a way for this thing to read adobe I'll be set!

I've settled into a state of temporary settlement. I'm here in this huge (for me) Texas house, but time is flying by. My task is simple; get rid of a bunch of stuff so that when Kris and I move into our small yet conveniently located dream pad in Arlington, VA we won't be wasting our time getting rid of stuff there. But Hoarders: Buried Alive teaches me that being from parents who can't get rid of stuff makes it much harder for me to detach.

My reality check, however, is this: I have been deployed three times to Iraq and served a year in Korea. Each time my crap goes into storage during these years away, it's always a surprise when I see it again. What I'm saying is, each time, I FORGET about 85% of it. And USUALLY a lot of it never gets unpacked.

This is ridiculous. Enough is enough. The toughest things are those items given to me by family members or harder still, were homemade by family members. I mean come on. But the dishes given to me by my parents, the very same ones I ate off of as a child, just don't work now that I am a well established adult. Those dishes, with the 20 teacups and saucers, simply do not fit with the modestly contemporary style we are trying to achieve. The same can be said for quilts hand quilted by my late grandmother. And what about the pine furniture, practically decimated by all of the moves, my dad made for me back when it seemed clear to him I would be single forever? The farmhouse look is not one I ever chose for myself, but one that others chose for me.

That and the pig (trinkets, stuffed animals, figurines, ornaments) collection, a phase from back in high school, that continues to be thrust upon me each Christmas. I will throw each of those stupid pigs away! Except for the black one with wings that will go nicely on a coffee or end table as a conversation piece.

Bottom line, it's all getting thrown away, sold, or given to Good Will. The key, as I've learned from the reality show, is to not hold anything for long so as to not form an emotional attachment, and then to immediately put it in a pile for action (i.e. Goes to the trash).

I already have a plan for the dishes, a dear cousin with a farm house who will take them off my hands. Now I need to figure out how to vanquish everything else.

Weekend Parfait

2011-04-10T13:11:00.000-04:00

A yummy little creation in a wine glass for breakfast:

4 oz plain greek yogurt
handful of granola or cereal with granola
honey
raspberries and blueberries

Three layers - granola cereal (I used Vanilla Almond Crunch), then 1/3 of the yogurt, light drizzle of honey, then a few raspberries and blueberries.

Repeat two more times then top last layer with granola cereal. Probably 150 - 200 total calories and a great breakfast and tasty way to start the day.

What I Needed to Hear

2011-04-06T23:58:00.000-04:00

Tonight's dinner - hasn't been this healthy in a while.

Vacations can be devastating, leaving in their wake pounds of unwanted fat around your midsection, thighs, or buttocks. I have estimated that I am fairly disciplined for up to 10 vacation days away from the home. "Fairly disciplined" means doing at least 30 minutes of exercise every other day and keeping calorie intake to a moderate amount, declining dessert, that sort of thing. After the ten day window however? HusBand and I tend to fall right off the wagon. We were on the road for 23 days. You do the math.

This was never so apparent as it was this afternoon when I met with a Personal Trainer at Gold's Gym for my complimentary consultation for getting a new membership. I've been a Gold's Gym member before and I knew that this was primarily a tactic to get you to buy sessions of personal training. I absolutely have nothing against this - I hired a personal trainer a few years ago and it was a great experience. Nothing like having your own personal motivator and trainer to guide you towards your fitness goals.

But without being rude, Shanti, a nice as can be personal trainer, showed me how much I had slipped. I realize this isn't a big deal for many, but for me, a five pound weight gain really shows. I'm only 5'2". In total, I need to lose 8 pounds to get to a comfortable weight again. Also, I am still rehabilitating my strained glute muscle and being lighter and healthier will help this process.

My complimentary session consisted mostly of conversation in which she gathered information from me about my current exercise and meal plan and asked me what my goals were. I told her I wanted to heal my glute muscle and be ready to run the Army 10-miler in October. Her eyes immediately lit up and she related that she intended to run the Marine Corps Marathon in DC. Ok, so marathon trumps 10 miles, but still, she understood me.

She approved my plan of spin classes, yoga, strength training, and not overdoing it on the treadmill. She was even impressed with protein supplement use as well as multi-vitamins, fish oil, and calcium. Then came the nutrition questions. The interrogation if you will.

Her: "So, how many times a day do you eat?"
Me: "Um, three, but I know you should eat more often."
Her: "It's best to try to eat five or six meals a day to keep your metabolism up. What do you eat for breakfast?"
Me: "I try to eat egg whites or oatmeal and yogurt."
Her: "What kind of yogurt, do you remember the brand?"
Me: "Um, greek yogurt of some kind but I don't remember the brand."
Her, excited: "Great! Greek yogurt has the most protein, but is it Yoplait? Stony Brook?"
Me: "Honestly I really don't remember."
Her: "Ok, but I need you to really start looking at the nutritional value of everything you eat. Some of those yogurts have a lot of fat."
Me: "Ok."
Her: "What do you eat for lunch?"
Me: "Well, I just got back off of leave and have only eaten out for lunch so far, but I try to get a healthy sandwich."
Her: "Ok, when do you eat next?"
Me: "Um, well, I really don't have much of a routine yet..."
Her: "Any snacks?"
Me, embarrassed: "Yeah, I have fallen victim to the vending machine at work. I know it's bad!!!" hanging my head in shame.
Her: "It is hard! I know it is. You just have to plan ahead and bring good snacks to work so you avoid eating bad stuff. What do you eat for dinner?"
Me: "Well, I cooked up a big bunch of wheat spaghetti with ground turkey and sauce that I eat for dinner. And I have a salad with it."
Her: "Is that it? Just spaghetti and salad?"
Me, feeling extremely guilty at this point: "Well, I might get seconds. I'm just so hungry at night! I want to eat a lot!"
Her: "Eating 6 meals during the day really helps prevent being super hungry at night. So just salad and a couple helpings of spaghetti?"
Me, turning red, cursing HusBand's ice cream fetish and that he didn't eat it all before he left: "Ok, ok, I guess I need to come clean."
Her: "Tell me."
Me: "I eat ice cream!! It's there. My husband left it." Totally diming out HusBand at this point, all dignity gone.
Her: "Well here's what your new plan will be."

And she proceeded to write down this whole plan for me.

Meal plan, exercise plan, protein intake, carb limitations, and a reminder that I should hire her for 6 sessions.

Basically this piece of paper has two or three different breakfast combinations, egg whites and fruit, yogurt and oatmeal, or yogurt and fruit with nuts. Lunch will be a 1/2 can of tuna and a salad with low fat dressing. Newman's Own dressing is Shanti approved. A snack is a half cup of cottage cheese (1%) with nuts. Then I go to the gym in the afternoon followed by dinner which will be a lean meat and salad. Bedtime snack is cottage cheese or a protein shake.

NO CARBS AFTER 4PM. This makes me so, so sad.

Then my exercise plan is to lift weights three times a week and do spin class and yoga. I need to figure out my routine - which days I will do what. I'd like to shoot for five days a week. The classes will help with the routine once I get going.

Next thing I need to do is go grocery shopping and get the right foods. I've already thrown out all kinds of bad stuff. Still need to part with my ginger snaps. I'll do it Shanti! I will!

It would cost $390 to hire her for 6 sessions. I would like nothing more than to do it, but with aforementioned house repair issues, impending government shutdown possibly delaying my mid-month pay, and the fact that I really do know how to fix myself and need to turn off the reality tv and get my ass to the gym, I have to say no for now.

But please know, personal trainers are really an excellent way to reach your goals. Just the table talk alone was enough to motivate me.

Amanda in the Real World - Adventures in Investment Property

2011-04-05T22:46:00.000-04:00

Vacation is now officially over. In the past few days I've been up to my ears in all matters HOUSE REPAIR and, just today, was forced to return to my place of employment on Fort Hood. Concerning the latter, it was only a matter of time before I'd have to don the baggy boy-fitting digital cammo, put on combat boots, and go back to work. I guess I can't stay on leave forever. Boo.

But back to the house. Actually, houses. I own a home here in Killeen, Texas and a townhouse in Enterprise, Alabama near Fort Rucker. Buying houses and pursuing investment was my "single Amanda" behavior - it's the liability that I brought to the marriage. At the time, when I was single, I saw it as a learning opportunity, low risk investments, and felt a sense of accomplishment from being in a position to do so. I wasn't going to sit on my butt and feel sorry for myself and wait for some knight in shining armor to come along and buy them for me when I could do it myself. In my mind, I would always be able to cover any expense with the money I made since it affected only me and my two shitmonster cats.

My dad jokes that I'm now the "landlord". It's the only thing he can think to say whenever I bring up the subject of my properties. Seriously - real estate mogul I am not.

Then I met HusBand and everything changed. I had heard that marriage will do that to your life - rearrange priorities and whatnot, but didn't believe it until now. What was an adventure of sorts for me back then, now appears to be a drain on our finances. Draining money that he and I could use for traveling together, setting up our "for real" home in VA, setting money aside for OUR retirement that may fare better than real estate. In light of these changed priorities, owning two investment properties just isn't as sexy anymore.

In HusBand's previous life, he had owned a home in Savannah, GA and his experience was overwhelmingly negative. He felt that he was nickeled and dimed by his tenants on repairs and his property manager allowed it to happen. When dealing with property managers, it really is tough to say if they are looking out for your best interests.

In Alabama, they take 10% of your tenant's rent for their cut and that really was the going rate. Here in Killeen my property manager took only 5%. Deal right? I think so, but they managed more properties. In both cases I had a warm fuzzy. The managers corresponded frequently via email, they were available to answer questions and advise me on home repairs, as well as kept tenants in them even if it meant lowering the rent slightly which was ok with me.

What I was NOT prepared for was, in the case of this Texas house, the magnitude of the little things that were not addressed and over time, these things add up. I don't know if I can even blame the property manager since he was largely worried about the big things. Big things in the case of my last winner-tenant - breaking the garage door twice because he locked himself out, electrical problems, leaving the place disgusting, and I'm SURE there was other crap I don't even want to know about.

So when it's all said and done, I'm left with the cost of repairing the "little things":

Things like a door not closing properly, missing sealant on the windows causing water damage, shower, tub, and caulking all over the place that needed to be redone.

Bigtime cracking and separation from the wall.

Window

Tub

Then there was rotting wood on one of the windows on the back of the house.

A busted sprinkler valve which resulted from someone not turning off the water correctly, but when the sprinkler guy investigated further, there was a cracked pipe that was flooding nearby.

The segment on the right side of this unit needed to be replaced.

Weeds in the flowerbed and the lawn. Lawn dude says the grass in my back yard is completely dead and needs some expensive procedure to make it grow again.

Overrun flower bed.

It's like a damn tree growing in the back yard.

There were wasps nests all OVER that house. The night before Jimmy the handyman came I found a baby scorpion in my bathtub. I need pest control...

Gross. Jimmy knocked them all down with a high pressure washer or "warsher" as Jimmy says.

What ticked me off the most, and I mean REALLY got my goat, was the condition of the fence. How hard would it be for Mr. Cool Property Manager Dude to go out there once in a while and take a look and the state of things in the back yard? If this fence got any worse, I'd have to replace it altogether. Jimmy assured me it could be saved though.

As seen from the front - missing board, crappy bland fence is mine, nice stained fence is the neighbors'.

As seen from inside the yard. Missing boards, others are loose.

Back of the fence - fence leaning in on itself, boards falling apart. Ugh.

Doomsday Jimmy tells me the builders had the nail gun setting too high and I could see for myself that the nails went almost all the way through each board. Each board in the back is going to need to be re-nailed.

So far, these repairs have cost me $2,215. I haven't called pest control yet and Jimmy says there's another $1,300 of more work in this house. He found cracks and nail pops everywhere that need fixing. I'm going to try to do some of this myself. I think I will try nailing the fence. And the nasty grout between the tiles in the kitchen floor just needs some elbow grease.

The Alabama house needs some repairs too. Windows need replacing and I need to get a new washer and dryer before I get nickle and dimed to death on the cost of continued dryer repair.

As it is well known, the housing market is in the dumps right now. I do not even know the current value of this Texas home, but I don't think I'm upside down. I'm probably damn close to owing the amount of the property even though I've been paying on it for a few years. The Alabama house will be no problem even though it will probably sell for at least $5,000 less than what I paid back in 2005. So the issue is, do I sell these houses, take a hit, and then be free? Or do I put tenants back in these money pits and take a chance that I won't get losers who will ruin my houses and not care about them?

HusBand and I have been discussing this matter and talking openly about it. He feels strongly about it, that having tenants is simply a losing matter. My original idea was that the houses would be longer term investments and that over time, after the homes appreciated, I would get my money back. It now looks as though I'd have to hang onto them for a long time for this to happen and dump how much money into repairs in the process?

This whole idea of mine seemed so good back in 2005 and 2007. At this point, I'm leaning towards fixing both of them up real nice and put them on the market while I have some disposable income to throw at the cause. Then commit to taking another hit on overall value but be free with it once and for all. And then gain $2,000 a month, in non-house payments, to put towards something for the both of us to enjoy.

Your feedback is most welcome.

A Road Trip Survived and Future Happiness

2011-04-01T01:36:00.001-04:00

First blog of April and certainly no trick intended here! I was up too late and it turned 1 April in the process. I have seen the exit sign to my vacation but am trying to extend it as much as possible. I'll have to go back to work in a few days but until then I'm watching lots of girly reality tv shows, WILL do a good bit of reading, and WILL go to the gym.

(Lots of good intentions there you see.)

Kris and I made it back to Texas a few days ago after our 23 day road trip. I'm pleased to report that we came out of the experience still desiring to be married to one another. Road trips certainly test one's ability to restrain expressions of frustration from being cooped up in a vehicle for hours on end.

It also tests one's patience while being held captive in the passenger's seat, subjected to the relatively INSANE and UNSAFE driving practices the other person may have picked up after a year in Egypt. Just saying...

Starbucks may have saved the marriage a couple times!

I can now safely say, with a great degree of certainty (greater than 80%), that HusBand and I are now headed in the right direction of actually being together. Three days after we got back, he had to turn around and drive back east across the country for a month and a half long course. When it's all said and done, he will be settling into our new apartment in Northern Virginia in mid May and I will join him in July.

Our three full days in the DC area were spent looking for places to live. Thanks to the help of a realtor the first day, and a good friend of mine on the second day, we found an awesome place to live close to a five sided building. Our city living experience will be fulfilled with lots of amenities, easy metro access, and restaurants and shops (and a mall!!) within walking distance. We will still need to drive to our jobs, but will have convenience in all other areas of life.

Would love to live in Old Town, but another nearby location was better!

This is one of those rare times in life when everything seems to be falling into place. And not because it just happened, but because HusBand and I made it happen. We kept working, applying, planning, discussing, and held out hope all year that everything would turn out in our favor.

I came home to a graduate school acceptance letter, and today saw a list with my name on it that says I'll get promoted in a few months! Nothing is ever, ever certain in the Army. They can revoke orders and change plans according to their needs, but at this point in time, things are looking really good.

Trees were in bloom.

11 Countries in 1.5 Days - the Epcot Center Experience

2011-03-18T23:01:00.000-04:00

It's been a little while since the last entry, but it's a whirlwind vacation. We are seeing friends and family, and spending great quality time on our own. To catch you up on the latest:

Aunt Judy and Uncle Dick - Santa Rosa Beach, FL - first stop in Florida, before Tampa.

After Tampa and Busch Gardens, we adventured to Animal Kingdom, Epcot Center, and Magic Kingdom in Orlando. We then enjoyed the beach in Daytona for a day, freshly devoid of the bikers from Bike Week. And more recently spent 2 days in Savannah before departing for lovely Fayetteville, NC just before St. Patty's Day.

Happy St. Patty's Day - on I-95N in South Carolina.

Some highlights from our trip so far:

Animal Kingdom - Tree of Life

Animal Kingdom was fun. Neither of us had been there but we took advantage of our military discounted 4-day park hopper and went there the evening we arrived in Orlando. I especially enjoyed a roller coaster up Mt. Everest. Dinner that night was at the Rain Forest Cafe!

Epcot Center was a truly ambitious experience. In one and a half days, we either ate, drank, or purchased a souvenir from each of the 11 "countries".

Mexico - margaritas and Nachos!

Peach tart and some other cream filled pastry in Norway.

Ice Wine from Canada

Bagette with brie and chocolate eclair with coffee in France.

Here, HusBand observed how the French were true to character. ;)

Falafel wrap in Morocco. So YUMMY!

Guiness and Cider on draught in the UK.

Japan - flower hair thingy and Sake.

Green tea-Sake and melon-vodka drinks in China. Very Chinese, right?

Italy - awesome Ducati t-shirt for Kris.

Funnel cake from America! It was the only attractive thing we could find there.

The grand finale - dinner in Germany!

This dinner - amazing. We each had a beer and a couple trips to the buffet. Totally stuffed walking out of there.

Now we are enjoying time with HusBand's Mom and her husband in Charlottesville, VA. Their home is on the side of a mountain - so beautiful! So many more pictures to follow in future postings.

Busch Gardens - Roller Coasters and Animals

2011-03-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, after miraculously getting up to do some PT at the awesome Air Force gym (I know - but fitness does have a place on vacation), we set off intent on riding America's best roller coasters and seeing some cool animals.

Some pics from our adventure:

Me at the park entrance. We got in for free with our military IDs. Tickets are $78 normally. It's really great that Busch Gardens does that for the military and their families. Biggest expense all day was the fantastic BBQ we had for lunch.

The Animals:

All the kangaroos were all sleepy and lethargic like this one. Really really cute though.

There were so many of these birds, they stank! But they were really neat. They lift up one leg to regulate their body temperature. Their color comes from the food they eat.

Big, pretty turtle.

You've seen one on tv.

Yep, me and an elephant.

Kris and that same elephant.

Considered the watchtowers of the desert. If they run, all the other animals run too.

5 Meercats - can you count them all?

This is Guilty Bird. I don't remember what kind of bird this guy was, but he was everywhere, or at least another bird like him. He'd stumble down an embankment and look at you hesitantly, looking guilty, hoping for a handout. He was obviously part of the park's bird population, yet he had freedom of movement.

The animals here looked really great and were obviously well taken care of. Much better than the imprisoned creatures at the National Zoo. These animals had a great refuge and sanctuary to run around. Captivity, yes, yet they seemed to have lots of space at least.

The coasters:

Sheikra is one of four Dive coasters in the world. It was phenomenal. It included two vertical drops.

This is the highest drop of Sheikra. This picture does it no justice. You can see the dive coaster about to drop.

This is a segment of Montu. This coaster was great - you were connected at the top and your feet dangled. You couldn't see the loops or twists until you were already in them. I loved this one!

Three others included a traditional wooden coaster, Kumba (my fav), and Scorpion which was a small lame roller coaster.

We did a couple of other rides, one of which included a 40 minute train ride of the whole park to include a tour of the "Serengeti" - many of my animal pictures came from the train ride. Also, a safari style ride called Rhino Rally. We got up close to the animals - like 10 feet from a rhino's butt!

Kris, real thrilled with his train ride. He spent it digesting all the BBQ he ate.

Overall, an awesome day. We picked up chicken sandwiches on the way back to MacDill AFB where we stayed, made a couple of Capt Morgan and cokes, and watched two episodes of Walking Dead. Great day! Tomorrow - Orlando.

Vacation at Last!

2011-03-05T22:18:00.000-05:00

I write this on the eve of Day #1 of vacation. It was a close call as the better half and I didn't know if we would even be able to depart on time for what is sure to be a whirlwind tour of the southeastern United States culminating in an epic adventure of cat transport back to Texas.

We were plagued by a week-long lethal version of a chest cold/flu-like illness which disguised itself as two separate ailments at first. For me, I had the day-long sore throat followed by the vicious onslaught of aches, fever, congestion, and a cough that developed quickly. For him, he misinterpreted the affliction as "allergies" - a mere annoyance that would go away with time. Wrong. As I was on the mend, it came down hard on him, seeking vengeance with the same tenacity that had me couch-ridden three days earlier (watching episodes of "Heavy", "Intervention", and anything shown on Bravo tv, aka Chick tv). And this was only two days ago!

Violette-Groth pharmacy open for business.

Thanks to Dr. Maguire (good to have a cousin pharmacist) and her recommendations, we finally got the right combination of drugs to fix HusBand right up. Mucinex to break up the cough, with Sudifed, an antihistamine, to dry up the sniffles.

Day one consisted of a reasonable 9 hour drive. The weather was crap but the new Jeep is fantastic and perfect for this trip. Cost of gas, however ... yowzers! After a year of what we've been through, it's good to have control again. We can drive wherever we want, whenever we want. We won't be subject to airline delays, nor rioting natives.

No, we are not going to Wisconsin.

Of course weather and traffic will always play a role but shouldn't affect us too much. Next is to visit a favorite aunt and uncle, and to see a cousin I haven't seen in over five years. And the better half finally gets to meet them!

Escape from Egypt

2011-02-27T01:24:00.000-05:00

Back around 28JAN I lost internet communications with HusBand who was working in Egypt. For 5 days, no email and no instant messenger. Torture. For two people who relied on the internet for approximately 95% of their communication, you can imagine the anxiety. In fact, you can read about it in some of my previous postings. While other Americans were being evacuated, HusBand was going through his own hell being told to "wait", "go - every man for themselves", "no - stay put and wait for further instruction", "wait another day", "you can go if you want or wait for THE plan", and finally - "ok here's the plan - you're leaving tomorrow."

He had to pack as though he would never see his stuff again. Bring only the most essential items. Leave everything in his two bedroom villa, a couple hours from Cairo, behind.

Kris in front of his villa inside a secured compound

On 2FEB he woke up in Austin after over 24 hours of travel. Here is an email that HusBand sent to me when he was feeling better, highlighting his evacuation from Egypt. He gave me the green light, with some editing, to publish it here:

There is 2 inches of snow on the ground and it's still falling. It's really cool looking but it will put a kink in my plans today. Good thing I'm not on a schedule. Did I mention it's 19 degrees? I was tanning by the pool a few days ago...

Here is what my trip looked like. It was the longest and worst trip of my life in terms of comfort and being tired, but probably the best in terms of making all my flights and getting the hell out of Egypt. My bag is still in Atlanta, and I probably won't see it for a couple more days.

2 Feb 0900 -We left as the workers were coming in for the day. I got a chance to say goodbye to everyone but they are very nervous about their jobs and the state of the country. It was not the way I wanted to leave.

2 Feb 1130 -Arrival at the Seavin HQ (they run the compound). There we dropped off a couple civilian contractors and picked up another guy who had stayed in Cairo during the protests. The trip was ok, traffic wasn't too bad until we got into Cairo where there were tanks in the road. They didn't seem to serve any purpose other than to bottleneck traffic. Getting off the main roads and into the neighborhoods we encountered vigilante checkpoints. Armed with sticks and knives, they had made makeshift barricades out of rocks, junk, and even big flower pots. They checked drivers' ID and what their purpose was for being there. Our driver was Egyptian and we were allowed to pass without incident.

2 Feb 1230 -Arrival at the Cairo airport. The embassy seemed to have taken over the general aviation terminal. The only people there were government employees from all the various countries. We were greeted by our admin guy and handed orders for TDY. We got in line, got manifested, and made it through a relaxed security checkpoint by 1330. We were first told that we would go to Frankfurt, then it was decided we were to go to Athens. But first we had to fly south to Luxor and pick some people up there. Not what I was wanting, but it worked out ok.

2 Feb 1630 -Depart Cairo. I couldn't believe how fast they got us on a plane and wondered what it would be like to be in the regular terminals trying to get out. 4 hours, not bad.

2 Feb 2030 -Arrive in Athens after our stop in Luxor. We were greeted planeside by the Ambassador and loads of Athens Embassy folks. We were quickly put in line, admitted into the country (got a Greek stamp in my blue passport) They made us travel reservations and got us a room in a hotel that was across the street from the airport. I was in the room by 2200, in bed at 2300.

3 Feb 0700 -Depart Athens for Paris after getting up at 0330. I really liked flying Air France. We had a nice breakfast of french toast and fruit, yogurt, bread and cheese.

3 Feb 0930 -Arrive Paris. This is where the pain began. The jetway wasn't working so after 10 minutes they decided to bring the truck with stairs over. I lost about 20 minutes in this process, which was bad because I only had an hour layover. We had to exit security to go to the terminal where our flight to Atlanta was leaving from. Not to mention it had to have been a mile away. I had to run to make it. After going through security AGAIN and the passport control section I made it to the gate as the last of the passengers were boarding. Lucky me, I got selected to participate in a final security pat down at the gate, Awesome.

3 Feb 1100 -Depart Paris. It was a packed flight and I was lucky to find room in the overhead for my bag and I had an aisle seat in a row of 4. They guy next to me was pretty tall and couldn't help but to intrude into my space. He was nice about me bumping him several times on the flight and he never got up. This flight was 10 hours of pure misery. I was tired, wicked uncomfortable and anxious to get off the plane. The food however was excellent. I had some free white wine with lunch and was asked how many I wanted. Wow. Plus I was offered cognac after the meal. The service was great, but my tv didn't work. I spent the flight fading in and out of a very light sleep.

3 Feb 1500 - Arrive Atlanta. There was the typical long wait to get to the gate and I couldn't barely contain myself I wanted to get off the plane so bad. I went through customs and got pulled into the office for questioning. I couldn't understand what was going on and I used my diplomatic passport. The officers were really nice and just asked routine questions and deemed I was safe to allow entry. I never got an explanation. I made it though immigration and checked the flight status of my flight coming to Killeen. I was looking forward to the 3 hour layover, but my flight wasn't on the board. I went to the Delta desk and found out it had been canceled. I thought they would have put that on the board... I was told I could take the next flight in the morning and I asked about Austin. She said I would be on standby, but the computer gave me a seat assignment. Boarding was already taking place. I raced through the airport, got on the train from terminal E to terminal A. Again, I was at the end of the boarding line. And again I was lucky to find space in the overhead. 90 minutes after I landed from a 10 flight, I was taking off from Atlanta to Austin.

3 Feb 1800 -Arrive Austin. There was a plane needing deicing at the gate so we got to wait an extra 15 minutes to deplane. More awesomeness. Pure torture is not letting people off the plane when they arrive. I went to the baggage claim just for fun, but no bag. I called the airport Hilton for a room and they were sold out. The Superbowl is this weekend so people are flying in here and driving to Dallas since the weather was bad. The lady at the desk was nice enough to book me the last room the Hampton Inn had, more luck. I went to try and find a car and found they were gone at 3 places I went to. So I was walking down to the shuttle service to Killeen and stopped by one more car rental place just to see. I was in even more luck. They had a car that I could take one way AND after telling them my story to gave me a significantly reduced rate, 1/2 price.

So I got to Austin, without my bag, but got a room and a car. Someone is looking out for me, I have no other way to explain it all. There is 4.5 inches of snow in Dallas, but only 2 here, which started after I went to bed. I'm sure the airport will be closed in Austin and Killeen. I'm feeling very fortunate to be here.

And after all that, HusBand was there in Killeen to greet me when I came home 6 days later.