5/23/08

Memorial Day




On a holiday when most of our Country looks at our Nation's flag and fails to see what she stands for and those of us who know what is lost and all that is gained, let none of us forget those who are still fighting the good fight and their families who remain at home praying for their safe return.

As we wish one another Happy Memorial Day, we, the living breathing souls that truly know what it feels like to be a Nation at War, we remember that it is not about sales or a day off from work, it is about those who have laid down their lives and given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our Great Nation and the freedom of others......it is about their loved ones who have grieved that great loss. So on this National Day of Remembering, I wish you all a safe Memorial Day.....no matter where you are and who you are sharing it with. May God bless each of you and may God bless America.

~ASW

5/20/08

Coming to terms over growing children

My mom and I went out to lunch today. It was sort of a belated mother's day lunch except she took me out this year....last year she was here at the same time and I took her out. Her birthday falls very close to mother's day and today she laughed and said to me that we had sat in the same restaurant a year before together to celebrate her birthday and mother's day......I looked around and low and behold the memory flooded back from the previous year and I had to laugh, my mom has quite a memory for her age.

And so we sat there and chatted about my sister and her children, my niece who is getting ready to graduate and then the subject kind of gravitated to when I was in high school and I asked her if she had a hard time coming to terms with her age and with her children growing up when we were in high school.......I told her that I look at my children, and see them for who they are but in my mind I wonder when I got where I am.....how did 20 years of my life pass by and I can't remember my getting there??? She said that she too had to come to terms with this while watching my sister and I grow up....she was 48 when I graduated high school....the exact age I will be when my youngest graduates.....so I am right on target to follow behind her......will I feel the same as her? Am I already starting to feel the same as she did back then? One part of me remembers every waking moment of my children's lives and the other looks at it from the perspective of the audience of a play.......I know I was part of it, I was there for the most important steps, first smile, first tooth, first words, first steps, first day of school, tying their shoes, riding a bike, etc.....and yet I look back and remember like it was yesterday standing in the stadium getting ready to receive my diploma for graduation......I can feel the heat of the day, I can remember the air conditioning blowing down on us, remember the smell of the perfume I was wearing (it helps that I still have the bottle and it's half full by the way, I could never quite find a way to use it all....it was Lauren by Ralph Lauren) And yet, here I am at age 40 watching my niece getting ready to graduate, my daughter one year behind her and it feels as if the past and present are going to collide.......

And just before they do.......reality sets in and I remember that I already did all this, I had my turn, this is their turn and one day they, like my mother before me, will get the chance to experience the prom with their daughter, get to experience the wonderful nights when their son comes in their room, jumps on the bed and proclaims that she is simply the best mommy because she gives the best kisses, and oh, here's a kiss from daddy (because he's away) (at what age does that stop, because I need to prepare for that soon), and I will get to be the grandmother, the one to give her the advise my mother gave me today...... that it was just part of life, we all come to terms in our own way, in our own time....but we do, it's part of growing up. I guess I grew up again some today......I just love it when that happens......I love my mom.

5/18/08

Okay, now I'm no fashion diva.....

But I gotta tell ya, that these two are in competition for the stupid hat contest. I don't wear hats per say, but hats are meant to cover your head, neither of which these do.....I'm not sure how either one stays on their head but I think Princess Beatrice would edge out Sarah Jessica Parker by just a smidge for the fact that at least SJP's looked good with her dress for the Sex and the City Movie Premier, PB's hat and dress did not look appropriate at all for the family's Royal wedding she attended......either way, they both need to ask someone, SJP should ask Ferris Bueller if this hat makes me look fat before she leaves the house, and PB should ask her mother Fergie or who ever it is in her life if she at least looks appropriate for the event prior to having pictures taken that are spread all over the press.

5/13/08

China Quake...,.article from Reuters

This article was copied in full from Reuters with permission.....please keep these people in your prayers, many schools were hit, they believe that 18,000 may be buried alive and they are running out of time. (death tolls have risen from this article to 12,000 and they fear they will just continue to rise)

Link to English version of Chinese News updates on the Earthquake

POWERFUL QUAKE HITS SOUTHWEST


A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southwest China on May 12, killing more than 8,500 people and injuring thousands more, according to state media.

The death toll from the most devastating earthquake to hit China in three decades is expected to rise as authorities and rescue teams make contact with the worst-hit areas of Sichuan province, where roads and phone lines have been cut off since the quake struck.

A website for the region's Aba prefecture said the quake had cut several major highways in the region and communications were down in 11 counties.

The quake's epicentre was in the Sichuan county of Wenchuan and its force caused buildings to sway across China and as far away as the Thai capital Bangkok. Buildings toppled in at least six counties near the epicentre, official news agency Xinhua said.

Several schools and at least one hospital were also reported to have collapsed. Mountainous Wenchuan has a population of about 100,000 people.

Premier Wen Jiabao rushed to the area and President Hu Jintao ordered an "all-out" rescue effort, Xinhua reported. Thousands of army troops and paramilitary People's Armed Police carrying medical supplies were also headed to the region, state television said. The U.S.

Geological Survey said on its website that the main quake struck at 0628 GMT at a depth of 10 km (6 miles). An employee at the local newspaper in Mianyang said there had been several earthquakes. USGS said there had been numerous aftershocks.

Xinhua said there was no immediate impact to the Three Gorges Dam project, hundreds of kilometres from Chengdu. Experts have said the weight of its massive reservoir could increase the risk of tremors.

Unlike some other content on this website, the written content in this article may be republished or redistributed by any means free of charge. Any use of photographs and graphics on this website is expressly prohibited. You must check whether written content contained in other articles on this website may be republished or redistributed without the express permission of Reuters or the relevant third party provider.

5/11/08

America's Favorite Mom

Soldier's Angel's founder Patti Patton-Bader was the winner of Teleflora's America's Favorite Mom competition.

Congratulations Patti, you more then deserved to win this for everything you have done.

Go here for News Release

Happy Mothers Day.....

Mother's Day brought in a wonderful new addition to our family. My niece had her baby this morning weighing in at 6lbs 8oz. Making my mother-in-law a great grandmother and my husband a great uncle and I guess me a great aunt. This has been a very hard pregnancy for her, having been in labor since her forth month and having had other issues throughout, we all feel very blessed to have this small miracle in our lives today.

Another welcome was the sound of sirens and off and on tornado warnings all morning. Nothing like the blaring sounds of the emergency broadcasting service across the installation accompanied by those sirens. My husband commented to me that they give off more of a "boy who cried wolf" syndrome because they use them when nothing happens and I agree with him. I think more and more people just blow it off.....the weather service errs on the side of caution and throws out the warnings and watches because of the conditions and while we heed them, having a room set up for our family should anything happen, I think most people don't really pay attention to it......sad, because when and if something happens, it will be bad.

And so as the afternoon rolls along, I am spending it with my family getting ready for another set of storms to move in, once again with the ever impending threat of tornatic activity. You know, I'd say I was happy to be leaving an area where tornado's happen, but where we are going, they are just as prevalent.

So Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers out there! Motherhood is the greatest experience and accomplishment of my life.

5/10/08

When do you stop worrying?

Our oldest is out with friends tonight....it's her farewell party.

Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be able to try to let go and not worry so much about my child who is pushing her way closer and closer to 18, but I can't. I am worried about her. While she is funny and beautiful and beyond smart, she also trusts everyone. She has this great network of friends that range in age from 16 to 19, sophomores to graduating seniors, placing her in the middle. They are all going to miss one another a lot.....but when I sit here and know that they are all out together, I worry.

My husband tells me to leave her alone, let her have fun. But I just had to text message her and make sure they found the restaurant they had planned to go to. It is kind of confusing to get there, but she and I are cool about my making sure she is okay. She always texts me to make sure we know she is okay, so alright, this time Mom initiated the text because I was worried, and wanted to make sure she was fine.....AND I am sure I will do it again before the night is over, because the mom in MOMMY just can't know that her baby is out with friends without worrying over her......am I just being too overprotective?

I wonder, did my mother feel the same way? I had my own car and was gone all the time, did she just get so used to it that it did not phase her, or was it just a different era?

5/8/08

Olympic Torch Reaches Mt. Everest



In honor of you.....my love on this very special day

by Julia

As a child you learn of a soul mate…a person made perfectly for you, your two souls become connected as one and are destined to be together until the end of time.

Through adolescence you grasp on to this idea of a soul mate, believing you will someday find the one.

But after much heartache and many rivers of tears, this notion you’ve held onto for years begins to fade.

As time goes by, day by day, year after year, you move forward, accepting of your failures and proud of your successes…until that day.

This is a day like any other, it begins no differently than yesterday and the days before, but it is a day that will change you forever, a day that the magic and fantasy of a soul mate becomes real.

For each of us it happens differently…the holding of eye contact, an introduction, a smile. Regardless of how it began, the moment is unforgettable.

It was a magical moment, frozen in time, the surroundings, the smells, the feeling you felt.

The rush of warmth through your body felt exhilarating and new, yet somehow familiar. It was a feeling you imagined time and again…but never this powerful.

As butterflies fluttered in your stomach it was an explosion of emotions. Who is this person that can make me feel this way?

As this invisible force draws you to this person you can sense a mutual feeling. A connection unlike any other you’ve experienced before, impossible to resist.

You feel a burning, a fire from deep inside, that you can’t ignore. From that first second of encounter this person is there with you, in every thought and action…causing you to smile, laugh, and feel more alive than ever before.

This person becomes a part of you, your other half…your soul mate.

And as you learned as a child, this person was made perfectly for you, your two souls are connected as one and are destined to be together until the end of time.

5/6/08

Thanks from unsuspecting places...

I just went and got my mail from my mail box and in it was something from my doctor. The one that has been working on my injury from my surgery. I first have to say that he relocated from another state just this past fall to our area, well he is about 45 minutes from here and had to start from scratch on clientele. He has a massage therapist that works there who does deep tissue massage (gotta get me one of those before I leave, I hear she is great) and he has a personal trainer that works there ......they are very Christian which I totally love about them. His wife works there and I really love here and a great lady who is suffering from a condition not too unlike part of my back issue.......okay, so they up and move from the cold to the warm south and they start all over new practice, new house, new schools, new friends, SOUND FAMILIAR?

So how did I come to find this great doctor and his staff? Welp it was all by a series of very fortunate events.....I have a very close friend who is a chiropractor at Fort Campbell who told me about a treatment he does on soldiers there........so I looked it up where I live and low and behold there was exactly ONE in our area, the rest were out of town........... this wonderful treatment, that is non invasive, now I'm not saying it does not hurt, I have cried at times, but that means he's getting to the root of the problem.....it's good if I cry (go figure on that one)

So this treatment, which by the way has been around for a long time, very few medical doctors even know about it, much less would bother to do the research on it. The "Real Doctors" out there would have had me back in surgery operating on my leg. Tricare does not cover this treatment because he is a Chiropractor, but what he was doing is a special tissue manipulation to release nerve entrapments.....kind of like if you pinch a nerve in your back, or if you impinge a nerve in shoulder, first thing THEY (med docs) would do is whip out the drugs and very long needles, but this treatment called Active Release Technique (ART), can be done without the use of expensive drugs and miserable side effects of steroids. The kicker is Physical Therapists are also trained to do this and then Tricare would be more then happy to pay for it......how flipping twistedly turned around is that.....I hate Tricare and their assbackwards ways of doing things....so I am out about $1,000.00 because of my NEUROSURGEON and his team of merrymen did not take better care of me during my FIRST surgery....okay rant over......

So anyway making my way back to my point.....this Doctor, his wife and the others that work there are like the salt of the earth, not that they are like overly religious or anything, you can talk to them about anything and I have, after about 20 sessions and the fact that I am back to walking, I can wear some shoes, even my fancy flip flops (whole other post there) and I am cutting back on my nerve blocking medication.......fully speaks for their dedication......and the fact that my Neurosurgeon said it could take a year or longer to see results.......Yeah blow it out your ear.......

So now that you have sat through this long ass post, back to my mail, I open the envelope and it's a thank you card....kind of perplexed over the whole Thank You thing, I open the card and it says,

"First and foremost I just wanted to thank both of you for true sacrifice that you have endured to ensure the safety of my family. I can only imagine how difficult it has been."................."I also wanted to thank you for allowing me to work on you. Your trust is the highest compliment you could ever give me. I hope I was able to help with your recovery! Only Good things ahead!!!!!"

The first part of his letter brought tears to my eyes.....he and his wife are very special people, the kind God puts in your path for a reason......I'd have never had any reason for meeting them other then this injury.....so I go with God's plan and I was very humbled by the fact that he said he hoped he had helped with my recovery, he is my recovery......yes my Neurosurgeon fixed my back problem, with a long recovery behind it, but he walked away from the other issues I suffered, when faced with the problem I was the one that found the answers, did the research, found the Doctor who would become my friend, because in the end isn't that what friends do, they say "THANKS" I should be the one thanking him...........

5/4/08

and so it begins........

The mandatory going through everything we own and determining "do we really need to haul that shit around with us one more time?" The resounding answer on our ski equipment, which has not seen the slopes since the late 90's, maybe early 2000's is a definite NO. When you can't figure out which box of ski boots goes with which set of skis and the bindings are, well.......I would not wear them, but I'm not cleared to ski for a couple years yet....so no sweat off my back....plus the only skis we are going to need are the kind you drag behind a BOAT!

And so I spent my day today with my children and my husband sorting through years of stuff.....my husband calls it junk because he'd just assume make the cash at our yard sale.....(we did one in El Paso and made over $1200.00) but that only happened because I got rid of a bunch of german furniture, don't plan on that this time Smokey!

So our trip home was good, a nice gentleman came up to my husband and thanked him for his service (my husband was on official orders so he traveled in uniform) and then he paid for our dinner at the airport.......it was our second change of planes so we had some time to sit down......now here's were it gets really emotional for me.....first we had to change airlines from American to Delta......we were in the WAY back of the aircraft....the steward came back and said that they thought they may have 4 seats in business class available and if so they were going to move us up, not just because I was in a back brace for travel, but because of my husband's service.......well unfortunately it did not turn out that way, but just before they closed the door, he came back and told me that at woman in business class wanted to give her seat to me.....I did not understand why and I argued no, but my husband forced the point.......so when I saw her, I thanked her and she said that when she flies she always flies first or business class and if a soldier is on board she gives him/her her seat, but since I was flying with him, she gave it to me.......I thanked her immensely and went and sat down for our last flight which was about an hour and a half. It turns out that her son is a Captain in Iraq, my husband spoke to her during the flight.........so we debark at our destination and we are waiting for my husband's bag and yep it's missing........stuck in Atlanta......I hate that it was stuck there, but I am glad it wasn't mine, I mean, everything I own was in that bag.......it arrived today at about 4pm........and the guy was all confused, he could not figure out how to get on base.......figures.

Anyway, we are so ready to move to our new home......but I am so beat I'm lucky I'm able to type this at all and have it make sense. Good thing blogger has spell check, otherwise, this might not make any sense at all......

~ASW

5/2/08

A House A House.........I think we bought a house

OMG...........I have never in my life thought that I would buy a house that cost as much as a medical degree....but alas I find myself on the edge of insanity in the middle of signing 17 different documents and saw visions of never being able to afford to go out to eat again......we are finally under contract.

We actually bought a beautiful house for a great price, our realtor believes it will come in at appraisal for quite a bit more then what we bought it for......there are some aesthetics that need addressing but who's house doesn't......this house is huge and I think that my family will be happy....I will be once I can make it more mine......and change some things....

We are set to close in a few weeks, which we will not be present for, and I hope nothing strange comes up because of that.

Anyway, trying to de-stress and just breathe a little easier.....I have done our laundry and I have packed my bags.....we fly tomorrow and I'm so ready to go home, but dreading the flights.....

Did I mention I hate flying?