What I Learned Today

Or Not

The house my heart was set on sold...or is in the process of selling at least, so there will be no crazy move at least for now. Probably a good thing, but I'll admit I am disappointed. I had imagined the many trips to Home Depot and lots of fun renovations...

In the meantime, I'm trying to spring clean and get rid of as much as possible. We have too many "things" - a lot of clutter. We also have an obscene amount of books. Not surprising, but annoying to move around. I can get rid of a lot, but probably not many books.

Mike's on duty every third day/night right now, which is a weird rotation for us. I find I get a lot done when he's away and then, when he's here, appreciate our time together much more!

Hope everyone is well.

The Green's Must Be Crazy

Hi everyone!  Mike is out on a short trip right now and, as you might expect, "when the hubby is away..." 

Wait, the end to that sentence is not what you expect, or, it might be to those of you who know me/us.

"...the wife will start planning crazy things!"

So, the crazy?  Home buying.  Last time Mike was deployed, I unpacked us in a brand new apartment and moved into a new and slightly (sarcasm, here) more rigorous job.  This time?  Well let's just say I might be packing and unpacking a new home.  Don't get me wrong, we LOVE where we live right now and are totally happy here.  But, we are renting and are considering the benefits of home ownership.  We've looked a couple places, but they've mostly been out of our range.  There is one home we are currently looking at that might be just what we are looking for.  Mike has only seen pictures so far, but he's given me the thumbs up to look into it and, when he returns shortly, we'll go together to check it out.  

I may be crazy for even considering this with the short period of time that Mike has before his next long-term deployment, but I can never say I'm bored! 

Back at Sea

Hi friends!

Mike is about to leave again for another deployment - a "regular" Navy deployment this time, no IAs in the desert thankfully!  With that, we thought it might be nice for us to start posting to the blog again. I'll try and update everyone on what we've been doing in the nice, long year since Mike's re-entry and then keep folks up-to-date on things as they occur over the next 6-7 months.

I hope this first blog back finds everyone healthy and happy.  I look forward to reconnecting with everyone over the next several months.

We Should Always Remember

This day is important because it forces everyone to remember and be thankful for the freedoms we have that have come to us by the service of others. Hopefully, though, these thoughts of thanks and remembrance are never far from our hearts and minds. For many families and friends, everyday is Memorial Day.

Our Jolly Roving Tar

Our favorite sailor is out of Iraq!
That's about all I can/should say at this point
and while he's not home in SD
he will be very soon!

Good News!

Thank you to everyone who has been reading, loyally, this blog and sending happy thoughts our way! The great news is that this long journey is almost over! I can't say too much but I can say that Mike is on his way home and will be back in sunny San Diego, sporting flip flops and baggy shorts (and a hat so that his nearly bald head doesn't get sunburn) very, very soon! I don't have exact details (as is always the case) and couldn't post them if I did (also always the case) but I did want to let everyone know that we have this to look forward to! I'll post more when I know more and when I can!

I love you Mike!

Smarty Pants

I got Final Jeopardy right tonight. I love it when that happens!

Virginia Tech

Our thoughts are with you...

Perspective

I think I have been pretty good (not perfect) over the course of this deployment, about not putting too much of any one political ideology into my posts. This has been a conscious decision on my part. However, today while I was reading the following AP article on the MSNBC homepage I found my anger welling up over the continued situations that our allied forces are finding themselves in. You can read the article in full here but I have posted an excerpt from it below:

Meanwhile, dozens of Iraqi policemen demonstrated in front of their Baghdad station Sunday, accusing U.S. forces of treating them like “animals” and “slaves.”

The protest took place at Rashad station in Baghdad’s eastern neighborhood of Mashtal.

Officers chanted “No, no to America! Get out occupiers!” while U.S. troops in two humvees and a Bradley fighting vehicle watched from a distance.

My anger came as I got to the last half of the final sentence of this excerpt, knowing that U.S. and coalition forces alike are meeting these sentiments on a daily basis. I think it important to note that these sentiments are often in some way, shape or form, shared by many war opponents in the U.S. and in other countries who have men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. I do not pretend to know or understand what the troops are facing in these two countries. Unlike others, I will not pass judgment here over whether I believe "we" should still be involved. What I will say is that the men and women who are on the ground in these regions are not the policy makers; they are bound by rules passed down to them from their 'bosses' just like you and I are here at home. It is, I feel, incumbent upon us - no matter what our feelings are about these wars - to support these troops in any way that we can. I suspect that, if given the choice, many of those "U.S. troops in two humvees and a Bradley fighting vehicle [who] watched from a distance" would much rather be at home with their girlfriends, fiancé’s, wives, children, parents and friends. But they are not. I would suspect that many of those "U.S. troops in two humvees and a Bradley fighting vehicle [who] watched from a distance" do and see good and positive things on a daily basis that all of us at home are not privy to and that they are getting very little, if any, recognition for from the countries for whom they are trying to establish peace and order. I suspect that as they stood there hearing, not gratitude but contempt and scorn from the Iraqi policemen they've trained at their own peril, those "U.S. troops in two humvees and a Bradley fighting vehicle [who] watched from a distance" felt just a little more disheartened about their purpose in these countries.

I'm Back!

Can you see me now? :)

Kidding. But, I'm back, able to type and healing just swimmingly! Mike's mom was kind enough to help nurse me back to health over the first couple of days of my post-op and my good friend Cortney has been my personal chauffeur. THANK YOU both!! But, all is now right (and upright) with the world! The eye is still healing and there is still a little swelling, but things are as they should be. For the first few days after surgery, because my eyeball is now actually sitting straight in the socket - a position it was not used to - whenever I held my head straight I was seeing a crooked world! That has since gotten better and now I've stopped going around my house un-straightening everything that hangs on the walls! :)

I'm hoping you are all watching with bated breath the newly added counter at the top of this blog. It brings with it good, if still uncertain, news that I can't wait to shout out into the blogsphere when I can!

Tomorrow night I'm having dinner with a girl whose fiance' has recently embarked upon his deployment...I think he's been gone 2 months now. She lives here in SD and we have been emailing and talking on the phone, but have yet to meet. It'll be nice to put a face with a name and be able to talk about the ups and downs of our experience. She, like me, has been keeping busy and staying upbeat and optimistic. Also like me, she is planning her wedding! I'm certain we'll have LOTS to talk about! ;)

Well everyone, when school starts back up on Monday I'll be pretty busy. I promise to try and post at least several times during the week and especially when I get any updates from our favorite sailor!

Take care everyone!

I love you Mike!

Pre-Op

As some of you know, I am having outpatient surgery tomorrow on my eye. No big deal, but for kicks I thought I'd post a picture and try and explain what I think it is they are going to do. So, first things first. On the picture above you can see the Superior Oblique muscle, correct? Well, evidently my SO isn't working so well anymore and whenever I'm trying to focus on anything (so pretty much whenever my eyes are open) my eyeball feels like it's bouncing around in the socket. Now, it isn't actually bouncing around, it only feels like it because it's trying so hard to stay focused. Because the SO is so weak, its alternate muscles are pulling harder and the eyeball has a hard time staying straight. You CAN see this when I try and look to my right, without turning my head, when I'm focusing too hard on something, etc. At those moments, the SO loses the battle and my eye rolls pretty much into the top of my head! Nice image, huh? Happily it doesn't happen often and I know how to avoid it so I've not been thrown in a circus side-show yet!

Two things (at least) have come from this. I've adopted this weird head-tilt where I think my head is totally straight and it's actually tilting to the right (opposite the bad eye). This, I guess, is common with this problem. I was talking with a co-worker the other day who said he had noticed it but that he thought it was because I was so interested and engaged in what he was saying! :) Evidently, this tilt has helped my eyes to be able to stay focused...it somehow alleviates pressure on that bad left eye...weird. The second thing that has been happening is my headaches have been getting WAY worse...and I have them all the time (which I am sure is due in part to the head tilt, the strain on my neck AND the strain on my eyeballs!). The kicker came a few weeks back when I realized that as I was reading - anything, at any time of day - I was closing or covering my left eye because I couldn't get it to focus. Red flag, anyone?

Ok, so back to the surgery. They can't make the SO stronger so they have to weaken the muscle that is pulling against it, which in this case is the Inferior Oblique. How do they do that, you might ask? Well, they will cut a little hole in the mucus membrane of my lovely left eye to get to the IO which they will then proceed to snip/cut/sever (whichever term you like best) and reattach closer to the front of my eye. Sounds like fun, eh? Ideally, this will take care of the problem and a few weeks and one bruised, red eye later I will be healed of headaches and a neck tilt (which will take awhile to correct itself because I'm so used to it that when my head IS strait it feels like my left ear is touching my shoulder - call me Quasi Moto)! If this procedure doesn't correct the problem, they will go in and "weaken" another muscle...but let's hope that's not necessary!

Anyway, I may be walking around for a day or so w/an eye patch (too bad this didn't happen during my Pirate project last Fall!) and I'm not sure about posting in the interim.

On WAY better news, we are hearing good things from the Mike-front. I don't want to say anything too particular yet, but we could be seeing him WAY earlier than we had anticipated.

I love you Mike!

Go Green Racer, Go!

I am not an avid Indy racing fan, but tonight on the news I saw a story worth mentioning. It's not going to solve the world's problems, but I do think that the Indy car program is setting a very good example - they are now racing "eco-responsibly". Evidently, the Indy cars racing the circuit this year are running on 100% ethanol and you can read more here, here and here (all different links).

At the very least what I think this move does is generate conversation and raise awareness about our ecological footprint which in turn will hopefully get more people thinking about changes they can make in their own lives. As our favorite frog famously lamented "It isn't easy being green", but at least now Indy Racing is making it popular!

Re-evaluating

Last week I challenged all you who frequent this blog (or those who just happen by) to take on the "Too Easy" attitude for a week. Now I'm playing the role of your conscience checking in on you to see how you did.

I, myself, lapsed a couple of times BUT as I said, this is just an opportunity to do it better this week.

Here's to another week of positive attitudes!


I love you Mike!

False Advertising

I know that admitting that I did this is pretty much sealing my fate as a total lunatic, but I'm going to share anyway. A couple days ago when I was sitting around watching what was probably entirely too much television I saw a commercial for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Sadly, as much as I enjoy wonderful recipes from Bon Appetite and the like, I still like this old stand-by. The commercial claimed that it was "now even cheesier" and I went right down to our grocery store and bought a box (no joke, I really did). I even made the choice to buy one of the boxes with the new packaging with "now even cheesier" right on it! I was out of milk (something I didn't realize before I went to the store that day) and so I finally got around to making it tonight.

I am, sadly, very disappointed. Some of you will say, "yeah, it's macaroni and cheese, what did you expect?" Well, I'll tell you...I EXPECTED IT TO BE 'NOW EVEN CHEESIER' and it tastes the exact same as it always has! I won't go so far as to say that I'll never eat this Kraft product again, that's just plain silly because it's too easy to give up on for good. But, I just wanted to put it out there that they, in fact, have not made it "even cheesier" and for that, we can all be a little sad.

I love you Mike!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

East Coast time, some of us are already started and West Coast time...I'm not far behind! :)

If YOU need any help getting started, here are some of my favorite Irish toasts...

Here's to the land of the shamrock so green,
Here's to each lad and his darlin colleen,
Here's to the ones we love dearest and most.
May God bless old Ireland, that's this Irishman's toast!

There are good ships,
and there are wood ships,
the ships that sail the sea.
But the best ships, are friendships,
and may they always be.

May you always have a clean shirt, a clear conscience,
and enough coins in your pocket to buy a pint!

and of course, the most simply stated...

'Sláinte!'


I love you Mike!

In our thoughts

In light of some recent conversations about OPSEC (operational security) I can't go into much detail, but I'd like to ask everyone to keep in their thoughts someone in my family who is embarking on a year-long deployment of his own. When and if I can say more on this blog, I will, but for now please keep his wife, his parents and all of his family and friends in your thoughts. I know how difficult this type of deployment can be and I just wanted to put it out there so that we are all keeping him close to our hearts.


I love you Mike!

when it rains, it pours

Two posts from me in one day? No, you aren't dreaming! I just had an after-thought and didn't want to save it as a draft because, knowing my week ahead, I'd forget it was even in there. I was catching up on blog posts this weekend and read one from our friend Stimp over at My Desert Adventure. He was discussing how the Army (or the unit he's with...not sure if he's saying ALL Army in general) has this "can do" attitude that he is finding sparse from the Navy counterparts. While I do beg to differ with his assumption that Navy personnel does not have this same attitude, I do concede that it is likely the case with some of the sea going ranks he's running into.

That got me thinking - such is life, isn't it?

So, this is my challenge to all of you. Start with just this week. Attack all tasks and situations you are faced with this week with the Army's "Too Easy" attitude. After the week is up, reflect on how you did, how it felt and what you could do better. Take those reflections and implement them the following week. I'm hopeful that if we all take on this challenge, and approach our daily lives with this attitude, things just might start to get better - in our immediate spaces and possibly even the world-at-large.

Those of you who went to high school with me (Mike and Kim) might find this ironic as I was voted - I still claim I was just "misunderstood" - class pessimist. I persist, however, that I am an optimistic soul and believe that we make of our lives what we put into them - and we are forever and always beacons to all those with whom we come into contact...let us be beacons of hope and positive, helpful attitudes.

Enjoy the week all!

I love you Mike!

Long Overdue (and I'm not just talking about my library books!)

I promised my sister I would post something this weekend since it has been WAY too long! She said she's sick of looking at a bag of Lays potato chips and I don't blame her.

So, what's new in our split San Diego/Iraq world? Mike said it's getting hot again which he's not enjoying, especially since he's still walking everywhere. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he's home before the 130 degree temps pick up again, so we'll keep everyone posted on that. We are 'long-distance' planning our wedding...which is both fun and frustrating. We can't really "make decisions" very easily because we have to wait to email each other...but it's working out all right. We've got a date, a location and even invitations so we're off to a good start! I'm also branching out and creating another blog (cuz I have SO much spare time) so that Mike and everyone in both our worlds can get more information about the wedding. It has NOTHING posted on it yet, give me a week to get some things up there...but check it out when you get a chance (and try not to make fun of me too much for creating it): Mike and Colleen's Wedding Plans

In my 'vending machine' world, things are more crazy than ever, but I'm enjoying it. So, to clarify, the Lays bag of chips stands for a directorship of one of our new schools. It's like a principal, but we don't have those. We are opening with a ninth grade class in the South Bay area this upcoming fall and we will be adding a new high school grade each year after until we get our full four grades. Our second year we'll also be opening an elementary/middle school which will eventually become a full K-8 program. I can honestly say that I didn't foresee this new job as an option in my vending machine until about 5 years from now, but to mix metaphors, I'm running with it since it's come early! I'm slowly being "replaced" in my classroom so that I can be figuring out teacher hiring, budget, design plans and making the ever-necessary and very exciting community contacts.

We will be operating under a broad environmental theme, where we'll be looking at our "local" environment, including our classrooms and the San Diego area as well as more national and global environments. Our school plans include an ERC (an Environmental Research Center) - like a large greenhouse for research - where our students will be participating in local, national and global research projects and data collection. This program is loosely based off of another program currently operating in Israel. The gentlemen who founded and are running that site have visited our school and have been wonderful contacts for us and a true source of inspiration and excitement about our project.

The building itself is being constructed with as much "green" thinking as possible including as much natural light and passive ventilation systems as we can muster. Our website is not fully updated yet, but you can check it out and check back often to see our progress (the new campus we will be at will be Chula Vista).

I think that is about all I have for now. I will try and post more often (a promise I've made a lot during this deployment and have often failed at keeping...but I'm an optimist...so I'm still going to try!). Please keep Mike in your thoughts as this deployment is winding down. I know that he would love emails because sometimes the last few months are just as hard as the first few! I'd also like to have everyone keep my friend Kym and "her" Mike in their thoughts as he's about to be stateside again very soon! She mentioned me in her latest blog and I need to ditto her comment back at her - this type of deployment is hard on the "significant other" who is left behind, no matter how busy, strong or "ready" they are. I have found Kym to be a source of support, strength and humor for me during this deployment and I KNOW that we will meet someday and we'll look back on this year as one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, times of our lives! Thanks Kym!!

I love you Mike!

My decision...

more on this later...

I love you Mike!