Thursday, May 31, 2007

America'sNextTopModel

is.....Jaslene!
woohoo! Ok, I really wanted Renee to win, but I'd rather Jaslene than Natasha. And for the record, this is the only reality show that we didn't hear the winner ahead of time. And Amazing Race which is not over yet. Not here anyway. If you know, please don't spoil it!

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The Spargel


I forgot to post the finished cooked spargel pic! Here it is. YUMMY!

Our Battalion


We had a change of command today. I love this picture of the battalion.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Yaye Zappos!!

I ordered some shoes from Zappos.com, and they came in today! Brilliant shoe photographer Stephen B took these shots of my brand new shoes!













































































And we had fajitas from the grill the other night. Stephen made them, and the homemade pico on top. It was DELISH! I heated those beans in the microwave! :)

Every Day

I come here every day. Most days I try to post something. Some days I just look to see what others have posted. I didn't want to have to do this, but I'm going to have to get on to a few of you. Please post to your blogs at least weekly!
You know who you are KJ, KC, KB, GG, OJ, and soon K-KR! And it doesn't really look too good if you comment on other blogs I read, so I know you are in the blog world and then you don't update your own!
That being said...here is my update for today...
It is raining and cold. For the 4th time I have gone upstairs to get a warmer item of clothing that I put up there because it was sweaty hot! I think this place might be worse than Texas for changing weather!
I scrapbooked all weekend long! Finished wedding albums, New Years 2006, Florida trip last May, and Labor Day Lake House trip 2005. I just need to do a couple more pages here and there in the 2005-2006 album and that one will be finished. Its a very odd album because I stopped cold when lil T came, and then once he moved, it was the wedding! So a couple of pages say "see Lil T album" or "See wedding album!" Oh well, I'm letting go of the "it all has to be just so" mentality! (or trying anyway)
I also managed to organize all my scrapping materials, get rid of some stuff I'll never use, use up some that I've needed to for a long time, etc. I still shouldn't have to buy anything but tape runner refills, a new album or two, and sheet protectors until we get back to the states. I have enough paper and embellishments to last quite a while.
OK, getting back to work...Love all y'all!~

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Conversations, Scrapbooking and German Hospitals

Once in a while I will read on a blog a funny conversation that happened in a friend's home. I even saw a video "based on" what happens at my friend's house. Here is a conversation that happened this morning at the laundromat:

Stephen: After being hit (gently) on the shoulder/face with a pair of his own underwear, "are those panties?"
me: "hahahaha" uncontrollable laughing
Stephen: "We don't throw panties or put panties in people's faces, even if they are the person's own panties."
me: still laughing "you wear panties."
Stephen: "no I don't!"
me: hahahahhahahaahaha, tears coming now, "I can't wait to write this on the blog."

In other news, I have managed to finish all wedding albums, and Lil Ts album (that was was done, but needed to be bound. I couldn't do it myself, Stephen helped and even kept trying when I wanted to give up. Thank you Stephen.) Now I just need to do 2005-2006 that is not T or wedding related and then I'm caught up. I'm only going to scrap trips outside of Germany while we are here, and put other pics in photo albums.

Lastly, my friend, Adrienne was rushed to the hospital yesterday. Her appendix burst and she had to have emergency surgery! SCARY!!! We are going to Holiday Park tomorrow and then will go see her. Poor thing!

Friday, May 25, 2007

Staff Duty=School Library


I'm pretty sure I am living the Breakfast Club. Today is a Training Holiday. Each month the soldiers get a 4 day weekend. This month (as with most) it is paired with a Federal holiday. Civilians have to work the training holidays. I'll be off Monday, but I work today. So, here I sit across the hall from the Staff Duty soldiers who work 9am Friday-9am Saturday. I guess I don't have it quite as bad!

There is SO nothing to do. I managed to break the Virtual FRG website again, so I can't even work on that. I called the car place, have an appt to get the a/c fixed June 4th. Stephen is home, so he dealt with the dryer fix-it man. He'll return sometime next week with a new condensor. So that's good!

2.5 more hours and I'm headed for the Commissary and then home! Oh, and it is even lighter later now, so here is a picture of our front porch. At 9:30pm, no flash.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Things I've Been Thinking About:

I have thought of several things lately and said, "I'm going to put that on the blog. I can't remember but one now. Maybe the others will come to me.

I am getting old! I know we all come to this realization here and there, but it's smaking me in the face the past few days. Here are a few reasons:
1. The other day Jimmy Carter was mentioned on the radio. Followed by "elected president 30 years ago." How can that be? I remember him being president!!
2. Shoe shopping online. I was looking for shoes, cute shoes, but reading reviews for comfortable ratings, and even went so far as to search brands like Naturalizer, Easy Spirit, and Aerosoles!
3. Saturday, 2 pina coladas, 1 glass sangria. Headache all day Sunday.
4. Loving rose bushes. Wanting to have flower gardens. This seemed old lady when I was sporting those foxy gloves.
5. As mentioned on many blogs recently, all my favorite music is now considered classic.
6. 20 yr AHS reunion...next year.

I didn't magically think of the other things. That would be #7 for above topic.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

A couple of pictures from last week...

With General and Mrs. Via









With LTC Fletcher



Bernadette and SGM White at her farewell lunch








Mr. Miles, Bernadette and CSM Seay







The little roadside produce stand where we got fresh strawberries and spargel!

BBQ










We had a bbq today with Marisa, her son Khameron, Rebecca and husband Jack, Stephen and I. It was a lot of fun! In the pics you can see the new pit, and the new outdoor furniture! I see many future meals to be eaten at that patio table...

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Day 11

Still raining. It is very dreary out. But I think I'm about to be busy! I was tasked yesterday afternoon with leading the coordination of our incoming commanders Change of Command Reception. :) Kind of exciting! Now...I just need a little guidance. That should come today when MAJ W gets back from training and has a minute.

Today is Christi Himmelfahrt day in Germany. All the Germans have the day off, which would explain why everyone was partying in the streets last night in Burstadt! Apparently, this is a Christian holiday, otherwise known as Ascension Day, which celebrates Jesus' ascent into heaven 40 days after his resurrection.

Just got an email with the contact # of the caterer! I'm off to do some work!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Come Back to Texas...Bowling for Soup!

I love this song. And it really made me think. Go look it up on google and read the lyrics. Even better, listen to it. I LOVE IT!
It took me a while to decide whether or not to write this. But I decided that this is where I put it all out there, so I'm going to. I want to start with:
We are happy. Stephen called the radio this morning to answer a question and be entered into a drawing to win a trip to Euro Disney! We just got a bbq pit and will have outdoor furniture this weekend. My job is good. Stephen's job is good. He gets kudos from so many people in the community about what a great job he does with the observances, and he has been given added responsibilities (a definite sign of people knowing he is capable!) We, as a battalion, and really the whole community are breathing a sigh of relief that some of the deployment dates have been pushed back so there is more time for families to be together, to prepare for the separation, and for the soldiers to be combat ready. I had lunch with the other FRSAs yesterday. We called it a "working lunch" but really we just wanted to visit and eat Wingers (BEST restaurant!)

I say all this because I don't want any comments that say, "I'm so sorry you are miserable!" or anything like that. I'm not, but I want to be sure that everyone who lives in the greatest country on the face of the Earth realizes what they've got.

I miss my friends, my family, my home. That goes without saying. But there are so many things, little things, that I never considered. I took things for granted and wasn't thankful, even on Thanksgiving, for the little things that whisper freedom, America, home, Texas, convenience, favor, abundance.
Here is what I miss...
Knowing for absolute sure who has the right-of-way at all intersections
Blue Bell Ice Cream, Texmati rice, Mary Kay cosmetics
Air conditioning (but we have heated floors, so that's awesome in the winter!)
Country music on the radio (not to mention several stations)
Choices upon choices of anything you could possibly want in all colors, sizes, shapes and prices (without having to order them and deal with months of mail issues)
Being able to chose from those things on a Sunday, or during lunch hours, or after 4pm Saturday
The Gulf of Mexico
Bluebonnets, lightening bugs and St Augustine grass
Toilets that probably waste water, but there is enough tto rinse thoroughly with each flush
Jack in the Box, Wendy's, Sonic
Olive Garden, Carrabbas, MEXICAN FOOD!
English. Everyone speaking it. In the stores, at the restaurants, on the street.
Middle of the night fast food runs
Ordering water in a restaurant without a bru-ha-ha about still or bubbly
Ease of purchasing clothes in sizes you've known all your life
Stocking a large pantry and refrigerator
One kind of money. All the time. And bills/prices that stay the same, not going up depending on how the dollar is faring that day

Just a few things that I think about and miss sometimes. (Usually when I'm having a girl mood!) Stephen has lived in Korea before, so I think he was a little more aware of what an overseas tour meant than I was.

Again...not unhappy. Just keenly aware of what America means to me.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Blame it on the rain..yeah, yeah.

We are now on day 9 (I believe) of rain. Today has been yucky all day, raining most of it. Some of the days have just been overcast with a little sprinkle here or there. Yesterday was pretty hard rain in the afternoon and evening. I think we're good and saturated now. Maybe May showers will bring June flowers...


Hope your day is full of sunshine, or at least rainbows!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Happy Mothers Day!

to all my moms and all the moms who were, are and will be moms!

YAYE MOMS!!!

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Austin, Texas

Our usual Saturday morning involves Rachel Ray's $40 a day. Today she was in AUSTIN!! We saw her shop at Waterloo Records (Emerald's in the background), she ate breakfast at Taco Express, walked by Whole Foods, had lunch in "fancy Austin" at Cafe Josie, went shopping again at Sheplers off Ben White, and had dinner at Salt Lick and drinks/music at the Continental Club. They also flashed to Romeos, Green Mesquite, and Shady Grove on Barton Hills, Jazz, Pete's Piano Bar, Ivory Cat, The Ritz, The Roxy, and a few other 6th street hot spots.
Of course they showed the capital, the skyline and the hill country drive to Driftwood.

Nice reminders of home. :)
we miss y'all.

Friday, May 11, 2007

It's been a WEEK!

Actually just 4 days because I did post Monday, but it seems like a week!
I'm making this fast because it is almost the end of the work day, but just had to brag on Mr. Bar-Tell-me. Yes, that's how some of them say it. He put on the VERY BEST Asian Pacific Islander Ethnic Observance Celebration Mannheim, maybe all of USAREUR has ever seen! There was a karate demonstration, cool dance group, and great food!!

My guys are heading for a week long range, so it should be pretty quiet around here next week...we'll see.

Reminder to me: post about Tiger Team...

and AJ-please refrain from mentioning JnB breakfast croissants anymore!! I got one from BK because I was jonesing for the JnB. It was horrible. :-(

Monday, May 7, 2007

Photos around the house





This is what it looks like at 9:30pm. We go to sleep in the light quite often.













Stephen sitting in the yard

Fancy toes and fingers for the ball










and I still love these roses. I can smell them when I walk through the gate now. It's wonderful!


Weekend fun


Hey, wow, no posts all weekend! Stephen was working on a paper for school, and of course we were getting ready for, going to, and recovering from the 2007 European Signal Regimental Ball! It was a good time, we had a ball. :)
Sunday we went for another bike ride, and after a detour by the house to readjust my new seat, we were back out, and rode about 5 miles. I'm rather sore today, but the more we ride, the less sore I will be.

Lastly, I found out Friday when I went to help decorate for the Ball, the job in the other office, the higher paying one is a definite no go. Frankly...I'm a little relieved. As I said before, it would have been a lot of stress. I'm happy here.

Friday, May 4, 2007


I tried to curl my hair last night, in an effort to find an appropriate style for the ball. It came out like this. I have one more night to work on it...wish me luck!

Thursday, May 3, 2007

FRSAs





Here are the Family Readiness Support Assistants for 7th Signal Brigade (Rebecca) 72nd Signal Battalion (me), and 44th Signal Battalion (James).

meetings, meetings, meetings


Value=Distance/Volume

Seems easy enough. I'm going to figure out my gas milage on my new car. So, here we go...
I put gas in it yesterday. I had traveled 468K on 40 liters of gas ($32).
That translates to 291 miles on 10.567 gallons of gas.
That's about 27.5 miles per gallon. Pretty good. Nevermind that it took 10 minutes to look up all the conversions and do all the math.

Also...That's about $22.75 Euro. But we buy gas in dollars on post.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Roses, pies and toes

I was going to post pictures of our roses again, but forgot to bring the cable from home to load the pics. I'll load them at home tonight. The yellow bush has about 5 roses on it, and we just saw 2 red ones beginning to bud on the other bush. I've never had rose bushes before. I rather like them and think I will have them always. :)

Today is an "organizational day" for 2nd Signal Bde. They are outside playing horseshoes, volleyball, and tug-o-war! They had a lot of food and a fund raiser for the FRG. Pie in the face. It is such a great idea, and super cheap and easy to do! You just get some pie plates (not actual pies) fill them with whipped cream and people pay big $$ to put it in someone's face. The commander went for $280!!! All the soldiers pooled their money. And then all the money goes to the FRG.

I'm not doing a lot at work today, most of the soldiers are at a softball game somewhere. I missed out on it. 's ok, though, I'm heading out of here in a couple of hours to get my toes done.

Hope everyone is having a good day. :)
~h

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

More Randomness...

Don't you still just love those roses? I click on the pic every time I come here to see it larger. They are SO beautiful and I do stop to smell them every time I walk by them. I cut one Sunday and put it in my little vase. We have three more blooming and buds all over! More pics to come.

I got my nails done last night, toes tomorrow night. Gearing up for the BALL!! Can't wait! Oh, that reminds me, I need to charge the FRSA camera battery and see how many pics I can take so I can pace myself.

D&K...yeah...Stephen could write something sometime! :) I don't know if I mentioned that he has started graduate school. He isn't allowed to play on the computer until his homework is done. hahahaha, just jokin. I made myself laugh.

Today is MayDay. It's a German holiday. It is cause for loud music and much drinking in Burstadt. As we tried to go to sleep last night, we could hear the music blaring and the Burstadt-ians yelling and having a big time. Then, a little touch of home and childhood and nearness and dearness to my heart crept in...duh, duh-nuh, duh-nuh, duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh...
SUMMER LOVIN, HAD ME A BahLAST...duh-nuh, duh-nuh, duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh
SUMMER LOVIN, HAPPENED SO FA-HAST!!!
Yeah, they were playing my song (GREASE!!) Happy May-eve Burstadt. And good night!