Thrown for a Loop

Wednesday evening I came home to find the letter below waiting for me, along with a thick packet of paperwork and instructions. I am still trying to absorb it in, as it has completed thrown me for a loop. Well...more than that. I am devastated, and very scared. Please keep our family in your prayers.

Orders

SGT Carolyn R.,

Pursuant to Presidential Executive order of 14 Sept 2001 you are relieved from your present reserve component status and are ordered to report for a period of active duy no to exceed 25 days for mobilization processing. Proceed from your present location in sufficient time to report by the date specified. If upon reporting for active duy you fail to meet deployment medical standards then you may be released from active duty, returned to your prior reserve status and returned to your home address, subject to a subsequent order to active duty upon resolution of the disqualifying medical condition. If upon reporting for active duy you are found to satisfy medical deployment standards, then you are further ordered to active duty for a period not to exceed (see period of active duty below) days, such period to include period (not to exceed 25 days) required for mobilization processing.

Report Date: No later than 27 July 2008 but no earlier than 27 July 2008
Period of Active duty: Not to exceed 0400 days unless extended or terminated by proper authority.
Purpose: Partial mobilization - Operation Iraqi Freedom

Nice Long Weekend

So, besides date night I had a great weekend. Here's why!!

First, I had two handsome boys to pay with all weekend!!!

Next, we played outside a LOT! Especially with our friends Gabriel and Ms. B.

AND we went to Jumpin' Beans on Memorial Day! It was the first time I actually had to PAY for John to go, since he is technically old enough to play now. I had to tear him away to go get lunch!

And lastly, all that fun and exercise made the boys take GREAT naps! So.... I got some peace and quiet to relax and fold laundry. Can you believe there is not a single match here? Is the boy eating them?

WW

This past Friday I managed to weigh in BEFORE I consumed large pieces of cake and ice cream and before date night dinner. So, I'm down another 3.2lbs..... 12lbs so far. I will be finishing my leftovers from last night today and then with the cake gone it will be back tothe grindstone for me. Last week work was crazy busy and stressful and I put in a lot of extra hours (yay overtime!) so I had little time to think about food. This coming week should be somewhat similar, as the lead rep in my market is out on berevement and I am doing much of her work. At least it's only a 4-day week next week. But anyways, I'm already starting to feel a difference in my pants and THAT feels so great!!!

Date Night

Woo Hoo! So Dave and I actually got to go on a date tonight! We got a real live babysitter and ate at a real restaurant with waiters and then went to a real non-dollar theater movie. AND we came home to clean sleeping children and a standing house. I seriously cannot remember the last time we did this. I don't even know what the going rate for babysitters IS anymore.... but anyways we saw Chronicles of Narnia and had dinner at Red Lobster in celebration of 8 married years togther. I look forward to more opportunitites to celebrate!!!

So, it's my Birthday

Yeah so it's my birthday today. Bla. Now that I'm in my thirties I have to say that birthdays are not fun. I don't want to get older. Today was very depressing. I think that once you hit a certain age, like....26..... perhaps you should just stop celebrating a year older and instead just pick one (or even two!) days a year to celebrate you. Where people gather together and have a nice dinner and give a toast in your honor or do something nice for you, but not because you're old but because they like you. As far as this extra candle on my cake..... I'd rather skip it all together.

Is it the weekend yet?

Ugh, it's been a very stressful week this week. Particularly at work, but mostly because other coworkers have been out sick, which makes my daily load that much more. My back hurts, my neck aches and my left hand wants to give out from all the typing. On top of that BOTH boys have had to be shuffled back and forth to the doctor this week. BOTH boys have been covered in dirt from top to bottom pretty much every night this week, and Seth has been in a season where he just can't fall asleep until like....11pm!! Darn those naps!

A Daytrip to Visit Relatives

Dave took a vacation day on Friday (ie Friday night to Sat morning). So, we decided to trek up to Columbia for the day to go to the zoo. Last month Seth's class had a week where the "theme" was the zoo, and ever since then he's been asking to go. On our way up there I asked Seth which animal he wanted to see first.....his response....I want to see the Dragons!! John overall enjoyed the reptiles and aquarium section more than anything, probably because he could walk right up and look at them up close with his little self. John had no fear at the petting zoo area, where Seth was happy to look at them at a distance. Here are a few pics.

Week 2

Friday's weigh-in at cheeseburger rehab brought me down 3 more lbs. I celebrated with a McD's cheeseburger for lunch (only 7 points!), and still didn't go over my daily points for the day. Isn't it nice to still be able to eat your fav foods when you're on a diet?

Proud Carolyn

We were very proud of Seth today when his teacher told us that today on the playground one of his classmates fell down and hurt himself. Some of the other kids were laughing at the him, but Seth was the only boy who ran over to him to help him up and asked if he was ok. It gives me warm fuzzies.

Peek a Boo

Mother's Day

This past week's "theme" at Seth's school was Mother's Day. They did small crafts and learned songs for a Mother's Day Tea Party on Friday. I managed to trade my lunch break with someone else so I could go and enjoy the time with Seth. I ended up being 10 minutes late because I was stuck behind a slow moving funeral procession, but was SO glad to get there because Seth was the only kid left without a Mommy or Grandma. They served sandwiches and sweet tea and cake, and sang us songs like M-O-M-M-Y to the BINGO song etc. It was really sweet. Seth presented me with numerous drawings of hearts and flowers, but this one was my favorite.

WW

So I did actually check myself back into cheeseburger rehab (ie. Weight Watchers) last week. This Friday was my first weigh-in and I lost 5.8lbs!!!! Yay!!!

All Better

John slept in until after 830 this morning. Seth and I took advantage of the one-on-one time and not having to rush out the door to work and had breakfast in bed.

When John did wake up his temp was down to 100. Then we took Seth to school, stopped for a few minutes at Target and he passed out again for another hour. During that snooze his fever broke. His doctor wasn't able to find any ear or throat infections or anything, so he must've just been fighting some sort of virus. For the rest of the day he was his happy normal self :-).

But that means I have to go to work tomorrow. :-(

Sunday

Sunday was a beautiful sunny warm day. Perfect for sprinklers!

Baby John

Last night I came home from work to find this......

Poor John spiked a fever, which got increasingly worse as bedtime approached. :-(

So, I am home today with him. :-)

Saturday

We had a fun, full day today, as the boys woke up before the crack of dawn.... at 6:30am! (Yay)

BUT I decided to take advantage of the earliness and get out and hit some yard sales. Dave was very nice to bring me a newspaper on his way home from work, and off we went. Then after burning more money in gas driving around than I saved at the yard sales, we hit a few more stores to do some shopping for Dave's birthday next week.

Then we had lunch at McD's so the boys could play for an hour (and Mommy got to sit and rest.. whew), followed by a trip to the park for another hour. By 1:30 they were wiped out (Yay!) and we headed home for naps.

Later on we went to Elianna's 1st birthday party and spent another 2 hours playing at the park with friends. The boys were really good all day, despite being dragged around shopping for much of the morning, and I had a great time.

Here're some pictures

Julie with Elianna and James, James enjoying the cupcakes

Clockwise from top: Winter, Seth, James, Benjamin, and John