Awake in Iraq

I spoke to my soldier son last night...he was just a wee bit wired. He said he had just come off of a weird shift which had him working five different shifts in five days and his sleep-cycle was so messed up that he decided to make himself stay awake for most of his rare two days off. He had not slept in 30 hours and was keeping himself awake with energy drinks...he didn't want fall sleep for another 7 hours so that when he did sleep, he would be good and rested for his new schedule. From the speed at which he was talking, I'm thinking he's gonna be awake for a few more days.

I sure hope he was able to sleep when he finally wanted to sleep. I know these guys fear falling asleep on the job more than anything because it can not only endanger them, but even worse, it can endanger their buddies. Not to mention the fact that they can get into really big trouble if the brass catches them snoozing. On top of everything else a soldier must worry about while fighting a war, sleep or the lack thereof, should be the least of their troubles.

ArmyWifeToddlerMom has a post about her daughter waking up in the mornings bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with the "birdies" and it reminded me of a song my Mom used to sing to me and my brothers and sisters in the mornings when we were growing up. I sang it to both my boys when they were growing up. Hopefully, Sprout will sleep so well that he will need me to sing this song to him one more time:

The birds are up.
The bees are up.
The flowers are up.
The trees are up.
Why aren't you up?


Here's to a good night's sleep and a gentle rising...at war.

I Die for Ty

I said a couple of posts back that this year might be a red-letter year for someone. Well, it already is a red-letter year for my aunt, my mother's youngest sister. All this week she has a front-porch view of Ty Pennington and his crew as they perform an "Extreme Make-over, Home Edition". They are in town to rebuild a home that was damaged during hurricane Katrina for a family with eight kids. It's a family of really nice people who do a lot of charity work and have just run upon some hard times since the hurricane. Anyway, the house is two-doors down from my aunt and she is having a ball watching all the excitement. She plans to sell tickets. They started working this past Saturday, tore down the old house on Sunday, and will have the new house finished by this Friday. My aunt is not in good health and gets out of breath real easy so the crew has been especially attentive to her. She offered up her driveway for them to park a couple of trailors and she has allowed trucks to back into her yard when they needed more space. The crew has provided her with a security guard stationed in front of her house for the duration.

I saw my aunt in the grocery store yesterday and asked if she had already had Ty Pennington over for coffee. She said no, but she promised to call me if he decides to drop by. With all of this going on in town, I find it surprising that none of the menfolk seem to have ever heard of Ty Pennington. Hmmmmm, they could all take a few lessons from him on "how to look good with a hammer".

Anyway, that's what is keeping my mind off of the war today...that and Mardi Gras and Super Tuesday. Yep, that should just about do it.

Bored In Iraq

This is just too cute not to share.

One Scary-ass Picture

If this don't make your mind up for you, nothing will

Hell...Froze Over

So my boy goes to the hottest place on Earth, outside of Hell and what does he find? Snow! Blessed snow. My sweet southern child who, until he joined the Army had seen snow, oh maybe, twice in his life. Now he goes to Iraq and calls home to tell his wife it's snowing.

Wow.

God really does have a sense of humor.

I told his bride I take this as a blessing, a sign that everything will be alright and that with God, all things are possible.

Snow? In Iraq? Strange. Just strange.

Dismantling the Tree and Me

Well, it's the 7th of January, of the year whose name we will not mention (see last post...I want this year gone already). I started this year with a hacking cough that soon turned into bronchitis and made me miss all but one day of work last week and I'm off again today. I've got antibiotics, which I don't think really help bronchitis much but hey, since I was probably on the verge of pneumonia, they can't hurt. But this fever and coughing is the pits.

Anyway, since I am the Christmas Goddess around here, no one has dared touch any of the decorations or attempted to put them away. So, on January 7, in the year whose name we will not mention I am just now getting all the decorations taken down and put away. All, that is, except for the artificial tree that I so proudly posted about earlier.

I got some news for everybody...you know how with a real Christmas tree, the hard part is getting is up straight in the stand and getting all the lights and ornaments on it and the easy part was taking it down? Well, nobody told me that the artificial trees are just the opposite. Getting the thing up was great. Getting it down is another thing...I can't, in my weakened condition, get the middle section to separate from the bottom section. I want to put this tree away so that I can use it again someday...they are reusable, aren't they? At the rate I'm going, I may have to take a chainsaw to this thing. Or I could leave it up all year without the top and just hope that nobody notices it. Hmmmm? What to do, what to do? Well, at least it's keeping my mind off of Sprout and his current adventures.

Can you oil a Christmas tree?

No Offense to 2008, But "Get Lost!"

I'm sure that 2008 will be a red-letter year for somebody somewhere. As for me, I will be glad when 2008 is history because by then, hopefully, my boy will be out of Iraq. Now I know we should cherish each and every minute the Good Lord gives us here on Earth, and 2008 may even hold unforseen treatures for me, who knows. But now that it's here, I am ready to say good-bye to 2008. I hope this is the quickest, dullest, most uneventful year of Sprout's life and of mine. Never before have I prayed for a year to pass by so quickly.

My resolutions for 2008:

1. Get my boy out of Iraq by years-end, safe and unharmed and none the worse for wear.

2. Lose weight (yeah...that's gonna happen)

3. Read more books.

4. Win the Lottery (oh, stop snickering).

5. Make a quilt (now this one I may actually accomplish - quilting calms me).

6. Remember to be happy for what I have.

7. Take the grandkids on a trip somewhere.

8. Save some money (scratch #7).

9. Get screen on the front door fixed.

10. Don't worry. Be happy.