The homestead

First and foremost, a quick pic of Bill I accidentally added. I was able to snap it before he realized I was using the soul-capturing machine (his words, not mine. I just refer to it as the camera). He's old. Really really old. And dirty and stinky.

Back to the important stuff:

I'm a farmer now. Whoo-hoo! Rick doesn't believe I can grow anything. Here's proof:

The pictures are pretty hazy because of the humidity I think. We aren't going to dwell on that. Or the fact that those plants were already that big when I bought them. Instead we are going to look at the awesome beds my dad and brother helped me make even after I explained I would take all the credit for making them. We have three tomato plants, two bell pepper plants, jalapeno, squash, and zucchini plants. There is also some basil, parsley, and cilantro in there. I'm probably going to move the squash or zucchini plants bc it's a little crowded. Hopefully, I'll get at least a couple tomatoes by the time Rick gets home. Just be forewarned, there will be lots of bragging and gushing about how great I am at gardening and how beautiful my bounty is. Just a couple up close and personal pictures to help you imagine the beauty that is yet to come.

Our cherry tomato plant has a bloom.

So does the jalapeno plant. It was just watered. In case you couldn't tell.

The interior of the homestead is currently pretty messy. I have finally become successful in completely trashing the house in just a few hours. Please send my awards for this right away. Thank you.

While I was trashing it yesterday I was also making curtains for the bedroom. So it wasn't completely pointless.

Just ignore the clothes on the bed. I'm sure they were folded and put away right after I took that picture. Not just shoved under the bed like I may have done the other day when my mom came to visit. May have.

There may be a need for further photos of the homestead to be accessible by all of the internet drones but I'll have to check. So stay tuned for possibly more photos if I haven't already posted them. If I were to make an educated guess based on my blogging history, I would say I had not. We'll see.

You're welcome.

How's about that?

Rick, you do look like a hurt little puppy. How's about you get off the computer and spend time with your wife? How's about that?

I think the yogurt I'm eating may be expired but the expiration date is smeared and I can't read it. Plain yogurt is supposed to taste really tangy, no?

Fix me.

Ok, who's going to hack into here and fix this mess I just made? Amber T., I vote for you.

I'm pretty much awesome.

So, in fact, quitting your job leads to a lot of extra time on your hands. I will be awarding myself for the following:

• Hanging pictures
• Cleaning floors for the first time in the new house (I mean, actually mopping. I do vacummn...whenever the combo of chest hair, head hair, and dog hair in the corners gets to be too bad)
• Baking crusty, chewy homemade bread....oh and banana bread which wasn't quite as awesome because it had honey in it and I hate the taste of honey. I can still eat it though because I undercooked it just a little so the top is just a tad gummy. You know that's the best way. And it counteracts the taste of honey.
• Made the bed multiple times (compared to the only when I changed the sheets when I was working.
• Made a new throw pillow which Rick loves. He loves throw pillows, especially throwing them across the room.
• Rearranged the guest bedroom. Ok, I actually only did this because my mother told me too. She's bossy.
• Did and am doing laundry regularly. Which has made me realized we really don't have enough hangers. I never noticed before because we usually had a hamper full of dirty clothes all the time. And when I say we don't have enough hangers, I mean, enough of the matching teal velvet ones. I like things to coordinate.
• And for the piece de resistance (I totally just googled that for spelling) the menu for the last week or two:
• Homemade pork potstickers and fried rice (OK, I'm not going to type homemade in front of everything. I don't want to wear out my fingers).
• Potato Soup
• Black Eye Peas and Rice
• French Onion Soup (made with a pale ale..delish)
• Calzones with home made crust
• Sausage and Greens Soup with Cornbread Dumplings
• Pork Cutlets Diane with mashed potatoes
• Black Eye Pea Dip
• Beef and Beer Stew
• Pork Chops with Spinach and Cheesy Polenta
• Chicken Enchiladas
• Spicy Mac and Cheese (technically this wasn't homemade...thanks, Annie in the purple box on sale at Kroger for like 50 cents a box.)
• And other stuff I forgot but I'm sure it was good. Pretty sure.

I have also made multiple pots of coffee, watched hours of Hulu and movies, and twiddled my thumbs. Did I mention Rick cancelled our cable? I say this not to brag but to find out if anyone has the perfect three day a week or morning only job for me. Something fun and stress free. Please?

I forgot: I rewarded myself by eating like ten mini kosher dill pickles from a teacup. I love that I never have to share my mini pickles with Rick. That's awesome. I love him.

updates

Rick is still at SERE and I haven't spoken to him since Saturday afternoon, BUT I think he will call on Thursday afternoon when they get out of the field. They've been "camping" since Sat. in the snow and rain. I think they are actually "surviving" without tents or s'mores. Not so much fun.

So much more importantly though (i kid, i kid) I started a new semester of school on Monday. I'm working on my master's in middle childhood education. I'm taking 12 hours in a course that runs 5 weeks. It's going to be awesome. That's why I'm on here instead of doing my homework-which there is a ton.

P.S. I think it's a hint that you are wearing too much deodorant when you look down and wonder when you got all these little white skin tags in your arm pit. Then you realize you can just brush them off. TMI? I think so.

My first...

day of really feeling like a military wife. Yes, we've moved 5 times in two years. Yes, Rick's been in training for two years. Yes, we've been adjusting our schedule constantly to meet the demands of the Air Force. Yes, we haven't really been on vacation since the honeymoon. But today was the first time I've dropped him off at the airport with his gigantic camouflage bag full of flight suits, BDUs and combat boots.

He's just going to survival training, not deploying, and I'll see him again in 3 weeks. Seriously, no big deal. He's already done a couple of TDYs so we've been separated before but not since we've been married. It's just weird to have all this time ahead of me alone. As of now, I'm fine with it. I know I'll see him soon, we can talk for the most part. I'm just not really thinking about what goes on at survival. I think his mom might be having a harder time with it. From what I've heard from some other wives, I think that the moms are the ones who struggle most with hard trainings like this. To your mom you are always her baby and no one is going to hurt her baby. It's hard to see your child as an adult capable of taking care of themselves first and foremost. On the other hand, as a wife I see my husband as tough and able to take care of himself and me. I love him and worry about him but he's not my baby. I know that every thing he has to go through as part of his career is just that, part of a career he signed up for and he can handle it. And I love him even more for that capability.

Anyway, like my friend whose husband is also going said, we're going to be single ladies here for awhile. Wine, sushi, chocolate, the Babies movie, and lots of pink - here we come.

hmmm....

Rick just told me he didn't love me enough to teach me the Vulcan death grip.

I'm really hurt.

Especially because I ask him to teach me.