The Good Ol' Days

So today I took a trip down memory lane as I youtubed "90's music."  Ah how I miss the 90's.  It sounds weird to say "the 90's" as if it is some far off decade, but I guess it is now.  It's already been 11 years O.o.  Anyway, I love love love the 90's and I fear that I will be embarrassing my kids by listening to this "old" music in 2020 haha.  It's not just the music that gets me though, it's the nostalgia.  It reminds me of so many happy, simpler times in my life, also known as my childhood lol.  Just listening to these songs make me happier and make me feel as if I'm still living in those simpler days.  The days without bills, and deployments, and stress.  Gotta love the 90's.

On another note, I'm sick.  It's just a cold, but UGH I hate being sick!  I feel like such a baby, but this horrible sinus headache and stuffed up nose and coughing and fever is just Ahhh!  Ok on to other news…

I have convinced DH to play WoW with me again once he comes home.  We both quit about 2 years ago, but I've recently gotten back into it and I'm sooo glad I got him to agree to play with me.  We had so much fun when we played together before (or at least I did =P ).  And I'll admit, it wasn't an easy task, but I succeeded.  Muahahaha victory! <3


What can I say?  I'm becoming nerdier everyday? That may be true, but at least I'm having fun =D

Enter the World of Nerd-dom

I have spoken to DH a total of one time in the past two weeks.  As sucky as that is, I have found ways of making the time pass and taking my mind off of the situation.  School has kept me pretty occupied, but even that cannot "entertain" me all day, everyday of the week.  And that is where WoW comes in.

I am almost embarrassed to admit that I play World of Warcraft.  >_< What a nerd, I know.  Oh well, I enjoy it and I play with my friends and my brother so it's a lot more fun than it would usually be.  I'm not addicted or anything, I mean, I do have a life and school.  It's just a fun way to pass the time and I get to interact with my brother (who I usually don't speak to very often when I'm not visiting) and DH and I's friend.  I find it pointless to start going into detail of what I have accomplished in the game or what I'm looking forward to since probably 100% of my followers dont play haha.

Anyway, as for school, my workload has tripled since last semester.  I spent 6 hours on one essay for my public speaking class, and another 6 hours on math.  I actually don't mind school work.  Like I said, I have plenty of time so that's not an issue.  I just stress out about getting good grades and the more work I get, the more work that gets graded and thus the more often I stress about grades.  I'll get over it lol.  I just need to figure out how strict or laid back my teachers are.  So far I've found that my public speaking teacher is pretty strict and so I'm a little worried about the essay I turned in.  Usually I never stress about essays and I get 100 on them, but she worries me.  Math is another issue.  It's either right or it's wrong which I like.  However, math can also be a little tricky since you're working with letters and crazy symbols and it's hard to know what AUB U CUDUF = .  Now, that may look weird, but that's actually a pretty simple problem.  Anyway, I enjoy math and I (as crazy as this may sound) actually enjoy essays as it gives me an opportunity to write/talk about something.

Besides school and WoW, not much has been going on.  And now I'm off to level my mage LOL

I'm such a nerd...

DOM Check!

We are officially over 50% of the way done with this deployment!  We're on the downhill slope.  I feel like for so long we were crawling on this never-ending uphill slope to a moment in time I wasn't sure even existed, but we made it.  We're finally over the peak of this deployment. We've still got a long way to go but at least we're walking towards homecoming now.

The ride down is so much sweeter.

A Rough Week..

Where do I begin?  Well, first I got my wisdom teeth out.  That was fun, and still is.  I can hardly open my mouth, it hurts to cough, yawn, talk, smile, and eat, and I look like a chipmunk.  I've also decided to give Rocky back to the breeder.  This is still a very difficult decision on my part.  I don't feel that I have enough time to devote to him with physical therapy, school, and just the emotional strain of this deployment.  I'm still not completely sure I'm making the right decision, but it is what is is.

DH also just left for xx amount of days.  I just love when I can't talk to him for long periods of time *insert sarcasm here*.  I am also completely stressed about school.  There are some supplies I still don't have and new requirements for a few courses that are going to be a pain to obtain.  This week sucks.  I sure hope next week is better..

Great Minds Think Alike

So one of my fellow Army wife friends chooses a word for each year.  Instead of a new year's resolution, it's a word that encompasses the coming year.  As I was reading one of her posts about 2010's word of the year, I started thinking what word might fit for me.

The word that came to mind was patience.  This choice was easy considering that DH will still be gone for most of the year.  I thought, "Alright, patience works.  I'm going to need a lot of that in 2011."  How right I was.

As I was catching up on her blog (see My Blog List), I was reminded of the word of the year.  It's funny how many times I am going to need patience this year.  Today I was struggling with the fear of inadequacy in regards to training Rocky.  He isn't stubborn, but there are certain things (such as chewing on things he's not supposed to) that he's taking a little longer to learn.  Yes I know I've only had him a week lol.  I never said I was patient.  It's just funny how I was reminded of my choice of word on the day that I was lacking patience the most.  I'll have to remember this for the rest of this year.  With Rocky's training and DH being gone 75% of 2011, I'm going to need it.

And it just so happens that this friend of mine chose Patience as her word as well.  I guess great minds think alike.

Happy Anniversary to Me!

It's DH and I's third anniversary of being together today (not our wedding anniversary).  Wow, a whole three years.  That's like 14% of our entire lives!  Just figures that he has to be doing OPSEC and won't be able to talk to me for x days.  Oh well, I'll live.

And you know I have to update on Rocky!  He's doing pretty well.  I'm teaching him to not nip on people's hands and feet and he's catching on quickly.  I also gave him his first bath today.  He did really well, he mostly just stood there for me.  Him and Jack are growing pretty fond of each other as well.  If I'm not around, Rocky seems to accept Jack as my substitute.  I'd like to think Jack has bonded as well.  He even allows Rocky to play with his ducky!  Rocky has his next set of shots on the 20th, yay!  The more shots he gets, the closer I get to being able to take him on walks with me <3

My orthopedic specialist appointment is today too.  I've been very curious to see how they will deal with my back problems.  For those of you who do not know, I've had Sciatica and sacralization of the 5th lumbar for about 2 years now and it is getting increasingly worse.  Basically my sciatic nerve is being pinched (Sciatica) because the vertebra above and below the nerve are trying to fuse together (sacralization).  I really hope they can do something about my back because I cannot continue to take pain meds for the rest of my life.

I'm also getting my wisdom teeth out next Tuesday.  Fun fun!  I've never had surgery before so I'm a bit nervous and excited.  I know.. I'm weird lol.  It's a good thing my mom will still be at my house because I'm going to be a little loopy from the anesthetic and pain meds for a day or so and won't be able to take care of my furbabies very well.

Lots of doctor and vet appointments this month.  Let's hope February is a healthier month!

The Power of Music

Oh the power of love music.  Rocky was having a bit of a hard time settling down last night (since he had just slept 1.5 hours <_<).  Reading that a ticking clock would help, and having already tried that, I figured he needed a little white noise.  Since the ticking clock noise (using a sound effect on itunes) kept me awake the night before, I decided to try a little music instead.  Hello Celine Dion!  I put on My Angel - Celine Dion and he settled in almost immediately.

Celine Dion = Love <3

Exhaustion at its Finest

Rocky and I have been together for a total of 36 hours now.  Boy oh boy have these past 36 hours worn me out.  It's not that he's super active, he actually sleeps a lot during the day.  It's that he wakes up every three hours at night to go out.  I understand he can't hold it that long and he's really young, that's not a problem.  And besides that, he did pretty well for the first night.  But regardless of how well he did or why he woke me up so often, I'm still tired lol.

It was strange actually waking up before noon this morning though.  I haven't seen the early morning dawn for quite some time (approx 5 months) and this was a nice change of pace, even if I was very tired.

He's also teething and trying to teach him bite inhibition and what is appropriate to bite and not bite is the most tedious job.  He's done VERY well at potty training.  He goes potty immediately when I take him out, and he did pretty well last night sleeping in his little box.  It's just this biting thing.  However, I've done a bit of reading and I have a new strategy lol.  I may not have been teaching him the proper way for the past day, but I'm about to change that.  It's a little tiring right now, but I'm determined to work hard at this so that I have a well-behaved dog in 6 months or so.

I really think Rocky is going to help me get through this deployment.  Instead of staying up all night waiting for DH, or sitting around feeling lonely, I take care of Rocky.  Instead of counting down the days until we are at 50% or 75%, I count the weeks until Rocky gets his next shots, or goes to puppy class, or is able to go for walks with me.  I'm very optimistic about all of this.  I really think he's going to help me get through this last stretch of the deployment.

Speaking of deployment, DH got to see Rocky via Skype today!  It's a bit sad that he can't be here to share in his puppy days, but Rocky will still be fairly young when DH gets home.

Let's hope this night offers me a little more rest.

Introducing… Rocky!

I picked up my puppy today!  He's so sweet and he has really adjusted well to his new home.  Jack won't leave him alone and just wants to play.  However, I don't think he realizes that Rocky is only 5 lbs and can't handle wrestling right now lol.

So how did we decide on the name you ask?  Well, as I mentioned before, his mother (CJ's Rocky Blue Lady) was killed when he was a week old.  In honor of CJ's Rocky Blue Lady, we have decided to name him after her.  Hence, Rocky!

Here is a picture as promised.  6 weeks old <3

Bringing in the New Year with a New Furbaby

You may not know this, but I have wanted an Australian Shepherd for some time now.  However, I was perfectly content with Jack.  I love Jack, but I had expressed to DH that I wanted another furbaby.  I wanted one to be a playmate for Jack and, just as I cannot have only one child, I could not just have one furbaby.

So that brings us to today.  Or rather, a few days ago.  My mom, Kyle (her husband), and I went to Petsmart to buy dog food.  We saw this man with a few puppies on the grass a ways off from the store.  My mom said that it looked like he was selling them and I disagreed saying that it was perfectly normal for people to put their puppies on the grass to let them out. Anyway, we walked over there and the gentleman told us this heartbreaking story.

Apparently his Aunt was an Australian Shepherd breeder and her female was shot while herding cattle by a  drunk man when the puppies were only a week old.  Now, this may sound like a ridiculous story, but my mom lives way out in the country.  This story is by no means ridiculous for this area.  Anyway, they had to hand feed them from 1 week on.  The aunt is in her 70s and reasonably heartbroken over her loss so she has discontinued breeding and is simply trying to give her puppies away.  Australian Shepherd puppies (with AKC registration) typically are $1,000+ and she was selling them for $200.

I have had many opportunities to get a puppy, but have easily dismissed them because I wanted DH to be here when we got another furbaby.  However, these puppies would NOT leave my mind.  I asked DH what he thought about the situation and he agreed that I would probably never find this quality of puppy for this price again so I should just get one since I was planning on getting another dog anyway.  Well, not needing anymore encouragement, I contacted the breeder and met her and the puppies.  Now, I had worked myself into such a nervous frenzy that I was prepared to tell the breeder I was no longer interested.

And that brings us to today…  I went and met the puppies.  Most of them were running (if you can call it running with their cute, stubby little legs) around and whatnot.  However, there was one that was as calm and sweet as can be.  He came and sat in front of me and just looked at me, so I picked him up.  When I put him back down he cried until I pet him again.  Obviously this was the one for me.

So yea, what can I say?  My logic melted in the eyes of this precious puppy.  It was obviously meant to be.  And they were born on the last day of R&R.  This is our version of an R&R baby LOL

Don't fear, I'll post pictures soon.  I pick him up this coming Monday =)