Fort Stewart Trip - Day Five - Shopping with Bailey

Today Bailey and I had to check out of our hotel at 11 but James had to work until 2 so we had some time on our hands. We decided to go the Outlet Mall near Savannah. We found a used book store that was selling what seemed like the entire contents of a library...for $.99 per book. I bought seven hard cover books for $7.00. It was awesome. We also went to a toy store that was closing and got some fantastic deals on some Polly Pocket dolls for my niece.

We went to a store called Bealls Outlet that is similar to the TJ Maxx we have in Minnesota but much less organized. They had tons of cool "church" hats. Here are some...

Fort Stewart Trip - Day Four - Downtown Savannah By Day

Today Bailey and I met Jessica at the Savannah Mall to do a bit of shopping. Bailey got a ton of stuff at a store called Rue 21. She found a bunch of t-shirts that were inexpensive and just her style. After the mall we decided to go downtown to see Savannah by day. We didn't get very far because we were hungry. We did revisit a store that was closed when we were there on Monday night. It is called 24e. Way cool home furnishings that I can't afford. It was open today so I was able to go inside. It was everything that I expected it to be and more. I LOVE this store.

This is the most amazing crystal light fixture I have ever seen. It is not only enormous but it is super duper sparkly. I WANT it. It is ONLY $3000 - that's all...


Here is Bailey and Jess in the cool white leather bar chairs...

Fort Stewart Trip - Day Three - Killing Time

Bay and I had some time to kill waiting for James to get off work so we wandered around the base. We were driving and saw all of these sappling trees that had decorations and wreaths on them. They were obviously mean as a memorial to something so we decided to stop and have a look. It was the Warrior's Walk.

There are so many things I could say here about the political side of the war and what my beliefs are in regards to them but instead I will just say this - it was sad, lovely and overwhelming. So many lives lost...

Let us not forget the men and women who protect our country. They do it not because they are forced to but because they are proud to.

Fort Stewart Trip - Day Three - Ranking Ceremony

Bailey and I slept in today (til noon). It was fantastic after the long drive here. I was tired and she is sick. We were just starting to plan our day when James called to tell us that they were going to do his promotion "ceremony" at 2 PM. If we could make it there we could watch. He called at 1:30!

We got dressed faster then I thought was possible and left for the base. Our hotel is close so it wasn't hard to find and only took a few minutes to get there. We had one hiccup along the way - we were visitors to the base and needed a pass. We were held up for a bit during that process but still made it in time to the "ceremony."

The ceremony consisted of all of James' D-FAC (dining facility) coworkers standing at attention while the Sergeant said some words. I was given the privilege of putting the lapel pins on for him. It was very awesome. After the pins were in place they went through the tradition of pounding them into his skin. It was both funny and disturbing.

Here are some pictures...

I'm Back!

I am certain that what limited readership I had is now gone due to my inactivity so I guess I will post this just for the sake of posting my thoughts. If you are reading it, Thank you.

The past 6 months have been crazy. I started a new job on January 3rd and I feel like I haven't slept since. We have gone through so many changes that I have lost track of most of them. The most exciting, by far, has to be a complete infrastructure overhaul. We now have ALL new computers, monitors, server, backup system, wiring, router, and everything else. Clean start - not only did we upgrade all of the technology but we replaced the furniture as well. It is freaking awesome. I have spent the last month rearranging, assembly and installing software/hardware. I love the result but it has been tiring. Like having two full time jobs. One doing the production management and day to day client care and one as IT support. Tomorrow we go live on our new network and I can go back to sleeping at night.

Outside of work, what little time I spend there, has been just as crazy. My son joined the military in December and shipped off to basic training at the beginning of April and my daughter just finished her last year of junior high. They are so grown up. It is awe inspiring to look at them now. They aren't supposed to be this old yet. They aren't supposed to have their own lives yet. They should be more dependent on me. How come they don't realize this?

I have so much more to write but I need to get some sleep. I have an early start and a very long day ahead of me tomorrow. I miss posting here though, so I will be a more frequent writer from now on.

G'night.

Head Lice - is that two words or one?

One of the joys of having children is going through the list of childhood illnesses and checking them off one by one. You do so with little or no real discomfort because you know that most of them occur once and then you are done. Hell these days most of them are cured before they get them as long as you make sure their immunizations are up to date. So, unlike our parents parents we get check off the potential illnesses without giving them much thought.

There is one childhood "illness" that we always hope our child will not get. There is not immunization for this one and short of making them live in a bubble you can't prevent it. HEAD LICE!

Between O and I we have 3 children (I use this term loosely because my kids are 14 and 18). They come and go from their perspective parents houses and stay with us when it is our turn. Well since May we seem to adopted a few additional unwanted kids. These freaking little bugs will not go away. We were pretty sure that O's daughter and my daughter were handing them back and forth over the summer. We finally had a clean bill of health on both of them and quit worrying. Never gave it another thought...

Until about 4 days ago when Fi started itching her head again. We peeked at her scalp and it looked fine. Well tonight was bath night and while doing the "did you wash your hair good enough" inspection O found yet another creepy crawly. It is terrible. Poor Fi is so upset and the rest of us, even though we all seem to be clear of them, are suffering from phantom itching!

I am not sure how I made it through the whole summer without getting them. Sheer luck? Hair dye - the ultimate killer? Too much hair to detect them? I don't know but I am itching from head to toe right now and it is making me crazy! This is the 8th time we have had to do the floor to ceiling clean, bag up the soft toys, wash all the bedding. Ugh! I am so done with them. Someone please make them go away!