Late Night Ramblings

What I'm looking forward to most tomorrow: grocery shopping. Weird, I know! But for the first time in a couple of months I'll be buying for two again! I have a great menu planned for next week - a combination of new recipes to try and some of our classic favorites. :-) For the first night, I've decided on stuffed beef tenderloin, my super savory and delicious homemade italian stuffing, roasted veggies and rolls, and carrot cake for dessert! These last days are creeping by, but I've been extremely productive. I'm trying not to let the excitement make me scatterbrained or out of the ordinary.

On Valentine's Day night I went out with some friends whose husbands are also deployed right now. We had a delicious dinner and then saw the new Valentine's Day movie - very cute. At the restaurant, a couple at a table near us heard from the waiter that we were a group of spouses with deployed husbands. When the waiter brought our table of 7 another round of whatever wine we were drinking, I asked him if it was a Valentine's Day special. He said no, the drinks were from a couple in the restaurant who really appreciated what our husbands do and what we do for our families. They wished to remain anonymous. We were so touched by such generousity and thoughtfulness - even moreso on a night when we were especially feeling the absence of the ones we love. Such appreciation and positive reinforcement is such a motivational breath of fresh air.

We discussed the importance of positive reinforcement today during my substitute teaching orientation. In the classroom, the ratio should be 5 positive comments to every 1 negative. I know the same is true in a marriage. Lately, I've been thinking about the importance of emphasizing the positive in everyone I interact with - family, friends, the cashier at the grocery store. I want to transform my thoughts and perceptions of others so that the negatives are drowned out by the positives - to see people through God's eyes - with compassion, love and acceptance. Easier said than done - especially when you're in a huge hurry and the customer ahead of you has a load of coupons, is paying with a check and the cashier is moving at a snail's pace.

I'm on the verge of another philosophical rambling here... I think I'll spare you the agony save this one for another time.


MM

Happy Valentine's Day!

B sent me this live bamboo plant twisted into hearts for Valentine's Day. What a creative gift! I love it because the bamboo will continue to grow in the dish. He knows I hate how flowers always die so soon. I hope I'll be able to enjoy this plant for a while. And it matches the decor in our living room!

Tomorrow night will be fun, even though hubby can't be here this year. I'm doing a girls date night with some of the spouses who would also rather not sit at home alone on the day of LOVE. We'll get dressed up for a nice dinner and then go see that new "Valentine's Day" movie. It's so nice to have great friends who share the deployment times with me. I never feel truly alone, because I have my extended "family" in the same situation, and it's comforting to have them around all the time! Thanks for being great friends - you know who you are. I love you guys!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Not much longer now...

Well it's getting close to that time again - another trip to the airport, but this time to bring my man home to me! Everything pressed as planned with his early homecoming, so I'm very excited about that. I wasn't convinced until I received his emailed itinerary the other day. So I'm already starting preparations for the week he is home - he has a full week off from work after deployments, which is wonderful. I'm not planning on sharing him much during this time. :-)

There are so many things I want to cook! It's amazing how much I miss cooking in just 2 months. I've been jotting down new recipes since he left, so I'm going to plan a great menu for that first week home. I haven't decided what to make for his first night back, but I know what we'll have for dessert - his favorite homemade carrot cake. YUM! And I found what sounds like an amazing chocolate cream pie recipe on best-chocolate-recipes.com. I figured with a web address like that, it must be awesome. I don't even know if B likes chocolate cream pie, but I've had a craving ever since I watched that Julie & Julia movie when she whips up some deliciousness in the first scene.

In other news, we had a successful redo of the spouse sleepover on Friday night (after last week’s cancellation due to my death-like sickness). I had about 10 ladies over whose hubbies are also deployed right now. We had plenty of junk food, along with some adult beverages, and watched movies and played games until the wee hours. I think it’s going to be a new tradition! I think our husbands were almost as excited as we were about the notion of a slumber party. Word sure traveled fast overseas about the wives getting together for a “wild” evening – I’m afraid their imaginations were the only things going wild, however! No topless pillow fights or jello wrestling at this gathering, just good old-fashioned, party like you’re 12 years old, fun.

Praying for some good sleep tonight..

MM

Tired

Usually I'm an excellent sleeper - B and I usually hit the sack around 11 and I'll sleep solid until 8. I need my 8 hours, and have no problem getting them when all is normal. When hubby is here, I can fall asleep in 2 minutes anytime after 8 p.m. I've always been thankful for my great sleeping abilities. However, my sleeping skills always suffer during deployment time. I'm up till at least 1 a.m. every night and often wake up at 7 and can't fall back to sleep. I've been trying to figure out why this is, because it's not that I'm creeped out from being alone, or that I'm not used to sleeping alone by now. I've decided it is because my body is in a subconscious state of hyper-alert, causing an inability to fully relax. I'm able to get the bare minimum necessary to function the next day, but nothing extra. And without that extra, by 4:00 I'm falling asleep on the couch. I've let myself nap the last few days, but it's always hard to move on with the day afterwards. To nap, or not to nap? What a conundrum.

Boxing - my most recent hobby and addition to my workout routine - seems to leave me extra tired by the afternoon as well. I'm absolutely loving this new venture though, and it's a killer work out. B bought me the heavy and speed bags and installed them in the garage before he left. I've been wailing on them ever since. I told him he better not piss me off ever again, or I might have to pull out some of my mad skills. Ha! But seriously, I'm loving the training and conditioning - learned a lot from Youtube - what did we ever do without it?


MM