Military Mondays - Andrea in NV

Andrea recently got married and moved to Nevada from Texas. I have actually never met Andrea but her husband, John (USMC), is a good friend of mine and I feel like I know her since he talks about her alot! When I used to work in Key West, he would fly into town every now and spend alot of time using our equipment to run the missions. It's not everyday that you have controller that comes through that can hold an intelligent, witty conversation without talking about the wrestling match on tv last night or make a South Park reference. So we would always have a good time working together. And any wife of John's is a friend of mine. They got married in June and are on their way to Japan for the next few years. Here is what she has to say on Military Monday...

"Well, I am a new military wife. John and I got married in June of 2007, but in my few months of being married to a Marine, I have learned so much! I grew up near an Air Force base, and my mom has worked on the base for over 28 years, so I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided this was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

Because I grew up around many military personnel, I thought I knew what to expect and I did, to a certain extent. Military life is completely different that civilian world. It’s almost too hard to explain to others who aren’t in it. Before we got married I never thought that I would have to think about trying to “schedule” when to have a baby around deployments. I didn’t know how often my husband would be gone, or the insane amount of hours he would work.

To most other wives, that is just a way of life, and I never thought I’d be one to get used to it, but it seems like I am starting to. I believe it takes an incredibly strong woman to be a military wife. Don’t take that the wrong way, I'm not tooting my own horn or anything, but it’s true. Not very many people consider “the wives”, or even the husbands left behind, for that matter, when they deploy overseas. When you think about it, it is the spouses who have to go on with their every day lives and take care of the household, the children, and whatever needs to be done in the absence of their husbands or wives who are gone for six months, a year, and even eighteen months at a time. That’s the part you don’t really think about when you say your vows. I have heard of so many divorces that happen for that reason.

I am quite fortunate to have not experience a deployment yet, but I can fully understand how difficult it must be.You kind of have to be an independent person to be married to the military. You are always away from your family, and your husband is gone quite a bit. There is no whining allowed! Now I am not trying to say you must be tough as nails all the time, but it seems as if a thicker skin is developed. Don’t get me wrong, I have shed my fair share of tears because I have missed my family, or for two whole weeks I was sleeping when my husband left for work, and sleeping when he got home; but it’s a part of the job. Being a military wife is a job in itself, but for the rest of my life, I am willing to accept it.

Speaking of being far away from family, we just found out we will be moving to Okinawa, Japan in July. After the initial shock of it, we are both thrilled that we are able to have this opportunity. I can’t wait to see if I take my own advice and develop tough skin being in a completely different country with different customs and an entire new language. This is a whole new ballgame! "

Schlitterbahn

I realize that this post is totally random but consider this a public service announcement.

After spending all day on Saturday and some of the day on Sunday cleaning my house and working in the front yard, I was exhausted. As I look down the street, I notice that several of my neighbors are doing the same: cleaning out thier garages, planting flowers, cutting the grass, cleaning and beautifying their homes and yards. And then there are these neighbors who have cut their grass a total of 3 times since they moved in a year ago (and one of those was me and E cutting their grass for them), have had 2 dogs that they have gotten rid of because after they moved past the puppy stage, they realized that a big dog was a bad idea if you weren't going to train them and you have a toddler, they have a fenced in backyard that they never use (or cut the grass), the sewer line is broken and they haven't done anything about so after a hard rain, our house starts to smell like thier poo, and the house is litterally falling apart (the roof has several ripples in it), and the icing on my cake is that they still have their Christmas lights up! All of those things I look past, I am kind to my neighbors, I have offered to babysit, I take food and treats over there every no then, we talk and we are gracious, and...oh yeah...we took Maggie off of their hands for them. I try to put myself in their shoes with a small toddler and maybe they have alot going on...but this...I am having a hard time looking past THIS!!!














Click on the picture to get the full effect!

Everytime me and E walk by the window and see this, we say something to the effect of "Hmmm...I wonder if Schlitterbahn is closed today?" (For those of you who don't get the joke...a little help...Schlitterbahn is a waterpark with a few locations here in Texas.)

So here is my public service announcement:

For those of you with a fenced in back yard and lots of play stuff for your kids, PUT IT IN YOUR BACKYARD!!!!!!! Your neighbors see this as an eyesore. You might as well put three more cars in the yard, a few rusty broken A/C window units, along with some coolers and a couch and start singing the song to the Jeffersons. And to top off everything, there is already an inflatable pool and lots of pool toys in the backyard. Why not combine them or get rid of one...OR JUST NOT BUY THE SECOND IF YOU ALREADY HAVE ONE! Oh, and folding chairs are for the backyard or temporary use.

as a side note, if you look closely at the bottom of the picture, you will see the swamp lilys starting to grow back at the site of the sewage leak. BLAHK! It extends the whole length of the front property line. Needless to say, we have planned to either put up some large bushes or a fence between our yards this month. Something sith some height so their sewage water won't contaminate our property.

You're not in the trailer park anymore folks!

Happy Birthday E!

Well, the time has come for the 32 year old man I am married to, to admit he is 33 now. Yesterday was E's birthday and to celebrate...we took a nap (I know how super lame that sounds but between school and work and Maggie and the house and everything that pulls us in the twelve different directions, we rarely get any down time...I realize that we are old foggies now). Ok Ok...that's not all we did. We had dinner at Outback since he wanted a steak and then he had his choice of a movie to rent. For the most part, we like the same movies with the exception of Kung Fu movies. I asked him what he wanted to do before he turned 34...he just stared at me with a blank face. Maybe it's just me...since I am on a countdown tour of my twenties with only three years left to go. I still have so many things I want to do before I turn thirty and yet, I don't know what any of those things are.

I can't remember who took this picture of us when we were dating about 5 years ago when he came on family vacation with us to the beach. Here's a little irony for you all though, this actually turned out to be to be the exact spot that we got married a year later.

Since he gets his Master's at the end of the fall, I promised him a short vacation of his choice since neither of us did anything big when we graduated college or high school. Automatically my mind started thinking of all of the different places he might want to go: the cruise he has wanted for a few years now, to see friends in Seattle, back to San Francisco to do all of the things we should have done when he lived there, back to Florida, a quiet weekend on the beach, Gatlinburg to hike in the mountains, go home to Huntsville for a visit with family...I was getting pumped. We ate a little bit of our dinner and then I asked him "So have you thought about where you want to go on your graduation trip?" E says "Oh, was I supposed to?" Sigh...I don't know why I try!

Birthday wishes to E, the man who is always one step ahead of me, smarter than me, funnier than me, cuter than me, ...who over-protects me, tolerates me, and spoils me. I hope the next few years of constant harrassment are just as fun and interesting as the the harrassment days behind us. I pray you find health and happiness all year long. Te amo mucho!

And Then There Was One

Just a small side note that you may find interesting, this is what my carpet looks like on a regular basis. Honestly, I got tired of vacuuming up all of the mulch, bones, sticks and paper scraps that Maggie makes out of the stuff she brings in from the backyard everyday. So it just stays there until the weekend. She has actually found a few more sticks and brought them in since this picture was taken. I have just given up!

When Mom was here last week, every time we turned around Maggie would take off with our chalk, or scissors, or pin cushion, or fabric, she wanted so desperately to chew on something that was not an approved toy! We were constantly fighting to regain possession of our materials. Thinking I was a genius for coming up with a solution, I tied her up in the front yard and left the front door open. Well, then she dug up my flowers we had just planted in the flower beds. ARG! There are no good answers.

When we started putting the cushions back together when we noticed the pin cushion was missing for the 5th time...MAGGIE!!!! She was sitting secluded on the other side of the room. Using her front teeth, she pulled each individual pin out of the cushion and set them aside in a small pile. Then she proceeded to chew on the cushion like a new ball, which is probably all she thought it was in the first place.

Well, Easter was getting close, so I went ahead and planned out my menu for Easter lunch. I made a list and went to the store. Saturday night, I went ahead and made the dessert and started trimming and marinading the 3 pork tenderloins. I had my recipe on the kitchen counter for the marinade. I turned my head and when I looked back my recipe was GONE! I looked everywhere for it and felt super crazy for losing it!!

So I ran into the office for less than 2 minutes to print another recipe off of the internet. I came back into the kitchen and Maggie was standing over one of the pork loins she had pulled into the floor. I just looked at her, completely stunned. She just looked at me, completely stunned that I wasn't yelling and screaming at her. I had no words ... until I noticed that only one pork loin was left on the counter. In the 2 minutes that I was gone, she had already eaten one of the pork loins and had pulled the second one into the floor to start working on it. She ate a 1 pound pork loin in less than 2 minutes!!!! I...WAS...FURIOUS!!!!! The only thing I could think to say was" E, this is bad...this is very bad."
















Well, Easter lunch turned out ok. Even without the planned number of pork loins, we still had leftovers. Here is Mags about 30 minutes after eating the pork....with a stomach ache...she goes to her Daddy for consolement!

What's Cooking Wednesday - Tiramisu Cake

Well, since Easter was this weekend, I decided to make something special, something that has been in my "to do" recipe folder for a few weeks now.

Tiramisu Cake













It's really hard to find ladyfingers in Southeast Texas so this seemed like a perfect solution outside of ordering ingredients off of the internet. I just don't think I am ready for that yet! I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitten's blog a few months back and have been dying to make it. However, being the healthy freak I am, I have to wait until we have alot of people come over before I make something like this so me and E won't eat ALL of the leftovers and gain 50 pounds in three days.

Whenever we have a holiday that is normally spent eating large amounts of food with family, we are always left out of those holidays since we are so far away from family. So our typical tradition is to invite others over who also don't have family close by. This year Elizabeth and Matt came over. We ate Giada's Macaroni and Cheese, Cooking Light's Maple Chipotle Pork Tenderloin, steamed asparagus, Ashley Kelley's Faux Potatoes (made from Cauliflower), rolls and, of course, Tiramisu Cake. So delicious!!! Thanks Smitten Kitten.

Promised Pics

Here is the exhausting picto-post of everything me and Mom (mostly Mom) did this weekend...













This is my new den. Mom recovered the chairs in brown canvas. I made the pillows from an Amy Butler fabric called Lotus Cherry Wallflower, I bought the lamp at Pier 1, the side table from World Market, and the ceramic birds we found on sale at JoAnn's Fabric and then painted then silver and but a glossy coat over them to make them look metallic. The rug and the ottoman were old peices I already had. Hopefully, the room will all pull together once I have walls on the other side of the room, inside of 2x4's, and carpet/tile instead of black and white NASTY lanolium.













We got these three paintings from Hobby Lobby out of the clearance buggy for 2 dollars a piece.



















This is what we did them...It doesn't POP on my wall color like I had hoped it would but I still love them.














This is a peice that hangs in my bedroom. I started this one in June and have gradually been working on it slowly. I finally had the time to finish it this week.













Why did it take so long, you might ask? Because the dots are SO TINY!!!!! and SO TEDIOUS!!!!













We dug up all of the leftover flowers and plants left by the previous owner and I planted 2 azalea bushes, 2 hawthorne bushes, a bunch of little purple flowers as fillers, and I spread out the grass that was already there. Now I actually know what is in the beds and how to take care of them.



















Since my door is off-center to my porch, and I like things to be somewhat symetrical, we bought a large pot and a tree that will hopefully grow tall as well as some petunias to cover the bottom of the tree. Then we planted 4 pots of geraniums for the stairs.














With the leftover fabric from the pillows, mom made me a new purse while I made Easter lunch.













These were metal placemats we found on sale at Pier 1 for 4 bucks a piece. We were going to hang them in the new room but the other paintings filled that spot better.













Here is a closer pic of them.

Military Monday - Ashley in Pascagoula, MS

Ashley just moved to Pascagoula, MS from Florida. Having been a South Florida girl all her life, she is still adjusting to "the South." Here is what she has to say on Military Monday...

"What do I think about being a military spouse?!! I guess that all depends on what mood I’m in that day! Overall I love being a military spouse. The people and the places make all the headaches and heartaches worth it. Not to mention not having to worry about where I’m going to live or if my next employer will offer health insurance! Now if this had been Military Thursdays (as in last Thursday) my attitude about being a military spouse would have been much different! Let’s just say that I do not always understand or agree with some of the decisions that are made and the amount of time my husband is away from home. My blood pressure goes through the roof for a day or so but eventually I cool down and remember that everything happens for a reason.

It will be three years this summer that my husband has been in the Coast Guard and he has been underway more than half of that time. I’ve definitely had my share of lonely days and nights but I am very proud of him and wouldn’t want our life to be any other way!"

New Ipod

It all started on a Saturday afternoon. Company was in town and the girls were going shopping while the boys showered for dinner afterwards. E, hopped into the shower for a few minutes and when he returned, Maggie had hopped onto the bed, mouthed open the zipper on my gym bag, pulled down my arm band with my ipod inside, and proceeded to chew on the band/ipod. The good news that my ipod still works. It still plays music but the screen will never work again. The bad news is, this is the ipod I use to gauge the distance I have run in races or when we are training. That was the sole reason I bought that specific ipod.

There are chew marks on the bottom and top left-hand side of the display.

Since Maggie ATE my last ipod, and I refuse to work out without it, (I know I am somewhat spoiled), E told me that I could get a new one, meaning the newest generation. I almost felt bad that he said that because I washed one of his ipods that was left in his pants and didn't let him get a new one. Oh well...by gones right?

My last one was a refurbished one from Apples website. So I started looking to see if they had any cheap ones. Nada, they were all the newest models and about the same price I paid for my broken one. So I started checking ebay...all I wanted was another one that worked. It didn't have to be new but I was seriously striking out. So I decided to bid on a few of the new models to see what kind of price I could get. HELLO!!! I won a new refurbished model on ebay for less than a used old model. It cam in this week and "it's so tiiinnny" (say that in a squeeky voice)

By the way...

I fought Blogger on this picture too and Blogger won...but this was the before (sorry, bad lighting) picture of my yard sale arm chair. I think I paid 40 bucks for 2 of them. Then we recovered them with some brown canvas we got at Hobby Lobby that coast 40 bucks. So all in all, after recovering them, they only cost 40 bucks a piece. You can scroll down a few posts and see the after pic. It turned out so great!!

















Well, my mom left yesterday and boy did we get alot done this week. I have so many project pictures to post and so many good buys to post but, of course, I forgot to bring them with me today. I will try to remember and bring them tomorrow!!!

But here is a quick overview without pics...

-We dug up one of my flower beds and replaced all of the plants
-She painted three paintings for me
-She recovered 2 chairs for me
-We shopped our little butts off
-E got a new leather chair for his birthday since I took his old one from him
-I finished a painting I had been working on for several months
-I finished painting my den that is still under renovation
-Mom made me a new purse
-I sewed for the first time and made 2 beautiful pillows
-We bought little accessories and then brought them home and then painted them to make them look like what we wanted
-We put together our den with accesories and wall paintings
-She made an awesome Easter Eve dinner
-I made an awesome Easter lunch

Whew! I need a vacation from my vacation.

What's Cooking Wednesday - Greek Pot Pie

Well, I fought Blogger this week and Blogger won. I tried posting this several times and it wouldn't post to save my life. But better late than never and you won't be sorry. This one is SO good! I found this recipe on Chronicle Books that I thought looked delicious.

Greek Pot Pie












I made it this week and OMG!!! SO GOOD!!! And relatively easy too. It's got that top phillo crust and cheesey spinachy filling. It was perfect! The only thing I added was some pulled chicken I had leftover in the freezer so E wouldn't complain that I am trying to turn him into a vegetarian. I hope you absolutely love it!

Getting Lots Done!

Well, my mom flew into town yesterday and wanted to do nothing BUT start working on my house...who am I to tell her NO!  She recovered one of my chairs last night and is almost finished recovering the second one.  Holy Cow!  Here she is talking on the phone while putting the cover together.  That's not the only thing she can while talking on the phone.  

Here is the new chair!  $40 bucks in all for the chair and the fabric.  

More Shabby Than Chic

Well, my husband, E, always says that when you first start a new job, go ahead and make it your own. Start moving stuff around and throwing things away and cleaning things before settling in. So I have spent the last few days doing just that. Here is a picture of my new workspace. It still needs some tweaking but, for now, it will do. Did I mention that it smells like urine??

I know is all seems a little bare bones but I seem to be having a major creative block until this pile is GONE!!! This is the give away pile. All of this crap littered my work space when I moved in. That entire pile of STUFF is going to be sold at a university surplus auction. 9 broken monitors that are at least 8 years old!!! Can we all say PACK RATS together now!!! I would like to say a public thank you to the tech that came before me for all of the work he left for me. (this pile doesn't include the ENTIRE dumpster that I just filled up with trash)

Hmmm...I Don't Know if this is a Good Sign??

Me and a Andrea talked about going to lunch next week to this nice little cafe on the other side of town, called Abbie's Imports. She had heard about the cafe at a cooking class she attended this weekend and was really interested. So I hopped onboard (when food is involved, I will always hop onboard). We checked the internet to look for the menu and see what they had before we went and this is what we found...













Hardly the classy cafe we were hoping for...RV Parts??? Seriously?

Military Mondays

Why not right??? There are so many things that affect military wives that don't affect normal wives. And since I am a military wife...I think you get the picture. But several of my military spouse friends are going to guest blog for the next few weeks. It's mostly just a fun way for us all to keep in touch since we are all moving off so that we can still be able to commiserate with everyone else...

What do I think about being a military spouse??? Lots of people always ask me what it's like...I never know how to answer that question. I am just like everyone else just with more restrictions and more opportunities.

I don't get the opportunity to plant roots and network around using my contacts that I have obtained in town all of my life since we move every few years. I have never had a job that has lasted longer than 2 years. I stay in a constant state of conflict with myself on all of the next steps in life: education, kids, jobs, finances...because you never know when you will get a call that changes your plans.

But....on the flipside-I have never felt closer to so many complete strangers, I have never felt alone, and I have never felt like I was out of options. The military offers so many oportunities to the military spouses, because, well, we get are just affected just as much by the moves and deployments and changes that are involved with each different situation.

I have accepted my role in my marriage as the stable, constant, predictable one because I am a military wife. I actually think being a military spouse has helped me to grow personally in a very small amount of time. Being thrown into a town, 20 hours away from the nearest family member, with no friends, and a crappy job...then your husband kisses you and says "I so glad you are here with me...see you in a few months!!"... That will pull you out of your shell immediately!!! So I offered to be the ombudsman, I started going to the gym, I started volunteering, I started attending church, and the hardest thing of all, I started letting my guard down and making friends with people I would have normally ever spoken to...because they are just as lonely as I once was. And you know what...I don't regret any second of it because that is where you find some of your closest lifelong friends.














This is our group of wives going stag to the CG Ball since the boys were underway.

So living out of boxes, moving every 2-3 years, always changing jobs, constantly looking for new friends...I am up for it. Life is an adventure and I plan on enjoy as much of it as the Good Lord lets me.

Things you shouldn’t do at work: (These are all true too!)

I realize that you all know that I have moved on but ...I still have one more list that is just as funny as the other list that I had to post... again, all true stories.

1. Tippy-toe running around the office announcing that you "have the trots from the sloppy joes you ate at lunch" and then eating sloppy joes again the next day for lunch ...and then dancing around the office announcing you have the trots again...oh yeah...and then offering to make chili at lunch for everyone the next day. Ugh!

2. Leaving graphic voice messages about "just how sick you are" (in raspy-ish voice, I’ve been up all night with terrible diarrhea and I’ve also been vomiting. It’s just coming out both ends, violently, so I’m going to take some immodium and stay home today”)

And then graphically detailing the sickness once you come back to work.
me: how are you feeling
her: oh my gosh. I mean, it’s was just coming out both ends. It was like a waterfall, and I was just like on the toilet all day. I knew I was in trouble when it just started coming out the consistency of water so I took like 6 immodiums and feel a little better today. Thanks for asking.

3. Making loud and obnoxious personal phone calls at least 5 times a day lasting at 20 minutes or more a piece. (ie. Have you ever been to Breckenridge? When we went to Breckenridge…. Breckenridge is the greatest. We did this when we went to Breckenridge.)

4. Pinching coworkers' love-handles, massaging the scalps and shoulders of other co-workers (as a surprise), butt pinching and repeatedly pulling up your shirt (revealing your belly) to show how much weight they lost. And then getting ticked off when someone touches you and loudly proclaiming "You just don’t touch people!"

5. Whispering so loudly that the whole office knows you have a URINARY TRACT INFECTION and then talking about it all throughout the day while drinking cranberry juice cocktail (from concentrate) in between your 12 cokes per day to help your infection.

6. Talking about how you “LOOOOOOVEEEEE going to your gynecologist because he just has the softest, gentlest touch.”

7. Announcing to the office all of the weird sex acts you and your spouse engaged in (especially when you are over 60).

8. Opening email attachments that play music SO LOUD you think it could wake the dead and then yelling "I never can figure out how to turn the volume down on these things."

9. Reading funny emails, forwarding them to you, telling you they were forwarded to you, then printing them out and coming to your desk, handing the email to you so that you can read it in front of them.

10. Constant spouse bashing when you get off of the phone with them...or 5 times a day. Actually, constant bashing of anyone, who calls for nearly any reason. (Can you believe they wanted to know the number to the cashier’s office!)

11. Reading the news out loud for everyone in the office to hear. Particularly, yesterday’s news, which everyone has already heard or read for themselves.

Blog Party Central

If you are here for the party...You came to the right place. Woo Hoo ...Hop on the party train!!! If you are not here for the party, you might want to change you mind and visit here to start your party prep.

I am your party hostess here at Everyday Bailey. A little bit about me...I am a true Alabamian that gets randomly transported around the country (Thanks Uncle Sam). Currently, I reside in the great state of Texas with my husband, E, and our new pup, Maggie. I am a former military trainer, air combat training operator and military video game creator turned academic techno geek for a university. My husband is the exact opposite. Techno geek turned military.

With all of the moving, I tend to make alot of friends in many states and countries. The hard part is keeping up with them all through email and phone. So...this was my solution. (because I hate talking on the phone) This space is mainly for my family and friends, so they can always know what's going with us here in the lonestar state without having to call.

I talk about alot of things here such as military life, job situations and travel. Weekly, I post What's Cooking Wednesday which shows a picture and recipe of something (easy and good, and usually healthy) that I cooked over the weekend. Tried and true ladies and gents.

Maggie is a spotted beauty and I tend to rant and rave about the trials and tribulations of dog training during the first year. (like the when she ate my ipod over the weekend, YEAH, those trials and tribulations) We also just bought a house and have started renovations so you may see a few pictures here of there of the work being done...by our very own hands. Lots of learning experiences there!!! As a young married couple, we still have very little furniture, so anytime I buy something, it's super exciting to me and I tend to post those pictures too.

I enjoy running races around the area and use this space to rally the troops to run with me on occasion. So if you live close by and want to run, let me know and I will definitely look for you.

If you are stopping by, consider yourself a friend and feel free to visit again anytime. Thanks for checking me out!

Ahhhh...Memories

While it's been a long week, so much has happened. For starters, I got a new job. But before I left my old job, me and another co-worker (who recently left also) felt that we needed to chronicle this momentous occasion by creating a few lists of sorts documenting the things that we have both learned over our time at our last job.

Here is one of the lists:

MEMORIES (and YES, these are ALL TRUE stories)
1. Hearing a colleague use the words anti-toxin (instead of antioxidant), dampner (instead of damper..."that really put a damper on my day"), irregardless (that's not a word), supposably (that one either...not a word) and Chicargo (is that a real city? Come on!!) on a daily basis.

2. Incorrect usage of the word proud..."I am so proud you found your glasses" or "I am so proud your headache is gone."

3. Use of the location Breckenridge at least 50 times in one 5-8 minute phone conversation.

4. Being asked to get on my hands and knees to clean the carpet, with a DISH BRUSH...Yes,...what we also use to clean the dishes; and Yes, also put right back on the sink for others to use on dishes AFTER it was used on the carpet.

5. Being asked to use a staple remover to get staples out of the carpet since I am done with my work. (Sorry, I won’t be able to get to that until after I finish scrubbing the carpet with the dish brush.)

6. Best job search advice EVER given to me: "the grass isn't always greener on the other side." Oh it might be purple, pink, orange, or yellow, but I don't care. I'll take that over this because I am just that miserable!

7. Serious overuse of the phrases "It's like..."and "I mean..." from someone over 60.

8. Having 3 bosses. Well, I take that back. I have 2 bosses and 1 supervisor. The funny thing is boss=legitimate, supervisor=self-proclaimed. Apparently no one cares to inform her otherwise. HELLO ...she is a (glorified) SECRETARY.
Secretary <>

9. A colleague stealing my file cabinet keys because I wouldn't take them home with me...to teach me a lesson...well, there's nothing the file cabinet so why should I be concerned with people getting into my cabinet...literally, it's empty.

10. Spending $10,000 and a week’s vacation on lasik eye surgery for a diabetic dog that you don’t think will survive the year. (Yes,... you read all of that correctly!)

11. Having your boss tell you who you can and can't be friends with. (“I’m not going to tell you who you should be friends with. I am going to tell you to be careful though. You never know who you can trust.”)

12. Nothing says crazy like a coworker who has a cage full of monkeys in their backyard, who smokes Cattails, gets q-tips stuck in her ear and has dogs who ride in carseats.

Somewhat Controlled Chaos

Justin and Ashley came to visit this weekend and they brought their dogs Sophie (German Shepard) and Bella (Bijoun). We had SO MUCH FUN and so did the dogs. Maggie spent all weekend playing with those two. We went to the gym, toured beautiful Port Arthur (HA) and Beaumont and then had dinner and went to a hockey game.

Just a few pics highlighting the fun that was had by all...














Maggie and Sophie playing ball together...It took three days for Sophie to finally want to play with Maggie. She felt the need to guard her family from Maggie instead of play with her. This ticked Maggie severely off. Maggie just sat and barked at her for the longest time until Sophie would finally pay attention to her.





Maggie waiting her turn to play fetch.


All of us after dinner at Johnny Carino's.


Justin played ball with the dogs for a while. Maggie and Sophie loved this.


After they were done playing ball, here are all of the tired puppies.


Me and Ash with the Southeast Texas Wildcatters Mascot!!

New Job

Back and better than ever...

Well, I started my new job on Monday. I was a little out of sorts when I was practically greeted at the door with a list of 25 things to do...talk about stressful. But I think it will gradually get better with time. You all know how it is...the better you are at your job, the more fun you have and more satification you get from your job. I am still a long way from that but completely relieved that I am in a new atmosphere.

After talking with a former co-worker yesterday, I realized that I am not AS emotionally UN-balanced as I thought. That old atmosphere affected me more than I realized. This new opportunity has helped me to realize just how miserable and affected I had become. Thanks to E for keeping me sane during the insanity, thanks to Andrea for your support and advice, and thanks to all my other friends and family for your prayers and thoughts...It was completely worth it.

I am so thankful that the good Lord has a better plan for me. This is me breathing a sigh of relief on my last day.

Why I’m happy I have a new job:

1. Being hired, not to work and be an employee of the state, but to be the friend to your co-worker and talk to them all day long.

2. Coming home crying on the third day of work and at least bi-monthly after that.

3. Waiting 9 months for your bosses to find you a new promised job opportunity, and then when it finally arrives, it's really just more job responsibility.

4. Being told by another co-worker that I am not allowed to go back to school.

Break Time!

Everyday Bailey is taking a small break to settle into a new job and new schedule. Will be back soon!

What's Cooking Wednesday - Spinach Quiche

I love quiche. It can be packed full of peanut butter and jelly and I would still eat it because I love quiche. I love quiche so much that I think I might marry it, and then eat it at the reception. I think I should also have a cool nickname like "Quiche Queen"...alright maybe that's not a "cool" nickname but I could still live with it.

I have been on a search for the perfect quiche lately and found this Spinach Quiche. It's not the "perfect" quiche, but it was still pretty tasty and mucho easy! If you have some chopped spinach and a frozen pie crust in your freezer, you can make this tonight. And, if you don't like the filling, change it up. I always put in extra bacon, tomatoes, onion and mushrooms in mine. And I always swap out the cheddar for swiss cheese.

New Job! New Job! New Job!

You are looking at a changed girl!! (Well, maybe you aren't actually looking at me...you get the point) After 8.5 months of 95% torture, I finally got a new job doing something remotely interesting.

I think I have been on 20 interviews during that time period, 2 or three 2nd interviews, a site tour and a job tryout (??). I got word last Tuesday that I had a new job with new pay, in a new department, with a new office, with a new boss, and a new group of students on the complete other side of campus. How wonderful is that.

I will be the Instructional Technician Support Specialist (say that 5 times fast) for the Superintendent's and Principal's Academy here on campus. YAY!!!!! However, human resources didn't call me until today (Monday) and they want me to start next week. No 2 weeks notice, not even 1 weeks notice. My previous employers have asked that I stay through the week to tie up my loose ends but they still don't realize that I HAVE NO JOB RESPONSIBILITY TO TURN OVER!!!!!

Anyway, for all of you who know how hard it has been over the last few months, thanks for your support and I appreciate all of your encouraging words. I really needed consolement, a shoulder to Boo-Hoo on at least twice a week, and a person there that I can vent (unfiltered) towards.

As soon as I have all of my new information, I will send it out. New Job...YaY! (If I had a pic of me silently partying (since I am still at work) it would go right here!!!)

Race Results

So Saturday went well...the race was fun. They posted a few pics online for people to purchase and these are the 2 I bought for me and E. They are really low res so that's why they aren't that big.

We ran the whole thing and finished in 31 minutes. We were very proud especially since we didn't train like we were wanting to due to cold and rain and other things that always seem to pop up when you least expect it.

My iPod sensor, that tells you how far you have run and what time it is, broke earlier in the week. So Friday night before the race, I went and bought a new one. I put it in my shoe to get ready for the next day and ...ugh!...the new sensor wouldn't work either. So I had no clue where we were in the race or how long we had run.

All in all, the race was great. We have both decided that when we retire, we are moving to the Woodlands. However, I think I am going to have to get a job making 8 figures for the next 25 years to make that happen. For those of you that missed it, we had a really great time and hope you can join us for one of the races coming up. They are alot more fun when there are more people you know. Even if you just come to hang out.

Eggplant Update

Well, I told everyone on Friday that I was going to make the Eggplant Rigatoni and that you can't make a bad pasta dish. I am here to tell you that I was wrong.

It didn't matter how many times I dumped loads of Parmesan cheese on the dish...There was just no taste to it. The recipe called for just a little bit of red pepper flakes and pasta water. The pepper was incredibly overpowering and had I put all of that pasta water in, it would have been pasta soup. I don't recommend this recipe.

I still have 2 servings of it in my fridge. I hate to waste food so I am trying to figure out something to add to it to make it good!!! If I come up with anything, I will let you know.