Day 78: Memorial Day

I could write a novel about Memorial Day and it's true meaning, but I won't. Simply put--it's not just another three-day weekend. It's not just the beginning of summer. It's a day where we remember those who have fought in any American war and lost their lives to a just cause. I'm not asking you to sit on your couch in the dark for the whole day and think of people you may not ever have known--that would just be ridiculous. However, it is best if you could say a prayer for those still in harm's way, and for those they left behind. Say a prayer for all of those widows and widowers who had to answer that fateful knock on the door, and then accept the folded flag.

With this in mind, I set out to go to Tramonti today. Tramonti is up in the mountains, about an hour's drive from my house (if you drive leisurely, like I did today). It's absolutely gorgeous and stunning, and there was not another soul up there today. :)

 My view for the day.

Gotta get a self-portrait. :)

Little rapids.

So I stayed up at Tramonti for 3 1/2 hours. Silly me and my fair skin, I thought I'd be okay. I am now definitely paying for that time with a major sunburn... but it was worth it. I spent the time listening to music, reading, and relaxing... it was amazing to just sit there and decompress. It did wonders for my soul. :) I am rested and relaxed and ready for this awesome week of vacation.

Ciao ciao!

Day 76: The Beginning of my Vacation!

Yesterday evening marked the beginning of my nine day riposo (break) from work. I am soo stoked! Not that I don't love my job (I really do), I needed a break, especially with summer coming so soon.

I spent today lounging around the house mostly. Fell, one of Arron's friends from his band, came over to check out Arron's guitar and make sure everything was okay with it. He said it's good to go and even got a bit jealous. :)

The next week will be full of random errands that I can never seem to find time to do while I'm working during the week, with plenty of gym, tanning, and deep-cleaning this house. (I'll bet you $20 you thought I was going to say gym, tanning, laundry!) I need to steam-clean the carpet again, as I'm a spaz and can't seem to stop spilling things, ha.

Monday I'm planning on spending the day at Tramonti, which is an area north of here in the mountains that has a beautiful river and waterfall. I'm taking a picnic and planning on catching some rays. Sooo looking forward to it!

Anyway, I'm excited to live the housewife life, even if it's just for one week. :) Ciao!

Day 69: Softball and Firenze

Wow, so much has happened in the past 36 hours that I don't know where to begin!

I got off work yesterday (Friday) and headed for the softball fields. We had a tournament that started at 6 pm and went until "whenever we finish." I got there as the first practice game ended, and at 8 pm we started up again with one practice game, followed by the bracket games. We played three in a row and then had an hour and a half break. If you're trying to figure out the time, we had a break from 11 pm - 12:30 am. We won all three, including one against the base varsity teams (half the men's team mixed with half the women's team). I batted .800 and played first the whole time, including making several double plays. :) I had already signed up to go to Florence (Firenze) and was leaving at 4:30 am, so I ended up leaving the fields after the three games, around 11:30.

I went home, showered and got ready for Firenze. But when I laid down on the couch at 12:45 am, I couldn't stop thinking--How was the team doing? Were they hitting? Were they winning? I finally ended up grabbing my things for Firenze and went back to the fields at 1 am! They did win their 12:30 am game (28-5, or something to that effect!), and had a two hour break until the championship game. I hung out with the guys (who are absolutely hilarious!) and chilled until the game started around 3:15 am. I had to leave at 3:45, but they ended up winning the championship and our shortstop got MVP for the tournament! It was awesome news to hear.

When I left the fields at a quarter to 4 am, I had a broken blood vessel in my hand from our (awesomely hard throwing) shortstop. But Firenze was calling my name! So off I headed to the meeting place where the bus would pick us up. :)

My friends from work, Breanna and Kendra, along with Kendra's husband Drew, and I explored Firenze from 9 am this morning until 5 pm. I must say that I haven't had such a fun 36 hours (including softball time) in a LONG time! We had a guided tour for about two hours, and then we were on our own for 6 hours to explore! There are way too many pictures to post here though, so I'll post under 10 and you can check out my Facebook for more. :)

 This is Ponte Vecchio over the Fiume Arno. :) So beautiful!

David! This is a replica, since we were not allowed to take pictures of the original. It's huge though!! 20 feet high. :)

Myself, Kendra, and Breanna on Ponte Vecchio.

 :)

 Couldn't resist the gelato!

 ... Or the Prosecco!

 Intoxicated grins. :)

Salute!

... I am now off to bed. Since Thursday morning, I've only slept maybe a total of 10 or 12 hours! Ciao!

Day 66: Here Come Better Days

(Title courtesy of the Robbie Seay Band's song "Better Days")

Today was a much better day to the crazy week I've had. Got to Skype with Arron for 30 minutes this morning, and then Breanna and I ate soup & salad at the club today. Soup & salad always makes my day better!

Work was not too bad, although my kinders had me pulling my hair out today! I swear, I think their teachers feed them straight sugar before they release them to us, ha. But it went by fast and then I was off to our first softball game!

We won 19-13 after a crazy couple innings. But our bats got going at the end and we came out on top! I went 4 for 4 batting, with two nice hits and two not-so-great ones. We have another game tomorrow night too. :) So excited!

In other news, I have now lost 7 lbs since Arron left. Hopefully they keep coming off while he's gone, especially with my new diet and me working out. My goal is to be 20 lbs lighter when he comes home. I think I can do it!

This weekend is going to be so much fun. Breanna and I are going to Firenze (Florence) for the day Saturday, and I can't wait. I've heard so many good things about it, and with it being the birthplace of the Renaissance (and the location of Michelangelo's David) I'm sure there will be tons of history and fun things to see!

That's all for now. Hopefully this week keeps looking up! Ciao!

P.S. I totally got an A in my Italian class as well! :)

Day 65: Insomnia

Insomnia has declared itself to be my new best friend. I'm thrilled. </sarcasm>

This past week has been hard on me. But rather than delve into details (did you like that alliteration?), I'll just leave you with a few thoughts/quotes that have kept me going...

- Don't make someone your priority when you're only their option.
-There has to be a breaking point for this bad luck streak.
-"What would you think of me? So lucky, so strong, so proud. I never said thank you for that... Now I'll never have a chance. May angels lead you in, hear you me my friends. On sleepless roads the sleepless go, may angels lead you in." - Jimmy Eat World

For those of you who choose to pray, please offer up a prayer to whomever for myself and my family. We desperately need it.

Day 62: Bragging Rights

Excuse me while I brag a bit on behalf of my husband. :)

Arron was recently chosen out of his squadron for a lunch meeting with Command Sgt Major Hill, the highest enlisted member under General Petraeus in Afghanistan. Arron was the only one picked out of his squadron, and only 15 people were picked from Bagram Air Base overall.

This also makes the second coin he's gotten in less than a year--he was coined when he was in Sweden by a two-star general, and now he was coined by a Command Sgt Major. Getting coined is a big deal in the AF, especially when it's someone high-ranking. :)

Anyway, I just wanted to boast for him a bit. So proud of everything he's done. ♥

Day 59: Love & Logic

A few months ago, our youth program staff began a series of training seminars titled "Love & Logic." The premise of the seminars was to reduce stress on adults and to have more fun, while still raising responsible kids. Children know what buttons to push to get their way, and they certainly use them. L&L's aim is to reduce backtalk and arguments between children and adults, and help children solve their own problems without much adult interference/help.

I must admit--at first, I was highly skeptical of L&L. Many of the things we were taught went against (what we thought was) common sense. However, a few weeks into the six-week course, it dawned on me--this was so much easier than our old ways! L&L teaches adults how to help children fix their own problems and make their own disciplinary actions without us having to stress about how to discipline a child.

The following is copied from the L&L website:
When adults take care of themselves, they hand the problem back to the student who created it.
When the student has to solve the problem, they have to think.
When students have to think, they learn that decisions have consequences.
When students have to deal with consequences, they learn to think.
When we allow the student to deal with the consequences, they learn to think before they cause a problem.
When the student learns to ask themselves, "How is my behavior going to affect me?" they have learned self control.

As I said before, I was skeptical. Today was our last Love & Logic meeting as a wrap-up for any last questions or comments, and we all looked around the room and realized how much we have reduced the stress level in our facility for staff and children alike. Honestly, before, there were days that I hated going to work because I knew some of our kids would be argumentative and I just didn't want to deal with it. Now, we all have the ammunition (so to speak) under our belts to deal with situations and diffuse the problems quickly.

To those who are planning on being teachers or who already are--check out Love & Logic. It's amazing.

To all of the AYP staff...
That's a bummer!

Day 56: Mother's Day

If roses grow in Heaven, Lord,
please pick a bunch for me.
Place them in my Mother's arms
and tell her they're from me.

Tell her I love her and I miss her,
And when she turns to smile,
Place a kiss upon her cheek
And hold her for awhile.

Remembering her is easy,
I do it every day,
but there's an ache within my heart,
That will never go away.

-Author Unknown

 Momma and I, circa 1991.

 Mother's Day 2009, the last one I was able to spend with her. We went to Houston and ate crawfish with Pops.

Our last picture together, June 2010.

Day 55: Birthday Parties and Softball

55 days today! Which means I'm almost a third of the way done. Woohoo!

Thursday night (Cinco de Mayo) was a friend from work's birthday, and we celebrated by going to karaoke. Lots of fun was had by all! And I might have even sung a few group songs... ;)

 This is Bill. He runs karaoke on Thursday nights, and we're BFF's when we're drunk. :)

Breanna, one of the few people here who is keeping me sane. :)

Today we were supposed to have an all-day softball tournament. It ended up being a really drawn-out deal with 8 teams and double elimination on one field. We lasted two games and were out. I don't really want to talk about it. But I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to walk tomorrow...

Anyway, that's all for tonight. Ciao!

Day 52: Picture update

Here's a shot of Breanna, Stephanie and me from Thursday night's festivities. :)

Not much else going on here. Work and school... finishing up my Italian class next week. From now on we're just reviewing for the final exam, which should definitely be interesting. :)

Ciao ciao. ♥

Day 50: Osama, Hair, and Softball

A whole lot of nothing and a whole lot of something has been going on here, but as I sit down to type it all out I feel like I don't know where the past week has gone.

The biggest news of all: President Obama announced early this morning (my time) that Osama bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan, almost 10 years after September 11. I realize that there will be more hostility from his supporters towards us, but I rejoice that he has finally been caught and killed. He killed many people from all walks of life and religion, and he was the most hated terrorist in the world. I hope that this shows our allies that we will actually finish the things we say we will, as Americans, when we put our time and effort towards them (instead of starting an unnecessary war in Iraq). And I can't lie, I think it will be pretty cool to tell our kids that their dad was in Afghanistan when justice was delivered to bin Laden. :)

In other news... I cut my hair! And when I say that I cut it, I mean it. I needed a trim and have no time to get to the salon on time after work, so I did it myself. :) I cut about 3 inches off. It's kinda choppy, but not too bad. I like it! I had a ton of split ends that needed to be gone.

It's official: softball season has started! I missed the first practice, but I've been to two since then. I'm so sore!! I forgot that I had these muscles, ha. But it's been great fun, seeing the boys move in when I go to bat and then hitting it over their heads. ;) I also got myself a throwing partner in my friend Shannoa, who played fastpitch out of Nebraska. We've hung out a bit before this, but her husband is gone too and we're both having a blast playing together. I love having another girl on the team who has skills!

In other news, 50 days have gone by since Arron left! The more that go by, the faster they seem to go. Hopefully the last 130 will go by just as quickly.

I'll leave you with a song that I've recently discovered and absolutely fallen in love with:

That's about all for now. :) Ciao, ciao!