Day 177: Playing Catch-Up

This past week has been hell on wheels! I've been playing catch-up in all areas of life since Monday.

What happened, you ask? Well, my trusty (and almost brand-new) computer decided to crash Sunday night / Monday morning. Not quite sure when, but it didn't reboot overnight like I told it to and then the whole thing fell to pieces. As Monday was Arron's and my two-year anniversary, it put a damper on the whole mood for the week. I seriously went to work in tears about 3 out of the 5 days I worked. Everything went wrong... Luckily one of my supervisors, Katie, came to the rescue and lent me her computer for a little while until I get one that Pops is sending me... Mine had to be shipped to Toshiba to be completely wiped clean. Blah!

So I've been playing catch-up with school, since I'm in three classes right now (read: self-inflicted suicide). (Is there any other kind of suicide but self-inflicted? I digress...) It also doesn't help that I have NO motivation to do any of my work. Can we just fast-forward to this time next year, after I have my degree??

Thursday night, Tessa, Jamie, Kelly, Gino, and I went out for karaoke and for my birthday. My aim was to get so drunk that I forgot Arron was deployed. I failed miserably, but did get very inebriated. Last count anyone had was 12 shots of Patron and one shot called the "Blowjob."

This weekend was a three-day weekend, thanks to Labor Day. It's always nice to have a three-day weekend right around my birthday! I was asked by the girl's softball base team to go to Camp Darby with them for the last tournament of the season. Camp Darby is about 5-10 minutes outside of Pisa, so about a 4 hour drive from Aviano. We left Friday evening after work and just got back this afternoon. We didn't do so hot, but I did get some pretty awesome hits. I skinned my knee, however, and realized that I had forgotten how much a skinned knee hurt. Geez! I also somewhat rolled my ankle, but not so bad that a tape job couldn't fix. It's sore now but I'm able to walk without much of a limp. That just means that I can't run around with the kids at work as much. :)

The guy's team took the championship at Darby, and they went undefeated throughout the tournament. It was crazy how far some of them could hit... there was a 300 foot collapsible fence, and about 40 feet on the other side of that fence was the base fence. Right outside the base fence was a two-lane road and big oak trees on the other side. Some of the guys were hitting balls that were clearing both fences and hitting the trees! Some Italians were pulling over and grabbing the balls; we figured they were "cool American souvenirs" to these people who never watched or played baseball/softball.

Today, if you read the title of this blog, is day 177. That means on Thursday Arron will hit 180 days, meaning he officially has done a short tour in the desert. Usually the Air Force doesn't like to keep people in the desert longer than 180 days (because they don't like to give out short tours for it), but I guess they made a special exception in our guys' case. Lucky us. However, what that means is that Arron pretty much will never have to go back to Korea unless he asks for it, which is nice. He also gets another ribbon on his ribbon rack, which I guess is cool, too. I'd just rather him come home though.

On a different note, today is my Pops' birthday. I know today is probably pretty hard for him, as my birthday was for me. There are so many "firsts" in the first year after Momma passed, and I couldn't help but sit around on my birthday and remember the gifts she sent me last year--my colorful woman's hammer and a pair of jeans that I desperately needed in this European world, along with a new laptop battery (before my old one bit the dust).

But today is about Pops, the most amazing father I know. I wish I could describe him in words. He is the epitome of strong, both emotionally and physically. I don't know that I could weather the death of my beloved as he has, and though he has his days of mourning, he is constantly hopeful for tomorrow and the future. He is so invested in his children's lives that we talk almost every day, just to compare the weather and see how each other is doing. He spoils Darcy and Carly to no end, and I know they are as grateful to have him as I am, along with Paul and Jacki. Pops, I love you. I can't wait to see you in December!

Ciao, ciao!