You want to join the what!?

What do you do when your 23 year old; recently married son tells you he wants to join the Army. I'll tell you...you cry a little , you worry, you pray(a lot) and you talk. That's what we've been doing for the last few days. When John first told me late Saturday night after playing poker with his "poker buddies". Which are really his brothers, cousins, our boys and some of their friends. I didn't think he was serious. Well, fast forward to Monday. Daniel and Katie have talked to an Army recruiter! He's taken his initial test and asked all the questions he (they) had. At first I hadn't talked to him. I was getting the information through John. I was not happy! I thought John, being an Army Reservist for almost 20 years, was encouraging him. There is a war going on! Thousands of young men and women have died. I won't get into my political views here but who know how long this war will last. I know there are many benefits to joining the military. Our Nephew who lives in Ohio with his Mom is in town visiting before he heads out to basic training for the Marines. When I heard he was going. I felt so proud of him! His Dad is in the National Guards and did a tour in Iraq. But talk about double standards. Now that it's Daniel I'm scared. Don't get me wrong I'm very proud of him! He is a smart young man, he has a great head on his shoulders. He is so much like his Dad. I think Daniel looks more like his Dad than Nicholas. I did finally talk to him. I just wanted to hear it from him. I wanted to know he/they were making an informed decision. He said "I've been thinking about it for a while. "I want to be a part of something bigger..." I know cue the National Anthem and I'm not trying to be funny. John and I have talked. I know he is giving him a very realistic view. He'll be gone for at least six months first for basic training then for classes. They are newly weds, this is not going to be easy. I've only had a small taste of John being gone. He hasn't, thank God, been deployed. He served active duty but only state side. He's had to travel a lot for training sometimes weeks at a time. In the last few months he has had to travel a lot more with a new job. Being apart is hard even if only for a few weeks. Oh! One more thing, I guess they talked to a good recruiter. I say good because he was honest with them. When Katie went in, one of the questions on her list was. What were the chances of Daniel being deployed. He, the recruiter, said 99%. He said going in you should be prepared because there is always that chance. See, this is where my worry kicks in. Of course some of my concerns are purely selfish. What if he is stationed out of state? We are so looking forward to Grand-children. I wanted them close. John says it we'll just have to go see them. A good excuse to travel , not that we need one. We love to travel but who doesn't =) I can't imagine being apart from your spouse or Son for a year or more because most have gone on more than one tour. One of John's good friends and co-worker is leaving in a few months. He is being deployed to Afghanistan. His wife Penny, has become a good friend of mine. We are Army wives and we stick together. I sound pretty proud and that's because I am. But, it doesn't make it any easier to let my Son go. Nothing is definite yet but we'll see what happens. He's taking another test tomorrow.

What to do?

I'm frustratrated! I try not to worry about things and yet I can't help it. I try to remember that last year at this time the only thing that mattered the only thing I wanted was to feel good. Now, I worry about other things. One of my thoughts is... should I go back to work! We have always been a 2 income household. I have had a job since I was 16 yrs old. During my Summer breaks from the district I would work in retail or at an office. I don't think I want to go back to the school district. Although I miss my coworkers and the kids, I really miss the kids. I have so much I want to do...so many dreams. How do I know what I'm supposed to do next?! I know that this too will pass. I know that the Lord will show me what I need to be doing. I need to be still and listen. I have to have faith.

There is so much work involved in maintaining a house. There is only two (plus my furbabies) in this house! How do women who have a husband, kids, pets and a job do it?! I still don't know how I did it when I worked and went to school. I guess whatever got done got done and I didn't have time to worry about it. I've always liked keeping a clean and organized house. I get that from my Mom, who is a wonderful housekeeper. Does that sound bad? I mean, she did soo much, she raised six kids and she always had a clean house, clean clothes and hot, delicious meals for all of us. I don't know how she did it! Now I see how much she sacrificed for us and how hard she worked and continues to work.

John tells me the only thing I need to do is take care of myself and stay healthy. I'm trying but my head tells me I should be doing more. I want to start my own business. I want my love of decorating and crafts (my passions) to work for me. Maybe I should open an Etsy shop. Maybe, I just need to take a chance and try something new. How else will I know?! Should I find a job in an office or that pre-school close to the house? These are my thoughts and worries so early on a Sunday morning.

This And That

Sunday morning we gave the dogs a bath. We just put them in our tub. John took care of the washing; I dried them with my hairdryer. We usually take them to the groomers but, with John's crazy work and Army Resv. schedule. We hadn't been able to make an appointment for them. I think they kinda' enjoyed it.

Look what I found at Aldi's the other day. We wanted lasagna for dinner but I didn't have any Mozzarella so we went in and of course ended up getting a few other things. Anyway, these Orchids were by the register. I've been wanting to get one for a while. I just hadn't wanted to spend the money on one. Ha! These Orchids were only $9.99! I HAD to get one! I kinda' want to go back and get another one. It's just that I've never had one so I'm not too sure on their care. (I Googled it) I pride myself with having inherited my Grand-mother's green thumb. Let's see how I do. I hope I can keep it alive and blooming for a while.

As you can probably see I've been moving her around trying to find the best light. Isn't she pretty?!

We or rather John has started working on putting the wainscoting back up in my studio. Now we can see why they used glue on the boards (I still think they used more than needed) these walls aren't perfectly square and so the boards don't fit up to the wall right. We are going to have to take one of the boards down and add some glue to it. The panel by the window is not tacked in yet. It's going to look nice it's just going to take a little more work than we thought. Isn't that how it always is when you start a project.

We are re-using some of the panels that were still in good shape. That's why there are marks where the old molding was on the top and bottom. Trying to be green and save some money too =)

One more thing, This is what I'm reading right now.

It took a few pages but I'm really liking it. I didn't know what to read after I finished reading The Help. Which was such a good book. My Sister-in-law and I are planning to go see the movie tomorrow. I've heard they did a good job with it. I'll come back and give you my review. So that's a little of what 's been going on here at the home front.

New Blog Design

What do you think of my new blog look? I'm not too sure I like it. At first I changed it to pinks and Peionies flowers. Then I thought that wasn't the look I was going for. I wanted something more seriouse. Now, I have the black and I'm not too happy with it. I want something more crafty and maybe Southern somehow maybe a little country. I guess I could get a customized layout made but there are so many cute and free options. I just have to find the right look for me. Now that I learned how to do it. I'll be on the look out for the look I want. I'll leave it like this for now.
John has been working third shift this week so I've been feeling kind of lonely. He has to sleep during the day. He did get up and have dinner with me last night =) We even got to enjoy the cool night and went for our walk. It has been so nice out! I kinda' wish it would stay like this year round. It just seems like Summer is so short. I say that but then I think about it and I realize I do like the change in Seasons. Fall is so pretty! I love all the Fall colors...oranges, reds, yellows, browns. Beautiful! Decorating the house for it is fun too. I also like Fall fashion boots and sweaters. But, it feels like it was just yesterday we had freezing weather and Lakeshore Dr. was closed! Anyway, I'm off to enjoy THIS beautiful, sunny day. Happy Thursday =)

New Blog Look

Please excuse the messy blog. As you can see I'm making some changes. I want to add some pictures to the sidebar. I hope to figure it out soon. If you can offer some suggestions on how to do this; please feel free to share =)

Joel Osteen - Signs of Gods Favour

My Top 10 Favorite House Things

I got the idea for this post from one of my favorite blogs right now. Joan from For the Love of a House wrote a list of "house things"she can't live without. If you haven't already you should visit her blog. She has renovated an old farm house. It is beautiful to say the least. Her collections are enviable, she has an amazing collection of hotel silver, urns and Japanese fishing floats to name a few. She has inspired me to start my own collections. She knows how to combine old and new seamlessly. Joan has antiques from Paris that she has combined with roadside finds. You would never know that by looking at one of her rooms. You have to have a true gift to be able to look at something and see its beauty and possibilities.

So, Here is my list of favorite house things. First, is my Dyson vacuum cleaner. I got it a couple of years ago for Mother's Day. I KNOW, but that is what I asked for. I have two dogs and they both have long hair and they shed... a lot. But, what am I going to do, I love my fur babies. Ha! So needless to say a good vacuum cleaner is a MUST.

I use these surface protectors under my lamps and any decor I might add to a table.

These Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are wonderful. They even worked on my leather, cream colored Summer purse that wasn't look so creamy anymore. I only have these two left so they are going on my shopping list.

I love the scent this multipurpose cleaner leaves behind and that it is biodegradable.

My Sister recommended this next product when I mentioned that I couldn't get stains out of my kitchen sink. Zud I love it! It gets stains out of sinks, tubs and showers.

I don't like to use sponges but, I have to have Handy Wipes in bathrooms and in the kitchen.

Sorry about the picture I couldn't rotate it. Ugh!

These next two things are again necessary because of my dogs. This little spot cleaner works great on carpet stains.

And, I hate walking around with dog hair on my clothes so I have these almost everywhere including the cars and my purse.

I love candle light so I have white unscented candles throughout the house. Don't get me wrong I have my share of scented candles too. But, I don't like to combine scents so I'll light one or two of the same scent and a few unscented for ambiance.

And last but not least is my step ladder. I am only 5 ft. tall and if John or the boys aren't home I can't reach almost anything in my kitchen cabinets. I should really have two of them. We've had this ladder since before we bought our first house.



What are your favorite house things?