RTT: Plans Gone Awry

Last Friday (March 22nd), the recruiter J had been talking to called to tell him that because of the sequestration, J will not be able to reenlist as active duty. Ridiculous. He was just days away from signing the paperwork.

So it looks like we'll be here in Huntsville for awhile longer. We're still unsure of our plans. Pray for us that our new path will be revealed soon.   

This is as random as I'm gonna be today. Link up with Stacy Uncorked for more randomness.

Our Last Valentine's Day Weekend Together as a Family of Two! (Sunday & Monday)

• After having a horrible night's sleep Saturday, I got up and showered. After I showered, I dressed and packed up the suitcase while J showered. When we were completely packed and ready to leave, we went downstairs and took all of our stuff to the car. While J smoked, I went in to to get some breakfast. The breakfast spread was great! I had a bowl of fruit loops, a blueberry muffin, strawberry yogurt, orange juice and I grabbed a banana for later. J came in and checked us out while I was eating. He complained about the bed and the lady said the hotel was only 4 years old! The rest of the hotel was really nice, but the beds were cheap! 
• When we left the hotel, we went to St. Elmo to ride the incline. (We had to pay to park there, and it was exactly $2! Remember that $2 J found Saturday!?) I was terrified and the higher we went, the more my terror intensified. By the time we were at the top, J was convincing me that I didn't have to ride back down unless I wanted to. He would ride down by himself and bring the car up to get me. I was in agreement at the time (but I did eventually calm down enough to ride it back down).

• We got off at the top and walked down the street to the Battles for Chattanooga Museum and Point Park.

•  We looked around the museum and store, but didn't see anything we wanted, so we went out to Point Park and paid $3 each to walk around. The park was mostly a military park, with cannons, statues and lots of historical information about the site and battle that was fought there and nearby. The views surrounding the park were incredible! You could see forever!  

Point Park

View from Point Park

In Point Park

• When we left Point Park, we walked back to the Incline gift shop and J ordered me some hot chocolate to warm up. It was freezing outside! Then we walked to the top of the building to look out over Chattanooga.

• By the time we got back downstairs, it was 10 minutes til boarding time to go back down, so we got in line so we could sit in the front. The ride down was not as bad as I thought it would be and it was much less-terrifying than going up. Especially since going down, we were facing the direction we were going. 

The other railcar was coming up, so we switched lanes! 

• When we got to the bottom, we went into the gift shop to buy a few postcards to satisfy my obsession. haha.
• After we left there, we went back to downtown Chattanooga to find somewhere to park for the day. We found a parking garage that only charged $8 a day instead of the $9 to park at the aquarium. We walked around awhile instead of going straight over to find something to eat. We walked along the river and I took a few pics at Ross's Landing. 

Ross's Landing

Artwork on the wall leading to the landing.

My Love. ♥

• By the time we left Ross's Landing, I was freezing and really had to pee, so we went to find somewhere to eat. The first place we tried was so packed, we could get in the door! (Cheeburger, Cheeburger) The next place we went to was closed and the next place had their menu outside and nothing looked appetizing. We finally ended up eating at Big River Grille & Brewing Works. I wasn't that hungry, so I ordered off of the kids' menu. I had a grilled cheese sandwich with carrots and ranch dip. I ordered pickles on my grilled cheese, but they didn't put them on there, so I had to get the waitress to bring me some to add on to it. I hate when they forget! I ended up liking the ranch dip so much, I dipped my sandwich in it, too! :P
• After we finished eating, we walked around a little more before we had to go into the Ocean Journey building for our backstage adventure! It was great! We got to see the penguins from above, the biggest tank from above where we got to meet the divers and feed the fish and then we got to meet a rare gecko and pet it! 

Penguins! 

 This sea turtle was injured by a boat and as a result, his back fins had to be removed.
He has trouble swimming down low, so he stays near the surface where his butt often floats above his head. Bless him.

Gecko

• We had so much fun on the backstage tour, J wanted to do the River Journey, too, but I convinced him we should save it for another trip, so we could go see something else. 
• We left the aquarium and headed back to the car. When we left the garage, J couldn't get the ticket to go into the slot, so he pressed the button for assistance. Turns out he was trying to insert the ticket from another parking lot! HAHA! We got a good giggle out of that.
• We pulled out the GPS and headed towards Rock City which was near the incline. Rock City was awesome! I was freezing, but it was totally worth it! There are so many pictures on my camera and phone that I don't have time to look through all of them, so I'll just post a few sneek peeks from my phone.

J taking a smoke break.

 Fairytale from Mother Goose Village

Gnomes in Fairyland Caverns

• We didn't leave there until they were closing, so after we left we headed towards the Chattanoga Choo-Choo Hotel to check in to our room. J had bid on hotwire.com for a three-star room at $61/night. This was the hotel that we got. The main building where we checked in was beautiful, so we thought our room would be awesome, too. We were surprised to see that our room was very much not up-to-date and the only thing that had been updated was the television. The mattress was so old that the end of it was higher than the rest of the bed and there was a huge dip in the middle of it. Needless to say, it was very uncomfortable.
• We settled in and then decided it was time to go get dinner. First we walked around and didn't find anywhere that was open other than the ice cream shop and The Gardens. The Gardens wasn't our style of dining, so we asked if any of the other four restaurants were open and they said that the deli was, but all they served was soups and sandwiches, so we went next door to The Tavern. We had to wait FOR-EV-ER for a seat. They seated us on the second floor and it was so cold, I couldn't take my jacket off. There really wasn't anything on the menu that looked appetizing to me, so I finally just ordered a burger and some baked beans. When it finally got there, I was starving. I didn't think I could eat 1/2 pound of ground beef, but as it turns out--I can! I also ate the small serving of beans (I'm talking baby food jar small) and the waitress brought me another serving, which we were charged for. WTH? It's not like there's a shortage on baked beans in this country! They were $4! 
• After we left The Tavern, we went back to the hotel to swim. When we got in, there were only 5 or 6 kids and 4 adults, with only one adult in the pool. (The other adults weren't even wearing swimsuits!) By the time we left, there were at least 15-20 kids in the pool and probably only 4 adults! What is wrong with this world that parents don't get in the pool with their young children!? There's no way I would let my 3 or 4 year old in the pool by themselves even if they were descendents of mermaids. SMH...
• I need to mention that this was a 9-foot deep pool! 
• When we got back to the room, I was freezing so I showered and then we crawled into bed to attempt to sleep. Not much sleep was had...
• When we got up Monday morning, we dressed and packed the suitcase up. I wanted to take our stuff to the car then, but J said we'd do it after we ate breakfast. So, we headed over to the main building to see which restaurants were open. Only The Garden was open and it was $10.99/ person for the buffet. All I really wanted was cereal, a muffin and some yogurt and I wasn't about to pay that much for it even if they did have it. We turned around and went back to the room, grabbed our stuff and headed out the back stairs to take it to the car. J had had to park so far away the night before, that he left me and the luggage waiting on the sidewalk so he could go get the car. It was pretty warm Monday morning, so it felt great to be outside. After we loaded everything up, we drove around to the front of the hotel to check out. Then we headed out of Chattanooga to get on I-24. It didn't take long before we found a Cracker Barrel off of 72, so we stopped there to eat.
• I had two little boxes of cereal with a small carton of milk, two chocolate milks, an apple, a pineapple yogurt parfait with granola, almonds, and cranberries, and a huge blueberry muffin which I ate later for a mid-morning snack. All of that was less than $8, so I'd say we got a much better deal than we would have at The Gardens. 
• When we left Cracker Barrel, instead of getting back on I-24 as we should have, J turned left onto 72 because he thought it would take us straight to Huntsville. He was wrong...lol.
• As we were driving along, I told him that nothing looked familiar and he said it was probably because we were going the other way and b/c I had had to pee so many times that I wasn't paying attention on the way through.
• I saw a huge yellow sign advertising Raccoon Mountain Caverns and I told J that we should check it out because it looked interesting, so he turned down the dead end road. Turns out, being lost was a good thing because the caverns were really cool!
• J got in free because he's military and my ticket was about $15. It was a 45 minute guided tour through the first cave. Since we had just learned about stalagmites and stalagtites and cave formations in my college science class, I found the different formations very interesting! 

Stalagmites and Stalagtites joining together.

 Soda straws and stalagmites hanging from the ceiling.

"Iguana Rock" and that hole at the top is where two flows of water joined together

and swirled, causing the hole to form. The geckos that live in the caves come in through the roof here.

Crinoid, or "sea lily" fossil.

 I think this is part of a Crinoid fossil as well.

 The round object in the center of the photo, with the "beard" is a cave shield. They are not very common and have only been found in 80 caves in the U.S. 

• I had a great time and asked a lot of questions. I was afraid of falling because in a lot of places it was very slippery because of the water from the ceiling of the cave, so I was walking very slowly. But no one in our group seemed to mind. ;) 
• I have to tell you that I expected to see some raccoons in the cave...but there aren't any. That was my only disappointment.
• After we left the cave, we headed out on 72 again until there was a detour which led us to I-24 where we were supposed to be. Thankfully we hadn't gone too far of the correct path and we got to have an adventure along the way!
• We only stopped one more time along the way home for a bathroom break and then we went to pick up our fur-babies! They were so excited to see us! 
• **Here's where those stars from yesterday come into play. I called the Animal Care Hospital twice, two different times during the week before we were to board the girls. I asked both times about the pricing and both times I was told that it would be $20 for each dog, each night. So I planned on having them there Friday and Saturday night. I asked what time we had to pick them up Sunday and she quoted me a time that was only about an hour window. I asked what if we were unable to get them in that short time frame and the woman told me the price would be the same if we picked them up Monday as if we were picking them up Sunday. So we only expected to pay $80 for the boarding and then $39 for Sabrina's shots to be updated. When we got there to pick them up, they charged us $160. They charged us for Sunday night's boarding. I argued with the lady, but she wouldn't change the price, so we just paid and went home. Both girls had to use the bathroom badly when we got home and Sabrina peed three times before she would come inside! I don't think they took very good care of them and we won't be using them again. 

All in all, we had a great trip and enjoyed ourselves immensely! Even though my legs, back and head were killing me most of the time, I have to say it was worth it to spend some time together before the baby gets here. Hopefully we'll be able to go to the beach sometime this summer, but if not, at least we got our last hoorah in!

 

I hope y'all enjoyed reading about our little adventure! 

RTT: School, Birthday, Family, etc.

I should be doing my Psychology notes since I have an exam that opens tomorrow and closes Thursday, but I really need a break. I thought I might try to do a little catching up on Facebook, but no one was posting anything exciting so I'm just gonna blog. :)
 

Finally finished my math assignment today, thanks to my sister.

Finished history study guide and quiz. Made 100%!

Finished English discussion after reading two poems. (supposed to read like 10? Didn't feel like it.)

Saturday J dropped me off at Jo-Ann's Fabrics to do a crafting event with Jaybee and Shelby. We made Fairies (Tinkerbell). Glitter EVERYWHERE!!!

• Sunday we went to church and afterwards ate at Cracker Barrel. I love looking around in the store while we wait for our table to be ready. Look at this cute owl I "need!"

Light-up Owl Lamp

• We went to church Sunday evening too, but didn't like the guest speaker as much as we like the Pastor. :/
• Yesterday my Mom, Sister, nephew and two nieces came to see me and spend some time with me for my birthday. :) Super-sweet! They may have wrecked my living room but I love them anyway!
• I made a Turkey breast (cooked in the crockpot), candied Yams, green beans and stuffing last night for dinner. It was so yummy! I enjoyed a leftover turkey with cranberry sauce sandwich for lunch today. Mmmm!
• I announced yesterday to my sister and Mom that Jeremy is going active duty! Surprisingly, they both seemed to handle it well. I did not expect that, especially after the reaction Jeremy recieved from his parents--namely his Dad.
• I am excited that J is going active. I can't wait to see where this new path God has placed before us will lead. :)
• Went outside to walk the pups earlier today and smelled gas really strongly. I walked around to the front of the building and J's car was leaking gas. I called him and asked him what to do and he said to look under the hood and find what was leaking and somehow stop it. I did...turns out he had cut the hose and left it hanging...DUH! I just rubber-banded it to the brake fluid container so that it wasn't pulling anymore gasoline out of the tank. I'm a regular Mrs. Fix-it! Haha!

I hope everyone is having a great Tuesday! Tomorrow is my Birthday!!! WOOT! I can't believe I'm going to be 27! I will try to post Thursday with my spoils! I already have my gifts from Mom and Sister. Wait til you see what the kiddos made me. :)

 

Head on over to Stacy Uncorked for more randomness! ♥

 

RTT: Not enough time!

I haven't had a good rant in quite awhile, so I thought I'd step up on the soap-box and complain a little.
We can call this the Random Tuesday Thoughts that I didn't have until Wednesday...

• I should be working on my History Midterm that is due Friday, but I don't feel like writing a 3-5 page essay today. I worked 8-9 hours straight yesterday on four short essays for my history midterm. WTH? Why does this professor assign so much work? I've been asking that from day one.
• Not only do I have a history midterm due Friday, I have a math (in-class) midterm tomorrow at 6. Which means I only have today and tomorrow to study for the exam. Also, I have to drive two hours to my sister's house to study with her and then we have to drive at least 45 minutes to the campus. Furthermore, we have never been to the GSB at the Shelby Campus, so we have no idea where we'll be taking the exam. Hopefully our professor is just as nice as our professor from last semester. *fingers crossed*
• I turned in an essay for English that was due the 7th a few days early. That was nerve-racking trying to get it done before the weekend so we could go to Talladega (we did go!).
• Thankfully, my English teacher doesn't have anything assigned until the end of the month. I am so grateful for that.
• My psychology professor obviously thinks that we don't have enough work to do, so he has assigned discussions now. He thinks we don't have enough interactions. It was fine with me! I didn't want to have to interact with another class. Isn't two interactions with two other classes enough?
• Want to know what the next couple of weeks consists of for me? I'm gonna tell you anyway!
• Tomorrow is the math midterm @ 6pm.
• History midterm is due Friday @ 11:59 pm.
• Jeremy has drill this weekend, so I will at least have all of my attention on schoolwork.
• Chapter 8 Quiz in History opens up on Sunday, which means I have to have my study guide completed before Monday, so I can take the quiz on Tuesday; it's due at 11:59 pm on Tuesday.
• I have another Psychology paper due on the 17th (just turned in the last one on the 4th).
• Discussion Week 9 opens in History and is due on Friday the 19th.
• Chapter 9 Quiz in History opens on the 21st, which means another study guide to complete.
• Also, all next week, I have to work on Assignment 4 in Math which is due by 5pm on the 23rd for the extra bonus points.
• Chapter 9 Quiz in History is due @ 23:59 on the 23rd.
• Psychology Exam on Chapters 3 and 5 opens on my birthday, the 24th and closes on the 25th.
• Discussion Week 10 opens on the 24th in History.
• I have to respond to the discussion forum in English by 11:55 pm on the 24th.

Ridiculous, huh? It's never-ending! I never feel like I have enough time. When am I supposed to have fun?? Tell me that?! UGH!
*Stepping off of soap-box now*
I hope everyone had a great weekend and I hope everyone is enjoying this nice weather we've been having lately! It's awesome!
Be sure to link up with Stacy at Stacy Uncorked for Random Tuesday Thoughts. I didn't have a chance yesterday, so I'm just now doing it. Oh well! Not enough time in the day!

Today's word is PUKE: Brought to you by the letter P!

I deserve a beer after the morning I've had. But since I don't drink and we don't have any beer anyway, I'm drinking J's last Mountain Dew! So there! 

Who doesn't love cleaning up puke in the mornings? Especially dog puke...
Sabrina has been puking nearly every 20 minutes since 0600. At first, it was small puke, then it got to be bigger puke. I started off cleaning up two small spots on the carpet, then I had to clean 6 large spots on the CARPET. Now I'm having to wash the dog bed, a comforter and a couple of towels. Poor Bina...
I think we need to take her to the vet. And I thought J should share in my lovely morning, so I sent him a photo of her puke and then called to tell him that we should take her to the vet. 
I would share that lovely photo with y'all, but I'm trying to drink this here Mt. Dew and eat my blueberry poptart without puking myself...plus, it has been almost 30 minutes since the last puking and I'm sure it's due.

I hope you lovely folks have a wonderful morning...whatever day it is.
Seriously, it feels like a Monday. Can someone check the calendar for me? I'm too tired to look.

**Update: Make that two dog beds... Vet appt. at 4:30. (I don't have a way to take her there myself. Have to wait for J to get home.)

It's UN-Necessary...

Life is pretty UN-eventful since 

Christmas is over. But I will re-cap a 

conversation I had with J the other day.

Christmas Day: The "boys" get remote-controlled mini-helicopters for Christmas. They wait until dark to try flying them outside. It has snowed and it is really cold. The boys take Tim's helicopter outside and get it stuck in a pine tree in less than 15 minutes. They can't get it down. J tries climbing they pine tree and scratches the front of his leg pretty badly. It's bleeding all over the place.

Helicopter blinks all night long.

December 26th: J gets the helicopter down by throwing a pine cone at it.

December 28th: The scratch on J's leg looks irritated and red. I try to doctor it up with some peroxide and antibiotic ointment. 

J: (puts on jacket and heads for the door.)My leg is fine. It doesn't need to be cleaned.

Me: (heading towards bathroom to get peroxide, ointment and cotton balls)Please let me at least clean it and put some antibiotic ointment on it. You don't want to get an infection. It looks sore.

Mom: (mockingly quotes old men from western movies that have been shot)"It's just a flesh wound."

J: (returns from a smoke break...aka escaping from me.) I told you it's fine. I don't need you to clean it. I washed it off the other day when it happened. You don't even have any gauze. This is so UN-necessary.

Mom: You don't need any gauze. It needs to breathe. It looks infected.

Me: (kneeling in front of J to clean his scratch) Yeah. It looks infected. I'm just gonna clean it and put this stuff on it. (pouring peroxide on his leg) It's all germy. Look at the bubbles!

J: It would bubble if you put it on the back of my hand too. It's just skin germs.

Me: That's gross. And no it wouldn't.

J: This is so UN-necessary!! Now I'm gonna have to walk around with my pants-leg up....(rolls eyes)

Me: (also rolling eyes) Fine! I hope your leg falls off!(stomping down the hall to put up the peroxide and ointment.)


J: (yelling down the hall) And don't blog about this or whatever it is you do. I don't want everyone to know about it too. Like you blogged about me running into that helicopter and stuff.


Me: (all innocent-like) No I didn't. What are you talking about? 


J: You had to have blogged about it or posted something on Facebook. 'Cuz everyone in my unit knew about that. 'Cuz you told all their wives! 

Me: No I didn't....

Update: J's leg is still red...because I'm pretty sure he rubbed off the ointment later. And he hasn't let me clean it again.

Is it a "man-thing" to pretend to be fine when you've got a bad scratch you're practically dying? And to act like someone is chopping your limbs off one by one you're dying when you only have a cold?

Potty-training: Random Tuesday Thoughts

Tuesday again? This year is almost over. Can't believe there's only a month left....Anywho..since it's Tuesday again...

Today my sister and I started [trying] to potty-train my 2-year-old nephew, Boog. (He turned 2 in August.) We started out by placing him on the potty as soon as he woke up this morning. He screamed bloody murder and wouldn't do anything. As soon as we put the pull-up on him...he peed. Then we asked him every 30 minutes if he wanted to go pee-pee. He said no. Then just before naptime we took him again and he screamed bloody-murder again. It was definitely naptime. Then about an hour ago, my sister tried for 30 minutes to get him to pee-pee in the "big-boy potty" again and he wouldn't go. Less than a minute after he got off the potty he ran to the couch, naked and peed on it....

I asked him if he went pee-pee in the potty and he said, "No...I pee-pee" and then he pointed at the couch. SMH....

Any ideas on how to potty-train a two-year old? {Read as: Any ideas that work to potty-train a very stubborn two-year-old?}

LOL. I hope everyone is having a great week! Tomorrow is December!!!!

For more Random Thoughts...head on over to The Un-Mom and join in!

Love,
The Boog's Aunt "Bit-Bit"

Plans gone awry: Update

Note: All posts this week are scheduled due to the mass load of laundry and tasks I have yet to finish...

Tuesday was a busy, busy day. I had so many errands to run, I never thought I'd finish. As I posted last Friday, my car had to be taken to the shop to find out why exactly, Wally World couldn't do my oil change. 

So this morning, bright and early, Mom followed me down to drop my car off. I went in, told the guy my supposed problem and left him the key. Took all of 3 minutes. 

We left there and headed to The Pinnacle. I had to pick up an order that the Hubby placed for me. I got there and tried on the intimate apparel and they were...not what I consider...me. So, I tried on LOTS of different items and finally settled on a few of them. After we left that store, Mom and went to Claire's and I got some accessories to wear with my outfit for tomorrow. 

Then we had to go to Mom's eye-doctor appointment. They checked the pressure in her eyes and it was still high, so they wanted to run some more tests. Unfortunately, we had already set up a lunch date with Suzette (a fellow army wife) for 1:15 so they had to cancel the tests and set up a new appointment for Mom. 

Of course, after we left there, we met up with Suzette and had an awesome lunch at Chick-fil-A. It was so yummy! We talked for over an hour. I'm surprised we even finished eating! 

Then we went over to the shopping center and I got my hair cut and eyebrows waxed. Lemme tell you...that was PAINFUL! But completely necessary! HA! 

And, because no outfit is complete without the perfect pair of shoes, we went to Kohl's. I found the cutest Mudd shoes! They were only $9.99! I saved $40! What do you think?

After we finally left there, I called to check on my car since no one had called me yet. The guy who answered was surprised when I told him that no one had called. He then told me that there was absolutely no problem with my oil pan or the plug. There was no reason Wally World should have declined to change my oil. All it needed was a proper mechanic apparently. He did replace the gasket while he was at it. 

Lesson learned: Don't go to Wally World to have your oil changed. 

We had a great day, but it was VERY exhausting. So glad I got all that accomplished though. :)

Hope everyone is having a great Thursday!

Plans gone awry...

Tuesday Mom and I took my car to Wally World to get the oil changed...after waiting about 45 minutes, they tell me that they can't do the oil change because they can't get my plug out. I asked why and they said either the plug or the pan was stripped. I asked if it at least had oil in it and they guy told me it was full. So I drove all over the place shopping with Mom and then when I got home, a light on the dash came on telling me I had "Low Engine Oil Level". I told Mom about it and she said to check it in the morning when it cooled off. So yesterday, I did just that and there was hardly any oil in it at all. I then called Wally World and told them I had no oil in my car. They told me they had to call me back.
So she and I went to do the laundry. 

When they finally called me back, I missed the call. The manager of the TLE left a message for me to return his call ASAP. So I did. The lady that answered told me that he had gone to lunch. Seriously? You call me and then 2 minutes later, you go to lunch? How unprofessional. The lady told me that she had been filled in on the issue. She then told me that my oil change was declined because I had an oil leak when my vehicle was brought in. I told her that, NO...I didn't. It's impossible that I had an oil leak. There's NO OIL in my driveway! I've had the car since May and I'm positive that the oil would have leaked out before now. She told me to bring my car back down there today (Thursday) and they'd take a look at it. Ohhhhh-Kay...

I had already made plans to go to Huntsville to see two of my friends. I had to message them back and let them know I wasn't coming because I had a car problem. I honestly thought my car problems would be over now that I wasn't driving the '88 Toyota Camry anymore...but lo and behold...

So, I took my car to Wally World and a guy that I went to school with is apparently one of the managers or something...He looked at my car and told me that I did NOT have an oil leak, but the plug wouldn't come out and that I probably just needed a new plug or worst case, my drain hole re-tapped. He told me it would be safe to drive but I still needed to get it taken care of ASAP since I did NEED the oil change. Hence my reason for taking it to get changed in the first place... 

So instead of getting to hang out with friends Thursday and Friday, I have to deal with my car. I'm going tomorrow to have my car looked at by a respectable mechanic that is nearby. Thankfully I'm not having to pay towing charges since my car is ok to drive for a little while longer. 

On a more positive note; I was contacted yesterday (Wednesday) by a high school friend, Audrey who is now a really awesome photographer. She wanted to do some pictures in our Hometown and asked if my sister would be willing to let her photograph The Boog. Of course, Lou-Lou said yes. Then Audrey told me that unfortunately, she would only be free on Thursday. I was like, Oh NO! What a great time for my car to be messed up. I had to tell her it would depend on what was said about my car as to whether or not I could bring him. Thank God they told me it was ok to drive. Because we had a blast! I'll tell you all about it in the next post! :)

Update: I called the place that I was supposed to take my car to and told them the problem my car has. They told me that they probably wouldn't be able to get my car in until Monday or Tuesday...good grief.