Day 198

SO by my calculations we are just about halfway...but that is only based on the 400 days total...which we are hoping is actually not as long as its going to be for real. Travis says halloween, so that would make it roughly 171 days to go...either way you look at it we are close enough to the halfway point and its about bloody time my boy gets home for some well deserved R&R! Unfortunately he will miss Ainslea's birthday by a few days, but we've got enough fun filled activities between this weekend, next weekend, and his arrival to keep her occupied.

I can't apologize for my lack of posts, except to say that its been crazy busy. I've been reminded by the constant "Happy Mother's Day" wishes i've had over the past 24 hours that its really not all that exciting in my household these days. Mother's day was just like any other day. Waking up at 715 on a sunday, making my own coffee, and cleaning up spilt cheerios with milk after Lorelei came running in saying..."mama mama cereal mess" was pretty much the same day (not always the same object to be cleaned up) as most of the past 198 days of my life. SO while I wish all the mother's out there a day to be appreciated, and a hallmark card to be mailed to, its not as glamourous of a day for the rest of us! I've decided I'm going to start my own line of greeting cards geared towards the military families out there. "Happy Temporary Single Mother, cuz the military has taken my husband away, Day"

Updates: Ainslea has lost a total of 6 teeth and looks like the opposite of a vampire. She is playing spring soccer and getting ready for her Hannah Montana Birthday party this weekend. Lorelei has decided on her own volition to start potty training..and while the timing hasn't quite been perfected she knows the drill and is very pleased with herself whether or not it is a successful mission. We are getting ready for travis's return and that means many projects to quickly finish up in the 2 weeks remaining...to make the house look like he never left (insert laugh, chuckle or guffaw here). Also get the water heater replaced as we discovered last week that its been leaking for god knows how long!!! I knew there would be some sort of major homeowner's decision i would need to be making this deployment! I'm also choosing siding for our house, which has turned into a way bigger project than expected, as the original look i was going for was going to cost 3x as much and require 3 x more maintenance...so have been researching different options.

All in all a good start to spring, friends are popping out of their hibernation, real estate seems to be picking up (for me anyway) and work is getting busier with my recent promotion and new schedule pending July 1 start of new fiscal year. Hope all is well with everyone (my 1 follower) and i'll do my best to post more often (not guaranteeing daily)
Cheers!