Gobble Gobble

The Big Feast is over and we are now left with the remains of a 28 pound turkey. I am wondering how many different ways I can serve it! Our meal yesterday was fabulous, if I do say so myself! As usual, Mark did the turkey on the grill as he has done for the past ten years. It turned out WONDERFUL as you can see, and yes, it tasted as good as it looks!

Accompanying this wonderful bird were sugared baby carrots, cinnamon yams, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, fresh cranberry sauce (yes, I made it but not from cranberries we got at the bogs...although I WAS hoping to be able to do that!), homemade stuffing ( I had to laugh our first Thanksgiving when I asked Mark what kind of stuffing he liked and he said "Stovetop". What I MEANT was oyster? Mushroom? Walnut? lol...He's come a long way!)...followed by pumpkin pie, Gramma Ruths famous Coconut cream pie and chocolate mousse in chocolate cups! It was truly a feast...shared with our little family and one of the single sailors from Marks command.. After we feasted and feasted, we sat around and played the card game "Phase Ten" and attempted to figure out our new Tivo! It is awesome....although I can see the kids have grasped how to use it light years ahead of me! haha...

So now it's off to get our Christmas Tree! YAY!!!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!
Hugs
Jaye

I am Thankful for.....

1. My health. I don't take it for granted anymore. I had a cancer scare a few years ago and I saw how precarious our lives really are.

2. I am loved unconditionally. There is no explanation needed..

3. My children are all healthy...and happy.

4. Mark and I both have jobs. We can pay our bills, our mortgage, put food on the table, gas in our cars. In this economy, that is HUGE.

5. I have a brother who has walked through the fire with me. And he is by my side to this day.

6. I went the first 30 odd years of my life with 'parents' but no "Mom" or "Dad". Now I have both.

7. My walk with God is guilt free now. I walk with Him out of love, not fear. But that is going to be a topic of another blog....hang on to your seats for that one! :)

8. I have a group of friends that are always there for me. Circling the wagons is something they do best.

9. My husband, my Navy husband, is home for the holidays...YAY.


Happy Thanksgiving everyone.....

Gobble Gobble

Jaye

He's HOME!!!!

You read that right! Mark is home again! YAY!! He was out to sea for only six weeks this time...(I know..most of you are saying ONLY six weeks??? but I am used to him being gone for MONTHS remember!)..he was greatly missed...and it is nice to have him around the house again. I am not even kvetching about his side of the bed looking like a tornado hit it with all his crap all over the place...it means he is home...my bedroom DOES vaguely smell of Amene (the chemical in the air on the sub that is used to 'scrub' the air clean) but that too means he is home....

He will be home for the holidays this year which will make them extra special! He will be gone a very very long time next year, so we are treasuring every second we have with him...Thanksgiving is in a little over a week, and we are opening up our home to single sailors in his command. I hate to think of them alone on the Holidays! We'll do the same thing at Christmas as well...and speaking of Christmas, if Thanksgiving is only a week and a half away, that means I am only a week and a half away from getting our TREE!!! YES!!! For those of you who don't already know, I am NUTS..INSANE...IN LOVE WITH Christmas! I collect snowmen..and have at last count, over 200! They all go up around the house...and my tree will be up..and the cookies will be made..and the season begins!! And best of all, my honey will be home! :)

Hugs to all,
Jaye

I LOVE this comic strip!

In case you haven't been reading the 'Pearls Before Swine' comic strip on a daily basis (why not may I ask?), I have submitted todays strip as a perfect example of why you SHOULD read it! This is too funny...and how I feel all the time about stupid people who need to be told such things as 'when you order coffee at McDonalds don't sue them if it's HOT...coffee is SUPPOSED to be hot, unless you order an Iced coffee and then it's supposed to be COLD....DUH"...

Hope you got as much of a chuckle out of this as I did!

Hugs
Jaye

Marriage, Divorce.....sadness....

There is no doubt that marriage is hard work. It takes effort and time and commitment. It takes compromise and honesty. You need to work hard and play harder. Laugh and joke. And your good days should outweigh the bad days.

Sadly, this doesn't always happen. This week, I've had two couples close to us have their marriages either fall apart or begin to fall apart. Actually, one apparently started falling apart awhile ago, but I found out about it this week. Not sure if it's beyond repair..or if the parties involved even care anymore. I think there is more of a 'me' mindset going on and not enough 'we'. But we shall see.....at least I am geographically removed from it so it's not as hard to see.

The other couple on the other hand live four minutes away and are very very very dear friends of Mark and I. We've known them as long as we've lived here. He served with Mark on the Alabama, our kids are the same ages (ok..our two youngest kids are the same ages..they aren't crazy enough to have five...thankfully!), and her and I have become fast friends over the past years...we were 'patrol buddies' when our husbands were on the same submarine, which meant dinners at each others houses, coffee breaks at starbucks..movies with the kids on base. When the guys were home, we'd spend time at each others homes...grilling out..having bon fires.

They are great people. Still are actually. And I love them both very much. I suppose that is why I am feeling so very powerless as I watch their marriage..that has been shaky for awhile, just completely fall apart this week. I hope it can be saved. And I think THEY do to...only they each want it on their own terms.

I also find it deeply saddening. I have told my friend I WON'T choose sides. But I know that if this goes the way it is looking, that the 'friendship' as couples is going to change...out of necessity of course. We'll have HIM over and then HER over....I worry about their kids. I worry about the pain each of them is going through right now.

One of the hardest things is that I just want to curl up in Marks arms and feel sad for our friends. But he is out to sea. So I am sad alone. And maybe that is why I feel this so deeply. I remember the feelings of sadness and 'aloneness' I felt when I was going through this process. Unless you have been through it yourself, you cannot imagine the gut wrenching, soul changing emotions you feel. And I know my friend is going through all this right now. And I hurt for her. And I've cried for them both. And I keep the prayers going. And I keep hopeful. But mostly I am just sad this week....so very very sad.

Hugs to all of you,
Jaye

Halloween 2008

Halloween was absolutely perfect this year! It had rained for most of the day (after a completely dry week!) and so I thought 'ohhh snap, this won't be good'. However, by 4 o'clock that afternoon when I went to pick Paige up from school, it had not only stopped raining, but there was a rainbow in the sky! It didn't rain again until Saturday! And, it was just chilly enough that you knew it was 'fall' but warm enough that none of the kids had to wear coats....a perfect Halloween! I took the kids on base to Trick or Treat. It is very safe...security drives around as well as sending marines out walking around to keep things safe. The streets basically shut down for a few hours and so traffic is non existent. Everyone decorates their homes and gets into the 'spirit', and it gives all the kids a really great "Halloween experience". Paige wanted to be an Owl this year, and Ben a mummy. I got creative and actually MADE both costumes! YAY for me....



Paige..






Ben..





The two kids together!





It was a rough night of trick or treating!!





Paige was pooped too!!






Hope you all had a safe and Happy Halloween!

Hugs
Jaye

San Diego!!!

As previously posted, one of the 'perks' (and there are VERY FEW!) of Marks job is that he sometimes, occasionally, unexpectedly pulls into a port and we can manage to meet him there. Last weekend was one of those times, and Paige and Ben and I flew down to San Diego on Friday afternoon and flew home again on Monday morning. A VERY quick trip, but oh so fun and very relaxing. A very much needed break for us all! The weather was a perfectly balmy 72 degrees the whole time we were there, which made for great weather to sight see and hang out by the pool without being too hot or too cold. It was nice for Mark to be able to get out of the tin can for a few days too! :)



Here are Paige and Ben on the plane, excited to be going! They didn't know we were going until the afternoon before!



This was not a 'posed picture'. I turned around to move my stuff and turned back and here were both kids reading the emergency card! Too funny...I HAD to take a picture!





We have landed in San Diego!




Our first night in San Diego we went to the Mexican restaurant at the hotel. The BEST food ever!!




Ben thinks it's a hoot to take his own picture! He didn't do a bad job at all!






Paige took this picture of Mark and I. It was nice to be together again for awhile! I miss him so much when he is gone...






After dinner the kids wanted to swim of course! Our pool at night....it was lovely....





Here is a shot of our pool during the day...a nice tropical oasis!




The first ride Paige and I, then Mark and Paige went on when we got to SeaWorld! The Atlantis! Ben went on it at the end of the day and his face was PRICELESS!!





This is where the boats sail by after free falling down the waterfall you saw above. You get SOAKED if you stand there....Ben LOVED it!




And of course got SOAKED!





Paige and Mark on the river portion of the Atlantis ride...Paige is our fearless child..she LOVED it!



These were the dolphins outside the Atlantis ride...it was really a neat ride!






Paige outside the Manatee Rescue pavillion...






Of course, no trip to SeaWorld would be complete without seeing the Shamu show!!






One of the whales in the show...






All that walking makes you hungry. We went back to the same place we ate lunch at five years ago! The Shipwreck Cafe...37 bucks bought lunch, including drinks AND huge slices of CAKE!!! Not bad for a tourist spot!!





Last ride of the day..Ben finally decided to go on Atlantis! I told you his face was PRICELESS!! I asked him what his thought was as he reached the top of the first drop. He said "All I thought was Dear God, let me live"....hehehe





We spent the whole day Sunday just laying by the pool....it was so relaxing! We bought this 'bomb' ball for the kids. You can set it to 'sink' or 'float' mode..then set the timer to various times. Then toss it! They have to find it and turn off the timer before it goes off! You can even hear it underwater! They had a (pardon the pun!) ball with it!






Our little mermaid...






Kids in the pool...






There was an ice-cream vending machine by the pool...Ben indulged SEVERAL times!






After sitting by the pool all day we got dressed and headed into 'town' for a wonderful Greek meal...here is Ben climbing a tree at the hotel by our car...





Paige posing by our rental car prior to going out for Greek food...




The sunsets in San Diego are amazing...this was on our way to the Greek restaurant....



We had a marvelous time in San Diego! It is actually quite a cheap place to take a family...hotels..car rental..airfare...food...all very very reasonable...and just 'tropical' enough that you feel like you have really gone away somewhere far....we'd like to try to do this once a year if possible...not next year of course as my planned trip is to take the kids to WI for the month of August...but maybe 2010? Unless Mark gets a job in another state and we find another holiday spot of course! hahaha...

Hugs to all,
Jaye

Homecoming!

Sam and his girlfriend Dani went to the homecoming dance a few weeks ago. Now this is a big deal for a few reasons! 1) Sam has a GIRLFRIEND!! And she's NICE, and I LIKE HER! :) 2) Sam isn't big on 'social' events at school, but he went and had a GREAT time!

They looked very lovely as you can see, even colour co-ordinating their outfits! How cute is THAT?
Ok, I know, he's almost 18 and not my baby anymore, but I will still gush over him! He is so cute! He looks so much like his Dad it's almost eerie at times..and while I am not married to the man any more- THANK YOU GOD - there is no denying he is a very handsome man, so I am glad Sam inherited his looks! :)



Sam and Dani looking very purpley!






Sam wouldn't smile nicely for any of the pictures, so Dani tickled him and we got a GREAT smile!