Earthquakes and busy times

So this past week has been jammed packed, complete with a St.Paddy's day feast, Texas Breakfast I hosted here at the house, Cooking club, game night-again here, baby shower, basketball awards and girl scouts.  The family has been going since Wed.  and Alan and I have had a time of it.  Not only have I been too occupied getting the house clean and cooking my ass off, I managed to forget to call my mom on her birthday.  I have been really sucking on the family front...My apologies family..

We'll begin the story on Wed. I wanted to have our traditional  St. Patrick's day meal. Potato pancakes, smoked sausage and green applesauce.  I decided we needed to share our tradtion with friends, so Alan and I invited the hospital crew over to eat with us.  Just a side note here: the year I married Alan I changed the traditional potato pancakes for zucchini pancakes, it was a decilious change.  Since then the kids, Alan and I have foregone the potato for zucchini.  But this year I thought I would offer both.  That and I wanted to make enough for my cooking club on Friday.  For all of you who have made potato pancakes, you know that although making the pancakes is easy standing there and cooking then is a whole other ball of wax.  It takes forever!!  Anyway, our friends loved our meal and all was good. 

On to Thursday. I offered to host a Texas Breakfast for my girlfriends.  I have been craving biscuits and gravy and I have two or three Texan friends that have been as well.  So I had a big ole Texas breakfast, it was so nice to just sit around and gab Thurs morning with my girls, but still a bit stressful considering I had to clean and cook all over again.

Then on Friday I had cooking club, but I also had to make a diaper cake.  I offered to make a diaper cake for my girlfriend Stacy's baby shower.  I also offered to make the cake, so I baked the cake Friday night after I got back from the cooking club soriee and then finally hit the sack.  

So Saturday..The BIG day!!  First and foremost we had a basketball game to go to.  The plant nursery was open as well, so we hit the nursery first to get our free plant ( You can't buy plants here like you can in the US.  There is no Lowes or Walmart to run to and get a house plant and the NEX doesn't sell any, so PWD-pblic works dept- has a nursery set up and is open every other Sat.  Anyone can come and take away ONE plant for free) and then off to the game.  I of course had to leave the boys to play the game while the girls and I ran to the NEX to get more supplies for my baby shower cake I promised to make. Once Adam's game was over we headed back home to hit the kitchen.  Mind you the house is now a big mess and the dishes are piled high.  I had no desire to wash dishes for the like 10,000th time and Alan, well Alan was busy.  Anyway between Alan and I, we got the kitchen cleaned and I started on the cake.  Now I am not a baker.  I hate baking in general, but cooking, that is my thing.  Alas, I was having trouble getting started on the cake so my amazing husband stepped up and took over for me.  He made the icing-his delectable butter cream- and iced the darn cake for me.  Beautiful I tell you.  Another side note here- I am PMSing, so Lord knows decorating the cake for me was a challenge for poor Alan.  But he did a great job.... Now I am sure you are wondering why I was having trouble getting started on a cake I promised.  Well, as I was finished making the raspberry mousse filling I felt a vibration under my feet.  We live off a main road that runs to the prison so I thought for a second it was a large truck.  But the vibration continued and started to get stronger, for a spilt second I thought it was thunder.  It sounded like thunder, but the vibration turned from a vibration to shaking and A LOT OF IT!! Mind you by the time I realized we were having an earthquake, a mere seconds, the house was really being shaken.  I hollered at Madie who was in the kitchen with me to come get in the door way with me, Alan had already gotten Adam under the table and was already on his way down from upstairs with a sleeping Maegan.  The shaking continued.  It lasted for a good minute or two.  Like I said enough time for all of earthquake virgins to understand we were feeling an earthquake and for Alan to get upstairs and back down with Maegan.  He even got her under the table a good thirty seconds before the shaking quit.  It was so freakin' scary.  All I kept thinking was Thank God we have good contruction...Madie and I had to have a good long cry.  She from fright and my from both fright and adrenaline.  It was amazing, frightening and exhilirating all at the same time.  A few minutes after the first quake we got a few aftershocks that didn't last long at all.  So we got back to making and decorating the cake, when BAMMM we got hit again.  This time, none  of us panicked, we got to the doorway and under the table and it was over.  Mind you by this time Madie and I are beyond frazzled and the rest of my family, well they were great of course.  The boys were excited and Maegan was indifferent.  After a good thirty minutes of nothing more Madie and I ran to the store to get yet more crap I forgot.  Apparently on our way there we had yet another earthquake...Alan got on the Geological Society web page.  Apparently we live on a fault line.  The same fault as Haiti! The epicenter of the quake was about thirty miles away in Guantanamo Bay City...That first quake was a 5.6, the second was a 4 somthing and the last one Madie and I didn't feel because we were driving was 5.2.  Yeah I was prepared for hurricanes, not too worried about those in fact, we have hurricane proof housing and there are caves we can evacuate to if it is a big hurricane.  But earthquakes...had no clue.  No way to describe the feeling of having the very ground beneath you move. Other worldly.  I have a whole new respect for Californians and anyone else who lives with this all the time.  It was very unnerving...

So the rest of Saturday Madie was on gaurd.  If she heard any sort of deep bass noise she would get all glassy eyed and turn toward us to see if we needed to take shelter.  However, by Saturday night she seemed better and we sent the kids to bed before all our hospital friends came to play games.  I made fried avacados, something I had at our cooking night, and they were a huge hit...a good time was had by all.  So off to bed Alan and I go, only to be awakened at 3 am by Maegan needing water.  She went back to bed, only to wake again at 4:30 and get in bed with us.  Needless to say I couldn't go back to sleep.  I was up until 6 and was all kinds of willing to NOT go to church for the first time since getting to the island when Alan reminded me he had to be at work at 8:30..then as I am drifiting back off to sleep, now I am pissed mind you, woodpeckers started pecking our roof.  It started with one of the little bastards, then two more joined in.  I figured that must be God telling me that I had to go to church and to get my lazy butt out of bed.  So off to work we sent Alan, then off to church.  I dropped the kids at CCD and then ran to the store once more for one more blooming thing for the shower, ran to the house to get both the shower cake and the diaper cake, ran to the Bayview resturant to set up for the shower and drop off the cakes, and then back to the church to get the kids.  I got the kids, got to the shower, was incharge of all the games, and got all the presents taken care of and boxed up.  Then I got the kids together, and Alan who walked from the hospital to the resturant, and we headed home to change clothes and get ready for Adam's basketball awards.  Once we got home he decided to forgo the awards, which is when I should have had a nap, but alas I didn't. I had took Madie to girl scouts to make sea glass jewlery.  Then I was back home to get dinner ready.  But Alan and I decided to have a quick "crap" run and get a movie, and he had to go back to work once more.  So I dropped him off, went to the movie store only to find out I had no wallet and while I was trying to remember when I had last had it, Adam started getting upset and apologizing.  He said he had it at the shower, and he left it on the table.  I then got everyone back in the car and went to the resturant, mind you they aren't open past 2pm, it was about 4:15, but the officer's bar is open at 4:30, which is in the same building.  So after spending twenty minutes trying to find someone who had worked the lunch shift I left, sans wallet.  We went back to the hospital to get Alan and tell him about the wayward wallet and finish our treck.  Truth be told I was exhausted and pissed by this time.  Exhausted, anemic- I get that way around that time of the month, and PMSing.  I was a pleasant person I tell you...Anyway we got back home, ate and I headed to bed.  Yep I was asleep by 6.  I was semi-aware of the kids and Alan getting ready for bed and all that but quickly fell into lala land.  Only to be ripped out of sleep at midnight by a miserable Maegan.  Her "gina" was hurting her.  And once again I got her in bed and couldn't fall back asleep.  So I was up until 3.  I got back in bed and was almost asleep when Maegan got up once again.  She was whimpering, but went potty and seemed fine.  Then at 5:15 I heard her whimpering again and sent Alan who was up to get her.  Apparently she was having none of him and stayed in her bed.  While he showered I hollered at her and she came into bed.  She was burning up with a fever and she croaked her throat hurt.  ARG!!!

So the day has begun.  I gave Maegan some Motrin, sent Alan to work with the car, got the kids on the bus this morning and have called all my girlfiends to tell them that I was not going to make it snorkeling this morning.  Now of course the Mortin has kicked in.  Maegan has had, count them, TWO pancake and sausages on a stick, and is dancing around to Sid the Science Kid.  She has also come in and asked me to help her put a band-aid on a scratch on her nostril.  "Do I look wierd Mom?" 

"Umm yep you do!"

A shrug of her shoulders, a quick little jig and "who cares? You think I am beautiful huh!"

Yes I do.

So now you are caught up with what I did just this week.  It has been a long one.  I am hoping to hit the gym at 6 tomorrow morning.  My girlfirend Terie teaches total body conditioning on Tues and Thurs.  I went Tuesday past and felt sore all week, but it was a great workout.  Hell I even ran.  I haven't run in a good ten to fifteen years....other than that, I am going to work on getting my bottles ready for the craft fair in April and I have crafts I want to get done BEFORE the end of April so that I have all my gifts ready for when I come home...

Know that I love you all and think of you constantly~

bird crap

Yep, I said bird crap....Well really I want to call it what it really is, but I'm trying to keep this entry somewhere under the PG rating....

Okay so bird crap is what happens when you don't roll up your windows at night.  That's right my friends!  This morning the whole family went out to the car to go to work and school when low and behold our car had become a roosting spot for birds overnight....

Imagine if you will this scene: the kids and I are in a rush to get to school and of course we are waiting on Alan...so the kids and I walked up to the car oblivious of the chaos we are about to be a part of.  As we approach the doors we hear flap, flap, FLAP!  Birds!!  I swear there were like 6,000 freakin icky yucky birds in our car.  Their wings were a going and they were squawking, although not as loud as the Chronister's...the darn birds had a hell of a time getting out of the car, and by the time they did we were all in hysterics.  Madie who says she loves animals but in reality is scared to death of them, Maegan who thinks all animals were put on the earth just for her and Adam who wants to disect the damn things to see how they work.  And then you have me.  I have seen the Hitchcock great The Birds, and I tell you it scared the hell out of me.  Complete with nightmares and all....I HATE BIRDS.  I do.  It is that simple...anyway, you can imagine all of us screeching, the 20,000 birds screeching...and the neighborhood watching. 

Yep...the kids waiting for the bus across the street, the moms waiting for the kids to diappear and Alan.  He walked out of the house just as the last bird took flight.  Once the comotion and hysterics ended the street started laughing.  First the punk kindergarten and high school kids waiting across the street started giggling and then our neighbor lady starting gawfing and then, the damn little traitors, my children.  YES MY CHILDREN started cackling.   I wasn't ready to laugh.  I wanted to get a gun and shoot first the birds, then the neighbors and finally my children, who laughed all the way to school. 

I did finally get a good laugh out of the whole thing when we got to school and both Madie and Adam had bird crap on their bums...Yes, it was a great day, oooh and the bird poop...EVERYWHERE..we must of scared it out of the roosting birds.  How in the world do you get bird poop out of upholstery???

Hoe your days are free of birds and their poop.  I send you all my love....

Revelation

First and foremost, we can have visitors again...wait I think. Well they lifted the leave and liberty ban at any rate, so Alan can leave the island come May.  Now all we have to hope and pray for is that the command lets him take a full month off....Pray people, pray.  The man hasn't had a day off since we got here, he NEEDS to be able to take a break....

Secondly.  I was sitting here blowing my very stuffy nose for like the trillionth time reading Facebook.  I am looking at a friends status that says she is celebrating her son's ten birthday and am blown away.  My thoughts:  Good Lord, TEN...Geeze I thought she was my age, that would mean she would have to be like a teenager when she had him.  Hummm let's see, 33-10 is what 23..23!!!  WHAT THE $#%^ ??  23, that isn't young.  Crap, I have an eight year old...When the hell did this happen.  She's eight!!

Then I channeled Joey Trib from "Friends,"- Why God WHY???  Aging sucks...I am just now getting into the body I wished I had had in High School and yet, well wait a minute...I'm not that old.  I mean hell I still have a good 50-60 years left right?  So really I am still a newbie...Ahhh see all's good in the world again...

And that my friends is a look into the crazy that is Monica...I send you all my love

no new pictures

My Mom...So Llaurel calls me and asks if I had talked to mom recently.  I had just gotten off the phone, but we hadn't talked about anything in particular.  So Llaurel tells me this:  Apparently Randy had seen a picture of me posted on Facebook and emailed it to mom.  Mom asked him why in the hell he was emailing her pictures of random women.  At which point he told her it was me.  She couldn't believe it.  Mind you, I have cut and permed my hair and the weight loss is still going strong, so I don't blame her for not realizing it was me. 

Now I tell you this story for one reason only.  For those of you who will be seeing me come May, well I don't want you to see me BEFORE then.  So all pictures will be stopped, at least as much as I can.  I want a big reveal and so getting sneak peaks of me aren't allowed.  Granted that means I have to get my friends to play along with me, but they are good sports so this should work. 

So things here aren't nearly as crazy as they were before I quit working at the Treasure shop.  I have taken to watching girlfriends kids, which is nice since Maegan loves playing with the kids.  And I have a big craft fair this Sunday that I will be participating in.  I will be selling bottles.  Bottles are big here, and no one sells them.  Esentially, we are slowly cleaning up the litter left behind in the 30's.  The bottles are so cool.  Most of them have Cuba stamped somewhere on them, which is huge here.  I was going to sell salsa as well, but just found out that I need a special permit for that and I haven't gotten that yet.  Oops.  So I will sell salsa at the next craft fair in April.  Until then, it will be bottles. 

Okay quick news today and I never blogged about the kids.  Crud...well I am late for a date so that will have to be next time.  Until then, I send you all my love....-Monica

three weeks...good Lord

I have a ton to tell you.  But in order to catch up on all the happenings, I will have to go back in time.  I will try to do a quick recap...well you know with me, I have no clue how to make it quick...
Okay the last time I wrote, lets see...Devin Lewis had come to visit and Llaurel was giving all her babysitting props to Chy...
Okay so the last week of Jan I left the island and headed to the states.  I was sweating it I tell you.  As I am sure you all know by now the DC area was hit by snow-magedon and snow-pocolipse and my personal favorite, snow-gasim.  Well I flew into BWI on the tail end of one such storm and subsequently was snowed in for two days.  But lucky me I got to hang with Spencer, Jen and Eric.  It was great.  Spence took me to a fantastic play called "I am my own wife" and then we  had a great dinner with Jen and Eric. The following day I encouraged Spence to call in sick and we headed out to explore the white city.  I promised the kids pictures of all the great sites in DC in the snow.  So Spencer took me to the top of the Washington Monument and I got pics of all the sites, which freed up our after noon at which point we had lunch at the Tombs and a great Hot Cocoa from some little chocolate spot.  It was a great few days.  I missed all my kids and Alan somethin' fierce, but I did find it in me to enjoy my first time alone since being pregers with Madie.
After all that fun with Spencer I was finally able to head to VaBeach and my Peyton.  It was amazing driving in the snow and just going fast.  It took me a good hour to get brave enough to hit 60mph and I never passed anyone that first hour.  I finally got my driving nerves back and was able to actually hit the speed limit and pass people by the time I hit Richmond. 
Once in VaBeach I played and played.  Peyton and I hit every store imaginable.  I went to Victoria's Secret for the first time in my life and bought myself a few bras.  Then Peyton hit and made me go to her bra fitting lady at Dillard's.  Can I tell you, this woman rocked.  I think Vic's Secret is really all about selling their bras, not really getting you into the right size.  The lady at Dillard's?  Holy Moses, she got my girls up and sitting pretty.  I am so happy...First time in my life that I can remember being in a, get this, 34....Yep that is right, a 34.  Who would have imagined??  Not me that is for sure.  But I look a thousand times better.  So the other bras went back to Vic's Secret.  Then I shopped for my Gtmo family.  I had a long old list with everything from breast pumps to bingo games.  I am telling you I was running around VaBeach everyday.  I bought things for the kids that we have been living without for the last six months.  I got Adam his yogurt and butter.  Bought him donuts and ceral bars.  For Alan and the girls I bought Chipotle, Bojangles and Dunkin' Donuts.  I am telling you, I went to VaBeach with two very large empty suitcases and a small carry on suitcase.  I left with 184 lbs of new crap and to top it off, I had to send myself two boxes weighing in over 70lbs together.  But I think our family as well as my Gtmo family is set for the forseeable future.
Then it was time to come home.  I was scheduled to leave out of BWI on Sat the 6th of Feb.  Alas that was when the next wave of snow hit DC and I was stranded in VaBeach.  So I made the most of it, of course hanging with Peyton and her family was no big sacrifice I tell you.  She cooked for me, let me rent an ass load of movies and even indulged me by going to the movies with me.  I had a great snow in.  Then on Tuesday the 9th I finally boarded a plane out of Norfolk headed to Gtmo.  I got on the plane with sweat pants, two jackets and gloves.  I stayed dressed like that and added two blankets until we flew over the Bahamas.  I then shed my sweat pants for a skirt, took off the gloves and packed up my jackets.  By the time I hit the island I was still freezing, but looking forward to the sun.  I made Alan ride on the top of the ferry, no shade mind you, and by the time the ferry was docked on the winward side I had thawed out.  I could feel my toes for the first time in 10 days.  It was glorious being back in my Caribbean Home.  Have I mentioned I love GTMO??
And now that I am home I have been so busy.  I would like to say I have been busy doing lots of productive things, but I haven't.  Nope I have been playing with the kids, and hanging with my peeps.  Sat night I was out until 2am with girlfriends hanging and visiting.  Well we did have a go at a bounce house.  Nothing like six grown women trying to jump in a bounce house at midnight.  Can you say alcohol much? 
And yesterday our good friends Matthew and Monique Ford renewed their wedding vows.  It was so beautiful and touching.  We then went to the reception at Rick's Lounge, complete with kids- can you imagine going to a bar with kids in the states? and then our hospital friends came over and played games until midnight.  Whew
Tonight my handsome husband has a date planned for me, a surprise. And then the week starts all over for us. 

And now I sit here, contemplating life, and I realize that I am one blessed woman.  I have a husband I love and and adore, kids that are amazing, and friends that love me.  Not to mention my families, and well, I am a bit swooshy right this minute.
My next blog will be all about my amazing children.  I have things to say about them.  Until then I send you all my love
PS sorry about all the mispellings, my spell check button is missing and I can't find it on my blog page.  Until I figure this out, you will have to tolerate all my mistakes..

My Llaurel

I just read Llaurel's blog so for those of you who don't read hers, please bear with me.  In fact you can just ignore this blog...Now for the rest of you. 

First and foremost..Llaurel made mention of Chy and her great babysitting rule of cleaning up the house before the parents come.  It results in ooows and aaahs from the parents, more money AND they call you back...I, me, Monica, I taught Chy that rule.  Of course Chy had much more sucess of it.  And I love the fact that I taught some one something that they thought was important enough to pass along.

As for Llaurel and her great story...I really could see you making outfit choices and telling that little Whataburger man that you would come back.  I can hear your voice and the excitment you must have exuded.  I miss you too Llaurel.  And I miss fighting with Jess, getting frustrated with Chy and how long it takes to tell a story, rolling my eyes at Llaurel and her dramatic ways, laughing at mom and dad, and playing games.  I MISS YOU ALL SO FREAKIN MUCH!!
Soon my family.  I will see you soon

Our First US Visitor and other info

So I am running around in my tank and flannel pj bottoms cleaning this morning.  Now mind you, I have no new clothes, well not many at any rate, and so my tank is 20Xs too big for me and body parts aren't covered very well.  First to come to our door.  My girlfriend Gail came to drop her daughter Rachel off.  I had invited her mind you, but completely forgot as I finally had enough time and energy to clean.  I am sure Gail got an eye full, but hey we are talking about one of my island peeps and well we share EVERYTHING, so it wasn't that big a deal. 

Then as I am scrubbing our disgusting toilet when I hear Alan cusing as his pager goes off.  A few minutes later, and I am still scrubbing the awful toilet, I hear Alan giving directions to our house to someone.  I am thinking it must be the other pharmacists they just flew in to help with the Haiti relief.  Then Alan comes in and says Devin Lewis is here and on his way over....DEVIN??  As in Devin?  I ask.  After Alan laughs at me and says yes I go into panic mode.  Shoot I have no clothes on, the downstairs isn't very pretty, yikes...So I do a mad dash for the clothes and the broom.  And of course the house is fine and in comes Devin.  He is here are part of a flight crew that is flying stuff into Haiti every day.  It was so nice to sit and talk to him and see him.  I miss the Lewis Family, such good friends....At any rate he stayed for about an hour and then told us to come see him on the Leeward side sometime this week.  He said if we go later in the day when his flights are taking off we'll get to see LOTS!  Yippee.  So hopefully we'll get to go over and see the relief effort we are doing here in Gtmo.  I was just so happy to see one of our off island friends, and having Devin be our first visitor was great.

Now for me and my plans.  I am supposed to be going to VA this week coming up.  Maegan is staying here with Gail and I am nervous as can be.  Of course I still don't know when I will be leaving.  The hospital is in charge of getting me on a flight and making my appointments and that is taking too long or something.  Anyway I will be sure to let you all know when I am headed to the US.

So other than our visitor we are having friends over tonight to make friendship bread and have dinner with us.  Of course I am sure we will fit a game in there as well.  Then tomorrow we will finish our aborted cleaning upstairs and Alan has to fix our lawn mower.  I hired two local boys to mow our lawn for a whole $16 instead of the $60 the Filipinos wanted to charge me...So now I will have a nicer mowed lawn.  Lets see what else?  Oh on Monday night Treasures and Trivia is hosting a wine and cheese night to bring in all our memembers to shop.  That and the board wants it to be my "thank you" night.  Then I may be leaving on Tuesday.  If I don't then back to work on Wed and all that jazz.

Nothing new with the kids.  It is back to being pretty dang hot outside, today it is 95, and so even though Adam has been outside ALL afternoon, he is now here in the house complaining that he is bored.  Madie and Rachel are playing PayDay and Maegan is moping and sweeping with her cleaning stuff from Santa.  I am about to go check my roast, mop my kitchen and make the kids clean up their crafts that they did earlier.  Good times...I hope your lives are as fun packed as mine, I send you my love