What I did

Today I should have done a lot of things. I should have packed since I am leaving for Yuma in the morning. I should have changed the sheets on my bed, but I did not. Today I threw everything out the window and I went to base.

I went to base to say good bye to some of my marines that will be leaving soon. Today was my last chance. So we did what everyone would do in my shoes. We walked on the beach at sun set and sang we all live in a yellow submarine. I talked with the boy's, I hugged them and most of all I told then that I love them.

We all went to dinner and before we left I asked them if they would mind walking on the beach me when they got back. They said they would. I am going to hold them to that promise. As we were walking out I turned around and said "well boys I will see you in seven months". That was it. No tears.

Here I sit. sand on my feet. Jeans that are wet. Yet, I feel like crying. I can't cry. Rusty would say "that is what marines do, they go to war."

Can I say that I hate this war. I want it to end. I want to see all my boys stay here. I don't want to hear that they are cold, or hungry. I don't want to say my good byes. I don't want to have to write them letters.

I want them to walk through my door and say mom we are home. Just like they do every weekend. I want to smell bbg, and have my house filled with laughter.

I know that my time will come. Soon I will be able to do a happy dance because I will be making welcome home posters. Soon.

Tomorrow I am heading to Yuma. Rusty is going out there for work, so I am tagging along to help him out, and to spend a little more time with him. I must say that I fall in love with my husband more every day. I want to spend every waking moment with him.

Life is good, even if you are looking through the tear filled eyes.

Eco friendly friday old school LOL

So I have a baby in the house. I love having a baby in the house. There is just something about a baby that makes me happy. I love rocking them, feeding them and taking them for walks. I love babies. My baby is 14.

Alison, the baby, has been sick since she got here. Poor thing has an ear infection, a cold in her chest and in her eyes. It just breaks my heart. A few nights ago Alison was fussing, so I went over to the sofa to check on her, and she was running a fever. I told Dayana, the mom, to go get me two clean towels. Dayana just looks at me. I said "The baby is running a fever and we need to cool her down."

I cleaned out the kitchen sink, placed a towel in it and ran some cool water. So there is Alison just chilling in a sink with some cool water. By now I have an audience. Dayana, Amber and Nikki are all watching me. I told them to get me some Tylenol and some jack. They did as they were told.

Everyone is watching me as if I am doing something exciting. I gave the baby some Tylenol and I rubbed some Jack Daniels on the babies gums. My girls just laughed at me and Dayana was shocked at what I just did.

It was then that it hit me. I had turned into my mother and grandmother. They taught me every trick in the book. My grandmother would say "Your mother is still here and so are you, so sit down and shut up."

This week I showed Dayana so many "old school" things. How did we all survive without some of the modern stuff that babies have today? Teething gel? That was whatever whiskey my parents had on hand. Baby food? That was whatever could be mashed with a fork and given to us. Diaper cream? That was corn starch on our bottoms.

Yesterday Dayana and the baby were still congested so I draped our shower and I told Dayana to grab the baby, and that it was time for a steam bath. By the time they got out, they both were feeling good. There is nothing like a good old fashion steam. Once again I had turned into my mother and grandmother.

Is that such a bad thing? I hear all this stuff about saving our planet and how we should be very careful about what we buy, use, and do to our planet. I think we should all take a look back. I would love to be able to talk to my great grandmother and ask her how things were done in her generation.

We all live in a world of technology, and we have a ll the modern convinces that we could ever want, but are we really better off, or are people just putting products out there to trick us into thinking we need them. Yes, some of the stuff is safer and better, but not everything.

Maybe what we all need to do is take a look back, so that we can all move forward. Now if you will excuse me I am going to go give the baby a bath in the kitchen sink. Yep, no baby bath tub here.

the truth

I have been sitting back and watching Danaya and her husband go round after round. Yesterday was the final blow. This "man" called Danaya and put her in tears. Danaya could not handle it any more so she just handed me the phone. Game on.

I pick up the phone and said hello. Then I lost it. I chewed this marine out and I laid it all on the line for him. I told him that as of right now he has two charges that can be filed against him. According to the UCMJ... Uniform Code of Military Justice, that he can be charged with adultery, and non support of dependents. I told him that I had already called his Sergent major. I told this "marine" that he better go fill out the paper work to get his wife an i.d. card and get enrolled in tricare. This dumb ass opened his mouth and said "well you don't understand, I am getting ready to deploy." That sent me off again. What? I don't understand? I gave him an hour and half to get his ass in gear. All he had left to say was yes ma'am.

A few moments later Rusty called me. The gal that this guy is having an affair with called Rusty! LOL Rusty said "honey I am not sure what is going on, but if Kelli is on the war path I would get out of her way." Danaya asked me why she would call Rusty. I had to smile when I told her "because she knows that Rusty is the only one who could tell me to back off, but he did not."

The day goes on and this marine is calling us and giving us updates on everything that he is doing. He was missing some documents, so he ended up giving her some power of attorneys. I told him that he would drive the power of attorneys up to us. If he so much as lied to me or does not show up.... I was going to finish hanging him.

He showed up and he and Danaya talked for a while. When she got back in the car she was laughing. I just smiled and said "what"? She said "you are not going to believe this. He went in and confessed to non support of dependents and is waiting to be pulled off the roster to ship."

I could not stop laughing. This dumb ass actually confessed!

After dinner Danaya and I were sitting around and I just laughed. I said "do you realize we only told the truth and he is now eating out of our hands."

My life motto is "Ceasers wife once said be above reproach."

We are and he is screwed. Life is good.

Thanks to my past

I never saw this coming. A few weeks ago one of Nikki's friends asked me why I open my home to anyone. I simply said "entertain strangers for as much as you have known you have entertained an angle."

This week I opened my home up to one of the marines sisters. This gal is young, 22, and she is separated from her husband that is getting ready to deploy. They also have a very handi cap child.

My home is open, and I have been driving them around and I have really gotten to know this gal, and I have a feeling we are going to be good friends.

Yesterday I asked Danaya, the friend, and Amber if they wanted to go to the lake. Everyone said yes except Danaya said " How can I take the baby down to the lake, we can't get her all wet, because of her feeding tube." I just laughed. I ended up making the baby a chair... out of sand.... and I shaded her with an umbrella. We had a blast.

Later that night I told Rusty that I am glad that we had Ryan because I am now able to share all of my own experiences and help this mom. Never in a million years would I have guessed that my life with Ryan would be able to help someone else, but it has.

I have spent the last few days rocking the baby, sewing and just cleaning up around the house. I love having a baby in the house.

Rocking a baby is the perfect past time. Life is so good

say it isent so

I have been hearing it on the news, and people on facebook are talking. Could it be true that summer is coming to an end? We are suppose to hit triple digits again this weekend, and I can't wait. Are we heading for a cool down after that? It has been a little cooler here, and I have enjoyed it sum what, but I am do not ready for summer to be over with.

This weekend we are heading down to Coronado island to watch some old school stock car racing, and then we are heading over to see some of the ships. Rusty wants to see one of the new aircraft carriers and I want to see the hospital ship. I guess we will have to see what is open for tours.

Yesterday Ryan came home and told us that his new running shoes made him run real fast for track. I just giggled. I am so glad that he is doing something that he likes. I can't wait to go to his first race.

I had to go to walgreens yesterday and I noticed a sigh that said shingles shot. I just looked at Rusty and said "is that because we will now have a generation that never got chicken pox?"

I had the chicken pox. I had them everywhere. I even ran a super high fever, but I survived. My mom really pushed me to get the girls the new chicken pox shot. I did not want to get it for them because I figured they could get the chicken pox the same way I did. Not to mention I don't immunize. Well with enough pressure I ended up getting the girls the shot, and now they are saying that the shot is only good for ten years. So what happens when all of these children grow up and become adults and they don't get the shot?

My life must be perfect because I have a kitten sleeping on my lap.

Today I am going to try to get some carpets cleaned, and I still need to do a good scrub down on my bathroom sink area. I have tonight's dinner done, so I am thankful for that.

Yesterday I made some homemade dog food for our older dog. For the past few weeks we have been buying her canned food, and that was getting expensive, so I went back to making it. When we first got Butter he was very thin and malnourished, so I made food for him and he did really well on it. So I am hoping that our older dog will also do as well.

The advantages of making the dog food is that it is so much cheaper and I do not have all these extra cans that are going into my recycling. Now I need to get online and figure out how to make wet cat food.

Well, I hate to wake a sleeping kitten, but I have stuff that I need to get done, so I better get up and get moving.

Life is good.

It is working

So I have been trying to tone up a little so I can look good in that little red dress, well it is working. Last night I was sitting in bed rubbing lotion all over my body when I noticed that my arms had some shape to them! I got out of bed and went to the mirror. Yep, I finally have some shape. All I have been doing is eating less and swimming more. When I go to the lake I not only swim, but I also do some water aerobics, and it is finally paying off.

Yesterday Chris and I went back to Dana Point and played on the beach. I swore that I was not going to get wet, but that lasted all of 10 minutes before the waves called me in. Then we hit a few other beaches. I can't believe that we spent close to eight hours just playing on the beach.

By the time I got home last night my feet hurt. Note to self: buy some water shoes. I am just so happy to be getting out of the house more and doing what I love to do.

Yesterday my mom and I got into it about her coming out. I finally laid down the law about gcc and she was not happy. She also was not happy that I was not going to cook Christmas dinner and that I wanted to go surfing instead. Whatever you said you wanted to take the children to Disney, so if I want to go surf then I will.

This morning Amber confronted me and asked me if they were coming out. I said yes. Amber is so not happy. She said she does not mind if my mother comes out, but she does not to be around gcc. I guess Amber and gcc got into it a lot while Amber was out there this summer. HMMMM told you so. Amber said that she did not want to go to Disney.

I guess my mom does not get it. We live here, so we really don't care about all the tourist stuff. Oh well that is life.

I could not sleep last night, so I was up until about 2 a.m. which meant I did not get up until 10 this morning. It felt good to get some sleep, but I thought I would be way behind on my house work. I got most of it done and dinner is in the crock pot, so I must have kicked ass. Now the question is what should I do now?

It is kinda overcast today and rather cool for southern California. While it is nice I am so not ready for summer to be over. Maybe I will go swimming anyway. Who knows.

Life is good.

pictures from yesterday

Friday was awesome!

Yesterday was so laid back and yet so full of fun!

The girls and I swung in and picked up my girlfriend, and we headed south. So we get everything set up and I am standing there just staring at the ocean. Then it happened. I saw a fin, and then another fin, and another . Holy Crap the dolphins were in so close! Yep I got in the water and swam with the dolphins. It was amazing.

Nikki was standing on the beach yelling at me. I just looked at her and she kept pointing at her wrist. Man it was time to go. I was like a two year old being drug away from her favorite toy. So many waves so little time.

This afternoon we are heading over to the coast to see the tall ship festival. I have never been on one of those old three mast ships so it should be a good time. Note to self: grab one of the girls cameras. I am just looking forward to spending time with my family. It is not often that Rusty and I can find something that we both want to go do, so I will have a blast just walking around holding hands with my husband.

I have decided that I do want to do Thanksgiving this year. I just want to do any of it, so I am sending the girls off on an adventure. Nikki will be going to Vegas to help pack food baskets and Amber is going to go to San Francisco to see one of her uncles. I asked Chris if he wanted to go some place. He said that he would get back to me.

One of the female marines was in shock when I told her that I did not want to do Thanksgiving. So she suggested that we go to the shelter and take care of the animals. I think that would be a great idea. We can go take care of them and then maybe go to the ocean for a bit. Rusty said that he would grill some steaks. I think this sounds perfect.

Last night Rusty and I went to dinner and I told Rusty that I did not even want to do Christmas this year. A few years ago the children sucked the life right out of me and that was when I became a scrooge. So last year I made the children do all the decorating. This year they can do the same. I am thinking about going and getting four big bags and just throwing all their gifts in one big bag. Rusty told me to be very careful because Ryan loves the Christmas thing. Decorating, cookies, presents. Maybe my mood will change by then who knows.

I still have not spoken to my mom. I guess I should give her a call, but the tickets are bought, so.... Oh I just don't have the energy to deal with her. I am having such a good few weeks, and I just don't want the life sucked out of me.

Well, I need to go get ready to head out. Life is good

no I will not come over

Life has not been to eventful around here and I guess that is a good thing.

Yesterday Ryan came home and announced that he is joining cross country. I am not sure why this kid likes to run, but he does. i am so happy for him, and he was so excited that he told everyone that walked in the door. Good for him! I want him to find something that he likes other then video games. This weekend Rusty is going to take him out to get him a good pair of running shoes.

I am still following the flylady. This week we are in the kitchen. I clean the kitchen up everyday, but this week I am deep cleaning it. The way our kitchen is set up our fridge faces our island, so that was my goal today. One day last week Amber cleaned the inside of the fridge, so today I cleaned the outside. The top of the fridge was just gross. I want to know why tall people find it necessary to put stuff up there. I threw it all away. I figured if it had an inch of dust on it then they were not missing it.

Then I took off the bottom thing and got that cleaned. I also cleaned under the fridge the best I could. That was also gross, but it the coils so needed to be cleaned off. Then I got out the toothbrush and cleaned around the fridge and the island. I think it looks awesome but I know that no one will come in and inspect the under side of my fridge.

Rusty and Leeroy got my new fuel pump put in last night. It will be nice to have the grocery getter back. Those poor guys did not get done until midnight. That right there is love. Rusty worked all day ate dinner then came home and worked all night just so I could have the car running again.

Last week I started to detox my liver when I got my cycle. Great just what I need on a long weekend. I was cramping really bad, so I went to the bathroom and there it was, another tumor had come out. I wish I had the money to have another scan done and find out how many tumors I have left. All I do know is that what I am doing is working, and to me that is great, so I will keep doing it. I can handle some pain if my body is healing itself.... with some help from herbs.

I am still on track with my goal of 30 pet quilts by the end of the month. I am actually having a lot of fun with it. I am trying new patterns, and if they don't turn out well, the pets don't care. One the days that I was not feeling all that hot I sat there digging through my material bin, and I can across four flannel pillow cases. I just sewed two of them together and did a little fancy stitching on them and they turned out nice.

Today I so want to get to the lake and get some swim time in. It has finally cooled off around here, but I just can't stay away from the water. Now when I say cooled off, I mean it has been down to the mid 80's, which is very cool for us. My electric bill is going to thank me for this.

This weekend is the tall ship festival and I can't wait to spend some time with hubby and the children. I love going on adventures with everyone. I will have to borrow a camera and take lots of pictures!

Well, I need to go eat something and then finish getting my day started.

Life is good.

eco friendly friday: sheets

I just wanted to share a few ideas on to re use old sheets. I know that we all have them, so let put the old ones to good use!

1. If they are still in good condition consider passing them on, donating them to a shelter, or cutting them up and using them as curtain.

If you sheets are very worn and or stained, you can still use them.

2. Use them to cover items. I have some in the garage covering up some big nut crackers that wont fit in a box. this really helps keep the dust off of them.

3. Keep one in your car just in case. Sick children and pets always seem to need my extra sheet.

4. Use them to cover your furniture. This will help keep pet hair and human dirt off. Then when they are dirty you can just wash them and boom your furniture is fresh and clean.

5. Use them to cover a picnic table.

6. Use them as a Christmas tree skirt or to move a real tree, so you don't have needles everywhere.

7. Cover your grill or patio furniture when you are gone.

8. Old flannel sheets make great rags. Just cut them up!

9. Sew two flat sheets together and make a cover for a comforter.

10. Be creative. There is a lot of material in a sheet!

I personally have a huge stash of sheets. I cover all of my furniture with them. Some of my Christmas items are covered with them, and I use flat sheets to back quilts with. Sometimes you just have to think outside the box.

I challenge everyone to clean out their linen closet and really look at your sheets. If you can't reuse them then pass them on to someone else who can. Time are tough right now and we all need to share what we have extras of.

I think one of the coolest things I ever saw was a baby shower invitation where they asked for all the gifts to be wrapped in either a crib sheet or a blanket. What a cool idea.

I had a moment of disbelief this week. I actually saw some guys carrying around a Styrofoam cool. Yep it was loaded down with beer, and they were headed for the beach. I just stared at the cooler.

I remember as a child, my parents would buy those things and they never lasted, and they never really kept anything cold. They would just fall apart and then we have to go buy a new one. I can't believe they still make them.

Besides the fact that they are break and you have to buy a new one, they never break down in our landfills. They just sit there. I even found pieces of these coolers in the sand and in the water.

Do you think it would do me any good to complain to someone? First I would have to figure out who to complain to, and then would they even listen. So I will do my part and pick up broken pieces of these coolers and place them where the trash cans, but people come on! You can a small cooler for only a few dollars more and you will get more use out of it. Stop buying Styrofoam plates and cups. Those don't break down either.

It is just me. One person trying to keep of beach and planet clean.

Change is good

Yesterday Amber and I were chatting. We are going to assume that she did not get the job that she interviewed for. Amber said that she is o.k. with that and now she has changed her mind about getting a job.

Amber said that she is going to stop looking for a regular job and she is now looking for odd jobs. She did find one job as a mom's helper and it is only two days a month, but that will cover her bills. So now she is looking for so more odd jobs. She said that she wants to travel more this year and a regular job will not allow her to do it.

One of the places that Amber wants to go is to Virginia, and she will be gone over Thanksgiving and she will be visiting a sailor that we know. I think this is going beyond friends, but he is a good guy, so I am not going to complain. Amber found a ticket for $150, so now I am on the move to help her find enough odd jobs to pay for this ticket. I know we can do it.

I have started following the flylady again, and my home is so much nicer to be in. If you have not seen or been around the flylady you have to look her up. I have been decluttering, and deep cleaning and let me tell you it is so nice. I have these antique lamps that are just huge and nice, but each of them has tube globes, so that is eight globes in all. This week, I took all of those globes off and cleaned them real good. They just look so much better and I am so glad that I did them. I almost forgot how nice they looked.

Well I need to get busy and get pet quilt done for the day. I can't wait to walk in and give them a stack of quilts! They will be so shocked at how many quilts I will be bringing in. Oh I almost forgot I got three new babies in last night. They are not bottle feeders, but they are still small, and just as cute as could be.

Life is good.

the lady in red

I am not sure why, but I love red dresses. For a very long time I only wore red dresses to the Marine Corps birthday ball. Then one year Rusty's mom made me this totally awesome dress. The dress was pink and it had dragonfly's on it. I loved that dress. Rusty said that I looked beautiful in the dress, but he loved my red dresses more.

I am not sure where I got this one red dress from. It is Asian style and it has all the curves made into the dress and it is just beautiful. Rusty's dad asked me why I never wore the dress. I never thought I looked good in it I guess. Then when my father in law died I wore it to his funeral. I just wanted him to see me in that dress. I hung the dress back in my closet, and it has not been worn since.

Over the weekend we invited to attend another ball. So that makes a total of two balls this year. I have thought about buying a new dress. I rationalize the expense by saying, well I will wear it twice.

This morning I was pouring some frozen blueberries into a cup. That was when it hit me. Instead of buying a new dress, I am going to set a goal of getting back into that red dress. I have been eating a lot better, and I have started swimming again. I know I can do this. *side not: get some frozen blueberries and pour milk over them and then the milk freezes and it like eating blueberry ice cream. It is so good.

Yesterday was so nice. I wish it did not have to end. The waves were great, the surfing was great, and most of all it was an awesome work out. Today I am feeling the side effects of all my swimming. I don't think people realize how hard it is to swim in the ocean. Between the waves and the currents, my legs are hurting.

Another one my goals for this month is to do one pet quilt a month. This is a very achievable goal as long as life does not happen to much. When I accomplish this goal it will give me a really good jump start on stocking the shelter up.

It broke my heart to drop the babies off. They just looked at me like momma what are you doing? When the babies leave the house just seems so empty, so it will take me a while to get use to not having babies here. I know that everything comes in cycles, so soon I will have more babies.

Last night I responded to my moms e mail. I just can't believe the mess I have gotten myself into. I should have spoken up sooner. I guess that is what I get for taking time to really think about how I wanted to say certain things. Then my mom sent me an e mail back. I just looked at. If my mom has a magic pills that she takes to make her think that we are the Brady bunch then I want that pill. She thinks Disney is going to be a great family day. Hello! do you live on this planet? I am not going. I have no idea if Rusty is going. The girls have made it very clear that they will not be with Ryan. Heck most day's the girls can't stand to be around each other. Whatever I won't be there. I have no problems spending Christmas by myself. That just means that I get to do what I want for a change. It also means that I don't have to cook dinner. Go me!

For the most part the house is cleaned up, so I better go run a few errands, and get home so I can have the rest of day to goof and off and do what I want to do.

Life is good

not today

Well I have everything I need staged by the front door. My trusty backpack is loaded down with all my beach stuff. The cat crate is out because my foster babies are going back today, and I have a stacks of quilts waiting to go to the shelter.

As a child growing up in the Midwest I would have never guessed that I would be checking the surf report, but I did today. There is a category 4 storm just6 over the boarder, so our waves are massive! I can't wait to get in them. I think I am going to ask for wet suit for Christmas, so that way I can body surf in the winter.

I have been trying to digest this whole ordeal with my and gcc coming out. I was going to call my mom nest weekend and ask her some questions and lay down the law on this whole eating thing. Well, I waited to long. I got an e mail this morning from my mom and she has booked the tickets and their was a little note that said gcc is so excited because it was her idea. Wait a second I was under the impression that it was my moms idea.

Amber had a melt down yesterday. I sometimes wonder if she is my child, but she looks the most like me. Anyway she melted down because she needs new tires, new windshield wipers, she needs a job, and the radio in her car does not, and she dropped her sisters ipod in the toilet. Why an I not shocked, she drops everything in the toilet. She tried crying on my shoulder and told her that she better not be leaving buggers on my shirt.

I just could not stop laughing at her. I know she needs new tires. She will get them. Who cares if your windshield wipers don't work. We are not going to be having any rain anytime soon. Who cares if your radio does not work all I get are Spanish stations. I am still wondering about her. She so did not get my easy going spirit.

Well, I will worry about all of this later, right now I need to go load everything so I can head to the beach.

Life is good.