On The Nightstand

So Far So Good

Guess Who Is Coming to Dinner?

I am having dinner guest, 2 of them. Oh and as my the title of my home indicates, I have a bit of dusting to do.

Not Your Mother

When it rains, or is too cold or too hot. I will run "the collective" down to Barnes and Noble. I will try and enjoy a cup of chai, and catch up on reading. "The collective" will read, or play trains. We normally NEVER do this on a weekend.

Yesturday, the rain had squashed all plans of yard work, so all members of Casa De Dust-inclusing DH, made the trip.

First of all TOO many people. Too many unsupervised children, being VERY NAUGHTY- and disrespecting property. It drove me NUTS. We even met a little boy with a gold necklace, must have been 4 or 5, he told us "my dad has weapons, and will kill you". Oh, and the little gold necklace clad heathen said it in front of his Mom. Nice huh? I am sure this little boy has a bright future.

Another thing that had me freaked out, the number of books strewn all over the floor, torn up, and being walked on. Seriously made my skin crawl. My argument for homeschooling grew yesturday.

Murmuring

It is Saturday, and the rain is taking care of my lawn. It is also "taken care" of any plans to weed or mow. It will be a good day to go to the bookstore, have a chai, and let the kids play with the trains. Heck I may finish a book.

Listening To Murmur

Whatever Gets You Through The Night.....

I had the good fortune of meeting Mr. And Mrs. Bozik, during my last trip to D.C. with Mr. Blackfive, Andi, and Princess Cat
I was over at Mr. Blackfives place this morning, and noted this fantastic piece on Joey and Jayme Bozik. Such a young and impressive couple.

You must go visit The Bozik's blog, and YOU MUST click on the links to the photos....Very inspirational this morning. There are photos of Joey rock climbing sans prosthetics, folks remember Joey is a triple amputee.

Damn. Just Damn Impressive Sir.

If I were Emma Peel.....

I would be running my fingers through my hair, instead of running the vacuum over the carpet.

A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Conference

So I show up at Fran O Brians, and right away I recognize Some Soldiers Mom. Who immediately lets out a scream, I do the stompy thing, and we scream and hug one another.

Here is the rest of the Conversation that follows....

(Oh, SSM, if this is not accurate let me know....Everything a little blurry after meeting like 150-200 people in 72 hours)

Me: "I recognized you right away, I want a hug"

SSM: "Oh Homefront 6!" (continues squeezing)

Me: "ArmyWifeToddlerMom"

SSM: (scream, pulls back looks at me again, more squeezing)

SSM: "see that blonde guy over in the corner, go over and give him a hug, tell him SSM sent you"

Me: (walking over to SOM DH, hugging him) "Hey SSM, sent me over I am AWTM"

SSM DH: "Who is SSM? This is my first time here. Who are you?"

Me: Thinking (Jesus, I have done it again, I have humiliated myself in public again! I kept thinking to myself, I really need to stay at home more and more. Seems as if every time I leave the house, there is some sort of misadventure. I am hugging random men at a bar...JESUS help me.)~yeah it seems I hugged the right guy. He was totally screwing with me. Just you wait Mr. Next time I am gonna get you sucka!

Why it is ALWAYS good to come home

When I returned to, Casa De Dust Sunday evening "the collective" were in bed. I woke Monday morning, to hear the pitter patter of footsteps, and giggles. It seems DH let them into our bedroom. So they climbed into bed with me, and snuggled, covered me in kisses. They were suprised to see me, and kept saying "You have come back to life, you have come back to life!!"

I did come back to life.

I did not burst into flames, but I may have the mark of the devil....

My Dearest Sister is till in town visiting. Today cold front. Very strange, since it was like 95 degrees about 7 days ago. So we have to find an indoor activity. My Dear Sister chose the "Clinton Presidential LIEbrary". I have not ever been, so I give in, and decide what the hell.

First of all yes it totally looks like a trailer house, a fancy one, but just a trailer.

So we gather "the collective" and head in. I think it was 13$ to get in, tooooo much. They also offered no military discounts to military dependents.

So, I walk in with my "tickets", and they give us stickers, which I refuse to apply to to any of our clothing, and then I was asked to put on the sticker by a security person. Apparently "a sticker" means I am "ok" to be in the LIEbrary". (thank God for 21st century technology, shit all we need are stickers?)

We enter, and I do not burst into flames, even though I refused to put "said stickers" on my offspring.

My impressions of the place were, boy this is SIMPLE, laid out simply. Crazy shit all over the place, an actual recording of Former President Clinton talking about "the success of the gun ban", I almost puked.

I ran through most of it, because frankly it is "the LIEbrary", and is filled with them. I did note a small section dedicated to Whitewater, Impeachment, and other scandalous issues. I also noted only about a paragraph on each topic. Which totally had me reeling with laughter. My laughter did not sit well with the other visitors to the LIEbrary.

In typical fashion I noted one paragraph about the impeachment. However, there was an entire section devoted to "gifts people had sent to the Former President". Do you know there are 3 paintings of sox the cat, and in said paintings sox is playing the saxophone? Yeah one paragraph on the impeachment, and 3 paintings of a cat playing a fucking saxophone.

Those crazy democrats, they always amaze me.

Why The Hilton Corp. needs to take notice......

I met Mary Ann from soldiers Angels Germany, Friday night at Fran's. I even had the pleasure of sitting with her over cocktails. I have an entirely separate post about Soldiers Angels coming.

However, if you read anything today, you must read this.

"The atmosphere was... Incredible. There were diners doing the limbo under a crutch. I saw Paul Wolfowitz sitting at a table. A Marine at the bar desperately needed his missing right arm to complete the hand motions for a dance, and yelled "arm!"

.

I also met FBL, and had the pleasure of speaking with her. However our visit was not nearly long enough. I also hope I took the time to thank her as well. She also writes a fantastic piece about the visit to Frans.

Then he paused and after a moment said, "Now to the f***ers upstairs, with a look to the ceiling. The crowd murmured and muttered, boos and growls erupted. The next few minutes he spoke with anger and even more animation. Swearing a blue streak and staring at each of us in turn as he continued to stalk around the bar, he added, I'm telling you, don't you ever spend a dollar in a Hilton hotel again.

Thanks for the great reminder ladies, you put it eloquently.

My name is ArmyWifeToddlerMom and I am a diarist....

Why did I go to the mil-blogging conference? I am not a "mil-blogger". I know. I am a diarist. I write about far less serious matters than my counterparts. I did not blog while my DH was deployed, because I just did not have time or energy. I did start my blog, almost the moment he returned home.

I will add here a certain level of my sanity (some of you may disagree) was saved by the mil-blogs. Scouring for news after getting the babies to sleep. Looking for some other news than the reel that repeats itself. The story the MSM likes to pat itself on the back for getting to us. The news was frustrating. I will add here, that my DH, plays by the rules. He never discussed anything other than life "back home", and I rarely asked anything outside of that. So I would sit in my computer lit kitchen and dig for news.

So I started reading Blackfive. My DH 's unit lucky enough to have a journalist embedded with them and I was treated to her stories every couple of days. I was also lucky that this journalist told the real stories coming out of Iraq. There was My War, reporting daily from theater. I also started reading Sgt. Hook. Smash. Oh and Mudville Gazette.

So I learned quickly I was not alone. One of the best gifts I have been given by the blogosphere. You see my DH is A National Guardsman currently, and I am stuck in the suburbs, my family 12 hours away. And while he was deployed, I would pack up the babies in the stroller and head to the park, just to break the monotony of every day. I would push my babies in the swings and I would hear the women next to me complain "my husband is going to be out of town for the weekend, what am I supposed to do?" I would stand, swinging my babies and think about the 18 month deployment and wish it was a weekend, or a month, or a year.

I would fear returning home after the park, and was always worried pulling into our block about seeing the military sedan parked anywhere on the street.

I would fear coming home to a message on the answering machine. You know, the one that would say..."baby, its me, I had time to call and the lines were short. I miss you and love you, squeeze the babies."

So to the mil-bloggers, thank you for reminding me I was not alone, and that it takes strong men and women to do our fighting for us.

Why The Mil-Blogging Conference was Important...

I have found myself, quite busy on my return home. My Sister is here, "the collective" missed Mom "terrible", and I them. DH, very busy with very complicated issues at work. So I have been trying to come up with my "take" on the conference.

Besides, thanking Andi, for organizing, what I think may be the largest blog-meet at this time, and the first "conference" there is thanking her, for coming up with the idea. Oh, and for the months and months of hard work. We did not stand, for fun darling.....Thank You. To bring so many like minded people together in one room. It is amazing. It was amazing for me to meet so many other wives, and Moms. I will attempt to do this through the week, by featuring people I was sooo happy and thrilled to meet.

I really wanted to share this. A piece written by Steve Schippert, who was on the first panel of mil-bloggers. Mild mannered, well spoken. I also see I was not the only person, that was touched by Steve's presence on the panel, as well as his blog. So, honestly, I am asking you to go over to ThreatsWatch, and see for yourself. The mil-bloggers, are about honoring service, memory, and spirit. That is why this conference was important.

~Thanks for your service "John".....

Marketeering

A lot of talk at the mil-blogging conference about "sexy". Making a story "sexy", "sex-selling", MSM's infatuation with "sexy" stories. So, Jimbo offers to Mr. Blackfive's t-shirt babe. Mr. Blackfive declined the offer, thinking it was simply a bad idea based on the "audience" of Blackfive. So Uncle Jimbo offered to be my t-shirt babe.

I told him, my readers would have the ULIMATE say, all 20 of you NEED to let me know. Hot babe, or Jimbo. Plus, I do not think it is very fiscally responsible or wise to get 20 pink cap sleeved t-shirts with Jim as the model.

I think Marketing research is in order. This may be just another way Uncle Jimbo wants to dominate the blogging universe. First the mil-bloggers, and now the Mom-bloggers. I must investigate this Uncle Jimbo character further.

If I were Emma Peel.....

Someone would have bailed me out of jail by now.

Tying Up Loose Ends......

I have some things I must attend to, I will see you all Monday Morning upon my return to Casa De Dust.

It also looks as if The Mil-blogging Conference has an ideal location for an ice-breaker of sorts.

Positions of the Week

Moon Salutation.....

"vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare."

- Japanese Proverb

On The Nightstand, and on the plane....

If I Were Emma Peel.....

I would be sprucing things up around here, and getting ready for a trip to the The Milblogging Conference!!

That is News to ME....

The Mil-Blog Wire. A fantastic idea, and will be a great place to get news. Those of you tha have a loved one deployed, this will be a great resource.

Spring, in like a lamb, and out like Satan

Ok folks, 95 degrees here today with considerable humidity. Oh and the Grande vanilla skinny latte, that was spilled inadvertently in the interior of my beloved "truwk"....

yeah in 95 degrees and 2 days later, my truck smells like ass.....

must get the resolve and scrub as soon as I can tolerate the heat and odor.

*wondering if I can sue Starbucks for making me nauseated?