Tired...

What a LONG week!

I just can't even begin to write about it. I'm so glad it's done!

That makes 12 weeks down!

I'm tired. I think I'll hibernate for the rest of the deployment.

All Shook Up!

From theHawaiiChannel.com

Earthquake 6.5 Shakes Islands; Knocks Out Power

HONOLULU -- An earthquake measuring 6.5 shook the Hawaiian Islands on Sunday morning, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The U.S. Geological Society is reporting the quake was 6.3.
It happened at 7:07 a.m. off the Waikoloa coast on the Big Island, according to scientists at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The quake did not generate a tsunami, officials said. Aftershocks as strong as 5.8 have been reported.

Okay, Okay! I slept through the whole thing. I admit it!

After living in Japan and Alaska, even a 6.5 on the Richter Scale can't rouse me these days. It was nuttin'.

Nuttin' that is, until 10 year old Thing 2 came screaming into the bedroom like Henny Penny as if the sky was falling!

No shit, there we were!...

Just kidding.

We are fine. The house is fine. We lived without power [GASP!] and internet [GASP!] for about 11 hours and we are fine!

I grew up with Hurricanes... Moved here from the Gulf Coast after Katrina and Ivan the Terrible and Dennis the Menace and all of those other horrible destructive hurricanes.

We know all about disaster preparedness, evacuation, yadda yadda yadda.

With no warning for the earthquake, though... No time to prepare ourselves mentally for it...

I'll take Hurricanes for $100, please, Alex!

One thing we've learned after Sunday's rocking experience...

When hubby deploys, not only is every possible worst-case scenario GOING to happen, but we will NOT be prepared for it, since he's packed up and taken all his "camping" gear with him. ;)

(Did you know you can make coffee on a gas grill?)

Ever Have One of Those Days...

Ugh!
That about sums it up.

Good Night, Moon

One of the things I miss most about Alaska is the beautiful starry skies at night. On a clear night, you could find yourself surrounded by hundreds of stars and ribbons of Northern Lights. It was just amazing. And breathtaking.

I'm not sure why, but we don't always get to see the stars at night here in Paradise. Even on beautiful, clear nights... they just aren't there. I love to see the moon in its different colors and phases, though. And it's somehow reassuring to know that hubby is looking up at that same ole' moon on the other side of the world.

Good night, Moon.

Good night, Hubby.

Be safe over there. I love you.

October...

Okay. I have not fallen off the face of the earth!

I'm sorry I haven't updated the blog in a little while. I just haven't been able to write. It's been busy and stressful and hard to string two coherent sentences together for the purpose of this blog. The kids are fine. Mom is doing ok. The 'volunteer work' is tough. If you know me, you know what I do, so you can imagine at least a tiny bit of what I'm dealing with right now. I'm not getting a lot of sleep and this headache I've had since hubby left... well, I'm going to the doctor again this week, I promise. A positive side effect? I've lost a lot of weight since July! :) Please bear with me while I try to get through this time.

It's "Autumn" for most of the U.S. now. Here in paradise, however, temperatures haven't changed much. Everything is still as green and lush as ever! We could go to the beach almost every day if we wanted to, I'm sure.

It is October, though, and I've been looking forward to putting up the Halloween decorations for weeks! :) I went to the commissary the other day and found racks and racks of pumpkin carving kits... and NO PUMPKINS. Ummm. Oookaaayy? I *almost* bought a pineapple or a watermelon to carve instead... You know, "When in Rome..." Or, should I say, "When in Paradise..."

After the big m-o-v-e in August, when the box of Halloween decorations was moved from the old garage to the new one, I remembered to keep it to the side and not bury it under the boxes of Christmas decorations so it would be accessible when October finally rolled around. (I still can't believe I actually remembered to do this!)

So, the other day, with the help of Thing 1 (17 year old) and Thing 2 (10 year old), we put up a few Halloween decorations.

We've never done this without hubby's help before, so this is a BIG thing.

BRING ON THE TRICK OR TREATERS!