What a difference a moment makes...

Adam Patton

I had a great post about Texas planned...and then Arrielle texted me. All it said was "Adam Patton has passed"...I texted back for clarification...my heart wanted to hear that he had passed and made rank or something. My gut clinched and told me otherwise...Adam was killed in action in Afghanistan. I saw on last nights news a blurb about an explosion....see below, I like most hear about things like that everyday and maybe we get desensitized, because I remarked that this war needs to end and went about my evening. Little did I know, that a few hours later that explosion would tear at my heart strings. Adam is a good friend to Mason and Arrielle , and her family. He is Mason's age and graduated with Mace and Arrielle. I hope his bravery will not be forgotten, and the memories everyone has of him will be held close in their hearts.

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Eight NATO soldiers -- seven of them Americans -- were killed Thursday (May 27) when two improvised explosive devices blew up in southern Afghanistan, according to the International Security Assistance Force and the Pentagon.

A coalition military official said the attack occurred in the Shorabak District, a remote area in the southeastern part of Kandahar Province, approximately 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) south of the city of Kandahar. It's the same region in which Taliban forces unleashed multiple attacks earlier this month in their so-called spring offensive.

The devices exploded one after the other, the official said.

ISAF did not identify the nationalities of the soldiers, but Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said Thursday afternoon that seven of them were American.

Both U.S. and Canadian troops are deployed in the region.

Not so sunny Sunday...

Texas, all curled up in the crook of Lee's arm.

This has been a crazy week...busy, but fun! Shoot...I even went to the movies!! If you need a good giggle and you love raunchy humor..see Bridesmaids!!! It was hysterical!!

This week marked the beginning of transfer season....my buddy for the last 18 months, Cirrus and her family transferred to Sacra-tomato (I have been teasing her 4 year old son, that they were not moving to Sacramento...but in fact..Sacra-tomato). We have had coffee a couple times a week since I moved in to the neighborhood. We shared complaints and laughs about Coast Guard life. We shared gossip and recipes too. I told her, that I try to be indifferent when a friend moves away...because I would like to think that I would see them again.

Thinking about Cirrus moving, made me wonder why I don't have a problem with moving...I think I am more afraid of setting this circus down in one spot for longer than 4 years. I think it is because of the things that remain constant in my life....my family, my friends...especially Christine, who has been with me through every tour, and the civilian friends I meet in every place, that do not quite get why we live this nomadic life, but are there just the same, all those and my trusty down comforter (I am like Linus, with that thing) and I am good to go.

Much love to our other friends that transferred this past week too...Adam and Amanda, moved from Maine to North Carolina and bought their first home!!

I miss my friends when they move away...but I hold a lot of fun memories in my heart. The hope that I get to see them again, and make more...makes it even better.

What a difference 3 years makes....

Mason and Arrielle have both lost over 40 pounds each. They just sent me their Navy Ball 2011 picture for mothers day. They look amazing! I wondered what the difference would be in their senior prom pics and this new one.....wow! Just check them out!!! Do I have the cutest daughter-in-law or what!!! Mason no longer can fit into the tux we bought for all his high school dances..it is way too big! I am so proud of them!

Mason and Arrielle, March 2011

June 2008

If you click on the pictures, they should come up larger and clearer.

A Wednesday...what the french toast???

There are times when I just gotta laugh at myself. In trying to be the Susie homemaker, I think I am in my mind, I decided to make pizza at home a couple weeks ago..instead of going out to eat. For the record...making pizza at home is just as expensive as going out....except you can wear your pajamas!!! I spread out the pizza dough onto the cookie sheet...I love rectangular pizza, it reminds me of when my mom made pizza as a kid (I can see my dad making a face as he reads this....because I picked off every mushroom and onion off the pizza she made)....and put it into the oven to bake just a little before I put the goodies on top. I took the pizza out of the 400 degree oven....and promptly dropped the pan...directly onto my nylon kitchen rug! I lifted it up....guess what, nylon melts at that temperature, and sort of looks like cotton candy....and I am left with the scar on my rug. Typically, I would run to Target for a replacement of this $20 rug...but I cannot help but laugh a little every time I see that shape permanently melted into the rug. So, for now..it stays. It is a reminder that, not everything is perfect, and you just need to giggle a little at the things that are a little less than perfect!

Note to self...don't drop the pan!!!

It is almost time....

Elliott's graduation announcements.

Elliott's formal announcements came home a couple weeks ago, and the picture announcements I ordered came in yesterday. I cannot believe it.....he graduates in 38 days. I am sad, because he is my baby...but so excited for him! He graduates on my dad's 75th birthday! I am really hoping that the stars will align and Mason, Arrielle, my brother and my dad, their dogs and maybe even my niece and nephews all cram into a car, so we can celebrate together. Elliott has chosen to continue at the local community college, College of the Redwoods. He has already taken his entrance tests and we just need to get in there and meet with the counselor and figure out Elliott's plan of attack for the next two years.

Elliott had a track meet last Friday. I do not think there has been a track meet yet, where I did not feel like I was going to freeze to death! The last one was in McKinleyville, and it was chilly!! He ran the 100m dash, and ran his best race yet! I was so proud. It has been a lot of fun to watch how his stance and speed have changed....his confidence has risen too! I admire his courage to try something new just because "he always wanted to". I always wanted to try running....but it terrifies me!

Well...the man...also known as Lee...is home, I need to go open the garage door.

More soon!

Mother's Day....

Unsure of the date of this one...I would say mid to late 80's, My mom and Dad (left) and my beloved Grandma and Aunt Grace on the right

My mom's birthday dinner in 1994...with her favorite drink..a margarita! Blended, no salt!

Anyone who has read this blog since the beginning knows that I am not a huge fan of Mother's Day...for the most selfish of reasons, I don't have a mom to shower with love and attention. I should fix that...my mom showered me with more love and attention on mother's day that I probably gave her. She celebrated me on this day, because it was my birth that made her a mom.

I downloaded a book last night, called The Long Goodbye, by Meghan O'Rourke. I saw the synopsis while glancing at a People magazine. Here is a review....

FrFrom Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this eloquent, somber memoir about the death of her mother and grieving aftermath, poet and journalist O'Rourke (Halflife) ponders the eternal human question: how do we live with the knowledge that we will one day die? O'Rourke's mother died of metastatic colorectal cancer on Christmas day 2008; the headmaster of a Westport, Conn., private school, she was only 55 years old, and left a stricken husband, two sons, and daughter O'Rourke, the eldest sibling. O'Rourke had shuttled back and forth from her life in Brooklyn and then job at Slate over the preceding year to care for her increasingly debilitated mother. The two were extremely close, and the shock of her mother's illness devastated the whole family (the author married her longtime boyfriend shortly after the Stage 4 diagnosis, then separated just as quickly). Over the last months, O'Rourke was bracing herself, "preparing" for her mother's death, by reading everything she could during the dizzying rounds of doctors' and hospital visits, until the family could take their mother home to die in a heavily medicated peace. Anxious by nature, secretive, often emotionally brittle, O'Rourke grew acutely sensitive to her mother's changing states over the last months, desperate for a sign of her mother's love to carry her through the months of bereavement. O'Rourke heals herself in this pensive, cerebral work, moving from intense anguish and nostalgia to finding solace in dreams and the comforting words of other authors.

I read that and totally identified with the authors feelings. Especially the part about finding solace in dreams....it took many months until I saw my mom in a dream. I wanted to see her, feel her, and a dream was the only way....I wanted it so bad....and they did not come. But, when that dream came...it was perfect...in my dream my mom was smiling, and she touched my shoulder, and she just gave me the look that told me it was "ok".

Dealing with death means you have to rely on a trait you don't get to use everyday....courage! At first it is the courage to just carry on....the day to day life, when you are sad and grieving. Then comes the courage to move on....get back on track. Finally, and probably most importantly, the courage to kick your own ass....the courage it takes to try something new, to take better care of yourself, to be bold, to put yourself out there knowing you can be hurt...for me the courage to move on and live life without my mom there.

I am still working on my courage....some days are better than others.

I was blessed with a great mom for 40 years, and enough memories to see me through the rest of my life. My only hope, is that I am as good of a mom to my boys as she was to me.

Happy Mother's Day, to my mom, my mother's in-law, and to all mother's out there. May this special day remind you how much you are loved and treasured.

TRUCK UPDATE....

I am so happy!!!! I got a call around 3 from the transmission place we had the truck towed to. Roger, the owner of the shop, said my truck was done and ready to pick up...I am thinking to myself...ummm, I did not say yes to anything yet!!!! Turns out, the problem was an 'O' ring that connects parts of the transmission...it was made from metal, but gets brittle, cracks and then breaks....the noise mimics gears grinding in the transmission. He says he always checks there before he rips out a tranny, because ripping out a transmission is a huge labor cost to the car owner!! He saved the part and showed us....I could see the cracks in the metal.

Here is the cherry on top of the sundae.....he said my truck was ready and that there was NO CHARGE!!! I asked him again if he was sure, because the new ring must have cost him something and the time it took to raise the truck onto the rack and replace the ring...I felt like I should pay for that. He said no, and I told him I would tell everyone where to go if they need any transmission repair!! Roger's Transmission, in Eureka...next to the movie theater!!

THEY ROCK!!!!!

Oh My Gosh...Really.....Ugh!

Let's start with something I think is kinda funny.....there seems to be some sort of snail Nascar race going on, in front of the house....this "race" goes up about half way to the top of the house. There are about 15 snails either in their shells awaiting their climb or they are actually climbing up. When they are not racing they are eating my iris plant!!

Ugh.....not the way to start a Monday. We drove to Ferndale on Saturday, my truck was running great, I even thought to myself..."wow, she is running great, I love this truck"...we did not go anywhere yesterday. I get in her, to take Elliott to school this morning, she sounds fine...get to the stop sign to get on the main road.......and she makes a horrible noise.....Elliott says it is like metal to metal grinding. I feel sick to my stomach....pretty much convinced I must really be cursed...this rash of bad luck, just does not want to leave. After a fluttering of cussing and near tears, I ask my neighbor if I can use her van to get Elliott to school...she has a really nice Honda van, that for a moment made me consider a van!! It was like a space pod...so many buttons and lights! Anyways, I get Elliott to school. Lee looks at the truck to see if he can see anything...there are no outward signs as to what the deal is...I think it is my transmission. Bloody Hell!!! We call roadside assistance and the transmission shop my regular mechanic recommended. The towing company says they will be here in less than 30 minutes, and then call back and say the highway patrol just radioed in, and they need to go there first....."chicken truck, chicken truck, just my luck". Ya know whats funny...the tow truck guy asked "How are you today?" I want to say "Ummm....you were my first call this morning...how do you think my day is going!!!" My only consolation is that the tow truck driver bonked his head on the rear view mirror....and I thought to myself, thank goodness I am not the only one that does that!!!!

There has been good news this morning though.....I passed my Front Office Medical Assistant course with a 98.11% (out of 100). I am pretty proud of that. I want to investigate a couple more classes that will help make me more marketable.

Please cross your fingers and toes that my truck will be an easy fix....this is getting crazy!