It's over

We are all done moving and nearly all settled into our new apartment. July is coming to a close and so is my busy schedule!! I only have some photos to hang up and a few boxes to unpack then I'll be all done. July was a very busy month with us moving and going to Georgia to see my Son. We have our internet back now too. We were without that for a few days. It's amazing how much we use it. I'm hoping to take some photos of the apartment once I'm all done putting things where I want them.

I've been going to several blogs now that I frequent and I see that I'm not the only one that doesn't post daily anymore. Must be that time of year. I'll be stopping by.

Update on things

Things have been crazy around here lately. This entire month has had me running around like a chicken with my head cut off!!!! Once we found out we were moving to a new apartment, I started collecting boxes from work and packing things up. We had been putting things into the storage unit, but now that we have keys to the new place, we're taking stuff there too. Last week was really crazy. I worked on Monday the 16th from 8am to 4:30pm. We left Tuesday for Georgia. We drove over to the new apartment ( a 10 minute drive) and from there walked to the Metro train rail station. (It's a shorter ride to the airport from there). That walk took about 10 minutes, maybe less, then the train ride to Regan International Airport was about 1/2 an hour. We arrived in plenty of time for our flight and got checked in without a problem. It's always nice when the flight is on time. The flight to Atlanta, Georgia was one hour and 20 minutes. We got to the next gate in plenty of time for our connecting flight to Columbus, Georgia which that flight was only a 20 minute flight. ( The pilot said from gate to gate was 40 minutes but actual air time was 20 minutes). It was relatively easy getting the rental car at the airport too. We were given a Pontiac G6 . It was red. Very nice sporty looking car. That thing drove so nice!! We were only about 10 minutes away from our hotel and since I paid for all of this on Expedia, check in was very easy. We discovered that our hotel was less than 10 minutes from the Army base so that was very nice. We scoped out the area on Tuesday when we got there, so we would know what and where we would spend time with David the following 2 days.

Come Wednesday morning (on the 18th), we drove to the Base for David's Beret exchange ceremony. It was so nice seeing him in his uniform. I hadn't seen him in a year so it was very nice to see him. They marched in formation past the family members then stood "at attention" in the hot sun while a speaker talked to us about the Army tradition of the Berets. When it came time for them to put on the Beret (which they all hate because they are wool!!)....they did it in unison and it really looked cool. After the final "salute", they were announced to us as "official" soldiers and were released for the day to family. It was an emotional ceremony for a lot of families, not just me. Bob himself was remembering his own son's ceremony from Marine Boot Camp a few years back and got emotional.

We spent Wednesday with him and a buddy of his (who didn't have family come that day) till 8:30pm that evening. One of the things we did was go see the movie Transformers. David loved it and said it brought back some of his lost imagination. He felt like a kid again. I personally find that funny since to me he's still a kid. I have to remember that he's an adult now and that he's 26 yrs old. My baby boy finally has grown into a man. After the movie we went out to eat at Red Lobster. That's one of David's favorite places to eat. We also had went shopping for him since he needed a garment bag and wanted a "civilian outfit". He could have gotten a garment bag at the PX but he didn't want his to say ARMY on it.

Thursday was graduation and when that ceremony was over, they changed into their "dress greens". They all looked so good in their uniforms. I know that all Mom's were beaming that day!! It's quite an accomplishment for them. His best friend and his girlfriend came up from Florida to see him graduate. (Thanks Phil and Nikki) We all we out to TGI Friday's with some of the soldiers and their families to eat then we all went our own way. Our gang ended up back at the hotel and went swimming for about 1/2 an hour in the hotel pool. David was exhausted and just wanted to sit and "hang out", so that's what we did until I had to take him back to base.

Bob and I flew out the next morning to come back to Maryland. I wish that was as easy to do as it was to get to Georgia. Oh no, it wasn't. We woke up at 4am to get to the airport by 5am since our flight was to leave at 6:25am. After dropping off the car rental and checking in at the airport, we were informed that the flight was delayed by 2 hours!!!! We sat at the airport (in uncomfortable seats) for 3 hours. Once we boarded and got under way, we learned that we had indeed missed our connecting flight in Atlanta to Washington, DC. Thank goodness they got us on the next flight out and we didn't have to sit around that airport for hours. We were back in Washington, DC by 12:15pm and had to go back to the Metro then home. All in all, it wasn't a bad trip, just long and exhausting. David also flew out on Friday. He's now in Texas at Fort Sam Houston. (near San Antonio). I haven't heard from him yet so I don't have an address. Once I do, I'll be sure to let all the family know what it is.

Here's a photo from the airplane.

Introducing Pvt.Armstrong, David P.

More updates and photos soon.

It's time to leave

We are leaving for Georgia tomorrow morning. Our bags are packed and we're ready to go. I spoke with my Son last night on the phone for about 5 minutes and he sounds much better and is very excited to see us all. Since we're getting down there a day early, we'll get to spend some good time alone for a little mini vacation day. His actual graduation ceremony is the Thursday and his best friend and roommate Phil, is driving up from Jacksonville, Florida to see him graduate. We will get to spend 2 evenings with my Son (both Wednesday & Thursday evening). David said on the phone last night that now it's graduation time, he doesn't feel as though he's been gone 10 weeks. He said it flew by. It did seem to go by rather quickly.

I hear thunder in the distance. I just hope that tomorrow it doesn't rain. I hate flying in the rain. It's just kinda spooky being up there while it's pouring rain.

We'll be back on Friday and I'm planning on having photos to post.

Unbelievable

I recieved the long awaited for letter that my son was sending me, yesterday in the mail. It turns out that he didn't have pneumonia afterall. He das something totally unexpected. He had "MONO". I googled mono lastnight to see exactly what it is. I've always heard it to be a "kissing" illness (as had my son) so we were at a loss as to how he had indeed gotten this. Here is the link to what I found out about it. mononucleosis is a very bad illness. It's worse than I ever imagined. I never had it so I never paid much attention to what it is or even how you get it. My guess is since it can be passed around by someone coughing, that since his platoon was passing around pneumonia, someone was doing some great amounts of unprotected coughing. My son was in the hospital for a few days and was required to wear a surgical mask. He started feeling better and had to answer a series of "mono" related questions before they released him to go back to his barracks. He said they nearly sent him home until he healed. That would have been for approxiamately 30 days. The didn't do that, though, because by the time they discovered he had Mono, he was recovering from it. He still gets to make up the training exercises that he missed out on and will graduate on time. He was so worried about that since Bob and I already had our flight reservations and hotel stuff booked. I'm just glad that he's getting better and didn't have to stay in the hospital longer. I hope that he heals completely from this. According to this article on Mono, you aren't supposed to engage in heavy exersice. Well, he is in Army basic training, so I don't see that happening. This type of information for a parent to hear is just upsetting. No wonder he wouldn't tell this over the phone.

Well, my 1/2 hour lunch is nearly over, so it's back to the time clock I go..................

Staying busy

We leave for Georgia in 5 more days!!! I'm still packing the apartment to get ready for the "big move" which looks like it will be the end of the month now. It's amazing the amount of room you have in an already tiny apartment when you box up your belongings and put them in storage. I do believe that this coming weekend will be my last blast of energy to box up the rest of of our things and get them into storage.

Here at work has been busy for me today as well. I've been number crunching and verifying stock on certain items. I have but 5 more minutes of my lunch break, then it's back to crunching more numbers. I'm not compaining at all since this is what I like to do. I just love that I'm staying busy.

Hopefully I'll get time this evening to come visit other blogs.

You know it's crazy when you are working away at your job and they tell you that you're working too fast. Let me explain. Part of my job now it to make new tags for the new products that come in. Once the tags are made, I have to put the items out for display. This morning I worked for 2 and 1/2 hours straight and made approximately 42 new tags for some IRWIN tools we got in. 25 of those tools needed put out in the display case. Well, I finished all of that by 11:30 am and saw my immediate boss going to lunch. (He takes an hour lunch mind you) I decided that would be a good time for me to take my lunch. For the past 1/2 an hour, I've been trying to find work to keep me busy. I stopped by the GM's office and that's when he told me (jokingly) that I just work too fast. Now my boss is back from lunch so hopefully he has enough things to do to keep me busy till 4:30pm when we close.

You Are 60% Intuitive

Your intuition is often right, and you use it more than you may realize. Your gut feelings are usually a good guide, but you need more to go on when making a decision. You'll often check to see if the facts back up your feelings. And when your intuition is wrong, you work to improve it for the future.

How Intuitive Are You?

I borrowed this from Celtic lady.

I survived the yard sale. It was pretty much a sucess. Our friend John had the sale at his house and Bob's brother and us added things to it. I was surprised that I sold our window a/c unit. We have 2 other units that we are using, but I bet if we would have taken them, I would have sold them too. We won't need them in a few weeks because the new apartment has a/c already. These 2 units will now stay in storage.

I got a phone call from my son lastnight. He's doing pretty well except he's sick. He said pneumonia is going around his platoon. He didn't want to tell me too much since he just sent out a letter telling me a whole lot of information. He mentioned that he went to the hospital. I did get it out of him that "part" of the reason he went was for pneumonia. I have to wait now on his letter to know the rest of that story. What is it with kids. They tell their parents not to worry about them, then give us reason to do just that! I'll get to see him in 10 days so I'm not going to let this drive me crazy.

I have more stuff packed today. It's 95º outside right now, but it's so comfortable in this apartment. I'm not even running the window unit. The HVAC repairman was here lastweek and repaired the central a/c. Even though we don't control it up here, it's very comfortable. That's such a good thing too since the weather is going to be nearly 100º for the next few days.

I guess my packing break is over now. Time to get more put away.

Yes, it's a day off of regular work. But it's anything BUT a day off. Today is yard sale, layndromat and packing and putting boxes into storage. Perhaps tomorrow will be a real day off!

Internet at work now!!

I finally have the internet at my desk here at work. It's nice now that on mylunch break I can do emails and if I have time, updates on my blog. I really don't have much of an update today though. Things are moving along at the apartment. We're getting things packed and stored and ready for the move.

In just 2 weeks from today, my Son will be graduating from Army basic training. It just seems to me that the time he has spent there, has just flown by. He'll be shipping out to Texas on Friday the 20th for his AIT training. I'm still not sure yet where in Texas he'll be.

The internet connection we have here at work is way awesome. I wish our cable connection at home was that fast.

Oh well, lunchtime is over so now I have to get back to work.

Busy Month ahead

Well, lets see, where to start?. Since Bob and I have decided to take the new apartment and have already given the security deposit, I have been collecting boxes for packing. I have already started packing and have our little tiny hallway pretty crowded with boxes. Yesterday after work, Bob and I went to the storage unit place and traded up from the 5x5 unit he's had for his work tools and got an 8x10 unit. All of this has really been quite coinicidental. Our lease for the apartment is up at the end of this month and with this new one being avaible in just 2 weeks that has worked out great. The storage unit rent was due today, so that again was perfect timing to get a bigger unit. Yesterday we spent about 1/2 an hour moving the storage units around. Now he has his work items on on side and we'll put house items (that won't be going to the new place) on the other. We are joining in on a yard sale this coming Saturday, so it's all perfect timing for us in deciding what to keep and store and what to sell and get rid of. With both of us working all day and nearly everyday for me now, our packing time is limited. To add to the already hectic time of moving, we are leaving for 4 days in just 2 weeks to go to Georgia for my Son's Army graduation. I believe the new Landlord said his painter is coming on Thursday and then after that is done he'll have the carpets steam cleaned. Once that is complete, we'll be able to start moving our stuff over. I really don't see us doing any of that until after we are back from Georgia. Tomorrow (July 4th) is my day off this week and my only time to offer my help in pricing and tagging items for the sale on Saturday. We didn't add too many items, but I'll be helping anyway. We'll be going over for a cookout anyway, so if I let them know that is the only time I can help get ready, I'm sure they'll just get the pricing under way. It sounds like fun to me.

I'm so excited that in just 2 weeks from today, Bob and I will be on that plane and headed for Georgia. I can't wait to see my Son! He called me last night and we talked for a little while. He doesn't like to talk about too much as he sends me letters about the things he does and doesn't want to spoil the letter that he has coming. It's just always good to hear his voice.

Needless to say, I'll be busy for quite awhile this month with having to squeeze everything in.