Of Christmas and New Years and Other Such Things

Christmas Eve Eve!

I've neglected blogging a lot lately. I guess I've had a lot going around in my brain that I just needed to sort through and work out, so here's a quick run of the highlights of December.

The day before Christmas Eve, I went to Poulsbo and picked up a little Christmas gift to me - a new pair of cuffs! They are nice and warm and allow me to still use my fingers (something I hate about gloves). They are locally made and super comfortable. I had lots of fun going wine shopping to prepare for the parties ahead!

Christmas Day

My Sailor left on a deployment, but we were lucky enough to have him back for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. He was running off of about 3 hours of sleep on Christmas Eve, but was a real trooper! My family flew in and we did dinner in Gig Habor (at the never-disappointing Green House) and we saw Jack Reacher at the local theater there. Good movie, good food, good wine, good times...

Christmas Day we went on a crazy cleaning spree and then had my family over for brunch, presents, Die Hard (my brother's Christmas movie tradition), and dinner. A good time was had by all. One funny thing happened though - it snowed (I mean blowing, heavy snow) within a mile of my house any direction, but not actually AT my house. Go figure! But I'm still counting it as my first White Christmas.

The day after Christmas, My Sailor had to work so I got up before the sun with him to start working, and then joined my family for some Seattle time. We went to Pike's Market, The Space Needle, the EMP, and took a stroll through Pioneer Square. It was a fun day.

Me and the family in Pike's Market

A creature from Constantine at the EMP's "Can't Look Away" horror movie exhibition.

 The next day, my family had to head home and, you guessed it, My Sailor was still working, so I joined them for a tour of the Suquamish muesum and we went on a hunt to find the grave of Cheif Seattle - the man the city was named after. It was a beautiful experience that reminded me just how lost America feels now. In this time of industry and technology, we're only starting to get back to the reality of how connected we all are to everything else. It's as if we lose sight of that with all of our conviences and ideals of superiority. (Says the blogger, typing away on her Acer in a Panera in the middle of the city...Yes, I'm aware of the irony and hypocracy...)

Another highlight this month - I got 1 day in Southern CA to visit Disneyland with my nursing friend! It was a great day, and a funny tradition that we didn't mean to start. Having such wonderful traditions for myself and for my friends make up for what we've yet to develop in our little family here.  It was also really great to see Carsland and Buena Vista street all lit up for the holidays.

December 2012

Toontown, 2012

As the year is about to end, I'm a little sad to see it go. So much happened and there is still a lot I want to accomplish next year. And, of course, there is always the dreaded deployments breathing down my neck, but that just means I have to throw some real effort in moving forward.

Hope you all had an amazing holiday!

Deployment Self-Check-In

Emotional: Pretty good. I miss him like mad lately, but time is FLYING and I'm keeping very busy.

Physical: Good! Tired due to working some really crazy hours, but overall liking the weight loss that's happening (yeah for my good friend Medifast to get me kick started!)

Communication: Limited, but that's to be expected. I know he opened his best goodie! I got him a compass, monogramed w/ his initials and a special message from me on the back. Not sure how I'm going to beat that next deployment. 

What's something fun you did this week: Wine at MorMor and Red Dawn w/ the roomie and some fellow shipmates, tied w/ taking a couple youngsters to check out some Christmas lights.

 What are you looking forward to next week: Baking cookies tomorrow night. Shipping out said cookies the next day, and getting an awesome week of work in. Time should REALLY fly next week with all I have planned!

What made you happy : Getting an email with a wonderful poem in it and a pretty Christmas Bouquet from him! :)  Way to go Hubby! Also got some news about Dad's condition. He's feeling great, but his tumor has grown a little bit, so they are looking into some pinpoint radiation next. And I cleaned out and organized the hubby's closet, and I got some awesome girl-time in w/ Digi's Mom in Disneyland no less! Last week was a crazy, good week.

What made you sad/mad this week: Listening to The Christmas Shoes song made me cry a little bit... and then the whole CT shooting really shocked me. Now, for some reason, Little Drummer Boy gets to me a bit too.

What do you miss this week: My Sailor''s kisses and hugs especially.

How has the dog's weeks been this week: They've been good. Clydas has been great with all the craziness and changes, but he always is. Odin has had a couple accidents in the house while I'm gone, so I'm still working w/ him on his potty training and anxiety. But all in all, everyone is well.

Favorite song/show/movie of the moment: 666 Park Avenue (I can't BELIEVE they are canceling you!), 'Baby, It's Cold Outside" - cute song! (Too bad it kinda sounds like it's about date rape...)

Pictures from home:

 

More than saying 'It'll be Okay'

Each deployment is different and has its own unique challenges and emotions. I'm not talking about the different "every day" situations that crop up - like 'How will I get a tire changed?" or "Who will take out the trash?" But things that are a bit, well, different.

We've been through a deployment already, and our long distance communication skills were getting a little rusty. So this is a great chance go give those creative juices a work out.

At some point, ya just gotta break down to the usual "I love you's", "I miss you", "It's going to be okay", and "I can't wait for you come home." Most of my messages involve the kind of talk most couples do over the dinner table. I tell him about my day, my plans, the dogs, work, the weather. I don't sleep on a pillow that still smells like him - I'm a big believer in clean sheets. But I have been known to sport some Navy sweat pants around the house.

Thankfully, I have a few 'regular haunts' this time. When I couldn't work yesterday, I took a new fantasy book to a local wine bar and sat down to a couple glasses of my favorite red. Afterwards, I met my roommate and some of My Sailor's fellow shipmates at a movie before heading home again and getting caught up on An American Horror Story via Netflix.

All in all, I'm pretty good at keeping myself entertained.

Afterall, my husband is fighting for our way of life - to enjoy a glass of wine at a bar with minial regulation. To go see a movie about just about whatever we want, with just about who ever we choose... The honorable thing to do is to live my life while he's gone. Even if that means a part of me is under the sea with him.

But then again, that's love for ya.

Warming up for Winter!

It's hard to believe 2012 is nearly over. It's been an incredibly eventful year, equally good and bad. Lately, a lot of hard work has filled our time. I will work out regularly via running and Zumba. I plan to register for a Run Disney event next year! Just haven't narrowed down which one and when. Once that's done I'll have to budget for it and do (to quote Meet the Robinsons) "Keep Moving Forward!"

So what are the latest and greatest this holiday season?

Odin Playing Polar Bear

I'm looking forward to a decorating our house for Christmas! I've gotten a few decorations up - and will be posting a little OneTrueMedia goodie of some fun local goings on that I explore. This past weekend, I went to explore the Poulsbo JuleFest (Click here for pictures) with a fellow Navy family. It's rare that I come home from a trip to Downtown Poulsbo without a cookie from the local bakery.  Instead, I came home with an awesome Scandanavian cookbook that benefits the local Son's of Norway group. It's going to make cookie-baking this year deliciously fabulous. I won't be doing a lot of eating of said cookies though - I have a goal to lose 20lbs by my birthday, so that gives me about 6 weeks of staying on target!

 But back to decorating - going from an 800 sq foot apartment, to a 2000 sq foot house makes decorating on a budget a bit of a challenge. But it's a fun challenge! I've added that as much as possible of our Christmas must be LOCAL. Small town economy could really use a boost.I know we'll accumulate decorations over the years, just like my family did, so I'm in no screaming rush to buy a bunch of junk just to populate the still-bare walls.  I am pretty excited to note that all of my decorations for the staircase came from the local Goodwill store! They were new, and would have cost something like $100 at the local Target. I got the whole sh-bang for $15 and I was able to toss in some much needed kitchen utensils.

Our Christmas Day plans include the best showing of The Hobbit we can find! And, of course, all the other Christmas nice-ities, like a nice meal, some Christmas music, and some tree trimming time.  I don't know how much time My Sailor will have to enjoy the Holidays this year, but any time at all beats last year!

Now, to see what this weekend has in store...