oceans4

10 Oct 2000
Surprisingly, Celia's little birthday get-together went very well. The cake wasn't too bad, there's about half left, so it'll be gone by tomorrow night. Celia is excited to be "free" now. But nothing was more exciting than having "happy birthday" sung to her. Mara got another vaccination today. I was afraid of her having another reaction like last time, but she did great tonight. Other than that and buying and watching "But I'm a Cheerleader", things today were the same as any other. Tomorrow I'm sending off another care package to Nathan, yay. I should just buy a bunch of junk and ice tea and kool-aid and have it shipped all at once. Someday I'll learn.

11 Oct 2000
Ok, it's been about two weeks since Nathan left. I think I'm ready for him to come home now. Not that things are not ok over here, but it's definitely been long enough. He emailed me and told me to tell Celia that he was so sorry that he couldn't be here for her birthday. Lately she hasn't even asked where Daddy is. All she says is, "Mom, Daddy on the boat", and she looks at me to nod a yes. I know she misses him, she just doesn't know how to say so. I know she definitely does not understand why he's on that boat or why he's taking so long to get back. I can tell her that Daddy is working hard, but every other time I've told her he was working, he always came home. When Nathan came home last year from the six month deployment, he was flown off a little early because he had to leave for school in Virginia. So he came home around midnight. The next morning, Celia got up looking for me. Nathan said "Hi, Pumpkin." She looked at him, curled up in a little ball on the floor and started crying. I really believe that it was out of being so happy to see her Dad again. She would not let him out of her sight for the longest time. This time I want to be standing there when the boat pulls back in. Well tomorrow I'm taking the girls to a play group for Mara's age. It's at 9am so I have to be up slightly earlier than usual to get ready. It takes me about 2 hours to get us all fed, cleaned and dressed. That's IF all goes well.

13 Oct 2000
Yes, I know, I didn't make any entry last night. I waited for like, 20 minutes to log on before I gave up. No biggie I guess. I took the girls to playgroup. Celia was being a pain, took them home early, slept, blah blah blah. Oh! Mara turned over from back to tummy for the first time yesterday, and from tummy to back just this morning. Well, I'm excited for her. Every time she finishes flipping over she looks at me and smiles. I always get so excited and she loves it. Today: Eh, it was extremely slow today but I'm happy about that. My neighbor took Mara for a little while so I could run to the post office, which is being renovated and is a huge mess to look at. I spent the day slacking and just playing with the girls. I decided slack time was up when I had a look at the kitchen. I should just invest in paper plates and plastic silverware. So easy. I had to run next door for a second to return Shelby's mailbox key, and since she had company, Celia decided to make herself comfortable. So she stayed a few minutes and hung out while I went home. Shelby brought her back and said goodbye and left and Celia just started crying. She wanted to go back to her place, not be stuck with the "do this, do that" lady. All she kept saying was "I'm sad....*sniff* (add pouty lip here)." So I said "Let's go wake up Mara" and she was happy again.
OK: there are problems in the Middle East. It's now my problem, too. Nathan is on a forward-deployed carrier. Is he going? I have reason to believe that he will. But no one knows now. It really scares me to death. I never thought I would have to worry about this as long as Nathan was in the Navy. Security here is extremely tight. Supposedly they are opening car trunks to check inside before you can enter, and even checking ID's as you leave. Nathan was in the Gulf last year for six months, so the idea of them having to go now wouldn't shock me, just scare me. If it happens, I told him I am taking care of our financial obligations here and I am packing us up and moving to Maryland to be with family. No point in sitting here alone worrying about him and spending the holidays without any family. I know that I would really need the support. And I know he would worry less about us if we were there and not here. Well, I'm hoping to get lucky and get a phone call from him tonight but I'm not holding my breath.

14 Oct 2000
Ok, we have a scheduled power outage in less than two hours and I still have things to do, so I'm making this one short and boring. Ok, it's no excuse for the boring part. Nathan is inport now, but he stayed on the boat. For some reason all the guys have to stand out and wear their dress blues. Nathan thought it was a bad idea, considering the situation right now. "HELLO! I'm in the US Navy!! We're all dressed the same, you can't miss us!" Well, I guess I just really don't understand the reason they have to be in uniform. Besides that, there's a strike going on right next to the boat. Apparently, they're not wanted. What can you do. Anyway, the girls and I stayed home today. I spent most, if not all, of my free time cleaning and mopping and scrubbing. I never got farther than my kitchen and living room. What a waste of energy! I vow to never clean again! Anyone want to come visit?

15 Oct 2000
I planned on taking the girls to the park but it rained. I figured since it took so long to get ready we were going to do SOMETHING so we checked the mail, yay. Apparently I just won a million bucks or something. Nothing else new. Shelby came by to visit and Celia was being her usual pain in the rear. I swear it's the rain. She's coming back over later, now that the kids are asleep. That was my idea. I am dying my hair tonight. I had the stuff sitting around forever, just scared to do it. We'll see how it turns out. My vow to never clean again was broken this evening. Everything lying on my living room floor was Celia's, and I figured since I was griping about her not picking up her toys, I'd better do the dishes and practice what I preach. I still believe that cleaning the house while your kids are still awake is like making your bed 5 minutes before you hop in to go to sleep or brushing your teeth BEFORE you eat breakfast. I think my mom actually made me do that once. How funny, just cause she's MOM. I know I'll do the same and end up either laughing at myself or crying about it.

16 Oct 2000
I can't believe all the people who actually come back after reading all of my boring entries. Well, apparently you love it so here's some more: The weather is great here now. It's just in that cooling off stage, that "should I wear a jacket or not" stage. Loving it. Shelby and I took the kids to the swings and hung out. That's when the wind picked up and it was really a little too cold to be out without jackets. Celia DID NOT care one bit. She was not leaving the swings. So I told her that we were going in for hot chocolate and she figured that was a good enough excuse for dragging her away from the only fun she has all day. We got inside - she wanted COLD chocolate milk. okie dokie child. Mara got a bath and was so ticked at me for letting water get in her ears so I stood her up to wipe them and she peed. That brought a smile to her face. Joke's on her, though, she's the one who had to bathe in it. Doesn't bother ME one bit! Went to Shelby's, which is a daily routine now. Came home and the girls were pooped. Both went to bed right away. Celia sleeps in bed with me now. It's actually kinda nice having the bed warmed up for me when I go, I think I'll let her sleep with me from now on (till Nathan gets home of course - I don't think he'd be too pleased with that). k bye.