Six months ago...

Vows were made...


...there were sabers...


...and kisses...


...there was even a little rain.


There was dancing...



...and cake...



...and lots,

and lots,

of family.


Oh, and there was whooping.


At one point, there were even kazoos.

So six months later there isn't any dancing, or cake, or whooping. Not any family (here, at least) either. Definitely no kazoos. But there's love, lots and lots of love. Six thousand miles away, or right by my side. Love you, honey.

Happy birthday to my beautiful, funny, full-of-life, growing-up-way-too-fast niece, Anna! We love you & can't wait for your visit!

For the love of DVR...

I've never liked TV better than I do now. Obviously, since this is the second post about TV in a week. What makes the experience so much more enjoyable is our DVR. On this surprisingly sunny but bitingly cold Saturday, I am not outside soaking up the precious few rays of sun to hit our town. Nope, I'm sitting on the couch having just finished this week's episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Men in Trees. I have laughed and cried. Mostly cried. Grey's was so, so sad. And just in case I ever get depressed (because this might be the last day I see the sun for another three months), I still have American Idol: Seattle saved on the DVR. Man alive, it's a great, great invention.

Maybe it's because my husband is gone and I'm lonely...

Maybe it's because I've been working a lot in some tough classrooms...

Maybe it's because I hit my head really, really hard last night while cleaning under the counter...

Maybe it's because the weather is positively dismal, and the snow just won't melt...

Maybe it's because I know first-hand how strange the people can be...



...whatever it is, I am [only slightly] ashamed to admit that I'm watching American Idol and I absolutely love it. Can I just say that I think I have almost certainly run into several of these contestants? I'm pretty sure they work at the grocery store and the post office, and their kids go to school in my district. It's true.

No, these are not more pictures from last week. This is today - this morning. Apparently, someone wanted to try out doughnuts in our semi-cul-de-sac. I have a (strong) feeling it was the neighbor young-twenty-something whose SUV has mysteriously appeared in front of his mom's house...it wasn't there last night.



The kids here never have to go to school. Today there is a two-hour delay. At this rate, they'll be going to school in July. And just to note, this weather is very unusual for our part of the state. They even pre-empted Good Morning America so that the local news could keep us updated on the Winter Storm.

Threats of snow, more storms...I didn't know what to believe. It seems the weather reports are, more often than not, wrong for our part of the Evergreen State. So, when I woke up at 3 a.m., I decided to peek out the window to see the "snow storm," and guess what? No snow. However, waking up four hours later, here's what I saw...



Maddie was not such a happy camper having to go out in the snow. She paced the edge of the yard, right next to the fence, where the snow was barely covering the ground. She looked at me with big, sad eyes (and snow in her beard) and begged to be let in.



As I type we are in a winter wonderland, with big, heavy snow falling. And, to illustrate my point about the weather reports - Just an hour ago on the local news, the meteorologist said that our area would be receiving (today - he spoke in the present tense as if there were not already snow on the ground) a trace amount of snow, and in some cases up to two inches. So, according to the news, it is not snow in these pictures. And even if it were, it's certainly not blizzard-like, it's just flurries.

Here are the pictures I jumped off the couch to take in order to capture the "flurries." Pretty, huh?









So for now, Maddie and I will be curled up on the couch, fire roaring, enjoying coffee and knitting.

Knitting...

Thanks to Alicia I have become somewhat addicted to knitting. So far I have only done scarves, but I am working on my first hat. I had all of these big ideas of doing something fancy, but my skills are limited as of yet, so it will be pretty simple. I found a great yarn and fabric store in Olympia, and they offer free help on knitting projects on Monday nights. I just might become a regular.

I read in a knitting book (that I got for Christmas from my brother-in-law, Chris, who surely picked it out himself) that knitters often are so excited about the things they make that they give them away as gifts. So far I have given away six scarves and kept one for myself (with a second in the works). The other thing the book said was that not all recipients of said gifts appreciate the items as much as the knitter. All this to say - If I give you a knitted gift, I don't expect you to love it, or even wear it, necessarily. Rather, it is really fun for me to make things and it is fun to share the finished products! I promise not to make any sweaters (at least not for adults).

Just outside the gate at Incirlik, there is a street they call "the Alley", where there are a bunch of little stores selling everything from shotguns to furniture to glassware. Our squadron has made friends with one of the proprietors of a carpet shop and I had some requests to post them for all to see. Enjoy and Happy 2007.

By the way...


...my cell phone has been eaten. Hopefully today I will get an old phone activated, but until then I am (somewhat blissfully) unreachable. I wonder how we lived before cell phones, and how we get anything done with them.

On the same token, I went to the Sprint store to buy a cheap replacement phone until I decided what I wanted to do long-term - the cheapest phone they have is $150. What? That blew my mind. It's because of the demand for fancy phones by teenagers who want them to communicate through abbreviations rather than real words or real speech, and parents who buy these fancy phones. So, if any of you bought your kids fancy phones for Christmas and have the old phone lying around (Sprint compatible, of course), I'm accepting donations. I don't need a camera, a keyboard, Bluetooth, or an Mp3 player - as long as it calls and accepts calls, I'll take it!

:)

I still don't know what happened to the rest of 2006 - it went by in a blur and now I'm back to something that resembles normal life. In just a few days I'll be back home in WA and things will feel much more like everyday life, which I'm looking forward to (but that's not to say I haven't thoroughly enjoyed the almost six weeks of living like it's my job to visit family and friends!). Here's a little snapshot of my time down South...it's hard to sum it up in so few pictures!

My friend Julie and I at her wedding reception. It was so good to be back in College Station for a bit, to see old friends, and to be a part of the wedding festivities! It all went by way too fast.


My mother-in-law, cousins-in-law and me on a little expedition to stock up the Austinites with some fire wood. I had a great visit in Uvalde, learning to make toffee, visiting great aunts, and just generally relaxing at the in-laws.


The ladies of the family (minus Marla, who was inside the house staying warm and dry). We braved the cold and rain to help keep watch over the ham that was being smoked. The portable heater and the laughs helped!


There's nothing like a little DDR to liven up the party! And, there's nothing like beating your almost 15-year-old, cheerleader niece at the game, either! (Sorry, Anna!) Thanks to Will for the new game, which came as a Christmas present from overseas. We had a blast and even got mom, Brian and Chris out there (although I kept those pictures private so as not to embarrass anyone)!!!


Toasting the new year - in Turkey that is! Unfortunately, at the time of this picture Will was headed into work - what a way to ring in 2007! So, I had a drink for him and thought about how much fun it will be next year to ring in 2008 together (instead of 6200 miles apart).


Okay...new favorite game! Left. Right. Center.


This dice game is SO much fun. We had an absolute blast (even Grandpa got in on the fun). I did not win (sorry, Will) but I'm on the hunt for this game. My brother's girlfriend, Lelia, brought it along so we could all get hooked.

A mustache for my wife....for some reason she thinks that I am unable to grow a mustache worthy of ancient MacGregor family photos.....little does she know that it will be so deeply imbedded in my persona by the time I get home that it might not be able to be taken off....so honey, please wipe the mothballs off of your swatch, pull up your leggings, and cuff your jeans....the 80's is the new 90's. Who wants a smooch?

Disclaimer: This post is intended for the private use of my wife and may not be distributed without the express written consent of the aforementioned......or just mail her a $20 and we'll call it good. So, here are a few pictures for her viewing pleasure....in no particular order or fashion. The last few pics are from my field trip into the heart of Turkey. I believe the place is called Capadocia, but I know I'm way off on the spelling. Anyway, the low down dirty is that these are pictures of parts of over 50 underground cities throughout the region that have been around well before the time of Christ and have been used as recently as the 14th century to protect the various inhabitants from invaders. Anyway, just thought I'd put up my first post in a while and say hello to all that stop by. More to come in the near future (hopefully)

Will

It started out innocently enough...











...and to think I was coming SOUTH for the season!

Whoop.

And thanks to satellite tv, Will was able to watch the whole game, too. The whole kissing-after-scoring-points thing will have to wait until March, though.

Thanksgiving with family...at least, with most of my family.

I couldn't be more thankful than I am right now for:

-Mom, Dad, Alicia and Chris to celebrate Thanksgiving with.
-Six dogs to spice things up. (Yes, that says SIX. We're officially a dog family.)
-Friends (Cheryl, Whitney and JoAnn) who make the saying, "The more the merrier," SO true.
-Catch Phrase, Fast Scrabble and Dominoes (in this case Chicken Foot) because I love to play games. We're a board game family.
-Excellent food.
-Watching my wedding video (again) because there's still one or two people out there who haven't seen it.
-Web cam conferencing with my husband, which really does make the distance seem much more bearable. He's already been gone almost a month...now I'm looking forward to half way through! Thank you God for this technology.
-New Year's coming up so that I can see the rest of my family (and we can all see Will via web cam together!).

Hope your Thanksgiving was as rich and blessing-filled as mine. Happy, happy day.

Company...

Fast, furious, but oh-so-much fun! Thanks for coming, Charla! Come back soon.

Update on the flooding post...

I dare say I heard the governor on the news this morning saying the state needs to "relocate" these towns that continually flood. That's too bad, because those towns are going to get the leftovers as far as land is concerned - it's pretty much all taken out here, West of the Cascades. And, if you move a whole town, does it get to keep the same name? Hmmm. The brilliant minds in state government are at work here in WA! Watch out!

I love democracy.

I just don't understand...

Doesn't it rain here in WA all the time? So then, why does it flood so easily? And if this is how it always is (rain, flood, more rain, more flooding) than why do so many people live near the rivers where they have had to evacuate TWICE in the last three days? They keep showing those poor people on the news - they're so used to it they have a system down of stacking everything in the house as high as they can, taking any important paperwork or mementos, and getting to higher ground. I'm glad they're so efficient. But, seriously, twice in three days and we're at the very beginning of the rainy season?

I think I need a few more weeks to figure this all out. For now, I'm stumped.

Things I'm thankful for...


-Watching the Aggies (albeit lose) with about 75 other Western WA Ags. And for doing yells with said Aggies in the middle of a crowded sports bar. And for the waitstaff that clapped for us because our noise level was pretty darn impressive. Whoop! (The picture didn't turn out so well - probably because it was taken by a Sooner!)

-The rain letting up long enough for me to get home from Seattle with a nice moonlit sky above!

-An iSight camera that lets me talk face to face (or laptop to laptop) with my hubby.

-Air travel that will allow my sis-in-law to come visit the rainy Northwest for a long weekend!

-Four month deployments (rather than 12 or 18 months). Praise God for those who do have those long deployments and serve them faithfully with pride, and for the families who support them from home.

-New Washington friends who call just to make sure I'm hanging in there. And for those friends inviting me to spend Thanksgiving with their families!

For my honey (and my blogging friend DeLayne) --

GO AIR FORCE!

AFA - 43
Army - 7

I like comfort food, especially when I'm under the weather. In this case, I'm under the weather in more than one way. I had to send my husband off, sore throat, chest cold and all, and I was left with the same symptoms plus a runny nose, and alone to boot. And today has officially started our rainy season. The news said to expect upwards of 18 rainy days in November. Apparently it is the rainiest month of all up here. Drizzle with intermittent downpours and gray, gray skies. And this is day one?

So, back to the food...I decided I had to get out of the house lest I fuse to the couch and become one with digital cable. I have exhausted two books in the last two days and watched more TV than could possibly be healthy. The supreme answer to a lonely heart and a stuffy nose? Thai food. Yes, the wonder that is Tom Kha. Pair with hot tea, jasmine rice, and a crossword puzzle.

Okay, so obviously I know that Thai cuisine is not my cure-all for either heartache or the common cold. But as chocolate often cures the evils of the world, so does spicy coconut chicken soup. Thank you, Jesus, for both.