A perfectly short weekend.

Like my play on words? PERFECTly, har har har..I'm a genius.

So Tim is officially back in Arizona and as I type this he is trying to find the van to take him back to post from the airport. Yeah, he JUST got there.

This past weekend was perfect, exactly what we needed. Family, family and oh yeah..more family.

Saturday we spent the morning at Tim's parents house and then the afternoon at the Rockin River Pool thats in Old Settlers. Mackenzie has been talking for at least a month, about wanting her daddy to take her to that pool, so he was obligated since I told her he would. :) We had a blast and Tim even refrained from killing the older boys who kept plowing over our girls, and if you know Tim, then you know that took some restrain on his part.

Later that evening we cooked out at my mother's. Tim and I made our awesome bacon wrapped jalapeños and my hands were screaming for hours afterwards. Tim is the one who slices them open, fills them with creme cheese and wraps them with bacon, without him we wouldn't have these slammin peppers, but without me..you couldn't eat them. Thats right, I'm the one who gets rid of the HOTNESS, I'm the one who takes the beating. My hands are in the bowl of water, full of jalapeño seeds and juices for over 30 minutes as I scrape them clean. It's me, all me, who makes these things edible..even for tiny toddlers. So Tim and I made our awesome jalapeños and he also made fajitas. The girls and I relaxed in the backyard while we watched him grill and play with Charlie, who missed him greatly.

After we finished eating, we put our girls to bed and went up to his parents house and hung out til around midnight.

Sunday morning we woke up and headed to Tim's parents house for a day at the lake. The girls had a blast and we all got a pretty good tan, except for Tim...he just burned. We ended up spending the rest of the evening at his parents house where we played games til around 11pm.

All good things must come to an end, or so they say, so this morning Tim had to go back. His parents, sister, the girls and myself all escorted him to the airport where his family and the girls told him bye and I went back with him to wait. I am so thankful for gate passes! It's nice to not have to tell him bye just to know that he'll be sitting alone for an hour til he loads the plane. It's also nice to see the recognition he receives for being a soldier. He received many thank yous, as did I, handshakes and he was even bumped up to first class for his first flight. I must say, I love to be seen standing by his side while he is in uniform, I am so proud of my husband. That, and he's really stinking hot and all mine.

Well...44 days and a wakeup til he graduates from AIT and will be heading back to Texas. I am very excited for this day to come and can't wait til I can see him again!

GUESS WHAT!!!

Well, most people see my facebook before they see my blog..so you all probably already know, but my husband will be home TOMORROW!

I'm so excited, I can't wait to get my hands on that man! I haven't seen him in two months, even though they have flown by, and I miss him like crazy.

He won't be home for very long though.. His plane lands in Austin at 7:15 Friday night and his plane leaves at 9:55 Monday morning. Even thought it's a short trip, we are very excited about it. He hasn't been home since December, so it'll be nice to share OUR bed again.

I don't even know what we're going to do while he is home. Mackenzie wants to take him to the pool on Saturday and then we're all going to the lake on Sunday. So, lots of fun in the sun!!

I am so excited he is coming home again before he graduates and we have to move to Hood.

The unknown is overwhelming.

School at ACC here in the Round Rock/Austin area.

OR

School at Temple College in Taylor.

I am all ready to go to school, applied for my FAFSA and I'm applying at schools tomorrow with the help of my best friend. Yes, it should be easy but I prefer for someone to be there holding my hand walking me through those big scary steps that I have yet to take.

But which school do I chose?

Tim and I are wanting to stay in Round Rock and him drive to Fort Hood, until on post housing opens up and we can move in. We'd still be able to use our BAH to pay off more debt and pay his gas to and from Fort Hood, which will be expensive. ACC would be right here and his commute would be the only long distance one. BUT, what happens if come September on post housing opens up and we move to Fort Hood, leaving me still having a class here in Round Rock to which I'd have to commute too?

Or, what if I attend classes at Temple College in Taylor while we lived here? Tim would still be commuting to Hood and maybe I could take my math class at the Temple campus in Taylor, just 17 miles east of Round Rock. That way when we do move to Fort Hood I can still finish my associates through Temple and not have to transfer credits from ACC. But then if come September or October if housing opens up..I still have to drive from Hood to Taylor.

I know I need to register for classes before I'll have that information, but I don't know which school to pick.

(I know I should pick Temple college, seeing as I plan on attending Temple College once we move to Fort Hood..but I'm nervous about making that decision final)

I hate being hopeful

I hate being hopeful. Every time I hope for something, the exact opposite happens.

Today Tim is turning in a letter requesting leave for the four day memorial weekend that is coming up, at the request of his SGT.

None of the soldiers in his current platoon are being allowed to go home but a few of the separate platoons are being allowed too. Tim had asked his platoon sgt awhile back if he'd be able to come home due to me not having a POA, (palm to face moment) and me wanting/needing to trade in our Pontiac for a different vehicle. His platoon SGT told him that there was no way in hell that anyone in his platoon would be going home unless it was a medical/financial emergency.

So Tim wrote off the idea, so I thought, and his family ended up planning a trip up there to see him. I hadn't planned on going this time.

Well yesterday he called me and told me that the SGT that had originally told him 'no way in hell' was gone on leave and a separate SGT, that Tim had mentioned his idea to in the first place, told him to write a letter listing his reasons for needing to come home and that he would see what he could do. So today, Tim turned in that letter.

I think our reasons are good ones. We need a new car, ours is still having mechanical issues and I'm nervous of it breaking down on the side of the road with myself and two kids in it. Not only that, but its Texas..and Texas gets hot. I'd rather not be broken down on the side of the road with two young kids, in a black car..in the Texas heat. No thank you.

Now some of you may be wondering, 'Tara, can't you do this on your own?' the quick answer 'yes but no'. Tim's name is on the title and I would need him there to sign or I'd need a POA 'power of attorney' , which I don't have. Yes, I'm dumb. I already know this.

Tim could go to the JAG office on post and get one to mail to me, but the JAG office is only open during the week which is when Tim is in class. With him already being recycled once..and learning new material for his LAST test..we don't really want to run the risk of him missing any class time. So yes, I could do this all on my own..but I can't without a POA.

So we are hoping that Tim is allowed to fly home for the four day weekend and we'd be able to go trade in our piece, for a new car.

Now, another question I know someone is thinking of, 'why not wait til after graduation?'. My response 'who wants to pay for me a rental to drive to graduation in?' or 'who wants to come pick me up on the stretch to El Paso when I break down driving to Huachuca mid July?' Any takers? Didn't think so.

So here I sit, hoping that his request will be approved and I'll be picking up my husband from the airport sometime next week. But we all know how me being hopeful turns out..

I feel all adult like..

I feel all adult like. Forget that I have two children and have been married for four years come this July..that means nothing ;), but THIS...this makes me feel like a grown up..

I'm going back to school, woohoo!

I'm going back to school, holy shit!

I am so excited to finally be going back, but at the same time I am terrified. I haven't been in school since I graduated from high school in May 2005, except for two weeks that is.

Yup, I'm a college drop out, I don't really consider myself one though. I was only enrolled for two weeks before dropping out after getting that positive pregnancy test, so it's not like I actually did much college work. I don't think I even took a test.

For the past four years I have been playing the mom/wife card. You know, raising kids and taking care of a home while trying to not kill my husband for leaving his dirty clothes all over my house. Yeah, the mom/wife card, you know the one.

I could of returned to college but I didn't WANT too. I know me and in knowing me, I knew that I wouldn't 100% apply myself to my classes unless I wanted to be there. Well, I am finally ready and wanting to go back. That and Tim asked me to return to work...and I'd rather go to school than get a damn job, working makes me ill. Seriously, ill.

Mackenzie will be enrolled in full day kindergarten and Madison will be placed in childcare. I plan on only taking two classes this upcoming fall, in hopes of not overwhelming myself right off the bat. I want to take my math class in a classroom since I suck at math and I know that I won't be able to do it online. Thankfully I will be close enough to Round Rock that I can drive to the ACC campus by TeraVista to take the math class there. I am hoping to be able to take my other class online, hoping for English or History for my first semester. We are guaranteed two years at Fort Hood and I'm hoping to be able to knock out my associates before the Army moves us.

If I am able to handle the two classes, a house and two children without being overwhelmed, I hope to be able to take 3 classes in the spring of 2011. I may take classes during the summer also, trying to play catch up since I won't be going full time. So far this is my college plan.

I am thinking of pursuing teaching for my bachelors. I would have my holidays and summers off with my girls and not need to worry about childcare in the summer when they are out on break. Right now I am just playing with the idea...but that is my plan! Wish me luck

sometimes doctors are stupid..

So Tim had that evil test again last week, and he passed it!

I didn't want to write about it on Facebook or talk about it in blog, because I'm a weirdo and didn't want to jinx it. So I kept my mouth shut and prayed like crazy for good things. Well, good things happened.

Tim passed the test with a 90! Besides the test that he failed, then kicked its ass, he hasn't scored beneath a 90. Go Tim! He has only 3 tests left to pass in order to graduate. Think good things for me... :)

He also went to the Dermatologist today for his trench foot since it wasn't getting better. Want to know why it wasn't getting any better, the freaking doctors who saw him are dumbasses. Yes, I'm calling 8 different doctors, complete idiots.

It's not freaking Trench Foot and that is why what they told him to do, isn't making it any better. He has a bacterial infection on his foot. The dermatologist told him that he must have really bad luck, and just happened to cross a disgusting bacteria that attacked his feet. So they prescribed him an ointment and told him if it's not better in a week to come back. Hopefully this will work and his feet will get better.

So, in my excitement I have started trying to find out as much as I can about Fort Hood. Tim and I had talked about renting a house off post in the Copperas Cove area, but decided that living on post will be more convenient. I have checked out housing and it's not bad, especially since Fort Hood has a '1 bedroom per child' rule. Also, taking into consideration that it's the largest Army post(population wise), it'd probably just be easier for Tim to not have to fight traffic getting on post in the morning on his way to work.

Our issue at hand currently is that we need to buy a washing machine, dryer, lawn mower and a weed eater. YAY! We also have to wait to see if our house will have a fence for our dog. If it doesn't we will either pay to have one built or we will invest in a dog run for the backyard. We plan on keeping him indoors the majority of the time..but we will need somewhere to put him in the backyard when we leave for a long amount of time. After all...he's been an outdoor dog for 6 years, it won't kill him.

We have to be put on the wait list for housing, hopefully it doesn't take too long because I am eager to get moved in and situated in our own home. I love my mother, and appreciate her generosity, but we've lived here since April 2009, and I am ready to be in my own home again.