Color Me Happy: Happiest 5k on the Planet

Running is something that I have always wanted to be good at, be into, and enjoy. Well let's just say what I want and what I get aren't always jiving! 

I started running in earnest about a year and half ago. It started while we were stationed in Germany. Maybe it was because my great friend Jilly motivated me or maybe it was the thought of us doing a triathlon together that got me motivated, who knows. My biggest hurdle with the whole running thing has always been my damned asthma. At any rate, I started running, and enjoying it- for the most part. 

While we never did our triathlon, but I did complete a half-marathon in September 2013. The running sucked and it was exhausting, but that feeling coming across the finish line was exhilarating and unlike anything I had experienced before. It was phenomenal! 

So fast forward 7 months, with a PCS move (Permanent Change of Station for the non military folk on here), sprinkle in the stress of buying a new home and cyber schooling my 13 year old son, add on a couple of 10 pounds to all the wrong places, and what you have is a recipe for disaster. I need something to motivate me and fast!

Savannah is a city of perpetual activities for all walks of life. If you can't find something to do in Savannah you aren't looking hard enough. There is always something going on in this quaint but busy little town, and the weekend of May 17th was this year's Color Run.

They call it The Happiest 5k on the Planet, and it really is the happiest running experience- ever! Here are some reasons it's the happiest 5k, and some tips to keep you happy on race day! 

Bag and headband!

1. Cool Swag is included. Admittedly this is only my second race ever, so I'm drawing on limited experience. However, I know cool swag when I come across cool FREE swag! When we went to pick up our race day packets the day before the race and what I received truly shocked me! We had a Color Run t-shirt, rainbow colored Color Run head bands, a smaller Color Run face tattoo, and a larger HAPPY tattoo. All of this came a pretty cool colorful Color Run bag- heck they even included safety pins to attached the running bib to our shirts! Oh and did I mention that it was all FREE!

2.  Come one, come all. The attitude of the 5k is so un-racelike that you really don't feel like you are in a competition at all. The race is not timed so you never feel likes it's a death match to the end. Quite the contrary, you are truly there for the whole experience of it and the fun day! There were families with younger children walking, many with strollers even. There were people of all shapes and varying degrees of fitness. It was very inviting for everyone, even those looking to time their 5k.

Finish line dash

3. You end the race as colorful as you want to be. Indeed when you go through the color zones you can avoid getting doused with color by simply running through them quickly. There were plenty of people who didn't look the least bit "colored" when they finished the race. The amount of color you get at each zone is really dependent on how long you take going through and how much actual color you want. The first two zones were just ran through fairly quickly and had minimal colors on us. The last zones we stopped and walked through and allowed ourselves to get thoroughly colored. We even stopped, dropped and rolled in it! You have more control than you think when going through the color zones. 

4. There are tons of pictures being taken.  If you want to pose for the camera, fear not, there are plenty of photographers snapping your candids while you run amuck in the colored zones. So smile big for the camera and strike a pose! Oh and the pictures were ready to view within three days post race, which was a great turn around. 

Race day pictures

5. Pre and post race celebrations were a blast! During the pre-race workout up there was plenty of music, cheering, and just general excitement. On their stage they had several Zumba instructors conducting classes. So we joined in and got ourselves stretched and ready for the race. It was a great way to get the blood flowing and the music was jamming! Considering our race started at 8:00am and we got to the park at 6:45, I'm glad they had someone there to help get me warmed up. Now during the post race celebration, there was music and hoopla, and most of all there was color! Tons of it. In little bags they handed you when you came across the finish line. It was really too much fun! 

As with any non-standard race, there are tips and pointers that can help you get through the race and feel better at the end. Here is what I learned:

1. Take a bottle of water with you on the race, if possible. There were times when we just needed to swish with it to get some of the color dust out of our mouth (or teeth) and the water came in handy. Remember you can control the amount of color you get on you, and we were rolling in it. So we did get some in our mouth. 

2. Make sure to control your breathing. As an asthmatic I was nervous about the "dust" particles hindering my breathing and affecting my running. So for the first two color stations I was nervous about it. I used a bandana one of our teammates had to cover my nose and mouth to minimize the amount of color dust I was breathing in. The fact is that it wasn't that bad after you got used to the feeling. However, if you do suffer from any kind of breathing condition I would use caution and take a bandana or something to cover your nose and mouth. While I did make it through the run and the post celebration color-fest, I was a bit tight-chested later that evening and in through the next day. I felt wheezy so I would exercise caution if you are asthmatic. Definitely something I will consider on our next one. 

3. Your choice of clothing is important! All the color WILL NOT come out of your clothes! Since they provided a T-shirt, I wore the one I got with my swag bag. I did put on a tank top underneath- mostly because I sweat quite a bit and I didn't want the color sticking to my body. It was great because it provided a barrier between my sweat and the color, making it so much easier when it was time to bathe. The areas where sweat pooled the most, got colored the most- like the backs of my knees, crooks of my arms and the back of my neck. The crooks of my arms were a weird purple and blue! Hah! In addition to having on an undershirt or tank top, make sure you wear that rainbow headband they give you. It's hot here in Savannah, but thankfully it wasn't terrible on the race day. Despite the cooler temps, I still was sweating like a pig! The headband really helps to keep the sweat out of your eyes, which in turn keeps the color at bay. Always a plus!

4. Ears, hands and feet will stay colored for days. Despite many attempts to remove all the color from these areas, it was just impossible to do. My hands and ears had blue color on/in them for many days later. My daughter's feet were blue and my son couldn't manage to get the blue color off his neck. While most of the color will fade and disappear, just be prepared if you have the huge meeting with the big boss that following week that you don't walk in looking like you loved on a smurf. 

5. Protect your belongings. There will be places you don't want this color to get into, so make sure you protect your belongings. For starters, put your cell phone or camera in a zip loc bag or be prepared to have a colored dusted phone. My phone case is pink and by the end of the run it was dirty and looked awful. When we were done with the run we walked around and went to lunch, giving us plenty of time to "lose" quite a bit of color- remember it's a corn starch dust so it will brush off and shake out if you try. That being said remember that you will have to get back into your car eventually and this is where a sheet or towel come in handy. We didn't change clothes but that could be an option to- but you could get other clothes colored. 

6. Wash with like colors.  With 4 Color Run participants it was easy to wash all of our colored clothing together. They provided a Shout color sheet in our swag bag and I used it to help collect the loose color in the wash. Almost everything came out clean, except my tank top which still has remnants of the colors. To be safe, just make sure you don't put other laundry in with your Color Run clothes.  

It was a great family experience. The kids loved it and so did we! We had fun and would recommend it to anyone looking for a little fitness and fun rolled into one. It is a truly Happy experience, and one I know we will do again!

Family fun

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Travel Traffic

Just wanted to generate some traffic for my new Travel Blog... go check it out. Gonna post all my travel shit there, and here, and really anywhere it will get traffic. 

So go check it out. It's all about validation folks. Oh and yea... I wanna share my travel Dos and Don'ts.

Thanks!

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Girls Gone Wild.... for pottery??

My European life has been a whirlwind of tastes, sounds, sights, and even smells, often times associated with a trip to this or that village, town, city or country. Our latest rendezvous landed us in Poland on a girls trip. 

I know you are probably wondering what could we possibly want with Poland, and a girls trip no less. It doesn't conjure up the warmth of beaches like Barcelona, nor does it scream fancy footloose like Amsterdam. Uh yea... so what exactly did we expect to find in Poland? 

Beautiful, hand-crafted, spectacular and inexpensive Polish Pottery. And boy did we ever find it! Yahtzee!

Four grown women going wild over baking dishes. Kinda silly, a little bit sad, and a whole shit ton of fun! Make no mistake- we made purchasing pottery look like a science. Mad science!

All smiles at the start of shopping day!

We used another military spouses blog review of some of the stores as our point of reference, and while it was incredibly helpful to have the addresses and descriptions at our disposal, we had a different experience. So here is my take on our little Polish adventure.

Rewind, Review, Relive: 2012.

Often times we get bogged down in all the negative things that happen during a year that we fail to highlight all the positives. So here is my review of 2012, lots of positives and some negatives (Oh and a few Thank you's.)

We did A LOT of living this year, and it shows. 

January

I rang in 2012 working at my local Irish pub. Yah. It wasn't exceptionally busy nor fun but I hubby had recently deployed and the Princess was with friends. So there really was nothing else, besides I don't really remember having a choice since I hadn't worked Christmas. If I remember correctly, it was just my turn in the holiday work barrel. No matter what, I made the best of it that night, and looking back it wasn't so bad after all.

My girls and I hard at work at the Dubliner.

January also brought in a commitment to exercising and eating healthy. There was weight to take off and depression to shake off. I don't think I could have done it without the help of my dear friend Jill.
I made a great friend/family, one that I am sure I will have for many years to come. We bonded in our likeness, sarcasm, parenting styles, husbands deployment and in the many things that brought us together last year. We stay bonded in the friendship, mutual respect and love that grew in that miserable winter last year where sunshine seemed like some other worldly occurrence. I can't thank her enough for her support.

You should already know my travel-whoreness tendencies, and 2012 was a stellar year for travel! While hubby was deployed, he had a mission that took him to parts undiscovered by us. With a perfectly safe location for me to join him, I took full advantage of it! We explored London and Brussels together and what a time we had! It's always good to reinvigorate a marriage with some time yourselves. This was good for our year.



February

Bear and his Arrow of Light

February crossed us over from Cub Scouts (Webelos II) to official Boy Scout status. The ceremony was awesome and he did an excellent job at advancing through belt loops and badges.

We did quite a bit of local traveling and did some castle exploration. We got to see a FREE show performed by Cirque du Soleil courtesy of USO. It was spectacular! And considering it was only a shortened performance, in an aircraft hangar, they did an AMAZING job!

February also packed in some unexpected surprises like pneumonia! Not fun. The positive side of being deathly ill was the commitment to quitting smoking. I had been a smoker on and off since I was 17 years old. There had been plenty of years where I didn't smoke (pregnancies and nursing and infants in the home) and then there had been years where I smoked regularly. Over the last five years I had taken to being a "summer" smoker. Weird. I know. Except it isn't. When most of your drinking, BBQing and hanging with friends happens in the summer, and as a school teacher I am off all summer... it seemed logical to take it up during the dog days of summer. Either way...February's illness presented me with the opportunity. I have been smoke free ever since. Hooray for me!

February was all peachy and cheery. I struggled with trying to loose weight, inches, something, anything. To no avail. I finally broke down and get signed up for Weight Watchers online. I struggled with seasonal depression which was made worse by being sick and the fact that the sun didn't shine with ANY regularity. It was tough, but I marched on through.


March

Bring in the start of Spring and warmer weather. We spent this month exploring the Easter Egg Markets here in Germany. I had never seen so many beautifully adorned eggs! We purchased our first three Easter eggs for our collection. This will be something we explore again this year!

March is also the start of the birthday season in my home. We have a March bday and two April bdays, so Spring is truly the time of birth! Bear celebrated his 11th bday in March and also went on his first SOLO overnight Boy Scout camporee. I was nervous he would be frozen to the bone, but he did well!

Sibling tomfoolery on the bike rides!

We spent many a Sunday riding our bikes around the villages and enjoyed what we named Triple F: Forced Family Fun. It wasn't always fun, but it was always a good laugh.

Edinburgh Castle

For my travel addiction, I took my long awaited Three Girls and A Gay Guy trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. Now that was an amazing trip! The history, the people, the sights, and even the weather was agreeable. After this trip my husband labeled 2012, the year of Mel or YOM for short. Cute. Real cute.

We did encounter some difficulties in March. Like the time I came home from work one night to find someone hit my hubby's car right in my driveway! Jacked up the right rear tire and quarter panel. And no, they didn't even leave a note or knock on the door. Fuckers!


April

To celebrate the Month of Fools, I got my hubby back from the short deployment. Any month is a great month when you get your husband back from Afghanistan! With his return he brought back the sunshine to Germany, literally. On the day he returned, it was sunnier than it had been all winter and spring. 

View from the top of a hill in Garmisch. 

We celebrated birthdays and just being back together again. We took Sunday bike rides and enjoyed our family time. 

Our travels took us to my favorite area of Germany: Bavaria! We were blessed with the opportunity to attend a Marriage Retreat in the German Alps, with Bear and Princess courtesy of the US Army. Thank you so much! It was a great weekend for all of us! 

Our travels even got to a historical site: Dachau Concentration Camp. The kids were excited to take a day from school to visit this historical site. They learned more that day from experiential history than any history book could every convey in words. 

April was a month of renewal. My family was back together, the sun was shining again and I felt like the weight of winter had been lifted. Literally and figuratively since I lost several inches and pounds. All the hard work with P90X and Insanity was paying off. 

May

Circles were completed in May as I finished the last of graduate work and closed the chapter on my Administration Internship. That was relief! Talk about an albatross hanging around my neck. Sheew!

Hubby and the Graduate

We traveled back to the states for the first time since we moved to Germany for my stepson's graduation from high school. It was a bitter sweet moment. Many divorced parents are able to set aside differences for those momentous events in the child's life. Many divorced parents can "play nice" even for just a few hours. Not here. Hubby and his ex have not played nice in over a decade, if not more. It's truly not for a lack of trying. Hubby has really tried and I don't say that because he is my hubby, but because I really believe he has given it the effort it deserved only to consistently get slapped in the face by lies, and manipulations. The ex really gives a new meaning to the word c*nt. I could go on about her injustices against the boy and Hubby, most egregious is her total devolution of the father-son relationship. Graduation was just more of the same. After watching the graduation in the stands avoiding "her". We slinked out of the stadium, unable to take pictures with Oldest since Mom was hovering like a hawk. We finally got to see him at the local Olive Garden for approximately an hour, and that was like from 9:45-10:45pm. It wasn't pretty. Oldest was ambivalent. Hubby was hurt. Not the best of situations. 

The worst was yet to come. Oldest told his Dad that he would not be visiting him this summer. He wanted to "hang with his friends and girlfriend before basic." To further add insult to injury, he was going on vacation with his mother and step dad to see his step dad's family. Words still fail to heal that wound. We will see what time can do. 

Our trip to the states did give us a chance to see and hang out with old friends! That was truly the highlight of the trip. 

Mother's Day was great this year, and in keeping with the spirit of YOM, I got my first NEW car. My kids call it "Mom's first new cool car!" I love it! My other Mother's Day gift was an iPad. I guess maybe it was YOM. 

Other travel news took us to Disneyland Paris where I got to reunite with an OLD friend from high school whom I hadn't spent time in 10 years. 

June

June brought heartache to the Princess as she said goodbye to a new love, and hello to old friends. She finished the dreadful Junior year, which was quite rebellious and ushered in a fresh new grounding for the summer! Uggh how I hate those as much as she does!

NYC

We traveled stateside again for the family vacation. We visited friends in Maryland. We attended a 40 year vow renewal, and drank ourselves stupid. We visited family in NYC. We happened to be in NY when the heatwave of June rolled through, and we roasted in a Bronx apartment with the circulation equivalent to a jail cell.  We spent a fuck ton of money, and went way over budget. However, we had a wonderful time! It was good to be home, even if we didn't have a home stateside anymore. 

For Father's Day, I made sure I returned the good favor of YOM, and got hubby his very own laptop! 

July

Gma fooling around with a beer!

As if the summer hadn't already been costly, we received our first visitors! My uncle, his wife, my cousin and my grandmother all made the voyage out to Germany. It was wonderful to have my grandmother here! We took her everywhere, to include Prague, Czech Republic. She had a wonderful time and it was heartbreaking to put her on that plane to go home 3 weeks later. 

A week after her departure, we embark on the cruise of a lifetime. Our graduation present to our daughter, yes the summer before her graduation, was a Mediterranean cruise. Words can't express how awesome it was! We travelled to Barcelona, Spain; Marseilles, France; Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice and Sicily, Italy; Dubrovnik, Croatia. Talk about getting my travel fix in!  AMAZING! The food. The drinks. The ports. The excursions. The family time. The adult time with kids taken care of. All of it was pure perfection. And in the words of my Hubby, YOM. 

The family at the port of Civitavecchia (Rome)

Fucker was right. 

While on our cruise, I discovered I had been offered an interview at the local high school for a job! It was turning out to be a FABULOUS summer!

August

School started and I started a new job! It was great to be back in the classroom and out of a smokey pub working nights. The job offer was a dream come true: part-time, every other day, teaching electives Psychology and Sociology. Cha.Ching. Oh yea.. the money is spectacular too!

August was a restful month as we got back to the daily grind of school, routine and end of summer blues. We did the back to school shopping, the unpacking, the post vacation rest which were coupled with the post vacation blues. It was a month to get back on track with savings, considering how expensive the summer had turned out to be. Ouch!

August also saw the start of Volleyball Season. As the new Assistant Coach and head JV Coach, I had my work cut out for me, especially since I hadn't coached in over 6+ years. But it was worth the adventure!

September

Like every fall in Germany, September starts the season of wine festivals! The weather is beautiful and the wine is delish! We made our rounds to a new wine festival in Bernkastel-Kues, and what a good decision. It's a beautiful city on the river and what gorgeous country-side! Good friends, good wine = Good Times!

Sports was a consuming event this past fall. Volleyball kicked in full gear mid-September and my schedule was consumed with it. I had a great group of girls, albeit a bit prone to drama, but it was exciting and fun!

At his final game, with snow flurries, like a BOSS!

Bear started soccer and had an excellent season! It had been years since he played, but he got back into it and did well. Add to that starting middle school, learning to play the Oboe and Scouts his played was plenty full.

Princess got busy with her Senior year and plenty of AP classes to keep her busy. With the idea of college looming on the horizon, we saw a new Princess emerge with a more settled sense of being. Thankfully!

While September didn't bring many opportunities to travel, we had a great month getting back to the business of daily living, and that is always good! 

October

Bear had his first Oboe concert! He did a great job and sounded great for only having learned to play it for less than 6 weeks. We were so proud! 

Volleyball season was a huge success with JV losing only 1 match the entire season! AWESOME! Our Varsity team was heading straight to European Championships and on its way to another victory. 

Alex and I, WHOOP!

One of the highlights of the month (year) was the chance to audition for Jeopardy! I had the opportunity to test and retest with the Clue Crew and I even met Alex Trebek. I have the picture to prove it! :) 

Our travels took all four us back Stateside to see the Oldest graduate from OSUT (Basic Training and AIT). This too was a disaster! While we made it there to watch him graduate, it was a fuckton nightmare with the ex. I won't divulge all of it here because it isn't my story to tell, but it wasn't pretty. Suffice to say that when it all shook out, we saw the Oldest for about 10 minutes after graduation. That was it. We traveled half-way around the world, drove from SC to GA, and got to spend 10 minutes with him WITH an audience of his mom, stepdad, grandmother, aunts, cousins and every other swinging dick that was there. Epic fail. 

We also took the time to take Princess to see her first college campus. It was a great experience. She loved it. I loved it. Hubby loved it. It was a reality check that she would be graduating and leaving soon. *deep sigh* You would think that would have sunk in when we ordered her class ring and announcements this month. Ouch!

We also got a chance to see my mom and grandmother. While Mom was a planned part of the trip, Grandma was not and it was a perfect surprise. We spent a few days in Savannah enjoying the weather, the company and Mom & Grandma. 

November

Us at Cologne Cathedral

Start of the holiday season, my favorite time of the year! We ushered in my 38th birthday with a day trip to Köln (Cologne). It was an adventure given the celebrations going on there, which had the city infested with over 70k people. A hot mess I tell ya! 

Hubby, Bear and I in Austria. 

Thanksgiving brought us a quiet dinner with friends as the Princess traveled to visit her real dad in FL. This year was better. I was more settled with my new life in Germany, and my usual seasonal depression was kept at bay with a busy schedule, travel and volleyball. Bring on the Christmas season!

Our travels had us on the road again. Hubby planned a SURPRISE trip to Salzburg, Austria! We had a fabulous time going to the Christmas Markets and touring the city. The only downside (not really): the drive! 

December

Bear had his second Oboe concert and we had our first German snow!!!We Christmas Marketed almost every weekend, sometimes two in one weekend. We ventured to Bastogne to the historical walk, and we walked 13km in mud and yuck! We ice-skated. We drank glühwein. We did the Christmas carols all month long! We enjoyed our Christmas season, like we were unable to last year. Time has a way of helping you adjust. 

Bestie and I

Another chapter closing in the book of our life. December brought us another visitor as well. My first stateside friend/family to visit. My bestie from MD make the journey over, and we spent a whirlwind 10 days touring as much as possible. From Frankfurt to Heidelberg, to Saarbrucken, and even down to Strasbourg, France. No Christmas Market that was available was left untouched. :) We ran ourselves so ragged we caught a stomach flu and spent two days bed ridden, but we had a great time! I can't wait for her to return this summer. :)

Christmas was good to both the kids. Princess got her class ring, and sweatshirt, and memory book and all sorts of other class memorabilia. She also got a few other things in there as well! 

Bear got the usual clothes, new coat, books and other small necessities. His big present for the year: iTouch. He was happier than a pig in poop. :)

The New Year celebrations were quiet and peaceful, which was much needed after the holidays and the year we had! We can't wait for next year. 

Our family is lucky. Beyond lucky, we are truly blessed. 

I know it. Hubby knows it. I hope to hell the kids know it. 

We crammed a shit ton of living into one year, (and I'm sure there is sooo much more I am missing), and I am grateful we were able to do so. 

I am grateful and appreciative for our health: financially, emotionally and spiritually. As we embark on this new year, I want to thank everyone who supported us this year, through thick and thin. 

I want to thank my husband who a truly patient man, and who loves his family unconditionally. I want to thank my kids who are not perfect, and sometimes there are a true pain in my ass, but they give my life purpose and meaning. 

I want to thank God who has guided me to a better place in my life, one where I can accept the challenges he presents to me as well as the blessings. 

Here is to the hope that 2013 is as wonderful as 2012! 

Happy New Year!

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Tis' the season to be...Pooping?

I have an addiction to Snowmen. Lot's of them. Everywhere. 

I like to share my addictions. So every year during Christmas, I do. 

I just finished stuffing 70 Ziploc baggies with mini marshmallows and Tootsie Rolls, attaching a poem and stickers.

Probably thinking:"WTF?" 

Every year a put together these bags for my students, as a last day before break snack/sugar rush/get hyper in someone else's class gift. *snicker*

I usually don't have a problem putting these together. The way it goes is in half the baggies I put mini marshmallows, and in the other half I put Cocoa Puffs. I purchase the pretty holiday Ziploc baggies and I attach a poem which reads:

"You've been Naughty, 

Now here's the scoop!

All you get for Christmas is some Snowman (Reindeer) Poop!"

I started using Cocoa Puffs for reindeer poop when I realized that not every kid liked marshmallows. You would've thought that would have been my first indication given my chocoholic-ness, but I didn't realize this until after the first year. So now I am considerate of those chocoholics who would rather the puffs than the mallows. 

This year's Poop bags, not so easy. 

Mini marshmallows? Check. Easy to find. :)

Christmas baggies? Nope. Not a one. 

Cocoa Puffs? No Cocoa Puffs. What the hell??? I couldn't get my hands on anything that resembled Cocoa Puffs. Not even the generic Malt-O-Meal puffs. 

Now shit is getting real. Now I am getting a case of the ass. So I start thinking how to make this work? I am not giving up dammit! 

So I did what every great mother and teacher does. What you ask? Improvisation

I gotta say it was a success!

Baggies were just plain baggies. Then I got my hands on holiday stickers and decorated them up with stickers. 

For Reindeer poop I used the next best thing: Tootsie Rolls. 

Yea, I did it. And it worked. I done good. ;)

Now let's see what the jury says. They better like it. Or else!

Actually, it doesn't matter. They eat the sugar, toss the bags and chuckle at the poem. The whole thing lasts like 10 minutes, which is a long time given the audience. They have the attention span of a gnat. But I digress....

I am just happy everyone is getting poop tomorrow. 

Happy Friday tomorrow!

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What I really want to say Wednesdays

So a fellow blogger, The Whispering Writer, has a piece she does every Tuesday called "Hey it's ok". Once upon a time, when I had time, I would write a post that I could share with the "Hey it's ok" theme.

As of late, I find myself swamped with a new part-time job, which requires lots of take home work, i.e. grading. Add to that a Boy Scout Troop in full Christmas tree sales and getting ready for Klondike...and, and, and... I don't have the time to write on Tuesday, or any other day.

But I love my blog. More importantly I like the fact that I can get it out there and someone might read it and find humor in it.  Or empathy. Or the need for a straight jacket. It's all the same.

Despite my lack of time to write, I am not at a loss for topics and things I would LOVE to share on my lil' o' blog. What I mostly want to share is all the crap that I keep bottled up. Shit I don't say but would love to just blurt out. Inappropriate comments, rants, and just straight up truths that would blow most people away.

Oh wait! Why can't I say these things on my blog? It's my damn blog, right? And the world is ending in like 16 days according to the crazy ass Mayans, right?

So here it is. The premiere of:   "What I really want to say Wednesdays".

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         When we were in school, and still now, we tell kids "There is no such thing as a stupid question." Well that is true when they are in elementary school, and it might be true sometimes on occasion in middle school, but high school... different story. There are stupid questions. When they ask those dumb questions I just want to say: "Did you really just ask that? Seriously?" Today's example: "Do I have to take notes?" What I actually said: "I would advise you taking notes unless you have a really good memory, and that is a whole lot to remember." What I wanted to say: "Of course you should take notes! How the hell else are you going to study? It's not like you bring the book home with you." See that was a stupid question.

         I volunteer for my son's scout troop. I coordinate their activities and collect money and such. It isn't a hard job, it's just incredibly time consuming. Last night I had a parent who wanted a "back briefing" of all that he had missed. I asked if he was getting my emails, which I send out with all the information. He answered: "I have pages and pages of emails that I have not had a chance to check. So I will probably not get around to looking at those." Ummm... ok. I asked if there was a work email that I could send it to that might be easier to check on a more regular basis. Answer: "No. I don't want to get my roles confused." Da' Fuck? Really? Ok. So I asked if he or his scout were connected to our Facebook page. Answer: "Not really a Facebook guy, and the boys don't get on often enough because they are usually in trouble for something."  What I said at this point was:"Ok well let's see how we can get you up to speed." What I wanted to say was: "Hello asshole! I have offered at least 4 different modes of communication, all of which you turned down! What part of 'this is a volunteer position' is difficult to process? Maybe I can send up smoke signals. How does that sound?" Didn't say it. Instead I just sat there and answered the 50 fucktillion questions he had. Did I forget to mention he wasn't the only parent who needed something that night? Fucktard.  *sigh*

       To all the Army officers who have no idea how to truly lead and make what should be an easy existence in a very small elite Army unit, I living hell, my thought for you is YOU SUCK! I hate playing the grip and grin game of niceties. I hate having to pretend I like you and that you don't make my husband's evening a rant session about whatta douche you are. I hate the fact that you make people wish they were stationed in Iraq instead of being here. I just want to scream: "You're an ASSHOLE! And I hope Santa shits down your chimney this year!" Instead I am relegated to "Hello Sir. How's it going? Oh Merry Christmas to you too, sir! So lovely to see you again." BARF!

Yea.... that is What I really want to say.....

Thank You Baby Jesus for giving me a head-mouth filter that works when I need it to. Amen.
       

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Catching up

So life has been kicking it into overdrive since school let out for the summer in June. Yea yea... I know it's November. Got it! It's been friggin' crazy here though! Promise.

I guess I should start where I left off, summer.

I am going to try to summarize the events of this summer, but I might not get to it all and some events might probably could have their own post however it's old news so a summary will have to do. Suffice to say that I have been going going going since June 13.

We took the kids out of school a day or two early and flew back to the states. We had a great time staying with friends in Maryland and going to see my dad in NYC. Life was good and the kids loved being back with their friends!

Hubby and I got to hang with our friends and attend a vow renewal for some close friends of ours. We drank beer, shot the shit and had fun in the process!It was a whirlwind two weeks and talk about exhausting.

Did I mention expensive? Holy shit! Just car rental alone could finance a small village. Ugh

Either way here is a glimpse into our fun two weeks.

I loved our time in NYC!

Our friend's backyard oasis was exactly what we needed.

Only in Time's Square... for the record the two knuckle heads on either end were "mine."
The numb nut in the middle is the "weed" pleader. 

We even got to go to the zoo this summer. (And yes, I took this picture!)

We got back to Germany had about a week to recover and BAM! we were back at it again. My grandmother, uncle, aunt (his wife) and my cousin all came to Germany from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. They were our very first FAMILY VISIT!

What a different experience to see the newness of Europe again through someone else's eyes. To remember what I felt like exactly one year prior and be able to take them on the grand tour.

We had a blast taking my grandmother to castles, churches and other historic places. For an octogenarian she made her way around Europe like a teenager! There were a few nights we had to rub her feet and prop them up because they were swollen from all the walking, but she was no worse for the wear.

They were with us for a total of 3 weeks, and we made the most of those three weeks. (No granny was hurt in the making of these pictures.)

This is my 84 year old Grandmother!
She loved all the flowers in Germany.

Don't ask. I won't tell! ;)

She seems to have had youthful fun!

She cried when the security escort pulled away.
So did I. 

Grandma left and the house was quiet. Thankfully we weren't there long enough for it to matter. We have a week to recover before our LONG awaited Mediterranean cruise.

Yes. I just typed that. 

We took the kids with us on a 12 day Mediterranean cruise. And it was AWESOME!

It started in Barcelona, where we spent two days prior to the start of the cruise. We sailed to Marseilles, France then to Italy where we hits the ports of Livorno(Florence), Civitavecchia (Rome), and Naples. We then floated for a day and arrived in Croatia. BEAUTIFUL! Then off to Venice and then back down and around to Sicily. 

It was the most amazing vacation yet! The kids loved it! We loved it! 

Thanks Carnival Cruise Lines for an amazing time. Well worth the money. 

High water mark of summer....most definitely. 

View from ship of Marseilles, France

Battistero di San Giovanni

Vatican

Venetian "Traffic"

Italia!

Pompeii was beautiful and hot!

La Rambla, Barcelona

The streets of Barcelona are gorgeous!

Entertainment on the cruise *cough* for the kids of course. ;)

Arch of Constantine

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Adriatic Sea during our sea kayaking adventure. 

Arriving at the port of Venice. 

Messina, Sicily

As you can see it was a whirlwind summer full of adventure and great times. I could not have asked for a better summer. This is why I was radio silent over the summer months.

This only covers until August, when school started again. That my friends is a totally different kinda post..... the bitchy venting kind. 

Stay tuned. 

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