Another Vacation

Since Husband was doing training in Indiana for a couple of weeks, I decided to travel to South Jersey and celebrate the birthday of one of my dearest friends from Germany. (Thus, my lack of posting.) It was wonderful hanging out by the pool, seeing where she grew up, exploring Philly and spending quality time with my "niece". I know that many reading this know M.P., so I thought that I would post a couple pictures of her "not so little anymore" daughter.

From this...

to this...

While I was away I was "tagged" by Robin, so here are my sets of five:

Five things in my purse
1. wallet
2. Burt Bee's lip balm
3. Kleenex tissues
4. a medicine pack (Excedrin, Aleve, Tums, and Azo)
5. my "guardian angel"

Five things in my refrigerator
1. milk (skim & vanilla)
2. yogurt
3. cheese (cheddar, feta, Swiss, mozzarella, parmesan, cottage)
4. chai tea concentrate
5. A roasted chicken

Five things in my closet
(okay...which closet? I am going with the one in this room)
1. Husband's extra uniforms
2. unhung pictures & art/ extra picture frames
3. ball gowns
4. unused lampshades
5. a bag of extension cords, telephone cords, and cable

Five things in my car
1. sunglasses
2. deodorant
3. baby wipes
4. an atlas
5. an extra house key

I have some other exciting stuff going on since my return home, however I will wait to share the details until I know more...I don't want to jinx anything.

Wimbledon

Okay, so I am posting twice in one day because there is something that I want to share that I think is cooler than NYC's Naked Cowboy in Antarctica. And, this my friends is the Naked Cowboy...
















Anyhow, about a year ago, we were in London and had the opportunity to visit Wimbledon during The Championships. Now, I am neither a huge tennis watcher nor player, however I watch every now and again because I think that what the players do is pretty darn amazing. I personally don't seem to have enough hand-eye coordination to hit that little yellow ball.

We actually went into the All England Club and watched a match on one of the smaller courts before watching the Williams v. Davenport final on the big screen on the grassy hill.






Well, the match that we just happened to watch live was a doubles match in which this year's lady's Wimbledon winner, Amelie Mauresmo, was playing against Martina Navratilova. Here are some pics of Mauresmo in action...

And this is how the match turned out...

Yeah, based on Mauresmo's win along with the World Cup finals, I guess we should keep the France jokes limited to the government this year.

The Devil Sucks

Last night Husband and I went to see The Devil Wears Prada. I was a bit apprehensive because I felt that Meryl Streep did not fit my description of Miranda Priestly. However, Streep is a great actress and I had faith that she could pull it off. I was quite disappointed, not with Streep, but with the writers and producers.

I read Lauren Weisberger's book and the movie altered both characters and story line from the print version. Now, I understand and appreciate that film and print are not going to be identical. I can see cutting things from the film because of time constraints, but adding things that weren't in the book at all seems a bit idiotic. Why couldn't Hollywood at least keep the same plot? I loved what happened between the two main characters, Miranda and Andrea, at the end of the book, but the film version did not follow suite, it was too appropriate and cliché. Vomit! I don't want to give anything away, but by the end of the film, I was literally bored and quite annoyed.

For those who read the book, the following paragraph will make sense...and, no this doesn't give anything away to all of you others...they never mention the importance of Miranda's scarves nor do they ever make Andrea sing to security. Call me crazy, but I felt those were two major pieces of information from the book. And, Lilly, well I won't even mention how she and her men didn't play into the movie at all. And, B-Dad...not even the same relationship.

If you have contemplated reading or seeing The Devil Wears Prada, the book version is definitely the one to go with. The movie is lacking too much. We totally should have went with Sister's suggestion to see X-Men III. But, since I have an aversion to cooking as of late, I think that's what we'll do tonight...Quiznos and a movie.

Delinquency

I realize that I have been lax in my posting lately. Not only am I delinquent in posting, but also on returning/sending/making phone calls and e-mails from/to people. It really comes down to being busy in a lazy sort of way. Thus, I will begin today by apologizing specifically to Maria, Vianne, Melissa, Denise, Robin, Guin, Rochelle, Shannon, Patricia, and Beth...I swear, I will make more of an effort soon. Now for an update on life in my world since I returned from Ohio.

First, for anyone who cares, the white pants issue from the last posting has been taken care of, for better or worse. I used the bleach suggestion and it worked. Now, only time will tell how long I will own white capris without holes in them. My fingers are crossed.

I returned from the buckeye state on Saturday the 24th of June. The first day that anything worth mentioning happened was on the following Thursday. I underwent surgery for the removal of four questionable pigmented protuberances (AKA moles) on my body. Presently they are healing well and I am hoping that they won't scar. Especially since one was on my face. Because of the procedure, I became really frustrated with the dermatologist as well as Tri-Care (insurance).

I sat in the dermatologist's office for about forty-five minutes after my scheduled appointment time. I had a book to read, so that was not that big a deal. Then, the assistant who first talked to me when I was finally called to the back had no clue what I was there for. As it turns out, the only thing in my chart was that I was there for 'a procedure'. Even that was not too irritating to me. However, I soon became exasperated when I was told that I would not be able to have all of the spots removed that actually needed to be removed because...get this...THEY were running behind schedule and there wasn't enough time. Since when is it my problem that a doctor overbooks? And, why should I have to come back, in September (Yep, that's the next available appointment time because the Doc is going on vacation.) to have four more of the suggested spots removed? Agh!

Here's another kicker. Tri-Care, the insurance carrier for military dependents, allegedly doesn't pay a dime toward mole removal. I found that tidbit of information out as I was sitting in the back talking about what procedure I was having done. So, I had to spend over $600 out-of-pocket to be sure that I don't have a melanoma growing on my body. And, that doesn't count the cost of having the four spots biopsied. Plus, I have the privilege of knowing that I will have to pay that much again, because there are at least four more moles that need to be removed. Thank you Army for this lack-of-benefit!!! I am hoping for some sort of reimbursement for the procedure, but I am not holding my breath.

On a more positive note, we spent last Saturday in a larger city in the area shopping for a suit. Husband is looking into employment options outside of the Army and thus needs a suit for upcoming interviews. Well, I suppose I should say needed, because we found one. Goodness, a great suit is expensive! We have taken on the mindset that the suit along with the shirts and ties to go with it are an investment. Kind of like the expensive purses I feel the need to carry. Oh, the tricks I play to justify purchases.

Speaking of the possibility of life outside of the Army, that will have to wait for another posting on another day. It still makes me nervous to talk about it. Not because I am nervous about life in the civilian world, but rather the fear that it will not happen. I have loved the time I have spent as a military wife, but it is a difficult life and frankly I have had my fill during the past five years. Literally five years as a soldier's wife...our anniversary is today.

Independence Day was mostly uneventful. Husband's family arrived and spent the night on the 3rd (they live about 2 hours away from us) and we cooked out on the 4th. It was fun...one big slumber party with guests on air mattresses and in sleeping bags. But, everyone had to leave before any evening festivities on the 4th because of work obligations on the 5th. So, Husband and I, in all of our anti-social and apathetic glory, spent a quiet evening at home watching TIVOed "24" and eating apple crisp.

Ya know, there is something that I just don't understand. Why do companies, the Army included, not give employees the 5th off, at least until around noon? By the time traffic subsides at a fireworks display and one can get home, it is quite late. It just doesn't seem right or fair to have to go to work at the butt-crack of dawn on 5 July. It's un-American!

So, that brings me to the present. I had the opportunity to mail a resume yesterday...yeah! At least there was one job with potential listed in the paper this week. I am almost bored enough to go out of my mind right now. I can only read, play on the internet, and watch television for so long. I need to feel like a productive part of society again, thus I need a job! I would work retail and look into management, but that would mean working weekends, and I am not willing to give up that time with Husband.

Well, until I somehow manage to find the time in my busy schedule to get around to posting again. Take care!