It’s TRUE!

Wow. You know the story mommies and daddies tell their little ones about where babies come from? You know, the stork comes to the house and brings a baby. Well ladies and gentlemen, it’s true! I believe it! Yesterday I was taking care of Elliot as usual, and we were playing in the back yard. Suddenly he pointed up and shouted “Ingrid!! Look at that big bird!” Holy cow. I’ll be damned if there wasn’t a stork on the roof!! Wow. Maybe thunder really IS the angels bowling and moving furniture.

Baby!

I don’t know how I haven’t posted it yet, but my huband and I are 15 weeks pregnant! We have no idea if it is a boy or a girl, and we are so extremely excited! Tim is so sweet, he took it upon himself to set up a baby website that has some updates and sonogram pictures and whatnot. My due date is August 30th which is a far cry from October-ish, when we originally thought it was due! When we went to our first OBGYN appointment, he said he thought we were 8-9 weeks, but the sonogram said we were 14! Last Saturday was 15, and this coming Saturday will make 16 weeks, 4 months, I can’t believe it! I haven’t been nauseous or anything at all, but the book I got with Tammy’s advice (The girlfriend’s guide to pregnancy) said not to gloat too much about it, because the gods of pregnancy are usually fair! I have however had wicked indigestion when I eat certain things like cheese, or salsa, and I get extremely dizzy with a headache if I stand up too quickly. Of course the girls are wicked tender, but that seems to have died down a little bit at the moment. Other than that, I’m having a great time with it, my favourite part so far was the sonogram. I’ve heart most mothers say that their favourite part was hearing the heart beat. I guess that was cool, but my favourite part was watching that little jumping bean jump on my bladder like a little trampoline, and that’s when it was 3 inches long! It’s amazing how far technology has come, that we can see things like that. Speaking of technology, you know that gel that they put on your belly first? My uncle actually invented that gel. So now I get to call him up and tell him I got to use his product! Neat huh?

Of course we’re feeling a little overwhelmed by this whole process, so if any of you out there see anything that’s really cheap, especially baby furniture (or even better FREE), let me know, or snag the free stuff for me! We need all the help we can get!

I still am thinking about cloth diapers. I don’t know what I was envisioning, but they look SO thin, like cheesecloth! I know they make covers for them, but you’d think they’d be a lot thicker than that! Let me know your opinion on cloth diapers vs disposables, I’d love to hear it.

I QUIT!!!!

For a long time now, I have been putting up with my store “manager” at work. I say “manager” in quotes because she doesn’t manage, she nitpicks. I have taken her flack for far too long, trying to think of ways to deal with it. Today, I snapped. I was on grill with a full screen, and she wants to come nag me about getting orders out “on time” (2:45) when I have a grill full of meat waiting to cook that takes roughly 8 minutes for one patty, start to finish. She then noticed that I had no meat in the chili. It’s not hard, grind up some meat and put it in. But no, she has to chew me out for that too. I’ll spare you my profanity, but I basically told her I’m tired of being treated like a 2 year old. Her response? “What do you expect?” EXCUSE me? What do I expect?? I expect that you don’t have a Holier-Than–Thou attitude, thinking you can do no wrong, and that everyone else around you has something you can criticize. I expect that you treat me like a professional and I’ll treat YOU like a professional. (Isn’t it funny how that works?) I basically flipped the hellllll out, screaming throughout my store “I’m not taking your ****** **** any more, I’m tired of being your **** 2 year old to ***** baby sit! **** you, and stick this **** job up your *****”! I seriously have no idea what the hell came over me, but I hit her. I have never, NEVER hit anyone in my LIFE! I slapped the hell out of her somewhere, her arm, her back, whatever. I had no intention to, it was just something deep inside that came out with a vengenance. WOW everyone in lobby looked shocked. HA. I’ve been very tempted to change the sign with something like “My boss cheats soldiers” too, but I’m not going to go there, since the DM and AM compensated me for days that I lost due to her discrimination against me being a soldier.

Anyway, I stormed out, then like an idiot, remembered I left my stuff in the store. I went back to get it, whipped my apron over the counter, and grabbed my stuff. As I was leaving, I thought I heard her say something like “I didn’t expect” I cut her off with “No! You didn’t *** expect me to take this **** for this long!! You didn’t expect me to keep being treated like the 2 year old you think I am! (though perhaps I was acting a bit like one ) etc. etc. etc. I stormed out a second time, and drove home. I had to stop repeatedly to take some deep breaths because I was speeding even worse than I normally do.

But…

NOW I AM FREE!!!!!

I am free from my wicked stepmother and the hellish job she lords over! She can keep it for all I care! The baby and I don’t need such negativity in our lives! I am FREE from her stress, her nagging, her complete ineptitude!! What a great day, though rather emotionally exhausting.

A day off!

WOOO! I got put on orders from the 29th of January to the 15th of February, so it seemed like I wouldn’t have a day off in two weeks! Not that I’m complaining, soldiers in Iraq don’t get one in 2 years! Anyway, I got a phone call this morning telling me my convoy was postponed so I don’t have to go anywhere! Nice, I’m going to spend the day cleaning up and drinking cocoa. ^_^

Wow, so much for that resolution!

HA! First post of the year and I already broke my resolution! Oh well, I’m still doing better than posting once every couple months! This year (since November so far) I’ve given up cheese, fried foods, and ice cream. DH asked me if I can have whipped cream (yes.) He then asked me if I could have frozen whipped cream. I thought about it and replied, “shut up!” It’s more to the point to see if I can actually do it for a full year now. Although of course I have some exceptions.

1. I may have ONE small spoon sample of ice cream if, and only if my workplace gets a new ice cream flavour in stock for customer service reasons.

2. I may have either cheese or fried foods if it already comes on my monthly meal provided to me by the government. I will not piss off people by bitching about cheese on my potatoes, or that it’s a chicken fried steak entree when I’m trying to eat better. Tough shit, it’s food, it’s the Army, get over it.

These are the only two exceptions. I have been excellent with these items so far, but I have made mistakes.

1. I ordered something “alfredo” when my husband insisted it was a butter and cream sauce. Come to find out, it does indeed have cheese in it.

2. I fried up a small chicken strip at work which was not even CLOSE to one strip, it was more like a nugget. I popped it in my mouth totally forgetting that it was indeed, fried.

I don’t think I’ve messed up with ice cream yet, but I have come very close. My husband and I went to Uno’s when we went to Massachusetts over vacation. We ordered a deep dish cookie-brownie-something that came with a scoop of ice cream. We didn’t even think about it until it came with a big scoop in the middle. We made a deal, he ate the ice cream and let me have the whipped cream. I was tempted, but I didn’t waver!

So whaddya think? Will I make it through the summer months? Will Freddy’s frozen custard throw me over the edge? Will I finally snap as I fix up a customer’s sundae? We’ll find out next November if the frozen treats have me frazzled!

BTW: This ban also includes sherbet, frozen yogurt, frozen custard, sugar-free, and any other “iced” treat with the ONE exception of sorbet only because it’s not dairy and mainly contains fruit. (and sugar.) If I could find (or be advised about) a low sugar/sugar-free brand, I’m sure I could make it no problem. ^_^

New Year’s Resolution and the Perfect Christmas Present

Ok guys, it has come high time for me to get out of this slump regarding my updates, or lack thereof. I have officially resolved to update my site at least once a week! I hope it turns out, I just need to find that dang SD card for my camera! Anyway, here’s what’s been going on lately.

1. I FINISHED the huge stole I made from Knitty.com. I made “Danica”, but doubled the width in Noro silk garden. It is huge, gorgeous, and warm. I’ve thought about giving it away, but I think I need to keep this one.

2. I’ve Acquired a set of Knitpicks Options(!!!) and the set of beautiful wooden DPNs for Christmas! My husband totally rocks!

3. Speaking of the perfect Christmas present, this year I got the best present I’ve ever gotten in my life! He was reluctant to give it to me, he explained that there was another part that he had no idea when it would be available, it might be next year, for next Christmas maybe. I was so curious, I finally persuaded him to let me in on it. He pulled out this bag I recognized from Twist and assumed it was yarn for me! I opened it up and there were 3 skeins, one white, one red, and one green, 2 knitting needles with some cast on stitches, a small piece of attempted knitting, and his boyhood Christmas stocking. I had mentioned to him that I’d like to duplicate the Christmas stocking because as we all know, things made by Grandmothers and such people are priceless artifacts, and it would break my heart if anything happened to it. Well my sweetheart of a husband had decided that he would make the stocking himself! I assumed it was his Grandmother’s knitting which would have been special enough, but when he told me it was his, the tears came to my eyes, and I cried with such adoration for a person who took such an interest in something that I love that he really has no interest in himself. I put his first piece of knitting on a stitch holder and I’m planning to frame it. How cute is that? I have truly never had such a perfect Christmas present in my whole life. We sat together for a while as I tried to teach him the long tail cast-on. He finally got one stitch on his needle, and said “that’s enough for tonight”. ^_^ AWW he is too cute! I told him it took me a very long time to learn the long tail cast-on, and it can be frustrating, which I believe he agreed with. I asked him if he just wanted me to cast on for him, but he politely refused, saying he wanted to do it all himself. How could I not love that?

So there it is folks, my perfect Christmas present! Merry Christmas to everyone, remember that it’s not over until the 6th! So leave up the decorations and remind yourselves that there’s still plenty of reasoning to buy yourselves lovely Christmas presents! ^_^

Totally Gnarly 80s!

Tubular! I had like a totally radical time tonight!… Ok, that’s enough. Seriously though, I had a great time out with the girls at Totally Gnarly 80s at Cabaret Old Town. I dressed up in my li’l 80s outfit and I was thrilled that some of the actors had outfits similar to mine, and styled their hair the same way at one point too. Yayness! So I had a blast I forgot to get my picture taken there, so I took one at home, here I am!

So I had a blast, it was really a lot of fun! I hope to get to go again soon! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to wash out the carrot chunks I spit on myself in an outrageous fit of laughter. ^_^

Jury Duty!

WHEE! I got picked for Jury Duty this week, Yippee! I went Monday for Jury selection and I didn’t think I’d make it since I was one of 46 people in the room and I was knitting the entire time. Yeah, so much for that theory. Turns out I was chosen for a really juicy trial that I’m dying to tell y’all about when it’s over, but I can’t say a word for now.

I went to the DAV today to pick up my outfit for Totally Gnarly 80s night. I can’t wait, I’m so excited for this night! I’ve been knitting some rainbow legwarmers out of Noro Kureyon for the 80s effect, and I’ll totally have them done in time, I’m psyched. Tubular dude!

I’ve also finished one fingerless mitten, Dashing from Knitty. I’m giving them to someone who I hope will most definitely enjoy them. There are some people in the world who I think have deserved knitted gifts. Not many, but a few. I hope he enjoys the baby alpaca I used for him!

Famous!

Yeehaw! On Sunday after I got back from Drill Weekend, I went with the KIPers to go see the Yarn Harlot at East High. I arrived in uniform because a) I didn’t have time to change, b) I DID have time to change, but couldn’t tear myself away from Twist to go home and come back, and c) I admit it, I love the idea of getting attention by being a knitter in uniform. Being a PFC, I’m calling myself a “KFC”, a “knitter first class”. ^_^ We all really had a great time listening to her musings and whatnot. I did feel a little badly for not having a book for her to sign, but I asked her to sign my ticket instead (which she did gladly) while I told her my story. She snapped my picture and put it on her blog with my little story. Wow, I feel frickin’ famous! Now sifting through the comments, I’m loving reading about me. (I TOLD you I’m vain!) It’s nice to hear the support of a knitting soldier. We need to start a petition to let soldiers knit in Basic Training if they have their Smart Book memorized and can answer lots of board questions. (For christ’s sake, enough with the smart book already.) So HOORAY! Thank you to you Ms. Harlot for choosing our fair city to come visit, and for satisfying my insatiable ego. ^_^ I say HOOAH!

Hooah!

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to post. As you know, I’ve been away at Fort Jackson for the past 10 weeks, 1 week in reception doing in-processing, and the other 9 weeks doing Basic Training.  I’ve kept a journal of all my adventures throughout the process, I’ll try to share bits and pieces as I go, but I only get a limited time on the computer, and we all wait for access, so you’ll have to bear with me to be fair to my fellow soldiers.

 April 12th: Ship day! I’ve taken the Arms test today and barely made it! The step felt a lot higher than what I’m used to.  I didn’t know there was a maximum body fat % to take the test, I almost didn’t make it! 37% fat is a No-go, they turn you around and ship you home.  They calculated my fat at 36.4%! I just kept singing “The Touch” from the Transformers movie, and I recited the Soldier’s Creed to get me through. 

 April 19th Day 1 BCT: Welcome to Alpha! The barracks are a lot nicer over here, and I don’t have to deal with Coakley’s bitchy attitude in my platoon! Woooo, thank you Jesus! She’s still in the barracks though, but it’s all right.  I’ve been assigned to a top bunk, which I’m not sure if I like or not yet. At least people keep their shit off my bunk! I cried today because a fellow soldier cried during his introduction. It really made me think of Tim, and I just wanted to hold him right then. We did the obstacle course today which was fun, but I was disappointed with myself because I couldn’t do the monkey bars. I tore a pad on my hand which hurts like hell when sanitizer is put on it. We’re learning D+C (Drill and Ceremony) today which is awesome, and PT (Physical Training) tomorrow which is gonna suck. I’m tired and need my rest, good night!

April 26th Week 2 Day 1 BCT: VICTORY TOWER!  Oh my God it was so awesome to do victory tower today! It was a lot of fun, and I did something I never though i’d be able to do, and I had a hard time with repelling which I thought I knew.  The tower had a lot of different obstacles. The only one I was worried about was the single rope spanning a gap to a smaller tower, but you don’t really need a lot of upper body strength like I previously thought, your weight pulls you along as you move your hands and keep your balance.  We tied a swiss sweat (rope harness) and repelled down the 60ft. tower to the ground.  My repelling left a lot to be desired, but I still got down ok.

 Friday April 27th Week 2 BCT: PT this morning was fun, we did some fun suicide runs with events like running backwards, and skipping.  It was funny to see the “big dog” males skip as fast as they could!  We were all laughing and having a great time, I’m glad they’re making the PT fun here.

 Saturday April 28th Week 2, Day 3 BCT:  DS (Drill Sergeant) Epperson was at toe the line (late night soldier accountability) tonight, he made the fireguards step into the kill zone (taped off area of the floor only for DSs) and sing Billy Jean at the top of their lungs! They didn’t do it, but a few other ladies helped them out, it was pretty amusing!

Friday May 4th Week 3 Day 2 BCT: Today was definitely interesting. This morning the platoon marched out to the NBC (nuclear biological chemical) chamber.  They broke us up into groups of 25 and marched us into a small dimly lit room. We were all crammed around the outside edge of the walls. The DSs came around and we had to take a deep breath, close our eyes, and say our full name, rank, and SSN. Then we cleared it, sealed it, and opened our eyes again.  Then they broke us off into groups of 5. We all had to recite the Soldier’s Creed. I got to “I will always place the mission first” until I started gagging and choking. They told us to leave, and we did, snot out our noses, arms flapping like a bird. I had a hard time breathing, but I finally got it. ^_^

Wednesday May 9th Week 3 Day 7 BCT: Today was my first time ever firing a live weapon. They said there’s very light recoil, but I felt it like crazy!  At first I yhad nice tight shot groups, but the groups ended up all over the paper. I was very frustrated, and very disappointed in myself, but I suppose BRM (Basic Rifle Marksmanship) is one of those things that you can be an expert in on paper, but hands-on is another story entirely! I was told to stop shooting for the day which to me sounded like “You’re a god-damn waste of ammo. Go sit down and shut up.”

Friday May 25th Week 6 Day 2 BCT: Wow, what an awesome day today! We woke up + had early breakfast chow @ 5:30 today, and then we headed over to 120th (reception battalion) to exchange uniforms and get our class A uniforms issued to us! We got so many things! We got the short sleeve and long sleeve shirt, slacks, a skirt, the green class A jacket, a black raincoat, PT pants, a belt and a buckle, rank pins, insignia, berets(!!!) and my personal favourite: THE AIT FITNESS JACKET!!! I’ve been waiting for-freaking-ever to get the PT jacket, I’m so glad I’ve finally got mine! It’s just really too bad that we’re not allowed to wear them until AIT   At 120th we watched all the newbies at reception as we marched into the CIIP area (Uniform Issue) We went to each station and tried things on. They made piles of things to be altered which upset me at first, I thought they wouldn’t be back for a while, but everything was back within the hour, I couldn’t believe it! If only she did bridal gowns! I was really surprised to see how good a lot of the males looked in their class As. We got to see them when we modeled for the DSs during our inspection. It’s amazing what sharp clothes can do to a person’s image!

Saturday May 26th Week 6 Day 3 BCT: What a fantastic day! It’s Memorial Day weekend, so we got yesterday, today, tomorrow, and Monday as free personal time/movie days! We had early dinner chow at 16:30 and then we marched over to the Solomon Center where we watched the Soldier’s show. We bought pop and candy as authorized by 1SG (First Sergeant) Rinehart. Everyone was happy about that.  I got a Snickers and a Pepsi. The concert was really good, it was put on by soldiers from all over the nation, and they did an excellent show. Lodge was shaking her booty all night, and the guys behind her seemed to really enjoy that! I was sitting with the guys from our platoon, we were all hootin’ and hollerin’, swaying back and forth, rocking out to songs like foxy lady, neverland, and other songs they did.  All the roadguards took their flashlights and waved them around, it was a cool idea. All in all it was a cool concert, and i’m glad we had the opportunity to go.  I never thought in a million years that I’d attend something so incredibly awesome as the Soldier’s Show at BOOT CAMP!  I guess they don’t call this place relaxin’ Jackson for nothing!

 Wednesday June 6th Week 7 Day 7 BCT: Today at the range I had a good time shooting the shit with everyone.  One of the privates came by and asked Paluch if he needed any weapon oil.  Good ol’ Paluch, he replied: “No, bite the pillow son, I’m going in dry!” I cracked up, we all nearly died from laughing!   Later he grunted, almost like a mooing cow, so I said “should I milk you or something? You sound like a damn cow!” He said “Well I only have one udder!”  XD Then he added: “Man, I haven’t been milked since I got here!”  HAHA Good ol’ Paluch, I’ll miss the hell outta him.

 Tuesday June 19th Week 9 Day 6 BCT: Oh my God, it’s almost over, I can’t believe it! I feel like i’ve lived here for so much longer than I actually have, and that I know these people much better than I actually do. Like any place, I’ll be sad to leave most of them, but glad to leave a few. Today was another long day of preparation, messing with that damn supply room and whatnot.  We got ready for our IN4, our inspection for the cycle. We set up all the bunks with out cleaned gear which took forever. At 13:00 we put on our class Bs while we awaited our inspection. The person inspecting us turned out to be none other than LTC (Lieutenant Colonel) Remigio (Ruh-MEE-gee-o), the Battalion commander. He came around and asked us all questions and whatnot, and took a look at our gear. He came around to me, and asked me my second general order. I was so extremely embarassed, I KNOW my general orders by heart, but I froze! All I could remember was “to perform my duties in a military manner”. He was nice and helped me out with “I will obey…” I finished with “I will obey my special orders and perform all my duties in a military manner”. He said “good job” and moved on. I know he’s nice, but i can’t believe I was so nervous over an inspection. I’m just glad he asked me something I knew!

Wednesday June 20th Week 9 Day 7 BCT: I can’t believe it, the last day of BCT come and gone.  Today DS Kirk said that he had things stolen from him and was threatening his whole bay (sleeping quarters) with article 15s. (A military court action you don’t want!) One of the privates showed him were access was to the office, supply room, and personal bag closet- through the ceiling!! Someone has been using our cell phones without permission, and the theif apparently stole TONS of stuff and squirreled it away in unused wall lockers. Kevlar, LBV (load bearing vests), rucksacks, GPS, oakleys, sleeping bags, E6 and E7 ranks, war ribbons, medals, army coins, all stuffed in that wall locker. To top it off, they found MY ACU backpack in there with all my stuff gone except for a ball of yarn, my knitting tools, and my Nikes. That aws all in there for some ungodly reason. I was furious to have been violated and raped so personally like that, we’re supposed to set a higher standard as soldiers. I think the worst part of it is that there are people who fought, people to earn the ribbons and medals that he took. It’s a slap in the face to the soldiers and their families that he just took them so he could he appear decorated. Apparently, he has had a hard childhood and needs some kind of recognition. Well he got it today, the MPs  cuffed him and took him away to Ft. Leavenworth. As mad as I was, I still feel badly that he’s going to prison over this. If he had truly needed anything from me, I would have done my best to help, but I just wanted him to ask permission. Never before have I ever felt so personally violated and raw inside. I hope I never feel that again.

 Thursday June 21st FAMILY DAY!!: I can’t believe family day came and went! We marched out this morning to Hilton field and walked through the woodline. Some smoke grenades exploded and we ran out to the field, formed up, and marched to the stands. On the command of “fall out” I fell out to the ramp in the stands. I stood there for a bit, searching and scanning for Tim, and I found him and waved. Tears streamed down my face as I waited for him to exit the stands so I could take him in my arms. he lifted me up, we hugged and kissed for a while, then we went to a booth and bought a Basic Training DVD that I’ve been wanting. We walked back to the barracks, I showed him the bay, we chatted until 15:15 and we walked to the Solomon Center. We were early for our 16:00 dinner, so we walked around, browsed the shop, etc. I got an A company 3-60th shirt! ^_^ We had chicken and BBQ pork for dinner, then we went outside and played mini golf. My ball was hydrophillic, and his was hydrophobic. Together the balls were named “Phil”, and “Phoebe”. After that, his parents came and started taking pictures. It was good to see them, they had a few questions about me in the military, like customs, uniform, etc. which I had fun answering. We went back to the barracks, I did my laundry, we talked to other privates, all in all a great day! I can’t wait until tomorrow so I can finally GRADUATE!! Tomorrow’s going to be a long day. I’m 95% packed up and ready to go, All I have to do is walk straight through that Parade field, and I’m golden.

 Friday June 22nd GRADUATION DAY!!!: Today is the day we’ve all been waiting for! We woke up and went to chow like usual, but we got into class Bs when we got back. We were all looking sharp if I don’t say so myself! We saw a group of “turds” (soldiers still in training) on the bus and tried yelling advice to them, but the DSs told us to shut up. We got to Hilton field, lined up and marched out to our position on the field out of step because nobody could hear anybody calling cadence. We waited while awards were handed out and whatnot, maybe 30 minutes of sweat rolling down my back and unscratchable itches.