Choad, Wanker

I remember a time in my life where I spent hours each day browsing through MySpace, posting photos on Facebook, and writing daily entries for my blog.  When I arrived at work each morning, I signed on to every social networking page imaginable, and I panicked at the thought of signing off and missing any updates during the 20 to 30 minute drive home in the evenings.  After walking through my apartment door, before saying hello to my two kitties or even removing my coat and setting down my keys, I was flipping open the screen of my Mac and waiting patiently for each website to welcome me back.  God, I was a choad.

I do still sign on to OD several times a month and take a browse through all of my favorite diaries.  No, I don’t note or update all that often anymore, and sometimes I feel a little guilty about that.  You guys have remained faithful readers throughout the years, and though I’ve never met you, I honestly think of some of you as friends.  That sounded a little creepier than I intended, but I digress.  I’ve come to realize over the last couple of weeks or so… my life is full.  My life is finally happy and warm and brimming to the rim.  I understand now that I no longer need a computer and an internet connection to entertain me, to keep me in touch with people, to build social connections, or to make me feel younger than I really am.  I’ve officially grown up, and I have all of the love and life around me that I can stand!

Now, don’t worry.  I’m not hanging up my hat and saying farewell to OD.  I love you guys and this site too much for that!  I just wanted to take a minute to explain my lengthy absences.

So, what’s been going on for the last few months?  Where to begin?

Chuck took a new position on Ft. Hood with my company in May.  We work in the same office when I’m on post, and he no longer has to worry about being forced to deploy.  Deployments and travel are now on his own terms, and we can travel together should we decide to do so.  For the first time in many, many years, he loves his job, and doesn’t dread waking up in the morning to head to the office.  And since our company reimburses employees for school, he’s decided to finally finish his degree.  He’ll be starting classes at the end of this month.  I’m so proud of him!

Speaking of school, I’m thinking of applying to graduate school soon, too.  I’m just having a hard time deciding where to go.  I graduated with my bachelors with a 4.0 GPA, top of my class.  I can pretty much go wherever I want, but does it really matter?  I’d like to apply at UT, just for the sake of being a Longhorn alumni, but it would be hard to get to all of my classes given my work schedule.  Tarleton State University in Killeen would not previously have been an option for me (just because they’re not well known), but they’ve recently been bought by Texas A&M.  Perhaps I’ll be an Aggie?  Another option I’ve considered is the online program offered by Carnegie Mellon.  Decisions, decisions.

We have officially become a rescue home for abandoned animals.  Or so it seems.  Earlier in the summer, we adopted an 8-week-old orange tabby and two year-and-a-half pups, a pit mix and an American bulldog.  In keeping with our musically themed kitty names, our newest is known as Willie.  After all, Willie Nelson’s nickname is the Redheaded Stranger.  It’s fitting.  Both the dogs were already named, Chloe and Ivan, respectively, and since they already responded to those, we kept them.

Ryan and Delaney spent the entire latter part of the summer with us.  We spent quite a few of the hot, summer days lounging at the HOA pool, playing hours of Rock Band, taking the dogs for walks, and riding bikes with the other kids in the neighborhood.  Ryan even learned to ride without her training wheels before she left.

The only downside to the visit was that Ryan had to have surgery her last couple of days with us.  When she first arrived, we noticed that she was having trouble breathing and sleeping.  We took a peep down her throat, and sure enough, her tonsils were actually touching.  Within five minutes of a visit with the doc, he decided that they definitely needed to come out.  Chuck called the ex as a courtesy to let her know that Ryan’s appointment was scheduled and she’d need to pay half of the deductible, and she fought hard.  She wanted a second opinion.

Um, what the fuck, over.

Your child’s tonsils are freaking touching!  Now, I had my tonsils removed at the age of 19, and let me just say, that was one of the most painful experiences I’ve ever been through.  I was actually angry at my mom for not having mine taken out when I was kid because it’s a lot harder on an adult body.  Not to mention, Chuck retrieved Ryan’s medical records from her new pediatrician in Beaumont, and Jess had to take her to the doc six times over the winter months for coughing, sore throat, and sinus issues.  Now, don’t you think that’s a bit outrageous?

Fortunately for us, Chuck has the independent right to elect surgery for his kids per the divorce decree.  And as long as the procedure is covered by health insurance, she has to pay half of the out of pocket costs, and he doesn’t have to get a second opinion.  Shit, I think the fact that she went the doctor six times in three months is second opinion enough.  Thankfully, she came around to the idea, showed up for the surgery in Austin, and even paid her half.  Ryan was a trooper, and within minutes of waking up from anesthesia, was playing her DS and talking on the phone with Delaney.

It was a great summer visit with the girls, and I was sad to see them go home.  Once school starts back up, though, we’ll get back to our regularly scheduled weekend visits.  And holy bejeezus, Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner!  How in the hell did that happen?  It seems like we were just sitting around the tree opening gifts and visiting with family yesterday!  They weren’t kidding when they said time goes by faster as you get older.

In other news, we finally finished our back yard projects — the patio, deck, and new shed — and decided to start work on the front.  Chuck had long hated the patchy St. Augustine grass covering our front lawn.  So what did we do?  We sprayed RoundUp on every last bit of it.  Within two weeks, we had nothing but dirt.  We decided on a fast-growing, hybrid mix of Bermuda, but we felt that if we were going to spend the money on this good seed, we should probably put in a sprinkler system to properly maintain it.  Yeah, our dumb asses decided we could totally do this ourselves.  And we did, but fuck, it was a pain in the rear.  Three weeks into planting our grass seed, though, and we are starting to see a nice, even covering of beautiful, green Bermuda.  Oh, and lets not forget that I planted 26 new sage bushes down both sides of the house and across the fence line, 14 tall Texas grasses around our mailbox and meters, and 48 ground cover plants around the trees in the front.  Oh, and we also planted a Crepe Myrtle, three fruit trees, and two pecans around the house.

The good idea fairy really needs to stop visiting our house, cause all her good ideas are getting quite expensive.

Of course, I have several random pictures that I’d like to post, but Zoto, the photo server I’ve been using for years, is being a wanker.  Several times over the last couple of months, I’ve been unable to get to any of my photos.  They’ve officially stopped supporting the site and have pretty much let it go down the tubes.  I finally bit the bullet and signed up for a pro Flicr account back in June, but I’m still in the process of migrating all my pictures over.  A little over 2000 down, and probably about that many still to go.  I’ll post some of the new pics as soon as I get access to them again.

* Oh, and if you see some really old entries at the top of the update list, it’s only because I’m trying to update all of my photo links with the new Flickr address.  What a pain…

Cheers!
Felina