Patience is a Virtue

Sometimes being a Milspouse housewife waiting to get back to the mainland sucks. 

But if my time as an Army wife has taught me anything, it is this:

I have no patience. 

And it seems I never will. 

The Girl Who Cried Ghost

Sometimes, Husband likes to play tricks on me. Most of the time I find them slightly more annoying than funny but Husband really loves them. The ghost incident that occurred yesterday was much worse than a normal trick though; it was 99% terrifying and 1% funny [although the more time that passes, the funnier it becomes]. It started like this:

Laying in bed at approximately 0510, Husband wakes me up to inform me that he thinks he heard something. He then goes on the tell me how he woke up way before his alarm because he was convinced he saw something moving in the room. He then leaves for PT, leaving me cowering under the covers, trying to decide if he was lying or if I should seriously consider we have a ghost. I eventually fall back asleep and don't think twice of Husband's story when I wake up.

A few hours later, I decide to jump in the shower so I can have plenty of time to get ready before Husband gets home for lunch. [On a normal day, I would have at least an hour before I would expect him home.] So I'm in the shower, shampooing my hair and singing louder than necessary, when I open my eyes. As my eyes adjust, I realize that there's a face colored blur on the other side of the curtain but with all of the steam and soap, I can't really tell what it is. Instantly, Husband's story comes rushing back to my mind. I immediately begin to question my sanity. To prove to myself that I am not really crazy, I blink my eyes a few times and lean a little closer to the shower curtain to get a better look at the "face". The closer I get, the more I realize that there really is a face on the other side of the shower curtain. For a second I just stand there, frozen in terror, trying to decide if there is a ghost or a kidnapper in my bathroom. I decide neither is good, but either way I'm going to have to face it.

Bravely, I tear back the shower curtain to find Husband standing on the bathmat with the biggest smile on his face. And then I cried. Not just normally tears, but uncontrollable sobs of relief. I hadn't even realized how truly scared I had been until I realized that I was not actually being haunted. Naturally, Husband felt absolutely terrible and promised never to play a trick on me again.

I'll let you know how that goes. 

:]  

Mustache Face

I have never been good at entertaining myself. Even as a child, I never liked to do things alone. My ability to become instantly lonely has carried over into adulthood and makes living alone quite difficult. During the times that I'm not running around on island adeventures...

 [My first sea turtle encounter]

 [Hiking at Kolekole Pass]

*Photos by Beckie

...I'm doing anything I can to keep busy inside the apartment. Since cleaning is boring and obviously out, I've come up with an array of activities to keep myself occupied until Husband makes his appearance. Today, my activity of choice was waxing...

[My wax mustache face.]

Let's just say, waxing and boredom do not mix.

Lesson learned.

Grown-up Girl

Sometimes being a grown-up isn't fun at all. Like when I have to move 3,000 miles away from my home with only the essentials. As if that wasn't stressful enough, when I got here, I realized that the condo I rented was dirty and disappointing. Then I went to pick up the car and it wouldn't start. So I had to buy a new battery. While I was waiting for AAA to install it, I noticed that the tags were expired. I ended up having to pay for new tires and an alignment before I could get them renewed. Top all of that off with moving our stuff out of storage in the constant rain and the last week has been pretty hard.

Thankfully, I had Mom with me. She's the only reason I didn't have a full blown mental breakdown. She was absolutely amazing and helped me make the apartment feel like a home. She helped me pick out my pretty, new couch and even bought me a dining room table, rug, coffee table and vacuum. My apartment that started out as a disappointing mess ended up feeling a little bit like a home.

[Sorry for the crappy pictures]

Sadly, Mom had to go back home and now I'm forced to become a real grown-up girl and live on my own for a while. Some moments it doesn't seem so bad. Others, it feels absolutely impossible. Hopefully I survive.

The Crazy Army Wife

Sometimes, when your husband is deployed, you turn into a giant loser and you just go a little crazy. You spend your Friday nights sitting around watching Say Yes To The Dress and thinking about the beautiful wedding you had. You think of how happy you were that day and how your husband was actually home. Then you think of your wedding dress upstairs in the closet and you want to try it on. So you do.

You twirl and realize that your dress is about 3 sizes too big so you have to sit down. Then you become the crazy Army wife sitting around in her wedding dress missing her deployed husband.

Man, I'm such a loser.

The Comedian

My Dad is one of those people that says exactly what's on his mind, as soon as it pops into his head. He has no filter and thinks the more inappropriate and socially unacceptable he is, the better. He also "doesn't believe in": sunscreen, driving the speed limit or being early to anything. As children, he would always make my brother and I get in and out of the car like speedy, miniature Nascar drivers and would then speed to our destination because "Veterans can drive 5 miles over the speed limit". [To this day I still get in and out of the car faster than anyone I know.]

Once, when I was about 13 years old, I managed to trick my dad into arriving at the movies a little early. I lied to him about the start time of the "show" (as he calls it) so we wouldn't miss the first 5 minutes like we always did. Big mistake on my part. Minutes after we took our seats, my Dad was standing and began making his way to the front of the theater. He stood in the front and announced to all the other movie-goers that he was going to entertain us until the movie started. By the middle of his little stand up comedy act, I had sunk down so far in my chair I was practically sitting on the floor. Then, to my horror, my Dad pointed right at me and introduced me to the entire theater full of people. Everyone turned in their seats to stare at me, the comedian's daughter. My Dad and I didn't go out in public for a while after that.

With experiences like that under his belt, I should have known better than to invite my Dad to Zumba. I really don't know what I was thinking. Let's just say the class began with him dressing like a gangster, sagging pants and all, and ended with him discussing the quality of instructer's butt.

I don't even know how we could possibly be related.

Backyard Creeper

This past Friday, the weather was perfection. The sun was shining, birds were chirping and I was ready to get a tan. I threw on my bathing suit, turned the stereo on and headed out into the sun. I put my towel down in the middle of the grass, slid on my sunglasses and settled in for a nap.

Just as I was drifting off, I was startled back to consciousness by the sound of a man faintly singing to the song on the radio. My radio. Let's just say, I was more than a little concerned that I was being watched by a random creeper man. To check out the situation, I casually sat up, pretending to fix my towel, while really trying to locate the creeper. After scanning the yard a few times and coming up with nothing, I decided that maybe I had just imagined the voice. So I laid back down, ready to enjoy my nap in the sun.

Not two minutes later, the singing started again. This time, I didn't wait to locate the man behind the voice. Instead, I jumped up and ran back into the house at the speed of light. Instantly, my heart started racing as I realized the voice of the creepy singer was even louder inside the house! Bravely, I crept up the stairs to find it's source. That's when I ran into my brother, who I didn't even know was home, as he made his way out of the shower. It turns out he had been singing in the shower so loudly that I could hear him all the way in the backyard. So my afternoon in the sun was ruined only by my over-active imagination. At least there wasn't really a creeper though, right?

[still pastey white]

Oh, You Know

This morning I woke up with nothing to do, so in a fit of boredom, I accidently joined Twitter.

Now you might be thinking, "How do you accidently join Twitter?" And I really don't have an answer. One minute I was thinking about cinnamon raisin bagels and the next I was tweeting. It was a common sense blackout. But now that it's over and done with, there's no going back. So, do you want to be Twitter friends?

I can't garauntee that I'll be all that interesting but if you're brave, you can follow me at MrsLibbysLife.

In other, slightly more exciting news, I'm get to move myself back to Hawaii in 50 short days. [You know your husband is in the Army when 50 days is a short period of time.] In all seriousness though, I can't wait to move back to this:

[My pretty street]

Is it a little over ambitious if I've already started packing? Maybe. But it's never too early to start tanning. I better go do that before I do something else crazy, like try to use twitter from my new smartphone.

Trucks & Trash Cans

My day started with a bang.

And by bang, I mean the sound of me driving my brother's truck into the recycling can at the end of the driveway.

[In my defense, it's a giant truck. Ok, and I'm not the best driver.]

As the crash echoed down the entire street, I jumped down out of the truck to another wonderful surprise.  The garbage man apparently hadn't come yet, because the street in front of the house was littered with water bottles and newspapers. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, two of my neighbors came out of their houses to witness me frantically scooping trash out of the street.

After I had finally put all the trash back into the can, I got back in the truck and drove away. Not two minutes later, as I rounded the corner onto the main road, a man ran by wearing Army PT's. The surprise of seeing a soldier combined with my unfortunate driving incident pushed me over the edge and I just burst into tears.

I am so ready for this deployment to be over so I can stop being an emotional wreck all the time.

Short But Not Sweet

Today I was sitting on the couch watching HGTV, happy as a clam, when I realized just how long it had been since I'd seen my husband's face, held his hand, kissed him. And suddenly I missed him so intensely that I could barely breathe. For some reason, it seems like the closer R&R gets, the harder it is for me to get through the day without constantly having to hold back tears. Maybe it's the holiday season and my reaction to seeing so many happy, kissing couples. Maybe it's the fact that I'm out of school now so I have extra time to be sad. Or maybe it's the fact that he has been gone for months and months now and it's starting to wear on my emotions. Whatever the reason, I don't like it one bit and I really hope it passes as quickly as it came.

If I don't get my husband back soon, I might just lose my mind.

No Hangers Allowed

I'd like to think that I'm a pretty good wife. I cook, I clean, I do laundry. And when husband is home, I do loads and loads of it. After the clothes are washed, I promptly fold and put them away. Since husband deployed, I have developed the terrible habit of living out of my laundry basket. After my clothes are washed, they go into the laundry basket and then straight onto my body. No drawers or hangers required.

And let me tell you people, I love it! No folding, no organizing and everything is exactly where I can find it. If husband was home to witness this atrocious lack of housekeeping skills, he would probably have a heart attack. But since he's not here, I have begun to let my laundry situation get completely out of hand. I have literally lost all motivation to live like a civilized human being. I have officially become a heathen.

How do I know, you may ask? Yesterday, I crawled out of bed to find this mess:

Shocked by my own messiness, I knew I had to do something. However, the thought of dragging out the hangers and putting my entire wardrobe back into the closet where it belongs seemed like pure torture. So I found another, easier solution to my little problem:

I cleared a path to the door. Problem solved.

Well, at least until husband gets home and I have to resume folding clothes like a normal person. Until then, I'm allowing myself the pleasure of living like a heathen. Allowing myself to live this way may prove that I have actually gone off the deep end this time. So, is this a bad idea? Maybe, but I really don't care.

Christmas Cheer

It seems as though I've misplaced my Christmas spirit. I've looked every where and I just can't seem to find it.

I thought decorating the tree would help...

...but it didn't.

Then I tried baking cookies, my favorite Christmas activity of all time...

...but it felt more like work than fun.

And while I would normally love planning the Christmas party...

...this year I could barely muster any excitement.

Hopefully, by the time Santa gets here, my Christmas cheer will have returned.

Until then, Chloe and I will be waiting patiently by the tree.

Danger: Crazy Girl Ahead

I am pretty sure that I am very, dangerously close to losing my mind. If for one second I could peer inside my pretty, little head to get a small glimpse of what's going on in there, I'm quite sure that all I would see is a tiny version of myself, one foot dangling in mid-step off of a very high cliff. What is happening to me, people?! I feel like I'm losing my mind! 

Just one of my many, many examples: Today I went through the entire day being sad and mopey, thinking that I hadn't gotten a phone call from Chris in weeks. In a moment of absolute self pity, I checked the incoming call log on my phone to see just how many days it has actually been, thinking to myself that I probably deserved a pat on the back or something for being such a patient Army Wife. So as I scrolled through the list of calls, I couldn't believe my eyes. Do you know what my phone said? It said Chris had just called on Saturday...and on Sunday! How is it that I have no recollection of him even calling at all? It was only 3 days ago! Normally I'm so excited to be talking to him I never forget a word he says. Never, ever have I forgotten an entire conversation! And in the last week I have forgotten two!? Now my memory is turning me into a bad wife.

[Photographic proof of my crazy.]

If I can't even remember phone calls with the love of my life that were only 3 days ago, think of all the other things that could be going terribly wrong with my brain! Seriously, people. This is no joke. This time next week I may not even be able to remember my own name. If this does indeed happen, which the odds are looking good that it will, can someone send out a search party, please? With my luck, I'll most likely have forgotten how much I hate nature and I'll be off trying to hike again.