The End and A New Beginning

There is not enough room to talk about how proud I am of my husband and his 23 years of service in the Air Force.  His dedication to God, this country and to us is overwhelming.  He is the best husband and father we could ask for and I am so happy to have been able to share 17 of the last 23 years of service with him.  He finished his career on July 8, 2014 with a wonderful ceremony in front of family and friends.  (In a very hot hanger :))

Summer

I can't believe the last time I posted there was snow on the ground.  It has been very busy and hectic in this house of ours these last few months. So many changes. A house for sale, a husband retired, new job in the works, and a cross country move happening in just a few short weeks. My head has been spinning since January and it hasn't stopped yet. I have tried very hard to try to keep some normal things happening this summer just to keep some sanity. I planted a late garden this year.  I had not planned on one because of the house being on the market but the garden beds just looked so sad.  I grabbed a few tomato plants and rummaged through some old seeds I had and everything is doing pretty well. Well, except for the yellow pear tomatoes.  I don't know why I keep buying that variety because they never make it.  Oh well.
Ruby and I have our morning routine down this summer.  She and I are up way before anyone else in the house so we have plenty of time to survey the estate, water everything, and little game of doggie soccer.  She is a good morning companion.
We didn't sign the girls up for any camps this summer not knowing what our plans would be after the retirement but we have tried to throw in as many fun things as we can in between all the nuttiness. Jef's best friend Mike came to visit us for a few days so we hit the base pool for a few hours of fun.  The girls love it.  It has a great slide and a diving board. The big kids love it just as much.  The base pool has adult swim every hour.  It only lasts about 15 minutes but its nice if they want to swim laps or just hang with other adults and not have to worry about kids.  Yeah right, what really happens is the adults have free run of the pool to act like big kids.  Cannon balls off the diving board, no waiting for kids on the slide, and a little showing off for everyone with their fancy dives off the board.  Its quite funny actually.
I hope you are having a great summer!

January

Oh January where do you come from?  I feel like it was just Christmas and now January is almost done.  There has been so much happening here.  The girls went back to school, the weather has been super crazy (thank you polar vortex), I have been cleaning like a mad woman, and the dreaded winter cooties have landed at our house.
Right after Christmas Jef and I had a serious sit down conversation about what this year has in store for us.  Jef will be retiring this year from the Air Force and this leaves us in a strange place.  He will retire just shy of 23 the years and I have been with him 17 of those years.  Its what we know and now we are entering the unknown.  Really scary.  Our plan had always been for him to get a civilian position on a base but that plan changed when they put a stop on civilian jobs because of budget and all that nonsense.  Now we find ourselves in unknown territory of the real world.  We have two plans.  Plan A is to find a job.  Obviously.  We are looking where we live now and also in Las Vegas (where my family is).  The thought of starting completely over where we know no one makes us both a little uncomfortable.  Plan B came from the lack of jobs he was finding in the pay range we need.   No matter how much experience he has managing people and jobs the pay is reduced significantly and jobs are scarce for us without the BA/BS.  So Plan B is to move to Vegas and stay with family while he finishes his degree.  So with all that being said we have decided to put the house on the market.  (Commence stress puking here).  After the plans were discussed I pulled out the legal pads and starting making lists.  Cleaning lists, project lists, and packing lists.  I NEED to write things down.  I am not a "wing it" kind of girl.  These lists are overwhelming.  So one day at a time and one list at a time things are starting to get done. Well, until the cooties hit our house.
Poor Hannah has been sick since last Monday.  We are off to the doctor again today.  Well, I should say we will be seeing a doctor today.  Walk in hours at the base were useless.  Hopefully we can find out what is wrong and get her better.  Jef has also been sick but seems to be on the mend.  With all the sickness, a holiday, and scheduled teacher work days my cleaning and project list have been put on hold, oh yeah, and not to mention two snow days thrown in.  The crazy weather has me begging for Spring.  Temperatures in the teens with below 0 wind chills is not normal for this mid-Atlantic state.
The girls ventured out for a very short time to play in the snow.

 I know a formal introduction is needed but for now, this is Ruby.  She was very unsure about the snow at first but it didn't take her long to start loving it.
I hope your January days have been less stressful, less busy, and a lot warmer than mine.  Here's hoping for an early Spring.