Green & Blue Decorations

It's been a long time since I've blogged.  I decided to go ahead and post these pictures, mostly cause I am proud and amazed at myself for putting it all together~

I had this table runner and it was my inspiration for colors.

This one is of the 16 place settings.  We have several 5 foot tables so we used a couple of them along with our many folding chairs to have enough room for everyone to sit.

I placed water bottle at each place setting.  I served drinks as well, but it worked out great because almost everyone drank their water too.

A good view of the folded napkin.

The menu cards I made to match the table.

Glam-ma's?

Really people?  I was cleaning up the kitchen this morning when lo and behold on the Today Show, there were two middle aged women who refused to be called "grandma".  They preferred names such as Noni, Ya-Ya, Nana, or even worse, "Glam-ma".

These women appeared to be very fit, dressed nice, took care of themselves and in no way looked "old".  Their reasoning was that their image of a grandma was someone who stayed in their house all day cooking and cleaning for grandpa, doing the laundry and knitting all day with their bi-focals at the end of their noses.  Those who wore moo-moos and house shoes.  And they didn't want to be out in public with their grandkids and someone (heaven forbid) call them grandma and then the people around them conjur up this pre-described image.  They even went as far as to say that before the baby is born, you should quickly meet up with the expectant parents and discuss what name you will be called.  By doing this, you can snag up the good nicknames before they are all taken!!!  REALLY??!?!?!

I hate to break it to ya, ladies --- if your children have children...YOU-ARE-A-GRAND.MA!!!!  Whatever the kids call you, you are still a grand.ma!  (It's different if you have a family tradition, or a cute little name comes out when you kids can't say grandma.) 

When my mother heard I was having a baby and she was not "old enough to have a grandchild", she never ONCE said, "I am too young to be called grandma",  (At least not to me, she didn't.)  Instead, she relished in the fact that now she would have a new little someone that she could spoil rotten, love to pieces, and shower with everything she had to give...and to be called Grandma. 

No matter how old or young you are, grandma is just a name.  Enjoy it!  As a friend's son just put it to me a few minutes ago, these woman are depriving themselves of the joy of being a grandma by being wrapped up in what the child should call them as to not make them sound too old. 

I have a vision of a grandma, and it certainly isn't the description from paragraph 1.  It's of someone who loves me, spends time with me, took care of me when I was younger (and still does, at times), drives to come visit me, goes places with me, loves me unconditionally, and doesn't judge me for how I look.  My daughter's vision of a grandma is a young, vibrant woman, who runs marathons, eats healthy, works hard and spoils her rotten.  Maybe these "glam-ma's" should focus more on their lifestyles by put a new, healthy image into their grandkids heads instead of worrying if they are still considered glamourous! 

Cut me some slack!

I am feeling a little overwhelmed today. So I decided to blog. I don't know if anyone will read this, but frankly, I am just writing it to hopefully get some relief. Get out of my own head, so to speak. It seems as though almost immediately after I posted my last blog about trying to stay positive about the move, the whole world has almost crumbled down on me. It's almost like I keep hitting one road block after another after another. We have known since December 2nd where the AF was going to send us ~ Robins AFB in Georgia. Some of my friends know that it wasn't the assignment we were expecting, so it took David and I a few weeks to swallow it. We finally became content, I think, with the fact that we were moving (or maybe we just got busy and decided not to worry about it anymore, since it couldn't change anything!) Anyway, we got moved into our new house, tried to get settled, planned a small vacation to go visit our friends in Montgomery, AL followed by a quick trip to Robins to check things out, then a nice relaxing 3 day vacation at the beach. It was beautiful, I felt rested, I didn't have a care in the world. Once we were home and back to reality, I asked David to please check into what we need to do as far as moving. You see, our daughter is on EFMP (Exceptional Family Member Program) through the military because of her autism (PDD-NOS) diagnosis, ADHD, LD, and gross & fine motor delays. This program is designed so that the military family doesn't find themselves stationed somewhere that care is not available. I don't think it's designed to narrow the field of opportunity for our military member, but more to protect the family member. This would be our first move with her on this program and I had no idea what to expect, except that I had heard it becomes a bit cumbersome. David was not too into "checking into things" early, he felt the system needed to work itself out and that we didn't need to worry about things beyond our control. While I agreed with him, it's not my nature to just sit around and wait. I need answers...I need to feel "safe". Safe that my family won't have to live apart, safe that things will work out, safe that my husbands career will not be affected by the medical care our daughter needs. For the past 2 1/2 years or so, Taylor has received OT (Occupational Therapy) for 45 minutes two times a week where the focus is working on her fine and gross motor skills. While she has made leaps and bounds, she is still not caught up to where she needs to be. She has also received ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) Therapy three times a week for 2 hours each. This is a therapy designed for children on the autism spectrum to help with a variety of needs. Taylor's main need is social skills. They are helping her learn body language, social cues, how to interact with someone, when/what is appropriate type behavior, etc. Taylor sees everything in black and white. There is no gray area for her. In addition, we also have access to a child psychologist, if the need presents itself. And it has on a few occasions. With Taylor's spectrum diagnosis (PDD-NOS), she is also qualified to be on yet another program offered through Tri-Care. It's called ECHO (Extended Care Health Option). This is the program that allows her to receive ABA treatment. I did some research online to find a pediatric therapy location (for OT) and to look for a BCaBA (for ABA) in the local area. Since I wasn't having much luck, I decided to call her case manager at ECHO to just be sure there are services available in Macon, GA. The studies say that 1 in 10 kids are on the spectrum, so surely there would be services in an area of 65,000 people, right? After a few phone calls , messages, and transfers, I finally talked to the gal who would be her case manager when we move. Less than comforting news. She did not show anyone in Tri-Care receiving ABA in the area we would be moving, nor did she see a facility within a 90 mile radius. WHAT!?!?!?! The 90 mile radius is important because we've been told your assignment may get denied if you have a family member on EFMP and no services are available within 90 miles. But she did tell me that there were some in central florida and south carolona, and would look into it and let me know if one of them was willing to travel to us, or at least travel to within the 90 mile radius. Breath, breath, breath!!! David and I have decided to wait to panic about this, but I just can't help it. It's scary. Without the EFMP process completed, we can not make any plans for moving because we can't get official orders until that is approved. We can't book TLF, we can't go to TMO, we can't book a family vacation in between assignments. In addition, we are having battles about when David's report date is. We want to report Jul 31, they want us there Jul 19. David has an event with the military that will keep us here until the 15th of July. So now I am presented with 4 days to move, two of which are the weekend. I either have to pack the house alone (while my husband works 12 hours shifts ~ at night), pack the house prior to the event and have them put our stuff in storage, or pack the house several weeks prior and Taylor and move early, leaving David behind and setting up the new house alone. Of course, we can't plan ANY of this stuff without knowing the outcome of the EFMP review!!!! This also give us 4 days to get from one location to the next. David working nights up until the 15th, the drive 15 hours to our new location, and hopefully have 2 days to get our house, have TMO deliver our goods, have a change of command for David, and get settled ~ all without a vacation. Ugh. This is really too much stress. The moving is stressful enough without all these other factors involved. I just need some answers. I need to know what to do. I need to know everything will be ok. I need to know my family will be able to stay together. I need to know my husband will be able to keep his orginally assigned job, or at least get a comparable one. I dont' know what else to say. :"(

I'm really tired of being Negative Nelly

It's that time again.  We've heard the AF has plans for my husband, and we'll be moving to Warner Robins, GA.  We found this information out WAY back in December.  I've had a long time to process it.  Most of my friends know that it wasn't the assignment my husband expected.  But we are ready for it and he is excited and ready for the challenge.
Being a military BRAT (and yes, I am proud to say BRAT), I always dreaded my dad's next assignment.  It always seemed as though it would be time to move right when I was starting to feel comfortable at the current location.  I would have just begun to let my guard down, let people in, and have real friends.  I would actually begin to like the place I had been dragged to by my toenails, and now the AF was telling my parents that we had to move again!!!  I swore as a teen that I would never, ever marry a man in the military, and never, ever put my own children through the same social difficulties that I had been through. 
What do ya know?  I fell for a military guy.  Ugh.  What does this mean?  Either I have to break up with him (not an option), convince him that serving and defending our country was not the right career path for him (again, that's out), or suck it up and realize that maybe it wasn't all that bad growing up as a military BRAT.  Of course, I choose Option #3.  You just can help who you fall in love with.  :)
After all that, in my married life, I have had to say goodbye to a lot of friends who felt more like family, set up our house on more than a few occasions, redecorate because what we had in the previous house no longer fit in the new one (i.e., mostly curtains, storage containers, etc.), and just simply suck it up. 
In all of our assignments, I have argued and found every reason under the sun as to why we can not possibly go to the next place, in hopes that the AF will change it's mind and let us just stay where we are, with all the great people that are already there.  This particular time, I told myself that I would not make excuses, I would just go.  Go to Georgia, experience all the new people, places, food, culture.  Go and enjoy this opportunity. 
Yesterday during my run, I wondered why I wasn't trying to get my husband to retire - as I have done the past three assignments.  Where was my "negative nelly" persona?  Was it manifesting itself in other ways, like..."will my husbands health condition keep up from going?", "will my daughter's medical needs prevent the assignment from going through".  Yes it was!  After that realization, I came home and vowed to be more positive ~ like I started out to do in the first place.  GA is a good assignment for my husband, there will be services available for our daughter, and my husband's health will be resolved soon.  There more than likely will be wonderful people there too.  We are a very lucky, happy family and not everyone gets the opportunity to see so many different parts of the country.  No more negative nelly living here.  At least I hope not!

Cell Phone Obsessions

I've started reconizing over the past few weeks that I am obsessed with my cell phone.  Well, really I realized it about a year ago when my daughter got her first cell phone and she was on it all the time.  I had to take a step back and recognize where she got the obsession from.  Of course, part of it was because she was a teenager and that's just what the do.  But the other part was ME.
I started to take it easy on how often I checked my facebook, or my email, or my texts.  I realized that I had my cell in my hand just as much as I had a diet coke in my hand.  (And those that know me, know that's a lot).  I decided to implement a new rule for the house ~ in addition to no one having their phone at dinner, now no one could bring their cell phones into the living room either.  So if we were having family time watching TV, or playing a game, or whatever, NO ONE could be on their cell phones...meaning my husband couldn't do any work on his cell during our family time either.
That's seemed to work, or so I thought it had.  Yesterday, I realized it hasn't worked as well as I'd thought.
I sent a text to some of our family and friends to let them know how David was doing.  I normally would hear right back from most everyone, but I didn't.  Oh well, I thought.  Everyone is busy.  I was teaching Taylor at the time, so I just let it go.  On our way to dinner, I still hadn't heard back from ANYONE!  I started thinking of my day and realized I'd sent several text messages and not heard back from any of them.  Oh no!  What could be wrong?  Could everyone really be ignoring me?  Of course not.  It's not "all about me", ya know!
I began frantically reviewing my text log, and noticed a consisent pattern...they were ALL showing the same status..."sending..."  NONE OF THEM HAD EVEN GONE THROUGH!!!  What the heck.  I put the phone away and decided to try to ignore it.  We ordered our drinks.  (I broke a rule and checked to see if they'd sent.  No.)  We ordered our food.  (I broke it again and rebooted my phone.  Still nothing.)  We got our food. (again, rule broken, and I took out my battery to restart my phone.  Nada).  I couldn't even have conversation at dinner that didn't constitute my cell phone.  What have I become?!?!
Well, I chucked it into my purse vowing not to look at it again.  After about 30 minutes, I'd forgotten all about my phone and texting problems and was able to enjoy the rest of the evening.  Phew~!!  What a relief!
This morning, I woke up later than normal.  What a nice surprise!  To sleep in~what's that about?  I instintively grabbed my cell phone and checked my email, facebook, played a couple games of solitare.  Then I did it...checked my texts.  NOTHING HAD GONE THROUGH STILL!  Ignore it, Jenn, ignore it!!!  Argh!
I set off on my 2 mile run, listening to the beautiful sounds of music ringing through my iPod into my ears.  But what was on my brain?  Yep, you guessed it.  Texting.  I need help.  Do they make a pill for this?