The Miracle of a Phone Call (Day 80)

First of all...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. P!

The love of my life has hit 26 years of air-breathing wonder.

The day we got engaged, if he looks a lil drunk it's because he 1. was teary-eyed from proposing and 2. had a few shots of Jack in him ;-)

A quick shout out to him... the most amazing man I've met. The man who made my life make sense, who made everything work out, the best kisser and most tolerable person (I mean, he deals with me, HELLO) with the sexy back and poop-brown eyes. I hope you had a safe birthday filled with your favorite kind of MRE. :)

Riding in a humvee in AP Hill Va, stole the pic from his FB

A few hours ago, I got just what I needed - a phone call from my hottie tottie Marine babe. I had been getting increasingly agitated and grumpy the past week from not hearing from him and hearing all this crap and not know what to believe and... ah it had just built. But this morning when my phone rang with that weirdo number I felt my heart lift and the weight begin to fall off my shoulders. My babe is ok, he sounds good actually, and even less tired than the last time I talked to him (weird because I'd assume he's busier now, probably more energized due to the lift in the boredom). He is attached to a new company, Charlie, which is neat because that is my "deployment wife"'s husband's company (are you following along... haha). He said they let him use the phone for his bday - woop woop.

He asked what we were gonna do with the house. I told him I'm still undecided and he sounds to be in the same predicament; awesome, no help from the Mr... but it's ok because we've still got time (I'm going to be saying that until we run out of time and are stuck). He agrees with me though and doesn't want to get stuck with a mortgage but he also told me that he might choose to stay with this unit longer so he can go on the MEU with them next deployment (it's rumored to be a MEU next in 2012, we'll see how true that is...) I'm not sure how I feel about this possibility but that's all it is right now a possibility, every time I talk to him he's got a different career idea. He mentioned base housing again but I just don't think that'd be the best fit for us, I could be wrong... and he also said we could look for a bigger place to rent, key problem with that is places bigger that I've looked into cost more than the mortgage on our house would... ah.

But it wasn't a totally business convo, that was just one thing he was wondering about. We talked about what he's been doing a little bit and he continues to assure me that he's not going on patrols but staying at the company's headquarters... however that may be set up I don't really know, but it is slightly comforting that he's not actively patrolling. We talked about BINGO (dammit I forgot to tell him about O-69!) and baby girl and just told each other we loved each other (what an awkward sentence...). I don't usually detail our convos but I'm pretty excited about hearing from him sooo... deal. Heh.

One bad part about phone calls though, is every time I get off the phone I think of things I forgot to say/ask. Is his address different since he's attached to someone new? (I'd imagine not, his mail will probably just take a bit longer, I'd assume). How's the weather? (Doesn't seem important but I'm always curious). And there are other things too but I can't remember them right now so they mustn't have been that important. But it happens everytime we talk on the phone I think of a million things I want to tell him or want to know after the call has ended. Oh well, something to talk about next time I suppose.

In baby news, I think someone is hitting a growth spurt today. 6 weeks old on daddy's 26th bday haha. She has eaten every hour since she's been awake and has been a total grumpy pants. Now she is taking her mid morning nap, hopefully she'll be in a better, less hungry, mood when she wakes up. Now I'm deciding what I should do while she sleeps (other than blog which I'm about to be finished woop woop!) A nap is sounding super appealing to me right about now...

How cute are these tiny feets? And yes, my shirt (actually the hubs') says "I Heart Hot Moms"

O-69... I am SO Immature

I went to BINGO with some sorority homies the other night. A good time was had by all. Little Miss Thang came with me and enjoyed lots of attentions. When they called O-69 I laughed. Loudly. The next times that they called it, I giggled. My maturity amazes me. I did not win a single thing but I did have a fun time. Winning would have made it more fun, but I digress. Lots of money was made for Children's Miracle Network, our national philanthropy, so I guess everyone is a winner.
I made lasagna for dinner tonight and the family liked it. Success.
I have not heard from the hubby since Saturday. Fail.

This post was short and sweet and I am tired and going to bed. Please don't hate me for lack of commenting, bloggy friends, I'm doing my best. If blogger would work better on my phone I'd be all over that, but I only get a few minutes a day for computer time while Poops is sleeping and I'm not using that time to do some other task... I promise I still love you all and do read your posts in my few minutes online, even if I don't comment :)

Home is Where... ?? (Day 77)

Mmm K, so for those of you who've been following more than a minute may know Hubby McHubberson and I bought a house. We were super stoked about this, even as a military couple. Many people didn't understand why on earth we'd do that so our reasoning was as follows:

• The mortgage on the house we bought would be less than renting a house of that size and it would be our house, to do whatever we want with, build equity, etc. etc.
• In the Marine Corps, there aren't as many places you can be sent as in, say, the Army. Theoretically speaking, we could request to stay at Lejeune for a long, long time.
• Although our rental is working for us right now, we are outgrowing our current space. A family of 3 in a 2bedroom, one bath house is a little snug, to say the least.
  
• I don't want to live in on-base housing. They take your BAH away and we're saving by having BAH, as our rent PLUS bills, is still less than BAH. We're making money of Uncle Sam, yo.
• I want to PAINT rooms.
• Our house is brand spankin' new, hasn't even finished being built yet. And it is SO cute.
• Renting is pretty much just throwing money away, month after month...
  

Now, recent events and information have caused us to rethink our decision. Luckily, we have the rethink luxury, as we don't close on the house until it is built - May. We are not currently locked into an interest rate (can't do that until March-ish, 60 days out). So, what may cause us to rethink our cute brand new house, you may ask? Well...

• As I said, our neighborhood is brand new. SO in the event that we did get stationed somewhere else upon reenlistment, resale will be super hard if the neighborhood is not finished yet (Why buy a "used" house for more when you can have a brand new one for less?) and renting is just a total pain, I hear such horror stories from people who have to rent their homes out.
• Mr. P is looking at the option of becoming an instructor at MOS school (where we met) which will be in Virginia by the time that comes around. Instructor = no deployment. I can not argue with that.
• I really don't want to get stuck with a house if the two points above happen and if we get stuck without renters then we will be broke!
• When you own a house, anything that goes wrong is on you (after the one year builder's warranty that comes with our brand new house, of course). So the dishwasher breaks when hubs is deployed, it's on me. It snows, I gotta shovel. I gotta mow. Lots to maintain and upkeep, especially when I'm on my own.

I am so torn. On one hand, I want my house. And I am beginning to fall in love with North Carolina (I mean the beaches... HELLO!) but on the other I really don't want to get stuck with something as permanent as a 30 year mortgage. Oh the decisions of grown-ups (Gag). I've only got a short time to decide too, and I'm mostly making this decision alone as hubby is out playin' in the sand. YIKES.

Speaking of the sandbox, I had written a whole post on the second worst day of the deployment which I had beginning at midnight last night continuing in to today. Basically, if you've been watching the news, you're seeing hubby's unit. I had spent lots of time scouring photos for people I know, friends' spouses... well now, I'll be looking for my own as well. Hubby is now... more in the action than he was before, so to speak. I had a severe nervous breakdown at around 1 o'clock this morning but now I am just pray, pray, praying. I've never prayed this hard in my life. I'm not going to post the whole thing I wrote before because it was just too much of a downer and I need to focus primarily on staying positive, even though it's getting harder.

Ok, back to the task at hand. House. Right. So. We put a $500 Earnest Money Deposit down, which of course I wouldn't want to just throw away but it, honestly wouldn't be the largest amount of money I've "wasted" in my life if we choose to back out. And if the interest rates happen to go above a certain rate then we can get out of the contract and get our EMD back anyway.
So the task to you, fellow blog-ites, is to give me some opinions. Those of you who own, those of you who rent, those of you who are military. All are welcome. I may not agree with what you have to say but I will consider it and use all knowledge in making a decision. Right now we're leaning towards getting out of it, but I still have my heart set on my home. I told hubbers he was crushing my dreams of buying a house he says "We did buy a house, now we're just returning it" hahaha clever monkey.

Mrs. Who?

I need to do some things for myself.

First and foremost, I need to get back into shape. Ok, I never was really "skinny" by any means, but I certainly wasn't... this... I need a shape that I am at least ok with and doesn't make me wanna vom. I know, harsh, but true. I am so unhappy with my bod at the mo. Typical of a person who had a baby 5.5 weeks ago, I'd assume.

Next, I want a spa day. I want need a massage. The knots in my back are beginning to remind me of the "friendship knot" you made in girl scouts with your arms by holding hands... and then had to undo it and everyone's pointy elbows were smacking you and your arms were being turned this way and that... yeah, not so friendly. Also in this spa day, I want to get my nails done. Although I'm not quite sure this is wise with a newborn, I'm afraid I will gouge her, but I miss my tips, and they're usually so thick it's not like I'd scratch her... hmm. And I need the always necessary pedi. If this were beach season I'd be disowned by several of my friends. My feet sound like velcro when I walk across a carpeted floor (I know, so gross), and the polish is chipped and the nails are jagged. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

I'm beginning to feel more like some old bag lady who has moved in and started stretching out my body than me. I mean, even when I was pregnant I had time for pedis. This is gettin' serious, yo.