Been awhile

Yes, it's been awhile since I last blogged. I have no real excuse, although we've been busy. I guess it's just the time of year for little downtime. We have definitely been crazy busy. So what have we done this past week? Let's see if I can recount it all!

Last Monday, Grace was off from school, so we had a little downtime. We didn't do anything special that I can remember. It was just nice for the kids and me to be at home together, without having to rush around and do anything. Aside from Friday and Saturday, we're usually out of the door by 8:30, except for Sunday, when we get to stay at home until 8:45. I can barely remember the days when Grace wasn't in school, when we really didn't have to be anywhere on most days. Those were the days!

Tuesday was the last day of my Bible study at PWOC. I did a good one this time, on Proverbs, where we did a lot of scripture memorization. I was sad to see the study end, as I usually am. It was a great group of ladies, too, quite a few with older children and couple of chaplain's wives. Lots of wisdom to learn from! I have agreed to facilitate a study in the spring, too. I'll do the book "The Lies Women Believe" which is one I have done before. I loved it before and know I'll learn even more. I am also going to have a co-leader, too. Her name is Susan and we have a "Germany Army friend" in common. (Jen Gration Yoder, for those of you who know her) Anyway, Susan knows Jen's mom. As soon as Susan and I met each other, we had a connection and that's so important. She's a chaplain's wife with older kids so I know she'll be a mentor to me.

On Wednesday, Grace had school, of course. She took four cans of food for their Christmas tree. Until the 15th, they bring in things to give back to the community. I am glad Grace is learning to give already. She's come up with a new desire for Christmas, too. Baby Alive, or Baby "A lie" as she calls it. Oh good, a baby that drinks, poops and pees. I can't wait.....

That night, I had my final coffee with the field artillery battalion. There weren't many people there, but it was nice. The farewell gift is a precious hand-painted beverage tub with 2-32's crest on it. I have so enjoyed Kim Gadson, the battalion commander's wife. She is just so genuine and real. Anyway, it was sad to say goodbye to that unit, but I am glad that I didn't actually leave. After the coffee, I went to the Gadson's to get their take on some FRG issues. Kim is such a great mentor; just really down-to-earth and logical. I am going to be using her a lot while the soldiers are gone.

Every time I write "soldiers," I have to go back and change it because I usually type "guys" or "men" then I remember that some of Jasen's soldiers are women. It's such a strange thing!

Thursday, Grace had school. Jasen got off work early and we went to get a tree. Jasen managed to buy a damaged tree stand, so the tree spent it's first few days in a mop bucket in the garage!! Boy, that garage smelled good! :)

That night, one of our Germany Army friends came for dinner. Chuck Walters was the signal officer in DIVARTY while we were there. So Jasen worked with him for awhile. His wife, Kathy, was one of my really good friends while we were there, too. He was here at Fort Riley, visiting with signal officers about their next jobs and what was available. The Walters used to live here, in a house I can see from our backyard/kitchen window. Believe me, there have been days I have looked back there and wished they were here with us now!

Chuck works at the Army equivalent of human resources. He had some good advice for Jasen regarding his next Army job: shoot for the moon. He told Jasen that with two commands, two deployments and decent officer evaluations, Jasen should decide what his dream job would be and go for it because he'll likely get it. So right now, Jasen and I are discussing what a dream job would be. There are two ways of thinking: close to home and very far from home. We'll keep you posted.

So visiting with Chuck was wonderful. I've said it before and I'll say it again: we miss our Germany Army family so much. You can't understand how close you get to people until you live in a foreign country with them. They were our family away from family and miss them like we missed our family while we were in Germany.

Friday Grace had a dental appointment, Davis went to a sitter and after her appointment, Grace and I had some mother-daughter time. Grace's teeth are doing well, and her dentist gave me some ideas to help encourage her to quit sucking her thumb. I was glad to hear him say that until she gets her adult teeth, there's no reason to worry that she's damaging her mouth in anyway. After the appointment, we went to the Manhattan library. They have a great facility there. We had lunch at McDonald's then came home because...

My sister, Katie, and her husband, Clancey came in around midnight. Saturday, we took them on a drive-by tour of Fort Riley and stopped at the Cavalry and 1ID museums. That night, we had a sitter and went out to dinner and to Aggieville with the Kilcoynes. We had a great time. Jasen and Clancey are two peas in a pod, which is sometimes surprising. They are different in some of their views, but so much the same in the way they act. Clancey was the perfect choice for Katie and so much a great choice for Jasen. hahahaha!!!!

Yesterday, Jasen narrated the Christmas cantata at church. Katie and Clancey left around lunch. The Grahams all took naps, then picked up the house a bit. With the exception of the Cowboys losing big time last night, we've had a great week!!