Bingo is MY GAME baby!

Guess who won…TWICE! Alas, once I had to split it 5-ways and ended up with $15 and the other time I had to split it 3 ways and then in half again for a grand total of $65. Snaps for bingo!

The best part, though? I got to call bingo tonight on the closed-circuit TV channel on the boat. So much fun!

Now I can’t wait to get home and go out to dinner with B and the Bro who’s visiting from WI! Why does everyone have to visit while I’m gone?? Perhaps it’s time to change my deoderant…

Sing it with me, people - we all know the song.  And it is officially on the Soundtrack to My Life.

Yesterday we pulled into San Diego for a couple of days in preparation for a major inspection.  However, they let us leave at 3:30 in the afternoon to go blow off some steam.  My friend that I was supposed to go out with for sushi got stuck at work which left me without anyone to go out with, so I walked over to the base Exchange to buy a couple of things I needed for the ship (you know, like a pink cardigan…).  When I was there, I had the keys from the First Class Association’s van dropped on my table with a kind, “YOUHAVETOTAKETHESESOICANGOOUTANDGETDRUNK.” 

Oh, you haven’t heard?  Sailors on liberty like to go drink.  Fortunately, I’m pretty much over that and can merrily do without, so I agreed - admittedly reluctantly - to take the van.  We went to the bowling alley where most of the crew that stayed on base went, and at about 11, I left to take us back to the ship before our 11:30 curfew.  On our way back to the ship, I saw a lot of Sailors that had a hefty hike ahead of them so when I dropped off my group, I turned around and went back for more.  That group got back at 11:22, but I’d passed even more Sailors (who were running at a full sprint) on the way back, so I turned around for that one last group.  I got them on the pier at 11:27, parked the van and got out to hop to it back to the quarterdeck before 11:30. 

Two minutes was plenty of time to make it back, but I knew I would have to be quick about it, so I was walking as fast as one can walk without running - you know, that ridiculous walk where you wonder why they don’t just run, because they look so stupid?  That was me.  The road gave way to a perfectly smooth concrete area on the pier that led to the stairs up to the ship, and half of me thanks god for that and three-quarters of me curses it, because the next thing I knew, my foot caught the lip where the two met and I began the long and horrifyingly embarrassing descent to the ground.

I have never before heard of someone neck-planting, but I neck-planted.  You know those cartoons where the character’s head is on the ground and their legs are bent awkwardly over their heads?  You know, like this? 

 That was me.  Except that along the way I managed to slam my knees, and then the heels of my hands, followed by my elbows, followed by my neck.  My neck!

All of this, of course, was made worse by the fact that the guy driving with me was from the Safety office, and all of the Security patrolmen were watching, half in horror, half in amusement.  But!  I made it back just in the nick of time, albeit with some sore joints and limbs and hands…and did I mention, neck?

I sure am glad my parents didn’t go with the name “Grace” for me.

So on this ship right now there is only one women’s bathroom.  And it is conveniently located all the way aft; so far aft, in fact, that it might be easier just to stick my ass off the fantail and take a crap into Puget Sound.

When you said you wanted me to start blogging again, you didn’t see that one coming, did you?

So there’s that one bathroom - head, now that I’m in the real Navy - but I’ll call it a bathroom for civilian’s sake.  To go to that one bathroom, one must don one’s safety helmet and goggles and make one’s way down through the narrow hallway - passageway - through the gaggle of people waiting for medical; past the next gaggle of people waiting for new ID cards because you now have to use (and forget) your ID card to get on your computer; duck the hanging pipes and tubes and vents and anything else they can dangle above your head, only to inevitably knock your head as soon as you straighten your neck and give yourself whiplash; through the passageway where there are things sticking out of the walls just waiting to jab you in the hip when you bounce against it trying to avoid a head-on collision with a contractor pushing a cart of god-knows-what; over the “knee knockers” (raised doorways for flooding protection) where you can kiss your shoe shine goodbye; through the stinky sleeping area; and then you get all the way to the door in front of the bathroom only to find that the doorway has been taped off so they can put down a new floor in the 4 foot by 5 foot space, the one I could probably step across if given the chance.

You following?

Of course, because of how far away the bathroom is, you really only use it when you really, really have to go, so by the time you’re there you’re dancing like MJ. 

So then you have to trace the route back through the stinky sleeping area, over the knee knockers, down the hallway with the now-may-as-well-be-deadly-spikes, ducking, craning, arching and bending so as not to knock your head, and then cut across to the other side of the ship where you get to a point where you can’t proceed because it’s got blue tile down, and that means that you, as a lowly E-6, do not have the privilege of walking through said blue tile area.

So you turn around, and go back again, and now you go up the “steps” (they call them ladders here, and they’re neither ladder-ly feeling nor stair-ly feeling but rather deathtrap-ly feeling) to the hangar bay where you’re less familiar with the exit points to go back down one deck to the deck the bathroom is on.  You proceed forward and get to the fantail where you dodge hanging wires, squeeze through scaffolding while at the same point stepping over giant piles of rope, more hanging pipes threatening to decapitate you, and now you get to guess how to get down?  Do you go through that door in the hopes that there’s a stairway behind it?  Do you go through that stairway that is painted too white, which only looks suspect, like a white van that says “FREE CANDY“?  Or do you go down the shabby ladder behind the pile of cables conveniently parked right in front of it?

Well, it wasn’t behind the door, I checked.  And even I don’t accept candy from strangers.  There, at the bottom of the 3rd ladder, was the lone women’s bathroom.  Perhaps this is how the fantail got nicknamed the Poop Deck.

Isak is having a sleepover at Niki’s while Anja is at her second swim meet - her first pentathlon - while I’m at home, catching up on some sleep and rest.  While I feel bad for not being at her meet, after her last meet coupled with the last few weeks of work, I’m beat.  And I have a birthday party to go to today that involves driving an hour each way and as tired as I was, that would probably have been a dangerous prospect if I hadn’t gotten more sleep.

So yeah, work.  I’ve settled into work and am enjoying it very much.  I work with a great group of people, I’m getting involved with the ship, and I finally feel like this is why I reenlisted.  That said, everything is not roses:  my day is extremely long - I’m up at 3:45, out of the house by 4:30 for a 20 minute drive to the base and a 2 hour ferry ride to the ship.  We work our butts off until 3:30, when I do the ferry and drive back home, finishing my day around 6:00pm.  And those hours in between are crazy busy, and while I do like the pace, sometimes it’s frustrating because there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything that needs to be done.  My job is one thing; I can handle the stuff in the office just fine.  It’s that we’re in the shipyard getting lots of repairs, upgrades, etc. and we’re trying to get ready to get OUT of the shipyards and go back out to sea.  That involves lots of training, meetings, drills, exams, and what is probably the most frustrating is the attitude of many of the people on the ship.

I’ve been disappointed with my peers.  There are a handful of very strong ones who have good attitudes and are willing to help other people out, but for every one of them there are 10 people who are lazy, negative, and some bordering on incompetent.  Them’s fightin’ words, I know, but really…more than once, I have been astounded by some of the things I’ve seen and/or heard.

Anyway…I’m finally getting into my own groove and as long as I’m surrounded by positive influences, I do enjoy myself.  I’m finally meeting people, making some friends, settling in and making the ship my second home.  It’s not quite as nice as our beautiful house that we finally moved into, but…it’ll do.

And since we’re at the present, here are yesterday’s Halloween costumes.  Anja wanted to be Coraline, but no one seemed to sell a yellow rain slicker or yellow galoshes in her size, so we made do with what we had and what we could find.  Isak was a Croc-footed Ninja, having left his black shoes at his friend’s house the night before.  How he got home, I can’t figure out, except that he is a Ninja, you know.

With the added space this new house will have, we won’t have the furniture to fill it up yet…I’m not in a rush to buy a bunch of stuff so I’ve been scoping out Craigslist to find out what’s out there.  We did find one thing we both really liked and is very practical and well-priced that we’re going to look at this weekend (a wine/glass rack/shelf) but otherwise, juuuuust looking.

But what I found funny was the adjectives people use to describe the items listed.  I present to you, this antique armchair. 

Here I was expecting some detailed wood highbacked chair with a floral padded seat and ornate carved arms…I’m not sure when antique began including bad ’80s recliners but somehow I think it started around 2001 when Craigslist was started…

Then there’s this adorable shelf: 

I don’t know about you, but I usually consider things like chubby babies and fluffy kittens more along the lines of adorable than an out-of-focus picture of a wooden shelf.

Then there’s this darling bench:

Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darrrrrrrling spray painted wicker bench…

Last is this gorgeous table and chairs…

I guess it’s “gorgeous” in that I-found-this-on-a-gorgeous-weekend-at-the-end-of-someone’s-driveway.

Am I the only one who’s noticed that the more fussy adjectives, the crazier the furniture?

I didn’t realize it’s been only one month since I wrote last.  Not much has happened in the last month…except…

I went to San Antonio, TX for a Legalman conference where I got to meet up with a lot of old friends as well as meeting a lot of new people.

We shipped our car and our household goods.  Sniff sniff.  I miss my stuff.

It’s a little bit unsettling knowing that all your stuff is in one place, away from you, with a bunch of other people’s stuff, sailing across the oceans.

We celebrated our anniversary.  10 years - unbelievable.  We went out for a lovely dinner at our favorite Spanish restaurant, Las Tinajas.  I got a beautiful ring that I am just in love with…

Also this past month, I have had a bunch of doctor’s appointments in preparation for my reenlistment.  I got good news:  my eyes are fine and I brought my cholesterol down 50 points. (!)  I reenlist next Saturday.  This means, if I continue reenlisting on that date, and I get out of the Navy at 20 years, I will retire the day before my 40th birthday.  That would be pretty awesome.  Well, except for the whole turning 40 part.

We move back to Everett in 34 days.  34 days!!  Hard to believe.  The Chief’s board meets next Monday so I’m anxious to find out how that will turn out this year.

The kids are out of school for the summer.  Anja had respectable “grades” the past semester (they don’t get A/B/C grades) and Isak made us so proud with his last semester reporting straight As.  2 A+s, 2 As, and 1 A-.  He is very motivated by the financial reward he gets for straight As - $2 per A (25¢ per B, nothing for Cs and below).  If he brings home straight As, it doubles so he could get $40 per semester.  If he brings home all 4 semesters of straight As, I’ll round that $160 up to $200 at the end of the school year.

To close with a funny story, Anja just came up to me as I was typing and said, “Mamma!  We still need to get backtized!”  Isak said, “Nooo, Anja, we need to get vackinated.“  Anja clarified, “No! We need to get backtized where they dump you in the water that they know your spirit of God.”

They’ll be so disappointed by the Unitarian church.

Isak has been super excited about turning 10 years old - he gets an ID card and is able to go to the older kids after-school club.  A new feature of the after-school place is a skate park, and Isak has been talking about wanting to go there.  B had the idea to get him a skateboard - I was not so sure as Isak has inherited my two left feet, but B was sure it was going to be a hit and besides, it would be a good way for him to be active. 

I still wasn’t sure, but when we gave him the first (and as he thought, the only) part of his present - a new helmet and knee/elbow/wrist pads - the first words out of his mouth were “I wish I had a skateboard!”  His face lit up when he got the second half of the present and knew as soon as he saw the wrapped box what it was.

There were some bumps and slips and Isak learned he could almost do the splits, but he had a great time nad is very excited about his new skateboard.

Check out our neighbor’s car - I finally got around to taking a picture of it.  The best part?  I saw the guy driving his car one day and he was wearing a bat mask.  I don’t know if you can make it out but under the bat wings it says “Batmobile” where the make of the car would be, and up in the front over the tire is a batman insignia.

Isak had a few friends over for a sleepover party which was a lot of fun and did not include much sleep.  We made homemade pizzas, had homemade (aka “box mix”) strawberry cake by Isak’s request, watched a movie and played video games until 2am.  Breakfast was biscuits and gravy, eggs and bacon - yum!