Last weekend we were treated to a really magical sight: the field up behind our house was sparkling with millions of diamonds of dew.  The sun was coming up just so and it had been misting for the 2 days prior and it was just incredible.  It was like a present for me to see it glittering up there and of course I couldn’t resist tromping through the field in my pajamas with my camera like a wrecking ball to the dew. 

I got a lot of gorgeous pictures and some lessons learned on what to do next time and I can’t wait for it to happen so I can get more.  Let’s just hope I get the chance before we go out on our deployment next month.

In the meantime, enjoy the pictures.  They are really lovely when viewed at their full resolution so be sure to click on the pictures and then zoom in on them to see them larger.

If you have a moment, let me know which 3 are your favorites! There may or may not be an incentive for doing so…:)

It’s been a long time since I wrote and a lot has been going on, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Another year of me trying to make Chief is here.  This is my fourth time up now.  I took the test in January and really sweated it since I hadn’t had time to study, but I made board.  Funny thing, when the results came out I skipped directly to the line that said whether or not I made board and didn’t look at the rest of my profile sheet (kind of like a report card that breaks down your score compared to others and tells you how you did in the various sections).  Just yesterday, both of my guys that were eligible got promoted to E-5 and after asking them for their profile sheets, I realized I hadn’t looked at mine yet.  When I pulled it, I couldn’t believe it - I got my highest score ever and landed myself in the 97th percentile for everyone in my rate who took the exam.  Big accomplishment for me. 

Since then, I’ve had to put together my package for the board and send that out, and now it’s just down to waiting.  The board was originally scheduled to convene on June 21, which meant I obviously would have made it this year since that’s my birthday and really, the Navy has never given me so much as a card so I think that would’ve made up for it.  Unfortunately for me (and, well, everyone who actually lives or works there) there was flash flooding in Tennessee right where the board meets and the entire base was under water, so the board has been delayed by a couple of weeks.  There goes my birthday present this year!

Besides the whole trying to make Chief deal, things have been great.  I was a little bit worried that I wouldn’t like being on the ship, especially because when I showed up everyone (and I mean everyone!) said how awful this ship was.  Well, I have been loving it.  The job is fast paced and always interesting.  I have a fantastic office and I look forward to coming to work every day.  We finally got out of the yards in January and we’ve been getting ready for our deployment this year since then; I’ve been gone for 63 days already this year.  I will say that some of the preparation for deployment has been ridiculously stressful, particularly our last underway but I will spare you the details and say only this:  Sailors are some pretty incredible people.  We train to save our ship, which means we train to fight all different kinds of fires, combat flooding, build structural supports at a moment’s notice, patch pipes that are pushing out hundreds of gallons of water per minute…we are smart, innovative, and most of all, dedicated, and I am proud when I see my shipmates working together during our training sessions.

We’re getting ready for our deployment soon; this is our last in-port period which means my job has gotten way busier than its already busy pace.  Everyone is trying to get legal assistance before we leave.  Everyone is trying to kick out that bad seed sailor before we go on deployment.  Everyone is stressed out so there’s an increase in alcohol-related incidents.  Everyone needs everything done RIGHT.NOW. and our office gets hit particularly hard by it.

Our deployment was extended long before we ever even started preparing to go out.  Because of other ships being delayed by repairs and being diverted because of crises (USS Carl Vinson, another carrier, responded to the disaster in Haiti), it shakes up everyone else’s schedule which means we have to leave earlier than planned and be out longer than planned.  It’s going to be an interesting deployment; it sounds like we aren’t getting many port calls which to me is the biggest disappointment of all.  If we’re going to be on an extended deployment, I wish at least they’d take care of us and let us get off the ship for some cool liberty ports but instead we’ll be hitting liberty ports in the middle east and really?  does that sound fun to anyone? 

At any rate, the ship is great, I’m proud to be here doing what I do, and I am glad I took orders here.  It’s hard on the family, but we talk about it and hopefully the kids will understand someday why I have to be gone so much.  We talk about it often and they seem to understand but only time will tell what kind of effect these next couple of years will have on them.  I wish I could take them out with me so they could understand the importance as well as the excitement of the Navy, but unfortunately they still frown on 9- and 11-year-olds going on deployments.

That’s all for now, I hope you all understand why I haven’t been able to post.  So far this year I’ve been gone 63 days already; come this summer I’ll be gone the rest of the year and the beginning of next year.  Hopefully I’ll get another couple of posts in before I leave so I can catch everyone up on the kiddos and their awesomeness and maybe even a house post so I can update on how things have gone with us settling into our first home.  We have plans to go home in June so hopefully there will be fun things to talk about then.  In the meantime, I am active on Facebook where I post a lot more frequently (hey, all that’s expected of me there is one line every few days!) and if I take pictures, most of them go up on my Flickr page. 

Until next time…

Since my last post, I was on an underway for several weeks; my brother Dan came to visit; and the biggest and best news of all, Kristina came to live here.  We’ve been friends for 20 years now, which is really hard to believe, but we haven’t lived near each other since we were in high school.  And yet, all these years later, we are still as good friends as we always were.

It is so nice having a friend live nearby.  The longer I’ve been in the military, the less interested I’ve been in making friends - there’s always that thought in the back of my head that we’ll leave in just a couple of years and from my experience over the last almost 13 years, we always say we’ll keep in touch but it’s never the same.  Some friends you do keep in touch with, but chances are we’ll never see each other again.  And because of that knowledge of leaving, I never really get close to anyone.  But I miss having a good friend; I miss having someone who I can just hang out with without having to worry about entertaining because I know that we’re both happy just being together.

Since she’s been here, we’ve had a couple of dinners together, a sleepover for the kids, and just friendly stopping by for an hour to hang out together.  Last night was an early Easter dinner and a “TruTV” stupid parties marathon while the kids ran crazy. It’s great because not only are Kristina and I friends, her husband and B get along great and the kids all play great together.

I think one of the things that makes me happy is knowing that while I’m gone, the rest of the family will have friends to keep them company.  If only I didn’t have to go back out to sea or move away in a few years.

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.

Sorry I haven’t written much lately, I was out to sea for the last two weeks.  Our workup was cut short due to a technical difficulty…we dragged one of our propellers back which made for a very interesting, VERY motion-sickness-inducing ride home.

Because we got home the extra day early, I got to see my in-laws before they flew back to Iceland.  It was so nice to see them!  I also got to surprise the kids who didn’t know I was coming, so that was a lot of fun too.

I want to update my blog more often, but the problem is…well, there are two problems:  1, I work long hours and usually don’t get out of my office until 11 or 12 at night…i’m up at reveille at 6am and into work by 7:30 so that makes for looong days.  The other part of the problem is that it’s hard to find stuff to write about…things have changed a lot over the last couple of years and I’m in a very different position now than I was when I was out to sea last time.  My observations have changed, I have great stories to tell, but alas, they’re dealing with young Sailors’ stupidity and they’re mad at me enough already for working where I do…I don’t need to give them fuel to file a complaint against me because they read a blog that detailed their theft of a ham. That story I think I’m pretty safe to say as it happened in Spain several years ago, but it’s still a favorite.

But I digress.

I am at an impasse in my blog now.  I read back through old posts and I’m so glad I’ve done this, but at the same time, I don’t know what to write about anymore that won’t a.) get in me in trouble at work; or b.) cause my kids to need therapy in 10 years.  Until I figure out what to do, I do hope you check back occasionally, because I do hope to start up again…I just have to figure out how.

I’m generally not a very grumpy person, but today was Evil Saturday vs. Karyn and Evil Saturday won.  It all started yesterday when I started to feel like I was coming down with something.  By last night, I knew it was over, so anticipating that, I made sure things were going to be quiet today - I flipped the switch on the power strip that controls the video games and upstairs TV, I changed the passwords on the computer so the kids couldn’t get on and be fighting over “who gets a turn”.

Let me back up for a moment and explain a strange phenomenon:  My kids do not like to wake up in the morning for school.  They drag butt, particularly Anja, and need a LOT of prodding to get moving.  But!  on the weekends?  They’re up before 7am.  I do not understand this, at all.

So anyway, I made some banana bread today to cheer myself up, nice and crusty and good.  I thought that would improve my mood, but alas, Evil Saturday had already sunk its claws into me.  A kind request of Anja to take a shower turned into yelling and forced naptime (for her) which led to a defeated naptime (for me) which apparently did everything for her mood but nothing for mine.

And then there was The Drama of the 10 Year Old, which irritates the crap out of me.

I had wanted to get out today to run some errands but instead I spent the day in the house, grumpy all day.  I am looking forward to this day being over.  The banana bread is gone, and I am done.