Adventures in the post office

On Monday I mailed Sam a package which included his new laptop. Of course, I had to make it difficult for myself by purchasing the box at the post office, which meant getting in line twice (one of my pet peeves is people who aren't prepared when they get to the front of the line and therefore take FOREVER). I tried out a new post office because I had heard good things about the one in Cypress. So, I braved the post office with the boys and a giant box of stuff to mail Sam.

The line was long, but the line is always long when I go to the Post Office. So, I stood in line watching Nathaniel run back and forth and tried to figure out which box I needed (it was the biggest one). Nathaniel was wearing his "daddy" shirt, which is a shirt from Sam's first deployment to Iraq (Sam has a matching shirt, which is why we call it his "Daddy" shirt). As I neared the front of the line a man behind me asked me, "Is his dad overseas?" I told him yes and it was like the Post Office became a musical. You know, where everyone knows the steps to the dances and the harmonies to the songs? It was crazy. Another lady (who had been loudly questioning my parenting skills by trying to tell Nathaniel to quit running and stay by me, I chose to ignore her up to this point because I hate when people try to parent my kid when I'm standing right there. Besides, I had my eyes on Nathaniel the entire time and there was only two doors in the place so he wasn't in danger of being kidnapped or anything) immediately asked me, "Oh my gosh! And you have a new little one too! How are you doing? Are you coping okay? Can you handle everything?" Other people asked if Sam made it home for the delivery of the new baby (and were shocked and visually saddened when I said no). The man who originally asked me if Sam was overseas took my hand and shook it and said, "Please tell your husband thank you when you talk to him again."

When I got to the front of the line and bought my box everyone began trying to help me put it together. The first guy grabbed tape for me, and when I was told that using that tape meant I needed to mail it priority shipping (which I was planning on doing anyways) he got snotty with the mail clerk and said, "Well, don't you have any other tape for her to use!?" Other people were offering to help me to my car. It was so bizarre and surreal!

As I drove home I felt happy. Normally I don't like the attention that having a deployed spouse brings. It isn't very often that it comes up with strangers, but sometimes it does (I'm not going to lie when someone asks me) and I am usually very uncomfortable with the "I'm sorry your dog got hit by a car" looks I get. But this time I felt encouraged. Kind of like society isn't so bad. People really do care about others, which in this self-centered culture I'm surrounded by was enough for me to stand up and take notice.

Sam update with pictures.

Here is the latest update from Sam with pictures.

The castle is 13th century Byzantine which was conquered by the Ottomans when they invaded. We went out today to Vitina and had lunch in a great cozy restaurant. There was an Albanian, Kosovo, and US flag flying outside and inside. It was delicious, and they served us coffee on the house.

We also went to see where the Serbians dug their tank positions in 99 up inthe mountains facing Macedonia. They were anticipating a NATO invasion,so those tanks were pointed at us. However, they capitulated and KFOR was able to roll into KOSOVO unthreatened. We also visited a beautiful Albanian Catholic church. Painted on the walls was the OT story, the NT story, and the Catholic Albanian story. Also painted were large portraits of Mother Theresa and Skenderbeg. Skenderbeg was an Albanain war hero who converted back and forth from Islam to Catholicism (acouple of times) and fought the Turks. He is a national hero. I suspect that the church testifies more to their national identity than their religious identity, but I am slightly biased...

I know it sounds like he's playing a lot, but I suspect he's working a whole lot too. I mailed out his new laptop today and will be able to have more pictures then (since he can download them directly onto his computer and email them to me from his room). I also have a story from visiting the post office today which I will post tomorrow. It was kind of cool...

Some resemblance of normalcy

Now that Aaron is a month old we have some normalcy going on in our household. Yes, he is still getting up every two hours to eat during the night, which is really starting to wear on me, but at least I know I only have two hours of sleep in a chunk. Plus, I have found that when Nathaniel wakes up really early throwing a fit, if I just ignore it he will calm down quicker and will play quietly in his room until I get up later. Before, I would try to calm him down which just made things worse for everyone involved. So, Nathaniel gets his morning meltdown out of the way in the privacy of his bedroom and I get about an hour extra of sleep in the morning. It's a win-win situation.

I went back to volunteering at church on Tuesday nights last week. I had gotten to go out for about an hour by myself on Monday and realized that it was exactly what I needed, so I arranged for my "manny" to come back on Tuesday evenings so I could be with my students again. It really revitalized me and I realized that I am a much better mom if I can get some real "me" time a couple of times a week. More than simply an hour or so in the evening between Nathaniel's bedtime and Aaron's first bedtime (although, last night he was awake until nearly 1am without sleeping at all).

I also got a chance to start playing viola again in preparation of Palm Sunday and Easter. I need to figure out when I'm going to practice because some of this music is a bit difficult, but it was nice to actually be playing again (Aaron sits in the rehearsals with me and Nathaniel goes over to his friend's house to play).

We got our new laptops. I think something is wrong with mine because when I close the lid and put it in hibernation mode it won't wake up so I have to do a forced shut down. The internet also freezes a lot and I'm not used to the touch pad being where it is so I often erase everything I have typed because I accidentally highlight all while I'm happily typing away. It's maddening, but I will adjust (and figure out how to get the computer to wake up).

That's about it here. Sam is still doing really well. I have some pictures of him out and about which I will post on another update (I need to download them from my email first).

What is it that you exactly DO?

Lately a lot of people have been asking me what Sam does overseas. It's a great question and I realized that I have no idea. Aren't I a great wife? It's like when people ask me what Sam wants to do with his Philosophy degree once he's finally finished I'm not sure what to say beyond, "be a philosophy professor". I'm not sure exactly what emphasis he is looking at (ethics? Metaphysics? I know it's not religion...hmmm, I think it's metaphysics. What is Notre Dame known for besides football?).

So, today when Sam called me wanting his father's phone number so he could call him for his birthday I asked him, "What is it that you are doing over there?". He had just told me all about going and visiting some 13th century castle and visiting the church of the Black Madonna where Mother Theresa received her calling. To me, it sounds like a great vacation, not work.

Here is what Sam does for the Army over in Kosovo. Sam's job is (oh crap, what was the exact title...?) basically to assess what the soldiers are doing with the locals. He is the Officer in Charge of missions, which means that people come up with a plan on how to help the locals in the area, then they go and put those plans into play. Afterwards they write up what they have been doing and Sam reads the reports and evaluates them and assesses what they are doing, seeing if it is what they should be doing or if they can be doing better things. Also, he does problem solving, working with the soldiers to see how they can work better with the other military presences over there (like the Greece troops and the Polish troops, etc.). Sam is loving his job, mostly because when he gets out of the office and into Sterchy (sp?) he does about 15 minutes of real work and then gets to go and play with the locals. This means drinking coffee, eating pastries, going and seeing 13th century castles...lucky duck.

So, that's what Sam does over there.

And, for the record, even though by the time Sam is finished with his time in the Army he will have 13 years in, he does not want to finish up the next 7 and retire. We HAVE looked at the benefits and weighed them with the costs and realize that the costs on our family and Sam's career goals are too costly. I say this because recently people keep trying to convince me that Sam should stay in the Army and retire since he's been in so long. We really don't want three more deployments and Sam is not an Army person at heart, he really is more of an intellectual.

Care packages to Sam.

I talked to Sam this morning for awhile. He is doing very well and was able to get to Sterchy (not sure of spelling) again for work--which means lots of Turkish coffee and eating out at local dining establishments, must be rough. We were talking about care packages and he started listing the following things that he would like:
pencils
notebooks
crayons
coloring books

I stopped him and asked him why he wanted those things. He said that the schools really need supplies out there and the kids could really use some fun things, but humanitarian aid is not allowed to be sent through APOs (army addresses). But, if people happen to send things to soldiers that they like to do (like color a lot) then they can give out those supplies to the kids and schools in the area.

So, if you are going to send Sam a care package, please include some of the above things (lots of them). Here is Sam's maling address (you can get free boxes for shipping packages to APO addresses from the post office and it's only 11.95 to mail the box, no matter the weight):

CPT Samuel S. Grummons
Task Force, RLMT, KFOR 11
Camp Bondsteel
APO AE 09340

Also, some other ideas for care package stuff (for Sam) would be movies from the 5.00 rack at Target (fun movies), music for him to download on his ipod, magazines and snack food (beef jerky, fun snacks from Trader Joe's, etc.).

Just thought I would put it out there. Sam really wants to make a difference in the community around him and I hope we can help!

The one that's not all about the children.

Sam and I moved out to California almost five years ago.

That's hard for me to believe, but as I look back on the past five years I realize so much has happened. Not only have I finished my degree (the whole point of coming out here) but I have also had two beautiful children (okay, so it's a little bit about the kids) and have gotten to know some amazing people.

I think I realized that this place is my home when I can go out to run an errand and it takes awhile because I run into people I know and have conversations. Or, when I'm out at the beach and see former students surfing. Or, when I'm out driving and end up next to a person I know and can honk the horn and wave like a lunatic.

These are things that I never experienced much in Iowa City, the place I hold fondly in my heart. It reminds me of being in high school a bit. It reminds me that this is where I belong--for now.

Now, if I could just get Sam to actually live here too, my life would be complete.

I think we're going to make it.

This is a really cute video I got of the boys last night after bathtime. It was one of those moments where I felt like we were really going to survive. I had both boys bathed and jammied up before 8:30 (which is bedtime). I even got to read to Nathaniel and sit with him for a bit before bedtime.

I think what has made the most difference is my ability to get out and drive. It breaks my day up a bit more and keeps us from going crazy. On Saturday we didn't get out at all and the boys were both crazy all day long, which made me go crazy as well.

Of course, people providing meals for us the past week has also helped us a ton since I don't have to make dinner and the clean up is minimal.

On the potty training front we are having more good days than not. Today was an off day, but Nathaniel did take a three hour nap which kind of puts a cramp in the training (not that I'm complaining about the nap!). Tonight he actually did a #2 in the toilet, which is a milestone for sure!

Not too much else going on. I'm trying to get Aaron on a schedule so I can start pumping and get back to "work". I am going to help out with a new "intern" at church, which is exciting to me to pour all I've learned into a new person who is interested in doing youth ministry. I also just want to be able to get out more and know when food time is for Aaron. I don't want to leave Aaron with a sitter until he's more on a schedule either.

I'm also itching to start working out again. I hate not being able to go running or really work out. I've been walking briskly places though since I've been feeling so great. I think this Sunday I may actually try to walk to church if it isn't too hot. My stroller pushes really easily and it is only a mile away so...we'll see. Although I have things going on every single Sunday through Easter now after church so probably not.

On a random note, Nathaniel is watching Elmo's Potty Time and there is a song montage about being potty trained and all of these kids are dancing around proud to finally be potty trained. I swear, all of the kids are about 4 or 5. Please, shoot me if my kid is four and not potty trained!