I have a mole in my yard. He's burrowing all over the place.  It seems like there's a new molehill every morning.  I don't want to kill him, I just don't want him in my yard.  Unfortunately, there aren't many effective deterrents for moles. Castor oil, dried fox pee, cayenne pepper, mothballs...all old wives tales, apparently. So, the base entomologist is coming out today to set a trap for him.  I'm asking for a live trap, so they can just re-locate him.....but I th...

I made the second trip to the ER in a week tonight. I had to take my son in because his brother busted his nose in a fist fight. I have one boy with a black eye and bruised ribs, and another with a busted snout and a healing split lip from the last altercation (which was why we were there last week for visit number one). I'm tired of refereeing these fights.  I'm tired of wading in and breaking them up.  I'm tired of them fighting over every damn thing.  I'm tired of litt...

My mum and dad will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday.  They know I have a blog, so I'm going to dedicate this entry to them and direct my brother over here so they can read it.....if any of you Joe Users has anything to add, please feel free to do so...I think they'd love that! If someone asked me to show them a good example of what married life is supposed to be about, I'd show them my Mum and Dad.  To me, they epitomize how to make a mariage work under any ...

"d'you think this is the way our lives are going to be?" D asked me as we were fixing supper this evening.  "y'know, me going away all the time". I do think this is the way things are going to be.  I think that we're not going to measure things in years  anymore, I think it's going to be pre, during and post-deployment. This career field is so overwhelmingly undermanned.  We had reservists coming to assist for a while, but they all went home in November.  Now we ha...

My big brother came to visit this afternoon.  He only stayed for a couple of hours, but it was fan-freakin'tastic to see him again.  He bought me loads of English chocolates, played with my kids...it was just wonderful.  we both got teary eyed at seeing each other again...stood in the middle of a Metro tram platform in the freezing cold and biting wind, blubbing at seeing each other again. I'm still crying as I write this.  I'm promising myself that it won't be another 10 ...

..that show me just how much he loves me. Like this morning, when he came home from PT, all sweaty and breathless, clutching a bunch of flowers he had bought for me. Like this lunchtime, when he came to my office to escort me to lunch instead of having me meet him somewhere.  Like over lunch when he took my hand (he was in uniform; Public Displays of Affection are a no-no) in the middle of a crowded eatery and said that although things have changed since we first met and got marri...

...D and I got married. (Jan 21st, 1994) It was a slightly unconventional wedding.  I wore green crushed velvet, he wore jeans and cowboy boots.  We rejected the idea of a church wedding and chose a simple justice of the peace ceremony instead.  Our friends were there, but no family...his couldn't make it, and my father was too ill to travel at the time, so we had two of our friends stand up for us instead.  11 years of marriage....it hasn't been easy.  It hasn't ...

...just got his report card back today. The first report card since he got diagnosed with ADD and medicated with Concerta. This boy has bought every single one of his subjects up at least one grade.  A couple of subjects he did outstandingly well in and went from a 'C' to an 'A'. This is the boy that I've watched grow and change in the past couple of months.  I've watched him blossom and come into his own.  He's no longer an angry, frustrated, tightly wound child.......

There was a improptu backyard football game at my house this afternoon. Watching my boys and my husband play, I was reminded of how incredibly fortunate I am.  Fortunate to be married to an awesome guy, and even more fortunate to have such wonderful kids to raise..... Just sitting at the window, watching my boys play....good times.  Really good times.

My kids got their school pictures back today..... This is our daughter, Shea-Ann.  She just turned 12... This is our son, Davey.  He's 10. This is our youngest, Jacob.  He's 8. Those are my kids!  

12 years ago today I was again doing my part for the world population. Shea Ann made her debut at 1623 on October 17th, 1992.  She decided that she wanted to try coming out one foot and butt first, causing quite a stir amongst the medical staff as she had been head down only a week before.  So, I ended up with an epidural in the OR having a C-Section.  It was the weirdest sensation...I could feel things going on in my belly, but it wasn't exactly painful.  I felt...

My daughter will be 12 this month.  She's in the midst of puberty, and we're all having a hard time with it.  Her dad especially. See, when he left to do a year in Greenland last summer, he left behind a pleasant girl who, even though she was showing some physical signs of maturity, was for the most part good-natured and sociable. He came back to a pimply faced, 'A' cup wearing, armpit shaving, growling monster of a child who will bare her teeth and snarl when asked what she want...

I wrote an article about people having nasty houses (and I mean filthy houses): Link It got me thinking about my pet peeves around the house are. I don't like a dirty tub.  I have to take a bath in a clean tub...and I get so paranoid about it that often I'll wipe out the bathtub before I run a bath, just to be sure it's clean. I don't like it when the cushions on the couch are haphazardly tossed all over.  I'm just not comfortable sitting on a messy couch. But my absolute...

I've been watching this show on Lifetime called 'How clean in your house'.  These 2 British women go into people's houses and clean up after them, all the time making clucking noises and disparaging comments about "filth" and "pigstys". And they're right.  I'm not the worlds best housekeeper, but I'm not filthy, nor is my home dirty.  I can sleep at night knowing there are a couple of plates and a mug in the sink, and I don't freak out over a little dust... sometimes my&nb...