I just want to point out that Nathan is 12 months older than his friend, even though they are in the same class at school. So it theoretically shouldn't be a shock that Nathan's so much taller - but still.
Two weeks ago, I wrote our names and contact info on 2 scraps of paper. Nathan said he had 2 friends at school, but didn't know their last names or how to get ahold of them. So I gave him the slips of paper and told him to give them to his friends, hoping that one set of parents would actually get it and call us to set up a play date. It made me a little nervous - in today's era of identity theft, I was letting my 7 year old hand out info to complete strangers? Would I come home to a burgled house? Nathan assured me that he handed both slips out, and both of the little boys would be at our house first thing Saturday morning... Never heard from them all weekend. Now 2 weeks later this morning, I get a phone call from a little voice asking if Nathan was home. So we did the laser tag and then the kid came over to our house for about 4 hours of playing. Video games. They spent 90% of the time playing video games. Oh well. Still a red letter day.
So, lets see. I haven't blogged since Monday. What has happened this week. Oh yeah - the election. I am so proud of our country for finally getting to the point where we can elect an African American. I think it's wonderful for older americans who lived before and during the civil rights era, who never thought they'd live to see this day. I also think it's wonderful that parents can tell their children
that they, too, can reach to the highest office. I want our country to succeed and prosper, and I think we should pray for the health, wisdom and leadership of the president, no matter who it is. And I do think it's kinda cool to have a prez closer to my age. Given his educational experiences, he's probably still paying students loans like I am, and he's got small children like I do.
That being said, I did not vote for him, he was not my choice. (Heck, McCain wasn't my choice either). I don't agree with a lot of his policies. I don't think he can deliver everything he's promised, even with dem majorities in congress. But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. I actually think it's good for the country to switch back and forth between the 2 parties. The GOP seriously needs to re-tool before the next election. Enough with the politics. I try not to go there on this blog. I know that a lot of my friends and family don't think the same way I do.
But I stayed up so late on Tuesday, I was not firing on all cylinders for a job fair on Wednesday. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I needed to print our resumes, but I had no resume paper, nor a working printer. What to do? Ran to walmart for the paper, spent much too long there, ran an errand for Eric that was practically in the next county, went to the UPS store so I could print my resume off the thumb drive. HOWEVER, they were in the middle of remodeling their store, so no printing there. Raced to the PX and bought a printer. Sped home, set it up and started printing while I got dressed for the job fair. Realized that the black pants I wanted to wear had been in our storage until for 3 weeks and hadn't been washed. Dirt splattered on the cuffs, Harvey hair (which shows up really well on black pants). Dress shoes needed to be polished. Did the best I could, then raced over to the job fair in the drizzle. I did talk to the two employment agencies on post, but I didn't actually apply with any of the companies there. CVS, Home Depot, Target, Bank of America. My goal is to get a job on post. The experience did just prove to me how un-prepared I was, and that I needed to get the quiet time set aside to get a game plan going.
Anyway, I didn't spend long there because I had to run by Eric's work and still get home in time to meet Nathan when he got off from school. It took me about 30 minutes after I got home to realize that the clock in my car, my watch, and my cell phone were all an hour ahead... I hate daylight savings time.
Thursday I had to drive into Savannah. We had stayed there 2 nights while in transit, and the army will reimburse a set amount for those nights, but we didn't have paid receipts. I had called the hotel 3 times about faxing a receipt to the bandhall. Between one thing or another, I ended up driving up there to collect it in person. The real problem was the fact that I had reserved the first night through the Savannah Tourism board web site. Not only did it cost $15 more than paying the hotel directly, the customer service department for reservations through the website is outsourced. So I ended up calling India 3 times, trying to explain my situation. They finally emailed me something, not sure the army will take it, but it's the best I can do.
Nathan came home that day saying that he would have a science project on native americans - what they wear, what they eat, etc. I'm thinking, cool!. I have got all the materials the kid could need - Cherokee, Choctaw, Potawatomi - if I don't have it, I know where to get it. The kid comes home on Friday with the actual instructions - the Paiute tribe. The WHO? Some obscure tribe on the west coast. We are so not going to be able to find anything in the local library. Even wikipedia has skimpy material. Good thing it's not due until next Friday.
As of Friday, I feel pretty settled. The house is as good as it's gonna get. Eric still needs to hang some curtain rods, and we need a new bed, but I think I'm pretty much done stressing over layout and furnishings. We'll be putting up a Christmas tree in about 3 weeks anyway, so that'll screw everything up. The big thing for me was being about to go through all the papers stacked on my sewing table. I had saved every single receipt since we left Lawton back in September. What would we need for reimbursement from the army? My check register was full and I didn't have any others. Little slips of paper everywhere. I was checking our balance online regularly, but still. Once I got everything logged in and sorted and updated, I cannot tell you the weight that lifted off my shoulders. For me, the transition is officially over. Now I can concentrate on life here with a clean conscience.
Eric's having his own adjustments at work. Since he's now an upper NCO, he's higher on the ladder than he's ever been before. That means more responsibility, which he hands just fine. It's the personnel issues that he's unused to dealing with. There's a line from Saving Private Ryan; "Bitches go up, they don't go down." Well, now, they're coming up to him. He's not used to being the go-to-guy for some of these issues. Several of his soldiers have cried on him. We're considering changing his last name to my maiden name. Maybe people see his name tag and just think its okay to cry on his shoulder. Tee-hee.
Seriously though. I think Eric is going to be a good fit here. He's one of the few people in the unit with a combat badge, and all the young newbies look at him differently. He's already thinking of ways to get his ensemble out there more, both on post and around the community. It's kinda ironic, considering what a chip on his shoulder he had when he was 20, but I guess that's the benefit of life and experience on him, seasoning him.
