Overheard at Target

Mom to her toddler daughter:

"Libby, you're being a turd."

That is all.

Weekend, and Scary Pool

Hello folks! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend ... I certainly did. Lisa came to visit, and we had a great time doing pretty much nothing. It was in the humid mid-90s pretty much the entire time, so we spent as much time as possible ... inside. Watching movies.

For the record? DO NOT see the movie "Dear John." It was freaking horrible. Also, I don't really recommend "When in Rome." It was stupid, and Lisa slept through it. But whatevs.

We did have a fun time at the Taste of Bloomington, which was going on Saturday. It was so, so, so, so hot, so we didn't really last very long. But we had the most incredible bbq pulled pork (Fatman's - it was so good we went back there for dinner!) and this great watermelon and feta salad. Oh, and crostini with lemon ricotta, basil and a drizzle of honey. YUM!!!

So, that was fun.

Are y'all having a good summer? Do you have jobs that change over the summer (i.e. jobs in education), or do your jobs generally stay the same? I am so happy to work in education after working in a hospital (no vacations, ever!). While I still work throughout the summer, I go down to 24 hours a week, and it's much more relaxed. So even though I don't have my summers off, it still feels like a break.

One thing we're doing this summer is helping out at an afternoon program for teens - a safe, structured place they can go hang out, have some healthy food, etc. It's located at an apartment complex. Last week, I went with a couple kids to the apartment pool and dangled my feet in the water while they swam. Until ... we noticed 3 (THREE) ticks in the water. Oh. And a CONDOM. Puke. Pool time ended pretty quickly after that.

So ... what's the weirdest thing you have found in a pool?

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful dad!!!! Wish I could be there to celebrate in person. Love you, Dad!

Also to my Granddad, who I got to see last weekend!
And my father-in-law ...
... and to some new dads this year! Ryan (with Jaida) (and Matt) (and I just realized this sounds like they are a couple! hehe) ...
... and Tim (with Mae). Love you guys!

Friday Cuteness

This is your Friday cuteness.

You're welcome.

Deployment in Review: Month 5

I have been in what seems like an incredibly long blog funk. I'm sure I'll snap out of it ... eventually. I think. I hope. I just realized that this is only my 2nd blog post for June ... and it's already the 18th! Oh dear. I told Matt the other day that I didn't have anything to blog about ... his suggestion was to "make some shit up." I feel like that seems just as difficult as having real, actual blog fodder, so ... I promise everything I tell you is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Etc. :)

So without further ado ... can you believe Matt has been gone for five months? I can. It feels like the first few months flew by, but lately it's just been feeling slower and slower and slower. Maybe that's because nothing much has happened?

I have very little to report for Month 5.

-I went to Michigan for Memorial Day to celebrate my Mom's birthday

-I celebrated the last day of school and am currently enjoying my summer schedule (I only work 24 hours a week over the summer)

-I went to Michigan this past weekend to celebrate my Dad's birthday (late) and Father's Day (early) and to see my Granddad and his lady friend (they were in town visiting)

-Aaaaaand I guess that's it. Hmmm. Oh, also Matt moved to Baghdad a couple of weeks ago and is currently at the Embassy.

Clearly, it's been boring around here. Sorry!! So instead of talking about stuff I've done, let's talk about stuff I'm looking forward to:

-Lisa is coming to visit today! We have a fun weekend planned.

-It's almost July!!!! If things worked out as kind-of-planned, I could be seeing Matt in 5 months! Oh dear. That means we're only halfway. Okay. Stop thinking about that.

Hmmmm okay, that's all I can really think of. My official 1/2 marathon training starts on Monday - up to now, I've been working up a baseline through 5k training. I've really been enjoying it, although I basically took a week off from running this week. It's been so hot and humid - even at 6am! - that I just ... let myself have a some days off from running. I've been doing lots of walking to try to get used to the humidity (seriously. weather.com says we have 99% humidity right now! blech!!!) and then I'll get back to running on Monday. I am a little intimidated about next week's workout - just because it is a definite step up from what I've been doing. Here's the plan:

Monday: Stretch and strengthen (I'll do yoga and strength training)

Tuesday: 3m run

Wednesday: 2m run or cross (I think I will go for a bike ride)

Thursday: 3m run and strength

Friday: Rest (yay!)

Saturday: 30 min cross

Sunday: 4m run

Whoa - did you see that?! 4 mile run! I have never run more than 3 miles, so this will be a pretty big deal!!! I will try to keep you posted. And until then ... I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

The Dog Days of Summer

Wow ... it's been awhile since I blogged. Oops. Sorry. I've had kind of a stressful week (oh wait, that was last week ... I think? I'm getting confused about the days) and I just haven't felt like getting on here. But - I'm back!

If we are friends on Facebook, or possibly in real life, you might know that my puppy was sick over the weekend! While this is his normal behavior:

...I noticed that he was way more mopey than usual. And had over 24 hours of the poops (sorry, TMI but it's the truth!) and refused to eat or drink. I was getting so nervous!!! I took him to the vet yesterday morning, and he had to stay for the day to get an IV of fluids and meds. Sadness! Thankfully, by evening he was back to his perky self. But he has the war wounds to prove he spent the day at the doc - check out his weird little shaved patch of leg!

He keeps licking it, and I'm hoping he doesn't lick it into a hot spot. Any ideas how to keep him away from it? Anyway - Oscar is back to his normal self, and I have him on a strict beef broth and Pedialyte diet for a couple of days - then I have special prescription canned dog food to give him for the next few days. Oh, and pills. I have to give him 2 different pills, twice a day. It's like taking care of a baby! Kind of.

Anyway - things are getting back to normal around here, with a happy puppy and a happy Shaina and happy everything. But the happiness would be much greater if Matt were here! I am missing him something fierce lately ... I think I've reached my limit for this deployment. In the future, when Matt leaves home, I would prefer for him to be gone no longer than five months. Ha. Over the weekend, Matt left Kuwait and is in Baghdad now. For any real-life friends who want his address, let me know!