Everything from Military events to "RUN LIKE YOUR HAIR'S ON FIRE!"

Yesterday was a busy and fun day for me. I got up early, showered, put my face on, did laundry, changed bed sheets, painted my toes, vacuumed, and then threw on a dress and boarded a battleship. Side note: I have officially found the perfect babysitter for daytime stuff, when my perfect babysitter for nighttime stuff is in school. YAY!

Bruce had invited me to a Change of Command Ceremony, and seeing as I'd never been to one before I wanted to go. It was on the USS Missouri which is a HUGE battleship that was as long as three football fields. I was told this by the nicest woman who personally walked me to the area where they were having the ceremony. I was dressed a little dressier than the casual tourist so maybe I stuck out. She just walked right up, asked me if I was going somewhere in particular, and then took the time to escort me. That's cool. I enjoyed the tidbits of information, too. After arriving at the area, I had a chance to chat with Bruce and watch while the company did a run-through practice. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, with a pretty strong breeze coming off the water. It was even nicer because we were in the shade, under a large tent.

After the ceremony, I stuck around for just a little while to watch the huge battleship in the background come in. It was quite impressive. I had no idea it was tradition for the Navy to stand on the deck when coming into port, or harbor... or whatever they call it when they come in.

I don't know if you can see the detail, but those are not little white posts going all around the battleship. That's the Navy.  

Since the perfect babysitter was telling me to take my time, I decided to go piddle around in Target. I spent a relaxing hour in there going through the clearance racks. I scored a cute Merona wrap shirt for .58 cents. Yes, 58 cents.

Two funny things happened after that. One was right before I went to bed and the other was after I'd been asleep for a couple of hours. The first thing is that someone asked Bruce if I would consider being the FRG leader for the company. What's even funnier about it is that I said yes. Oh lordy... what am I getting into?

The second funny thing that happened was the dream that woke me up at 1:30am. In the dream I was telling my sister to put on her Nike's and to "run like your hair's on fire!!!" Right after that I looked at an ex-boyfriend of hers from about 30 years ago (omg, that makes me feel old) but anyway... I looked at him and said through gritted teeth "I didn't like you then, and I do not like you now. Make one move and I'm gonna kick your ass." Well, he was scrawny in the dream with a dorky bowl cut, and he reached out towards me to be a smart ass to touch me. I flipped. That's when I woke up swinging and kicking in the bed. It makes me laugh. Thankfully Bruce didn't get hurt.

I'm in looove

Tomorrow is my anniversary. Even as I type this, I'm grinning from ear to ear. I happened to have snagged Mr. Perfect-For-Me. Oh! He's just wonderful. He makes me laugh, he's so affectionate, and he understands me and my particular shades of crazy like no other. On top of all that he's pretty damn cute to boot. I admire this man and am so proud to be his wife. He seems to be smitten with me, too, so it's an even trade.

We met years ago through a mutual friend. I had just moved from TN to MD for my job. So, I was new to the area and hadn't made many friends. As a matter of fact, our mutual friend was someone who had worked with both of us. His name is Jesse and he'll always hold a special place in my heart for the simple fact alone that without his persistence that I join them on that New Year's Eve, I never would be where I am today. Jesse had invited me twice to go out with this group of people to the Hard Rock Cafe, but I'd said no twice. The third time he called me and said something along the lines of "I know you're not doing anything but sitting around in your apartment. Someone backed out and the ticket is already paid for so you better plan on coming. We're going by limo." I said yes because he was right. All I was doing was sitting around my apartment looking for another job since my company had decided to close 73 markets four months after I relocated. Thank god I'd saved my money as I was able to wait two months for the exact job I wanted. But that's why I had said no the first two times. I was trying to save money.

So, on New Year's Eve I show up at Jesse's house. I walk in the door and see a group of people laughing and having a good time already. Not knowing anyone but Jesse, I felt a little shy. He asked if I wanted some wine, to which I of course answered "YES" and I followed him into his newly remodeled kitchen. As he was pouring the wine, Bruce joined us in the kitchen. I noticed he was probably the only one there around my age. I had a brief thought that he was handsome, but seeing as I had gotten divorced in the previous year, I was NOT thinking about men. My focus was my career. So, that's where the thought stopped. The limo arrived a few minutes later. We all piled in and to make a long story short: we all had an absolute blast that night.

These are pictures from the limo ride to the Hard Rock Cafe that night. Of course, this was on the way there, so we were all pretty much sober at this point. The pictures taken a few hours later tell a much different story but to protect all those involved I won't post them.

That is the beginning of my story with the most wonderful man. Our story still continues, too. I look forward to each and every day and can't believe I got so lucky to have found a man of such caliber.