Wha-Hoo!

Jorge arrives today!  I cannot wait to see him.  I think both of us were pretty excited.  He had asked me to call him this morning to make sure he hadn't slept through the alarm.  I was going to call him at 0400 my time (0500 in Wisconsin) which would've given him plenty of time to get to the airport by 0600 for a 0700 flight.  My phone rang at 0345 my time.  He had already been up for about an hour; had showered, dressed, etc.  Of course, I didn't sleep much better than he did.  For the last 2 nights, I've been tossing and turning even more than I normally do.

I just checked his flight status from Las Vegas and everything is on-time.  I'm soooo excited.

I have to work Thursday and Friday, but I'm going to leave work early on Friday.  It pays to have stayed late a few times to meet staffing needs.  I don't get over-time anymore, but I get "comp time."  Sounds good to me.

We are having Jorge's buddy, Barry, over for dinner on Saturday.  Thank God, he eats meat!  Peppercorn crusted tenderloin anyone?  (-:  Don't be jealous, I would make it for any of you if you came to visit!

Dinner went well last week.  I decided to make a sundried tomato pesto cream sauce over pasta with a great salad.  It was quite yummy.  My guest didn't leave until 0315.  I couldn't believe it.  It was so reminiscent of our parties at home!!!!!!

Not much else going on here.  I'm still waiting for my orders to return to Ft. Sam to be finalized.  At least the pieces are falling into order.  That's a good thing. 

I hope you are all doing well.  Karen, keep your chin up!  I'm thinking of you as Epic rolls out.

Take care!

--DV

No meat?

I told all of you that I was going to make dinner for a colleague on Thursday.  When I asked my sister, Lori, for some recipe ideas, the first thing she asked me was, "Is there anything she doesn't eat?"  Assuming that all people are like me and will eat anything presented to them (to include squid that's still moving (Korea) or a genetic cross between corn and mushrooms (still can't believe we ate that, Ninette)), I said, "Nah, she didn't say anything when I said I would make dinner."  Silly me!  Lori had suggested a stuffed chicken breast, with hot cappicola (sp?) and provolone with a few asparagus spears, roasted in the oven with a white-wine sauce.  Yum!  I could taste the melted provolone in my mouth as she described it.

While at work today, I asked my guest if there was anything she didn't like.  She smiled and said, "Nope, I eat everything. . .except meat!"  WTF?  So, I am going to entertain a vegetarian on Thursday.  Thank God she eats cheese.  That would be terrible if we couldn't have blue-cheese-stuffed olives in our martinis!

Any thoughts on recipes to make?  I have a few ideas, but I'm putting it out there for my friends and family.

I thought about Dad all day today.  I had made some salsa Sunday, to bring to work today.  I just wanted to do something that would honor Dad's spirit, knowing that he loved entertaining his friends and family.  I walked into our break room with 2 bags of chips and a big bowl of homemade salsa.  One of my coworkers said, "Oh, are you trying to bribe us?"  I said, "Well, I made salsa, but it just wasn't tasting right yesterday."  I was then told, "It's probably because you're white."  Silly guy!  Little does he know that I must've been a Hispanic in a past life (I was also an editor in a past life, but that's a different story).  I had people tracking me down to tell me how good the salsa was!  Dad would've been proud!  (-:

Tomorrow's a really early day.  I have a mandatory class at 0600.  I could have chosen to go to the 1800-1900 class, but I'd rather get it over with.

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the weather.  Mom and Tony are in Alaska, so that's the only place in North America that isn't suffering from sweltering heat!  They have been saying hello to all of the moose they see.  Thanks, M & T!  It was great talking to you today.  I missed you both so much!

--DV

An anniversary

Tomorrow is 2 years since my Dad died.  In many ways, I have a hard time believing it's been 2 years.  It seems like it was just yesterday.  At the same time, it seems like it's been longer than 2 years.  So many things have happened since he died.  If there is life after death, or heaven, or whatever you want to call it, I hope Dad is seeing the good things that are happening and not seeing the B.S. (you all know what I mean).  Lori and Gail spent the weekend together.  I think that's awesome!  I wish I could've been there.  Maybe the 3-year anniversary will be spent together.  Perhaps another tattoo at that time?  (-: 

Gail sent me a bag of peanut M & M's (Dad's favorite) and an Oreo cookie mug (another favorite of Dad's).  I plan on eating some M & M's tomorrow, after work, and drinking some milk from the Oreo mug.  Thanks, Gailers.  I hope that Lori and Gail had a great time this weekend.  One of these days, I'm getting on the Ski-Doos, too! 

Jorge is coming for a visit in 1 1/2 weeks!  Anyone want to watch Shadow?  He'll have 5 days with me and I just can't wait.  Unfortunately, I have to work 2 days while he's here, but I'll, at least, have the evenings with him.  Did I mention that I can't wait to see him?  The next time I'll get a chance to see Jorge will probably be after I'm done with Officer Basic (the 20th of September).  I'm so glad we were able to schedule time to see one another before I go back to San Antonio.  In case you're wondering, I cannot wait to see Jorge!  (-;

I learned that my stomping upstairs neighbor is moving out at the end of the month.  I cannot wait.  I can hear him snore, walk, and pee.  How horrible is that?  I've asked the office if I can move into his apartment once he moves out (that way I don't have to hear anyone else stomping around).  We'll see if the timing works out on that one.  One positive about living in an apartment is the maintenance.  My toilet wasn't flushing well.  It would take 2 flushes just to get toilet paper down!  I told the office and the maintenance guy put in a new toilet!  Way cool.  Of course, he left a huge mess in my apartment (pieces of drywall on the floor, dirt, etc.) but he switched out the seat to the one I had purchased when I moved in.  I guess I can't be too critical.

There is an Army Reserve RN working at the hospital with us.  She has been activated for 6 months and comes from Washington state.  We found out that we're both fans of Grey Goose Martinis with blue-cheese stuffed olives!  (I know, Ninette, you will always think that Kettle One is the best!)  She is going to come over for martinis and dinner on Thursday.  Lori gave me an awesome suggestion for dinner.  I can't wait to make it.  Even though I have a tiny apartment, I really miss entertaining.

I finally received my sign-on bonus.  Uncle Sam took 1/3 of it.  Nice, right?  At least that's one less thing to worry about.

I hope you all had a great weekend.

--DV

What a view!

I hung out at the pool today.  It was a beautiful day!  Plus, it's a beautiful view!

See the mountains in Mexico?

I swam laps for 30 minutes.  I'm sure the neighbors must've thought I was insane.  (-: 

See what you could enjoy if you came for a visit?

I don't know what these are, but they're beautiful!

I work Thursday and Friday, so no enjoymet at the pool.  Oh well!  I'll have to wait until the weekend.

I hope you are all doing well.

--DV

It rained!

I never thought I would be excited about rain!  It rained today, for the first time since I have been in El Paso.  More importantly, it was the first time it has rained in more than 200 days!  How crazy is that?  Of course, the amount of rain was little more than spitting, but it made the streets wet and created some run-off.  Super cool!  It was also really strange to feel such cool weather.  It was only in the mid-80's around 1000 this morning.  It's usually in the 90's by that time.

I had a great conversation with my youngest sister today.  We laughed hysterically at a you tube video about the honey badger.  If any of you have seen it, you know why we were laughing our butts off!  If you haven't seen it yet, you have GOT to see it.  Choose the honey badger clip narrated by "Randall."  Too funny!

I'm making some progress towards getting my orders ready for my return to San Antonio.  It's amazing how laborious everything has to be.  I had the displeasure of running into a mega-hag yesterday, who I thought would be able to help me.  I'm so silly sometimes!  I was thinking she was doing her job by helping me (since it's her job to help me).  Instead, she gave me some significant attitude.  Oh well!  I found someone today who can help me.  I guess that's what I'm learning with this experience: just keep searching until you find someone who can help you out.

Jorge and I used Skype last night.  What a fun time!  It was really neat to see Shadow walking around behind Jorge.  She's so cute!  It was also great to see Jorge's face.  We talk at least once every night, but seeing his face just makes things that much greater.  I know that I always say how much I hate technology, but this is one type of technology I really appreciate.  Thank you, again, Peggy!

Not much else going on down here. 

Congratulations, Ninette!  Glad you found another job and it sounds like it will be an incredible experience for you.

I hope you are all doing well.  Mom and Tony, enjoy Alaska and stay away from the bears!  (-:

--DV

4th of July

I had an amazing time in Wisconsin over the 4th of July!  I was really pleased that I didn't have any problems during the flight.  With my altitude issues, dramamine hadn't been working recently.  Instead, I had started using Xanax on flights.  It helps to alleviate my symptoms.  Now that I'm in the Army, I'm subjected to a urinalysis nearly every week, so I was kind of worried about whether or not the Xanax would be a good choice.  I stuck with dramamine and it worked for me.  Thank God!

We packed so much into only 2 1/2 days!  Jorge picked me up at the airport and it was so great to see him.  It made my heart skip a few beats!  The first stop on the schedule was Trader Joe's.  I wanted to restock the wine rack at home.  I love the choice of wines at Trader Joe's.  The best part is, if you don't like the wine, you haven't spent more than $6 on it!  How awesome is that?

Jorge and I did a ton of yard work on Saturday.  It was a beautiful day.  We trimmed the bushes in the front of the house, weeded the vegetable garden, and trimmed some hedges in the back of the house.  It was great to be outside, working with Jorge.  It amazed me how hot it felt, although it was only in the high 80's.  Humidity is a bear!

LJ arrived to the house and we hung out as a family.  He had a psychology test to complete before midnight, so a majority of the evening was spent dealing with that.  UGH!  The good thing is that he's now done with his on-line psych class.  Thank God for small favors!

A bunch of friends came over on Sunday for a cook-out.  It was great to see everyone.  As is typical Debra fashion, there was a lot of food.  I think everyone had a full belly when they left our house. 

Cheers, Peggy!



Must be good food, nobody's talking!



Yes, he started with 2 burgers!

The grill master!

We hope you all had a great time!

Even Shadow had a nice time!

It was really hard to leave on Monday.  I didn't want to go back to Texas.  I just wanted to stay next to Jorge, holding his hand, hugging him, looking into his eyes.  Man, I miss him so much!  When I got on the plane, an older gentleman sat next to me.  He commented that he has a rule of 1 up and 1 down, meaning he only takes direct flights.  I told him that I had to fly Milwaukee to Kansas City, Kansas City to Dallas, and Dallas to El Paso.  I said, "I don't care if I had to go up and down 20 times.  The pay-off is worth is because I get to see my husband."  He looked at me and said, "How long have you been married?"  He had a smirk on his face like, yeah just wait until the honeymoon wears off.  When I told him that we have been married for 15 years, he was amazed!  He said, "Well, I guess it's safe to say that you were meant to be together, that you love him that much after 15 years."  That just about sums it up.

So, I'm back in Texas.  I'm missing Jorge like crazy.  I cannot wait until the day that we both leave Wisconsin and don't have to say good-bye anymore.

I hope you all had a great 4th of July.

--DV