Frozen Peach

So, we all know Jerome went to Iraq, but did you know Peach wanted to go to?

Lucky for me, we convinced her to stay. Not so lucky for her, though. We got snow. Lots and lots and lots of snow. So, Peach, who shivers even when there's no snow, got a sweater.


It's a little boy's sweater. 'Cause who wants to pay $20 for a dog sweater that she might grow out of when you can get a boy sweater for $6 at the PX? I'll bet the boy sweater is more durable, anyway. (Yes I am wearing shorts in that picture. It wasn't snowing inside.)


It's a little baggy on her, but it works pretty good. At first she didn't like it very much, but once she got in the snow...
She really didn't seem to mind so much. These pics were taken before the snow got really bad, by the way...in case you were wondering why you could still see some ground.

The snow is melting now, and I'm kind of sad I never took pictures of it. I wanted to, then I misplaced my camera for a few days...oops. Maybe next year.

Peach and I are doing okay. We're both a little restless with cabin fever (even though I did venture out a few times.) Like I said, though, the snow is melting and we might be able to go for a walk as soon as tomorrow if enough ice is off the sidewalks.

I've been trying to keep busy, though...one of my other blogs, Snail Mail Addict has been getting a lot of attention recently. It even won a random award! I've also bought a domain name and am working on getting a web comic going. I figure that I will try to make my own job right now in a time when no one's hiring. (I'm still going to try to get a real job anyway...being inside all the time sucks.)

Jerome is in fairly good contact with me for now. He is doing well. They're doing some training and things, but he's actually kind of bored. I think he's been watching a lot of old movies and TV stuff on his computer when they're not busy. He's living in a tent with 20 guys and he says that sucks. He says the food is good. He always mentions the food. He also says he misses everyone.

That's all for now. I will try to take some pretty pictures to post up here soon.

So...

It's just me and Peach now. Jerome left a few days ago.

I'm doing okay...it's his job, he has to go. He is in less danger than he could be in. I can't do anything short of putting myself in the hospital to get him home any sooner, so we will just have to make the best of it.

Peach is kind of upset. The first day she stayed by the door a lot. Now if I say 'Daddy' she will run to the door and wait. Other than that she's a little mad at me for not playing rough enough, like he will. I try to make sure I take lots more time to play with her to make up for the time when he would play with her.

Anyway, I thought y'all would want to hear about our final adventure before he left.

Our buddy, Specialist Phillips, had told us that he'd never been to the ocean before...so we made arrangements and went on the Friday before they left.

It was raining when we said goodbye to Peach, but we didn't care...an adventure is an adventure!

Phillips set the destination on his GPS by just going to a random place on the coast. I don't think I ever found out exactly where we went.

It was a kind of scenic drive out to the west coast of Washington, buuut I forgot my camera, so I didn't get any good pictures. I only got a few with my phone. After about an hour of driving in rain that seemed to get heavier and heavier, we finally saw this:
If you can see, is the very, very angry looking ocean. We were looking for a beach we could walk up to, but I was kind of hungry, so we stopped at a little diner. They seemed to only serve fried food...but we weren't going to try somewhere else...by the time we got in it was storming pretty bad.

Jerome had cod, I had scallops, and Phillips, who says sea food is scary, had chicken strips. It was all very good.

The restaurant was right on the water and the water side was all big picture windows. Just looking at the rain smashing against it was kind of neat, and kind of freaky.

So, when we were done, we went back on the hunt for a beach. We found one not to long after by playing around with the GPS.

We parked and got out. A wall of wind and heavy rain met us. I snapped a couple quick pictures:

<--There's Jerome trying not to be blown over.

This one's Phillips, not sure how he managed to pose as the wind was literally blowing us over. -->

We walked maybe 50 yards twoards the ocean before we gave up and ran for the car, where Phillips announced he is now afraid of the ocean. I realy can't blame him...if the ocean looked like that the first time I saw it, I would probably be afraid of it too.

They're both gone now. It kind of makes me feel better to know that Phillips has gone to Iraq before and wil most likely be able to keep an eye on Jerome while they're overseas.

Since then it's started snowing! I will be making another post about the snow with pics of Peach in her sweater soon. For now, I think it's time to get some sleep.

Peach Takes A Turn

Hi, people! It's me, Peach...I learned to work the computer while Daddy and Mommy have been really busy getting ready for Daddy to go. They keep telling me he will be gone for a long time. I wonder how long that will be? More than overnight? That's the longest he's been gone from me and Mommy so far. I don't like it when he's gone too long. I know when he's supposed to come home from work and if he's not home then, I go and wait at the door...and if he doesn't come home soon, I get so upset I have to cry and run up and down the stairs a lot until he gets back.

We got new couches about a week ago. Well, new to us, Mommy says. I like the couches, They're soft and fun to lay on.

They kept talking about the blog and someone should update the bog, so I had to figure out what it was first...but I did and now I'm HERE!! I don't know how to post pictures yet, but maybe I'll figure it out before the next time I post.

Anyway, Mommy and Daddy left me here alone while they go to Tacoma to take care of things and have dinner together before Daddy has to leave. I have lots of things to do while they're gone...like chewing the bathroom mat! I've got to go get on that. The computer is boring, anyway. Later, People!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Firstly, for those who don't know yet, Jerome's being sent to Iraq. He'll be leaving in mid-December and won't be back until sometime in August. I'm trying to handle it as best I can, but the idea of being left alone for nine months while my husband is in a dangerous war zone is not exactly easy to deal with. He assures me he's going to a good place and won't be leaving the base. We can only hope for the best, I guess. Peach and I will wait for him eagerly.

I've already given him his big Christmas present: a box set of all the James Bond movies to date. I figured he could use his last few weeks here to start watching them. We're just kind of doing Christmas early, though we don't have a set day. He bought me a Zune...though it's not here yet. We'll have awesome winter next year with some super versions of Christmas, our wedding anniversary (December 28!), New Years, his birthday... all those holidays he keeps missing because of his job.

I'm also working on Christmas cards. I hope I have everyone's addresses. Email Mutnik@gmail.com if you think we might be missing yours.

And speaking of mail, I've gotten into http://www.postcrossing.com ...it's pretty cool sending and receiving postcards from all over the world. I've found we have Fort Lewis post cards, though...so if anyone wants me to send one along, let me know and I'll send it along.

So, on to the cuteness. This is what I woke up to this morning:

But then I wandered into the office and this was the view out the window:
Later, I happened to look out our bedroom window and saw frost! You can't see it too well in this photo, but it's there...unfortunately, this is a later photo not the original what I saw, which I ran downstairs to see if it was snow.
Jerome and Specialist Phillips assured me it was just frost. I'm not exactly looking forward to snow, but I think the first time it happens will be pretty neat.

The cold is creeping up, and I'm starting to seriously wonder if Peach needs a sweater. She does shiver when it gets colder outside. I've always thought dog sweaters were sort of silly, but now I think I honestly might buy one.

Anyway, I'm going to get going and start doing chores before it gets too cold to want to go outside again.

P.S.: I've started a new blog- http://eatinginsomnia.blogspot.com Not sure how that one's going to work out, especially now that he's leaving...but we'll see.

Still Around

Not much interesting stuff has been going on here. This is just a little post to let everyone know we're not dead.

...I was going to post pictures, but Jerome stole the camera. He's on 24 hour Staff Duty today and won't be back until 9 am tomorrow. So maybe pictures later this week.

Peach will be very upset over Jerome being gone for a whole day...once she figures it out. Last time he was late coming home, she threw a fit and ran up and down the stairs and whined at the front door until he came back. I hope she will calm down and go to bed eventually.

Today, I will be cleaning, going to the Commissary, walking Peach, and unpacking. (Still.) Then maybe I will make cookies for when Jerome comes back from staff duty. Chocolate chip or snickerdoodle?

Hope y'all have a nice day! ^.^

Princess Peach Pie

Hey, Peach!

What? Do you have a bite for me?

No, it's time to tell the internet your story. Are you ready?

You're going to write about me on the internet?!

Yes. They've been asking about you. You have loads of fans already.

Oh, okay...I guess.

Okay, now that she's not sleeping or anything...

Everyone knew we wanted to get a dog. Eventually.

When we found the apartment that we didn't move into 'cause they lied, I was happy they accepted dogs...but they lied to us, and we never set foot there.

When we moved into the house in Lakewood, I was very disappointed we would not be allowed to have an indoor dog. We were encouraged to walk Kaiser and Zowie, the dogs that the guy in the back apartment owned, but it wasn't the same. Especially since he liked "dogs that know they're dogs, not dogs who think they're people."

When we were told we were being moved into on post housing whether we wanted to or not, one of the main reasons I didn't throw more of a fit was that we're allowed up to four pets.

Originally, Jerome wanted to get a puppy the day we moved in. I put my foot down and told him we have to be responsible pet parents and find a car first, so we can take the animal to the vet. And on top of that, finding a puppy usually takes more than a day...and at that point, I was looking to adopt a slightly older dog from a shelter. It would likely be already housebroken and would be happy to find a new home.

When he left the next morning for California to finally get all of our things, I did not have the slightest idea that he would come back with a puppy.

Then, the next day, I got the phone call. "Do you want a puppy?" He asked in a playful tone.

It turns out Jerome's sister Katie had adopted a little black Lab mix puppy, but decided it wasn't such a good idea to have the puppy around her young children. She was looking to give her away. She was 11 weeks old. Already spayed and microchipped and had already had two rounds of shots. Her name was Apple.

We agreed to take her...though we decided right away to re-name her.

Several days and a looooong truck ride later, Jerome handed me her pink leash outside our apartment...and left again. He had other things to do before he could come back and unload our things.

When he did come home, we decided to call her Peach. After Princess Peach of Mario Bros. fame.

Now, it's been less than two weeks, and in that time, she's grown a bunch and pretty much become a permanent part of the house. It seems like she's always been with us.

I'm pretty sure that long truck ride up here did it, but she seems to be quite attached to Jerome.


They play together all the time. she knows when he's coming home and will wait by the door. She'll sit in his chair and whine if he's gone. It's all very cute.


She likes running around like a crazy dog outside. She likes to eat those leaves. (We still need a rake.) She likes drinking water out of the rain gutter, despite her water bowl being right next to it. She doesn't have a problem going up and down the stairs, but she gets lazy and will bark if a toy falls down the stairs on accident.

She does NOT like the vacuum.

And right now, she's tired:


...which means it's probably a good time for me to run off to the Commissary. I will prolly update again with more puppy pictures and more about Jerome's head soon.

Oh! And I'm putting together an address book, just so we have everyone's information, should we need it. If you think we should have your info, go ahead and email it to Mutnik@gmail.com ...Thanks!

Just Peachy

So, when I started to plan this post Wenedsday, it was going to be all about our new puppy, Peach.



Buuut, we all know how much Jerome loves going to the emergency room. So, I figure that should probably come first...

Thursday was Jerome's first day back from his ten days of 'moving' leave. He flew home to San Pedro, packed up the horrible mess we left in his mother's living room (that I still feel guilty about) flew a buddy down, and drove it all back up here in a Uhaul... (More on this later.)

Well, when he got back, the Army decided he was going to have some shots: Smallpox, Typhoid, Flu, and Anthrax.

After getting all of the vaccines but the Smallpox, he looked really pale, so the nurse told him to go sit on a gurney until he felt a little better, then come back and get the last shot. He did and came back in shortly for his final inoculation.

After that, Jerome decided he had to go to the bathroom. He walked in...and somewhere in there, he passed out. I've been told it was a few minutes before someone else walked in and found him with a little pool of blood under his head. They managed to rouse him at this point, and someone called 911. He called me from the ambulance.

He got three staples in his head!

After he came home, he was acting strange. Repeating things and having memory lapses.

The next day he went back to the ER. There, they asked him some questions, like "What day is it?" "What year is it?" and "Who's running for President?"...after he couldn't tell them who was running besides Obama, they took a CAT scan. Then they decided he has a concussion and sent him home.

He's not supposed to be doing anything. No unpacking, no playing rough with the puppy, no work. That's not how Jerome works, though...if he feels good, he wants to do things. It's hard to make sure he doesn't hurt himself.

...now, about that puppy.


Oh...she is sleeping. Maybe is best to not post about her right now. I will say her name is Peach and we are happy puppy parents...

But I really think she deserves her own entry. It will come really soon, I promise!

Here's The Before...

With the help of one of Jerome's battle buddies, we made it into base housing with (almost) all of our stuff that we had originally brought with us/acquired while we were here.

I was surprised to see that our name is on the front of the unit:

PV2 is his rank, for those of you who don't speak Army.

Even though we were early for our appointment, the nice lady let us in and showed us around. We signed the papers and she handed off the keys and left.

We pulled in the first truckload of stuff with the help of one of Jerome's buddy's wives, Dawn. It's hard to believe we managed to collect all this stuff in just a month. She drove us back to the house so we could finish final paperwork and clean up a bit.

Later, Specialist Hole (Dawn's husband) helped us move the last of the stuff and let us borrow an air mattress and some sheets. We had two truckloads of stuff, but it barely took up a corner of the living room. A lot of it was quickly unpacked into the kitchen.

The next morning, Jerome left for California to get the rest of our stuff...finally.

This leaves me alone. So, because my mom asked, and because I have nothing better to do, here's a picture tour of a mostly empty house:

The front door...

The kitchen...

That's not my sweater...nope nope.

The stairs:

These will be fun to vacuum,

The living room...

Nicely lit by the windows, but empty.

The laundry room...

Complete with brand new Whirlpool washer and dryer delivered this morning.

The back yard...

We need a rake!

Insert patio furniture here.

And look! A shed for Jerome's bikes to live in!

The office...

Don't look at my mess, this is where I've been spending most of my time...

Aaaand the bedroom...

Yay, more mess!

Not much to see right now...but let's see how it goes after all of our stuff gets here.

Besides, the puppy will make for much cuter pictures...even if the background is just a bunch of boxes.

...yeah, I said puppy. Full details on that one next time...

Running Around in Circles

I have tried several times to make a post with pictures of our house.
...well, the house we're currently living in. More on that in a minute...let's go over how we got here first.

What happened to the apartment you ask?
Well, both the Army housing website and the nice lady we talked to about the apartment told us it was two miles away from the fort. When it came time to go sign papers, Jerome looked up the address on Google Maps only to find that it was 40 miles away. 40 miles is waaaay too far, especially if you don't have a car.

We learned a lesson. The house hunt started again.

The first house we clicked on sounded perfect. Wary, we looked it up on Google. Yep, it was really only five miles away from base. Jerome made the phone call and set up an appointment for the next day at 10am.

The neighborhood is okay, the house is cute, the landlady is nice. The house came furnished. Three small bedrooms, two bathrooms, a cozy living/dining area, and a great kitchen. All hardwood floors. The only thing we didn't like: no pets.

We signed a temporary agreement and moved in that night. We started making plans. The Christmas tree will go here, we can put some pretty pictures here...etc.

Lucky for us, our things are still stuck in California. If we'd gotten them up here right away, we would be having to move again.

It turns out that Jerome's higher ups had decided that our lack of a vehicle was a huge problem and went behind our backs and went up the chain of command to get our name bumped up to the top of the housing list.

We hadn't been in our house two weeks when we found out. Luckily, we hadn't signed a lease yet.

We will be moving into our unit on post on October 21. I will email the new address to all at that point in time.

There are loads of great reasons to have base housing. The one that I care about most: we can get a dog!

At this point, we have a loose plan for Jerome to go home and get our things the following weekend. If you're involved in this and have not been contacted yet, be patient, you will be. It would help if we knew exactly what was going on ourselves.

I will try to get some pictures up again later this week, but my camera and computer and Blogger all seem to be not getting along.

On a completely different note: I have never had to cook breakfast every day before! I'm looking for different things to do besides your normal pancakes, French toast, bacon and eggs, etc. I'm scouring the internet on my own, but if anyone has any fun breakfast ideas, I'd love to see them. Drop me an email: Mutnik@gmail.com

Jerome will be home soon. I'd better get going. Later, y'all.

What Just Happened?

Sorry I left this blog alone for so long. Things got busy after Jerome came home.

Here's what's been going on:
Jerome came home and got sick after just a few days. After going to the doctor, they told him he had a virus and was no longer contagious. He'd only been contagious before he was showing symptoms. I thought I'd escaped.

He missed his first week of working at the recruiter's office. That was okay, though, he made it up later. The Sargents at the office were really helpful in getting information we needed to know, but they were kind of slow about it, and by the time we knew what needed to be done, it was too late.

Meanwhile, I put in my two weeks at the store and left on August 29th, letters of recommendation in my hand. I had been with that store for over two years and a lot of my co-workers were like family. I can't say I wasn't sad to leave.

Everyone and their mother's dog wanted to see us before we left, and despite my attempts to have one huge party where everyone could come, we ended up at a lot of small parties that took up a lot of the time when we should have been doing other things.

...that isn't to say those weren't fun or appreciated, we had a blast...we just didn't manage our time well.

And during the last week and a half, I caught that virus I thought I'd escaped from. Now we had a week to pack both rooms and do other things we had planned, but I was really, really sick. We managed to get my room packed and done, but Jerome's room just never made it. I feel really bad about all that stuff sitting there in Mary's house, waiting to be picked up and half boxed.

So, Jerome worked down to the wire on Monday morning right up until we left for the airport at 4:30am.

I was still sick. We got to th airport and checked our bags. we'd each brought an extra bag, because we didn't know when we would see the rest of our stuff again. we were fully prepared to pay the $25 fee for each extra bag...but the nice lady waived our fees because we were military. ^.^

Usually, when military personnel go through the airport in uniform, they get to go through the airport employee security line. we went through the regular people line. On top of that, we got flagged for extra security screening. So we go and we get patted down and they go through our stuff. Then they start swiping our stuff with cloths and running it through a machine. all my stuff went through fine, until she swiped the inside of my bag (which had Jerome's laptop in it)..apparantly I tested positive for TNT. Jerome was testing positive too. He explained he was in the military and his things had been with him while he was firing and exploding things in training...and I was his wife with some of his possessions in my bag. finally they let us go, but they wrote stuff down first. o.o

Once in, we had smoothies for breakfast and tried to stay awake long enough to get on the plane.

We flew Virgin America and it was the most interesting plane I'd ever been on. Te flight attendants were all extremely happy and helpful and none of it seemed fake. The whole entertainment system was touch screen and personalized. Unfortunately, I slept through most of the flight. I'd definitely fly with them again, just to get the full experience.

The only parts of the flight I didn't sleep were the parts where I learned why everyone complains about their ears on airplanes. I was/am having sinus problems and my ears hurt so bad, I honestly thought they were going to start bleeding. This has affected my hearing ever since. I know its temporary, but it's very, very annoying to not be able to hear all the way.

When we got to Sea-Tac, Jerome met another private on his way to Ft. Lewis while I was in the bathroom. We all headed up to the USO to figure out how to get to the base. The USO had some weird rules, so we put our luggage where directed, then found out that there's a shuttle...but it didn't leave for about an hour, so we stayed up there for a bit. The other private ended up getting a ride with another solider who was going in a POV (Privately Owned Vehicle), but had no room for our luggage.

When it was time for us to go catch the shuttle, we went to get our luggage, and found out that other private had taken Jerome's large, green, army issue rucksack (that had his name on it) by mistake. We filled out the paperwork for the missing rucksack and ran down to catch the shuttle.

Once on Ft. Lewis, we went to the lodge to get rid of our luggage. The lodge was full. They gave us a list of hotels nearby. We started calling. Finally, we got into an Extended Stay America...but it was 12 miles away! We called a cab, rushed over, checked in, dropped our stuff, rushed out and took the cab back to the fort.

Jerome insisted I needed to be there with him when he started in-processing...so I went. We saw some guys who seemed to be helping all the new people and asked about the private who we had suspected took Jerome's bag. They said they knew who he was and went to go get the bag for us. Jerome started the the check-in procedures. I waited patiently. The guys came back, one came in saying they had his bag, they looked at him...he was busy. they looked at me..."Do you want us to uhh..bring it to you?" I was already up and walking with them to the door, I told them I could get it. Yeah, I might not look like it, but I can still carry a 50lb rucksack if I have to. They seemed impressed.

We got through the processing and moved on to the housing office as instructed. I got to sit and watch the rucksack while Jerome went and talked to the people. I watched a bunch of little kids fight over a dump truck in the corner. They were kinda cute...until they got loud.

Finally, he was done. We got some food and took a cab back to the hotel...and slept.
********************

The next day we were up at four and Jerome was gone by five...leaving me alone. I watched local news to try and learn about the area, but was soon bored. I looked online and flagged some apartments for Jerome to look at when he got back, caught up on things I had missed while being busy at home and concentrated on finally getting better.

When he finally did get back, we left to explore the mall across the street and look for a grocery/drug store and a Bank Of America. We found a bank, and we found a barber (though we weren't looking...but Jerome did need a haircut)...but we couldn't find a store. we ended up going to Michaels 'cause one of the things we needed was paper, and a really expensive little organic store for bananas and granola bars.
********************

Yesterday, Jerome started calling people about apartments. We ended up applying for one that was really close to base.

This morning, we got the phone call that we were approved! We can hopefully move in tonight!

How are we going to do this if all of our stuff is still in San Pedro? We're going to buy an air mattress (good for camping later) and some bare essentials to tide us over until Jerome can go home and get the rest of our things.

I should be running an errand right now, but at least I've brought y'all up to date. I'll try to post more about the apartment later in the week. Feel free to reply with questions here or email them to me: Mutnik@gmail.com

Almost There

Jerome went to the FOB today. He's never told me exactly what FOB stands for, but I'm going to guess and say it's something along the lines of False Operations Base. It's like his final test. They put them in a simulation war zone and make them all do their jobs they were trained to do.

He should graduate a week from Wednesday. ...and hopefully fly home that night.

Then I put in my two weeks notice and we have to be at Ft. Lewis on August 28.

...it's going to be an adventure!

I'm still in Oregon. I like it up here a lot, I hope it's similar in Washington!

Houston, We Have ORDERS!

So, Jerome called me this morning and told me he JUST found out we got orders. We will be going to Ft. Lewis in Washington state!

I've done about two seconds of research. It looks very pretty.

In other news: today is Jerome's last training day. Then he goes to the simulation site for a few days to pass his final test!

I cut my hair short. (Pictures to come.)

Tomorrow I leave for Oregon! I will be bringing my computer and my internet with me, so if you need to contact me, y'all can...my email is Mutnik at gmail dot com. (email will be checked at least every night) If it's more urgent, I will have my cell.

Alright, guys. That's all I've got for now!

Getting Started

Hi, Y'all!

I'm starting this blog to document and share with friends and family just what exactly is going on with Jerome and I. (More Jerome right now.)

Jerome will have access to post here if he so chooses...but he's been having trouble with his internet connection, so I wouldn't expect him to post here very often.

I know I'm hard to get a hold of on the phone...especially recently. Please forgive me, July is always busy with lots of birthdays (2 of which I planned parties for), and this year I've been getting ready for my trip to Oregon with my friend. (I leave on Thursday!) My phone has been ringing non-stop (even while I'm at work!) and the only time I seem to get to myself is after work, in the middle of the night.

Speaking of birthdays, happy late birthday Mary! Sorry I missed it.

So, seeing as I keep strange hours and have not been finding enough time in the day, I figured this would be a great way of making sure everyone got the news. Plus, this link can be forwarded to other friends and relatives that are curious about what's going on.

Don't get me wrong here, folks, I still want to keep up individual relationships with everyone, but seeing as I'm obviously terrible at it, this is a good way to make sure everyone gets the news on our solider.

Latest Jerome News:
Last Sunday, July 20, Jerome managed to trip and mess up his hand. He called me from the ER in the middle of the night. as I understand, he lost a chunk of skin from his hand, but no stiches were required. He was given pain medication, bandages, and a no weapons profile 'cause it hurt to hold his rifle.

He just can't stay out of that ER, can he?

Jerome went to the ER on Wednesday because he felt sudden pressure behind his eyes. He left with the promise of an appointment on Thursday.
On Thursday they looked him over and gave him an appointment for the Optometrist on Friday.
On Friday they dilated his eyes and did all sorts of tests, he says they took pictures of the insides of his eyes. They told him his eye pressure is slightly above normal and they'll continue to monitor it once a year.

He will be done with training next week!

Also, he signed the hometown recruiting papers, which means he will be coming home for a few weeks after he gets orders.

Jerome still has no orders, however. No orders mean no coming home. He'll be stuck in an inactive platoon doing things like 'picture hanging detail'. I will let everyone know the minute I hear we have orders. I would like to know where we're going just as much as all of you!

That's all the news for now. I will try to update when I hear anything big, or at least once a week just to let everyone know we're still here. Jerome calls me almost every day, so I'm sure they'll be something interesting before too long.

Hopefully we'll see him home soon!



Later, all!