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!