Dear So and So...On The Fly

Dear 7:15 AM,

So we meet again old enemy.... you know my feelings about you. I hate how you taunt me with the ringing of my alarm and the way my eyes won't quite open properly at that time. Can't you just let me sleep just a bit longer?

Groggy, Kat

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Dear School,

Could we start the day at a more reasonable hour. Let's say 10 AM? That way I don't have to get out of bed until 9am. That sounds a lot more sensible. Kids get more sleep. Parents get more sleep. It sounds like a win win situation to me.

Just Sayin', Kat

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Dear Children of Mine,

"Time to get up" isn't a suggestion.

I Really Mean It, Mom

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Dear Rain,

Hold off until after tomorrow say 4ish. I need to mow the lawn... yet again.

I'm Begging You A Little Here, Kat

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Dear Grass,

Could you quit growing now? I know all this rain has fueled your growth to ridiculous levels, but have some mercy! I am only one person.

Pleading With You, Kat

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Dear Readers,

I hope you have a lovely weekend full of fun. Don't forget to link up if you have letters of your own.

Love, Kat

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What I Plan On Doing The First Day of School

My kids start school tomorrow. They need to go to school. They want to go to school. I am tremendously excited for them and for me. I am already planning for my first day of freedom in 6 weeks their first day of school.

8:45- Take kids to school

9:15- Arrive home

9:16- Check email and Facebook

9:16:05-Send tweet about my kids being at school.

9:30- Watch a movie. Probably tweet while watching the movie.

11:30- Contemplate lunch.

11:35- Make lunch and eat without interruption.

12:00- Consider a nap

12:05- Take nap.

2:00- Wake up. Watch more TV.

3:00- Remember that I have to get the kids from school.

3:15- Go get kids.

Basically, I am doing all the things that I couldn't do while they were on their summer break. I don't normally have a day like this, but I think I will make an exception for tomorrow. An entire day of laziness without having to hear this:

Did I mention that they totally want to go back to school? Happy days!

An Apology to my Mother

I want to take this opportunity to apologize to my mom for all the awful music that I made her listen to when I was a kid. I am sorry for the car rides where I made you blast New Kids on the Block and Debbie Gibson. I am sorry about blaring my Tiffany tape in my room. I am sorry that I listened to the Dirty Dancing tape until I knew the words to every single song. Actually, I am not really sorry about that. It was a really good soundtrack.

I am apologizing for all of this because LaLa has in the last year discovered her own teenie bopper idols that she is now worshiping. Justin Beiber, JLS and Taylor Swift are the artists that make up this fresh hell that I am drowning in. Their crooning about teen aged love and catchy songs about getting on the dance floor make me want to hurl LaLa's CD player across the room.

Of course I won't. I will just grin and bear it. I will tell her to turn it down or go play it in her own room with the door shut. I will pretend that I am enjoying it in the car. I will take it all with good humor. I will also apologize to my mom for being a pain in my mom's rear end.

Let's Get This Straight

My mom relayed this little gem of a conversation that she heard between LaLa and KiKi to me.

Apparently, KiKi, wasn't listening to what her sister was saying and this was obviously making LaLa really upset. This is fairly typical around here. Of course, then LaLa went to set KiKi straight about how to world works.

"KiKi, I am the boss of you since I am older, Mom is the boss of me, and Dad is the boss of Mom...sometimes....when he is home."

Let's get this straight, kid. Nobody is the boss of me. Usually.

When The Going Get's Tough, The Tough Get Going...And Take An Impromptu Trip Through Europe Pt.1

The kids and I landed in Germany at 3pm local time on Friday. I had maybe two hours of sleep on the plane and we had been traveling since roughly 4:30pm east coast time on Thursday. I was tired. My body clock was completely confused and I just wanted a bed. After we made our way though customs and German immigration, I gathered the girls and we headed to the base hotel across the street from the passenger terminal.



As the girls stood next to me I asked the man at reception, Otto, for a room.



"We have no rooms, we are completely booked. You can maybe check in the reservations room to see if they can find you something on one of the other bases close by," he explained to me in a thick German accent.



I felt tears threatening to well up in my eyes, blinked them back, and said "You have got to be kidding me..."



"No, ma'am, I am not kidding"



Those Germans and their sense of humor...



I wandered to the reservations room, dragging my gigantic suitcase behind me and asked the pretty blond girl sitting at the first desk about any room availability elsewhere. They had nothing as well. She suggested that I check back in an hour.



I went back into the lobby, sat with the children and tried my best not to cry. Here I was in Germany, with two children, a suitcase that probably weighed 70 lbs and no plan. The next plane to the UK was not going to be leaving until Monday and I couldn't even find a hotel room for one night. I sat with the children and tried to keep my spirits up. Surely, things would work out. Surely, I wouldn't have to sleep on the lobby or passenger terminal floor. I kept compulsively checking my watch and enviously looking at the people who had obviously had the luxury of planning receive their keys and head to their rooms.



An hour passed and I checked the reception desk. Still no rooms. I headed to the reservation room. At the point I must have looked pitiful. I bypassed the pretty blond girl and headed over to the middle aged woman sitting on the opposite side of the room.



"I need a room for the night for me and my two children and frankly I don't care if it is a broom closet; I just need to sleep." I don't know if it was because I looked the a haggled mess or if it was because something magically "freed up" or what, but we ended up in a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom suite with a kitchenette, dining room, and living room for the night. Only for that night though. We would be put out on our ear the next morning.



After a short ride across base with our German taxi cab driver, we arrived at our building. I lugged my 70lb suitcase up 6 sets of stairs to the 3rd floor. There of course was no lift. Oh well, just another bump in the road. Par for the course, really. I was just happy to have a room. Now, I just needed a plan....

Things to Do While On Your Summer Holiday

Visit Family.


Play with bubble gun.


Meet your new cousin.


Visit a tourist attraction.



Walk across a gap in the mountain on a rope bridge and in the process give your mother a heart attack.


Enjoy the view.


See a waterfall.


Learn to swim!!

Flying With Children- Things To Bring

My children have been taking flights with me since they were babies. My oldest daughters first flight happened when she was three months old (she is now seven years old). She was a champ on the flight. I was amazed at how well she did. She still is a great flier, but it takes a lot of prep work to make things go smoothly with even the best of child travelers.

Here is a list of things you need for flying with children.

1. Gum or a bottle/breast (for babies) to help stablize air pressure when the plane takes off and lands. When my daughter was really little I made sure I was feeding her on the way up and on the way down. The swallowing and sucking helped ward off any uncomfortable pressure in her ears during the assent and decent in the plane. A pacifier/dummy can also help with this, but some kids don't take them. Gum can be used for older children, but make sure it stays in their mouth unless they want a homemade haircut when they get to the ground.

2. Blanket and pillow. A good majority of the time, the hum of the airplane's engines will make my kids sleepy. So it is always good to have a soft place for them to put their head. Also, airplanes tend to be cold so a blanket is nice. Sometimes airlines provide blankets and pillows, sometimes for free, sometimes for a charge.

3. A portable DVD player/iPad. I have always found that the kids are never EVER interested in the kids movies that the airlines provide. Either they have already seen it or it is too old for them (geared towards teens and not children). If you don't have your own device and can't afford one, go beg a friend to borrow theirs. It will save your life.

4. Some sort of way to color. I used to bring crayons and coloring books for my kids so that my kids could draw and color while they were traveling. Now, I have my iPad and an app for that. Crayons work just fine, but they tend to get dropped under the seats and then you have to hunt them down. They work, but can be a pain sometimes.

5. A cuddly toy. Having a familiar face from home helps to calm nerves. Just make sure to remember the cuddly friend when disembarking the plane.

6. Headphones that fit your child's ears. The airlines headphones are meant for adult heads and don't exactly fit little ones. Once my eldest child spent an 8 hour flight with her hands over her ears holding her headphones to her head so that she could listen to music and watch movies on the plane.

7. Books. It is a good way to get an older child to sit still. Give them a book and ask them to read to you.

8. Nintendo DS/Leapster/handheld gaming system- Once again, if you do not have one and can't afford one, go beg one off a friend. They are a life saver. When all else fails, kids will usually sit still to play their video games.

9. Extra snacks. My kids NEVER eat the food that is served on the planes. The dinners don't even try to look appitizing to kids, so my kids generally only eat the dinner roll. I make sure I always carry a few packages of snacks that I know that they will eat. Don't bring fresh fruit or veg though unless you want to get a fine when going through customs when flying internationally.

10. Bring your sense of humor. Don't be in a hurry. Try to have fun. Relax if you can. It is going to be a long day, but it doesn't have to be stressful. Remember a few hours of planning beforehand can save you a lot of grief on the day.

Do you have any other suggestions for things to bring on the plane to make traveling with children any easier?

Snippits from Sunday

Sitting at the table at a restaurant my husband and daughter were having a bit of banter about the trampoline moves she had taught him the day before. She and her friends have come up with names of "crack the egg" and "flip the bacon" for two of the moves.

La-"YEAH and I showed you how to crack the egg and flip the bacon!!
The Man- "Maybe one day I will show you how to cut the cheese.

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The Man, the girls and I went in search of movies to rent after dinner.

LaLa scanning and sounding out a title on the shelf "People....I've...Sleept...With"
Me- "Move along.... you don't need to see that"
LaLa Still looking at movies "Jjjjaaaaackass 3"
Me- "Man, there are really some times I wish you still couldn't read."
*man behind me starts sniggering*

Sugar and Spice? My Left Foot, Sugar and Spice.

I have now made LaLa leave the dinner table twice because of bad manners. My generally well behaved child has horrible table manners. It hasn't always been like this. She knows better. I guess I could blame it on her age, but I think it has more to do with the fact that other than her best girl friend, she likes to chum around with the boys at school. And boys think that burps are funny.

I don't. OK, if you can't help it, like if you have drank a fizzy drink, a little burp and an excuse me don't bother me at all. However, she has started doing ginormous earth shattering burps at the dinner table and then cackling in her chair like it is the funniest thing ever. At first I would just tell her "say excuse me", which then progressed to "that's gross, you need to say excuse me" to "that is really gross lala, if you do it again you're going to be in trouble" and now to "get up from the dinner table and go sit on your bed, I can't handle you being gross while I am eating". She is still cackling about it by the way. It doesn't seem to faze her that she is getting in trouble.

This behavior is also rubbing off on KiKi of course, because LaLa is her hero. She also however says sorry when I give her the "I'm very cross" look, so there is hope still to nip this one in the bud. I am just at a loss as to what to do with LaLa now. What would your next move be? I thought little girls were supposed to be made of sugar and spice and everything nice, not hot gas and apparently amazing abdominal strength.

No Heat...Once Again

If it isn't one thing, it's another. That's the saying that most closely resembles my life at any given moment. Apparently, Murphy (as in Murphy's Law) has decided to take up residence in my house once again. Fortunately, we don't have any heat at my house right now, so maybe he will take a hike. I doubt it.

Yes, you did read that right. We have no heat. Again. This time I can't even say it wasn't my fault because if I had been observant I would have noticed that my hot water was set to be heated all day, thus depleting all my gas supply in around a month's time. Yes, all my gas, what should normally last 2-3 months, gone. I am guessing that one of the kids hit a button on the boiler controls and set it to heat the water "all day"(usually I heat the water a couple hours in the morning and a couple hours at night). To top it off the gas company says they can't make a delivery for 7-10 days.

So right now we are in a mess. We have hot water because I can run that off my electric, but we have no heat. Last night I spent the night at my best friend's house, but I don't want to move in and take over her house. So, I am weighing my options and trying to decide what to do and hoping that the gas company comes through and we get our delivery before they say we will.

Moral of the story: cut your kids fingers off keep an eye on the gas levels in the tank and check the boiler settings every day.

Overreaction

Saturday night I was drained. Mentally I was drained. The kids had been a nightmare all day; KiKi continuously wetting her pants and LaLa testing her boundaries with attitude, hand on hips and stomping of the foot. I just really wanted a minute to talk to my husband and was really looking forward to 8pm, when he said he would try to be online.

At 8pm I checked Skype and saw him online. With a big exhale I messaged him. Then he lost his connection (or so I assumed). I lost it. We have been having spotty connection issues since he got DownRange. He has been relying on the free Internet connections at the moral centers at the base. Moral centers might be an oxymoron because the Internet connections there are the most unreliable. So, I lost it. Tears. Messages to Jay telling her how sick I was of the dropped connections and my crappy day. Finally, after about 30 minutes I pulled it together and got the kids in bed.

When I returned to the computer an hour later, he was back online. I had waiting messages. I was a bit excited to say the least. We had a nice conversation without a single interruption. Come to find out, he was at a kiosk purchasing a reliable connection the first time he popped up; testing the connection. My moment of disappointment was him actually trying to make sure that our communication method was better.

Lordy, I really miss him.

Separation Anxiety

It started a couple of weeks ago. KiKi wet her pants. No big deal. I changed her pants, told her that big girls use the potty and thought little of it. Then it happened again and again and again. It is to the point that I am running out of clean underpants and trousers for the child! My washing machine is going at full tilt all the time. I am resisting the urge to put her back in diapers, because she *IS* toilet trained. She knows how to do it!

Then I got to thinking. Then I did some Googling (cause Google is never wrong). Talked to my Granny (cause Granny is never wrong either). Then came to a conclusion. The first time she wet her pants was a couple of weeks before my husband left for Afghanistan. Yes, he was here, but it was a time where maybe emotionally it was a bit strained around here. It was a time of frenzy. Maybe a conversation within earshot of the kids happened, I'm not sure. I am sure she knew that something was up. We told the kids about the deployment, and LaLa gets it. She knows Daddy is going to work in Afghanistan for a long time, of course not knowing the full implications of that. KiKi, well she just knows Daddy isn't home.

I know every child takes a deployment differently. LaLa has become a bit clingy and a bit overbearing. She has also started to test her boundaries to see how much she can get away with (not much La, sorry.) KiKi has regressed. I know it will eventually stop (at least before she is married) and I am trying NOT to yell, scold, and be "mean mommy" about it. I know this time is difficult for her, but it is also difficult for me.

I am so not looking forward to having to re-train her, but it looks like my only option at this point. Reward M&M's anyone?

For LaLa on Her Birthday

Dear Sweet Girl,

In honor of your sixth birthday I am putting together a list of my favorite LaLa-isms...

"Dad you are the snow attacker and we are the snow offenders!!!"

"Why do you keep saying no?"

To my friend S- "I keep whining until my mom gives me what I want." (At least she is honest)

"Santa can't have a belly full of jelly! He'd DIE!"

"Do you want to play noughts and crosses?" ME- "Tic tac toe?" Her-"Noughts and crosses" (She is becoming British)

"Mr. F says 'come on your horrible lot!' and then we say 'we're not horrible!!'"

"DAD! THAT'S DARF VADER!!"

"You can't get me! I have ONE THOUSAND hearts!!!" (maybe she watches too many video games?)

In the movie Astroboy "He had a gum machine in his butt!!!" (which means he had a machine gun in his butt...I think the movie would have been cool either way)

"Mom, I am brilliant at maths!!!"

You aren't just brilliant at Maths, LaLa. You are just brilliant. I love you.

XOXOXOX, Mom

A Year and Thanksgiving

I have lived in England a year now. I know, hard to believe. While I still feel like a fish out of water sometimes (ok..a lot of the time), I have gotten to the point where it is starting to feel a bit like home. I have a normal routine. I have priceless friends. I know the rules of the road. I have my bearings.

Then Thanksgiving rolls around. How do you describe a holiday that has no significance to friends who have no frame of reference? I mean really, it is a holiday that can sound quite silly to those who have not grown up with it.

"It is a celebration of...ummm...a bountiful harvest. The old wives tale is that the Pilgrims and Indians celebrated the first Thanksgiving together, but that is really silly because the Pilgrims and Indians pretty much hated each other. So...anyhoo, we get together as a family, cook a huge turkey, make green bean casserole, and other side dishes...eat until we are about to explode and then watch football...no not THAT football. Oh and pie, there is lots of pie."

This year I was dead set against cooking a Thanksgiving dinner. It is a lot of work and there are only four of us here to enjoy it. That, from my frame of reference, is no way to spend Thanksgiving. Really, the food is only a small portion of the Thanksgiving equation. Thanksgiving is really about being with family and friends. Spending time with people you love (even the ones who annoy you to no end) and reconnecting is then main reason for Thanksgiving. Then I had a change of heart. I am not doing Thanksgiving for me. I am doing it for my kids, so they have a frame of reference. It is part of our culture. They need to build Thanksgiving memories just as I did. Sure, their Thanksgiving might be a little smaller on the years that we can't visit the rest of our family, but it is still a time for us to reconnect with each other, invite over friends (even those who don't understand it), and have a day where we can say "Thanks. Thanks for giving us each other."

Dude, We Have A Problem!

So I was sorting through my deleted emails and I came across a peculiar file.  I was suspicious because it was a really large file and was addressed to KiKi in the subject line.  Now, I get a lot of weird emails, but none are usually addressed to my youngest daughter.  It was also a really large file, too large to be just text.  Curiosity got the best of me and when I opened it I found THIS!

I was confused.  Did I miss or accidentally delete an email from Captain Dumbass?  Certainly not.  I IM'd the Captain and come to find out he had found a similar file.  Check it out here.  It appears that our little angels are communicating.  What they are up to is anyone's guess. 

Joy to the World!

It's Christmas Eve! My stockings are hung, my presents are wrapped and plans have been made on how to spend our first Christmas in England. Tonight we are going to attend church on base with the girls. It is a candle light service, which is what we usually attend when we are back home in South Carolina. The base church seems to be really nice and when "the Man" and LaLa went to check out what time the services would be starting one of the lady's from the church invited him and LaLa in for lunch and dessert. I think we will probably start attending church on base because I am not sure what other churches are in the area.

Anyways, after church, we are going to come home and let the girls open one present. This is something that my family has always done. After church we always just open a single present, then it is off to bed so that Santa can come.

On Christmas morning we will open all of Santa's presents and the rest of the presents from the family. This might take a while judging by the stack of gifts under my tree. Seriously, it looks like Christmas came into my house and threw up underneath my tree. I am totally not complaining. It is just kinda funny cause I have this little 5 foot tree and it is being overwhelmed by the presents.

After presents, we will pack up the girls and go to Domino's house for Christmas dinner. OK, I am from the south. Dinner to me is anywhere from noon-2pm (supper is at 6 pm when all the northerners are having "dinner")(sorry about the tangent there). Anyhoo, we are going to be keeping it fairly simple this year for Christmas dinner. Ham, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, corn, rolls, pie.....yeah ok, so it is still gonna be a lot of food. I guess after we finish dinner we will waddle into Domnio's living room and exchange the gifts that we got for each other. By this time it should also be late enough that I can call my family and not wake them up. Of course the idea of calling them at 9am my time also makes me giggle to myself. Can you imagine being on the receiving end of that.

Mom-*phone ringing looking at the clock which says 4am, picks up the phone* *groggy* Hello?
Me- MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAH! Kids sing Jinggle Bells for MiMi!
Kids- *singing* Jingle Bells Jingle Bells!
Me-Aren't they great mom?
Mom- I am so going to take you out.

I would be living in fear until I saw her in July. It would sooooo be worth it.

So that is what I am going to be doing this Christmas. What are your plans?

And the Answers Are....

For MaMa Dawg-
How do I feel about moving to England? Well actually I am really excited, scared, and stressed out. I know when I get there that the stress will go away, but until then I am a big 'ol ball of stress. Cussing when my kids are not around seems to relieve that sometimes.
Is this the first time I have lived in a foreign country due to the military? Yes. Well unless you count Texas or Missouri as foreign countries.
How do the girls feel about the move? LaLa is really excited. Her best friends (my best friend's kids) already live at the base we are going to. When she tells someone she is moving to England she says "I am moving to England and I will get to play with C and C"....like anyone knows who her best friends are. EDIT: About 5 min ago LaLa realized that we are not coming back to Missouri and that this isn't going to be her house anymore. She burst into tears and started asking what was going to happen to her friends and if she was going to be able to see them again. It broke my heart into a thousand different pieces. I know she is going to have to do this every few years and it is going to be rough on her. I just hope we can handle it each and every time we have to do it. It is cute. KiKi, well she is 2 so I don't know how much she actually gets. She can say England though.
How long will we be over there? 4 years. Longer if my husband really likes it over there and applies for an extension, or tries to get another European base (and actually gets the assignment).
If you send me money will I get and send you some Doc Martins? Yes I would, but I think you might could find them cheaper in the states. Everything is more expensive over there. Yankee Candles go for almost $50!
Steenky Jen-
Will I live on base? Most likely no. We are looking at living in a little village between the two RAF bases in the area.
Will I befriend Gwen Paltrow? I dunno, she doesn't seem like my cup of tea. Maybe I will find another famous US ex-pat who wants to be friends.
Heinous- The odds of losing the car..hummm..well knowing my luck very good. For a normal person slim to none.
Sprite's Keeper- I hope my girls pick up the accent as quick as possible. I know my friends little boy who is 5 picked it up really quickly and her daughter who is 9 also has it a little bit. My friend also has picked up a slight English accent and she has only been there a year.
Will the animals have an accent? Well I already imagine that my cat has a french accent. I imagine it could change once we get to England. I guess he could say "Oy, get me some water" instead of "Le Mew, water S'il vous plaite"
Will I say "God save the Queen?" No but my kids already say it around here.
Will I take loads of pictures and show them to you guys? Of course! Why else do you think my husband got me the coolest graduation present ever?
Lola- What will I miss the most about the US of A? Driving on the correct side of the road.
Do I like British humor? I love Monty Python does that count?
What the hell do they eat over there? Fish and Chips
CaptainDumbass-Where is my base? NE of London about 70 miles. Kinda in the middle of nowhere, but all Air Bases are in the middle of nowhere. Seriously. Right now my base is in the middle of nothing but farm land.

My Parents are Here...(oh and my little brother too)

My parents and my little brother have come from South Carolina to spend some time with me and the rest of the family before we head off to England. They will be here through the 3rd of November and will get to take the girls trick or treating for Halloween. I think I am going to get my mom and LaLa to carve the pumpkins this afternoon while the movers are packing our advance shipment of household goods.

Speaking of the move...apparently the airline (who will remain nameless) is trying to tack on an unnecessary charge when it comes to shipping my animals according to the kennel that I am using for quarantine. Note to self, never fly with this company again.

Funny convo with LaLa:
LaLa-When is MiMi going to be here?
Me- In like 45 min. Then I have to go pick them up at the gate.
LaLa- The gate?
Me- Yeah you know where you say "HI!" to the guard everyday. I have to go up there to get them because they don't have a military ID.
LaLa- I know.

That kid confuses me sometimes.

Dinner Interupted

It started out as a normal enough Friday last winter. My husband was deployed to Guam, but it had already been 4 months since he had left, so I was pretty settled into a routine. The kids had colds but nothing too serious. KiKi had been running a low grade fever on and off, nothing big. I could handle this. Around 4pm I decided to head to the commissary because I was not liking the looks of anything in my fridge for dinner. You know what I am talking about. You go to the fridge, take a look, shut the fridge and come back 3 min later hoping something else magically appears. Well nothing had magically appeared so I got my kids ready to go out. Coats, shoes, hats. I had them bundled up good because it was freezing outside.

At the commissary I did my shopping. KiKi was whining a bit because she didn't want to be in the cart and she was starting to sweat. I took off her hat and she felt a little warm. I figured her fever was coming back and we would get a dose of Tylenol when we got back to the house. Nothing big I could handle it. I got to the register and started unloading my items onto the cashiers conveyor belt. I took a look at the kids and noticed KiKi was just not right.

She started slumping into the blue seat of the car cart. Then her eyes started rolling into her head. By the time I pulled her out of the cart she was completely limp and not breathing. I started to scream for someone to call 911. The cashier helped me lower her little lifeless body onto the conveyor belt. I was a mess. I was crying and praying for my angel to be alright. Her little lips were starting to turn blue. Out of nowhere a man appeared. He must have come from another checkout line. He announced that he was an eye doctor over at the medical group and he started checking her vitals. He told me to try to calm down and that she still had circulation going to her fingers. The manager of the commisary came and said the ambulance was on its way. About this time KiKi started coming around. She had this completely dazed look on her face and was scared. She was crying. I was also crying. I then heard the sirens of the ambulance and the doctor and I hurried her outside. He gave the paramedics her vitals and I gave them her personal information. Within minutes they were on their way to the hospital and I was following behind with LaLa in our personal vehicle.

I made a call to The Man on the way to the hospital. It was early Saturday morning and he was on a WW2 sightseeing trip with a few of his buddies. He immediately got a friend to take him back to his dorm so that he could be on alert if anything else happened. He couldn't do much from Guam but he wanted to be available in case anything changed. Once he hung up with me, he called his first sgt and some of his shop friends who were still state side. One of our friends met me at the hospital and took LaLa for me so she wouldn't have to sit in the hospital. The First Sgt. also showed up ready to help any way he could. Another friend showed up to keep me company while we waited for test results on KiKi.

KiKi was fine once her fever came down. She had a febrile seizure. Her fever had spiked so quickly that her little body couldn't handle it. I felt like a horrible mother because I had taken her out shopping when she was sick. Then I realized, if I had stayed home, I wouldn't have had a doctor or any of the others to help me. I would have been alone. The commisarry had actually been the perfect place for this to have happened at. I was never alone throughout the entire crisis. I may not have had my family present, but I had my Air Force Family. They circled the wagons in my families time of need. It is what they do.

Last week I ran into the manager of the commissary and he recognized me. He asked how KiKi was doing and what exactly had happened. I explained it all. The bagger who was helping him with my groceries also remembered the incident. When she was helping me out to the car she told me that out of the three years she had worked at the commissary, that was her most memorable moment. It was my most memorable moment at the commisary as well. Go figure.

Poor Thing!

If any of you guys have been following my twitter updates, you might have seen that we have another sicko in the house. Not that kind of sicko, you sicko. LaLa has been struck down with both bronchitis and croup. I didn't even know a person could get both of these cough-tastic illnesses at the same time. Needless to say we are not getting much sleep in the Kat household. They have her on two different breathing treatments that I have to alternate every 2 hours. One is straight saline the other is an albuterol type of medication to open up her airways. She is coping pretty well and taking her medicine when I tell her it is time. Poor thing, you can just see the sick in her eyes.
Then last night she fell asleep during her 8'oclock treatment.