Well, it has been quite a while since I've added anything to my blog so I decided to compose one of those grand sweep blog entries that discuss the bulk of what is going on in my life in a fairly brief manner. Let's begin. As many of you know that read my blog, if anyone actually reads my blog, Nathan is under water and has been for about a month. It's been tough, but honestly it isn't as bad as I'd feared and we both seem to be getting along pretty well! Normally while on patrol they don't get a chance to call, even when they pull into Hawaii for supplies, but the patrol Nathan is on had some special circumstances and most people were allowed to text their loved ones from Hawaii and some even got to call! Nathan was one such lucky individual who received permission to give me a call and it was wonderful! We were able to talk for nearly 30 minutes!!! Let me emphasize that wives never get phone calls from husbands on boomers (the type of sub Nathan is on), and even in this situation where several were allowed to phone home, most only got 5 minutes. Nathan must be on someone's good side. Along with the phone call and copious texting, they were able to send out paper mail which I just received! Nathan wrote me 34 page letter that he has worked on a bit every day since they've been gone. It covered a variety of topics from the super romantic, to jackass crewmembers, from the depressing to the down right absurd. Needless to say, there was nothing quite like my evening of huddling under a blanket while reading Nathan's letter and listening to Butters chew on his disgusting bone.
Butters is doing great, by the way. He's around 55lbs, super fit, and super ridiculous! He wakes me up every morning by scratching, which jingles his collar and then trotting over to my side of the bed and sticking his wet nose in my face. It's pretty endearing, at least it is when it's time for me to get up as well. He's definitely been a good companion. I think that maybe I'll try and get him to go out on Nathan's next patrol so he can be their sub dog and keep everyone company. That's a thing, right? A couple of days ago I bought Butters an amazing collar. If you can't tell in the pictures, it's argyle with skull and crossbones. The name of the design is Arrrrrgyle. He's being so good and I even let him have a super gross bone on the carpet (placed on a towel of course) and he amazingly stayed on the towel, well, at least for the most part.
As for things I've been doing, I'll start by what I haven't been doing, and that's laundry. I don't know why, but that is the one chore since Nathan has been gone that I absolutely hate doing! Once I get home from work laundry seems like the absolute most draining thing to do. Once I throw a load in, it's usually another couple of days before I fold it and then another day or so before I put it away. It's completely pathetic! Fortunately, the rest of my household chores haven't fallen by the wayside nearly as badly and the house still looks okay. Phew!
One thing I have been doing is organizing my sewing room. I'd call it a craft room, but I'm pretty sure my scrapbooking stuff is going to stay in its crate forever. Anyway, I folded all my fabric up, organized it in baskets, organized my patterns, etc, and it's finally coming together! I also finished the quilt top I've been working on and now just have to pony up and buy batting and backing. Well enough about sewing.
I'm spending quite a bit of time with some of the ladies on the Nevada and am loving it. We really lucked out with the group of people on Nathan's boat! Spending time with the ladies generally means spending more money than I should by going out to dinner, shows and shopping, but hey, my husband is under water! Whatever gets me through the day, right?
As for Washington, I really love it. The past couple weeks have been rough due to the fact that we've had half a day of sunshine during that span, but those glimpses of sun really do make up for how dreary it is in the rain.
I'm still planning on beginning a teaching program most likely in January or February, but am steering more toward a Montessori program which I'm really excited about. I finally feel like I've found the right fit for school and I am at peace over the whole education conundrum for the first time since I began searching for the right program.
To summarize, life is good. Of course it's difficult to not have my favorite person and love of my life by my side, but I know we'll be able to start right where we left off when he gets back and the distance helps us grow stronger. The rest of my life is going really well! I have great friends, a wonderful job and I think I finally know where I want to go next with my life, education and career wise. What more could I ask for?
Now for some pictures.
The following Pictures are in a pretty random order but I'm too lazy to rearrange them.
My 34 page letter from Nathan.
A sampling of the post its with sweet little notes hidden all over the house from Nathan, including on about 6 out of 12 cans of diet pepsi in a box that he opened and sneakily resealed.
My beautiful washer and dryer that are being utilized from the looks of it by a hobo
Flowers I received last week from Nathan
A close up of Butters' Arrrrrgyle collar. Pretty snazzy, right?
Butters being an idiot.
A sampling of my organized fabric.
And finally, my quilt top.
