I just have to say I don't like the new xanga set up.  Anybody else loving it?  Maybe I just fear change...or I'm just lazy and don't want to take the time to look at what it has now...whatever. 

WELL.  So my hubby's gone again.  Iraq this time for 6-8 weeks.  At least it's only that short a time and not 6 months to a year like some guys have to do.  Still sucks though.  I know he loves this job, but I really really wish he'd find a new one.  I like this job on the level that he's getting to travel and see places he's only dreamed of getting to see...travel was on his "list of things", ya know?  How cool that he's gotten to go to Germany, France, Oman...Baghdad (ok not so cool on the Baghdad)...he's waiting patiently for the chance to go to Japan, where we will SO go with him.  Pay is great, he has no worries after he gets home, no phone calls, no weekend work.  Just these crappy 2 times a year 6-8 week trips to the desert.  And the once a month weekly trips.  Not too bad, right?  Kids are Ok with it.  Jason was a little worried at first.  He's got a friend at school who is just army army army.  And has a tiny mean streak to boot.  He told Jason that people get blown up all the time over there, and he was watching the news the night before and it said a guy with the last name ***** lost his leg in a bomb.  Well, that concerned Jas just a little bit.  Oman wasn't bad, it's not in the news all the time, but Jas knows about Iraq.  What'cha gonna do?  I told Jason next time that kid says something like that, tell his teacher...she'll take care of it the way it needs to be done.  (I hope)

Let's see, what else is goin' on?  Finally got out of the house yesterday after almost a week of being house/couch bound.  I felt like a free woman...it was so nice...here's how my week went...Monday night, made a pretty good dinner, I thought...pork chops with cream of chicken soup, peas with mushrooms, rice pilaf...not too shabby.  Now, keep in mind my son has a nut allergy...so I always always check ingredients.  And I did.  Not a nut product in sight.  So while we're eating (and he wasn't excited about the pork chops...they looked gross, I guess, so he saved that for last) I finally make him eat the chops.  He starts complaining almost immediately that his throat itches...I tell him, nope, too bad, eat your meat, there's not one scrap of nuts in there.  Bad mommy.  So he complains and complains, I make him eat 2 more bites, then go get a drink of water...he did and says that makes his throat itch worse, so I go ahead and give him some Benadryl just in case.  Send him up to brush his teeth, he comes back down Cro-magnon boy.  Ever see the movie Hitch?  That was my boy.  Poor guy.  Next time I will SO believe when he tells me his throat itches like that.  His face got so swollen, he couldn't open his left eye at all...just about turned inside out.  So the next day, I had to take off work, run him to various doctors, keep him out of school (he refuses to go to school looking like a caveman...go figure).  Doc wants him allergy tested again in a couple of weeks when this gets all the way out of his system.  Jas doesnt' remember the last one he had...I"m not gonna tell him what's going to happen until the day of...he's a worrier.  If you've never had an allergy test, let me paint you a picture...you don't have any of your allergy medicines going on, number one...now imagine a little white board about maybe about 8 x 6 inches with about 50 needles sticking out of it.  Now, imagine your kid seeing this thing...not fun right there either.  They then take that board and put it on your childs bare back and press (lightly) down so that all the allergens that are on each needle go into the skin.  NO SCRATCHING, NO TOUCHING.  You then sit there for about 10 minutes waiting to see if any one of those sticks swells up and itches uncontrollably.  It's not a fun process.  BUT maybe we'll eliminate this mystery ingredient that gets him every so often...and hopefully it's the same ingredient that's in Pizza Hut (he's allergic to Pizza Hut pizza only - Papa Johns, Dominoes, any other pizza we've never had a problem with).  It just scares me that he could be eating anything without me or dad there, and someone might not know what to do...gonna have to pack a bottle of Benadryl with him everywhere! 

So that was my adventure with Jason...Wednesday morning I'm getting ready , and in walks Jess high fever and pukes in my toilet.  So there's another call in to work.  And she is feeling LOUSY.  14 year old needing her mommy to snuggle her on the couch all day lousy.  Breaks her fever Wednesday night, we're thinking it's all good, she wakes up with a horrible lung chunkin' cough in the morning.  I mean really bad.  And a new fever.  Mom calls into work again.  (this after my eval last Thursday with perfect scores all across the board)  She was still sick Thur and Fri, but thank goodness for snow days!!!!  Only problem for her was she had a vocal solo competition on Saturday that she's been working on for months...her voice was still gone from all the coughing.  She was SO upset. 

Good Lord this is a long post...guess that's what I get for only posting once in a blue moon!  Let me see if I can find a funny....

A Short Love Story

A man and a woman who had never met before, but were both married to other people found themselves assigned to the same sleeping room on a Trans-Continental train.

Though initially embarrassed and uneasy over sharing a room, they were both very tired and fell asleep quickly.....

He in the upper bunk and she in the lower, and at 1:00 AM, the man leaned down and gently woke the woman saying, "Ma'am, I'm sorry to bother you, but would you be willing to reach into the closet to get me a second blanket? I'm awfully cold."

"I have a better idea," she replied. "Just for tonight, let's pretend that we're married."

"Wow! That's a great idea!" he exclaimed.

"Good," she replied. "Get your own damn blanket."

After a moment of silence, he farted.

The End