Two more Cory Videos...

On Saturday we got up early and were able to video chat with daddy before he had to go to work. Jeffrey loved it! He showed daddy all his toys and kept looking into the camera up close. He got really shy too which was so funny. I wonder if it was because daddy was actually talking back to him. Either way it was great to see Cory, I just love him.

Kitchenaid

I stole that pic from the internet. My camera is still at the camera doctors (don't get me started on them...shady business over there).

I used to love making cookies when I was a teenager. I didn't mind that it was a pretty long and often messy process because the end result was worth it. I decided why I didn't mind it so much. My mom had a Kitchenaid mixer aka greatest cookie making friend. When we first lived with my grandparents I remember making chocolate chip cookies at her house while my mom and gram were out. My grandpa used to sit in his TV room most of the day and wander out occasionally to see what was happening. Well their house had a perfect hallway back to the TV room and the cookie smell wafted down the hallway tempting him to come and investigate. I remember him coming out just as I was putting the cookies on a cooling rack and saying "I think I need to test one of those." So he snatched one and ate it quicker than I thought possible for a man of his age. I always thought my grandpa was a good looking man, he reminded me of John Wayne a little. He had a smile and a laugh that were so infectious that he lit up every room he was in.

After he finished one cookie he smiled and in his slow drawl said, "That one was good, but I better try another." He took another one and then wandered back to his chair. 12-15 minutes later when the next timer went off he appeared again and said, "I ought to test one from this batch too." It's a simple memory but I remember being glad that my grandpa liked my cookies. He loved his boys and his grandsons, but I think he always had a special place for his daughter and granddaughters. I never for one second doubted that my grandpa loved me unconditionally. It was that example of love that taught me what true love and what families are supposed to look like. My father was the same way, he loved his boys, but we girls stole his heart.

So why the reminiscence? My grandma gave me her Kitchenaid mixer a few years before she passed away. It reminds me of her and my grandpa and when I was making cinnamon cake today it reminded me of them.

I love my grandparents and miss them so much. I am thankful that I was so close to them and that I have so many good memories.

Posted for Cory

Here you go...

So this is a total rant. It has nothing to do with any votes last night, but is just my experience of what overcrowded, mandatory, government-run healthcare looks like.

I have had these weird heart flutters the last two weeks on and off and so yesterday I called the Acute care clinic at the Air Force Academy to see what I should do, be seen or what. There's heart problems on both sides of my family and my gram died from heart disease. They referred me to an ER and since we live so far north, they referred me to a regular hospital, not an Army emergency room. I got my friend to watch Jeffrey (walked in the middle of sacrament meeting and had to drop him off and leave, I love good friends!).

Heart issues are one of the top priorities in the E.R. and from the time I got there to the time I got hooked up and had an EKG was about 15-30 minutes. Just like when you have a car and you take it in to a mechanic and it stops doing whatever it was doing, my heart quit doing the flutter thing. They did blood work and found my potassium was a little low and so they gave me some of that. They wanted me to go home but to get a heart monitor today and wear it for 24 hours, they said they could do it today there but that I should check with Tricare to see how they wanted me to do it. Guess how?

I have to have a referral from my primary care manager (who is just a PA and and idiot and asked if I was a stripper one time) for Cardiology. The first appt they were going to have was April 13th. When I actually talked to the clinic they said they could get me in tomorrow to see the PCM but I still had to have a referral for cardiology. I told her the last referral I got took 2 weeks and that the ER wanted me to follow up within 24 hours with someone, her exact words were "That's actually pretty good, they have up to 30 days to give a referral".

So the situation as it stands today, my heart is once again fluttering, I can't see my regular person until tomorrow and probably won't be able to see a cardiologist (if he decides that's what I should do, more than likely he will say no) for at least a week, if it's marked STAT. So whatever, if it doesn't stop in an hour or two I'll be going back to the ER where they care if my heart is beating out of my chest.

However, if I were a soldier and not a "family member" this would be top priority. Like my friend Maratee used to say, "If the army wanted you to have a wife they would have issued you one."

Getting Good Sleep

My two roommates are out leaving me with the biggest room in the company. Shhh. Don't tell any body. As long as I can keep it cool in the day time it is a great place to sleep.



I have not put any new music on my iPod in a long time. Years actually. I thought I would ask everyone what some good new music would be based upon what I like now. Here is a short list of music on my iPod. Tell me what I should get when I return.

• Bon Jovi
• Sting
• Jarabe de Palo
• Seal
• Sound Garden
• Audio Slave
• Creed
• Shakira
• Yo Yo Ma
• Dido
• Transformers sound track
• Pirates of the Carribean sound track
• Norah Jones
• Dave Mathews Band
• Counting Crows
• Pearl Jam
• Bruce Springsteen
• Goo Goo Dolls
• Evanesence
• U2

Update

I used a peice of styraphome, aluminum foil and some adhesive spray to make myself a reflector panel for modifying light when taking photos. It does not work as well as the Lumiquest triflector I just purchased, but this is photography FOB Connolly style.


We recieved new gym equipment just in time to get it set up for the next unit to move in and enjoy for a year. Good timing.

You cannot leave soldiers and gym equipment together for very long before some contest breaks out.

We have all sorts of ways to pass time here. This chess champ had me in check in less than two minutes.

I *HEART* shoes!

I know you'd all like to think you have the greatest husband in the world, but I am here to tell you otherwise. I mentioned to Cory that I'd like to get a new dress to wear to my brother's wedding next month and guess what he said to me? "Get a dress and shoes and a bag to match" That's right, I am married to the best man ever. So wanna see the shoes I picked up?
Can you see my cute green toesies for St. Patrick's Day? I heart them too!
I found the cutest dress at Target too. Looking so cute will *almost* make up for the fact that I won't have anyone to dance with, but not quite.

The stinkin' thing is that I married Cory so I'd have someone tall to dance with all the time. Do you think we've been able to dance once other than our wedding? Nope! So I'm going to have to find some sort of dance to go to this year so I can dance in my super cute shoes with my amazing hubby!

Sorry!

USO

Steak Night

My Favorite Photo

Where Is My Hat

Micky and Donald

You are never too tough to ask for shaped pancakes in the morning.

Nights are still going well for me. The quiet times give me plenty of time to get my own stuff done and concentrate on personal goals.

Finished with GEN 200

I just finished with GEN 200, my first of many classes to come at the University of Phoenix, UPOX, for my bachelors degree. Working in the TOC at night is the perfect opportunity to do some school. As long as mortar rounds, IED and troops in contact are not going down, I have plenty of time to do my homework and interact with other students via threaded discussions. I could realistically have my bachelors degree in communications in three years, and that is counting taking some breaks between classes.

Not a Facebooker

Over a year ago Tricia convinced me to try out Facebook. I was initially amazed at how many friends I was able to find with whom I had lost contact over the years. I just checked back in today and realized that I hardly ever post on or use Facebook. It was great for finding people, but I just did not catch on to using it all the time. I am much better at direct email to correspond and put my energy into writing on this blog for those that are interested in keeping up with the happenings of the MacNeil family.

I will be spending the next few weeks to use Facebook to catch up to my friends to get an email address. I am sure to keep in better contact that way. So if you get a Facebook message asking for your email, it's not a scam, its just me trying to catch up with you in a way that I will really use in the future.

Fusball

My boss plays a lot of fusball with the Bosnian workers on the FOB. I have never seen anyone with fusball skills. He does not just spin the players and wack the ball around. He has finess and suavity with the ball and gently rolls it into the goal box. I hav seen him beat two people at a time by himself with one hand.

I spend my time on school. I just finished my first class at UOPX and moved right into the next. It can be a little intense at times, putting a 15 week course into 5, but it is a good use of my time. I could very well be complete with my Bachelors degree in three years.

Home again Home again...

It's great to be home, especially after such a long delayed trip. It's great to be in my own bed with my own house, I really appreciate what I have after I've been gone for such a long time.

I think Cory's way more popular than I am, he gets way more comments on his blog entries than I do. Hmmm...wonder why?

So I discovered a lot about myself while I was home though. As some of you know I had another little mental breakdown after this whole ordeal with Cory. Life was just way too big for me to handle and I didn't feel like I was doing anything right. I totally have no one but myself to blame, I've always been too critical of myself and it was just a vicious cycle of frustration and disappointment. But spending so much time with my mom and sisters (Sherri and Mistee, totally counting you here), it was like a recharge to my mom bucket. Amazing women all around and I couldn't help but feel better about life and that I could handle just about anything. Jeffrey and I had a few headbutting sessions, that kid has a BIG personality and he's just about as stubborn as I am when he gets his mind on something. But I think we've come to understand each other a little bit better. He knows that mommy means business and when I'm serious about something, that I really mean it and it would be better for him not to test me. But I've learned to speak Jeffrey's language more and been able to help him better. All in all there is no substitute for having girl time and someone to commiserate with when life just stinks!

So now it's back to pea-kut butter wan-wiches and Gickey Mouse and Witt-dein-steins. (Or peanut butter sandwiches, mickey mouse, and little einsteins) And getting Jeffrey back on a bedtime routine.