Pearl and Poison Ivy Green

Today I finally broke down and got artificial gel nails. The last time I had this done was when I was in NCO Academy last year. Shortly after coming home I was pregnant and I thought with all the prenatal vitamins on my side I could maintain healthy natural nails. After a year of trying, I gave up. All too often I'd have a perfect natural even set manicured just to have a nail break. And then another and then another. Yep, I'm done. I love pretty nails. My tips are 'pearl' so it's not so harsh of a French with the bright white. Plus, with the tips there's less gel so these are thinner - only slightly more thick than my actual nail. My friend Cheyenne went with me and got a pedicure so when baby Michael needed attention she had the free hands while I was tied up. My nail tech was so efficient I even had time to get a 'quick and easy' pedi before Cheyenne was finished with hers. I have such a beautiful green on my toes - it's not as metallic as emerald, it's more of a bright vegetation green that I dubbed poison ivy.

I really enjoyed my long weekend. I got my grocery shopping knocked out Friday night and was able to get a head start on cooking for the weekend. I took advantage of extra time to skype with JG - the baby is absolutely fascinated with JG's image on the screen and the sound of his voice. I was able to buy baby clothes, a mobile for the crib and some other baby odds and ends while Zachary went to Sylvan. I bought a new chef knife at a Pampered Chef  party. Then friends came over for character creation for a new Star Wars role playing game that we'll start soon. I cooked homemade spaghetti sauce for a low-carb pasta bake then whipped up brownies from scratch served with haagen das vanilla. Mmmmm. The next day I met with my trainer. Again, I walked away exhausted and with a new favorite exercise I hate. I lost two pounds in the last two weeks. Although weight loss isn't my goal (being able to do push ups IS) it felt good to know that my Wii Fit finally stopped effing with me. After my workout I went shopping with my friend Heather and her teenage daughter with Michael in tow. I took advantage of triple points at Best Buy.


Today was a quiet day - I spent most of it studying for my next online senior NCO test called a course 14. I only left the house to get my nails doneThere was some strained relations happening with my family back home this week. Sometimes I really don't think they realize how lucky they are to be so close to one another.

Took a nap with Michael. Woke up to find my Edward crashed out on the new papazan chair. This was one of four special I love you presents from JG since he's been gone. The first was an ipod and I've got flowers at work twice. Once marking a combination I love you, happy birthday, first day back at work and promotion congratulations. The other marked Valentine's Day.

I miss JG so much. We were getting really close to 40 percent through this deployment based on his deployed calculator. I'm trying to stay a busy as I can to pass the time.

True. Very true.

"Times are tough, but they'll get better soon, Darling. I miss you terribly. Love, JG"

That's what the card said. One morning last week, flowers were at my desk before I was.

We were arguing again just two days later.

Things are strained. Every disagreement leads to an argument about how we argue. Our efforts to dissect the IMs and/or emails to figure out where our communication went wrong has only shined a spotlight on how imperfect we are. Baggage and bias have skewed our views on acknowledgment, forgiveness and apologies.

Actual words are less than 10 percent of communication. Well, when words are all there are to go on internet delays during a live chat, lack of or use of the wrong 'emoticon' and even word choice makes the 90 percent margin for error a guarantee.

JG and I were talking about how were we at the halfway mark of his deployment when his countdown application registered 48.5 percent. It was about a week before it officially hit more than 50 percent. I swear time stood still for hours at a time.

I took the kids out to Silver Diner for dinner tonight. We had made friends with the manager, Jackie, before JG left due to an unfortuante hummus incident. "We guarantee our restaurant is sparkling clean, and that goes for the food too," Jackie had said. Anyway, Jackie greeted the kids and I warmly. She asked how JG and I were doing. After listening for a couple minutes she broke in with "that's only because you miss each other so much."

True. Very true.