We’re expecting an ice/sleet/freezing rain/snow storm this afternoon. We might even get a thunderstorm today. Can you imagine that? A thunderstorm that produces sleet or snow?
Accumulations could reach 3 to 6 inches. Please cross your fingers that my sister’s flight tonight from NYC does not get canceled. I’m really looking forward to her visit, as is Briscoe!
Ed. note: We interrupt our series {Surviving Deployments} for a real-life story of an unexpected crisis I’m dealing with… sans husband.
After an enjoyable dinner at my friend Jamie’s house last night, I returned home to find all three of the carbon monoxide detectors in my house going off–one on each floor. The dog was sitting in his kennel looking startled but not sick. Immediately I took him outside, where I first called my parents to freak out and then called 9-1-1. The 9-1-1 operator connected me to the fire department, and I explained the situation to them. They advised me to wait outside or in my car until they arrived, which, luckily, took only about ten minutes.
Using their CO detectors, they found above-normal traces of carbon monoxide in the house–nothing truly life threatening but still a concern. They had their dispatch contact the local utilities company to check my furnace and hot water heater more thoroughly and recommended that I spend the night with family or friends. The firemen left shortly before the utilities person showed up. He did not find any leaks by the furnace or the hot water heater. His guess–carbon monoxide in the garage was leaking into the house. My response–questionable.
I returned to Jamie’s house around 10:30 PM with Briscoe in tow. He was not interested in sleeping on the Aerobed with me, so I kept waking up to check on him on the floor. Needless to say, I did not have a very restful night.
In the morning, Jamie had to drive her friend to the airport, so I was home alone with her dog and mine. Briscoe found his way into her bedroom and snatched a pair of her husband’s GAP boxer shorts. He must have also found the sisal rug under her bed intriguing because he either scratched, dug or pulled up multiple strands of the expensive Pottery Barn floor covering. I felt incredibly guilty and offered to buy Jamie a new rug. She hasn’t decided what she wants to do about it yet. I love my puppy but he is so, so naughty! Sometimes a teensy-tiny part of me wonders if we picked the right dog…
I’m crashing at Jamie’s for the rest of the day and tonight. I scheduled the hot water and furnace people for tomorrow morning at 8 AM. Hopefully they can find the exact root of the problem rather than just blaming it on the cars parked in my garage. I know better than to turn on my car while the garage door is shut. I think the utilities company’s theory is a bit whack.
Carbon monoxide. A ruined Pottery Barn rug. A service call that’s not in our budget right now. A husband who is deployed and completely uninvolved in everything that’s going on.
Coincidentally, the Today Show had a feature on the dangers of carbon monoxide this morning, but I can’t figure out how to post here.
It’s been a very bad day. Please think happy thoughts for me.
It snowed early this morning, blanketing Omaha under (at least) 2-3 inches of the white fluffy stuff. Our first major snowfall of the season. Currently it’s 7 degrees outside, but the past two nights it’s been close to -20 degrees thanks to the wind chill.
The local news has been showcasing their meteorologists more frequently than normal because of the winter weather advisories. My favorite: Rusty Lord on WOWT, our NBC affiliate. Did his parents actually name him Rusty Lord? If not, what made him think that would make a good stage name? It sounds like a porn name!
Do your local meteorologists have too-good-to-be-true names? If so, please share! I could definitely use a laugh today.
xo
(images by me)
In this guest post, LB from the blog Olio discusses how she deals with those dreaded deployments.
Deployments suck, hands down. But when they are a fact of life (because you know that the life you will have together beyond the military is worth enduring them), you find ways to deal.
With a half-dozen deployments under my belt (and an address book filled with tree services, concrete layers, plumbers, electricians, vets and roofers), I can speak with some authority on “How to Barrel Through a Deployment as a Twentysomething Childless Dog Mom.” Please note, I’m not going to pretend to know what to do as a mom-to-be or a real mother, but I do think that some of my (long-winded) advice still applies.
1) Save some goodies for yourself.
Give yourself something (or lots of things) to look forward to. A facial. Watching that girlie movie. Catching up on TV shows. Learning to knit. Painting the bedroom. Taking a trip. Volunteering. Do one of those things not long after he leaves, sort of as a ritualistic induction into “You Time.” Then spread out the rest throughout the deployment. Now is the time to live for yourself – why not plan for some Gold Star days?
2) Stay busy. Busy busy busy.
Part of my “Me Time” launch ritual includes cleaning out kitchen cabinets or a closet within a week of his leaving. I find it therapeutic, perhaps because it helps me feel busy and like I’m in control of something.
I also always become way more focused on work during deployments. Then I pile on all of the “Somethings I’ve Saved For Myself,” and start developing a routine – dog, breakfast, work, dog, gym, eat, movie/tv/book, sleep – for the ordinary days. Weekends become my oyster, filled with paint samples or cuts of fabric after spending an hour at the dog park each morning. Again, I think this goes back to the “Feeling Like I’m in Control of Something” – if I can’t control when I see my husband, at least I control how happy my dog is and what my bedroom looks like!
I’m excited to present a new series this week: “Surviving Deployments.” I’ve asked some of the strongest military wives I know to share their secrets for surviving their husbands’ deployments. At the end of the series I’ll include my own plan to get through the winter without J.
I hope you find these guest posts as motivating and moving as I did.
Are you a military spouse? Would you like to write a guest post on how you survive deployments? Contact me at pamelajaye [at] gmail [dot] com. I’d love to hear from you!
(image via flickr)
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