Yes, I know he spelled it wrong, but I don't care. Ritzy took the time out of his very busy day to write this on his dry erase board in his office, take the picture and send it to me. To me, that means a lot!!!!!
He also informed me of a more accurate date of his leaving. Was later than he expected. I don't like it, but what are ya gonna do. Is this deployment ever gonna be over??????
I have already decided that I am not going to church tonite. I asked the kids if they would like to go out and eat. Mamma's buyin........I do not want to spend the evening alone!!!!
I better find something to do around here today or it's gonna be a bad day ;-)
My "maid" is washing the dishes right now, when it finishes I will put the dishes away.... already finished the laundry........
Put a card in the mail for Ritzy......
I sat outside for a little while this afternoon. Wasn't too bad with the breeze blowing and the umbrella up on the patio table. Cut some low limbs off the pecan tree, oiled the windmill so it would not squeak. I'm sure the neighbor appreciates that ;-) especially at night.......
Our dinner at Cracker Barrel was good, I had their rib eye steak, baked potato and salad. Also, I enjoyed the company of the kids. (i guess they really aren't kids anymore at ages 24 & 22 are they?) Don't care.....they will always be my "kids"...
Sure missed Ritzy though ;-(
I sure am glad this is the last anniversary we will be spending apart. I think 3 is enough for anyone......
I still have to write Ritzy that email so I'm outta here for now..................

I feel like that is what I am doing. I go about my daily life, but all the while waiting on Ritzy's deployment to come to an end. Talked to him today, he is just as ready as I am for this to be over also.

Ran my errands, went to a neighbors and bought all the tomatoes they had for sale. I really miss that garden this year. While at walmart I was looking at the "fresh" okra and green beans. They did not look very good so I did not buy any. I need to drive around here and see if anyone else is selling anything out of their garden.

My dad usually puts in a huge garden, but even he did not plant anything this year. I think I have said this before, but ever since I was a child, this is the first year that my dad has not planted a garden. Part of the reason being: all the wet weather we had this spring made it pretty difficult to plant and also dad has just been really busy. ( even tho he is supposed to be retired)
Went to the sister's to play with the kids and on the way down there I noticed they were with their dad in the hayfield watching my dad and brother-in-law rake/bale hay. I stopped the truck and "sissy" got in with me while "bubba" rode his 4-wheeler back to nana's. They looked hot so we got something to drink and ran some water in their little pool. They had fun, cooled them off too.
When I left I noticed some clouds in the west. I had been home about 10 minutes when I was trying to send Ritzy his daily email when I noticed the tv satellite went off. The internet satellite also went off. I told the son that I was going to take my bath and try to get online later. He hollered at me and said the reason the satellite was off was because it was blowing and pouring rain outside. I didn't even hear it earlier. And where it came from, who knows???
As I was leaving the sister's I noticed the guys were still in the hayfield and found out later that they got "caught" in the rain ;-)
I called my mom and she said dad was soaked when he got home.
That shower just formed right over us and it rained for about 20 minutes.......
They did get all the hay baled though......thank goodness!!!!!
Well, tomorrow is the day that Ritzy and I will have been married for 25 years. It has gone by so fast!!!!
I guess I had better go for now and see where my thoughts take me tomorrow.

That's all I see about days like today. Not much to report or think about this Monday. Ritzy called and we talked for a little while. Had to cut the call short because the place he was calling from was about to be closed for cleaning. Told Ritzy that I used the flower bouquet picture on my blog yesterday and he could not believe it. I told him it was really pretty and he said " I guess it is ok... " ;-)
Gonna have to be cause I ain't takin it off, hahaha!!!!!!
He was also telling me about a conversation he had with someone there at the DFAC and they were telling him that he might be "extended" for a longer period of time, because they could not find anyone to take his place. I told him that was NOT his problem, haha!!. They were snickering as they said this, he said. I got quiet and told him to let whoever said that know that - Ritzywife failed to see the humor in that little statement...I have never been more serious!
I am ready to have Ritzy back home where he belongs!!!!!!!
I am going to try to get to sleep a little earlier tonite. My not being able to sleep is about to get the better of me and I have to try and change, if possible.....The sad thing is that I've been this way since last October when Ritzy's deployment started. Don't know if it will happen but I am gonna try . Just have to wait and see.......if I can't sleep, then I reckon I will be right back in here till I do get sleepy..............
Have some errands tomorrow and that's about it for my Tuesday.......
I have already sent Ritzy his nightly email, so I guess that's all for now........................

Most of the people in this house got into a cleaning mode this morning... Thank goodness!!!!!

The daughter went thru some "stuff" and finally threw away most of it. I took out the trash and vacuumed. When I came back in I noticed a piece of "lint" in the floor so I picked it up and it felt cold.....I looked down and yuk............there embedded in the lint was a little dead frog.... I about had a fit. The son was sitting on the couch snickering, the daughter didn't even want to see it. I warned the daughters friend to not pick up any lint he sees laying around. He just laughed. It was gross. I still think someone "planted" it...................

It's going to be too hot to do anything outside so we may as well do something inside.........
The rest of the day went along but not very good.........I never received that daily call (which I look forward to and which also gets me thru each day) from Ritzy, which is very unusual, I know I'm not supposed to be concerned but when he has called every day since being gone and then misses, and doesn't send an email to let me know what is going on, I can't help but worry a little. Made the rest of the day kind of bad......
I went to that nephew's birthday party tonite, although I sure wasn't in a "partying" mood. The food was good plus we had cake and ice cream. I'm pretty sure he liked all of his presents. He was playing the ones I got him when I left. He told me that he wanted "army" games for his Playstation 2. I found him a 3 cd set of "Medal of Honor". He said he really liked it. Gee, it's hard trying to figure out what a 7 year old would like these days. Little sister's birthday is in 2 weeks and she will be 3 and I have to try to figure out what to get all over again ;-)
I still have to study my Sunday School lesson for tomorrow and email Ritzy, plus take my bath so I reckon this is all the "thinking" for now.

That's right..... I can't wait for this deployment to be over. I recieved my anniversary card from Ritzy today. Of course it made me cry. A couple of reasons: one - I cannot believe how fast the past 25 years has flown by( with the exception of these last 12 months), and Two - Ritzy and I cannot be together to celebrate our 25 years together. I placed it on the table next to the laptop and Ritzy's picture, so that when I am at the computer I am looking at it.
Had a good conversation with him to day on the phone. We are just counting down the days until he returns home and we can go visit his family in Wisconsin for a few weeks.
We heard today that his mother was in the hospital and now in a nursing home for a little while for rehabilitation, while his dad is at home alone. Makes us even more anxious to want to get up there.
Me and the son took his car over to my brother's to fix the air conditioner in the son's car. If my brother can't fix it then more than likely it can't be fixed. He is a lot like my dad. They can do and fix anything. He and the son must have done a good job because it was pretty cool on the way home........
I came in the kitchen after the son got home from work and there was nearly new KitchenAid mixer on the table. he said my dad saw it in some apartments while on the job a few weeks ago and it was still there today so he asked the manager what he would take for it and they settled on $20. Can you beleive it??? A $200 mixer for $20.........I cleaned it up and it looks brand new(didn't take that much cleaning). I have always wanted one like that but I was not about to shell out that kind of money for a mixer. hahaha!!!!!!!
Dad has always been good at spotting or coming across bargains.
Already have a place on the countertop picked out for it ;-)
Guess I will have to do some cooking and baking to try it out.........Hmmmmm,,, maybe that was Dad's reason for getting it, ya think????
Anyways, thanks Dad!!!!!!!

Ahhhhhhh!!!!! After yesterday, I sure needed a day like today. Nice and calm......no surprises, no griping, no nothin.......
I didn't do much of anything except the normal household chores. Tonite I grilled chicken and pineapple outside. Boy, I think those mosquitos had me for dinner...... I fixed a couple of side dishes to go along. The daughter even said it was good....WOW!!!!
I went down to see those kiddos for a while. The soon-to-be 7 year old started 2 weeks of summer school today. I asked him what he learned and if any of his friends were there and he told me he would not tell me anything unless I told him what I was buying him for his birthday (which is this coming sunday)....I would not give in and neither would he ;-) Either we both won or we both lost, depends on how you look at it I guess......... After this 2 weeks of school, he gets 2 weeks off then school starts. He will be in the Second Grade.....Where has the summer gone?????? In some ways it has gone by fast, but when I think about Ritzy it seems to have gone by at a snail's pace........
Me, my sister, sister-in-law and Mom are all going over to our youngest sisters tomorrow for lunch. It is her and her husbands birthdays. It is also their anniversary. Can you believe it....
I called her to see if she was going to be home and she told her husband what we were planning and I said that I guessed that he could come too since it is his birthday too. He said, "You mean you are inviting me to my own house??" I said he was invited as long as he didn't spoil the fun or cause any problems. You see he is a Baptist Preacher......Personally, I think he is nuts for wanting to be the same house with his Mother-in-law, wife, and 3 sisters-in-law, don't you?????? He doesn't stand a chance ;-)
He and I are always kidding each other. But, he is a pretty good brother-in-law. I guess we will keep him.........
I had better enjoy the quiet tonite because there will also be 6 kids in ages from 1 to 8 there. I have a feeling the calm will fade fast once everyone gets there..........................................

This being Sunday and all, I usually take the day off from housework, blogging, or anything for that matter. But this day is something else so I decided to come on here and "vent".
I guess what started it is Ritzy's call. He told me yesterday that he would call between 1-1:30 pm Oklahoma time. I said that was good because it gives me a chance to eat dinner with my family and not have to be talking while everyone else is eating. One of the only things even close to normal that has gone on since this deployment. Well I got my salad and took the first bite and my phone rings. I thought it can't be Ritzy, because it was only 12:30, but here he was calling.......I am so glad to talk to him, but I was really looking forward to eating with everyone else. Then he tells me that he called early just cause he wanted to..............
I then come home and try to take a nap, and after a little while I needed to go into the bathroom. I was barefoot and stepped on a WET rug. ( Evidently someone had caused the toilet to run over) and just left the soaked rug in the floor. Wasn't very happy about that either!!!! I then put that rug in the tub until I could get home from church and wash it. I then went back to lay down but just as I was beginning to doze off that darn cell phone rings again and it is the daughter asking if we have certain food items at the house. I told her I knew of one of them but I was NOT going to go look for the other one cause I was trying to rest. I don't rest in the recliner, I was on my bed with the door shut to drown out any noise in the house........I guess she got mad and hung up. I then put my phone on "silent" ;-)
Then the son comes and asks me where something is and I tell him. Gee, when I need something, I look for it!!!!
Anyways I went to church and went down to the sisters for a little while. The little kids were with their daddy in the hayfield so I left. When I walked into my kitchen I about had a fit. Didn't say a word but proceeded to rinse the dirty dishes in my sink and load them into the dishwasher. It seems the daughter came home while I was at church and left me this little mess. I was NOT happy.
I then proceed to wash the rugs, then the daughter comes in and tells me that there is a basket of towels that need to be washed and wanted to know if I washed them. I then tell her I haven't even seen them, if she wants them washed she can do it herself. I already had my own things to do. After taking my bath I go into the utility room and find a basket of her clothes which were pretty heavy sitting on the ironing board which is next to the hot water tank. I put the basket in the floor and proceeded to tell her that it is not wise to put anything, especially anything heavy on that ironing board because it could fall into the tank where the propane is connected.
For smart kids, sometimes I have to wonder where their "smarts" are !!!!!!!
My dishwasher just finished, and I heard the dryer buzz so I am hoping things are getting back to "normal", whatever that is ................
I don't know if this did any good, but I sure feel better ;-)

My thoughts today are about a lot of different things. Where do I start??
Well I just finished eating one of those fine peaches. I swear it was as big as a grapefruit. I picked it out today while freezing the bushel of peaches I bought Thursday. I put them in the food saver bags so they can freeze, then in a day or so I will cut the bag open and vacuum seal it. They will keep for a long time. The son asked if I was going to save any to eat and I said, of course. Anyways, that peach has been sitting in a plate on the table by my computer today and I was trying to pick just the right time to eat it, which was about 5 minutes ago ;-) Darn, it feels like I swallowed a basketball after eating that huge peach. haha!!!
I put up enough peaches for 6 cobblers this winter. I will probably be making at least 1 more trip to Porter for some more of those wonderful peaches in the very near future.
This was one of those days that I really missed having Ritzy around. I was alone (again) tonite, cause the kids had their own running around to do. Don't get me wrong, I like and treasure my alone time, but since Ritzy has been gone there has been way too much of it.
I went down to visit the niece and nephew, we played for about an hour and I came back home.
The son called as I was writing this and told me to look out the window. It seems that there were a lot of motorcycles in front of him. I sat at the dining room window and counted 48 of them going by. These were some fancy bikes. All lit up and quiet. I would have liked to have seen them in the daylight. If he had not told me they were coming, I would have never know it because I could not hear them. NICE!!!!
I got the weed eating done and then blew the grass off the sidewalk, flag base and windmill base.
Don't know why it "bugs" me to have grass on those places, but it does.
Ritzy was going to have to take care of some "business" after his shift tonite and I don't think he was looking forward to it. I really hate it when Ritzy tells me that people have a problem with the way he does his job. He never puts out less than 100 percent of anything that is asked of him. He puts up with a lot. I am so proud of him and the way he conducts himself in the army and his regular job .
I told you the thoughts were kind of going crazy tonite.........
Saying it again - I will be so glad when this is over and he is back home!!!!!
I told him today in our phone conversation that I can hardly wait until he gets home because we are going to visit his parents in Wisconsin for a few weeks. This year it will be so wonderful to get away and just give our full attention to each other. When we are there it is almost like we are alone, because his parents are older and they aren't able to be up a lot and they go to bed real early. I could not enjoy the trip last year because I knew all the time we were there that a short time after returning home was when he would be leaving for this deployment. I don't have to worry about that ever again. He has put in almost 21 years with the National Guard and he is outta there in a few months after they return home!!!! Yippee!!!!!!!!
That may sound like I don't support him, but nothing is farther from the truth. I have always supported his work and time in the Guard, and even helped when I could, but I am ready to have him to myself and not have him gone that " one weekend a month and two weeks a year"!!!!!!!
In the past 5 years he has been deployed 2 of them.
I am also thinking about that 25th anniversary coming up in about 10 days. ;-(
I was in the same "boat" last year because of their training for this deployment. Because of that we missed number 24 too...........

Well, I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. Tonite, I was at my sister's and the little 3 year old wanted to go outside. So Aunt Cheryl said sure. We were out there and she was riding her "cycle" when she took off after 'DooDah' (her grandpa) who was on the tractor. I told her to stop and she kept going. Then I hollered "Freeze!", She stopped and I ran down to where she was which was about 30 yards away. I was thinking all the way, I don't want to do it but it is for her own good. I reached her and told her that when I tell her to stop that she had better obey. I then gave her 2 swats to show that I meant business. It broke her heart (not more than mine tho), a lot more than it hurt. She then put her hand in mine and we walked up to Nana's house. We stayed outside a little longer then went in. I sat at the dining room table to talk and guess what???
She crawled right up in my lap and gave me a hug. I gave her one back ;-)
I told her that I loved her and if she doesn't mind me that I will have to do that again. She said "k"......
I talked to Ritzy today and he said it was really hot. I told him to go take his shower and put on some cooler clothes and try and get cooled off. I don't know how they make it in that hot weather over there.
The nephew called early today and asked if he could come to the house, but I was busy getting my house back to "normal" after the weekend.
He asked about the rest of the week and I had to say sorry, because tomorrow I have to do some errands, buy groceries. etc....
Wednesday I will be making salsa, Thursday my sister and I will be going to Porter for some of their fine peaches. Yumm!!!!!!!! Friday I will probably be putting up some of those peaches for some peach cobblers this winter.....Saturday I will be recovering ..........................
I think we are actually going to have a "dry" week, this week. Gee, haven't seen that in a while.
I still have to send Ritzy his daily email, so if I don't want to be up all night I will say so long for now and hope that I have made my point with Sissy...............

Boy, I sure needed a quiet weekend after the holiday on Friday. The only thing is, with Ritzy gone it is just about too quiet. The kids have their own things to do and places to go, and I am usually left alone at home. I sit and think about going down to the sister's house to spend time with her grandkids or do I just stay home and watch the hours pass by on the clock..........
It is no fun!!!!!
I had just finished lunch at Mom & Dad's today when Ritzy called. It is so nice to be able to talk to him every day and to just hear his voice. That 30 minutes sure goes by fast!! I came home, nothing to do so I laid down and took a nap til the daughter called me and woke me. Of course, she hung up by the time I answered the phone. It was only an hour til time for church again so i stayed up. I still feel tired because of being woke up instead of waking up myself.
Don't have anywhere to go tomorrow, I will just do a little cleaning on the house. The son mowed today, so that is taken care of......
The sister said she may have to call me tomorrow to help watch Sissy (3 year old) for a little while. You can believe she will keep me hoppin' & wishing for those quiet times, haha !!!!
I have sent Ritzy his nightly/daily email. I still don't like the fact that as my day is ending, his is just beginning. That is so hard to get used to......I hope he has a good day as always.......
I guess I had better go so I can get rested up in case I get that phone call ;-)

I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday.

We had our regular holiday barbecue at Mom & Dad's. The "platter" is my brother-in-laws. I didn't realize when I took the picture that there was a fly on his hamburger bun. yuk!!!!! ( I can hear Ritzy saying: well the fly has to eat too), I teased him about putting this picture on my blog today and he really doesn't think I would do it. All I know is after he finished eating he went into the house and we never saw him again til about 3 hours later. He was sleeping it off. ;-) I took a picture of that too, but I told him I would not post it ;-)

The first picture is my first try at "shooting" fireworks. hahaha!!! no pun intended. I learned after I got home and started playing with my camera that it has a "fireworks" setting.. oh well there's always next year......

I am kind of new at this digital stuff, can ya tell ?????? I am determined to learn, though!

After lunch we watched the little kids play, they are so cute and funny. We ate our supper and the son and the little kid's dad started lighting firecrackers. When it got dark they finally were able to shoot off the pretty ones. After that the daughter's friend was showing the 6 year old how to dance with lights. He put on a pretty good show. Couldn't get the nephew to get out there with him and dance tho. All of a sudden he got bashful on us.....

I finally came home around 10:30 pm.

Ritzy called today just as I was finishing my lunch, so I went into the house to talk to him, we were about finished with our call when our phones lost their connection. I hate when that happens, because it just seems we have unfinished business and it has to wait until we get to talk again. Gee, it's hard enough when we get to say our good-byes ;-(

Let me just say, the rest of the day would have been better if I had gotten to end our phone call like we normally do.

Well, we have one more summer holiday to make it thru before Ritzy starts home, and I sure am counting down the weeks & days. I have said it many times before and I will keep saying it - I miss Ritzy!!

The "holidays" just don't quite seem like holidays this year...............................

Today was a pretty good day even tho I was pretty busy. Had errands to run, go to bank, buy groceries, buy fireworks for the 4th...........returned home and put all the groceries away. A couple of hours later it was time to start supper. I was in the mood for Taco Salad tonite so that's what we had. Took it to my sister's house to eat. After we finished eating, that little niece wanted to go outside so we went out for a little while, then she decided she wanted to get in the swimming pool with the "big " kids. My neice (her aunt) held on to her and she was having fun til she took in some water. After that she said she was ready to get out. ;-)
I don't know how they stood the water, it was too cold for me. Today while shopping ,I had bought "Bubba" and "Sissy" each one of those guns that you attach bubble liquid to and pull the trigger to blow bubbles so me and "sissy" played with that for quite a while. I was telling her mama that "Gee, when I was a kid all you could get was a little bottle of bubbles with a little wand in it. haha".
Came back home and started the dishwasher, and now it's time to end another day and mark another day off the calander waiting for Ritzy's return. I am just hoping we have a "nice" day Friday for the holiday. We have a pretty good chance for rain, but I will keep hoping for good weather. Sure would be a waste not to be able to shoot off all those fireworks. ;-) I know....I can always shoot them off later, but it's just not the same......................