Crazy Week

So this week hasn't been the best on record. First, my car's "Maintenance Required" light came on, so I took it into the shop and they were able to find about $400 worth of things that needed to be fixed on it. At least the receptionist was nice and gave me a ride home while they worked on it.

This this morning D was driving to work and I got a phone call at 5 am because he had a flat tire and wanted to know if we had roadside assistance. Turns out, AAA won't change a tire if the person on the account is not there. D had to change the tire himself on the highway (in the dark, 30 degree weather).

I took his car to Discount Tire to get all new tires (it was overdue for them anyway) and not only was the bill incredibly freaking expensive, but they couldn't even put all the new tires on because 2 of the wheel studs are cross threaded. This basically means that the bolts are stripped and won't hold the nuts on (which hold the wheels on).

Because of this, tomorrow I am heading to yet another auto repair place to get the studs replaced. At least the guy on the phone told me that it shouldn't cost more than $50 (and 2 hours) to fix.

I swear, if we didn't need cars to get around here, I would get rid of both of them at this point (well, maybe I should keep them until the time to spend tons of money on them rolls around again)!

It's a GIRL!!

I realize that this picture is not the one that shows the gender of the baby, but it is the one that looks most like a baby, hence, I posted this one.

Tomorrow Is The Day!

After a fun weekend hanging out with Abby and Zach, I am glad to hang around on the couch with D and watch movies and eat left over spaghetti for dinner! Today after we dropped Abby and Z off at the airport we went to a gymnastics meet that 1SG's daughter was competing in. She did pretty well and we all went out to lunch afterwards!

This weekend we went to Seattle and walked through Pike Place Market. We had lunch at a little cafe called the Sound View Cafe. It was very good and fun on a typical Seattle day. We also stopped in at the original Starbucks that is across the street from the market. After the market we went to the flagship REI store, which is also in Seattle. We browsed for a while and then came back to Tacoma for dinner. We went to a restaurant that I've wanted to go to for a while, Johnny's Dock Restaurant and Bar. It is right on the water and we had a perfect table! They had awesome seafood!

Today is Mom's birthday! Happy Birthday, Mom!

Tomorrow we have our gender determination ultrasound (first thing). Hopefully the tech will be able to tell if the baby is a boy or a girl. I'm sure that after the appointment I will head out to the store and buy something in the color, either pink or blue, depending on what we're having. So exciting!

The Killer Wait!

We had a fun weekend! Saturday evening we went to dinner and watched the Iowa v. Michigan game with D's 1SG. Iowa won (of course) and it was a fun time! Sunday we went to a "tailgate" party on post with a bunch of people D works with. We had hash and eggs, teriyaki kebabs, steaks, tons of stuff! We watched a few of the games, but the Bears weren't on this weekend, so we left and went to Cabela's during the afternoon game.

Now that Monday is done and this week has officially started we are just waiting for Abby and Z to come to visit on Thursday, the next prenatal appointment on Friday and our 20 week ultrasound on Monday. I think Saturday I am going to take the kiddos down to Seattle and do the whole REI thing and Pike Place Market. We will have to see what they want to do. D has a competitive shooting match Saturday, so he will be there for part of the day and will join us later for fun and excitement (and probably dinner).

Abby had some excitement this weekend. She got a new toy since Monkey Man passed last week. The only problem is, she can never find it! LOL.

Steilacoom Apple Squeeze

Yesterday D and I ventured on over to the Steilacoom Apple Squeeze for a little Fall fun! The premise of the fair is you can squeeze your own apple cider, taste apple butter, eat apple fritters and caramel apples and just enjoy Fall! They also had a booth set up where you could bring an apple of "unknown" origins and the experts would try to classify it.

Of course they had the regular fair food there as well, you could buy hot dogs and the like, but it looked like most people were going for the apples. We hit up the hot apple butter line and enjoyed that while we waiting in line to buy pasteurized apple cider. They were selling already bottled (pasteurized) cider in gallon jugs, and they also had a large station set up for fair-goers to purchase a gallon-sized jug and squeeze their own cider fresh.

The fair itself took up about one block in the downtown area of Steilacoom and it was the perfect size. It was fairly busy, but the weather was nice (a little windy, but we were right on the water) and there were several booths in which vendors showcased their wares such as handmade soaps, quilted everything and art.

All in all, it was a fun, Fall afternoon and we were glad we went. Steilacoom is a very pretty town, situated right on the Sound, and well kept, which many parts of the South Sound area have problems with. We enjoyed it and my only wish is that I would have thought to bring my camera along to get some pictures of the Sound with the Olympic Mountains in the background.

I'm Horrible at Updating...

So, considering the fact that I sent out the link to my blog you would think that I would actually be posting on a regular basis. Not so! LOL. This week has been crazy busy!

Friday 9/25:
Woke up at the crack of dawn and flew to Chicago (yes, my arms were really tired by the time I got there). Had fun and hung out with friends and headed up to Milwaukee for a wedding.

Saturday 9/26:
Wedding festivities in Milwaukee.

Sunday 9/27:
Ate Portillo's for lunch! Flew back to Seattle, got in late-ish Sunday night (it was dark).

Monday 9/28:
Took a day trip down to Portland for D's work, since I am the FRG leader he thought it would be a good idea for me to see the rehab facility down there since several of the soldiers are there or will be there in the future. This allows me to talk to the wives about my experience there.

Tuesday 9/29:
Had a meeting with Family Advocacy to learn more about what they do for soldiers and families and make a contact (as the FRG leader) with the woman who runs it.

Wednesday 9/30:
So tired, but had to get on the phone and figure out a bunch of bills that were perplexing us! Turns out that we are only billed for utilities every 2 months (would have been nice to know so I didn't stress about it all weekend!). The bank had the wrong address on file for us for our car loan, so that is why we never received a bill from them! Whew! Crazy day!

Thursday 10/1:
An intriguing and interesting Town Hall meeting for the Battallion. At least I got to sit next to D. ;) After that I had my first pre-natal massage and it was really nice! The lady was a little rough, but overall, worth it! Then we hit Farrelli's for dinner to celebrate one of D's NCOs graduating from BNOC (some NCO school).

That leads me up to today! I went to Barnes and Noble to get the book I need to read by next Friday and on my way home I finally wandered into the produce mart by our house. WOW! This place is fabulous! I bought a bunch of produce and some other stuff too, all for about $20!

One of the things I bought was creme pumpkins and peanuts to make the most fantastic fall treat ever. Well, turns out the peanuts I bought were "raw" so I attempted (and succeeded) at roasting my own peanuts! LOL.

I think D and I are going to go see a movie tonight. He really wants to go to Zombieland, so that may just be something we end up doing. I am planning on making dinner, but I could be talked into Chinese food! This baby may as well be part Chinese and part Mexican because that is what it LOVES to eat!

Gender determination in 16 days! Eek!