Day 253 Jun.27 2011

My brother and I are considering getting matching tattoos.  So I started looking into what we would get.  It got me researching the ancient runes.  They’re really quite interesting. 
The premise:  Each rune when written upright, have certain characteristics when in the upright form.  They have a general interpretation and a personal interpretation; depending on their context.  A converse or reverse depiction of the rune indicates the interpretation is also reversed.
For example; the rune, Fehu interprets as good health, wealth, love fulfilled, good fortune if you are charitable and show compassion.  The reverse rune means failed ambition, health problems, poverty, love unrequited, bad luck.  The converse is a hidden reward, undiscovered wealth, nourishment withheld.

My favorite rune by far, is Gebo, translated as: gift.  It means love, partnership, forgiveness, gift, talent, skill, or ability.  “Rune number 7 - is the origin of our "lucky seven" superstition. It represents a gift, whether it is a present, an attribute, a certain skill or ability. To the ancients, a gift always called for another in return. So accepting a gift places you under an obligation to the giver - the gods, destiny, another person. Gebo can also mean a partnership or union, in business or in love. Or it can mean forgiveness - perhaps the greatest gift of all - to give or to receive. Gebo is commonly used as the sign of a kiss -the symbol of affection.” -Runemaker.com


And, it doesn’t have a reverse.  There is no negative side to Gebo, how happy is that? :)

Day 252 Jun.26 2011

In the 16 months Cate has tried to entertain herself, I’ve never seen something hold her attention for more than maybe 10 consistent minutes.  Until today.

We got to the beach around 11am, maybe slightly earlier.  Caitlin immediately greeted the lake with a big wave, an enormous smile and a great big face plant into the waves.  Hoely Moley.  Once the supervising adult was sick of chasing Cate around in the water, she didn’t fight when we relocated her to the sand.  She’d then sit and play with her sand toys, eat sand, and try to steal everyone’s chair and food at every opportunity.  This happened for 6.5 maybe 7 hours.  In a row.  No nap.  It is nice knowing our little girl loves loves loves the outdoors :)

Day 251 Jun.25 2011

Today’s weather wasn’t supposed to be nice.  But good ‘ole Michigan weather came through and we found ourselves rushing to pack the cars so we could head up to the property earlier and catch some sun on the beach.  We caught a lot of sun. 


We started with a tour of the property.  I’ve only seen it covered in snow.  Everything looks better not covered in snow…
Caitlin loved the freedom.  I wasn’t concerned about her getting hit by a car, or sticking her finger in a light socket…she just had flat, green, open-ness to frolic in.

 

Once we got the campsite set up, we headed to the beach for the afternoon.  Yes, we have super hot humid weather down in the south.  But their swimming standards are pretty low.  The water table is a part of the Mississippi Delta, which is muck.  Crisp, crystal-clear water doesn’t really exist in the Mississippi Delta…

Day 250 Jun.24 2011

I got to play with my baby brother today for the first time since we’ve been in MI.  I do miss the festivals in Lansing that seem to happen every weekend during the summer; mainly because they always include a beer tent and live music.  People watching in Lansing also yields more interesting results, there is a more diverse group of people who live in Lansing compared to Leesville.  My brother came home from work, walked up stairs and asked if I wanted to use our Mom’s bike and ride up to Old Town with him for the Festival of the Sun & Moon.  Um, yes please.  I was actually hoping to spot a vampire or two ;-)

No vampires, but we found temporary Bells Beer tattoos.  We used them wisely :)

Day 249 Jun.23 2011

Lady Mary Elizabeth Bennett (1785–1861), daughter of the Lord of Tankerville, brought the pansy to the attention of gardeners in the early years of the 19th century after cultivating every sort of V. tricolor she could procure in her father's garden at Walton-upon-Thames. V. tricolor has known many names in the English-speaking world including heartsease, love in idleness, and flower of Jove, but the name pansy is derived from the French, pensée (thought), and was bestowed upon the plant for its resemblance to a pensive human face.  Thanks Wikipedia :)

Day 248 Jun.22 2011

117 days left.  It seems like an eternity.  On day 117, the deployment still felt new - like we had just started the whole process.  In reading back to that week, I still felt like I was dragging my feet through molasses.  At times I seemed to get a grasp of the concept of living alone, but more often than not, I couldn’t hold my grasp through the whole day.  Now with 117 days left, I have kind of the same feeling, but on the opposite end of the spectrum.  Does everyone remember door beads?  The very hippie decoration (I had them in college-big surprise I know).  I spent the first half of the deployment  trying to wrap my arms around all the beads, but it wasn’t just one doors worth of beads, it was 365 doors wide.  I struggled and struggled, I seemed to try everything without any success.  And then one day I figured out something that worked!  The satisfaction of holding all of those beads tight and contained in my arms was gratifying.  Now my arms are tired.  One or two of the strands slips out now and then, so far I’ve been able to wrangle it back in without losing the whole group…
I have found that losing myself in Caitlin is a really great way to pass the time.  Seeing her Dad in everything she does is so enthralling that I forget that my arms are shaky, and before I realize it, a good chunk of time has already passed :) 

Day 247 Jun.21 2011

Time for a “This Day in History”:
*2003 : The release of JK Rowling's fifth Harry Potter book "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix".
*1805 - Great Stoneface Mt found in NH. 
*1834 - Cyrus Hall McCormick patents reaping machine
*1858 - Louisiana chess prodigy Paul Morphy arrives in Europe
*1893 - 1st Ferris wheel premieres (Chicago's Columbian Exposition)
*1939 - Doctors reveal Lou Gehrig has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
*1948 - 33 1/3 RPM LP record introduced (DR Peter Goldmark-Columbia Records)
*1956 - Anti-protons detected in the atmosphere
*2006 - Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially named Nix & Hydra
I’m very much into HP, currently I’m re-reading the series now.
I can’t decide how I feel about agriculture now that I’ve met “paleo”, I will admit it was a pretty sweet revolution.
Chess really doesn’t do much for me, but the dude is from Louisiana.
Heights are something that seem to bother me the older I get, but the concept of the Ferris wheel is pretty extraordinary.  I wouldn’t mind getting a kiss at the top of one from that special someone…
Most people couldn’t tell you what Lou Gehrig’s disease was but know the name without hesitation, and Word doesn’t count the name Gehrig as a misspelling, so I’d say the day it was announced was a pretty big deal. 
I like music.  In whatever form it may come in.
Science makes me happy.  In whatever form it may come in.
I have a soft spot for Pluto.  Not sure why, I think I pity it for being the outsider, and then on top of that having it’s planet status questioned…poor thing.

Day 246 Jun.20 2011

"The origins of ice cream can be traced back to at least the 4th century B.C. Early references include the Roman emperor Nero (A.D. 37-68) who ordered ice to be brought from the mountains and combined with fruit toppings, and King Tang (A.D. 618-97) of Shang, China who had a method of creating ice and milk concoctions. Ice cream was likely brought from China back to Europe. Over time, recipes for ices, sherbets, and milk ices evolved and served in the fashionable Italian and French royal courts." - About.com

I forgot how incredibly wonderful it was to have an ice cream parlor just a couple blocks away from my parent's house.  It might be a little late in the evening and kind of close to bed, but it's just a 10 min walk, and only a couple of dollars, and there is something about walking while eating an ice cream cone... :)

Day 245 Jun.19 2011

Happy Father's Day to all Fathers, whether it's your 1st or your 26th!

We celebrated by chasing otters.
And riding camels, and ponies.
And eating ice cream.

I think everyone had a pretty good time at the zoo this afternoon.  I do really enjoy these day trips, when the weather is nice and Cate is in a good mood.  But they are always bittersweet.  With half of me stuck in Afghanistan, there is no 100% enjoyment possible.  And it's getting harder the closer we get to the end of this deployment.  I'm worried I'm reaching my breaking point.  I have no idea what that will look like, but I hope it can hold out for another 115 days or so...

Oh, and Babe, Caitlin spoke with this otter and they have worked out an agreement where he is happy to live in our bathtub at home and she will love him and feed him and splash with him every night.  We just need your approval :)

Day 244 Jun.18 2011

One of my very good college friends is getting married in a couple of weeks and tonight is her bachelorette party.  This girl (and the circle of friends we lived with) knew me at my wildest, most extreme hippie side of life.  A side of life, I'm very glad I grew out of...I'm sure my parents and husband will agree. 

No one got arrested or lost,  and we all walked home together, each one of us, on our own two feet.  We had a great night of ridiculous bachelorette party games, and dancing, and just a bit of drinking ;-)

This was also the first night I had spent an evening away from the kiddo at such a great distance.  The last time we spent the night apart she was just down the road.  Not the case this time around.  Big step for Mom...

No picture from today, partly because we were always too close to either water or alcohol, neither things I'd like to expose my fancy smancy camera to.  It's probably a good thing there weren't very many pictures taken from the evening, anyway :)