Well... the weekend draws to an end.

And yet again, I forgot to call my parents before it's 11:30PM in their time zone...

So~ Mom and Dad~ I didn't forget about calling you, I just thought you'd appreciate an earlier-than-almost-midnight-call.

To briefly update on the loose ends in my life-
(or not brief, but you can skim or skip it all together)

On where will we live~~
The most recent "oh, I want this one" house we were outbid on.
I think that was the last one out there that we hadn't heard "no" from, other than the short-sale with-fruit-trees-and-solar-panels which is now in bankruptcy and will be another 6 months or so before we could possibly get in it.
The available inventory is pretty slim here in our price range. And I had a real feeling that we shouldn't move until September, so for whatever that reason, I'll hang tight and not sweat it. Tho I really can.not.wait. until I can get out of this house with the carpet that totally grosses me out.

As to what Larry will be doing and where he will be-
Larry was assigned to "headquarters" in an email and "2-11" in a sheet that was passing around.
Either way, knowing is so much better than not knowing and the fear of the unknown.
"Headquarters" is assigned to the higher-ups. A really nice position (as I understand- and a less likely to deploy one) if you're not intimidated and can play the games. BUT they will see Larry and he will have to get in shape and stay there. (you don't hear me complaining about that one)

"2-11" is Artillery. They're not deploying until May and it was a job Larry was a little envious of when he didn't know where he was assigned- they are the people that make the big loud bangs in our back yard. My little boy's dream job- blowing stuff up all day. It's also not a patrol unit so his chances of meeting an IED are lower. Strange the stuff I now find myself knowing and worrying about.

He did survive his 3 days in the wilderness eating locusts and honey (oh, wait, wrong story.. make that cold MRE's). And came home with a uniform, helmet, flack jacket CAKED in mud and as second uniform far from clean. But, as I predicted when I approached him that at least camping at Sequia in a tent, even with an air mattress would be better, he still said "no way am I sleeping on the ground on a vacation"

One of those 2 jobs means he'll be out "in the field" alot more than the other. I forget which, but I think it's the headquarters one that he might not likely deploy, but he'll be sleeping in the wild and doing other Marine-stuff. OOh Rah.

He saw a real life rattlesnake. And not in a glass case as the ones I've seen. And he yelled 'rattlesnake' and the Marines he was with said "don't touch it" and then proceded to try to capture it. I thought it was machismo from the younger crowd, but in reality they said the paper work for rattlesnake bites was worse if one of the "trainees" got bit.

On the Family Entertainment Scene~
I decided to take the kids to the movies. Real in-the-theater movies.
Sundays have free movies at the theater on base and they had "Monsters Vs Aliens" which had kinda ok reviews.
BIG mistake.
They ate the better part of 2 large tubs of popcorn before the opening credits began.
The remaining bit was dropped on the floor inducing tears from the 2 year old who wanted to still eat it.
And he wouldn't stop talking - "look, mommy, look!!" and I remember how not long ago at all I was worried that he didn't talk at all.

He then ran up and down our row and tried climbing over the row in front of us. It is a really really big theater and we had the entire area to ourselves, so he wasn't *really* bothering anyone. I hope.

And then Kayla decided it was scary and wanted to leave. Joey did not want to leave before it ended. He had to see the end. And he has a real completion need, and had really been on his best behaviour since he really really really wanted to see a movie in a real theater, so it didn't really seem 'fair' to him to take him out before the end just because his brother and sister were antsy.

So she climbs on my lap, JM sees that she's on my lap and decides he also needs to be there. So he climbs up on the other leg with his water bottle and then dumps it on all 3 of us. brrrrrr. nothing like cold water in ice cold air conditioning to keep you awake.

We survived. I can say "hey, I took you to a movie" in the broadening their cultural experiences. Next time I'll leave toddler at home.

Toddler actually fell asleep on the way home and would not wake up for dinner. So he's in bed. I can hardly wait to see what un-godly hour he wakes up in the morning. But he certainly needed some sleep. Last night he climbed out of bed repeatedly. I tucked them all in, folded a load of laundry and turn around adn there he was- naked. wearing shoes. He loves wearing shoes. And apparently didn't like his PJ's.

Just living the live of paradise here~~