This House Protected By...

Beware! This house is protected by Nerf N-Strike! (or a cheap knock-off)

(note: that is a half-eaten dog bone at the bottom of the picture--not a phallic symbol)

Oh, thank you so much Santa for bringing our rowdy boys these weapons of mass destruction...we now find foam bullets stuck to our windows, pictures, fireplace, light fixtures, and hiding in places we never knew we had. One boy has almost shot the eye out of another, and we have to dodge bullets just to cross from the living room into the kitchen.

I know there are a lot of other parents out there who feel the same way. Still, I can't help but grab one of their guns and get in on the action. Before long we'll have mafia wars right here in our own home!

My Man Can COOK!

There is nothing sexier than a man who can cook. And my man can COOK! Our Christmas Eve dinner was one of the best dinners I've ever had--at home or at a restaurant! I was a little wary of the lobster tails he got "at a great price"--there's got to be a reason why they were so "on sale". He had a backup plan, though. Bone-in prime rib. Again, I underestimated him when he said he didn't have to start cooking it in the oven until early afternoon. I was under the impression that prime rib took all day at a very low temperature. Then again, I am a merely a master of macaroni & cheese and Spaghetti-Os.


So we feasted on the best prime rib, the best lobster tails, the best green beans I've ever made from scratch (yes, they were fresh green beans), and some of Bryan's signature seasoned potatoes. Do I have a picture?--no. Why?--because it smelled SO GOOD that I wasn't about to waste a few seconds grabbing the camera and snapping a few pics. Bryan got a few of the lobster tails before he cooked them--but it just doesn't do the meal justice. I've even DREAMED about how good it was, and I can't wait for him to make it all again! BRING BACK CHRISTMAS--I WANNA DO IT AGAIN!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

This year's Christmas has been completely out-of-whack for us. Yes, we got the tree and decorations up way early, but the early effort stopped there. Now at the last minute we are doing all our shopping, wrapping, and baking--and finally got around to seeing Santa.

Instead of standing in line at the mall with three rowdy boys, we decided to do something way better this year, thanks to Busch Gardens. We went to Christmas Town, where the boys could enjoy rides, see the park dressed up in Christmas lights, listen to holiday music (primarily the Polar Express soundtrack--which we love!), and meet Santa and Mrs. Claus in Santa's Workshop. It was the best Santa experience we've ever had--even though it was 35-degrees outside (thus we are all bundled up in the picture!)



Merry Christmas!

Annual Holiday Letter

This is our annual holiday letter that we usually send out with the Christmas cards (which I sent out extremely late this year--oops!) The best part about posting it here is that I can link to the "story" if I blogged about it.

If you have been regularly following our blog, you already know that 2009 has been a whirlwind for us!

Bryan celebrated this year’s historic Presidential Inauguration by selling his Honda and buying a brand new Volkswagon Jetta turbodiesel (his own economic stimulus.) For a while, he put down his guitars to tweak his beloved new car. And then he promptly wrecked it…twice. He continues to slave away work on the USS Enterprise, and if you would like to get in on our lottery of when the old ship is finally going to leave the shipyard, send your guess along with a contribution to the money pot!

Speaking of making bets, Jen finally, finally earned her Master’s degree in May! Her family flew in to DC for the pomp & circumstance and some sight-seeing. She has spent this year hopping from project to project at work, beginning with SOCOM’s ASDS, then to Bryan’s ship for several months, and is wrapping up the year on the refueling and overhaul of the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Brandon graduated from his racecar bed into a bunk-bed, and his very own room. He entered into second grade, where he is earning straight-As and not giving his teacher as many fits as last school year. He chose soccer over football for the fall season and became one of his team’s best players.

Tyler graduated from preschool, started kindergarten and loves it! He is just starting to read, and plays spelling games with his older brother (who is a little jealous of his little brother’s new smarts.) He took over Brandon’s old racecar bed and now shares a room with Nick.

Nick graduated out of diapers and into underwear! We’re still working on night-time training, but the hard part is over with. He also moved out of his crib and into Tyler’s old fire truck bed. He has become obsessed with all things Scooby-Doo and Shaggy—he even found Scooby Snacks at the store.

We did have a major loss to the family this year. Loki was euthanized mid-August due to the pains of extreme old age. He was cremated and sits in his urn at Jen’s bedside table. Maggie was immediately allowed to come back into the house to help alleviate our loss, and seems to be doing okay without him. Brandon is asking Santa for a cat this year (so we’re in trouble.)

We hope you all have had a good start to a great holiday season. Ours started with a trip to Jen’s hometown of Hereford, Texas, for Thanksgiving. She was very happy to go “home” for the first time in 5 years, and to see her grandparents and some of her cousins. The boys loved being spoiled by Granny and PaPa, and Nick keeps asking to get back on the airplane to go see them. So we hope you are surrounded by your family and friends this Christmas!

Love, Bryan, Jennifer, Brandon, Tyler, Nick, Maggie, and Loki (in spirit)

P.S. We are sorry for the lack of a family Christmas photo this year. With our work schedules, we have a hard time just going to the grocery store and getting the laundry done! However, you can view us in our Halloween disguise here, or see Jen & Bryan painted up for the KISS concert here.

The Magician's Assistant

I'm still alive (yes, I know I say that every time I have a "long" absence compared to my much chattier blogging friends.) I am working on a new "project" that my VP and Program Director have taken on. The VP specifically chose me to be on this team because of my unique experience working with various other shipyards outside our fence, and because my particular Master's degree has educated me in the concepts they are trying to implement. I have to change the culture of a bunch of crusty, grumpy, headstrong, old-school shipyard workers who have been doing things the same way for a hundred years. Despite what some might think, I am not confrontational--really. I cannot stand getting into arguments with these guys. And it's even tougher when I'm not 100% convinced that this is the right thing to do at this particular time.

We are already a few months into the nuclear refueling and overhaul of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The government invests millions of dollars in advance for us to plan this job because it is so complex that it takes almost 3 years to buy all the long-lead material, engineer all the details and fit everything into a schedule. And now I am heading an effort that kind of throws a lot of those detailed plans out the window. Scary.

Our government customer is somewhat patiently waiting to see some positive results. I am holding my breath and hoping for a miracle. On of the guys I'm working with is much more outgoing and direct--I am more like his sidekick. I joked the other day that I was his "magician's assistant" because I feel like we're trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat. He looked at me sideways and said, "Don't say that!"

Have you ever tried to Google "magician's assistant" in search of an image? Try it for yourself and see what you mostly get. It seems that I might actually be a bit naive about this phrase...I'll need to quit saying it at work.

Things People Do for Homemade Cookies

I've had cookies on the brain--don't know if it's because of the holiday season, or a womanly craving, (TMI?) but I am in the process of making my third batch in two days. It's funny all the attention I get from friends when I'm making cookies. I just updated my Facebook status to read "Jennifer is making more cookies today...this is what it takes to get people to visit! LOL!" And then I received a funny e-mail from our friend Scott:

A very old man lay dying in his bed. In death's doorway, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookie wafting up the stairs.

He gathered his remaining strength and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort forced himself down the stairs, gripping the railing with both hands.

With labored breath, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen. Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven.

There, spread out on newspapers on the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favorite chocolate chip cookies.

Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted wife, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?

Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself toward the table. The aged and withered hand, shaking, made its way to a cookie at the edge of the table, when he was suddenly smacked with a spatula by his wife.

"Stay out of those," she said. "They're for the funeral."

A Christmas Carol

Growing up in a small town and going to a Catholic elementary school, I grew accustomed to the big annual school Christmas play. I'm not sure if public schools also had these Christmas plays back then (listen to me--as if I'm old. Remember, I'm only 29!) Now that we've got two boys in public elementary school, I feel the heartache of not going to see them in a Christmas play. (Go ahead and read between the lines--we are not church-goers.) However, this year the second grade class had a book fair at Barnes & Noble, complete with caroling! Brandon has been singing Christmas songs around the house for a while now, and he did a great job tonight in front of a packed store--we are so proud of him! Notice the lack of pictures...yeah. We are probably the only parents who forgot to bring a camera or camcorder.

Secret Family Recipe

It is no secret that I love chocolate chip cookies. I can’t cook worth a crap, but I can make some great chocolate chip cookies. I got the recipe from my Mom. I fondly remember her making chocolate chip cookies for me when I was a kid, while I watched my favorite movie, Pete’s Dragon. I always make them for work functions & parties, and I always hear how good they are. Here’s a little tip on the secret recipe (turn the music off at the bottom of my blog first):

Finally, Time for a Hobby

I mentioned a while back that I didn’t really know what to do with myself now that I’m finished with grad school. I recently rediscovered one hobby I used to have: reading. Books. Not school-related and not work-related. For pleasure. And I’m not talking romance novels. Bryan and I are a Dan Brown junkies, so I snatched up “The Lost Symbol” and read it in a couple of days.

We have yet to find an author who writes such wonderful stories as he does—blurring the line between fact and fiction, and packed with so much action and twisting plots. I feel sorry for people who went and saw “The DaVinci Code” in theaters without reading the book. We read the book beforehand, and were bitterly disappointed in the movie. I really don’t think you could make movies from Dan Brown’s books because he does so much explaining and his characters do a lot of thinking that you just can’t get from watching a film. So for any of you out there who decided not to read those books due to the movies—you should reconsider. And read them with an open mind—they are fictional stories woven around a few real facts. I think he’s gotten a lot of unfair criticism because people forget about that.

I should say the new Dan Brown book isn’t what really got me back into reading—it just kept me going. I read about “The Shack” on someone’s blog—someone who shares the same views as we do about religion. (I have no intention of engaging any of you in a religious discussion here.) It was very difficult to read because I have a hard time hearing about bad things happening to babies & kids. I forced myself to read it anyway just because of the woman who recommended it. It wasn’t an earth-shattering book, but it was definitely a different way of looking at things.

What am I reading now? I picked up Patrick Swayze’s “Time of My Life” the other day just because nothing else caught my eye and I used to love him. I’m curious about his younger years and to see the man behind the somewhat pompous actor I saw in the Barbara Walters interview about his cancer. And now that Sara Palin has a book making headlines—I’ll have to see what the fuss is about. I still don’t know what to think about her, but I try to keep an open mind (knowing that everyone, including the media, has a political agenda.)

Spreading My Wings

Have you all noticed that I haven't complained about my job here lately? Maybe it's because I take all my frustrations out on people I can reach out and touch, like my husband and co-workers. Not that I've punched them in the face or anything like that...or thought about doing it. (I'm more talking about the ones at work, honey...no need to start watching your back...yet)

Today is one of those days where I really had to control myself. I have been permanently transferred into a different department—into a place that I have never had any desire to go to. At all. Whatsoever. Period.

And nobody knew what was going on until it was all over with. Not me, not the guys who report to me, not my temporary boss on my temporary project, and not my “real” boss. It was my boss’s boss who went behind everyone’s back with no warning. Here’s the point where I have to decide whether to rant about specific asshole upper managers via the internet, lest it come back and haunt me later.

…After sitting on this post for several hours, I think I should let it be.

My reassurance about this whole ordeal is that my new bosses seem very warm and embracing. In a nutshell, they explained that the company’s top dogs got together and decided there was a very urgent, specific need for someone with my experience and knowledge in this department, and it would be great for my resume. They questioned me when they saw my jaw hot the floor after they told me this was a permanent move—and they were not happy about the lack of communication from the asshole upper manager.

I am leading the charge in revolutionizing how the company schedules and manages work on aircraft carrier overhauls. The people involved have already picked a path (a path that I know a lot about, but am very wary of—not sure it’s the right solution.) I have to finish the details and implement it in a culture that is very skeptical of change. This will be my first major undertaking without my now former boss—my mentor. I am very nervous about spreading my wings without him behind me.

Zombie Finger

Some of you have asked me about my finger. Here I am, a week later, and here it is:

Much, much better. It does look like I will lose my fingernail after all, as the black spreads more and more each day to the top of my nail.

I still can’t bend the top joint. I work with it every day to get the mobility back (because it’s an incredible pain in the ass to have this finger out of commission)—it is still painful. But I have found one thing useful: it scares the hell out of Brandon. He is completely disturbed by the sight of it. So I chase him around the house with it. I know he’ll be talking about me to his therapist 15 years down the road…

Nor'easter 2009!

Someday Bryan & I will look back on these last couple of days and tell our grandkids that we survived the Great Nor’easter of 2009. I’d heard the weather reports in the preceding days, but our local media love to create drama out of nothing so I really didn’t pay attention. Until I was riding my bicycle at work as the storm rolled in just like the wicked witch in “The Wizard of Oz.” Turns out this little storm was more like a hurricane.

Fortunately, no trees fell on our house, we didn’t flood and we never lost power. Unfortunately, many of our friends’ and co-workers’ homes were flooded, had trees fall, and/or lost power.

These are not their homes—I stole these from the local TV station.
I guess this time the weatherman-drama-queen wasn’t exaggerating! The storm surge was just as high as hurricane Isabel a few years back. I didn’t think nor’easters were capable of producing tides that high, or wind & rain like we’ve had. The fishing pier down the road was completely submerged over the handrails. Some houses and large sand dunes were completely washed away down in North Carolina.

Makes me wonder what would happen if a hurricane like Ike came through here.

The Three-Fingered Mommy

This is how my day started. I woke up at 5 AM and couldn't go back to sleep. And that really pissed me off since I hardly ever get to sleep in anymore. Because I had to go to work this morning anyway, I went ahead and took a shower and got around while I waited for Bryan to get home from his night shift. And I waited. And waited. And started wondering if I was going to make it to work on time for the morning meeting--which is the only reason I had to go to work today at all. Then I remembered that I haven't complained about my job in a while and decided to start a blog post about that...then he got home. So that blog entry will have to wait. But why so late? The not-so-unusual reason...his relief didn't get to work on time. But that's not really what this is about.

I rushed out the door, feeling very guilty that he had to deal with the kids this morning on zero sleep--but there was nothing I could do other than rush to get to work, so I could rush to get home for him. In my mad rush to work, a few things went right. I managed NOT to get a speeding ticket (knock on wood). And I managed to get a ride from a friendly shipyard worker to the ship from the parking lot (saving me a few minutes of bicycling in the freezing cold). He got me to my office trailer just in time for that important morning meeting. And that is where it happened. I slammed my finger in this guy's truck door.

Oh but I wish that's where it ended. He didn't see me. And started driving away.

At first I thought it was just my glove. Nope--as I pulled and twisted I immediately realized it wasn't just my glove. And it wasn't coming loose. Ohmygodthedriverdoesn'tknow!!!! I was turned backwards--couldn't reach the door handle with my other hand. As the truck started forward and started dragging me with it, I got ready to leap into the truck bed--THANK GOD he glanced back just in time before he really hit the accelerator! I may have lost more than a finger--might have been my whole arm!

This poor guy was beside himself. I was shaking and in shock, and he was trying to get my glove off for me. Somehow I still had my Starbucks coffee clutched in my other hand, and he saved it as I fell back into the passenger's seat. (Yes, much like a man who will protect his beer in any situation--I prioritized my coffee over having my hand ripped off.) My finger was still on my hand, and it didn't appear to be broken. It was immediately bleeding and black and some skin is torn off where I twisted and pulled to frantically get free of the door. He gently dabbed all the blood off with a tissue and put a band-aid on it--all the while I was putting every ounce of energy and concentration into not crying. I am a woman in a male-dominated blue-collar environment. I have to act somewhat tough or these guys will eat me alive on the ship's deckplates.

The surprising thing is the pain! I feel like a whiny little girl, but my entire hand hurts all the way up past my elbow! I slammed my thumb in my Mom's Suburban when I was little, but I don't remember it feeling anything like this. And I think about my kids--I have always been very careful not to catch my kids' fingers in any doors. I can't imagine how I'd freak out if it happened now, knowing what this feels like. I showed them my finger when I got home today just so they'd see how bad it was. (ok, and to get some sympathy from my little monkeys...) Hopefully it scared them enough that they will be more careful, too.

And, no--I haven't taken a picture of it. It's gross. And I'm too big of a baby to unbandage it right now.

I Won't Drop My Brain on the Floor

We had a great Halloween, despite three family members getting over H1N1 flu. We started off the afternoon by carving pumpkins.

Bryan's "I-Gor"--inspired by Young Frankenstein.

Mine--Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Brandon & Tyler drew theirs, and Bryan carved their drawings (as best he could). We weren't quite ready to trust them with knives & carving tools...

And Nick, who is obsessed with all things Spider.

I would also like to brag about our outdoor decorations. I worked all summer on my front flowerbed to grow the right weeds for accenting our graveyard skeletons.

I hit today's after-Halloween sales at several stores for some much larger additions to the graveyard next year.

And lastly, the candy. Every year, I tell myself I won't go overboard buying too much candy for the trick-or-treaters. But our neighborhood exploded with new houses and children this year--better to have too much candy than not enough. We left it all in a cauldron outside for whomever to grab, thinking the older kids would take most of it and then we wouldn't have to worry about leftovers. Not the case. We have most of it left...must be because of those skeletons in the garden. (right...) Anyhow, some of the candy is gummy body-parts.

There's eyeballs, ears, bloody fingers. And brains. Bryan let the kids have some after lunch today.

Brandon: "Mmmm! Brain!"

Bryan: "Don't drop your candy on the floor."

Nick: "I won't drop my brain on the floor, Daddy."

Bryan: "It will make Maggie sick." (the dog)

Nick: "Maggie can't eat my brain." "I can open my brain by myself." "Daddy, can you open my brain?"

As for our costumes--we were running late as usual last night getting out the door to start trick-or-treating. You'll have to visit here to see us!

Merry Christmas!!!

I thought I'd just jump on the bandwagon of all the stores around here, skip Halloween Day & Thanksgiving in its entirety and start up my Christmas music, decorate the blog & house, and start wishing all of you a very merry Christmas now!

OK, I admit that I am one of those people who are excited to see that stores are putting out their Christmas decor and merchandise weeks before Halloween. Yes, I complain just like you do that they seem to do this earlier every year (soon they'll just have Christmas year-round.) But only having those beautiful decorations out for a little over a month is depressing--especially with the amount of work it takes to drag out all the boxes, hang lights and decorate the tree! I told Bryan that we should put the tree up at the beginning of October and decorate it with webs and spiderlings--I know a lot of stores that decorate trees year-round with seasonal things. Why should Christmas have all the fun?

Oink, oink!

Our household has just been hit by swine flu (we eat enough pork to provide our ration of funding to the pork industry, so I don't feel the need to call this type of flu by any other name.)
Two of the kids have it so far, and Bryan & I are debating giving them a big fat kiss just to go ahead and get it over with quickly--it's inevitable that it will sweep through everyone in the house. The crappy thing is that we feel bad not going to work today, when in reality we are doing everyone a favor by not bringing the virus to the ship. If Bryan's co-workers get this virus, they could single-handedly cause a delay to the ship's delivery schedule because they already have a shortage of qualified people to do that job. But that's not how those idiots see it...

Trick or Treat!

Dennis, I'm sorry...I just had to post this!

Halloween 2009, Unveiled!

And here we are this year--a bunch of superheroes! Look out, world!

The Demon & The Spaceman

We really aren't huge KISS fans, but we know an opportunity to have a great time when we see it--and we pounce on those opportunities when we can! Especially when it involves loud rock 'n' roll and no kids! (Well, not our kids, anyway!)

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we scored pretty good tickets for the KISS concert, and I promised pictures of our painted faces. At first, Bryan didn't want to do it due to potential run-ins with drunk, pumped up KISS Army people (we've had some bad run-ins with extreme drunks at big concerts like this in the past.) But after my Facebook friends hounded me, I just had to do it--how many opportunities would we have to do something like this?

So here we are, after much frustration and cussing:


We were worried that we might be the only people painted up for the night--turns out we were actually one of many, and it was obvious that we took more time on our faces that most everyone else. A few people actually had us pose for pictures, even though we weren't in full costume regalia like several other couples!

We did learn a few things about painting our faces like this:
1. It took 3 times longer than I thought it would.
2. White cream makeup is much better than non-smudge makeup, even though after having a few beers, one itch will result in scratching it off.
3. The white makeup highlights my yellow coffee teeth. YUCK.

So, about the show itself--IT.WAS.AWESOME!!!!! I was not a huge fan of their music, but they really know how to entertain--flying and swinging over the crowd, and of course, tons of pyrotechnics! It was the loudest concert I've ever been to--and we forgot our earplugs (my ears are still ringing.) We were surprised that a bunch of people brought their younger kids. This is NOT a concert to take your kids to--many expletives and lots of sexual talking. But for those of us who are going to hell anyway, it was a great time!

Soccer, Soccer, and More Soccer

Fall weather brings one of my favorite seasons: football. And for the kids, "European" football. The two oldest are playing soccer for the county--this means each of them have two practices weekly, plus games on Saturday.

Our kids aren't the most athletic--I'd say they are average. Does it really matter at this age? Still, Brandon has finally become competetive enough to start truly going after the ball and actually playing his assigned positions--and it makes us so proud! (#12 below) Especially since he's kind of the aggravating, silly kid who won't stop horsing around and picking dandelions during T-ball season... He gets bored easily, so soccer is a good sport for him.

Tyler is very happy to know that his "girlfriend" is playing soccer too:

Tyler's team is funny to watch--the kids all crowd around and chase the ball in a little blob. Even at kickoff they all crowd together--here's Tyler at kickoff: