Army Weekend

James is in the Utah National Guard. Once a month he has an army weekend. He's tried to "shelter" me (in his words) from the guard and the strangeness of it, I guess. Yesterday, though, was a family day with spouse briefings. He said I didn't need to go, but I wanted to go and see what it was all about. We learned about the variety of benefits offered to veterans, family readiness, and financial planning. Here are some tidbits of the briefings.

James is "disabled." I knew that. He has a knee injury that happened in Iraq when he jumped down from a truck. He has filed the proper "medical" paperwork for this injury so that in the event (years down the road) that his knee needs more medical attention, the VA will cover it. He's on a medical "profile" which basically means he doesn't have to do the running portion of the his PT tests because it hurts really bad and makes his knee worse. That we knew. What didn't we know?

There are a variety of services reserved for veterans who are actually disabled in the sense that they cannot work or care for themselves and they need government assisstance. However, there are also a lot of benefits for any veterans who are "disabled" like James is, whether it be from a bullet wound or a messed up ankle from an army softball game. If we fill out a couple more forms, James is eligible to receive 20% off our on our home and vehicle property taxes. He can get a free lifetime national park pass as well as a free lifetime state park pass. He and I both can be buried for free at Camp Williams with a free brass headstone. Cool, huh!

Okay that's all I have to report.

Christmas a little early

As an early Christmas gift, James stole my rings and had them cleaned. They look pretty and very shiny! I like them!

Thanksgiving Weekend!

Wednesday
Amber's wedding party at Maddox's in Brigham City

Thursday - Gobble Gobble! Turkey Day!

--Stopped by Aunt Leeann's to briefly visit the Petersen clan and see her newly remodeled, beautiful kitchen!

--Contintued north to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Binggeli's.

Friday

--4:00 a.m. wake up call and off to the races for black friday. We headed to Sears and loaded up on some door buster tools that James wanted and then continued to drive around and watch all the crazy people stand in LOOOOOOnnng lines everywhere. The only other thing we bought besides tools at Sears was yarn at Michaels and breakfast at McDonalds. Pretty exciting! I have never done this before and don't know that I will ever do it again. I like to sleep in!

--Put up lights and Christmas decorations around our house.

--Went with Willie to see Madagascar 2.

--Went for burgers with mom and dad.

Saturday

-- Decorated Grandma's house for Christmas.

-- Went to see the lights with Annie & family, Melinda & family, and "Team Yellow Ninja Purple Penguins!" Go TEAM!

PG-13 Post Ahead

Today we went to Amber's wedding celebration. I needed a new pair of white stockings (nylons, pantyhose, tights, long socks, whatever you call them) to wear that didn't have a run in them. I stopped at Walgreens and picked up the $1.49 pair. When I got home and got ready to go, I put them on and thought they'd work just dandy.

Well I know I shouldn't talk about mormon underwear on my blog, but today I wore silky bottoms. I don't care for the silkies as much as other fabrics, but that's what was next in my drawer, in the dark this morning. Apparently there are no warning labels on either the stockings or the mormon underwears that the two shalt never meet. There was not enough friction between the two to hold up the socks. Long story short . . . the stupid socks would not stay up!!

I'm not just talking about a little stretching and sagging over the course of the night. I'm talking about I-can-feel-them-slide-down-as-I-am-standing-here kind of sliding. I think at one point the "crotch" of the socks was just above my knees. (Good thing my dress was long.) I had to go into the bathroom several times to adjust, but the problem just kept getting worse. Aggggghhhhhh!! Moral of he story: Next time, don't wear the silkies or don't buy the Walgreen's $1.49's.

Time for a new post!

I gave up on NaBloPoMo a while ago, but it is still time for a new post. Here are some thoughts on today.

• We have a new little cousin, Hyrum, in our family. He looks really cute here and here. I'm looking forward to meeting him.
• Sharing time today is on being thankful, but what I would really like to do is teach them how to behave in primary. We had an out of control primary activity yesterday. Grrrrr . . . . The kids are bad. The parents send their nursury-aged kids and thinks its free babysittng for an hour. The kids want to take the gifts home that we were making for their teachers. Plus, the only time they lined up quietly and neatly was when it was time for the treat. Grrrrr . . .
• This week: Monday we are going to see our cousin Travis perform in "Joseph" at Hunter High. Wednesday is the celebration dinner for Amber's wedding. I'm looking forward to some good food at Maddox's. Thursday is Thanksgiving. I don't really care for turkey much at all, but holidays are always good.
• Oh . . . and did you see that football game? When Willie got home, he said, "It was beautiful!." . . . whatever that means. I just thought it was lovely that the Tabernacle Choir was wearing RED and WHITE this morning for their broadcast! YES! GO UTES!