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SOS

I've been up since 2:34am, due to a sudden and freaky infiltration. Joe and I have a medium sized box next to our bed we just never took down to the basement to store. It's proven to be a nice nightstand when needed, but in actuality is just a result of our, ok maybe my, laziness. I woke up (an amazing feat considering tornado sirens don't even phase me) to a scratching noise coming from the area around the box. With a window right above the box, I first thought there was a bird or something on the ledge, doing whatever birds do at 2:30 in the morning...sleep?! But the persistence and intensity of the scratching increased...

I got up, turned on our bedroom light. *HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL, I never thought I would ever see one up close and personal, but, a BAT, darted upwards from the corner of the room and performed an acrobatic act of crazy 8's above my head. Adrenaline pulsed, my heart raced, I ran......to the bathroom, and shut the door. Dumb. Because when I scoured the courage to go back out to the living room/bedroom area....the bat was nowhere to be seen. So, I camped out with my back to a corner facing the living/bedroom in hopes of the critter showing face. While waiting, I fired up my laptop and caught up with wikipedia's entry about bats.

Did you know people get bit by bats while sleeping and don't even know it?? Their teeth are so tiny, the bites are hard to see. If an unlucky 1% member of the bat population decides to taste you, rabies will coincide, and those bitten don't even realize they're infected until it's too late.

I'm riding on 2 hours of sleep, and paranoid as all get out this little creature is going to decide to come out and reintroduce himself tonight.

My turn to infiltrate. Every. Inch. Of our apartment.

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Porch Activity

Our first cuke is growing to a healthy size! I'm actually not sure if it'll get any bigger than this since the pot it resides in is little on the small side...I'll give it another week....then it's time to devour.
And here resides Emilio, our avocado tree we grew from a pit. Just over a year old, and a lanky 2.5 ft tall. A trooper Emilio is...he survived our fridge-worthy-temperature apartment this past winter. A hearty avocado tree is he. The tomato plant is also a big hit this summer. We've eaten a handful of the yummies already and we've got another 5-6 on the vine, ripening as I type. Home grown 'maters are so grood.

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Joe's Address

Joe was alloted a 2 minute phone call yesterday and was able to quickly blurt out his official mailing address! So, without further ado:

SPC Skinner, Joseph
RN 417
A 3-47 IN BN
5480 Roush Drive
Ft. Benning, GA 31905

Feel free to write him TONS of letters, even to the point of you thinking it may be annoying. Joe will cherish each and every letter, I promise. Just a note though, he's not allowed to receive any sort of care package or food. So, be kind, save him from doing extra push-ups and keep anything you send him to simple letters and pictures.

Ready, set, go write Joe!!!!

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Yeeeeeeee Haw!

Won the auditon.

We're both employed.

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I babysit for a wonderful family just a couple blocks down from our place. They've got a 10-month old girl, Lilly, who is the best natured little squirt around town. Always happy, always smiling. Turns the dullest of days right around into something beautiful.

Today I babysat while Lilly's Mom ran to an appointment and then grocery store. Lilly and I jammed out to Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, played with animal blocks, bounced on her horsey, crawled allll around the house, played peek-a-boo for a solid 30 minutes (boy howdy she loves peek-a-boo), and then settled down for some quality nap time. Lilly's mom came home around dinner time, the usual, and among her bags of groceries, had a bag for me. She had bought me some of her personal favorites: chicken, white bean and veggie chili, a big carton or organic salad stuff, and a small basket of locally grown cherry tomatoes. How completely amazing. I almost cried. With Joe gone, dinner has become a reminder, and just a quick something. I'll admit.....I had shredded wheat for dinner Tuesday night. So this wonderful act of thought and kindness from Lilly's family really, really made my day. Thank you, so much.

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Joe left for basic training today. 9 weeks to go. It's sad....but I already miss him terribly. The apartment is quiet, nobody to be silly with, nobody to eat late night snacks with, nobody to shnuggle with. This is just a small step though, to something bigger and better. It's totally worth it. Just you know, a little hard.

I can't even imagine how couples must feel when either are deployed....for 16 months. Wow.

So now it's my turn. This Sunday I'll travel back to West Point for round 2 of auditions for the Hellcats. If all goes well, I too could end up doing push-ups for a solid 2 months. Bring it on.

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