Let the parking wars BEGIN!

I feel like I'm living in that TV show "parking wars".

We own a black truck, and the guy who parks next to us also owns a black truck. Well today I went to the store. The guy in the next spot over was gone. When I got back from the store, he was home. How did I know he was home? Oh, because his car looked like it had been parked by a drunk 3 year old.

His left front tire was so far into my space that I couldn't even park. I had to granny park for like 10 minutes and ninja my way into the space...but then I was crowding the car on the other side. As I'm pulling in for the last time I look up and see the car owner standing on his balcony grilling something...and he's screaming over the railing.

At first I think he's apologizing for parking like a total wanker, but then I see he's actually waving BBQ tongs around and ranting something about "if you didn't park like a douche, then you wouldn't have to granny park!"

Scuse me? If I didn't park like a douche? How am I the one parking like an idiot when it's obvious that my truck was 5 miles away at the grocery store when you came home and plopped your front tire clear over into my space? Don't blame me because you can't maneuver your giant "Redneck" truck into a space that is EMPTY ON BOTH SIDES.

Seriously.

So being the calm and collected person that I am, I got out of the car, looked at him, and began to walk off. That's when he shouted down at me "Look! You're crowding my door! How the hell am I supposed to get out in the morning?" I don't know what planet that guy lives on if he thought I was crowding his door. I was so far to the other side of my space that I was on the verge of no longer being in my space. We're talking millimeters away from the space on my left. There was a good 2 feet of space between my tires and the line for his parking space. Any "crowding" of his door was due to the fact that he was about a foot into my parking space.

So hearing that, I poke my head around a tree and yell back at him "I'm not the one who's tire is in the other person's space. I should have your car towed!" Did I really intend on having his car towed? No. It was more just an empty threat meant to "inform" him that a) don't park like a moron and b) I can legally have your car towed.

"Go ahead and try!" was his response. Awesome...permission to tow a car. I don't know what he thought he was going to gain by actually telling me to "try" to tow his car. "Try" is not the right word..."do" would be the right word. Our lease explicitly states that we can have cars towed if they are over the line and in our space. He was so obviously in our space, I don't see how the towing company could get there and NOT tow the car. The phone number to the towing company is even posted in GIANT text in about 5 locations throughout the parking lot.

DH, being the calm and collected person he is, tried to sort it out. "What do you want me to do? If I move any farther over I'll be crowding this other guy. It's just 2 giant trucks parked next to each other, but yours was here first and you're crowding us out".

I don't really know what the other guy was saying except he seemed to have calmed down a bit and was no longer yelling. I started walking away until I heard him say "you need to control your old lady."

That was not insulting because he used the term "old lady" but was rather insulting because he implied that I was merely an object which needed "controlling". I am more than capable of handling my own situations. I did single-handedly pwn a real estate agent who tried to bait and switch me. After hearing that I didn't even say anything. I just pulled out my cellphone, flipped it open, and started walking away. At that point I really WAS going to call the tow company.

I stormed into our apartment absolutely shaking with anger. But before calling the tow company I decided to go back down to the car and calmly tell him to move his vehicle. What did I find when I got down there? Well he had already moved his vehicle...across the parking lot and into an empty spot that was EMPTY on one side.

I looked at his car parked in its own lone parking space and realized that he STILL parked it like an @sshole. His left front tire was still crooked and into the left-hand space.

Now fast forward 3 hours. I walked out to throw some trash away and just for the hell of it I detoured around to our parking space to see if he had moved his car back (or worse). What did I see? A poor slug bug granny parking into the spot next to him.

Sorry but....if you park so terribly that not even a VW beetle can squeeze in next to you, you deserve to pay the fee to get your car out of the impound lot.

So let this be a lesson to you parking space #33...my husband deploys in a week. I'll give you up until that day to get all that douche-baggy parking out of your system, but past that date if you screw up your parking job one more time you will be answering to my grouchy, in-the-midst-of-deployment, no-BS self. And I will not hesitate to call the tow company. And I'll do it with you screaming at me from your balcony too.

Oh and by the way...I took a few pictures of your crap parking job....thought I'd let you know ;)

Last Week Jitters

Wow...the past few weeks have been a complete blur. My sleeping schedule went so out of whack I was going to bed at 8 PM and waking up at 5 AM (which I actually preferred).

My mother in law came and we took her around San Deigo and out to the O-side pier and the diner and then we went to Sea World. Then my parents came and we went to Disneyland, which was totally AWESOME. Then we went down to La Jolla and saw the sea lions and seals. Aaaaw (they smell terrible though).

We acquired and then de-acquired a roommate, DH taught my how to shoot guns, we purchased a handgun, went boogie boarding in the ocean, ate sushi, had a pre-deployment brief, had a pre-deployment fight (or 2...or 3). I had to re-schedule our photography, so that is all taking place this weekend.

And in all of this I STILL haven't been able to make the cakes in a jar or flat husband. It feels like I don't even do much all day, but my mind is just racing so much that I can't even concentrate on doing anything. Take today for instance...I woke up at 6 AM and spent the first 5 hours of the day catching up on last week's TV Shows. Then I took a shower. Then I made a list of things I had to do this week and by the time the list was finished it was far too late to even do half the stuff on it.

I'm selling my car today, which makes me really really sad...so I've been putting off cleaning it. I still have to go to the grocery store and there's just so much I need to do but either a) can't concentrate long enough to do it or b) can't figure out HOW to do it. I pretty much haven't answered my phone in 3 weeks, and I haven't gotten the mail in 2. The only reason we don't have a month worth of newspapers on the front porch is because my dad loves newspapers and came by and scooped them up and read them (meaning we now have a week's worth of newspapers on the table, and another week's worth in the recycle bin).

*sigh* This sucks.

3 more weeks left :(

We acquired a roommate the other day. A guy in DH's shop was in a housing crisis, so we rented out our extra bedroom to him. Honestly I have to say, its kinda fun. I like having a 3rd person around because it makes me feel like I have friends in CA (LOL...random).

Well I think he's only staying a few weeks, so once DH leaves I'll be back to being alone in the house, but at least I can now say I know someone here.

I'm very excited for next week. DH has the entire week off and then my parents are coming to visit, so we're going to go to Disneyland. His mom was here this past weekend, so we took her up part of the Coast Highway and to get some authentic California Mexican Food. We ruined her forever, since there is no way to get food that amazing in the inland states.

We also went to Sea World. I enjoyed it, but I have to say...Sea World has gotten REALLY commercial recently. They almost seemed to care more about advertising and drawing people in and then making them pay atrocious prices to see animals. The San Diego Zoo is so much better. Sea World is just all one big advertisement geared towards children. The Shamu Show, although cool, was hilariously sappy. They staged this whole thing where a girl in the audience got to come down and touch the whale and then the trainer "passed the torch" to her by giving her his Orca tooth necklace. They went way too "Free Willy" on us there. And the sappy movie playing in the background was just terrible.

Sea World has the potential to be really amazing, but I just see it now as a destination for people to gawk at sea animals, rather than a platform for people to actually learn about animals, conservation, biology, etc.

I still need to make Cakes in a Jar. Perhaps I'll do that today. Until then!

Get With the Digital Scrapbook Age

Sorry it's been a few days. My mother in law just got in to San Diego yesterday. Then DH locked his keys in his car (*eye roll*) and I had to drive all the way to base and unlock his car.

The other day I got a call from a college recruiter because I want to go back to school (photography). Well, we got around to talking and I mentioned I was a scrapbooker. This guy asked me if I did it digitally or manually and when I said manually he balked. "Manually? Get with the digital age, woman! No one cuts out paper and glues it anymore! You can do it all online!"

Ya...and how fun is that? I don't scrapbook because I want to get it done, I scrapbook because I think cutting and pasting paper and different effects is whats fun. If I did it all online well that would defeat the very purpose of scrapbooking. You can't do pop-ups, textures, and vellum in the digital scrapbook world.

Anyways, I just found this organization the other day called Operation Write Home that sends cards to the troops to send back to their families. I absolutely LOVE it. I love scrapbooking and card making. I just have to go to the store and get some more scrapbooking supplies and then I can start making cards. I'm so excited. I just hope I can get my supplies in order in the next week so I can start working on some of the challenges. That should keep me occupied while he's gone...I hope ;)

Deployment Photography

I'm so excited! I scheduled an appointment with a photographer in the area to do some couples shots of us on the beach! Woo! I just want some recent pictures before he goes, since it's going to be a whole year until we can do any pictures together.


I can't really think of anything specific to blog about on this lovely Tuesday so I'll leave you with a picture:

Oh wait! We went to Best Buy yesterday and bought DH a new computer for his deployment. $600 laptop and YES I'm aware its going to get trashed, but if it helps him stay in contact and gives him a way to entertain himself for 12 months, I'm all for it.

DH also said he wanted to take Flat Husband to Afghanistan. He said it would be hilarious to take pictures of a little flat guy doing things around base lol. So it looks like Flat Husband will be joining Real Husband for a few months.

The Best of...Being a Mil Spouse

1. Federal Speeding Tickets-the end result if you decide to push the on-base speed limits. That was possibly the only time I wasn't able to use my husbands military service to talk my way out of police action ;)

2. Drunk Marines- especially when its your neighbor and he's trying to kick in the front door of the apartment building because he thinks he's "locked out". Note to drunk guy...the door is broken. Go around back like I told you to 4 times.

3. Postal Workers- specifically the ones who instantly recognize the envelope of your federal speeding ticket and entertain you with tales of their own fate

4. Microwave dinners- maybe not living on them for 3 months, but I can appreciate a good "Lean Cuisine".

5. Taps- played every night at 9 PM on military bases across the country

6. Laundry Detergent- who the hell knows which brands have optical brighteners and which ones don't, all I know is...if that other guy is using "Tide" to wash his ACU's, you better believe I'm going to steal some of it when he turns his head

7. Saltine Crackers- when it's the only thing you can afford because it's not payday and they don't sell ramen at the 7-day, saltines become the food of choice

8. Living out of suitcases- who needs closet space when you can just fold everything up and put it back in your little rolling box of life

9. Eating out alone- still humiliating, to say the least, but sometimes they give you free pity pie

10. Taco Bell0- If I had a dollar everytime I drove a car full of rowdy Marines lip-synching to the Beastie Boys through the Taco Bell drive thru for some late night chow...well I'd have $4

Homesick...

Contrary to what you're thinking, I'm not homesick for Utah. No, that nanny state can kiss my butt. I'm homesick for Missouri..the location of our first base.

I don't know what it was about that state or that base, I just cannot let it go. Fort Leonard Wood, as a base, was a little piece of nothing in the middle of nowhere. But that's precisely what was so amazing about it. That was the smallest, most rural town I have ever lived in. I forgot how wonderful it was to not have people swarming all over the place.

Part of it, though, revolves around the fact that Missouri was the site of a lot of firsts:

1) First alcoholic drink (Mmm St. Louis)
2) First anniversary
3) First official military base
4) First time renting an apartment without my parents help
5) First time driving/Navigating across the country
6) First time moving/living "out of state"

My decision to move to Missouri was a rash one. It was criticized by everyone from family to friends to random strangers. I mean come on!! Who moves to a base in the middle of Missouri for 3 months just so you can be closer to your husband for the last bit of training? I do, that's who.

Just reminiscing now, that was quite an adventure. I left Salt Lake City on July 29 with absolutely no prospects for an apartment. As far as I was concerned, I would be living out of hotels for the first few weeks. I managed to book a week at a budget motel and swore to apartment-hunt while I was there. Shortly after leaving I received a call from a guy in Missouri renting out a basement apartment.

2 days later I was pulling through the gates at Fort Leonard Wood, absolutely TERRIFIED of the place. I was a stranger in a new state. I had no knowledge of the area and I was utterly lost. It took me a solid 2 weeks to even get my bearings of the base and avoid getting completely lost. I was living in a room in the basement of another couple's house, but managed to find a little short-term studio rental for the last 2 months.

That first month in Missouri was AWFUL. My car broke down and required $1,200 in repairs, the humidity absolutely killed me, I hated my living arrangement, and I only saw my husband on the weekends because he was so busy with school. I spent most of my days browsing around the base or else hanging out alone at Walmart with everyone else in the town. I despised Missouri.

Luckily, things turned around the 2nd month. We went to St. Louis and I fell absolutely in love with that city. We made several more weekend trips to St. Louis, and I got to hang out with my husband's friends. We went to movies, we went to the local dance club...now that I think about it, St. Robert epitomized everything that movies portray small towns to be. It was SO small, so quaint, as almost all towns in Missouri are, but it had character and life. It was empty, but full of love. Fort Leonard Wood was a very welcoming base. It was small so it felt like you were really part of something...like a base family. I had a lot of great experience in Missouri, from the weekend parties at my apartment, to being a regular at Applebees, to catching my neighbor naked in the hallway, to getting a Federal speeding ticket (which, btw...if you're going to get a speeding ticket, get a federal one. They're so cheap!) Of everything of note that has happened to me in the past year, 90% of it occurred in Missouri.

I didn't realize it until I left, but Missouri/Fort Leonard Wood actually really grew on me. I don't ever remember experiencing any kind of home sickness for Utah while I was gone, which is why it's so strange now to be in California longing for that home-town feel again. Camp Pendleton just is not the same. My first time on Camp Pendleton was just confusion. It's so big and it has NO trees. I don't even go onto that base if I can avoid it. It just feels to foreign and there's really no need for me to go there anyways. Fort Leonard Wood just had something about it that made me feel home. The day we left it POURED. I was completely drenched just running from the PX to the car. I like to think that maybe that torrential downpour (the worst since I was there) was Missouri saying goodbye.

And I know all of this is extremely sappy and cheesy, but I really can't convey it any other way. My experience in Missouri was COMPLETELY abnormal to what most people experienced at "Fort Lost in the Woods" but there was just something so new and amazing about it that I would give anything to go back in time 3 months to be living in Missouri again. I proposed that idea to DH and he said "ick what a po-dunk town. I hate that state" and it makes me sad that he doesn't appreciate Missouri like I do.

Oh well, maybe I can talk him into going back to St. Louis. That city is amazing after all.

Click here to listen to "Missin' Missouri"