::clever title::

I really do love my job and I try to have a good attitude when it requires more of me than I think that I have to give. These next few days are going to be like that.

I worked today - from about 9am to 3pm - for our annual Delegate Meeting in preparation for the Annual Meeting that happens in April. After work, me and a couple of gals from the office went and had our toes painted lovely spring colors...all pretty much wasting time until our husbands finished what they were doing and we could hang out. Chad spent most of the day with our nephew - today was the big Boy Scout pine wood derby - woohoo! About the time I left the nail place to head home, I gave Chad a call. He didn't answer but the phone rang about the time I got into our neighbor hood...he was reporting that he was at work. On a fire.

I've already had a decent rant about how I feel about people that start fires or set fires they can't control so I will spare your sweet little eyes this time around. I just wish that my work schedule and my husband's work schedule would somehow work together so we can actually spend some quality time together. Some day.

4am.

My sweet Chad left for a fire about the time we sat down to watch our Tuesday night NCIS (so...8pm?). I stayed up waiting for him for a while - mistake! - and finally crashed about 10:30 or 11 - which is WAY past my normal bed time. I woke up with a start around 2am and realized he wasn't home yet so I called him...he said it was one of the worse fires he's been on because they didn't have enough people there to keep it under control. So, needless to say that he left again around 7am this morning to go back out there. If I am even half as tired from him being out on a fire as HE is from being out on a fire, it is going to be a long day for both of us!

I am not sure that he will make it to small group tonight but I was looking forward to it so much that I am going to go either way. Either way, please excuse anything I say or do today or tonight because I might be a little loony.

here comes Monday.

My bf Jess left in the early afternoon today, headed back south. I've gotten lots of things done on my busy weekend so it really has been a great weekend. Chad kindly did 4 or 5 loads of laundry but I folded all of them today so I think we are even. So far I have put away clothes, cleaned the bathrooms, and started getting some stuff ready for my trip North. I still need to go buy groceries for this week but since I will be gone from Tuesday night to Friday night, I really need to know what he needs from the grocery store more than me. I would ask him, ya know....except that he is out on a fire.

I think I will go entertain myself by putting away the clean dishes in the dishwasher, refilling it with the sink full of dirties, and finding myself some dinner. I am hoping that they will call and say they are headed home soon so keep your fingers crossed.

it's been a while.

It has been a good few weeks since Chad has been out on a late night fire so I guess we were due one. I've heard we are expecting rain in the next few days so that would be nice to keep it from happening again. I guess it wasn't so bad since I had to work out of town last night too. Either way, he was out late and gone again early this morning so someone I know is gonna sleep good tonight!

Livin' for the weekend, even though I have to work ALL DAY Saturday. Cookie training in the morning and then headed down to GA to do a training. But, it is a fun training to do so it should go by quickly. So maybe it would be more accurate to say that I am living for Sunday?

a new day.

I'm still not sorry about what I wrote yesterday but I think I have a much better perspective on it now.

I am working on a couple of craft projects...two for babies that are coming in the near future and one that was for me (that I've already finished...a super easy bag made from a Girl Scout t-shirt. It was a fun shirt - it says "Every cookie has a mission...to help girls do great things." and I just made it into a bag.

Chad is back out at the fire location this morning but not to fire a fire. They apparently left the bulldozer in the woods last night because it was so far in and in such a bad spot that bringing it out in the dark was not an option. He says it will take them a couple of hours and some winching to get it back out and loaded on the transport truck. Oh well - we got about 5 minutes of strong rain last night and I am hoping that is enough to tide us over until the rain we are supposed to get Sunday or Monday arrives. Praying that I will get to spend some time with Chad over the next few days.

Going to clean bathrooms and work on crafts.

soapbox.

If you don't want to read a serious rant, skip today's post...because I am about to lay it down!

I realize a work a lot. I've written about it multiple times and how I struggle to find the balance between work and home things and my personal life. I know there are a lot of nights when I am out at work and Chad is home without me, fending for himself for dinner and getting things done around the house. But this week has been a whole different story and is grating heavily on my emotions. I have worked a lot this week but it has been a fairly normal load for me. I had daily regular work and worked Tuesday and Thursday nights for meetings. I was lucky enough to take all day Wednesday off to hang out with my sister which was a MUCH needed break. Chad, on the other hand, has worked some serious hours this week. His week started when we got back to Chattanooga on Sunday with a call out to a fire about the time we got in bed. He pretty much worked sun-up to sun-down Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and most of Thursday (meaning he left home before the sun and got home around midnight. Literally.) He was on overtime by Wednesday.

He finally got a day off today and worked around the house all morning. He cut down trees and hauled them off. He is hot, tired, and a week of terrible sleeping hours and hard physical work (not to mention all the smoke he inhales all week at work) has worn on him. I was seriously looking forward to a 3-day weekend of hanging out around the house and running some errands and I have been praying that would actually happen and fires would stay at bay. No Luck. He just got called out - literally 20  minutes after I got home this afternoon.

So here is my SOAPBOX (you probably just read something similiar on my FB page...but it limits your status words and boy did I have more to say.):

Here's to all the Idiots...
To the people who were raised poorly, trained terribly, and don't care about others,
To the people who throw cigarette butts out their car windows onto drought stricken land,
To the people who don't know how to properly put out a campfire so it doesn't catch acres of precious woodlands on fire (the Girl Scouts have a FREE class for that - I will teach it myself.),
To the supremely selfish and classy folks who think arson is an appropriate solution to their problems or that it should be used to cover another crime,
To the uneducated and somehow unaware public that doesn't realize we haven't had rain in over a month and a half and that you need a permit to burn your trash or brush - which won't be issued because of nationwide drought conditions,
I salute you.
Carrying my garden hose and my watering can and wearing my Smokey the Bear ballcap,
I salute you.

Because you, my friend, are the people that put the people I LOVE in danger because they have to come clean up YOUR mess. Because of you, my husband and his coworkers inhale more fire smoke than could ever be considered healthy. And you carelessly remove any chance I might have of spending some quality time with my hardworking, dedicated, wonderful husband. Why do they do this? Because it is their job - their barely-pays-the-bills-and-yet-they-are-still-dedicated-job. They do it to protect YOUR houses and YOUR land from burning up. They do it to protect YOUR crops from burning up. They do it to protect the land YOU want to hunt on and ride your stupid ATV's on.

I'm not sorry for saying this.

Edited later to add: Chad just called and said it was raining where he was on the fire. I know that prayers are always answered and sometimes how and where we least expect it. God is good. But I'm still mad.

back at it.

My sweet Chad is back at it again after a 12:30 arrival at home last night. Going on another 5 hours of sleep and headed back out to a fire. The called me from the top of the fire tower yesterday saying "hey, I get really good cell service up here!" but I can't imagine climbing that many stairs just to make a phone call. Guess he really loves me!  Please keep praying for rain. There is none in our forecast but we all know who controls the weather and HE can do whatever he wants!

My sister is coming this morning but since I was awake before the sun, I am going to do a bit of cleaning before she gets here - somehow breaking  yesterday's rule about what was more important. At least I will not clean WHILE she is here. Instead I will eat sushi and get a pedicure.

Updated to add: I did get a lot of stuff done! Cleaned off and rearranged the front porch...moved chairs to the back patio in preparation for fall fires in the firepit, cleaned off dining room table, cleaned up kitchen, emptied and refilled dishwasher, one load of laundry down and about to shower! I've had a productive morning!

visiting!

I am sorry that I am such a bad blogger...this time of year is just not good for extracurricular activities in our family!

I am pretty excited that my sister is coming to visit me tomorrow. I am taking the entire day off just to hang out with her, get some pedicures, maybe eat some sushi (cause that cutie I live with won't eat it!), and just chat. I am thankful that she lives close enough to just come for the day when she chooses - I just really wish that our lives and schedules matched up a bit better than they do. Like I said, this time of year is nuts for our house. Chad has been out on a fire since Sunday - coming home to sleep around 5 or 6 hours a night - and then getting up and pushing the "repeat" button the next day. I am sure it is wearing on him...I know he is tired because we don't really talk when he comes home...He just crashes into bed and then is up again before the sun the next day. I worked 12 hours today in my office and I am exhausted. I can only imagine how he feels right about now with all the physical labor and heat he is dealing with these past few days.

I love my job. I know it pays the bills and I am oh-so-very thankful for employment in our current economy and even a job that I actually enjoy going to every day! However, I wish I was home more. And I REALLY wish I was home more when Chad and I could be here together. My house is a wreck right now and I feel like I never really "have it all together". I managed to sneak home and fold the giant pile of clothes last week but they are sitting there on the guest bed waiting to be put away. And now I am two loads behind again! My kitchen smells funny - which I can't seem to find the source of - took out the trash, no dirty dishes, scent checked the fridge - no luck. My dining room table is covered in...stuff. Mostly from where I cleaned off the kitchen counters. Depressing. And there are Gwendolen tumbleweeds blowing near the baseboards...from just 4 days of no vacuuming. Two lessons: you can't always have it all put together (meaning: not that I ever had it put together but for example...if I am succeeding at work, putting in lots of hours and getting my job done well, other areas of my life will fall behind). And two: I would rather spend time with the people I care about than clean my house. We went to Columbus this past weekend and saw people we loved. I went out last night to celebrate the birthday of a sweet friend with a bunch of other gals. And tomorrow - my only day off - I am choosing to spend it with my sister, ignoring the odd smell in the kitchen (ooo...maybe the chef can figure it out!). Hopefully the house cleaning will come in there somewhere but frankly, life is too short...

In other news, please pray for rain. It hasn't rained in over a month here, at least not enough to be considered the real thing. I realize there are places that are experiencing serious drought and the livelihood of entire communties are depending on that rain and I don't mean to minimize that. But we need it too. We need it to soak our land and keep the fires away. Sending people we love out to fire a forest fire is dangerous and rain is really the only thing that will stop it and keep the fires at bay.

still burning.

This website said that the fire is now 30% contained but burned another 5% in acreage yesterday. Chad said they got some rain (Praise the Lord!!) yesterday too but it wasn't enough obviously to put things out. And containment means a lot more than just putting out flames too...they need a few days of pretty constant downpours to really help things out. So, still praying for rain...

good day.

It was a really good day today, despite the fact that Chad left at 5:30 this morning and will be gone 2 weeks. I wrapped up working at a can you believe it is this hot and humid outside, is it even possible to breathe out here?? day camp today and loved it but I am sorta glad it is over. It was fun and exhausting - you know that feeling of having to be on your toes all the time - yeah, I just lived that. I still want to work at G.S. camp every summer and can't figure out how to swing it.

Tonight I went on a date with my in-laws. We ate at Olive Garden (I believe my feelings for Portabello Ravioli and Berry Sangria are well documented) and then saw Water for Elephants. I read the book but it has been a while so I wasn't too terribly offended when it didn't stick strictly to the story line. It was decent though that vampire guy (yes, I know his name...) was hard to believe as Reese Witherspoon's love interest. I do think that I caught a glimpse of Lookout Mtn. in the background of one scene and even though I might have imagined it, I will just continue to believe.

I also just got to Skype with my sweetie. Bless the inventor of Skype, even more than Facebook. Dare I even!?  He took our older laptop with him so we could at least see each other in the next two weeks while we are apart. Please keep praying for safety, health, and a lot of rain!!  Apparently they made some good strides today but it is still a large fire that is being hard to control.

oh life.

We had the most non-eventful, sweet small group on Wednesday night. We got to finally meet sweet baby Ella (photos of her cuteness can be found there on Emily's blog) and she is absolute perfection. Don't worry - no baby jealous here. I still like 'em best when you can love on them and then give them back!  There weren't many of us and we were happy to just hang out together and chat. Don't really know how Chad feels about nights like that but I love them - times when we can just all sit around and laugh and hang out. Frankly, it is better than the super goofy and only partly-enjoyed or accurate video series we have been watching (come on folks, you know you ALL feel like I do!!)

Biggest news on the homefront is that Chad got called out this morning to head to a fire in North Carolina for the next 16 days. Yep. 2 weeks. It will be the longest time we have been apart since we got married close to 3 years ago. Amazing huh? A week is as much as we have managed so far so it should be interesting. We had some travel plans in that time that will have to get put on hold but I am going to Columbus for a bit so at least I won't be alone the whole time. For any potential stalkers out there, I have a FABULOUS neighborhood and even better street full of people who are looking out for me. I'm not worried a bit...oh and a dog that will eat you and an alarm system that is stellar.  I'm gonna miss him tons - and of course worry about him even more - so please do me a favor and add him to your prayer list just a bit more these next two weeks. He leaves super early tomorrow morning to travel to NC and will either come back when the fire gets put out or 16 days from now, which ever comes first.  In all his amazingness, he got off work early today to prepare and he's done dishes, cleaned up the laundry room, done a load of laundry, put away beer making supplies, and is changing the oil in my car.  He is so incredible.

p.s. I tye-dyed at day camp with the kiddos today. My hands are blue.

still quiet.

I'm not doing so great at posting recently, mostly because life just goes on as normal sometimes. Work is normal, house is normal, animals are normal - of course, normal has many definitions.

Chad was out on a fire till around 11 last night and is back at it again tonight. We had plans to eat with Emily and David from our small group tonight because we were going to be the only 2 couples there tonight. It was foiled a little bit by Chad still being at work but I went anyway and I am glad I did. I got to experience Jet's Pizza for the first time (um...hello yummy!) and got to have great, uninterrupted conversation. Sometimes it is actually really fun to be the third wheel and to give and get undivided attention from such a great, sweet couple.

Chad and I have been offered a really cool opportunity to travel (for pleasure) this summer and we are pondering it really hard. It is sort of a once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing and we are having a little trouble making a decision - not because it wouldn't be amazing and fabulous and cool but there are just a lot of other sort of stinky "we are trying to be adults" parts of the decision too. I will share more details as we make our choice...obviously, if we decide to go, you are going to hear a LOT about it!  As a teaser, I will have to get a new passport if we decide it is something we can do...