The Newest Moores': Toby!

So we decided that Penny needs a playmate. We've been talking about it for a while and yesterday I just had the feeling that we should look. So after 2 different places and lots of cute doggies, we found a puppy named Toby. He's between 6 and 9 months, and he's adorable! He will be a great companion for Penny, and for us too!

Case Lot Sale

What is a case lot sale, some of you may ask. Well...it is as it sounds. Case lot sales are held about once a month under a giant white tent in the commissary parking lot on Clear Creek Road. That's the grocery store for those of you not married to the military. They have amazing deals on a variety of grocery and household goods, and you don't actually have to buy an entire case of an item although you can if you want. We now have 18 rolls of toilet paper and 8 rolls of select-a-size paper towels. Obviously, that's a totally reasonable supply for a family of 2 and 1/2. Penny counts as 1/2 because although she does not use toilet paper she does cause a need for paper towel usage. Anyway, I also got cases of pop (yes, POP) for less than $4 each and 3 bags of chips for the price of one. Throw in 6 boxes of Jiffy corn bread mix, some body wash, and 2 giant sized bottled of lemon-lime Gatorade and I considered my first case lot sale a successful one. However, my experience had its downsides. First off, everyone was driving giant down tiny aisles with boxes that were poorly stacked, with their 8 children in tow. I swear everyone in the Army has 8 children so that's typical. Note: I love all children, but I especially like well behaved children with manners, and they seem to be in short supply on Ft Hood. And I guess the rules of the road obviously do NOT apply to the case lot sale because I was "side swiped" and "read ended" at least three times each. Between the large family in front of me who could not decide between a case of family sized bags of Cheetos or a case of family sized bags of Doritos (as if any family needs 6 family sized bags of chips) and the retired couple behind me figuring out the unit price with a large print calculator, I thought about just giving up and heading inside the comissary where things weren't as cheap but it was nice and cool and calm. But I braved the crowds, and $53 later I had a trunk load full of groceries fromy my first case lot sale.

Ahhh...relief

The many reasons I have to feel a sense of relief!

1. I have finished my comprehensive master's exams! And I'm feeling confident that I've passed.

2. Randy is coming home soon (either 30 September or 1 October- sooner that I expected)!!!!!!

3. We have been given permission to break our lease due to "safety concerns" so we're out of here in October!!

4. I am more than 1/2 done with my internship hours, and should have a paying job soon!

5. I spent the day with 15 life skills students today bowling and eating lunch out. Life skills kids have a variety of severe disabilties, and most are multiply impaired. And yes, even my visually impaired students bowled! Days like these are why I work with special needs kids. I heart them.

JRTC...I love Army acronyms

Because almost everyone I see and talk with in Texas is a Soldier or spouse, I've started talking in acronyms. The lingo that used to drive me crazy is now part of daily routine. I came to this realization while talking with Lindsay on the phone today, when I used an ancronym and there was a pause of silence before I thought duh....Anyway, Randall left for JRTC (Joint Readiness Training Center) in Louisiana last week and will be home between the 1st and 3rd of October. The training center provides the most realistic training opportunity for Soldiers aside from the training they recieve once down range (in the Middle East). The time they spend in the box (a designated area that looks like the Middle East with fake Iraqi soldiers) is very valuable because they run the missions exactly as they will once deployed. Randall is the XO (Executive Officer) of his company E FSC of the 1-5 CAV (that's Echo Forward Support Company with the 5th Cavalry). The XO is the "personel officer" of the company, and is second in command to the company commander. However, his second duty as the UMO (Unit Movement Officer) takes up most of his time. He's the guy who makes sure the right things get loaded onto the right mechanized vehicles, they go to the right places, and they are unloaded in the right way, ensuring they still have all the right goods. There's a lot more to it that I won't explain, and lots more that I don't even know, but basically that's his job. I make it seem simple but it's actually extremely complex and involves a lot of responsibility, paperwork, and organization, however thanks to the system we created late one night, it's going smoothly- sometimes. Unfortunately Randy's FOB (Forward Operating Base) doesn't have cell phone signal so we can't communicate. I did talk to him for about 2 minutes when he went down to the rail head (the place where they load and unload everything on and off of rail cars) on Wednesday. He said things were good but busy as usual. On the home front Penny and I are doing very well. She's a little extra ornery since Daddy is gone but we're making it. She's very good company and a great snuggler in bed at night.

Hurricane Ike

I knew Texas was affected by hurricanes, but I failed to make the connection between myself living in Texas and possibly being affected by a hurricane until tonight when my friend Kate called asking if I had bought bottled water and batteries for flashlights. And as I replied, "uh, no. have you?" I thought to myself hmmm...I do live in Texas, Texas is affected by hurricanes, and I may want to pay a little more attention to the news. With Randall being gone I guess I should put in the extra effort to make sure we (as in Penny and myself) have enough water/ready to eat food to last a day or so. And maybe tomorrow I should cook/eat some of that meat in our freezer just in case we lose power on Saturday. By the way Saturday is the day when big, bad hurricane Ike is supposed to strike. We don't live anywhere near the coast of Texas; it's a good 2 hours to Houston but apparently we could still get heavy rain and winds, and possibly tornadoes from the swirling wind patterns. So tomorrow afternoon after work I will be at Walmart buying batteries, an extra candle or two, and 2 gallons of water just in case, along with about 300 other people who weren't concerned enough to buy supplies days ahead of time. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see a drop of rain as it hardly ever rains here even thought the meteorologists constantly have a 30-40% chance of rain in the forecast. I'll keep you posted.

Army Wives

One of the greatest things about Fort Hood so far is the group of amazing Army wives I met through Kate, my first Army wife friend. One of her college friends from A&M has been here about 6 months and me these ladies through other college connections and through her husband's unit. There are about a dozen girls who get together for Army Wives and girly time every Sunday night. It's always so much fun, and comforting to have such as great support system with deployment nearing.

One of the girls found this poem, and with Randy about to leave for yet another training exercise, I guess I'm feeling more patriotic than usual.

~Warrior~

I never wore the uniform,
no medals on my chest.
The band it doesn't play for me,
I am not among, "the best."
I do not march in cadence,
I do not rate salute,
I stand among the silent ranks,
Our devotion absolute.

If you've not worn my shoes,
You do not know my story.
I live a life of sacrifice,
My reward a private glory.
I've wept many silent nights away,
And I've kept the home fires burning.
I've worried and I've waited,
As world events were churning.

I've moved more times than you could fathom,
Left more people than you've known.
I've planted gardens 'round the world.
Very few that I've seen grown.
I've grieved with new-made widows,
And had my share of scares-
When a ship or a plane or man was down,
And all I had were prayers.

I'm not asking for your sympathy,
(although appreciation would be nice)
I did it quite on purpose though-
I chose to sacrifice.
I'll tell you a secret now,
One you'd never guess.
About the one glory that is mine,
It's just enough -no more, no less.

When you and I stand together
As our national anthem plays,
I'll fill with reminiscences of how I spent those days.
I'll know the pain and joys again,
I'll know that freedom isn't free,
I'll know I've helped to pay the price...

and know that anthem plays for me.

~Elizabet Soutter Schwarzer

Our Townhouse

We're all settled in, and talking about moving again. But for now here is our little house. There is also a half bath downtairs which I forgot to take a picture of, but it's nothing special. It looks like a mini version of the big bathroom upstairs but it's just one room.

Pros of the townhouse: huge upstairs bathroom, close to Fort Hood, quick to clean because it is very tiny, our stuff fits just fine even if there isn't a lot of room left over, our tiny TV doesn't look so tiny in the small living room, there are 2 large windows at the perfect height for Penny to gaze outside for hours, we've made some friends who take their kids to the playground in the apartment courtyard, it is relatively inexpensive!

Cons of the townhouse: the stretch of highway between Copperas Cove (where we are) and post is very well traveled so there is a lot of traffic which makes for a long commute, the management company that owns this apartment complex is not very nice, we've aready had quite a very maintenance issues including a leaking air conditioner (I don't mean a little leak I mean like water all over the downstairs living room) and me getting locked out of the apartment while Penny is inside by the sliding glass door just staring at me, I don't feel super safe going out at night alone unless it's just to my car, we would like just a little more space, and Penny NEEDS A

BACKYARD!

Downstairs is all hard wood type flooring and the upstairs is carpeted except for the bathroom. We park just behind our "backyard" and enter our house through the kitchen. There is a huge grassy courtyard through the front door, which Penny is very happy about!


"backyard"- Penny is so sad!

our own little recycling center in our "backyard"

entry from front door- not a lot of room! We never come in this way because we park our cars on the opposite side of our house.

dining room

upstairs hallway


upstairs hallway wall- the signature mat from our wedding

our bedroom- on the other wall is 1 of the 2 closets and a wider dresser


toilet/shower room of upstairs bathroom

upstairs bathroom- not the photo color isn't strange the lighting makes it look yellow in there!


living room No piano= Connie very sad

living room- the dining room and living room are actually the same room but we divided it into two areas

breakfast nook but we never eat here because it's a little tight and Penny's food/water bowls block the front section

kitchen

other side of kitchen