Two Bids in the Hand are Better than None

This post was originally titled "What a boar" in honor of Lou's overnight trip into the Georgia clay and subsequent land navigating at 3am. He spent his birthday night camping with the Army, and after the post midnight briefing went out looking for markers. The briefing had included a short warning about wild pigs,"Avoid them, Men. Georgia boars are killers." So, when Lou walked into a clearing with 4 of them lying about-in the throes of sleep he made quick work to leave without snapping twigs.

But, that is old news after receiving tonight's text message from our realtor. We had just lay down when my phone buzzed. I assumed it was a text from my exercise pal Cassie. Instead, the realtor said,"Check your email" with "!!!" following. So, we immediately jumped out of bed and raced to the computer, regretting that we'd been so thorough in shutting it down for the night. Lou waited patiently while I alternated between "Do you think its an offer?" and "I am not getting excited about this because then it will end up being paperwork and I'll be disappointed!" Lou wisely said nothing because he knew it would do little good. :) And not an offer, TWO! Yes! What a wonderful answer to prayer-we are talking with our realtor tomorrow about our options for both but to have two offers after 6 months of nothing was just exhilarating! So, needless to say I am now too excited to sleep and can give some little updates about what's going on here in Georgia.

Lou has been given a reprieve from his platoon sergeant responsibilities and the baton has been passed. This week has been extremely restful. No late night phone calls, no numerous emails. He and his group did Land Navigation Monday-Tuesday which involved the overnight trip. You know those annoying people who always write things like,"My husband is the best! He's just the most intelligent and cutest guy ever." Well, now I'm going to be one of those,"He was the first man in his platoon to find all the markers and get back to camp." :) Please humor me in my praise of my husband!

When he arrived home in one piece, we celebrated his birthday with pizza, his mom's homemade chocolate cake recipe, and Special Forces movies. He told me today he gained 5 lbs. We're blaming it on our inordinate cake consumption. It could have been the pizza though. 1 large pizza divided by two. (people) My favorite moment was when he unwrapped his Ken Adams Oil sweatshirt. Lou had one as a kid and wore it constantly-until he outgrew it. Then his mom got rid of it. He reminisced about that shirt all the time! Whenever he saw this picture- He told me the story of his beloved Ken Adams shirt.

So for his birthday I decided to see if I could track down a KAO sweatshirt. I spent several months searching Ebay without success, after all, who has a sweatshirt up for auction that was a giveaway from a small business in south Jersey 15 years ago. Not many. So, when time started running out, I took the risk of being thought a little insane and googled the company online. They were still in business! Yay! I spoke with the receptionist and explained the nostalgic value of such a shirt.....was met with disbelief and then "you must be crazy"...but she finally said that the owner would be in the next day and I could talk to him personally. So, I called him the next day and explained how much the shirt meant to my husband, when he was 10 years old...and I think he thought I was crazy too...but he was nice enough to say that I could come in and get one (they only had them in 3X he explained) if I really wanted to. So, I called Dad Crist and he was sweet enough to go drive over there and walk in with the story of his daughter-in-law... and they gave him the shirt! Mom mailed it and it turned out that Mr. Adams was misinformed as they had XL in stock. So, I did not have to attempt to alter it with my handy-dandy sewing machine and Lou got to wear a normal looking shirt. End of story! And here he is-modeling the latest.

This week I added to my Craigs list treasures and sold some furniture as well. I have developed quite a thirst for photographing and listing items-even ours. I don't think Lou will ever come home to a house without beds or tables, but I am trying to get rid of unnecessary pieces that simply collect objects. That being said, I continue to bring in others! :) Like these lamps I bought to go in the livingroom. $20 for the pair! I just have to find shades now....

I got rid of my famous watermelon couch-sold it to a woman who plays a guitar in a rock band but thought it was "too cute". :)
Some people might find these a little more "manly", but I do love the leather!
Plus, I can finally hang my beautiful 2 sisters picture up without it dwarfing the furniture! That picture has special meaning for me. I cut a tiny photo of it out of a decorating magazine when I was a girl and kept it in my scrapbook for years. Then, several years ago Mom and I were at a consignment shop in Roanoke, Virginia and there it was-in real life size! Sad story, the woman who owned it had an entire collection and when she died her daughters didn't want any of them, so they put them up for sale. I hope my daughter wants it!

It has been such a full time of so many changes and yet continues to be a wonderful experience. Small bumps in the road, but God is always so good to us- in spite of ourselves. This morning Lou thought he might have had his thumb broken during combatives- but the x-ray was negative so the doctors think it is simply a pulled ligament and braced it. Even small blessings like this are so good to experience. A break could have caused a lot of problems with his training and Ranger School.

I am getting more organized in the house and am starting some volunteer work at the local thrift here on post next week. I also started classes at the rec center- going 4 days a week for either an aerobics or yoga-fit class. Tried my first yoga class ever this week! And really enjoyed it as well. The instructor is very focused on stretching and flexibility and she puts no emphasis on the eastern mysticism aspects of yoga, which is refreshing. I come home and show Lou all the new exercises I've learned...or at least attempt to keep my balance while demonstrating! :) Its fun but exhausting! My friend Cassie and I always finish and contemplate naps.

Lou has a long week ahead of him- Monday through Thursday are late all dayers in the field. I believe they're going to be doing a lot of shooting. Its strangely calming to wake up in the morning to the sound of machine gun fire. I hear it throughout the day from the ranges nearby. Helicopters fly overhead two-three times a day. We can see the airborne towers 3 minutes from our house. These are the beautiful houses on Lumpkin Road that I covet, every once in a while! The red tile roof appeals to me. :)

This weekend we are taking a break from Benning and driving to Alabama to spend some time with my grandparents on their farm. Granddad has already offered to let Lou take his guns out shooting all day and Grandma Marie wants to catch up on news and more news! We also might get to see my brother Daniel, who has a little time off before shipping overseas to Iraq. Looking forward to it, but I need to pack since we're leaving tomorrow afternoon.
And this is random, but I am missing my little neices tonight and decided to post one of my favorite pics of them. Favorite because the little stinkers were all sure that the "sun was shining in my eyes" and couldn't open them, even though there was no sun to be seen. Betsy and I were coaxing them to smile as I took the picture and it still makes me laugh. We didn't have much sucess.