Are you ready for some football?!

Yes. It's actually that time of year already. Hard to believe.

• School is back in session for the kids.
• School is also back in session for the grown ups (those of us who are in college).
• Daylight savings time looms nearer.
• Work resumes for those who work seasonally (as in for schools).
• The USMC Birthday Ball is on the horizon. Dresses and shoes to buy...
• Shorts and tanks are getting packed up in lieu of the layered look.
• And, yes... it's football season.

Things have been a little bit quieter on the forum for the past week or so, but I think this stands to reason as we get into this season. Hopefully it's a temporary dip and when we all get some down time we'll be as active as ever.

Meanwhile I will keep working on details-- when I'm not at my son's football games or my husband's work events or doing my school work or at the office or.........

Making history.

Big things are happening in the world today. My life is no exception.

I've started my college classes and so far I'm making a good run at it. I'm a bit tentative and nervous but I know it's going to be fine. Underneath this polished funny exterior I'm actually a brainiac. I just need to get my mojo going.

My children are growing and changing daily. My son just started the 4th grade and his first season of football. He now takes some measure of interest in his appearance and his snarky sense of humor is thriving. My daughter can say words (although she usually opts out) and is climbing and dancing like nobody's business.

My husband remains my biggest source of encouragement and inspiration. In that "if you only knew" kind of way.

The web site, meanwhile, has been improved by leaps and bounds. Things have a lot of room to grow and I'm convinced that they will. Given that it has only been around for a few months, and is spearheaded by yours truly-- with no actual expertise-- I'm very encouraged.

Bald is beautiful...

... and it's a good thing. Because I've been pulling my hair out trying to get the web site just so. It still has a long way to go, but it's come a long way in a short time.

We now have:

-An intro page.

-An interactive main site with profiles, private messaging, etc.

-An upgraded forum (from phpbb2 to phpbb3) which is a "slave" to the main site, meaning that only one login is necessary to access both.

-An online calendar for birthdays, anniversaries and special events.

-A members only chat room.

To get to this point there was a lot that had to be done behind the scenes, much of which is invisible to viewers. For instance, I had to install a special component to allow me to embed video on the site and several others for other reasons. The avatar gallery had to be reinstalled on the forum and the smilies had to be formatted. We also had some issues both with logins and user permissions (reading, replying, etc) on the forum which have been rectified-- or so I believe for the moment!

I am still trying to get the "quick reply" function working on the forum. I completed all the steps for installation-- including some PHP file editing that I'm not particularly comfortable with-- and I can see some evidence of my work on the back end but nothing shows up on the forum. So I've missed a connection of the moving parts somewhere and I still need to get that up and running. Also, I need to find a way to edit the flood interval setting for the chat room. If you type an entry too quickly after a previous one, not only will the chat room reject it, but YOU with it. That needs to be fixed.

I had hoped to have every little detail attended to before I start class tomorrow. And though I failed to accomplish that, I do feel good about what's been done thus far and I see progress. It's a step in the right direction!

usmcwives.com: Progress in millimeters.

"Success usuallly comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it." - Henry David Thoreau

I have come to the conclusion during the re-design that even if progress only comes in very small increments, it's still progress! And I will embrace every step that leads in the right direction.

With that in mind, the page is slowly but surely getting better. A lot of the time I have spent hasn't yielded any visible results but has improved the administrative capabilities of the sight or given me leads on utilities that can be added in. My biggest desire at present is to find a way to bridge the site and forum so that 1 user login will suffice for both the forum and the main site. This would be unnecessary except that the site offers a lot of bells and whistles (user profiles and the like) that would benefit us. New user registration on the site's main page is disabled (with member registration only possible on the forum) until this gap can be bridged. Duplicate accounts/logins would not be efficient. I have found a couple of options that it's remotely possible for me to use, but the technical elements of the installation process frighten me just a bit. I am, after all, self trained and not skilled in the technical arena. But we shall see!

New additions to the page include links to our forum, blog and survey as well as RSS feeds for the blog and for news articles from Marines.mil.

It looks like this at present:

http://www.usmcwives.com/Joomla

usmcwives.com: Splat.

There's one thing that never fails to hold true: When trial and error are involved in a process... you have to deal with the "error" portion.

All I managed to accomplish yesterday on the web site was to somehow undo something I had already done. I can't, for the life of me, figure out what I did or how to fix it yet. But I WILL!

I've somehow fouled up the linkage between the login section and the page one is redirected to upon login. I have looked it it from eighteen different angles and have even done a screen to screen comparison with Emily's control panel. I can spot the differences but am unsure how to correct them. Yet.

Web site go boom?

Nah. I'll get it fixed. I just have to step away from the keyboard, do something else for a bit and come back to it. I'm still very motivated about how the finished product will turn out. Stand by!

What are YOU bringing to the table?

As I sit here on Saturday afternoon not having been very productive today, I'm thinking about wasted time.

Now, I have a bit of an excuse today. Yesterday I helped my husband with some manual labor on a fence we are building (when I say "we" I mostly mean HIM with some moral support from yours truly) for our backyard. It turns out, when an out of shape 33 year old woman bends, stoops and reaches for 5 hours, she suffers consequences the next day. It's not altogether dignified! My back is killing me and I have sore muscles in places I didn't realize were there. Despite this, I managed to get out there by myself and do some more painting for about an hour and a half. The intended result of feeling accomplished and perhaps even working out my muscle aches was NOT achieved. This may be due to the sheer volume of work left to do and my lack of motivation to do it or maybe it's just because I'm tired. Either way, I didn't feel validated by the work and, adding insult to injury, this was my greatest accomplishment of the day!

I don't know if it's the summer heat or my schedule having been disrupted for weeks because my family and I went on an extended trip.... or what. But I've been about as useful as a duck in a bucket a month or so now. And the madness has to stop. I usually have much to offer-- be it here on the home front or with the web sites or just as a friend-- but I have lost my mojo.

Always, always bring something to the table. No matter what or whom you are dealing with. Be worthy of your place and of others' care and time. This is important. And starting right now I am going to get back to my essence and start getting things done.

Mama's got to TCB!

A must see new web site: A Military Life.

A new and very informative web site just went live. Its administrator the very talented spouse of a National Guardsman. Her name is Emily and I am fortunate to have made her acquaintance online a few months back. She is one of the driving forces behind a favorite spot of mine, The Silent Ranks forum, and she is a self taught web mistress. Her work is impressive, particularly the new site. She has labored away at this thing in a much more organized and persistent fashion than I have with usmcwives.com. She has solicited input from other military spouses and this will serve to make the site all the more relevant in the military community. It contains everything from tips for beginners to base ratings. It's still a work in progress but I strongly recommend paying a visit as soon as possible!

http://www.amilitarylife.com

Grabby McSnatchy

So, I've been trying to do a little bit of research about online forums and resources for Marine spouses and girlfriends.  The idea is for me to be somewhat well informed so that I can pass on any good leads to the ladies on our forum.

My philosophy is:  To each her own.  What works for one person might not for another.  What one person lives by might bore the life out of the next person.  So on our site I have posted (and will post more) links to other sites and good forums.

But I find it interesting how grabby some places are with their users.  I get that they don't want blatant spamming or advertising for other forums (and I never do this!).  But some of the little rules and nuances I have come across are very rigid and seem to be geared towards keeping their guests inhouse.

Am I just ignorant or naive?  I mean.... I understand why a for-profit business wouldn't want to redirect its customers the competition.  But how good is a support forum or resource center if it doesn't actually offer ALL MEANS of support and a wide array of resources?

This is just a musing about the situation.  Complaining is a waste of energy.  But I have resigned myself to stay true to the goal of offering up whatever goodies I find to others who may be interested.  If that leaves me talking to myself but results in happy members, I'm good.

Pardon me while I implode.

For crying out loud! I am so discombobulated. Seriously.
I feel like I am behind on everything, forgetting stuff and missing the obvious at every turn lately. I guess 4 weeks of road trip with the family should explain it, but I want my brain back!

I had to go in and accept/decline/delete/approve about 50 Facebook messages/apps/gifts, etc. yesterday.

I have 4,987 emails in my "personal" email inbox.

I have 2,618 emails in my Salted Luck and usmcwives.com email inboxes.

I have about 33 calls to make.

I haven't made any jewelry in over a month.

My dog needs to go to the vet and my daughter needs a routine check up (and shots!) with the pediatrician.

I am supposed to be making some calls and possibly doing some paperwork to prepare for some contract work I am going to do for my last employer. But at least that one is out of my hands: waiting for a return phone call.

But despite all of this and my brain being overloaded and disorganized: I am, as ever, a very happy woman. My husband is a beautiful specimen of a man who just showed his family the greatest time in the history of vacations. He's working on our fence out back and he's taking me to see my beloved WILLIE NELSON on Friday night! My son is an evil genius. My daughter is cuter (and, too, more evil) by the day. The usmcwives forum is growing exponentially by the week. I'm registered for classes now and school starts at the end of next month, which I am very excited about. And it looks like I'm getting another work-from-home opportunity very soon.

Life is good.

What day is it, again??

A good excuse. Really.

Honestly, I can't believe how long it's been since I've written. I can't believe the world is still turning and people are just carrying on with their lives when something is so clearly missing?! Lol.

I do, however, have an excellent excuse for my bloglessness. My family has been on a kamikaze road trip since the 12th of June. We're talking a Suburban loaded to the maximum and carrying two adults, a 9 year old and a 13 month old. Minnesota to Texas, Texas to Kentucky, Kentucky to North Carolina and now North Carolina to South Carolina. We won't even be home until next Wednesday! A crazy, crazy plan... but we've been visiting family and we are having a BLAST! We'll be at Myrtle Beach, SC this afternoon and will be there until Sunday morning. Good stuff!

Also good stuff is the fact that I sold 3 pieces of jewelry while on the road.... without even trying! ;) And the usmcwives.com forum is growing by the day. We're up to about 1700 posts and chatting like crazy. It's fantastic. I'm not enjoying the spam we've been getting and I'm still working on that issue-- but at least it's only a pain for me and not for the members. New accounts now require approval... that way we don't log on in the morning to find Euro smut awaiting. Eew.

As it turns out, typing while riding is making me carsick. That won't do. So I'm out. But I hope everyone has an awesome 4th of Juiy weekend... to include being grateful for everyone who has ever secured our freedom!

The last impromptu cocktails.

I'm a bit sad today. Partly because it's gloomy and rainy outside and partly because of my neighbors getting ready to move.

We met Jill, Barry and their 4 boys right after we moved into our house a year ago. They live right next to us and they are great fun. We've spent a lot of time together, much of it unplanned and on the spur of the moment. This is easily done when you're next door neighbors. And they are only moving a couple of miles from here, so we'll still visit frequently. But last night was probably the last time we will run into each other outside and end up having cocktails and playing cards until 1:00 a.m. (on a Tuesday!). So that's kinda sad.

I guess I should focus on how nice it is to have friends like them in the first place, though. The kind who will help with your home improvement projects and laugh at your jokes. The kind who will ask you for favors knowing that you'll ask them for a favor of your own at some point. The kind who will go to a Sinead O'Connor concert with you and take your son to baseball games when they have tickets. The good kind.

"Easy Opening."

So I just bought a mouse to use with my laptop. I'm getting better with the built in mouse but sometimes it's still a challenge. Anyway, it's working just fine, but as I was blowtorching my way into the plastic container it came in, I noticed something appauling.

A little red sticker in the top right corner that says "Easy Opening. Just bend corner."

Seriously.... what?! Umm, no. There is NO corner bending. There is NO easy opening. I'm glad the false advertising wasn't what prompted me to buy the product, otherwise I would feel horribly violated. I'm just horrified at the statement. And, for argument's sake, perhaps someone somewhere COULD easy-open-by-bending-corner. Let's say that this is within the realm of possibility. I still label it as false advertising because if a relatively average individual such as myself can't do it, then it probably shouldn't be stated as fact on the packaging.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on "furniture assembled in 3 easy steps." Lol.

The "Joy" of grandmas.

I wrote this yesterday on the road and am just now getting it posted..... Lol.

So we went on a road trip today to visit with my husband’s grandmother (who, incidentally, is named Joy).  This was the first time that the kids and I had met her. 

She was absolutely delightful.  It was well worth the 8 hours round trip for the only 4 we got to spend visiting.  I look forward to doing it again soon.

Incidentally, today marks the 64th anniversary of D-Day.  If I had been thinking about it, I might have asked Grandma Joy what, if anything, she could recall from that time.  I’m sure my own grandmother, her senior at the ripe age of 95, would have something to add.  Unfortunately I am drafting this blog on the road and my cell battery is dead so I can’t even call to ask. 

Speaking of being on the road with a dead cell battery and no WiFi connection in sight, I can’t even check my email or get on the forum to see if I’ve missed anything exciting.  This will never do.  We are going on a 3 week vacation soon which will include about 4,000 miles of road navigation.  I simply MUST find some sort of internet access solution before we head out.  I could die from the withdrawals.



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Pantsuit blues.

So, it's looking like Hillary is out and Obama is in.

I'm not excited about anything pertaining to this year's election. And I don't wish to get too political right now (I guess it's the mood I'm in). My plan is to pencil in Vince Vaughn as my choice. Do you think that will fly?? I mean, consider this: We need good diplomatic relations. Wouldn't it go a long way if our head of state were to skip over all the preliminaries and just tell those we have tenuous relationships with "You're so money, baby. You're so money right now!" Mama always said you catch more flies with honey....  And shame on you if you haven't seen "Swingers" and don't know what I'm referring to.

I'm all in love with life this morning because (1) people are actually TALKING on the forum and (2) it's Thursday, which for our summer schedule here is our Friday.  Woot!   =)

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I love it when you call me big poppa.

Have you seen the movie "Hardball?" Circa 2001, starring Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane among others. Not likely to be voted best movie ever, although it wasn't half bad and was based on a true story.

I laughed out loud at one scene, in particular. Try as I might, I couldn't find a specific clip of it to link here, but that's beside the point. This movie is about a gambler and his stint as the coach of an inner city kids' baseball team. In the movie, the pitcher always has on headphones and always listens to one song in particular. He wears the headphones while pitching, too, and is a real talent. One team, in hopes of upsetting his pitching skill, insists that the headphone use during play is against protocol so the pitcher is left tuneless. This has the desired effect of rattling him. Later in the movie (after having been replaced with another pitcher) the young man in question is called upon again to pitch. He, of course, panics because he can't pitch without his song. So, as is predictable at this point, the rest of the team and the coach sing the song for him as he pitches. It just happens to be Notorious B.I.G.'s famous song. And regardless of whether we encourage children to listen to this music or incorporate it into daily life, watching those kids waving their arms and signing "I love it when you call me big poppa..... throw your hands in the air...." absolutely cracked me up. Worth watching if only for that part!

I'm off to try to take care of some business now. It looks gloomy outside here so that isn't helping my motivation. But I need some supplies for Salted Luck and I have some phone calls to make. Feels more like a Monday than a Tuesday!

Confessions of a woman with a crooked life.

I've been so content lately I'm almost waiting for something bad to happen!

Random Monday thoughts:

• Our friend and neighbor, Barry, is putting in our back splash. The one part of the kitchen that has remained undone for the past many months. It looks beautimus and he's almost done. Too bad we discovered that our cabinets were hung slightly off kilter and there is a half inch discrepancy between the ends (on just one wall, anyway). This will require some optical illusion adjustments with the tile work but Barry is a master. :)

• We have been working to put a Pergo like flooring down on the first floor. We're not done yet but it's gorgeous. I love it. And my husband has been working his fingers to the bone.

• I'm annoyed the my PC is out of commission again because I really wanted to work on my temporary tattoos and window clings today. The printer is hooked up to MY computer, of course, so (being that I'm too lazy to switch it to the old man's side) that means I can't do it until my PC is fixed. Don't get me started on THAT topic.

• My daughter has been ridiculously cute lately. And I discovered this morning that she's gotten two new teeth on the top... I don't even know when that happened!!

• My son has been very much trying our patience. I'm sure it's a phase but I'm ready for it to END. In the meantime I'm considering Buddhism. It worked for Tina Turner?!

• Usmcwives is coming along just fine and dandy. This is pleasing me TREMENDOUSLY as I've been so timid and nervous about it.

• I haven't had time to design any new jewelry in DAYS. I'm having withdrawals. Maybe I'll have time for some this afternoon.

• Today is going great so far for a Monday! :)

Salted Luck.

My adult A.D.D. has been on overdrive for the past week or so. I can't seem to prioritize all the stuff I am trying to do. I hate it when that happens. I'm getting a lot done, I'm just not doing it as efficiently as possible which means that I'm probably wasting time somewhere in the mix.

Anyway, a girl with a small but thriving accessory business really needs her own brand and web site, huh? I have, at least, accomplished that much. I'm calling the boutique "Salted Luck" and I have my own site set up now. All of my wares are still listed on Etsy until such time as I decide to obtain merchant services on my site (down the road). But making the web site will be fun for me. It's still under construction and I had a lot of help from GoDaddy's premade templates, but I will tweak it extensively over time.

One reason I'm struggling with time management is that I'm working on the web site AND making a crapload of awesome new stuff. I found a couple of great resources here locally for unique, funky and pretty supplies. Grabbed up a boat load last week and have already made about 2 dozen new items. This is my best work yet. I'm loving it. Unfortunately I haven't even had time to take all of the photographs and get the new stuff online. That is always the most time consuming part of the process. I'm hoping to get at least some of them up today.

This week also had its distractions. Thursday night, for instance, after he had been the guest speaker at a function we were attending, the Army's Chief of Staff and his entourage ended up at the same bar with us. My better half challenged the General to a round of billiards and what do you know.... there were 6 balls left on the table when my beloved claimed victory. He's unsure what rank he might be come Monday morning, but feels it was well worth it in the end!

Oh, and I also got my FIRST PARKING TICKET that night. Bugger.

I'm off to enjoy my long weekend of laboring on my beloved boutique items. Not only do a million pictures need to be taken and uploaded.... but I have 3 new products to make (temporary tattoos, window clings and magnetic mail-holder pouches for the fridge or filing cabinet) and Lord only knows when I'll find the time!

For my GIRLS.

I'm a huge fan of Maya Angelou. You might recognize this poem from the movie "Poetic Justice." For reasons I won't elaborate on, it crossed my mind last night. There's something captivating about it. Speaking for myself, I feel inspired when reading it, even if I'm sitting hunched over my keyboard, unshowered, wearing a t-shirt and sweats. In all of our forms.... we are WOMAN.

PHENOMENAL WOMAN
by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a model's fashion size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips
The stride of my steps
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please
And to a man
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees
Then they swarm around me
A hive of honey bees.
I say
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth
The swing of my waist
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back
The sun of my smile
The ride of my breasts
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say
It's in the click of my heels
The bend of my hair
The palm of my hand
The need for my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Confessions of a lightweight.

More random thoughts:

• I use the term lightweight for two reasons, the first of which is that we just had a monster yard sale this weekend and got rid of a ton of needless stuff. We made a decent profit and got to schmooze with our neighbors. I feel our feng shui improving already!

• The second and perhaps even cooler reason is that I can now officially wear my girly summer clothes. After having to essentially skip over last summer due to baby girl having just been born AND my horrid ankle injury healing (rendering me both unable to wear cute clothes AND unable to wear cute shoes: a fate worse than death!) .... I can now wear all of my favorite stuff. I'm somewhere between a size 6 and size 8 which is just about right. A workout wouldn't kill me... but at least my clothes fit!

• My daughter is walking. I know this is to be expected since she just had her first birthday, but still I object. It doesn't seem like this should be happening yet.

• I am uber excited about the new jewelry I'm making AND the honest feedback I am getting. It's a great feeling to be learning and improving on an almost daily basis.... and to have your existence affirmed by positive reinforcement. We all need that sometimes.

• It turns out that not all of our neighbors are a-holes after all! We met quite a few more this weekend during the yard sale. Some very nice peeps on our block. There's hope!

• I continue to dominate at Parking Wars on Facebook. I've grown very weary of all of the time consuming applications but this one is a treasure. And I totally cheat. But I freely admit that and I am WINNING. Haters abound!

• Jill and I are going to some sort of killer food buying place this afternoon. I can't recall the name but it's a deal where you can buy certain things (whatever they happen to have) at ridiculously low prices. I'm on that like Jared's on Subway, people. Don't say you didn't know.

Undefinable.

Don't you just hate it when your child or anyone asks you what a certain word means.... and you KNOW what it means... but you just can't figure out how to explain it? Can't recall the definition in an articulate manner?  Eeew.  I hate that.

Yesterday my son (who has an extensive vocabulary for a 3rd grader) asked me what "metaphor" meant.  I utterly failed to explain.  It was absurd.  Like I don't know what "metaphor" means?!

• metaphor : (noun): a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.”

 

And here are some of my often-used favorites that I can never precisely define when asked:

 

• pithy: (adjective): brief, forceful, and meaningful in expression; full of vigor, substance, or meaning; terse; forcible: a pithy observation. Of, like, or abounding in pith.

 

• smarmy: (adjective): excessively or unctuously flattering, ingratiating, servile, etc.: the emcee with the smarmy welcome.

• moxy: (noun): courage, balls, intestinal fortitude.  *Had to get this one from UrbanDictionary.com since it wasn't actually listed in the dictionary?  Jeez.

Here's to not being discombobulated!