Frustration grrrrr...

Today I'm going to do something a little different. I'm going to share my frustration with you guys! Aren't you so excited?... ? ... Right...

So I guess what I should do first is let you guys know, what has me so frustrated. The answer... Military Housing. Okay not really a big surprise to all of you Military wives out there. We all know how it is... In most military areas you run into one of these two problems. Either they will have to many units, and start renting them out to civilians and the neighbor hoods will go bad (I don't have anything agents civilians, but they just don't pick good people), or they will have not enough units, and not enough by a long shot. It's just frustrating. Now on the bright side it's not like this at all Military bases, just most of them.

Okay now I'll tell my story. I applied for housing in Silverdale, WA back in October (the second that my husband brought his orders home). It only took a few days to get them all of the paper work they needed and they were good. The lady told me that I could call back in February to check my spot on the list (okay cool). She did tell me that she might not be able to get us a 5br (because they only had a few), but she could defiantly get us a 4br.  I thought "Okay everything is good now, I have nothing to worry about, and we'll have a place to live come May." I was excited about it! I enjoyed going to the web site, and looking at the pictures, wondering which unit would be ours. So come February (just a few weeks ago) I called to see where we were on the list. 98...98? ... "98?" That didn't sound promising to me, but I'm not an expert so I asked. "Is that good? Do you think we'll get a place by May?" and she answered "Yeah we move through a lot of people, I don't think you'll have any problems." So I trusted her...  Two weeks later I call to check again. I wanted to see if we moved any, and how much. If we moved 8 to 10 spots then that would really make me feel better. 98... 98... "still 98" (not good). I was going to ask some more questions, but this lady must have been in a hurry, because she hung up once the number was out of her mouth. I was a little shocked after that. I walked around all day wondering "Did I hear her right?" "Did she look at the number wrong?" After sleeping on it, I decided to call again, at a different time in the day. I was hoping to get someone different. This time a man pick up the phone (okay good, this is defiantly someone different). So I ask him our spot, and it really didn't surprise me when he said 98. So I ask him "Do you think will get a unit by May?" and he says "At this point no, and I'll explain. We base it by your husband's transfer date, and our waiting list is 4 to 8 mouths long after (AFTER), your transfer date." (So the one lady lied to me) and (well there's some fine print for you). So I thanked him for being honest with me, but really... If I had known this from the beginning, than it really wouldn't be a big deal. I would have prepared myself for it, and I would have already set up alternatives, but at this point with only 9 weeks left, I'm not happy. Sure I can do it, I can find us a place in that amount of time, it's just going to be stressful and crazy (yup that's all).

So that's it, just some frustration, and a lesson learned. Always ask how long the waiting list is that moment you send in the paper work.

Homeschool pick-me-up

For all of you homeschooling moms out there (like me), who sometimes on some days think "Why am I doing this again?"

Here are some Homeschool facts and Statistics

http://www.homeschool-living.com/homeschooling-statistics.html
http://www.homeschoolfacts.com/index.php

- 95% of home schoolers have an adequate comprehension of politics and government, compared to 65% of U.S. adults.
- 71% of homeschool graduates participate in ongoing community service activities, compared to 37% of adults in similar ages.
- 88% of homeschool graduates are member of organizations (community groups, churches, or professional organizations) compared to 50% of U.S. adults.
- In most cases, children who are home schooled are more socially mature and have better leadership skills than other children their age.
- 98% of home schooled children are involved in two or more social/community activities each week (4-H, Bible Clubs, Scouts, Ballet Classes, Music Lessons, Sports).
- In most cases home schooled children excel above other students academically, cognitively, and spiritually.
- In 2002 homeschool SAT average was 1092, and the national average was 1020.
- On average, homeschool students in grades 1-4 perform one grade level above their public and private school counterparts. The achievement gap grows in grade 5. By grade 8 the average homeschool student performs four grades higher than the national average.
- 74% of home schooled adults (ages 18-24) have taken college classes as opposed to 46% of the general population.



So just keep doing what you're doing :)

Super bowl and pink eye

Hey everyone! Yes I know what you guys are thinking... "Randi the super bowl was over a week ago, and you're just now telling us about it?" ... and yes you are right, but the second part of the title should give you a hint of why it took me longer to post this. First things first though, let me tell you about my super bowl day.

Let me start off by saying, it was much better than last year :) My little brother Wesley, and his fiance Jessica came over to watch the super bowl with us, and just hang out. We played Monopoly and Jessica won (but it was a close game between her and Wesley... I didn't stand a chance). We played Mario Party, or more accurately Wesley and Jess played it with the boys, and Jeremy and I watched (still very enjoyable). We ate pizza and chips (I love junk food, no use lying). Jessica discovered my Magic cards, and we played a few games (and she beat me again). All of this and then the super bowl. It was great we laughed at the funny commercials, made fun of the ones we didn't understand, and some just left us speechless (not always in a good way). I like Jess a lot, me and her are already becoming good friends... kind of sad that I have to leave in a few months :(...


Okay so the second part... Olivia had pink eye this week, and wow. At least I think it was pink eye, I really don't know. She had crusty eyes every time I woke her up, green stuff was coming out of her eye, and her eye was red (yes just the one eye, thank goodness), she had a fever the first day 100.1 (yes the pink eye lasted for more than one day, 5 to be exact). So now your asking... "Randi, why didn't you just take her to the doctor?"... Well that would have been an option if I didn't have to deal with the clinic on Fort Meade (do you guys remember this post?). Since I was able to control her temperature by tylenol, and it wasn't high, there was no way I was dragging her to that place. On the down side the first few days with this crazy pink eye, she was grumpy, and didn't want to nap (all of us moms of toddlers value the nap dearly). I felt really bad for her :(. On the bright side she is feeling better now :).

Well that's all for now thanks for reading :)

It's Olivia's Birthday!

I'm Olivia, and it's my birthday today!

I'm eating my birthday breakfast.

Yum!

Mommy put my hair in pigtails.

This is my bear Cinnamon 

Olivia Legates is 2 years old today!

Favorite toy : Stuffed Bear Named Cinnamon

Favorite thing to play : Picnic With My Brothers

Favorite thing to eat : Gerber Graduates Puffs

Favorite tv show : Sesame Street

Favorite color : Currently Unknown

Things I can say : Daddy, Mommy, Cheese, Eat, Shoes, Okay, and Ah-hooo

I can't believe she's 2. Time is flying!