And the winner is....

Almost done.....we can do this.....everything will be fine

Nathan comes home tomorrow for the first time in 5 months. As I rocked Mackenzie to sleep tonight I thought about the last time Nathan was in this house. It was January 18th, it was cold. I remember a lot of details from this day, like how Nathan had a close shave, a fresh haircut and was wearing a blue dress shirt. I mostly sat around, watching him pack a single duffel bag and then checking it over and over again. I begged Nathan to read a few bedtime stories to the video camera so I could have Mac watch them. I wanted her to see his face and hear his voice. Mackenzie was easy back then, not very entertaining, but those were the days when she would sleep for hours in the swing. At one point Nathan looked at her, looked at me and said, "It's hard for me to look at her." This, of course, broke my heart. I remember hugging him good-bye and watching him walk out the door. That was a rough day.

A few days after Nathan left I proudly hooked up the video camera, sat the baby swing (and the baby) in front of the TV, pushed the play button and what do I find??? My sweet husband reading the bedtime stories, only to be drowned out by my crying and sniffling that I managed to direct straight into the microphone. The picture was a little shaky too, that must have been from me wiping away the tears. Oh well, we live and learn.....I clearly cannot handle anything like this on the day Nathan is scheduled to leave.

Here are a few other things I've learned about myself during these past 5 months.
1) I can successfully manage 4 checkbooks without overdrawing
2) I can live off cereal
3) I cannot watch Extreme Home Makeover without crying
4) I don't care about sports when my husband is not around
5) I'm pretty good at writing letters
6) I can survive my workday on very small amounts of sleep
7) I am easily annoyed by people that complain
8) I can be a sometimes-single mom
9) I am very prideful (some might say, um, stubborn) and I like to do things on my own

Its been a while...

Jaq, Jill, Rangersgirl, Melissa, Marla, Jenny, Brie, and of course my DW Kelly...and any others I neglected to mention...not to exclude our random blog viewers...good morning/afternoon/evening...wherever you are. It has been a second since my last post, thank goodness for the DW keeping this bad boy updated. If it were up to me this might be the most boring blog ever. But alas, I am able to make a post. I have spent the last two weeks learning the ins and outs of USMC firearms. It has been a pretty crappy block of time as we had to start our days at 0400, strap on some ridiculously heavy packs and hump 3 miles out and 3 miles back every day. I did get some pictures though, the first is me trying my best to look like Billy Badass but in reality I just look like a midget in camouflage.

The cool thing was that we did get to employ some night optics. The second picture is of me through a pair of night vision goggles (NVGs). Unfortunately for me it is ugly during the day and STILL ugly at night, some folks just can't win. The one thing I can brag about is the distance we shoot from, no other Armed Service brings their rifle qualifications back as far as we do. The third picture gives a point of view of how far back that is, 500 yards (5 football fields to put it in perspective), and fools were still putting rounds in the bullseye...bad news for those Taliban.

We were able to get some video of us firing at night with NVGs and laser sights. The lights that look like flashlight beams are infrared lasers that can only be seen through NVGs. Its short and sweet but you get the idea.


I hope all is going well for everyone, I am looking forward to seeing most of you over the Memorial Day weekend. Thanks for your comments and God bless...
This is a pic of Lt. Gaughan, a true Patriots fan from the heart of Boston, just goes to show you that even the arms of war can embrace peace...even between a Colt's and Pat's fan...give peace a chance...

Semper Fi

LT MILLS

I QUIT

I finished typing my letter of resignation and will be submitting it later today. I have dreamed of quitting this job for some time now, but it was in hopes of finding a job closer to home. I can't help but feel excited and scared about the future (in terms of a career). Will I want to go back to work? Will I have difficulty finding another job? Am I crazy for walking away from such a secure job? Oh wait, I would be crazy to stay here and spend another year apart from my husband! Here is a picture of me in my office, it was taken a few years ago. Notice, I look much younger and refreshed. In fact, my hair looks a lot thicker. Anyway, the student is holding a bottle of hot sauce; he loved hot sauce, I believe he earned that as a reward.

Tag, I'm it

Wow, it's been hard for me to blog lately. It's that time of the year for case conferences and I've had so many that I'm beginning to go crazy. There will be more about that at a later time...

5 things found in my bag
1) A pair of Mackenzie's socks
2)Three check books
3)Vanialla Coconut room spray from Bath and Body Works (I have a group of middle school boys that haven't figured out showers are a daily requirement after the age of 10)
4)A single swab of Zicam (I have a cold right now so I guess it didn't work)
5)Two contact cases

5 things I've always wanted to do
1) Sit in the front row at an awesome concert
2) Go back to school to earn a PhD
3) Live on or near the ocean
4) Be able to speak in public situations without freaking out
5) Tell my boss what I really think of him

5 things I'm into right now
1) Photoshop
2) Anything dealing with the military that will help me prepare for my new lifestyle
3) Digital scrapbooking, normal scrapbooking annoys me
4) Reading at night before going to bed
5) Beverly Hills 90210

Inspired by a Lifetime Movie

Wow! The past few weeks have been extremely busy. I've been meaning to share a few pictures and a conversation I had with my husband last weekend. The weather has been great and Mackenzie loves being outside, however, she seems to have an aversion to grass. It's very entertaining to watch as she tries to keep both feet off the ground. The babe has also started crawling and is into EVERYTHING! Some of her favorite items include dog bones, the dog leash, any electrical cord, cell phones and shoes. Who needs toys? And of course being the good mother that I am, I let her play with all of the above items......all at once.

Onto the conversation with the husband. I had the TV on (a lot) last weekend and kept seeing a preview for a Lifetime Movie, here is the description

Tia McLealand has it made: She's blissfully in love with Nick, pregnant with his child and successful at work to boot. Then Nick is killed in a chopper crash with his National Guard unit. Unwilling to let her child grow up without a father, Tia marries her powerful billionaire boss, Michael, after he offers to raise the baby as his own, a magnanimous offer that Tia doesn't question - until years later.

Well, surprise, surprise, Nick didn't actually die in the chopper crash and comes back wanting a relationship with Tia. Tia has to decide between Nick and Michael. Obviously, this is a very common situation a girl might find herself in so I started thinking about what I would do. Nathan was relieved to learn that I would probably go back to him. There was a brief pause after I told him this and then Nathan said, "Actually, I would just kill the other guy so you didn't have to choose and I would have my wife back." Is he a sweetheart or what? That man is spending too much time with his fellow Marines and needs a woman in his life again (that would be me).

Good Times at School

I currently have a student teacher and witnessed the following conversation today. The student teacher was working with a small group of students on subtraction with regrouping.

Student Teacher asked me a question about one of the problems, I answered, and she went back to instructing the small group. When she returned to the table one of the students said, "Teacher was wrong" to which she replied, "Yes, teachers make mistakes too."

The student looked at me and said, "Mrs. Miller doesn't make mistakes." Ha! Later the same student called me "mama". Double HA!