Crisis mode or maybe just the new normal!

my first iris....first of many!

So sorry for it being so long since the last update but I haven't really felt like blogging...mainly because it would all be negative as of late and I choose to try not to dwell on that stuff and really to not bring others down with me.  But it is time to update everyone so here goes.

As you know Wil left in April and you know how when your husband leaves, the garage door stops working and then he comes home and it works fine.  Well it has been  of that only Wil isn't coming home to get them working so I have been working on trying to get things fixed without breaking the bank.  So here is the list of the things I have had fixed, are fixing or will be fixing: brush hog, gas weed eater, lawn tractor, Trailblazer, computer server, computers, various lights and on and on.  Whew!  It has just been so steady of crisis management that when I clean up one mess, I just wait for the next thing to crash.  I am praying that soon things will smooth out because this is no fun.

We have had a lot of rain so that means a lot a lot a lot of mowing for me and with all the lawn items not working it has been a trick.  All my equipment is working now so I am excited to be able to use it all this weekend.  Well, excited is not the word...the 2.1 acres is kicking my butt.  I am just trying to keep it at bay right now.  It feels like a jungle that is alive and creeping forward and I stand with my machete...keeping it back.  Some days I win and some days I lose but I will not quit.

On a lighter note, my mom came to visit.  We had a lot of fun.  We went on a cruise around the 1000 Islands area.  That just makes me want to go on more cruises in that area...very cool.  We showed her around our area, and of course took her downtown to the Parliament buildings.  We rented a wheelchair because of all the walking around and the girls and I had fun pushing grandma around in a light rain.  Then we had lunch at the Hard Rock (Tiana has now eaten at Hard Rock in 3 countries) and did some shopping at a nearby market.

The dirt is moved...wow...10 cubic yard is a lot of dirt to move.  I can tell you my arms got a great work out, but it is done.  So now I get to start planting and, of course, weeding.  It will take a couple years for the rock garden to really come to life but the area is mapped, there is soil and now it is implementation time.  I have the antique plow and a garden flag (thanks mom) and the family memory "rock" that I brought from Colorado.  I am going to find a couple nice boulders to add in and a bunch of irises and we shall see where it goes from there.  I probably made too large of an area in retrospect...I should have started small and expanded as I had time but you know what they say about hind sight.

The girls are anxiously waiting the end of school.  The really only have full days through Thursday then a couple finals and they are out.  They have done really well but they are sooooooo done and ready for summer.  Now part of it could be that on the 28th we leave for a family reunion in Ohio.  I am ready to get away.  We haven't had a vacation since June of 2009 and no! moving is not a vacation.  This isn't my idea of a vacation per se ( I hate driving) but it will still be fun!  We are stopping at Niagara Falls, none of us have been there so it will be very cool.  Then on to Cedar Point (Tiana and my favorite amusement park).  Then on to the Cinci area for the reunion. 

This reunion is all about Legacy and I have been working on updating our family tree.  It was addictive when I started it many years ago and I have been just as obsessed this time.  I have found some very cool things and am really looking at things differently.  I challenge everyone to think...what legacy have I left.  In the simplest of thing...what stories have we passed on that will be lost with us.  I haven't left as much as I could so I am working to fix that.  Why OHIO, well that is where my dad's family grew up and we are going to go see some of the local haunts from his childhood.  I am very excited.

After the reunion, Tiana flies to Colorado and Tabitha and I drive back to Smiths Falls in time for Tabitha to leave for a visit with her mom and then I will go home and crash!  I will miss the girls but I am looking forward to some time to decompress and really process everything that has happened in this last year.  Then before I know it Tiana will be back and then Tabitha will be back and then school will start...but that is too far ahead to think.  Ok, not totally too far, I found out there is an African safari park a couple hours from here and I am thinking that is where I want to go for my birthday...I will have to look into it some more.  It won't be as exciting as the safari in Kenya I went on with my dad but I bet it will still be fun.

We still don't know where Wil is going...hopefully we will know soon.  He still thinks they are leaving in July sometime.  He is extremely stressed out and exhausted.  I don't get to talk to him as often as I would like and there has definitely been a HUGE time of adjustment but I am hoping we have settled in at this point into some sort of non routine routine...lol.  I spoke with him last night and he was very sick.  He could definitely use your prayers as could I.

On the good side, my birds are multiplying and my flowers are flourishing and I am now feeding squirrels and rabbits also which is fine except someone ate one of my plants  :(.    I will end with a pic of some of my flowers.

Thats all for now.

Brenda

What Wil is doing...

It has been awhile since I updated and man it has been crazy but this post will answer the most common question I hear and then I will update everything else later.  I am always asked what is Wil doing and all I say is he is very busy.  Why?  Because that is all I knew.  Well I asked him to fill me in a bit and he did, so the following are some exerpts of an email he sent that really gives a feel for how busy he is.  (It also explains why I don't hear from him very much.)  So here goes:

My department is consist of 34 people at various ranks. As the HOD, head of department,  I am responsible to the Commanding Officer for all the equipment and for all the personnel.


On the personnel front I have to make sure that we have enough people to sail with. They still haven’t said when and where we will be deploying. The rumour is mid July. So I have to make sure everyone is ready to go. I am actually making two plans, one if we do go and one if we don’t. So I need to make sure people that need training get the training, people with family problems are taken care of or replaced. If we do go I also have to come up with a plan to try an rotate people home at sometime through the deployment. This will be one of the hardest things to do because there will not be the opportunity for everyone to go home. So I will have to determine who can and can’t go. I am responsible to make sure people who have competency boards are prepared for them and they pass. If they don’t pass or are behind in their training then I have to place them under the appropriate corrective measure. I am also responsible for making sure everyone works together, knows what to do in the case of an emergency.
 On the equipment front things are a little hectic. We need a bit of work done but have no priority in the repair yard. They work on something when they have time but with no set schedule it is difficult to plan for.  I have about 43 systems, this includes weapons, radars, sonars, communications and other systems. We are actually in really good shape and only need minor repairs. I also have to make sure we have the proper ammunition onboard for all the weapons. That is hard because we don’t know where we are going so I don’t know what I need to bring onboard but I need to get ammunition within the next 3 weeks.  To make my life more complicated we ended up with a worm onboard that could possible infect our computer systems that control the weapons.  Now I am trying to make sure the work has been cleaned and the computers are no longer infected. During this period I need to find a time to go to sea for a couple of days so I can do some trials on some equipment.  I have many people who want new pieces of equipment installed so I have to research it and find out if it is possible or not. If it isn’t then I need to come up with a work around if possible. One of the biggest issues I am dealing with at the moment is satellite tv. North American dishes don’t work in Europe/Africa. Funny that. If it is possible to install then I am responsible to have it installed and have people trained on it.



On top of all of this I have about 5 secondary jobs onboard. I am the Laser Safety officer and as such I am supposed to know everything about lasers. So I have a 2 day laser safety course that I must do this month. I also need to re-qualify on the pistol and rifle. When, I don’t know. I am also responsible for the department’s budget and I am suppose to do a couple more courses that deal with military regulations for spending military funds. I am also the officer responsible for the safety program that ensures no one gets injured from the radiation from the radars and communications equipment. As such every new person who joins the ship must come see me for a brief. On top of that all the officers and chiefs who have to get their officer of the day qualification has to come see me for extra training so I can make sure that can keep people safe around the radars. As the ammunition officer I have people looking for me to sign their training requirements concerning the magazines (used for storing ammunition). They have to know the hazards, where they are located, what ammunition is contained there, what firefighting systems are there, and what compartments are close to the mags. If they are correct and can answer my questions then I sign off their training. I am also responsible for all Hazardous Materials and the cleanup if something gets spilled. New persons also have to see me so I am sure they know what to do in case of a spill. Officers need to know how to what procedures they have to take in case of a spill until myself and my department can be called in to do the cleanup.

After all that I am also responsible for all the regulations and temporary orders that describe how my department functions. I am supposed to be the expert in all my equipment and the regulations that governs everything. So I am trying to study my diagrams and write-ups to make sure I know how the equipment works. I am trying to read all the regulations, then make changes to the ones that require to be changed. So far there are about 6 sets of regulations and orders I need to do that too. 2 days ago I was made aware of specific regulations that deal with the possible trip and now I need to read and understand them. I need to make sure everyone receives a work progress report that outlines their job and what is expected of them. We keep getting task to provide information to the admiral. This is basically the same information in a different format. I have weekly equipment meetings with the fleet engineer to explain the status of my equipment.

Supposedly the work day goes from 0750 until 3pm , but I normally am working 0700 to 5pm. I am also working Saturdays and Sundays. Some evenings I am on the ship until 9pm. I just can seem to get ahead of the paper work. With all of that I still need to find a place to live.

So that is it....that is what he does.  Obviously he is extremely busy and with the time change I don't hear from him as much as I would like but I am adjusting to that.  This is the longest email I have gotten from him since he has been gone so I am glad he took the time to fill me in.  I am extremely proud of him and am so excited for him to have this opportunity.  Being on ship is very exciting for him although I think he is much busier than he expected.  Honestly, with that kind of work load, I am glad that we are here so that he has the freedom to do what he needs to do without having to worry about getting home.
I will update everyone later this week on the rest of the household, but for now keep him in your prayers!

My love to all