Hunting Season

One of my least favorite seasons has just commenced - hunting season. I don't go hunting for anything you would normally associate with hunting, though. I hunt something tiny and sinister, something that lurks in corners and under furniture around my house for a fraction of the year. I hunt the dreaded scorpion, or le scorpione, as they would say in Italian.

Hunting season began this morning. I was minding my own business and about to leave my kitchen when I noticed one medium-sized black scorpion poking out from under the kitchen radiator. There are no pictures of him, because I did what I have to do. I flattened him with a shoe, swept up his body, and flushed him down the toilet. I have a pretty good rhythm going after a couple of years of this.

What is distressing, though, is that this seems really early to be finding scorpions in my house. They definitely tend to hibernate during the winter and come out during the warm weather months, and they make several showings a day sometimes during the summer. So, it being February still (albeit the last day), it is upsetting to see one in my house already!

It's a Boy!

Last week I went in for my ultrasound, and found out that our baby is a boy! We are both thrilled, and are looking forward to his birth. What is difficult for us is finding a name. We had a whole list of girl names, but the boy name is proving difficult.

He is healthy and looks great! And, his cousin who will be born around the same time will also be a boy! So, we have lots of boys on my side of the family. My mom is desperate for a granddaughter, but is still excited for the new baby boys coming this summer.

Bingo!

Last night was our annual Officers Spouses Club Crystal Bingo! I actually do get really excited for this each year. It is one of the best events that we have.

I know it sounds a little weird, but it turns out to be quite a blast. The one bad thing was that I brought my camera and forgot to take pictures (as usual). I even had a conversation with my friend Patty about that, and still forgot to take them.

Anyways, I was, of course, the designated driver for a couple of people. It turned out to be the most entertaining designated driving I had done in quite some time! The prosecco was definitely flowing at this event.

And, everyone at our table won! I won a pretty crystal bowl. I'm not sure what I am going to do with it, but it'll look beautiful somewhere in my house.

So, now Crystal Bingo is over, and it was probably my last one. It's definitely sad, but some of the ladies from my squadron decided that we should take a trip to Rogaska, Slovenia (where much of the crystal was purchased), for a shopping and spa trip sometime soon. So, that's something to look forward to!

You Call This "Hope"?

This is the point when I am truly expecting Jesus to make his Glorious Appearing. We have reached a new low in emerging further away from any kind of culture of life.

The British government's chair of the Sustainable Development Commission, or "green adviser", Jonathon Porritt, is publishing a disturbing report next month regarding the role family planning has on global warming. It is Porritt's view that families with more than two children are creating an "unbearable burden" on the environment.

I wonder what his views are of the declining European population and its implications in sustaining a socialist government and resulting laughable programs? But, that is beside the point.

Porritt recommends in this report that governments must take action - by implementing programs to increase family planning methods to include ABORTION.

It will be interesting to see what European governments do with this hideous recommendation.

And, my American friends, we are truly not that far behind in this strange Orwellian scenario. Our own President Obama, in one of his first acts as President of the United States, lifted a ban on federal funding of abortions in other countries. His reasoning: The ban would "undermine family planning in developing countries."

So, now our tax dollars will be spent performing abortions all over the world. I'm so glad that we're in a new era of hope and change and diplomacy for all! This will make the Muslims like us!

So much for swearing to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Protecting life is clearly not in our new President's interests. And now we have crazy people around the world who think that, by aborting our way down to two children per family, we will somehow save our planet. What have we come to?

New in 2009

A very belated Happy New Year to everyone! We have been busy around here. Chris left this week for another deployment (for those of you counting, this is indeed number three in under two years). This one seems particularly rough for us. We both agree that we didn't get much reintegration time from the last one, and what we did have was mostly spent in Montgomery at SOS. Oh well. I'm just praying that this one moves quickly.

Today I began a cooking class with a bunch of ladies at an Italian chef school. It's five weeks long, and is a lot of fun! It's just my speed. We watch the chef (and the students he likes to boss around), take notes, and then eat the food he prepares. Molto buono!

Today we learned how to make homemade gnocchi with a bolognese sauce, a spinach quiche that was to die for, scaloppine (pork) cooked in white wine sauce, and duchess potatoes. Yum! The best part is that I can definitely make everything on my own.

I also had our OB Orientation Class today at the hospital which actually turned out to be a socialist medicine propaganda fest. I'm pretty sure that my answer on a questionnaire regarding spanking will earn me a call from someone on the base (I am all for using non-abusive spanking in the arsenal of discipline, whereas the military is strictly against spanking). The military has really become Big Brother, for those who did not know.

Well, those are the big updates for now.

Buon Natale!

I know, it has been a really long time. I promise that it has been equal parts laziness and craziness!

A lot has gone on during the past month or so. Chris finished up Squadron Officer School, and we made it back to Italy. I turned 30! And, we have slowly started telling people about the baby we are expecting around July 3!

That's right, we are having a baby. We are also really excited, because my sister, Laura, is expecting her second baby around July 12! So, it will be a busy 2009 for us.

We are just relaxing for Christmas. Tonight, I'm making Chris a Mexican feast and then we'll go to the candlelight service at church. Tomorrow, we're having our friend Heather and her children over for a nice Christmas dinner while her husband is busy being deployed.

We don't have any big travel plans as of now. Chris will take leave next week so that we can get some major things done around the house before he takes off on his next deployment. So, everything will be a quiet celebration around here this year.

I hope that you have a very Merry Christmas! We are certainly grateful for all that God has done for us in 2008, and the birth of Jesus that we celebrate today and tomorrow.

From Montgomery

Hello from Montgomery, Alabama! It's...nice. I've been here for almost a week. Almost a week of American food, Starbucks, Target, and real movie theaters. It's so awesome.

I might just never go back. My friend Heather happens to be here, because she and her husband are moving here in December. So, she just got a great job and a fantastic house. I got to tour it yesterday, and it has great conveniences like an air filtration system, dishwasher, and closets. I am so envious!

We are having a good time, though, and Chris is doing well in class.