Droid Eris

I have given up hope that Verizon will get the iPhone anytime soon. I am unwilling to give up Verizon's network for AT&T's. So I caved into the advertising and bought a Droid Eris. It took a lot of convincing for me to believe it would be as good, if not better than iPhone. But now that I have had it a few days, I am not seeing anything that makes the Droid inferior. I am really liking it. When I told Mario about the barcode scanner, he asked if he could get one too. I love it! I even wrote this blog on my phone.

Memory Loss

I think I gave away all my memory and thinking skills to my kids through the umbilical cord. Since having children, I no longer have a good short-term memory. I no longer balance my checking account down to the penny. My kids are always asking me if I remember something. Of course, I don't. They often get upset with me when I forget things. But I try to tell them, don't blame me, it is actually their fault for taking it all from me when I was pregnant with each of them. Maybe I should have taken my prenatal vitamins after all!

The four of them have such good memories. Eric could tell you details from a book that he read years ago. I can't even remember details from a movie I watched last week. Erin memorizes every phone number that she hears. I just recently memorized my sister's phone number that I have been calling for years. I still couldn't tell you Eric and Erin's cell phone numbers. Zachary is always recalling memories from a year or two ago. I recently found out that Nathan is no different. We had to change our alarm code on our house after Nathan paid attention and memorized it (probably not a good idea to have a 6-year-old running around the neighborhood knowing the code and not knowing that he shouldn't share it with everyone...he didn't do this, but I could imagine him telling a friend.) Then when I was at Verizon the other day, I had to give the employee my password for the account. I didn't think Nathan was paying attention (because he was acting liking a monkey and not behaving at all). But hours later, without saying a word to me beforehand, Nathan decided to try my password from Verizon on my ipod touch. I have to lock the ipod because the kids will get on it all day long if I don't. Imagine his and the other 3 kids' excitement when he tried my password and it worked. It wasn't an easy pattern to memorize so I was shocked. It was even more shocking that he put it together that I may use the same password for multiple things. Darn it! Now I have to go change all my passwords because all four of my kids know it now.

I just remembered something that Eric often forgets and that is too take out the trash!

Missions

Mario must have a lot of time on his hands to think about the future and what he wants. In our phone conversation today, he was asking me if I would be ok with serving missions about every 3 years once our kids all leave home. It is a bit early for me to commit to something like that already. I told him that I definitely want to serve a mission, but wasn't sure about every 3 years. Also, we don't know what will be going on with our kids at that time. Who knows, Erin may get her wish and have triplets just at the three year mark and time for us to leave again on missions. I told Mario that leaving at a time like that wouldn't be a good idea. He made me laugh when he said, I think it sounds like the perfect time to leave. Maybe he's right!

Anyway, I look forward to serving missions with Mario. I am sure we will serve many considering how much Mario is looking forward to it. We may even leave for one at the same time as my twins. Maybe that would distract me and I wouldn't cry everyday about the empty nest. Not a bad idea the more I think about it.

It seems like the more days Mario is gone, the more I miss him. I got all choked up in our family morning prayer today. Then when I was hanging up from him, I got really sad so he called me right back. I am grateful that his is only a 6 month deployment. Mario was telling me that his slot will become a year remote after he leaves. I think maybe Heavenly Father sent him now so that he wouldn't have to do the 1 year, at least not for awhile. Mario is trying to get the year credit from this one since his orders have him there for 181 days. Anything over 180 counts for a short tour I guess and puts you on the bottom of the list to go on a year remote. So hopefully Mario will never have to do a year remote but we never know. The Air Force is starting to do a lot more 1 year remotes.

Don't Watch the News

Everyone gives me the same advice, "Don't watch the news." Last night while checking the news online, I saw that there were 2 huge explosions and heavy gunfire in Kabul. Eric quickly yelled at me for reading the news. I wasn't worried because the news made no mention of Mario's camp. But when Mario called a few minutes later, he was surprised I didn't mention it. He told me, "You might hear about an explosion here in Kabul, but I am fine." He said it woke him up and he had to report to his office immediately.

It's been a tough week for Mario. His office is overcrowded. I think it went from 2 guys to 7 or 8. So there isn't sufficient computers, desks, chairs, etc. They had to start working 12 hour shifts and having a day shift and a night shift just so they had some space to work. Mario wanted to see both shifts so he was going to try to work 10 am to 10 pm. But that only lasted one day. He hated it. So he is back to the 8 am to 8 pm shift. It would have been nice if he were on the night shift so then we'd be awake the same hours. But his commander wanted him on the day shift since he is the OIC. Mario is tired and not feeling well. He is cold at night in a tent and apparently 1 of the 13 of his roommates doesn't like the heat on.

Mario got our first package and is asking for more. I really don't know what to send. I offered to order a desk and chair off Amazon.com and have it shipped to him. Then he could just bring his personal little Acer computer into work and set up his little work station. He got a laugh (only time I have heard him laugh since he left.) He suggested maybe some big white buckets, one for a chair, one for a desk. Hopefully his shop will get a new office next month. But with the increase of troops, their new office may have to get converted into sleep quarters. I also hope that Mario gets a container soon, last I heard, he was 29th on the wait-list.

Battleship

Yesterday when I was cleaning out the game closet, I came across the game Battleship. I was surprised to find that it was rated for ages 7 and up. I thought about pulling it out and showing the twins how to play since they will be approaching 6 1/2 soon. But then I remembered how much I don't enjoy playing games with young kids. I know that is terrible to say, but it is so much more fun to play with Eric and Erin who don't require any assistance and they can play adult games. So I quickly shoved the game back into the closet and thought to myself, "I will wait until next year to teach them."

But then Zach asked me the dreaded question this morning, "Will you play a game with me?" Since my kids have become addicted to electronics lately, I felt that I should play a game with them so they don't ask to play with my ipod, the computer, or wii. So I asked what game. He responded with Life. Oh my gosh, I hate that game. It is so much more complicated than what I remember as a kid. You have to stop to pick a career, then a salary, then get married, then buy a house, etc. I have played it a few times with the kids but it is not fun with 6-year-olds. So that is when I remembered the Battleship game from yesterday. The boys were excited to try a new game...best part was that it is only a 2 player game. So I figured I could teach them and then walk away. I helped with the first game and then walked away while they started their second game. It didn't take long before Nathan tried to cheat. He decided he didn't want to play anymore so Zach asked if I would play. I admit, I wasn't excited about it. But it actually was really fun. I thought that I would destroy Zach in the game because I had a good strategy. Apparently Zach's was much better than mine, because he "killed" me. He had sunk all 5 of my ships in the time it took me to sink 2 of his. So much for my "no-fail" strategy.

What's wrong with this picture?

Mario put up this great pot rack for my pots and pans. Unfortunately he uses it for a dryer for his Camelbak also. Mario doesn't do much to annoy me, but this really irritates me because he leaves it there for days to dry. Now Eric seems to have followed in his father's footsteps. I can punish Eric though. Hehehe (as Nathan would say)

Braces

Well, I have had my braces for about 8 months now. I have no regrets other than I should have done this years ago.

Today was an exciting day for me. Dr. Leber filed down the rough edges. He asked me if he could do the top teeth too even though I don't have braces on top. I can't believe the difference that it made. My teeth are straight and now they are working on evening out the bottoms and also my bite. I wish I could get them off before Mario comes homes in August, but it probably won't be until closer to Christmas. But it is not bad because the only time I remember that I have braces is after I have eaten and I can feel the food stuck in them.