The softer side of the Navy

Unusual days seem to be cropping up more and more lately. Matt has been having a hard time with work after learning that his mom's cancer gives her only a 10-20% chance of survival over the next 6 months to 5 years. That's understandable. I expected the Navy to be typically hard and uncaring. Instead, today we got to see the softer side of the Navy.

It all started with a meltdown that Matt had at work on Saturday. He was sent home. We talked and talked and talked. I advised him to talk to his chief and let him know what was going on and see what he could do about leave. I also suggested that he ask if there was someone on a higher level he could talk to. He did all of this today, and he got an appointment to speak with his division's chaplain. He wanted me to go with him, so I did.

This man was the sweetest, nicest man I have met since I've been out here. He was very understanding, and got Matt leave from tomorrow until December 27th! He leaves for home Wednesday, and he even arranged for the Navy to pay for Matt's tickets home! He will be back in a week, then is going home for Christmas as scheduled. This chaplain even convinced us to begin marriage preparation classes, possibly go to some couples retreats and a personal growth retreat for Matt. We were there for two hours. I was impressed.

Matt is feeling a little better now, which is my primary goal.

My unusual Thanksgiving

I spent Thanksgiving today on a submarine. Matt had duty today, but because it was a holiday, he was allowed to bring a guest on board. I got the grand tour (minus the classified areas I couldn't see). It was really interesting. I got to be in the torpedo room, where they load the torpedos and stuff. I got to sit in the control seats. I got to check out some of their computers. I got to see Matt's rack, which was neat. It really gave me a better idea of how he lives when he is at sea.

They really don't have it as bad as I thought. They have a cafeteria-type of room with a very large flat screen TV with a sound system and they can watch movies and stuff. While we were there we watched Alien vs Predator and the Bourne Supremecy. The interior of the sub reminded me a lot of the inside of a camper - lots of wood paneling and very narrow hallways.

I actually had a great time. They catered in turkey, mashed potatos, veggies, pumpkin pie, the works so the cooks didn't have to work. His captain and his family sat by us and it turns out that they are into fantasy football too! We talked to them quite a bit and they seem to be good folks. Matt says he is way better than their old captain.

Cats are funny

Having these cats here really does help to curb some of the lonliness that creeps in when Matt is gone. They do very funny things, like when they need water, Buffy will grab a Dixie cup off the bathroom sink, drag it at my feet, and meow until I give her water. They are always in the same room as I am. If I am in my bedroom, they are either in my room or sitting right outside my door. If I am in the kitchen, they are playing in the living room or lying under my feet in the kitchen. If I leave the apartment, they are waiting for me right inside the door when I come back. If I accidentally lock them out of the bedroom, two little paws are waving at me from underneath. Yeah, they're entertaining and cuddly.

Matt gets back on Tuesday, then leaves again next Monday for three weeks ugh. This week hasn't been so bad. I've been playing EverQuest 2 plenty. I got my books for school and start next Monday, so that will keep me busy while he's gone as well. We discussed buying this place, but the timing is horrible for us, so I think that's a good sign to pass on it. Oh well, that means that we'll have even more saved up when we are ready to buy a house permanently.

Sorry I haven't called recently, Mom, I'll try to call you tomorrow. :)

Surprise!

When people come to visit our apartment, they pick up a phone downstairs and dial a number to get our door. We then ring them in. Well, we have this wired to my cell phone. Tonight, it rang, I picked it up, and it was Matt! His boat came in tonight to fix some machinery, and they let him come home for the night. We went and picked up his copy of EQ2, and we got him started in the game.

This game is really awesome. It puts the first EverQuest to shame. I am hooked. I found out what classes I am taking for my first school term - communications and studying in college. The first class sounds ok, but the second one sounds really lame. Oh well lol.

On the sad side of things, we found out some news tonight about Matt's mom. She has breast cancer, and she just had a biopsy and it turns out that she has tumors around her heart. Not good news. She's been going through chemo and stuff already, too.

Just lazy

Ok, I tried to come up with some elaborate excuse on why I haven't been posting as much, but I've just been lazy. Matt is now at sea for a week, then is back for a week over Thanksgiving, then goes back out to sea for three weeks, then comes home for a day or two, then leaves for Colorado. So essentially, I will see him about 1.5 weeks over the next month and a half. That sucks, but I knew this was going to happen when I signed up.

I've been busy playing around with EverQuest 2 and doing a lot of these surveys. I've earned over $200 from one of the sites alone. No, I have not received any actual money yet. I'll let you know if I do.

Now that the condo that we live in is up for sale, we are toying with the idea of buying it. The Navy will still pay for $1100 of our monthly payment, and we could always rent it out when we leave. With Matt being gone so much until January, the liklihood of us doing that is slim to none. Oh well.

It's November...

And I went swimming tonight HAHAHA. It's definitely cooled down a bit here, but it's still in the high 70's/low 80's. Yeah, this is what I like.

We got some news that we were initially irritated about tonight, but as we've thought it through, it might be a good thing. Our landlord called and said that he is selling our unit. He said that he has another unit in this building that we can move into. At first we didn't like this idea, but the apartment is the same size as this, 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. However, it is on the 30th floor and it overlooks Pearl Harbor instead of the highway. It's also an end unit, which means it will probably be even breezier. I'm going to see if I can take a look at it on Thursday when the landlord comes to do a quick inspection of our place. The cats are going to go for a little ride with Matt's sister :P

Otherwise, not much is new here. I'm really looking forward to starting classes on the 29th of this month. I don't know what my first two courses are yet. I take two classes each term, which is 9 weeks long. Once I find out what my classes are, I can order my books, which are free with a promotion the school was running. I'm tacking all the tuition onto my current student loans, which is great because then I don't have to make the payments again until I'm done with school.

Very busy day

Let's see, we started out by playing EQ for a while. Then we went to the mall to pick up Matt's new glasses. They look much better. Then we went to Walmart to get a cheap network card for my computer for troubleshooting and an air freshener for the car. Before that, the car smelled like feet. Now it smells like really really strong lavendar.

Then we decided to go to the Dole pineapple plantation because I had a craving for pineapple. We didn't do any of the paid tours because it started raining, but we did get to walk around the gardens and read a lot about pineapples. We also saw a neat koi pond with hundreds of fish swarming around the food that people would throw in. We plan on going back, and I'll get pictures then. We enjoyed pineapple ice cream and pineapple juice, too. It was almost pineapple overload.

Then we went shoe shopping. We both got a new pair of tennis shoes and we also picked up a George Foreman grill. I've heard nothing but good things about them. Then, to celebrate my getting accepted into school, we went to our favorite adult playground, Dave & Busters. We were pretty lucky with the tickets and ended up getting dual spinning disco ball color light things. It's pretty neat.

It was quite a day, and we're both pretty pooped now!

Busy day (for me)

I had an "appointment" with my school recruiter this morning, so I was up at 9:30 am. After completing some online surveys, I remembered that Matt had gotten a flat tire yesterday, so I took the car to Sears to get it fixed. Sears didn't have any tires that fit his car, so I ended up going to a place down the street. It took them two episodes of Boy Meets World, 1.5 episodes of Full House (I hate that show) and a walk to McDonald's for lunch for them to replace the tire.

After that I went to a Walgreen's-ish store and picked up some air fresheners and a few other misc things for the apartment. I headed home, and Matt was home. It wasn't even 5:00 yet! Needless to say, this hasn't happened in a long time. We then bought our rings online from that titanium place I linked the other day (we got matching Atlas's with specialized engravings.) Then we went out for dinner at a place called Ann Miller's (an upscale Denny's according to Matt.)

Then we went and saw Shark Tale. We were the only ones in the movie theater. It was funny and cute, but I didn't think it lived up to the hype. Certainly not in the same category as Finding Nemo, Toy Story, or Shrek.

All in all, it was a busy day for me, and I'm now headed to bed.

Time to get off my lazy butt

I have taken the initial steps into getting back into the productive world. I have decided to get a degree. I am going to start with an associate's degree in arts of business from the University of Phoenix online. I spoke with a counselor today, and she said that based on my previous credits from other schools, I would be able to complete my degree in less than a year. I will then move onto a bachelors degree in business management. All in all, I should have my bachelor's in about two years.

I have discovered a way to make money from home that is not a scam. I have made over $20 in the last two days by completing surveys online. If you're interested in doing the same, please drop me an email and I will refer you.

The cats appear to be completely at home now. I have some pictures that I will get posted soon. Buffy is currently running around the apartment spastically.