Wow, I know it has been awhile since I last wrote something, but I didn't think it was this long.

The job search continues. I've had 2 interviews for different jobs with Carlson Wagonlit Sato Travel. They have to do a full back ground check on me then hopefully one of them will hire me. The hardest part is to have the patience to sit and wait. I guess its a good thing that I don't "need" the job. Can you imagine if I actually needed the money to pay bills and had to wait 3 weeks after and interview to to find out if I was accepted or not? Talk about stress.

The dream of opening our own boutique has not gone away, it's just on hold. Dave has started his networking in the golf world for his retirement job. He is working with a golf corse event coordinator in planning a tournament with the wounded solders. He is also putting in extra time as the baseball coach for Brian's team. So between work and sports he keeps himself busy.

The kids are the same ol same ol. Dyan is starting to excel in his school and has not had a bad report in quite a while. Ashley poured out 4 bottles of my nail polish on my closet floor carpet. Which put her at the top of my most watched list. Nick is just happy to have a golf club, or baseball glove in his hand. He also wants to go up to the clouds using bouncy shoes, but hasn't come up with a way to get down yet. Brian had his bike stolen from a friends front yard, and he had to make a police report in case its found somewhere.

You can find me most times on facebook, cleaning house, watching tv, at soccer practice and games and now with the warm weather at the park with the babies. My days of pilates have just about faded. I need to get back into the groove, but I just cant seem to motivate myself. Perhaps when I have to wear a swimsuit, although by then it maybe to late. Oh well.

So I guess until next time...

I had an interview with Dave's unit. All in all the interview went well. Some of the questions were standard, tell us about yourself, best and worst qualities, what do think this job entails..etc. Other questions were more technical, do I know what system they use for budget analysis, do I speak spanish, how well do I know DTS. At the end of the interview there was a test on the computer with DTS. Could I prove that I can actually make a travel arrangement. Thankfully Dave showed me how to use the system and aside from feeling like I took a long time, I proved I could.
But in the end I didnt get the job. They offered it to someone who speaks fluent spanish and had been doing the same job with a different unit.
Im ok with that. I would rather not have gotten the job because I was not as qualified as they wanted, then to have not tried at all. I started looking back at the Carlson office in San Antonio and found a posting for both a senior agent and a regular agent. I applied for the senior position. The interesting part is within hours of applying they sent a reference request to John, my former manager. I hope the hours and pay will be what Im looking for or I might have to actually turn it down. The job is at the 24/7 emergency call center. Obviously with Dave constantly having to go out of town and having 4 kids, working nights and every weekend is not an option. So now we wait.
On the plus side the anxiety I felt about putting the babies in daycare has been completely washed away. We went to a day care center to check out the place and the babies just moved in like it was no big deal. When the tour was over and it was time to leave, both of the babies waved to the kids and said "goodbye friends" They didnt want to leave school and actually gave me a fuss about getting back in the car.
Well, that is all Ive got for now.....

No news is good news right? Still nothing confirming Dave leaving.
I have applied for several government jobs and so far I was turned down for one and accepted for another, so now I'm just waiting on a phone call for an interview time. In the mean time I'm also waiting to see if I was accepted for any of the other jobs as well. I decided to try and go for a government GS position instead of walking into a simple travel agency as I have always done. The pay is twice as much as I have ever made and there is a greater chance for promotions.
The family is same ol same ol. Boys go to school and the babies keep the house just dirty enough for me to have something to do. Sorry not a lot going on here at the moment so until next time....

Dave is packing up for a possible trip to Haiti. This is a deployment I can deal with, but the conditions make me worry. He went to Haiti in 1994 for a humanitarian mission, so he remembers what things were like. Lots of sick and homeless people everywhere, hot, smelly, bad mosquitoes and of course the tremendous amount of people who have HIV and AIDS. Now the situation is 100 times worse and I pray he is even more vigilant of the people around him. He has a huge heart and I know he will do anything that needs to be done, if it's digging in the rubble, applying first aid, passing out supplies or security he will do it tirelessly. He does not know for sure if he is going or how long he will be gone or if he will even be able to call home once he is there. I'll keep you posted.

After hours of discussion Dave and I have decided to take things slow on the boutique. We both felt that we got a little ahead of ourselves. We are still going to do our best to open a store, but probably not my June of this year.
Dave is still committed to the army, and until they give him the final retirement we must not make such huge plans when truth be told we might be asked to move again. This is ok, it will give us time to replenish out bank accounts and make it look to the banks that we can actually payback a business loan.
I have come to the realization that I am NOT a stay at home mom. As much as I wish I was, I am not. I love my children to no end, but honestly I need time away from them every now and again. I am loosing my sense of self. I'm more unhappy than happy and unfortunately I tend to take it out on Dave. He has always known I was not meant to stay home, but he also knew I needed to figure it out for myself. Finally after 3 years I've figured it out, so my resume is up to date and I have begun the job search. I'll let you know what happens.

Happy New Year!

I really don't think this year could be topped. Dave came home from Iraq. We moved to San Antonio, TX and bought our first house. I was able to furnish the house with brand new furniture, buy Dave a truck and still have money for a swimming pool.
This year we hope to finish with the decorating of the house. A computer station and organized play area upstairs. Dylan's room needs some paint. Painting the dinning room and turning our bedroom and bathroom into a spa. The vegetable garden, and tropical plants surrounding the pool area.
The biggest event happening right now is the process of opening our own business. This is an idea that Dave and I each had at separate times. In Hawaii there is a clothing boutique. I love their clothes so much I had Dave go on a shopping spree to fill up my closet before he left Hawaii. The clothes are famine, floral and flirty.
One night I had a dream that I owned a store. I woke up and thought how funny it was that I liked her clothes so much that I dream of them. A few days later Dave and I were in the car and the subject of the future came up. He then began to tell me he had a dream of us owning this store. I laughed and said I did too. We talked about it, but set the idea aside. In December we went to a little apple cider festival and as I walked passed a store front that was for rent. I thought to myself that it would make a good location for our store. A few seconds later as Dave walked passed the same store he yelled up to me that this was a good location for the boutique. With this happening again we decided to look further into this crazy idea. So here is the idea for our boutique...
It's a small women's and girls clothing boutique.It has a romantic, vintage, shabby chic feel. The smells in the air will be of roses, lilac, lavender and jasmine. The music playing in the back ground will be singers and standards. Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Michal Buble, Elle Fitzgerald etc. The wallpaper will be vintage floral. Pink and cream paint. Dark brown hard wood floors, white and cream shelves, armories and tables ,and crystal chandeliers. The clothes are soft flowing sun dresses and shirts. Capri pants and shorts. The extras will be handmade beaded jewelry, soaps, lotions, candles and my tote bags.
We are still in the planning stage. Dave will be calling the owner of the Hawaii store this month and with luck we will get an ok and either we will be owners of a franchise or buying their clothes wholesale. I will keep you posted on the progress and welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

Sorry it's been a while. We have finally finished on the big project for the house, the pool. I tell you it turned out just like we hoped it would. Now it's time to relax a bit and start saving up for the big spring project, the vegetable garden.

Things are running pretty smoothly here, the boys are still doing good in school. The babies are driving me crazy and Dave is doing his best at finding me a job with in his office. The thought of going back to work is exciting and scary. I'm scared only because it's been almost 3 years since I worked. I'm looking forward to the positives of working though, a little more income will help with the stress of having real bills now. The babies will get to interact with other kids at daycare and waste the crazy amount of energy they have. And then there is the fact that I'll actually have a reason to get fully dressed and out of my well worn yoga clothes.

The job has a bit of a change for me, I'm a little bit of a go to girl. I'll do some standard secretarial work and organizing. But what I'm most comfortable with is the travel needs that this group has. I've started putting together my resume with some other info then just travel agent jargin. Thankfully my computer has grammar and spell check, otherwise I'd be screwed.

Another job option that we've come up with is starting our own business. We have this grand idea based on my most favorite store in Hawaii. My only problem is I have no clue how to ask the designer if I can sell her clothes in my store. Do I say "Hi I really love your clothes and want to sell them in my store" Or do I say "Hi I want to open a store based on your store and would love to sell your clothes" Then lets just say she says "ok sure" then do I buy them from her and keep them in my garage until I find a place, or do I find the place first and hope she says yes.

The more I think about it, the more I'm just comfortable working for the government and getting a great paycheck. Then to put my house up as collateral and if the boutique fails not only will I be out of thousands of dollars, jobless, but now homeless.

Any thoughts? Suggestions?