Almost 100%

I'm almost back to 100%.

I resolved to work out today since I hadn't done so since last Thursday.

I ran my mile and a half, which is a little less than where I was at pre-flu, but that's okay with me for the first day back. Did my free weights, yoga ball exercises, and box steps. Did my mile backwards on the elliptical, and did my weight machines. I didn't push myself quite as hard today. A few of the ab exercises brought back some flu-ee discomfort so I had to work around that. I didn't really feel like projectile vomiting all over the HAWC. But, I made it through 2 hours and feel pretty good other than being tired.

Here shortly, after I finish my detox juice from the HAWC cafe (it's green and it's scrumptious!), I shall take a rather drizzly shower, skype with two of my wonderful Kentucky Gals, maybe unload the dishwasher and finish folding yesterdays laundry- hey, at least its clean. After that, I will sink into my comfy couch and read my book until the hubs gets off work and then its Thai food time! I figure its time to test my stomach out a little more with not so bland food. I'm excited! Love me some Thai food  : )

Also, debuting in this photo is my new toaster!   - "My name is Lindsay, and I have a problem. I have an addiction to toast. I was clean for 4 months, and then fell off the wagon when I went back to the states. I have been sober, again, since the beginning of June when I returned to England. But my mother is my enabler, and I have fallen hard this week." - Thanks, Momma, for the new toaster!

Tomorrow, I believe, we are adventuring the the Bury St Edmond's market day just to explore and maybe pick up some odds and ends. Oh how I love spending the day, strolling the little streets, hand in hand with my hunky husband <3

Hurry Up and Wait Some More....

Today, I turned in all three of my job applications. Yes, I know three sounds rather measly. But in my defense, jobs around base aren't super abundant, and there are only about 4 jobs around base that I can really see myself being content doing. Just call me Picky Pete and I shall just say I'm selective.  I am not going to go spend all day at a job I absolutely hate because 1) I am going to hate it- duh,  2) I'm going to complain and do the job poorly because I don't enjoy it,  3) Complain to much to Gerrit how much I hate my job. Yes, unfortunately I am a complainer but do I get points for admitting it??? I still have to get all my stuff together for job application number four which I am pretty sure includes an official transcript... that's not going to be too fun trying to do transatlanticly... yes, I know I made that word up. At the moment, though, I am content with throwing those three applications out into the void and waiting it out.

Now, for a relaxing afternoon of washing up laundry and enjoying a good Nora Roberts book... sighs contentedly...

Small Steps

I am very slowly recovering from this horrible virus. And when I say slowly, I mean slowly.


I slept most of Sunday away, either in the bed, on the couch or on the living room floor when the couch got too warm. Gerrit was wonderful and frozen wet paper towels for me to wipe my face with when I couldn't cool down. He went out and bought me diet 7Up and a single can of Sprite Zero because they were out of 12 packs of cans. He helped me up and down the stairs and up off the floor. He even picked stuff off the floor for me because bending over made my head hurt. He even made one last trip down stairs AFTER he was in bed to start the dishwasher and grab my prescriptions just because I asked him to. Absolutely love my sweet, sweet guy.

Yesterday was better. I slept less and my stomach finally decided to stop rebelling. I actually got 2 loads of laundry done, some extra dishes washed by hand, wiped down the kitchen with Clorox wipes, and I cleaned the bathroom- my attempts at removing all traces of Saturday and Sunday. I even managed to keep down some saltines yesterday afternoon and I ate THREE pieces of toast last night. By that point, I was already starting to act like my bossy sweet self and was glaring at my husbands and telling asking Gerrit nicely to clean up some of his messes when he remarked, "You sure are feeling better today...."

This morning I was determined to get out of the house so I decided I would do some grocery shopping and also take Gerrit lunch since, at least half of the time, the boy never eats anything because he's "just too busy to get anything." I figured if I brought lunch to him, he had no excuse to go lunch-less. I happily picked him up a little personal pizza and garlic bread from the Gourmet Italia place and dropped it off and was still feeling fine when I walked in the commissary to start my grocery shopping. Unfortunately, about half way through my shopping, I felt like someone hit me with a sack of oranges and about collapse in the middle of the soup aisle. I managed to finished shopping and slowly drive home. I had planned to go back to library and work on job applications today but I'm just exhausted and may have overdone it walking around so much this morning.

I am definitely getting better slowly but no where close to 100%.

Short Post

I have the British stomach flu from Hell... no joke.

I felt horrible all yesterday and then during mine and Gerrit's attempt to hit golf balls at the driving range, I demanded that we needed to go home.

7 hours and one long ER visit later, I curled up on the couch to sip on some water and watch some tv-dvds with the hubs only to fall asleep halfway through the episode.

Today, the flu-ee-ness has subsided some and I've spent most of the day napping or just curled in a little ball thanks to my two prescriptions. I've kept down some water but don't dare to eat anything else.

I have the best husband in the world- I'm looking a hot mess with blood vessels burst all around my eyes due to the intense projectile vomiting and he still thinks I'm cute :) Oh, and he is awesome just for taking care of me, too.

Nap time again.

Feeling Stressed and A Little Hopeless

At the moment, I'm feeling rather stressed and a little hopeless about finding a job.

I'm pretty much going crazy around my house. I am NOT cut out to be a stay at home wife- maybe a part time stay at home mom but that's a completely different blog post.

On Monday, I attended a Job Connections class that basically outlined all your job options on or around base. It was rather overwhelming to see how few jobs there were and realize how many other spouses and family members are competing for them.  Not to mention the fact that nowhere is my biology degree actually applicable except for substitute teaching and even those subbing jobs are given to certified teachers before anyone else. Yes, I completely agree with that but does that make me feel all warm and fuzzy about ever even getting a chance to sub???

And then there is that lovely piece of paper called a resume. Why did they not teach us how to do this in high school or college? I'm sure they did if you majored in business or took a business writing class but HELLO- everyone is going to need a resume at some point. Why not teach everyone??? I'm rather angry that I am a 22 year old college graduate with a degree but without the knowledge of how to write my own resume.

So I have officially begun a few applications to two of the local banks but have yet to begin the resume. I find it extremely overwhelming, and it kind of makes me nauseous to think about starting it. I'm sure within the next few days I will get the wild hair to get to work on it and just crank the sucker out but right now, it just ain't happening. And a huge THANK YOU!!!  to all of my friends who have been giving me resume advice and offering to let me look at their own resumes so that I have something to go off.

It's so .... fun to be a big person.

Stream of Consciousness

I've been feeling pretty random today and came up with this:

What would it be like to be George???

I watch him do the funniest/randomest/craziest/cutest/weirdest/grossest things every day. These include, but are not limited to:

1. Eating bugs 

2. Chasing Strings

3. Staring at running water

4. Hiding under the dishwasher door

5. Using a litter box

6. Biting feet

7. Running furious laps around the house

8. Curling up on my lap every time I go to the bathroom

9. Rolling/Playing/ Sleeping in piles of dirty clothes

10. Dragging all his favorite toys out to the middle of the floor

11. Smacking at me through the shower curtain

12. Catnapping in strangely contorted positions

13. Knocking the keyboard out of mine or G's lap so that he can claim that spot

14. Making noises at birds, people, dogs, cats through the windows

15. Wrestling with the front door mat

16. Trying to open and then unlock the front and back doors

If I were George, would I really do some of those things? I'd like to think that if I were him, I would be above eating bugs or biting feet. I definitely don't see the attraction of a pile of dirty clothes versus a big comfy bed or couch. Though, I could definitely get used to all of the catnaps and getting lots of cuddles.

Surprise!

My poor husband has the worst schedule over the next few days. Tonight, he will have a "12" hr shift though he left an hour early and will get home more than an hour after his shift ends tomorrow morning.

I couldn't exactly send a home cooked meal with him so instead I sent him 3 dozen oatmeal cookies and 3 dozen oatmeal-choco chip cookies that I baked fresh this morning while he went and worked out.

As always, he asked if there was anything he could pick up on his way home from the gym. I made a mental joke to myself how some flowers might be nice but I didn't say a word out loud.I just kissed him and shooed him out of the kitchen.

About 2 and a half hours, 6 dozen cookies cooling, and half way through my shower later, I hear the front door open and Gerrit hollering at me. I ask if the house smells like cookies and he replied yeah but it probably won't smell like cookies for long. I peek around the shower curtain and....

SURPRISE!

My wonderful husband brought home my favorite flowers: lilies! Two big stems loaded with scrumptious smelling blossoms and more buds yet to open PLUS a few callas thrown in. And of course when I asked the occasion, he just said it was "'Cause your awesome and "cause I can" with a big sweet smile.

The Latest Antics of My Sweet Husband

I absolutely adore my wonderful Gerrit but sometimes I really wonder about the guy...

Within the last week, a pilot here at Lakenheath suddenly passed away. Gerrit's squadron was asked to provide refreshments for after the memorial service. Of course, I volunteered to help out. I decided what I was going to make, bought the ingredients, and about 2 hours later- VOILA! - a wonderfully scrumptious smelling derby pie is procured from my very own oven. My little house now smells like pie so when my dearest darling arrives home from a 12 hour work day, where does he beeline? The kitchen- the stove top- the pie. I turn around just in time to stop him from completely  digging in to the pie !!! I was completely shocked and managed to say his name before destroyed my beautiful pie. I asked him what he was doing, and the dude just looked at me with those big brown eyes. I informed him that this was NOT for us but for the memorial service which elicited a guilty look from guy who almost  got caught with his hand in the metaphorical cookie jar.

And then, this morning, at 6:15am, when I am completely dead to the world- and I mean dead, my phone begins ringing. Bare coherent, I look at the phone and register its my charming husband and hit the accept button, "Mmm..'lo," I believe, was my answer. - "Hey, babe. How are you?" - "Sleeping...unnngh." - "I locked myself out of my car. Do you have the spare key?" - "....No... it's not on my keys..." So half asleep, I stumbled around the house in search of the key to no avail, end up throwing on some random clothes and grabbing a wire coat hanger as I stumbled out the front door to go rescue my knight in shining armour armor. A few dumb questions from passing people, two unsuccessfully helpful friends, a total loss of body heat in the 55 degree morning air, and an hour later, Gerrit and I arrive at the Auto Hobby Center, ready to pay the $35 dollar fee for help only to find it doesn't open for another HOUR AND A HALF ! Back at the car, I realize his keys are actually within range of the coat hanger's reach, rather than trying to pull the handle to just unlock the door. And VOILA!  The key are in my hand without ever having to break a window!
 Thoroughly chilled and rather damp from the spritzing rain, I get in my car, at 7:51am to find my 7:50am alarm on my phone chiming to wake me up.... Sorry Mr Phone Alarm, Mr Locked My Keys In The Car beat you to it this fine cold, damp Tuesday morning.

So just for you,  derby pie mooching, waking me up too early and dragging me out in the cold rain  sweet, darling husband of mine, I baked a batch of deeeelish Scotch Short Bread cookies.

A Hot but Wonderful Saturday

On Saturday, Gerrit and I drove to Ely- a city that used to be an uninhabitable island surrounded by water in East Anglia. I had already been once before with my friend Alison but I thought Gerrit would appreciate seeing the history and the architecture. Here is the post about my first visit to Ely. Unfortunately, the tower that I had gone on previously- The Octagon Tour- was completely filled by the time we showed up at noon-thirty. Instead, we went on the West Tower Tour which was equally awesome. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy:

 After our 2 hour tour plus some exploring the Cathedral on our own, we walked to the river and went to the Peacocks Tearoom. It was so warm we decided against the tea but voted for the Bailey's Iced Coffee and, of course, fruit scones with jam and clotted cream.! Here are a few pictures from the tea room:

And for dinner Saturday, after a wonderful trip, I made a new recipe which turned out utterly fantastic! One last picture of my scrumptious Lemon Basil Chicken'N'Roasted Veggie Pasta:

Back to Normal... almost

Things are almost back to normal, Thank the Lord!

It has been absolutely wonderful having Gerrit home. We have just been enjoying his time off work this week (He only had to go in today) working out and running, hanging out with friends, lovin' on Mr Georgie, cleaning the house and doing laundry. Time has absolutely flown by. I woke up this morning and realized I was in bed alone and, for a split second, panicked because I thought I dreamed Gerrit had come home. I had to look around the house just to check that all of his stuff really was there.

I went to the grocery after working out today and picked up stuff to make for dinner this weekend. Is it sad that I am excited to start cooking again??? I didn't pick up anything for dinner tonight so Gerrit and I may go out just grab something if we don't get a Pub Night summons. But I'm ridiculously stoked for tomorrow's dinner- my very own creation: Chicken'N'Roasted Veggie Pasta. Basically I'm roasting a bunch of veggies in the oven and baking a some chicken breasts, chopping it all up and throwing it in a pot with pasta, olive oil, fresh basil, salt'n'pepper, and lemon juice. It is going to be dominantly chicken and veggies with small amount of pasta so it should be pretty light and tasty! I may thrown in some other herbs, though, I haven't really decided. And then Sunday I'm relying on what my mama taught and making her ridiculously amazing Meat Loaf with roasted potatoes and sauteed green beans with toasted almonds. The Steenbergens will be eatin' pretty dang well this weekend!

Finally, He's Home!

I finally have my husband back! I wasn't altogether sure he was actually going to make it, though. He called and said he would be on the 4:40pm bus and to meet him then at the bus station. Well, I watched the bus arrive at 4:40pm and no Gerrit. I about had a panic attack. Why didn't I call him? you ask. Because his phone was dead and there was no way to get a hold of him. However, he did show up on the 5pm bus so all is well that ends well.

Since then, we have just been enjoying being together again. He was awesome enough to take off 3 of the 4 days of this week. Sunday, for the fourth, we went out of Feltwell where they had a huge carnival and celebration thing going on. Typical carnival rides and games and concessions. We ended up with one prize that George has now claimed- a small stuffed Siberian Husky that he likes to beat up on and carry around the house- its pretty darn cute. Afterward, we went to one of this co-worker's for a cook out where I showed off my new ability to talk to people I don't know! Gerrit was pretty impressed seeing as how he usually has to drag me around and coax me into talking to people. We didn't stay as long as everyone else because I got sunburned at the carnival and wasn't feel so well- I believe I had a touch of sun poisoning.

The rest of our free time has been spent either working out or watching The Big Bang Theory on dvd (courtesy of my mama!) to which my hubs is now addicted. I knew I married him for a reason... He is pretty excited about my running progress- yesterday morning and this morning, we ran just over a 1.5 miles together. And I love it!

Last night, we went to a pub in Cambridge with two friends to eat authentic Thai food. How do I know it's authentic? One of our friends who went is Thai and he verified it. And let me tell you, we will definitely be going back. It was absolutely wonderful food- great flavor but not heavy like chinese food and not so spicy as to burn all of your taste buds off.

We have no set plans for the rest of the week. We're just kind of winging it from day to day, doing whatever we feel like doing and just enjoying our time together. And, of course, Georgie is enjoying it too.

A Little Piece o' History

Here is the first picture of Gerrit and me that was ever taken. 

Date? September 19, 2008

Aren't we just so young and adorable?