Tropical Storm Debbie, Trick or Treaters and Tofu Turkey

Well kids, its me and Officer's first married Thanksgiving.  I know the question that keeps you from sleeping at night, tossing and turning in your bed that you're unable to shake is... what am I making?! (yes, I as in A Rookie's Wife, not what are you making - ha). Not a darn thing.  Some domesticated wife I am.  And it's not because I don't like to cook, I do (as long as it's blue box macaroni and cheese, frozen pizza, or my new favorite - chili cheese fries).  But, I want Officer to actually enjoy this holiday with the proper food.  So, with me NOT cooking any of the food, this should be a holiday without any commotion, disasters, etc - right?  Well, according to our track record, probably not.

Let's start with our wedding day (okay, I know it's not a holiday, but it's a monumental event).  Months and months of planning a destination wedding - my mother BEGGED me to push back the date when I originally set it just in case I couldn't get everything (like the dress) in on time.  But, I wanted to be married in the state where I spent all of my summers visiting my grandparents - Florida.  And everyone knows that you can't be in Florida past June or you have the risk of hurricanes.  So it HAD to be June.  We had beautiful weather leading up to the big day OUTSIDE (disclaimer: not a beach wedding).  On the wedding day, the weather is overcast, but that's wonderful - it's not too hot and I hear it's great for pictures!  The wedding was at 6:30... tropical storm Debbie hits at 6:25, but she only DOWNPOURS for about 15 minutes before being finished for the remainder of the wedding.  Yes, every single entire guest was soaked from the tip of their head to their toes (including the groom).  Other than my sister and me (we stayed in the limo) there wasn't a dry soul at our wedding.  I'm not talking about the wipe-down-with-a-napkin and you'll be fine kind of wet, I'm talking your undergarments are soaked, your body will be wrinkly when you get home, it's the just-jumped-into-a-lake-with-you-clothes-on kind of wet.  And the next day, guests were stranded on the island they stayed on because of the winds, our bed and breakfast became just a bed because they didn't have electricity to make breakfast, etc.  (:  Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change it for the world, but it definitely didn't go as planned. (One good joke came out of it though - my aunt said to me "now you can always say that Debbie almost ruined your wedding!"  You should see people's reactions when I do say that -ha.  Always a good laugh)

Then, our first big holiday - Halloween.  I loved Halloween as a teen.  My parents and I would turn on one of the old Halloween movies and we would be THE house that gave out the good candy - you know the name brand candy bars.  So, you can only imagine my anticipation of this holiday in my new house with Officer.  We shouldn't have, but we splurged on buying the good candy.  And we even discussed what we would say when kids would come back for a second handful of it since it was that good.  (Really, it wasn't, but we felt like it was).  We debated what Halloween movie we would watch (we didn't have any of the actual Halloween's) so we watched Van Helsing.  20 minutes in.. no trick-or-treaters - is our light on?  check.  An hour in, no trick-or-treaters - are our clocks wrong? no.  By the end of the night, we had a total of 12, yep count them, 12 trick-or-treaters.  And we had hundreds of pieces of candy left over.  Which ended up being delicious over the next few days - I have no self-discipline.  But again the holiday turned out not as we planned it.

So I'm eagerly awaiting Thanksgiving to see what will not go as planned.  Grammy will have made a tofu turkey instead of a real one, to try to be healthy, or something.  Or maybe, because I don't have a hand in it, things will be marvelous.  We'll just have to wait and see.  And I look forward to sharing with you whatever happens. (:

With that, safe travels and happy eats to all! 

And thanks to all the LEO's out there working this holiday season!  Officer will be right there with you on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Count your blessings

Tis’ the season to be... THANKFUL!  I’m so thankful for Officer, my AMAZING family, Scout dog, my WONDERFUL in-laws, my life, our Creator, and my friends!  And, of course, I’m thankful to those of you who read my blog! (:  I’m also really thankful for food (therefore, I’m thankful for Thanksgiving)!  I could (and do) eat until my stomach bursts. What’s my favorite Thanksgiving food, you ask?  Bread, rolls… carbs.  My mother-in-law makes the best bread, pretty much ever.  It’s so delicious. That’s another thing I’m thankful for – her bread.  

Oh, and, Officers patience, one more thing I’m thankful for.  We spent the weekend apart- I had a much needed girl’s weekend in my old college town and he spent the weekend entertaining at our home.  On Sunday evening, we both had plans to get things done.  Unfortunately for him, I needed him for my plans.  I wanted to hang a new light fixture in the entry way (I bought a super cute antique fixture that my grandma is giving me for Christmas, but who can wait that long?).  Anyways, I tell my sweet husband that it will only take 5 minutes (but he should have known better).  The lights hang like 5 feet down on chains (our ceilings aren’t that tall) and so we had to shorten all of the wires and the chains.  Then, we only have a small step stool ladder so Officer had to work on the entire fixture with his arms locked straight above his head and where he couldn’t really see ANYTHING he was doing.  Disclaimer: Officer used to work at the university’s physical plant while he was in school in the electrical area so he knows what he’s up to.  Next, the light fixtures wires aren’t marked as positive and negative so we’re guessing while I’m holding this massive thing and he’s standing on this little stool with his arms extended as far as they will go… anyways, I think you get the picture.  It was HYSTERICAL and I died laughing.  And I couldn’t stop.

Do you know what happens when you start hysterically laughing?  You lose all your strength (I know you guys thought I was going to say I wet myself, not the case!) I couldn’t hold the fixture any longer, I let go.  Luckily (for me) he had already attached one of the wires.  It was hanging on by a thread.  Now, remember I said we only had one step stool ladder thingy?  Well, I was standing on a bar stool.  So I had to get back up on it, but I still wasn’t stable.  What did I put my weight on?  That one little wire, whoops!  No worries, nothing (other than me) ended up falling. We did successfully get it, but it took much longer than the 5 minutes I had promised Officer. 

Good news- the fixture looks awesome.  And Officer didn’t mind I wasted his only free time this weekend. ... Just wait until we have to hang the Christmas lights. (:

What things are you thankful for?

He's Back!

I have to be honest, I have been so uninspired lately to blog.  That's probably why I haven't posted anything in what seems like FOREVER (to me).  I know I could come out here and force posts, but I personally appreciate authenticity, and so I want to hold myself to that standard.  To all you out there who blog for a living, you completely have my props (ha, sorry that's not much) because this would be a tough job!

Anyways, that being said - I'm inspired today.  And it's because... Officer is finally back to work!  What a huge blessing - and for far more than one reason!  Let's start with the fact that Officer hasn't been working the past 3 months due to back surgery.  Now he is finally patched up enough to be back in the office (because, of course, he was released for light duty and not full patrol).  To put it simply though - he's healing and I'm rejoicing!  Also, I think he will be so happy to be back in the station around all the guys and not just sitting at home all day with Scout.  (side bar:  Scout was not happy about this today.  She wouldn't go outside this morning and use the restroom because she knew Officer was leaving.  She pouted.)  Officer wasn't too thrilled about waking up earlier, either.  But, I know deep down he was pretty stoked to be back.

And, probably the best part - OFFICER FINALLY SHAVED!  He hadn't shaved or cut his hair since his surgery.  I reckon this is probably because he has to be baby-faced the rest of his life, but it was starting to look like I was with a homeless man!  So, we had fun with how we should cut his hair.  We did the "old man" look, the mullet, rat tail and then finally normal (phew!).  Then came his beard, I contemplated putting pictures up, but struggled with the fact that this is an anonymous blog... BUT, these are too good to pass up I'd be doing a disservice to you guys if I didn't post them.  I'll just crop out his eyeballs! (:  (side note: does that even work?  Would he be unrecognizable without his eyeballs?  I should probably get his opinion on the pictures before I post.)

I feel like I owe the blogging world a disclaimer.  I don't think Officer has ever gone more than 2-3 days without shaving.  Once, he attempted to grow a mustache, but he couldn't stand it after 3 days.  So, for him to be this.. ahem, skanky, if you will, is not his norm.  He's actually a big time hunk.

Gosh, I feel like I should do the disclaimer again after posting these photos!  (:   Since it's Movember around here (mustache November), he decided to just keep a mustache.  I don't have a picture of that one, but he totally looks like a stereotypical cop.  And, when I look at him, I'm not even sure I recognize him.  It's really strange. 

Officers comments while shaving - "We should have done this sooner, so I could wear some of these looks around for awhile", "my face is freezing!", "will you clean up all of this hair for me?"

Oh boy.

But, I'm so happy that I was finally inspired to blog and that I'm getting my man back! (:

The Best Revenge

I think one of the most unattractive qualities in a person is negativity.  And it is one of the most frustrating qualities to be around, especially, because when I'm ready to start complaining to Officer about it, I realize I'm being negative. 

There are a few people I'm around who just really get under my skin with all of their negativity.  And recently, it has made me take a step back at my life and try to identify where I have negativity.  Then, I start to wonder if I'm using my blog as a channel for my negativity.  I have such unkind feelings towards ignorant, uneducated (not like college, but uneducated about the police) people who run their traps about the police and I'm happy to put it all out there on my blog.  But, is that really effective?  What am I accomplishing?  I guess, it feels great to vent.  But, it doesn't help me address my actual feelings towards these people-  that's when I was reminded about the importance of forgiveness.

Where would we be in life without forgiveness?  Gosh, I'd probably not have many friends.  I can't even begin to count the times that I've forgiven someone, or more importantly (and probably a much bigger number) the times that they've forgiven me.  Or how about the greatest Forgiver?  How grateful I am that He is understanding.  Isn't that what we are called to do, be like Him, and forgive?  I can already think of someone who I have been hurt by because of their comments about the police.  I'm going to take it upon myself to learn to forgive them this weekend.  Because, they have been a great friend.  And because, we're taught to forgive.  And because, there are times we all need forgiveness (especially me). 

Without forgiveness and understanding, Officer couldn't do his job.  Sometimes, the bad guy one day is the informant the next.  If Officer couldn't get past what he did to him the day he was a bad guy, he'd miss the opportunity to use him as an informant.  This quality in him reminds me of a quote from Gandhi - The weak can never forgive.  Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.  Mmhmm.

We'd all miss out on something if we couldn't learn to be understanding and forgive.  We all probably have.  Is there someone you can think of that you'd like to forgive?  You should take the time to do that this weekend - it's too exhausting to carry around a grudge.  And, you'll be a lot happier for it.  And if we need some additional encouragement, forgiveness is your best revenge. (:

Rookie Wife

I feel like there will be a lot of voting posts today.  So I will only commit this short paragraph to voting and then I will get on with the rest of my post.  Please go and vote (and be an educated voter).  And pray for the leadership of our country, regardless of who is voted in.

When I'm not constantly complaining and campaigning in relation to LEO topics, I am actually a normal person.  Well, maybe normal is taking it a little too far, but I'm not like a robot that just talks about police stuff.  Just like Officer is a rookie, I'm a rookie wife.  A very ambitious rookie wife.

I'm sure most of you bloggers out there are victims of Pinterest.  I don't know how many home improvement, organization and craft projects I have pinned, but it's getting out of control.  I always have the next best idea for a project for our home.  And it NEVER turns out like the picture.  And it always creates a lot of work for Officer.  Babe, I promise I can do this by myself... wait, can you hold that?  Can you lift this?  Can you nail that up there?  Can you... will you... just a minute longer? I'm so grateful to have a patient husband.

And don't the dinners they post always look delicious?  When you finally click for the recipe you would need to be an iron chef to understand what you were making!  How do I give something to Officer when I can't even pronounce the ingredients in it?  Or better yet, how do I find that item in a grocery store?  We aren't fortune enough to live in a place with grocery stores much nicer than the big W.  So we don't have the luxury of all these fine ingredients.  I have to stick to the recipes I know, but they just take too dang long to make once I'm home from work and working out.  Being a wife is tough work (I totally think it gives police work a run for it's money).

Since I have so many failures, I'm going to share with you my only success.  A no sew curtain for the kitchen. (I can already hear your laughter that my only success was A NO SEW curtain).  I'm also going to share with you a few pics of the pup, Scout. Just because I think she's fabulous and she's my biggest success (since I picked her out, ha).

Check out this bad boy!  I'm pretty proud of it - it only took about 30 minutes or so!  And now the neighbors can't look through our window anymore!

 

This is Scout as a pup.  She just loved that little duck toy.  Alright, maybe she only loved it for a few minutes before she shredded it.  But for a few minutes, she loved that thing.

And, finally, this is Scout manipulating me.  "Mom, it's too cold for me to not be under the covers with you and dad!"  I always cave. She always wins.  And Officer is never happy about it. (:

Do you have any successful projects?  Or massive failures?  And does anyone have some simple recipe ideas for me?!

 

A Day in the Life of a Wife of a....

I always dish to a coworker, and good friend, all of my woes of being a police wife.  We've been friends only a few short months, but she's probably heard it all.  Luckily for me, she's a great listener.  Unluckily for her, I've got tons to say.  She isn't the wife of an LEO, but she feels like she can totally relate to some of the things I talk about.  This is where a great idea was born - what's it like to be the wife of an other profession?  We've started a blog about this, but it's slow coming.  Here's my entry:

A day in the life of the wife of a Police Officer isn’t probably what you think.  For starters, my husband and I work different hours.  I’m on your typical work schedule and he works a shift.   When my work day is over, I can leave what I’m working on and pick it back up tomorrow.  It would be hard for him to say to a victim, “sorry but my shift is over – I’ll come back tomorrow and we can finish talking about your report (read: burglary, mugging, etc).”  Understandably, people wouldn’t appreciate that.  So he works until he’s done.  And honorably, he puts the same effort into the first report of the night as the last report of the night.  He doesn’t let his work slack just because he’s working overtime. 

Because of his crazy work schedule, I sleep alone most nights.  Husband gets home and immediately has to shower – he works (by choice) in the worst area of our city.  The things that his uniform, his gadgets and he, himself, touch and are exposed to need to be washed off as soon as possible.  And, like most normal human beings, he doesn’t come straight home from work and go to bed.  He has to unwind.  He’s had a stressful day – probably a lot of people yelling rude things at him, people being unappreciative, and a lot of chasing and tracking bad guys.  By the time he’s crawling into bed, I’m crawling out to get ready for my day. 

That leaves us only a few days to spend together – and that’s only if he’s not subpoenaed to a case.  Since he’s a rookie officer, those two days are not days that I have off, we don’t get the luxury of weekends together.  We try and make the most of the time we have together.  Enjoy a dinner, watch a movie, try to see our families together – but, it’s never enough. 

In any given week, I hardly get to see my husband. And you’re right in your thinking – I signed up for this.  However, I didn’t sign up for all of it.  I proudly say I am the wife of a cop.  My husband sacrifices his life day in and day out for his city.  And the people are few and far between who appreciate it.  And this is why I think it’s hard being a police officer’s wife.   Imagine waking up and not knowing why your husband is coming home late and being fearful of turning on the news – who knows what you might find?  Then, going anywhere the next day and hear people talk about the police and how they could have done a better job – talk about the police like they’re not people and they don’t have families.  Every movement my husband makes is criticized by the public, sensationalized by the media and scrutinized by the citizens. 

Luckily, for the city, husband is calloused to it.  He doesn’t let it affect his work performance in the slightest.  A wife (SCW Stella) who says it better (and is a bigger person) than me once wrote a post about a police officer being caught doing some dreadful things.  The public took the chance to jump all over this and make some awful, general comments.  To them, it defines the entire police force – they don’t see it as one bad apple in the bunch.  (If anyone works in a profession that doesn’t have a bad apple, please sign me up.  Let’s be honest in that the only difference is that your profession isn’t under a microscope.)  She goes on to say that if something awful happens to you – you’re going to call on that police force that you sit there and make fun of and you’re going to rely on them.  And guess what?  They’re going to do their best to help you out.  (And my favorite thing that she says…)  I HOPE YOU BLUSH when that happens.

So, I hope you blush.

For those of you who disagree with my post, I apologize.  I’ll try and validate some of statements.  Lots of people bond over the degrading of officers.  It’s a great common ground.  We’ve all been pulled over for “outrageous” reasons and love to dish about them.  When my husband was in the academy, he watched video after video of unlikely suspects shooting officers – including a grandmother, a dad with kids in tote, etc.  He has to approach each and every vehicle as if you are going to shoot him.  And I expect him to do that so that he can safely come home to me every night.  So, I’m sorry if he doesn’t know you’re the homeroom mom, or the soccer coach – to him, you’re a stranger who was breaking the law.  Yes, breaking the law.  Regardless of if it was “chump change”, or whatever else.  Let’s admit that you were, in fact, breaking the law.  In my profession, any “chump change” or smudge I make comes with some jail time. 

Here’s a fun fact – officers catch criminals through traffic violations!  So maybe my husband pulls over a car for rolling through a stop sign and it has a car full of criminals that have warrants and he can take to jail.  Or maybe, he stops the car that has an innocent person (who is still breaking the law) in it.  Maybe you’ll get a ticket (because, perhaps, that intersection has had a lot of accidents and enough people like to dish about officers that you will probably spread the word of mouth that some jack A wrote you a ticket for not stopping at the stop sign.  And guess what?  The people you tell, will probably tell your story and then maybe, just maybe, you guys will start actually stopping at the stop signs) or maybe you won’t get a ticket and you’ll just be annoyed part of your day was wasted.  My husband will also be annoyed that part of his day was wasted pulling over someone who should have known to stop - he could have been out catching bad guys.

Ever had the media do a story on you?  The closest example I have is the time a story was done on the school my sister worked at – it was about a kid on the playground and some events that took place.  She immediately called me after it had been covered and said “None of that was true – it was all taken out of context and blown out of proportion!”  Welcome to every single story covered by the media – about police officers and not about police officers alike.  And what do we, as the public, do?  Eat every word of it and then post ignorant comments.

Let’s add it up again – stacked against my husband: public, city, suspects, media…. For my husband: me.  It’s not easy being the wife of a police officer – for almost every reason you can think of, but mainly, because my husband gets no respect. (A great friend of mine is married to a police officer.  One time, he pulled someone over and the person spit in his face and said “Now you have AID's”).  Every day, his life is in danger, and every day he works as hard as he can.  And every day, I listen to people degrade him.

Am I saying there aren’t exceptions to this rule?  Of course not, just like with any profession there are.  Do I think the story you’re about to tell me (one time, when I was pulled over…) is an exception?  Probably not, and honestly, either way, I don’t want to hear about it.  I love my husband and I love being his wife.  Please, please take the time to thank an officer sometime.  And please, please try to remember they are human beings like you and your family.  Would you want someone talking about your husband the way you talk about mine?