Life After The Army » drew

So far… so good

Charlotte — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:43:46 +0000

Andi has been at her new job almost a week now and she really likes what she’s doing. She says it’s so much better than the last place she worked at.

It’s not quite what she was doing in the Army as a medic but it’s the closest thing she could find. The 12 hour days aren’t too awful bad either.

The best part is that she isn’t smoking much at all. The hospital does not allow it’s employees to smoke anywhere on the hospital grounds.. even in their own cars.

Benton has gotten used to her and Drew not being here for hours and hours and is almost a pleasure to be with all day long.

Snuggle Time

Charlotte — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:34:17 +0000

Andi got a job as an ER Tech in the local hospital. Her 1st 12 hour shift started today. She’s working 11am to 11pm. I’m babysitting Benton. Drew would be doing that but he works 5pm to 5am at a towing company.

Getting Benton to sleep tonight was so much easier than I thought it would be. We started with snuggle time, which involves a cup of milk, his blankie, binkie and “big blankie”. Usually Andi has to have some piano music ready to play (which puts him out within a song or two) but I didn’t need that because he was out like a light within 5 minutes of starting snuggle time.

Andi works tomorrow and Thursday then she’s off for 3 days. It’s 3 12 hour shifts a week. She’s thrilled to be working in the ER because it’s the closest thing to what she did when she was deployed in Iraq.

Now I have some time to myself before she gets home from work. Benton is sound asleep, Drew and Andi are at work and I can get some posts and other things done. I’ll probably get off the computer after the posts are done and just read and watch TV.

This is going to be nice!!

So much going on

Charlotte — Wed, 04 May 2011 19:40:29 +0000

There has been a lot going on here lately. Andi, Drew and the baby moved to Pennsylvania to live with Drew’s dad a few weeks ago. Just about a week ago Andi and the baby showed up here unexpectedly because the cable and internet got shut off up there for non-payment. Andi came here because she needed to do her school work and needs the internet for that.

They were going to go back to PA yesterday but on Sunday night Drew called and wanted Andi to come and pick him up because he and his dad got into a big fight and his dad wanted him out. So now they are living here again, temporarily, until they can find a place of their own nearby.

They are looking for jobs and so am I (still). Hopefully we will all find jobs soon.

The silence is deafening

Charlotte — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 17:50:25 +0000

Andi and Benton are still in Texas. Andi doesn’t know exactly when she’ll be back. It’s gotten to the point where I’m not really enjoying the peace and quiet anymore. I miss them both.

Benton is having a blast going to the park/playground though. It’s good for him to get outside and play. He loves the swings and running around. Andi put up pictures on Facebook and it looks like he’s grown in the time they’ve been gone.

I hope they come back soon. I know they won’t be here long when they do come back. Drew should be with them and they will be moving to Pennsylvania with his dad. They could stay here if I had more than a one bedroom condo.

He’s a good cook

Charlotte — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:43:38 +0000

Andi’s fiancée Drew is superb cook! He does most of the cooking here and it’s always delicious. There never seems to be any leftovers which is probably a good thing because I would probably need to use a quick weight loss product because my jeans would get too tight.

We have a drawer full of spices and he always spices the food up really good. His steaks on the grill are to die for. I can’t wait for him to grill steaks again.

I’m not saying that Andi can’t or doesn’t cook because she can and she’s a really good cook too. Drew just seems to really like to cook. I haven’t had the chance to cook yet but I do try to clean up afterwards. Sometimes I feel like I’m not doing my part around here because by the time I get around to do something someone else is already doing it a lot of the time.

But so far things are working out here with the living arrangements and Andi and I haven’t gotten into an argument….. yet.

Moving soon

Charlotte — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:06:14 +0000

I’ll probably be moving in with Andi, Drew and the baby in the next couple days. I still won’t have my stuff until we can get storage paid off. I was hoping for some donations to help out but so far only one person was nice enough to contribute.

There is an extra desk that I’ll be able to use and soon I’ll have a baby on my lap while trying to type my posts. Soon you’ll see words like 7-dfbx, cjieryow and others. Don’t be concerned.. I haven’t lost my mind.. it will be Benton trying to help me out with my work

Relaxing day

Charlotte — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:46:13 +0000

Yesterday was a gorgeous day out. It was warm, for this time of year, and there was a little bit of a breeze. Andi, Drew, Benton and I went to Ocean City and took a walk on the beach. We picked up seashells so Andi can make a nice little shadowbox for Benton.

We saw what the last 4 day nor’easter did to the beaches and it really made a mess of them. Most of the dunes have been washed away and a lot of the wooden ramps from the boardwalk were closed because of at least a 6 foot drop down to the beach from the missing dunes.

There were a few other people walking the beach using metal detectors, collecting shells and even a couple surfers. I forgot just how calming and relaxing the sound of the waves can be. I could have sat on the rocks for hours and just listened to the waves crashing.

Benton enjoyed his first trip to the beach. We had him bundled up with his little animal/bear hat on to keep his head warm and a warm blanket. But the sun was warm and the breeze wasn’t too bad until we started back up the beach to the car. But other than that it was a great day.

Enjoy the pictures below.

Babysitting Benton

Charlotte — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:00:18 +0000

Andi went to Pennsylvania today to pick up her boyfriend and I got to watch Benton all day. He’s such a happy and good natured baby. He hardly ever cries unless he’s really hungry or needs changing.

We are having a great time. He’s been smiling and talking to me (well.. cooing and gurgling). We went outside and took a short walk around the yard too. Now he’s passed out on PopPop’s quilt on the floor.

Andi and Drew should be here within a couple hours to pick him up… barring any traffic problems in Phila.

So far… not so good

Charlotte — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:44:40 +0000

We’ve been trying to find a place to move to and we haven’t had much luck. We went to see a couple places and the 1st one was $1150 a month and wasn’t really a bad size except our dining room furniture wouldn’t fit in the dining area (tiny, tiny, tiny), the closets had no doors (just shelves on a wall), absolutely no pets allowed (landlord has a big dog though) and the biggest thing was the house was literally 5 feet away from the landlord’s house.

Then we went to see a double wide on it’s own lot. That place was $925 a month and was so tiny. The “master suite” looked like only a twin bed would fit in it. The 2nd bedroom was so small if you put a twin bed in it it would take up the whole room. None of our furniture would fit in this place. You would have to be a little person to live there. The ceilings were just a few inches above hubby’s head and he’s 6’2″. It felt very claustrophobic in there.

We’re probably going to have to put our stuff in storage and live in our camper until we can find a place. Not my idea of fun. Hubby, me and the cat… JOY! At least it has a nice kitchen area.

I’m still packing away here. Hubby brings home a few boxes at a time from work otherwise I’d probably be done by now, if I had more boxes.

Andi, her boyfriend Drew and Benton were here this weekend. Benton is such a good baby and rarely cries. Drew is officially Benton’s dad. He stepped up and adopted him. He’s a good guy. Hubby likes him so that’s saying something.