Oh No You Didn't

Cooper and I each celebrated a milestone yesterday. Cooper said his first word (besides Momma and Dadda) that clearly sounds like the actual word and not just gibberish. He now says "car". It actually sounds like "gar" but close enough. He saw how excited I was when he said it, so now he's saying it non stop.

And yes, it finally happened. Much sooner than I would have thought. I'm not posting this for a pity party because I already received plenty of pity thanks to Facebook and the friends and family that I talked to. But yes, it had to be documented. August 12, 2009 was the first day that someone asked if Cooper was my Grandson!!!. Ouch.

The short and sweet version...Coop and I were shopping at a thrift store we frequent every once and awhile and the owner was trying to chit chat with us as he was ringing us up. He said, 'is that your grandson or you son?'. He must have seen the sheer terror on my face because the next thing he said was, 'Uh, I mean, Err..I didn't think he could possibly be your grandson.' Duh, nice try. If you didn't think so, then why did you ask?

Moving on......Coop and I have a busy day planned. I better start stretching my hips and take my Metamucil before the day gets away from me. Jeepers, where does the time go? :) Before you know it, I'll be doing the old lady fist pump in the air and telling people to "get off my lawn".

My self portrait

Tennessee moonshine!

The Last Frontier State

Here are some fun facts about Alaska:

• State Flower: Forget-me-not


• State Fish: King Salmon


• State Bird: Ptarmigan


• State Tree: Sitka Spruce


• State Mineral: Gold


• State Gem: Jade


• State Sport: Dog Mushing


• State Insect: Dragonfly


• State Fossil: Woolly Mammoth


• State Mammal: Moose

Here are some not so fun facts about Alaska:

• Over 4,000 miles from Tennessee


• Mark's current location

Mark left for a fire assignment in Alaska on Friday. It's definitely not the most convenient time for him to be gone (again), but the show must go on. After I put Coop to bed Friday night, I couldn't help but think about how much has changed since the last time Mark went to Alaska...........

It was over 7yrs ago and Mark was assigned to a 3 month detail in Fort Greely (about 100 miles southeast of Fairbanks). He and I were shacking up, living in sin had just moved in together, Targhee was just a pup and we weren't even engaged yet. I bawled like a baby when I dropped him off at the airport and it was the first time we had ever been apart for a long period of time. I caved and let Targhee sleep on the bed with me the first night Mark was gone and the rest is history. We now have 2 labs on the bed with us and occasionally, a snugly 15month old.

We weren't technically supposed to have dogs at our condo so we had to be sneaky about Targhee's existence. I enrolled Targhee in obedient school and he went to doggy daycare a couple of days a week while I was at work. The other days I dropped him off at Grandma Linda's on my way to work. I joked that I was a single parent and Mark left me to raise our puppy all by my lonesome. During the 3 month period, I visited Mark for about a week and we were able to explore a little bit of Alaska together. Little did I know that Mark was pondering the idea of proposing to me during that visit. He ended up deciding that he'd wait until he returned home.

This time around is a little different. Targhee now has a sister (both dogs could use a little refresher course in obedience training) and I didn't cry as hard when Mark left. In my defense, I'm kind of used to him leaving on fire assignments and it was 4:30am. Okay, I'll admit it, I didn't cry at all because we said our good byes the night before and I was sound asleep when he left (sleep is a little more precious now). This time around, we're kind of homeless and the dogs are starting to run off on me at the cabin. We have since lived in 3 other states together, have moved 4 times, we're married and have a SON. Other than that, not much has changed.

Keep Mark in your thoughts for a safe and speedy return. As far as the rest of the family goes, let's just hope we survive this house fiasco, the dogs don't run away and that we'll be settled in our home before Mark returns.