saying good-bye to my sailor

what a rough morning.

i had to get up very early to take pat to the ship by 6am. he was heading out for his deployment today. after i dropped him off i came back home to get a couple more hours of sleep. his ship wasn't pulling out just yet. i then headed to the pier to check the ship out and say fairwell to my sweetheart before he left for 7 months. saying good-bye to him gets harder and harder each time. it's very dramatic watching all the sailors dressed to impress and manning the rails of such a large ship. it's breathtaking and altogether overwhelming. it gives you a strong sense of pride watching these brave individuals as they prepare to head off to who-knows-where and leave there loved ones behind.

i think i would have been angry if i had woken up this morning to a sunny day. luckily it was overcast and windy conditions which fit the feeling of the day. on the pier there was almost a chill in the air. it was so windy and every once in awhile it sprinkled down some rain. for some reason, that little bit of rain was comforting.

i was able to board the ship for a quick tour. i didn't see much, and to be honest, that was just fine with me. as soon as i stepped up the ramp to the quarter deck i felt funny. it wasn't just that it was a tremendously huge ship, it was partly because i felt like i didn't belong. it seemed awkward and strange with so many uniformed men running around preparing for their long journey. at one point pat had to leave me alone to run and change into his uniform. i wasn't allowed to be down where they sleep so i stayed in their mess hall. wow. i sat there, for what seemed like forever, waiting for him to come back in his dress whites and dixie cup hat. as dirty and raunchy as you think sailors and marines are, you are correct. i was the only woman in the room and felt like i had stepped into some frat house where everyone dressed the same. it's very cold on the ship: not what i expected. for some reason i had picture hundreds of men crowed on a hot sweaty ship shoveling coal into the engine room like on the Titanic. pat often talked about how cold he gets in his rack at night. so i suppose the air conditioning is a blessing. needless to say, i was happy to step off of the ship onto the warm pier; however, i had to leave pat on board and that was heartbreaking.

i sat on the pier for almost a half hour watching the men prepare. i contimplated leaving but decided to wait to see them man the rails. i'm glad i did. i heard them call for the sailors to go on deck and used my camera to scan the ledge looking for a glimpse of pat. to my surprise he showed up. he was right in front looking crisp in his white uniform. i was surprised that the excitement of seeing him brought tears to my eyes. i kept hoping that i was too far away for him to see me because i didn't want him to see me cry. he made a few hang guesstures telling me he loved me and that made me lose it. i can't explain to you the emotions that run through you watching your loved one like that. it's painfully unbearable.

polyvore

i recently came across this crazy and addicting site on a blog I was reading. I can't stop. you can create outfits and post them as sets. it gives you a great visual marker for outfit pairings. it's like laying your clothes out before the first day of school!



see my pairings and favorites here

Tiny Spaces

I am amazed at hour curious our kittens are. They can find the strangest toys, the most absurd trash to get into, and the tiny spaces to hide in. I was working and heard some commotion in the family room. It was loud enough that I was concerned something had fallen on one of the kittens. When I went into the family room to look I found the kittens as you see in this picture. Emmit had decided that tiny space where the DVD's were was perfect for him; however, he'd have to knock the DVD's out to fit inside. How adorable.

Rainy Days and Kittens

Today is a pretty lovely Sunday. I'm enjoying the lazy time and just playing in the apartment with the kittens. They are getting so big! They are still kittens and love just playing with anything that moves. They are fascinated with the rain. Every time it rains they run up to the window and just sit there lookin. Today they have been batting at the windows and trying to catch the rain drops.

Home Decorating

I have become a slacker in posting. Since Patrick's been home we have spent a lot of time together and I haven't taken the time to sit down and write. Today I'm alone since Pat is at duty and have a little bit of time to catch up. We've been trying to finish putting together the apartment and and catch up on some business since we have time. We still have giftcards from the wedding that we haven't used and have been trying to determine what we need to complete things. We recently spent some time at Pier One and purchased a new rug. Our kitchen has been lacking and the cold tile made it difficult to walk around. I love the rug, unfortunately so do the kittens. They like to chew on the corners and we since we haven't put anything rubber underneath they like to run and slide on it. We have the same problem with the bath mat in the spare bathroom. They are strange kittens, but we love them just the same.