Beauty and the Police

As most, if not all of my friends/family know, my favorite animal is the Polar Bear. I have stuffed polar bears, pictures of polar bears, posters of polar bears, blankets with polar bears on them, etc. Now, I have a husband who is an official "Polar Bear"! With and for the academy, he participated in the Polar Bear Plunge to benefit the Special Olympics on Saturday! I was so proud that he was excited to do it and he did SUCH a great job.   Even though it was 42 degrees outside and 32 degrees in the pool!!  He knew it was for a good cause and it was a great way for people to see the new recruit class! My good friend and her daughter came out to watch and support him as well. So proud and we got a good laugh out of it too!! Great job APOs!! An APO and Wes walking out of the frigid water!!  His Training Officer is standing behind them on his cell...why isn't he doing this!?? haha Wes is at the top left, haha...he is regretting this decision at this point!!

Stories from the Academy are sometimes too much for me to handle (gross) but mostly, I just laugh at the ridiculousness that comes home.  I love to hear about who Wes gets along with, and who he doesn't.  I love to hear about the exercises and other things, but mostly, I love to hear about what they talk about when they are trying to not think about the craziness! By now I have already mentioned all the funny PT they have to do (bear craws, crab walks, mountain climbers, etc) but now, apparently, its not funny anymore (at least to Wes :o) ). They went through some tough PT the other day that Wes could have done without! Also, they have given all themselves rules as well (which Wes is less-than-thrilled about!). Example: Buddy System.  This is apparently a Marine Corp tactic (correct me if I'm wrong, Becca!!) but now at the Academy, no one goes anywhere alone...even to the bathroom.  My husband can't stand ME going potty when he is in the shower, let alone having so...

Weekends are special for a teacher. Like their students, they get the chance to relax after a week of non-stop everything. Lucky for me, my APO gets the weekends off as well, which for the most part, has been a blessing and a time that we can actually TALK to each other about our weeks.  Now, I get to speak with my husband, of course, every day....just not in the most preferable situations. For example, to find out things to write on my blog about his day, it usually consists of  him in the shower and me sitting on the potty lid so I can get seven minutes of uninterrupted conversation. SOMETIMES we'll get to talk to each other while he polishes his boots, but since my husband is NOT a multi-tasker, this can become a tedious task of non-stop repetition for myself.  But I have gotten better about approaching him, so it doesn't end up like this anymore: N: "So today, I introduced a history project that my students are excited about!" W: (while polishing furiously) ...

For all of you that have not seen this video yet, Wes is NOT in this video, it is from two years ago. But, he is doing the same things!!

In APO news, Wes had somewhat of an interesting day yesterday. For the first time, he actually had a good, non-stressful day! I'm glad he did, because we did not need both of us at home suffering from "this job is nuts" syndrome. He only had to do one set of push ups for missing a road name and he didn't have to do pushups for being CLOSE on a non-directional!! When he told me that I had a smile on my face and politely asked "what in the world is a non-directional"! For those who are like me - a non directional is a road that curves a lot, it does not go just north and south or east and west. Nothing I'd ever want to memorize...I have my good ol' buddy Tom Tom for that! :o)  It is fun though to test Wes as we drive somewhere...he's like my own personal GPS now around here, a Wes Wes! Wes also has a bit of another issue involving a two-year old. We have good friends here in Oklahoma that have a two-year old daughter and for the longest time, she ...

If you're not already fans and have these on your "Awesome Mix" on your iPod...you should. These are just some "new" songs I've been listening to lately that will be added to my list of songs I already LOVE and you should TOO. In no particular order.... 1. "Sweet Disposition" by Temper Trap  2. "Mad World" by Tears for Fears (Thanks Shawn Spencer...in my head always..) 3. "Little Lion Man", "The Cave", "After the Storm"  by Mumford & Sons.  4. "Heartbreak Warfare" by John Mayer 5. "Haunted" by Taylor Swift 6. "Dog Days are Over" by Florence + The Machine 7. "The House That Built Me" - Miranda Lambert 8. "Airplanes" - B.o.B. 9. "Chasing Pavements" - ADELE 10. "If I Die Young" - The Band Perry 11. "Beautiful Bride"- Flyleaf 12. "Firework" - Katy Perry 13. "Radioactive" - Kings of Leon 14. "Alive" ...

During my days off from school, I am watching a lot of Psych and doing a lot of cleaning. I never thought that it was going to be "too difficult" keeping up with housework, but now I have no idea how wives and mothers do this with more than one bedroom. It is quite immense. Laundry, dishes, cleaning floors, cleaning bathrooms, taking out trash, vacuuming....etc..etc. How can I ever keep up? To make matters worse, after a long day, he throws up his police things in our tiny living room. It has become a part of our ritual. He walks in the door (usually shivering because he is wearing snow boots, a jacket and gray shorts) sets down all of his stuff right next to the door, shuffles off his boots, kisses me hello and plops down on the couch. At this point, I move his stuff, finish up dinner and continue what I was doing. In about five minutes, Wes hops in the shower. Sometimes I go in the bathroom, sit on the toilet lid and talk to him about his day...most days he's too tire...

It's going to snow again. Typical Oklahoma...freezing with 12" of snow on Wednesday and Monday up to around 60 degrees. This time probably about 8"-12" around these parts. We are going to be seeing a significant amount of snow on top of what is already on the treacherous neighborhood roads. While I know that I will probably be out of school on Wednesday and probably Thursday - it is a different story for my poor husband. The academy coordinators canceled last week for three days in a row.  For this storm, he is going to have to "make it there no matter what". How is this fair?! If it turns out to be anything like the last one, there is no way that he'll make it. I told him that he should possibly think about staying the night close to the academy with one of the guys. That way I'd know that he'd make it there.  Another struggle over this past week is getting to the dry cleaners. They have been closed for  the last couple of days because of...

I can honestly say that I have never been as anxious driving in the snow as I have this winter. The road conditions are ridiculous and people here think that since they have a four wheel drive vehicle that means that they can drive however they wish. False. You may not and cannot drive any way you wish...especially if your city decides not to plow neighborhoods. Now I realize that this freak storm was not in the budget, but manoman!! For example: on this beautiful Super Bowl Sunday, my husband and I trekked out to our friend's house to join her and her daughter for the game. The roads were clear on the way there, no problems at all. Once we hit her neighborhood, it was a white-knuckle experience. Well...for me as the passenger at least. I'll admit that I squeezed my eyes shut when turning corners on a slide. I probably didn't have to, as my husband is a seasoned driver from many Michigan winters. Thank the Lord for him!! Wes went back to work on Friday. He had to work 12 ...

I am officially at home. It has been a whirlwind kind of week! I am officially canceled for the week. Wes was also canceled again today but it looks like he will have to work Saturday and Sunday now. Which also means (to his dismay) that he'll be missing the Super Bowl and party! While I miss the exciting things I get to blog about, I thought I'd upload some  pictures from this Blizzard that I've finally taken since I am home now! Pretty awesome... Getting ready to go brave the cold to get some pictures. About 13 inch snow DRIFTS up on the 2nd floor of the apartment complex!! Bottom Floor Obviously no one shovels... Almost up to my knee! Where someone dug their car out.. Great plow job....not. This is the apartment road....but the main roads look like this too. Wes dug out with a cookie sheet!! They haven't dug out yet! View from the floor looking up to our door so you can see how thick the snow is up on the ...

We are officially on DAY 2 of No school.  It also happens to be Day 2 of no police academy! I am still at my friend's house (completely snowed-in) and Wes is at our apartment. He can see that the main road is clear, but he is still stuck inside the apartment complex because they don't plow the sidestreets or neighborhoods. Sheesh. The plan for Wes is to go back to the Academy tomorrow (Thursday) and they told them to come in warm clothes because they are going to go shovel! Who knows where they are going to shovel at...but that is what they are doing. He also has to work on Saturday :o(. Good thing for him, he's had 2 days of uninterrupted video game and movie time! What a lucky duck.  Here are some pictures of what is going on here in Tulsa: There are many photos online as well. Some people got stuck in their cars on the side of the road and had to stay in them over night. Guess that would explain the gas fill-ups?