And Chris just looked at me and said, “Stop imagining.”

Then today, I was talking about that again (because obviously I can’t stop imagining) and I said, “Oh my gosh, what if one day they were like, ‘Hey Sespi, it doesn’t matter if you’re a girl, come out and kick in doors with us’ and then they let me kick in a door?” Chris, for some reason, decided to play along and said, “Do they actually kick in doors or do they use some kind of ram?” Then he probably instantly regretted it, because I said, “I have no idea! Oh my gosh, what if they use a ram and I tried to do it with my foot but I was too weak so I just bounced off and they were all, ‘Duh, we use a ram. Stupid.’”

It suddenly occurred to me that Chris doesn’t worry about things because he doesn’t have an imagination and I worry about things because I do. I shared this theory with him and he looked unconvinced, so I gave him the following example: “Someone tells you they need a briefing on some topic, so you say ok, prepare, give the briefing, and don’t think about it anymore. But if someone told me to give a briefing, I would say ok, go to prepare and then start thinking… What if I misspeak and no one catches it because I’m the ‘expert’ so they just take my word for it, but I’m not right and then they go to war? We could have spent 50 years avoiding war with the USSR and then I give a briefing and suddenly we’re in the middle of a nuclear war with Russia.”

Chris just stared at me.

I can only assume that it’s because he finally understands how stressful it is to have an imagination and was giving thanks that he doesn’t have one.

*Yes, I do say “was like” and “was all” and occasionally “was all like” when I talk. I’m from Southern California, give me a break.

Here are our new ornaments for the year:

We’ve got (from top left, clockwise): Coronado (I say that guy is a SEAL, but Chris says no), Ireland, Helen (Georgia, where we went to Oktoberfest), Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Nashville (I like to say that he’s Charlie Daniels, but Chris says it’s just cowboy Santa Claus. What does he know?).

Apparently, we forgot to get an ornament from Beaufort, although both of us were sure we got one. Maybe we just put it up somewhere and forgot about it…

And our random non-travel related new ornaments this year:

The top is a fairy decorating a cake (no explanation needed). The next is a little old lady made out of hojas (the corn husks wrapped around tamales). My mom had an ornament just like that and my sister made me this replica last year. She’s hella crafty. And then the bottom is Jingle, the husky pup, who asked for a home for Christmas. Since Bones is half husky and we rescued her two weeks before Christmas, it seemed appropriate

But yep… if we travel at all next year, we’re definitely going to need a bigger tree.

So now I’m at two years unemployed. The Navy Reserve still hasn’t picked me up (another story behind the Sucking at Life post) and now I’m so mad at the Navy that I’m still not sure I even want to jump through all the hoops to even apply again. (Yeah, that’ll teach them.)

Except that if I can’t get a job — because two years unemployed is a pretty long chunk of time — my best bet for building up the skill set to get a job is either going back to school (noooooooo) or joining the Reserve. The Reserve that doesn’t want me. Unless maybe I go enlisted. (Or go Army?)

Before I start this next part, here’s my disclaimer: I have nothing against being enlisted. Heck, my husband is enlisted (though he hates being enlisted so much that he’s planning to get out of the Navy when his contract is up if he can’t commission before then).

Back in the day, my original plan was to enlist. In the Army! But I ultimately decided to go officer and go Navy, and I got picked up on my first application. Which means that at one point the Navy thought I was good enough to be an officer, and to tell me that I’m not good enough for that anymore? Well that’s a blow to my self esteem. Even though everyone tells me it’s not personal, at this point, it darn well is.

So if none of the job apps I currently have pending pans out, nothing will have changed from my last application to the Reserve (except for one online class that I took) and it doesn’t even seem worth reapplying for. And I still won’t have a job, which leaves me with the option to start reapplying to all the places that didn’t want me before. But that seems pointless because, again, nothing else will have changed.

Which brings me back to enlisting. Because that will change things. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that because it will mean that I got rejected from two more jobs… but if does, well. I’ll pick a rating with fast advancement (Chris wants me to follow in his shoes and rack up the foreign language pay) and hope I can get commissioned quickly.

1. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to keep losing weight and working out. I dropped 25 pounds this year, let’s hope I can do another 25 this year! (And then I’ll be super amazingly content.)

2. One thing I’d like to happen next year is to get a job! I’ve got some prospects on the horizon, but nothing for sure yet.

3. One thing I’m looking forward to next year is PCSing to DC! Jobs for me! My BFF Casey and so many friends from grad school! No more Georgia!

4. One change I’d like to see next year is the Republicans nominating someone who can actually win (read: Jon Huntsman). Not holding out hope for that though.

5. My plans for NYE include ringing in my 28th birthday somehow! Details not yet determined.

My sisters, my sister’s BFF and me on the way to Palm Springs.

Stop 2: Halloween in Torrance, CA.

I was Rosie the Riveter! Too bad I left Chris’s coveralls in Georgia.

Stop 3: Coronado, CA because I love the area.

No words needed here.

We also played around at the Del – so pretty! Someday we will stay there… but this was the not time.

I met up with Kelsey and Elizabeth for lunch too! And by the way, at Stacked –the restaurant we ate at– you order your food on an iPad at your table! It’s pretty amazing. We had such a good time and it made me start harassing Chris to get orders to SD again. (Yeah, that’s not going to happen.)

Stop 4: Long Beach, CA for my sister’s wedding

I inadvertently made Chris look like a Hogwarts student. We called him Ron Weasley all morning… haha!

Isn’t my sister pretty? And you can’t tell in this picture, but her husband is actually over a foot taller than her!

Stop 5: Hollywood, CA to play tourist because Chris had never been before.

The Beatles (Minus Paul, who doesn’t have a star for some reason)

Gene Rodenberry – 10 points if you know who this guy is!

Stop 6: Back in Augusta for a day, then we packed up the dogs and headed to Nashville to explore…


We laughed at this sign for a while so I took a picture. Church street this way, Gay street the other way. (Yeah, I’m a little odd…)

Stop 7: Then off to my MIL’s house in Louisville for pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving and Veterans Day.

Applebee’s had a POW/MIA table set up. I thought it was such a thoughtful gesture, and I was glad to see all the non-military affiliated people stopping to read what it symbolized.

It’s been a busy busy month, so you can see why I haven’t been around much! But now we’re back in Georgia and I’m super glad I told Chris that I just want to stay here for Christmas and not go anywhere

Thanks My Fitness Pal for tracking my calories and workouts for me! In other news, I bought my first pair of jeans with a size in the single digits… ever. That was a very good feeling.

And for more good feelings, let’s check out some pictures.

Me, last December:

Me, in August, after a run (running in Georgia in the summer is gross):

Me, two weeks ago:

I’m a happy Sespi right now

Just 15 more pounds to my goal weight!

Grrr.

It’s not easy for me to find shoes that fit, so I was none too happy. I figured I may as well try to fix it though, and I think I did a pretty good job. Here’s how it went:

Blurry picture of the broken strap. If you can’t see, just trust me… it’s chewed into two.

Sewn together broken strap:

Functional, but ugly. What to do, what to do? Stick a flower on it!

And now my shoe is fixed and pretty!

Oh, and this is my dress:

It looks darker red than the flower, but in real life they’re the same color.Should look cute with the shoes, eh? (And even if you think it won’t, just go ahead and lie to me, because I’m not going to buy another pair of shoes.)

Blah. I had a blog post written out explaining a bunch of the crap that’s been going on, but it felt too personal and I couldn’t publish it.

Long story short: I’m sucking at life right now and really discouraged in general.

At least Chris is home now.

And the third commenter was…

Congrats Casey Jay! I’ll get this stuff in the mail for you.

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The other day, Justplainj brought to my attention the fact that there is such a thing as Candy Corn M&Ms.

M&Ms are my favorite thing in the world, and they have this pull on me no matter how weird the flavor sounds. I went on a mission to find them. I headed out to raid the Walmarts — they’re a Walmart exclusive — and found them on my second try. Upside of living in the south: five Walmarts within 15 minutes of my house.

They’re worth trying, although they will never replace peanut butter and pretzel M&Ms as my favorite. And they are almost sickly sweet… which is to be expected since it’s white chocolate That just means easier portion control!

I’ve heard that others haven’t been able to find them, so here’s the deal. I’ve got two bags (I had a coupon!) and I definitely don’t need two bags.

I’m going to make this simple – no posting on FB, tweeting, liking, following for bonus entries. (Though if you want to advertise my giveaway, please feel free!) If you want to try candy corn M&Ms, leave a comment telling me your favorite kind of M&M and your email. And hey, since I’m feeling so generous today, I’ll even throw some in chocolate covered pumpkin Peeps…

… and some Little Debbie Pumpkin Delights…

because those are other things I love that I think everyone should try

I’ll pick one person from the comments Sunday September 25 at 2200 (EDT).

Ok… go!

1. My favorite thing that happened this week was going to Carrabba’s with two friends whose husbands are also deployed. Good food, good company, and chocolate cake can’t go wrong.

2. Find a penny, pick it up and all day long you’ll have good luck. But Kenickie will hit his head on a car door and be out of the race.

3. Autumn is officially here and my favorite part of the season is college football (GO STANFORD!). Also, see this post.

4. One of the things I’d like to do before winter arrives is figure out how to shut off the water outside so the sprinkler pipes don’t burst.

5. I WOULD be willing to participate in MilSpouse Secret Santa.