T minus 24 HOURS!!!

Okay, seriously, HOW EXCITED ARE YOU?!?! Rob comes home TOMORROW!!!
My boss, Tom, actually sent me home from work around 11am. He said I'm not "here" anyway, so I might as well go get stuff done. (He's the best boss ever). But I did make it through all three of those meetings that I had. (Not that I added any value. I mostly did a lot of smiling and nodding.) Eh, WHATEVER!

So I'll be in the car tomorrow from around 10am until 5pm in case you wanna chat. Don't call after 5. I mean, we love you guys and all, but seriously...you'll only get as close as "This is Danielle, leave a message". (I don't leave the "wait for the beep" instructions... I kinda feel like we all got the hang of it after 20 years of answering machines).

Anyways, I'm off! Have a great weekend, I know we will!!!

72 hours....and counting!

Okay guys, we are rolling in on the FINAL COUNTDOWN! Three more days!!! We have to stay in NC for the night, so this year we've finally gotten smart and opted for a Bed and Breakfast out of town instead of staying in one of the smokey, overpriced hotels in Jacksonville. (We've literally stayed in EVERY hotel there, so trust me when I say they all suck).

Work is a joke this week. Tom (my boss) said he's pretty much expecting me to be here "in body, not in mind" which is...well, accurate. Especially with EVERYONE coming by and asking me what the countdown is. People keep asking me if I'm excited. No offense, but SERIOUSLY? My husband, whom I haven't seen in five months, is on his way home and you're wondering am I excited? Let's go with "yes. just a tad."
I'm focusing more than I thought I'd be able to, but for some reason around the last half hour of work each day I'm completley useless. I'm doing the "cheesy smile" thing that I normally make fun of other people for. Yeah, it's a great look for me. Wednesday and Thursday should be fun though... I have three long meetings to participate in and I think when they ask to see my 'notes', they're not going to be talking about the ones that say "I heart Rob" all over the back of my Social Studies book.

SIX MORE DAYS

Okay, so I'm sure you're all tired of the surveys by now, but I am so excited that Rob comes home IN SIX DAYS that I can't think of much else to write about... so I figured you'd prefer this over "I heart Rob" written over and over. I went through and randomly deleted some questions...cause there were A LOT. But I'm too lazy to renumber. So enjoy.

Seriously, SIX MORE DAYS!


1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? Screw it, it's Saturday.
3. What's a word that rhymes with DOOR? Floor. (and seriously? are we auditioning for Dr. Seusse?)
4. Favorite planet? Not Pluto. Underachiever.
6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone? I think I love you- the Partidge Family. (c'mon, you know it's funny)
8. Do you label yourself? What like prep or grunge or something? No. I'm 27.
9. Name the brand of the shoes you're currently wearing: I'm barefoot.
10. Bright or Dark Room? It depends on what the room is for.... are we eating breakfast or developing film?
11. Why is there always a missing question? Better yet, why does someone always skip a question and then point it out?
12. What does your watch look like? Like an amazing husband went WAY overboard for my birthday this year.
14. What did your last text message you received on your cell phone say? "my friend Melissa telling me they had their baby!
15. Where is your nearest 7-11? Somewhere on 3 but they sold me a gallon of sour milk once and refused to let me return it. (I know!)
16. What's a word that you say a lot? How about a phrase? "I'm just sayin'"
17. Who told you he/she loved you last? my husband. he's so hot. (I'm just sayin'.)
18. Last furry thing you touched? Old cheese I left in the fridge. I'm kidding!!! Scout.
20. How many rolls of film do you need developed? Every so often I find one. I'm sure they're from high school or maybe college. One day I'll get around to it...
21. Favorite age you have been so far? 26. Although 27 ain't half bad.
22. Your worst enemy? Ummmm Satan? (hey, you said YOUR WORST ENEMY)
23. What is your current desktop picture? Mr. and Mrs. Potownley Head. (just until I get updated pics of the REAL Townleys!)
24. What was the last thing you said to someone? "Happy 'last night' in Fallujah!"
25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly, what would it be? Duh, I'd be able to fly and then CHARGE people a million dollars to see me do it.
26. Do you like someone? I like most people.
30. Where did you live in 1987? Beaconsfield, England (also the reason I can no longer donate blood...stupid mad cow disease)
31. Are you jealous of anyone? Not really. I can't think of anyone I'd want to "switch" with.
32. Is anyone jealous of you? I have no idea. I never really thought about that...until now...thanks a lot.
34. What do you do when vending machines steal your money? Put more money in. Yep, I'm a trained monkey.
35. Do you consider yourself kind? I consider myself thoughtful. I'm not sure if there's a difference.
37. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be? Ahmaric. I really enjoyed learning little parts of it in Ethiopia last year.
38. Would you move for the person you loved? Hahaha, catch up on my blog.
39. Are you touchy-feely? Yep. People need hugs.
40. What's your life motto? Oh so many to choose from. I like Mother Theresa
"No one will remember tomorrow the good you do today. Do good anyway."
41. Name three things you have on you at all times: Cell phone, lipstick, car keys.
44. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it? Last month. I'm a big believer in "real" mail.
45. Can you change the oil on a car? I can't even CHECK the oil in my car.
46. Your first love: what is the last thing you heard about him/her? He lives in Hawaii
47. How far back do you know your ancestry? Pretty far I guess. Baba and Deda are all over it.
48. The last time you dressed up? Every day for work? The 500 weddings we went to last summer.
50. Have you ever been burned by love? Yeah. life's fun like that.
51. Do you have a crush on any bloggers? hahaha, seriously? No. Can't even imagine. "I love your font..wanna chat sometime?"
52. Where would you like to live? I don't know. Don't want to stay in MD forever though.

Time keeps tickin' away

So. According to the USMC, at 6pm on March 30th I will be in Jacksonville, NC with my arms around the most important person in my world. (!!!) I. can't. wait.
We're still working on getting Rob moved up to MD permanently (imagine that? A married couple that LIVES together?!?! Madness).

Speaking of the time...
Today we say goodbye to my old friend; my alarm clock. I got it for Christmas in 1988 (yes, you read that correctly. I was 8) and it's gone literally everywhere with me since then. It was pink and purple (currently grey and light grey) and it's covered in sparkly stickers of butterflies, hearts, and other Lisa Frank stuff.

Rob hates it.
Well, "hate" is a strong word...

Anyway, because I apparently take after my father, I refuse to get rid of or replace anything that still works. Plus (and I know this makes me sound 80 years old) I like that I know how everything works on my clock. (i.e. where the snooze button is). But in the last two weeks, my beloved clock has stopped picking up radio signals altogether. So now I just wake up to that fabulous 'no signal' sound: "KKKSSSSCCCCHHHHH".
Yeah. Today is new clock day. (And it's all black and masculine, honey). :-)

TWO MORE WEEKS

I would love for someone to explain to me what is going on with our weather. On Tuesday, my friend Jenn and I actually had dinner on our deck because it was SO nice outside. Friday night I'm driving home in what appears to be an ice storm. This makes absolutely no sense.
I've got a packed Saturday ahead of me so you guys talk amongst yourselves today. Adios.

Sad Kukich/Townleys

In depressing news, Laura and I went back to our hometown this weekend. The Kukich Family Dog, Casey, was put down after 15 long years. I know it sounds hokey, but it really is like losing a family member. We're all bummed, to put it lightly. Anyway, so this is the earliest picture I could find of her- it's from my 8th grade year. (That's right, I scrapbooked even back in the day). This is our girl

Mercury Rising

Soooo.... My thermostat says it's 70 degrees, I have a fire going, I'm wearing sweats, I have two blankets and I'm still freezing.
Yeah...survey says "Danielle Is Sick".
My good friend Jessica brought over a thermometer to check my temp. Did you know if you drop those, they break? Oh yes, my friends, into tiny little pieces. Two minutes (and a phone call to the poison control center) later we're cleaning Mercury off my floor and opening all the windows to 'fumigate the house" as ordered by the poison control guy.
....and it's 14 degrees outside.


well, at least now I have a REASON to be cold!

twenty-three!!!

I'm worried that I'm getting sick...i have that "hurts to swallow and talk" sore throat deal going on. I'd like to thank all the people who come to work coughing and sneezing so as not to "waste" ther PTO. Oh, and ENOUGH WITH THE SNOWING ALREADY! Yeah... I'm grumpy pants today.
But the good news is that ROB IS COMING HOME IN 23 DAYS (or less!) I have to say, for a marine in Iraq going on 5 hours of sleep a night, he really knows how to make a girl feel un-lonely (it's not a word. I know). He was on the phone at 3am (his time) last night walking me through the steps of cooking one of the Townley 'staple meals'. There was a lot of "I hear banging, Danielle, what are you banging?" and "Did you wash out the pan? I didn't hear water running"! It was hysterical. We figure if you can still spend quality time together from thousands of miles away - you must be doing something right (even if you burn the hell out of dinner... don't look at me- my dinner ROCKED).

Laura's Birthday!

Oh my goodness I feel OLD. We went out last night for dinner and drinks at Hunan Manor and then bowled until 1am. I remember my early 20's. I could stay out until 3am and still get up for my 8am classes AND make it through soccer practice! What happened to me?! Today I'm exhausted. But seriously, gooooood times!
Laura and Jay DEFINITELY not drinking alcohol....

Me and the Birthday Girl!

This would be Greg in our third game where we decided to bowl for "Style Points"

Aaaaand Pete....

And bowling through eachother's legs... this is about when I started wondering if we'd get kicked out....

Good times, my friends. HAPPY 29TH, SIS!

Pictures of my HUZ!

For those of you who've been asking: Rob is doing great! (30 more days!!!) He's joined a hash house out in Iraq and as usual, everyone loves him. He's been the Hare a few times and earned his "hash name" (which I will not be printing here) Pause: for those of you who are seriously confused, google "hash" or "hashing" and you can read all about it. Our site requires research from time to time. We find it keeps you fresh.
If my ADD doesn't get the best of me, I'll post a picture of him with this entry.

Moving On: Tomorrow is also my sister's 29th birthday (dun Dun DUN!) I'm taking her out bowling with some friends this weekend. You know...if her back doesn't go out on her... I hear that happens to old people. (Zing!) Man I love being a little sister.

Additional Non-related Thoughts By Danielle:
Is anyone else out there still watching Grey's Anatomy? If so...were you secretly hoping that Grey was going to drowned over the past few weeks? No?....oh...me either...
No seriously, I don't mean to sound sadistic, but it is FAKE and I've hit my limit with Meredith's whining. If five minutes could pass on the show where we don't have to hear her go on and on about McDreamy and her relationship problems, well... let's just say it wouldn't be the worst thing. Although it was pretty obvious she would pull through. Otherwise the show would have to change their name to "... Anatomy".

Sorry that reading this entry has been a lot like Channel Surfing... like I said; ADD. ;-)

Mr. and Mrs. Potownley Head

Well it's getting a little warmer and the ice is finally melting. I've been dying to get outside and throw around the frisbee...also possibly take Scout to the dog park so he'll stop following me around the house like "Children of the Corn". The new job is going well and keeping me busy. My office is full of sarcastic people - which is a little sice of heaven for me.
Laura and I have decided it's "Sister Weekend". We just got back from the mall where we purchased Mr. Potato Heads (don't roll your eyes. you know you wish you'd thought of it first).

This is our"loose interpretation" of the Townleys! Love you honey!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wow, so really- this Valentine's Day in no way comes close to last year- but all things considered (Rob being in Iraq) it wasn't so bad. Work was closed, thanks to the crazy ice storm, so Jessica and I spent hours in the new craft room catching up on scrapbooking. Rob sent me flowers (he's my favorite husband ever), and had gourmet meals delivered to our front door- so for dinner I had filet mingon with a salad and a twice baked potato (SERIOUSLY my favorite husband ever). As if that wasn't enough, Josh and Heather (friends of ours) stopped by to give me flowers and chocolates "in lieu of Rob's absence". And later this evening, while watching syndicated television/ talking on the phone with another military wife (strength in numbers, ladies) the Dz's invited me over to watch a movie.

Here I was all prepared to spend today alone - this being the day of LUUUUV - and my friends were all over the place!
You guys are sweet. And as my Spanish candy hearts say (that's right, you can buy them in Spanish now) - TE AMO!

P.S. it's late and I'm sure I spelled everything wrong....yeah, I reeely dont kare.

History Repeats Itself

You might remember Feb 13th of last year when I flew out to see Rob in Africa for Valentine's Day. (Pause: Unless you and your sweetie personally saved the world on Valentine's Day, I still claim that we hold the title for the best one yet). Anyway, while I will not be flying out this year (obviously) the weather catastrophe from last year has reared it's ugly head again. Fortunately this time the only trip I'll be missing out on is to the gym. Cause really... ice+snow = popcorn+movies!

40 days and 40 nights

That's how long we have until Rob comes home.... That's also how long it took God to flood the entire earth. So...yeah.....

I'm hanging out at the casa de Townley today... I've been on a movie-watching heist over the last few days. It got so bad last night that I actually watched "My Girl". I feel like that is a desperate cry for help- or should I say heat. Hibernating in the winter doesn't do it for me.. it needs to warm up outside already.

Baby it's cold outside.

Just thought you guys in the southern part of the US would like to know. As of 4pm in Maryland- it's literally ONE DEGREE outside.


....global warming my a$$.

Fargo. Yeah.

So... yesterday I cleaned our house from top to bottom and decided to do 'dinner and a movie' at home with my dog. I borrowed Fargo from my neighbors (who own every DVD known to man) and proceeded to watch what I THOUGHT was a movie about either a hockey team or sled dogs.

Yeah. Just in case you ever wanted to rent that to watch with your kids, you should know; It ain't about hockey, folks. I'd like to cite the most disturbing point of the movie which involved a human inside of a wood chipper. Yeah, that won't keep you up at night....
I'm going to go rent something a little less depressing, like Titanic.

alright already!

Okay, I'm posting this specifically for someone at work who HOUNDS me daily to post pictures of the craft room... (*ahem*)
I was going to do the whole "before and after" thing... but I can't access the before photos right now (re: I'm too lazy to do that) so here are the 'afters'

Don't think it hasn't dawned on me that it takes a very secure man to let his wife paint a room lavender. :-)
Hope you like it, Honey!

I'm bringing sexy back

Well, as predicted, this past week was NUTS! I was working long hours at the new job because my yearly check-ups (doc, dentist, etc) are all set up for the same time of year so I can get them all over with. But with my job being brand new, I have no PTO saved up, so I've been making up hours like a champion! I have a serious computer tan. (I'm hot like that).
Anyway, glad that's over!
Rob FINALLY got the package that a bunch of us have been working on since November! We made about 5 short videos on DVD (The new macs have a sweet movie editing feature complete with sound track, credits, etc.) and sent them off to him in Iraq. I hadn't mentioned it before because our friends made me swear I'd keep it a surprise. Rob and I are not good at keeping surprises from each other, so this is pretty monumental. If all of the participants consent, maybe we'll post the blooper reel on youtube or something. Stay tuned for that one!
My other project has been our (re: my) craft room- which is finally complete, but I seem to be too busy to take a picture of... I'll work on that this weekend.
The only other news I have is that Rob comes home in roughly 48 MORE DAYS! Or, as Rob puts it; "NEXT MONTH! (there's a chance we're already getting excited about that one).

And in the morning? I'm making Waffles!

Today is my buddy, Jenn's WEDDING DAY! (CONGRATS YOU GUYS!) In our excitement for our friends, Rob and I decided to comply with their "no wedding gifts, please" request and simply get them a "Happy National January 28th!" gift. (It's legit. I looked it up). Anyway, we decided on the waring pro waffle maker. My uncle bought us one on our wedding day and we use it almost every weekend. We've been buying them for people's weddings ever since. So I brought it over this morning because I knew they had a ton of family over and may need some "breakfast help".
I got my huge box out of the car, went inside to say hi and found them already eating breakfast....more specifically, eating WAFFLES. (dun Dun DUN!). Awk.Ward.
Actually I have a history of buying people stuff they already have. Call it a "gift". (get it? gift? I'm so good.)
So, back to the drawing board for the Townleys...

In other news, Rob is doing really well. We have something like 50 days left until he comes home! (!!!!!) And in case you weren't aware, we are closing in on the FINAL YEAR of his enlistment! (Party at our house). So yeah, 2007 is looking good here in Townley-land. Okay. Tomorrow is Monday and if this week is anything like last week- I'll see you guys on Saturday.

Spin it

Well THAT week went by fast! Dude. I'm not even sure I was in it!
In an effort NOT to simply donate $35 a month to Gold's Gym, I'm getting back on track with showing up for work outs. I know it sounds crazy, but when I was home all day, I just couldn't seem to make time to go- but after a ten hour work day when I'm dog tired, for some reason it's surprisingly appealing. Anyway, so I started with a spinning class the other day. (Spinning = stationary bike work out). And someone must have left out the OH SO IMPORTANT sidenote that the (drill) instructor who teaches it thinks we're training for the Tour de France. By then end of the class all I could say was "I...want...my....mom". After class the instructor encouraged us all to be sure to show up on Sunday for her TWO HOUR CLASS. (riiiiight, that'll happen). I haven't really felt comfortable sitting since then, but I'm told the bruising will subside.