9-19-11

Today was a really great day for Kerriann and me.  We started the day with a nice warm bubbly bath for Kerriann, followed by a yummy breakfast and cartoons until it was time for school.  Today was picture day, so we picked out a cute outfit for her to change into later in the day and then headed to school!  She cried when I dropped her off, but it was nothing like the scared "please don't leave me, mommy" cry that I heard from her last week.

After dropping her off, I headed out to take a few pictures for my photojournalism class.  Our assignment, due today, was to take three photos.  A landscape, a cityscape, and a "peoplescape."  For some reason, this assignment was really hard for me.  I did have less time than my classmates because I missed class last week to take Kevin to the airport, but that's really no excuse.  I just wasn't feeling inspired.  I'd much rather take photos of people than random "stuff."  This is the "least pretty" time of year, too if you ask me.  I wish we had had this assignment in a couple of weeks when the leaves are changing!  Anyways, here are a couple of shots that I took of the Sutton bridge while I was searching for cityscape opportunities...

Back to today... after I was done with my photography assignment, I headed to Mon General for a barium swallow test.  If you've never heard of it, it's a test that's usually done to check for acid reflux or GERD.  And yes, it is as disgusting as it sounds.  You have to drink barium, which is a chalky liquid, while they take photos of your insides with you in different positions (standing and laying).  It was a relatively quick procedure, but it was not very pleasant.  The highlight of the testing was the gift card they gave me for a free drink at their hospital cafe when the test was complete.  I chose a wild berry smoothie and soon the taste of barium was long gone. :)

After my appointment, my friend Courtney and her son Logan stopped by for a visit on their way back to Virginia.  It was great catching up with them!  I love hanging out with Courtney because her husband is a Marine so she "gets it."  They've survived deployments and I know that she is going to be a great source of support for me over the next year.

When it was time for Courtney to get back on the road, I went to my Monday afternoon class, and then it was time to pick up Kerriann!  Her teachers said that she did much better today and only cried in the morning.  I was so happy to hear that!  This was the first day that I picked her up and she wasn't crying.  She also seemed to be back to her usual self in the evening.  We spent the night grocery shopping, eating tacos, talking with Grammy and Papa on the phone, and snuggling on the couch and watching Olivia.  We also got to Skype with Daddy for a few minutes before bed.  Her favorite part was giving him "high fives" over and over again.

I can only hope that we will have many more days like today over the course of Kevin's deployment.