Dear Rob,
I love you and am so glad you are healthy this Memorial Day and are safe. I missed having you with us today. I took the kids to our local Memorial Day event. It was small maybe 50 people mostly older people. It was so neat though watching all the men stand up for when they served. There was a man in front of us who served in Dessert storm. When he saluted it brought chills down my spine. I guess you never forget how to salute.
I came home and cleaned out the girl’s closet and put away most of their winter clothes so we had more room and could stay organized.
The kids played outside in the rain this evening but only for about 20 minutes before it started lightening. We got a whole day of school done today. Michael only has about 7 days left of school. I am looking forward to a break.
I think I will be going to Fuquay in the next couple of days because Roberta said I could borrow her steam cleaner. Okay the rest of this letter is going to be in pictures. I love you babe and cannot wait to talk to you.
Love ya babe,
Pamela PETRIE
okay the first two pictures are 2 of about 30 that I took of the kittens today. I am trying to take pictures to make posters and this is how they came out. Do you think they will help?
This is the girls at the Memorial Day event. I think I want to make them red white and blue outfits.
Hope demanded that I take a picture of her playing baseball to send you. She cried all day until I got the picture.

the last picture was tonight when they were playing in the rain, everyone came running in and left her. Michael went back outside and helped her inside.

Dear Rob,
I know you miss us but today I am sure you will be glad you are not here. We came home from church to a horrible smell. Apparently the cat got sick while we were gone. On the rug in the kitchen, on the living room carpet, and on the rugs in our bathroom. YUCKO and you know how I am with YUCK.
I honestly did not want to go to church this morning because I knew with it being Memorial Day there would be talk about soldiers being away. But guess what they never said anything about it being Memorial Day weekend. Honest it kinda annoyed me but I am not totally for sure why.
We came home and relaxed most of the day. This evening the kids went outside and played baseball. I love when they play together. Grace came in the house and cried and said that I have been forgetting to feed her the second lunch of the day and she is hungry. I promise I am feeding her.
I love you babe and hope you come on line tomorrow so I can tell you. I guess I am going to go to bed early tonight so we can get things done tomorrow.
I love you babe,
Pamela PETRIE

Dear Rob,
We have had a great day. We did not do school. I made and iced the sheet cake for church tomorrow and hopefully will remember to take it tomorrow. I wish I had thought to decorate it red white and blue.
I made four loaves of bread that turned out great. We had burgers for lunch. I made cookies for you and have a box ready to go out to you.
We had another rain storm today and guess what the kids went out and played. Hope was in one of my t-shirts and Michael was in his pajamas but I did not care. Faith came straight from the shower to play outside. They had a great time. I took a million pictures. I will admit that neighbors would stop and stare when they drove by. I am sure most of our neighbors do not even know we have kids. Grace walked out into the rain and came right back to the porch and said she did not want water in her eyes. But Michael talked her into it. I bet they were out there 30 minutes.
Thank you for calling this morning. I felt kind of sneaky hiding out in my room talking to you but it was nice talking alone.
I love you babe and hope when I wake up you are on line.
I love you babe,
Pamela PETRIE

Oh Rob, it is the best. I am setting on the porch right now and it is quiet and the wind is blowing and the sun is down. I came out to talk on the phone 20 minutes ago and as I was talking the son went down and the wind started blowing. We are suppose to have storms tonight. I hope they start soon because this is wonderful. The kids are playing with the kittens. I do not even care that it is after bedtime because I am enjoying it so much. I swear I can hear the rain but it is not hear. I keep looking for it.
Speaking of bedtime I have to make you laugh. So you know I was up the other night talking to the alarm company and trying to figure out what the beeping was. Well last night I went to let the dog in and he was gone. I searched the house, went back in the backyard with a flashlight (note to self, the flashlight app is not very bright). Checked the girls room for the thumping sound of his tale and nothing. Even came out front thinking maybe he got out of the fence and nothing. I was getting really nervous and about to start driving around the neighborhood but did not want to wake the kids. So I looked under the girl’s bed and guess who I found. I stayed up last night watching some cop show and the night before watching dirty dancing. I have got to go to bed early tonight.
We had a great day. The zoo was wonderful. I was concerned my foot would hurt but it never did. The other one did for some crazy reason but the one hurt feels great. Most of the animals were laying around and not too active but the kids did not mind. Grace walked most of the day. We did not eat there but I did splurge and get ice cream. We parked in almost the same spot as last time. The new lens was wonderful.
OOH, I wish you could feel this wind. It is wonderful. I just told Michael to open all the windows up again. I am missing you now and wishing you were here to hear this thunder and lightning. I wish we had that swing on the front porch right now.
Can you believe a year ago today you got your first tube put into your leg. What a wild weekend last Memorial Day was. This year we are staying home and relaxing. The kids think they are doing school tomorrow but we will see how the day goes.
We did not order pizza tonight because we were all tired and I picked up dollar burgers on the way home but man am I wishing we would have right now.
Okay, I guess I should probably shut down my laptop since it is not even on a surge protector. I love you so much and cannot wait to talk to you tomorrow.
Love you babe,
Pamela PETRIE

Dear Rob,
Thank you for coming on line today. Thank you for needing me today. I feel so much better when I know I am helping you. I think that is one of the hardest things about deployment. The fact that I cannot help you is hard, I feel useless in our marriage when you are away. I am not washing your clothes or making sure your food is here or that you are hugged daily. Today you needed me and that made my world.
I am glad you are getting a little more rest now that makes me feel better. We had a great done. We were done with school by 1pm and I got little sewing done. We decided we are taking the day off school tomorrow and going to the zoo. The kids promised to do school on Saturday. Would you believe Michael’s hard drive arrived this afternoon. I could not believe I called yesterday and it was here today. Have I said I love BJU.
I cannot wait to go to the zoo and use my new lens. Can you believe it is Memorial Day weekend? Can you remember last year? Tomorrow starts the first time I took you to get your leg drained. If you think about it will you send me a picture of the scar on your leg, I would love to do a before and after picture.
I love you babe but if I am going to wrestle with four children at the zoo I better get to bed. I want to leave here at 7am to get on the road. I love you.
I love you babe,
Pamela Petrie

Dear Rob,
I am sorry; you do not deserve me being so snippy with you this morning. We rarely get to talk and when we do you should have me at my best. It is not your fault the toilet is not flushing and the sink is not draining and the steam mop is not working and the hard drive broke or that I am PMS’sing and that I hate having a cycle because it means I am not pregnant (I know we are not even trying).
All you were doing was trying to talk me through how to fix things and I was to snippy to listen. You were right the hard drive is bad and Bob Jones University is sending out another one. It should be here in a couple of days.
Please know if you come on tomorrow I will be in a much better mood even if the garage door is being wonky and the lawn looks like a 2 year old cut it and the back alarm keeps beeping and Grace cries for no reason.
We had a good day, we managed to get school done and Michael even finished mowing the front yard before we left for his appointments. I have to admit I almost left before testing could even start. I walked into the building and the smell of cigarette smoke about knocked you over. The girls would not be quiet about it. Then they said we actually had two appointments and when I questioned it they got snippy about it. In the end I got over my attitude. The head DR apologized for the smell and explained he is 68 and has always smoked and that is why his office is upstairs. He said he knew it was wrong. I told him it is not my right to judge him But that my 4 year old will have a asthma attack tonight from being exposed to his smoke. I wanted him to understand it is his right to smoke but that a DR office should be safe. He told me that tri care only pays for a 6 part test and we need a 12 part. After talking to the receptionist I found out that he does not believe in charging for anything other than what the insurance will pay. He told me that he wants Michael to come back for some more in depth testing and then showed me a video on Asperser’s. I told him it was Michael to a T and that is what I have thought for a while. They did not have another appointment until June 21st. Which is annoying, it should NOT take 3 months. He said they are backed up because it is the end of the school year and every parent wants IEP’s done now. I was annoyed but what can I do. Maybe they will get a cancellation.
We left there and went to counseling, by this time the girls were done with waiting rooms and getting antsy. They made it. Counseling went well. Then we went to the commissary to pick up a few things which turned into several things.
We had to stop and pick up cat food after that because the commissary did not have any kitten food. We made it home, ate dinner, put away the cold food and now everyone is in bed and hopefully asleep.
Did I tell you one day last week the kids found a birds nest in the bush right by the van. Michael stole a egg and hid it in his room, Hope told on him so he put it in the trash, Hope put it back in the nest. I am attaching a picture of the new babies. It looks like there are two or three babies. I will continue to take pictures to show you.
Okay baby I better go I need to call ADT and figure out why the back alarm keeps going off. I love you and beg you to forgive me for my craziness today.
Love you babe,
Pamela PETRIE

Dear Rob,
I hope you got the rest you so wanted and needed. Can I just say you cracked me up when you sent those pictures today?
I love you babe and miss talking to you, I cannot wait for us to have a real conversation.
So how did I spend my day? I mopped our bathroom floor, I unclogged the toilet, I put away 5 loads of laundry. We got school done today.
I made chicken and fries for dinner. Actually I had Michael start dinner and I finished it. I am going to have to get back on track with the girls. They are starting to play and not go to sleep like they should.
Michael’s appointment got changed tomorrow so I will be home if you can come on line. PLEASE come on line.
Michael’s computer is acting wonky again. I swear it says it is done with school for the year. I think it can tell I am ready for summer vacation.
I think I will push them to keep working until the week we leave for vacation and then be done for 6 weeks. That way we all get a break. Who knows maybe I will learn to quilt during that time.
Guess what I woke up? Kittens, mommy has kept them out from my closet all day. I introduced one to curly but he wanted nothing to do with it. Then I saw him in my room sniffing one and then he walked away. So maybe we are okay.
I love you babe but I really need to go have a talk with your princesses who are giggling and you know a princess must have her beauty rest or at least there momma must hers. I love you.
Love you babe,
Pamela PETRIe

Dear Rob,
I love you and miss you. We had a wonderful day and got a lot done. School got done. I made bread. I made a new peanut butter cookie recipe and made a chocolate cake recipe. I also made candied grapes which I think you will like.
Tonight we went to Darcy’s for dinner and had a great time. I really enjoyed talking to her and the kids had fun. Can I just say she looks amazing? She has worked hard and you can tell it.
We do not have any plans other than school tomorrow. I have got to get this laundry caught up and put away. It is taking over the living room.
I know I am sending you a ton of kitten pictures but you have not seen them in a couple of days. They are getting so big. They are starting to play with us and the one that looks like momma actually licks us. Last night I watched Army Wives and then went to bed and stayed up another hour playing with them. I never get time alone with them.
Okay babe I love you but I have got to get in bed. And I guess Hope is sleeping with me. Grace has kind of attached herself to Faith recently. Last night Faith told the girls some story about a crazy butterfly and scared them. So I made her sleep with the girls and told her if they wake up she must comfort them. I do not mind Hope sleeping with me because she stays on her side and it makes her feel special.
Good night, I love you babe,
Pamela Petrie

Dear Rob,
I love you and miss you. More today than most days. It has officially been a month. A month since you handed me your keys, since your lips touched mine, since I went to bed alone. It has been a month of mornings where I peek out the window before turning on lights to make sure THE car is not in our drive way with the news every military spouse is scared of. It has been a month since I tucked myself into bed, since Grace hugged her daddy. Last night she told me “mommy when I close my eyes I can not see daddy’s eyes anymore”. She could not get in bed fast enough before I lost it.
Honey I love you and respect you for what you are doing. Rather you are knocking on doors or setting at a desk you are keeping us safe and for that I can handle a few more lonely nights. But tonight I am not feeling very understanding of you being gone.
Okay moving on because I remember the motto “suck it up and drive on”. I think it is does not help that I am listening to country music. Brookes and Dunn are splitting up or something so they are on TV.
We had a good day. Michael woke me up before 6am. He asked what he could do and I said to go mow the grass. A few minutes later I realized he was mowing the grass and it was not even 6:30AM. So I went out to tell him he should not be mowing the grass when I noticed it was raining. I said Michael you cannot mow the grass in the rain and he said it felt good. By the time we got home it was too wet to mow the grass. Church went well; we are getting the hang of cleaning up afterwards. I think now that we know what we need to do we are working better together.
We came home and relaxed. Well I relaxed while the kids cleaned up their rooms and then I worked on making camera strap covers. Before I knew it, it was after 8pm. It is already 10 and the girls are just falling asleep. Faith told the girls some story about a mean butterfly so no one could sleep.
I love you babe and cannot wait to have you home again and not just because I do not have a clue how to work my Iphone or because the riding lawnmower is not working.
Love you babe,
Pamela PETRIE

Dear Rob,
Today was a wonderful relaxing day. We did nothing and stayed home. Well we did a lot or at least I did. I made 4 dresses and 2 skirts. I cut material to make camera strap covers.
The kids played all day and just enjoyed hanging out. It rained off and on so they could not go out. I am hoping to get up and mow the grass before church if the ground is dry. Then we are coming home to relax some more. I need to put away laundry but we will see.
I did change the tape on the kitten’s legs which I hate but it seems to be working. One of the yellow kittens is so cute. He comes out the most and plays the most. It is so cute. The kids cannot keep their hands off of them.
We did have a casualty today, Grace broke the change jar. Right in our bedroom carpet. I will not tell you how long it took to pick up the money and try not to get cut. Hope is happy because now she has to eat a jar of pickles.
I have not figured out how to get the pictures from my phone to the computer yet. This is where I need you.
I did get the hotel room reserved for when I go with your mom. I am staying at a Holiday inn for $78 with an indoor pool.
I looked up Camden Park on line. Can you believe it is $20 a person now? WOW and honest it did not look much better than when we went and you have to pay for parking. I cannot wait to show them some of our home town and take lots of pictures.
I love you babe and cannot wait to hear from you.
Pamela Petrie

Dear Rob,
The best thing ever happened today. Ian called. You know it is not really that Ian himself called. But the fact that I wrote that I needed help and within a couple of hours he was instantly on the phone with me. This is how military families are supposed to help one another. Even if it is something silly like a cell phone question.
We had a good day. We got school done and laundry is done. I can fold it and put it away tomorrow. Right now as I am typing this Grace is setting next to me working a puzzle on my new phone. A few minutes ago Hope was working on sight words. I may really like this phone. No worries they are literally touching me. I am being extra careful.
I love you babe and was so excited to know you are not traveling any more. Are you settled in your new room? Have you unpacked yet? Did you get the room all cleaned up?
I need to mow tomorrow but I think it can wait another day; I want to spend the day sewing and relaxing.
Rob these kittens are so cute, I am glad you cannot see them because you would never let us get rid of them.
I hope you like the pictures and thanks again for the wonderful new lens.
I love you babe,
Pamela Petrie

Dear Rob,
You are such a wonderful man and I respect you more than you know. Thank you for making a effort to come on line just to tell me you are safe. It makes me sleep better at night.
We had a crazy day. We stayed home all day but the kids were just out of sorts for somewhere. So they all went to bed early.
We are home tomorrow and are going to try to get school done early so we can have movie night. I got a new movie from Family Christian bookstore to watch.
The kittens are so stinken cute and I am so enjoying them being here.
Oh, Oh, we made bread today and I took one of the loaves and rolled it out like cinnamon rolls and then baked it in a loaf pan. So yummy. I will definitely be doing it again. I think it would make great French toast. I may just have to make that for breakfast in the morning.
I love you babe and am heading to bed. My foot is sorer tonight than yesterday but I think it is okay. I hope you are getting sleep and good food and that there is plenty of diet pepsi to last you.
Love you babe,
Pamela PETRIE

Dear Rob,
Thank you so much for coming on line just in time to help me with picking out a phone. Now if you were only here to teach me how to use it.
We went to hobby lobby before counseling and picked up enough material to make each girl a couple more dresses. Even Faith asked me to make her more clothes.
The counselor said he thinks Michael is ready to start coming every 2 weeks. I mean I have seen improvements but I am a little nervous about it.
Then we went to the cell phone store and spent 2 hours. Can you imagine 2 hours telling them not to touch things? She said my phone did not have insurance. Only yours, I said what since does that make. She was so nice to us. She called several times to have them work with me. She gave me the I Phone for $99 and waved the upgrade fee.
We went to pet smart and picked up a harness for the cat but did not use it today. Then we went to Walgreens to pick up Michael’s med and that is where it happened. What you may ask. Hope dropped a BIG bottle of soda on top of my foot. She was trying to put it on the counter and dropped it. I did not even squeal because I could not breathe. Hope looked at the man and said “it is okay it was my soda not mommies”. All she could think of was she had not shaken my drink up. I made it home with a few tears but made it. Days like today remind me how alone I am. Michael really thought I needed to go to the hospital. I am ok, I will have a bruise but once I got home and got it propped up it was fine and I am walking on it now with no pain.
This little kitten with taped up legs almost runs, it is comical. I had to re tape him this evening. I thought I would cry.
I love you babe and ca not wait to talk to you. I hope you sleep well tonight.
Bye Babe

Dear Rob,
Today is one of those days when I do not like deployments. When I have not heard from you. When I have no idea what you are doing. Wondering if your electricity came back on. I love you so much and miss you like crazy.
We had a good day. We took the kids to the Vet. They said all the kittens weigh right at one pound. I wrote a whole post on it so I will not re write it but I will attach a couple of pictures. Then we went to Wal-Mart and picked up a few things.
So my phones touch screen is not working right. Sometimes not at all, sometimes perfectly. I called Cingular and they said the warranty is up and so I have to pay full price for a new one. I will go tomorrow to look into it. I hate to spend the money but I cannot imagine missing a phone call from you.
Guess what came in the mail today. All I will say is it takes pictures far away and close up. I have not had much time to play with it. I am attaching 2 pictures from me setting at the kitchen table. I need someone to teach me how to use it.
The weather was so cool here the last couple of days. I have been able to keep the windows open and even been cold a few times.
Love you Babe

Dear Rob,
Your children, yes YOUR children are so excited about taking the kittens to the vet tomorrow that they can not sleep. The kitten who had his eye closed has it back open. So now the only one I am worried about the one who does not walk as well. We will go as soon as we wake up.
We got lots of school work done today. We finally had the peeps battle in the microwave, not as exciting as the kids would have liked.
I hope your electricity came back on, I can not imagine you going without AC. I have had our AC off all day and the windows open. I even set the fan in front of the back door to pull in the cold air for a while. It rained most of the day and I love it.
Did I tell you Grace has a new favorite show. She loves Little House on the Prairie. It works great for me because now I have a excuse to watch it more. I should be recording it.
I love you so much and am hoping to get a box out tomorrow. I feel bad it has taken me so long to get it done.
I love you babe,
Pamela Petrie
p.s. do you think Grace is asleep in this picture.

Dear Rob,
Guess what we are FINALLY having our first thunderstorm. I wish you were here to set on the porch with me. Do you remember when we use to set on the car port on Witty lane? I love thunderstorms but am not thrilled it waited until bedtime to start.
We had a great day. Faith and Cheyenne were up until way after midnight but they were not loud so I did not mind. That is what a sleepover is about. I slept on the couch last night in case they decided to get up and move around in the night. I was surprised they were up before 7am. I woke up and started the wings for church. I was going to make pancakes and realized we did not have syrup. Can you imagine us without syrup? Speaking of which, I have decided that I am only going to buy shredded wheat or cornflake cereal. No more fun cereal. The girls and I are really enjoying oatmeal or eggs everyday and I am sure it is better for us.
Lunch went great at church today. We had more than enough food. Before everyone came back to eat I made the kids plates and set them at a back table. I had the kitchen cleaned back up before people started eating so it worked out well. They had a meeting about the changes when they combine services but I did not stay. I wanted to but I was hot and tired and the kids were tired and I knew it was not worth the stress.
We came home and did NOTHING, I even took a nap. It was wonderful. I did not even ask them to do evening chores. I made pork tenderloin and mash potatoes and green beans for dinner. Everyone said it was good.
Okay, I am officially worried about 2 of the kittens. The one that looks like momma cat had both eyes open and now one of them is closed. The light gray one that does not have a tail does not walk as well as the other two. I will call the vet in the morning and they go in on Tuesday to get de wormed.
So the funniest thing happened today. The girls were playing hide and seek and Faith was hiding behind the couch. We kept saying ok, you can come out. She never answered. Finally she said I can’t I am stuck. I only laughed for a few minutes.
Did I tell you that I bought a top piece for our big thing of ketchup? It looks like a restraint one but it works and I am not refilling bottles.
Oh yeah, I am trying to remember to tell you about changes in the house. So I reversed my table and chair the other day. Then I put the lamp on that table. I do not know why but it looks really good. I think I want a chair for our bedroom. You know once we get all the cat toys out of there.
I love you and hope you sleep well tonight.
Love you babe,
Pamela Petrie
p.s. we are under a thunderstorm warning and Cumberland is under a tornado warning. It may be a long night.