Strong Bonds, Block Leave and Gearing Up...

I've been busy, so posting has been minimal which I am sure is obvious. Hubby and I dove into February head first and its been a bit of a whirlwind. His battalian managed a last minute booking of a resort in Vermont for a Strong Bonds retreat. For those who don't know, Strong Bonds retreats are little seminars where the chaplains of a battalion arrange for the Army to pay for a certain number of soldiers and family members to go away from base for a few days and spend time in a resort. Mandatory classes occupy a few hours of the days but then the rest of the time you are free to relax and explore the areas and the attractions.
Erik and I missed the first go-round so he jumped up and was first in line to jot our names down for this one. We found out the next week we'd be leaving that weekend so we rushed to find a puppy-sitter (Thank you, Claryssa!) and then packed up.
Our original intent was to ride the bus with the single soldiers attending, but when we realized that meant we would either have to catch a cab or car pool to attractions in the area we opted for the drive. We both hate driving distances, but pleasantly the drive was much shorter than estimated and was a relaxing drive. I will, however, admit that driving over all the bridges through Lake Champlain and seeing people ice fishing puzzles me. I understand ice fishing is nothing new and people have been doing it a long time, but why in the world would you go out into the middle of a body of water, knowing that below the ice you are standing on is water. Then of course, you cut a giant hole in said ice. First of all, if you fall in, you are most likely going to get stuck under the ice and be unable to escape. However, if by some miracle you make it out, you'll probably die from hypothermia anyway! Go to the store, buy some fish, and wait for spring and summer to actually do the fishing! Moving on... Once we arrived we checked in and got set up in the hotel. It was gorgeous. It had an indoor/outdoor theme so someplaces indoors looked as if you were outdoors and areas that were outdoors flowed smoothly into the indoors. The hotel also has two restaurants, both with mediocre food that was overpriced but that's sort of what I expected anyway. My martini was good, I'll give them that! Our buffet-style set up at the classes themselves was good as well, for the most part, though the chicken was extremely bland and dry. We enjoyed our classes and spending time with others in our battalion and we took a few excursions into the area. We visited the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory and the original Ben and Jerry's Factory as well as a quiet dinner in downtown Burlington wherein our waitress was a snotty brat and I happily informed her manager and hostess of this fact and left as soon as our food arrived. After the trip, Erik and I hopped the ferry back across the lake and found that trip, although more scenic, to be shorter. Everyone had avoided the route we took home under rumors of the roads being closed for winter, but clearly not seeing as we both arrived home a little before everyone else!
As for following our weekend together, we picked up our pup, arrived home and spent Sunday lazing around the house doing absolutely nothing but watch television and talk. The upcoming weekend is dear hubby's week of block leave but our plans to go to Tennessee have been canceled so instead we will be enjoying home together and making the best of canceled plans. With all of the Pre-D gearing up he has to do and all of this inspections we've had to put out alot more than we take in, so thank God for our income tax refund.
I'd better take out the trash and get a coat and shoes together now. I'm off in about an hour with my friend, the wonderful pet-sitter, Claryssa, to interview her midwife. I've continued to spread the baby bug! Haha!

<3s
Fae