Milspouse Friday Fill-In

This week’s questions are
1.What is something you wished you’d learned to do earlier in life?

I wish I had learned to ski.  I've been a couple of times, and while I have gotten better (trust me, it was hard for me to get much worse), I would love to be able to swoosh down the slopes.  
2.What is your biggest pet peeve with the military?

Deployments are starting to wear me a little thin.  I'm all about Gunner doing his part, but why has he been gone 3 years in Iraq and now to Afghanistan, when some guys haven't been yet.  My friend asked her ex's CO that same question because hers never deployed.  He answered with "You don't want an idiot with you".  While that doesn't apply to all people, how do you make it an entire enlistment and not go anywhere?  

1. What tourist attraction near you have you never seen?

That's easy to answer since we have only been here a year.  I haven't seen Pikes Peak, with the kids.  I saw it when I was 7, but that was years and years and years ago.  

1. What are you avoiding doing right now?

Folding laundry so I can go to bed.  I dread folding laundry.  It's not the actual folding, but the delivering and putting away, which if I don't do, I see the same clothes in the laundry again.  A never-ending cycle...

1. Wine, beer or liquor?

I like it all, but lately it is wine.  I loved the beer in Germany though!

Who's in this with me?

Who else is dealing with deployment right now?  I'd like to make sure I am reading your blog, so please leave a comment with a link!

While you are at it, why don't you give me your best deployment tip, I could use a few new ones.  Thanks!

Wordless Wednesday--Saying Goodbye

Something I Heard

Part of the problem with deployments, is that there is a lot of sitting around and waiting.  There's only so many times you can say "I love you" or "I'll miss you", and you spend a lot of time sitting there not having to say a word.  At this point, I can rest my head on Gunner's shoulder, he'll put his arm around me, and we both understand.

At one point I needed to get out of the stuffy company, so I went outside where I found a Soldier talking to his buddy and his buddy's wife.  The Soldier was telling his buddy that he just didn't have any words left to say to his family, and that while they kept calling, he kept blowing them off.  Probably hard for his family, but I can understand that.

Anyway, after the Soldier's buddy and his wife went back inside the company, the Soldier got on his cell phone and called his mom.  I couldn't help but listen into the conversation, okay, so I was eavesdropping on this 21 year old kid that was about to head out.

Soldier:  Hey Mom, sorry I don't call, I just don't have anything to say.

More chit chat between mom and son.

Soldier:  I was just talking to my best friend and his wife.  He's got it hard Mom, he's got a wife and a baby and she has two other kids from a previous marriage.  He's got a family, and he has to leave them.  I know you don't want to hear this mom, but my job over there is to make sure that he comes back to his family.

Soldier:  I'd do anything mom, anything to make sure he comes home.  I don't have kids, my job is to keep him safe.

At this point I had to leave before I started sobbing.  This kid is 21 years old and is more worried about making sure his buddy comes home than himself.  You can't get much more selfless than that.

When you enter post, there is the Soldier's Creed.  The kids like to read it while we drive by.  Last night I saw yet another man, that lived by it.

I am an American Soldier.

I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

The Time Has Come

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."


--Lewis Carroll


Or we could talk about deployments.


Saying goodbye for a year....again.


Watching your Soldier say goodbye to the kids.


Knowing how much they will miss, no matter how much you try to fill them in on everything.


Taking out the trash for a year, a task I hate.


Coordinating activities, bath time, bedtimes, for three energetic children.


But I think for now I will just focus on getting this place unpacked, before I lose my mind!