Army Blogger Wife

Don't keel over yet, I have valuable advice--GI Bill

2011-12-20T20:27:00.000-06:00

One thing I have learned through this whole retirement process, is that no one ever gives you the full story. That's frustrating because you miss out on a lot of opportunities, and also because you have no idea that you are missing out on them!

So here I am to let you know how it really is. We spent hours upon hours talking to someone from the VA about the GI bill. Apparently the VA has about 6 positions throughout the US, where they have put someone from the VA into several colleges, so that they can make sure that the Vets are taking advantage of all the opportunities afforded to them.

First. If you enlisted in a certain state, and currently live there, check for programs that will pay your way through school. If you enlisted in Texas and retired in Texas (or got out) then you can qualify for the Hazelwood Act. Unfortunately, even though I had Gunner make Texas his home of record, he enlisted in Indiana. Who the heck wants to enlist in Indiana? If we had retired there, then he would have been able to use the program that they have there. If he had retired there, he would be living alone though. :)

Second....have your husband run and give your children 1 month of his GI bill. The beauty of that is, that they can apply for extensions, and he only has to give up one month. I wish we had known about this, and I am kicking myself that I didn't find out about it sooner. Set your kids up for the future, and RUN RUN RUN and give them a month!

If you husband is 20% disabled....only 20%.....then he can use the Chapter 31, vocational rehab. Take advantage of this, without a doubt. They pay for your books, tuition, and supplies. As of August 1st, 2011, you can get vocational rehab with your Ch 33 money, which is more. (For example, Gunner's ch 31 payment if he is full time, is $949.58 because he has 4 dependents. If he goes under Ch 33 money, he gets $1017.)

If your husband hasn't done all of his disability (read Gunner has not, but thankfully it is retroactive), then you can use your Ch 30. Ch 30 is good if you are going to a cheap school, like a community college. They will give you $1473, but you have to pay for everything.

Ch 33 is the post 9/11 GI bill. If you are full time, you can get your books, tuition, fees, supplies, etc paid for, plus receive BHA for an E5 with dependents. So we would get $1017 for this option. This option is great if your spouse is at a 4 year university, and the costs are a lot more.

Side notes:
1. If you start out on Ch 30, then switch to Ch 33, you cannot switch back to 30.
2. If you go with Ch 31 (voc rehab) you get a counselor, employment help, and can get your credits extended to 48 months. There are certain circumstances where they can reallocate even more credits. For example, if you used up almost 36 months of your GI bill, and accomplished nothing, then qualified for the voc rehab track, they can get you requalified for additional credits, if you haven't gotten anywhere, or had a lack of direction.
3. If you are using your GI bill, you must get certified for every semester. Make sure that you take your schedule into the VA office and have them certify you, so that you can get paid.
4. You have to specify a degree plan in order to have the VA pay. Be careful what you take at a community college, because it might not transfer to a 4 year college. The solution is to get a generic degree in Interdisciplinary Studies or General Studies, but take classes that will transfer into the major that you want. This means you have to go to the 4 year college that you want, in order to secure the degree plan and know what you need. This will save you time and money. Trust me.
5. When they say you get credits for your military experience. Don't hold your breath, that you are walking out with an associate's like they say. Try about 12 hours if you are lucky, and they will cover your PE, and your electives. That being said, if you have college credits that only fall under electives, then they will put those first and not count your military credits at all.
6. Make sure you register with www.ebenefits.va.gov in order to have access to all the benefits available. You will have access to benefits by state, compensation, death education, employment, financial services, health, housing, rate table, insurance, retirement, transition assistance, travel & transportation, vocational rehabilitation, calculator, calendar, and prescription refills.
7. If you are a military retiree, then you can obtain Level 2 access in ebenefits if you register using your DFAS pin. Retired personnel who have been issued a DFAS pin may apply for access directly and do not have to proof in person.

Coming up I'll let you know about the additional benefits available for service connected disabled veterans. I'm on a roll.

If you have any questions, let me know and I will ask the lady who helped us out aka the only one who knows what's going on!

Plans?

2011-11-06T08:05:00.001-06:00

I love, love, love to make plans.

I also love to go to school.

When I finished my MBA, I swore off school forever.

I just have a few classes left for my MEd. Then I was thinking a PhD might be nice, but really, what would I do with it?

Part of my thinks I should finish my MEd, and then teach at a community college, but I doubt that they offer that many education classes at that level. Then I started to think about the stress of going back to school to finish, the cost, and I'm no closer than when I started.

We are currently on a three year plan. Gunner has three years to finish his degree, and then he will be going back to work doing something he loves hopefully. My ultimate goal when I entered teaching, was to do something with curriculum design. Of course I don't know how hard that really is, but I did hear from my SIL that they offer a PhD in it. But a PhD takes so long to complete. Dr. has a nice ring to it though, doesn't it?

Sometimes I miss the business world, in that when I leave work, I am done. I don't have to drag papers to grade, books to lesson plan with, or stress about my students.

I have taken so many of those tests that tell you what you want to be when you grow up, and they don't help much. How do you figure out what you are passionate about? How do you decide what you are meant to be? What makes you the happiest? I love teaching, but I know I also want more of something. Any ideas on how to figure it all out?

The Streak Has Ended....

2011-11-01T18:33:00.000-06:00

I almost hate to say this.

In the 22 years that Gunner was in the Army......are you ready for this......they never screwed up his pay. Never ever. During the almost 17 years that we have been married, we have been paid once a month....religiously....and lived happily ever after. Well sort of....

When you retire, your last paycheck is delayed--anywhere from 2-6 weeks. How's that for planning purposes?

It's totally crazy, but I know so many people that look at Finance with such disdain, that I will not complain. I happen to appreciate their timeliness.

It's official, I am married to a civilian. A full time student. A retired GI. I feel old.

Sad part is that I have to get a new ID card, and I don't want to waste time off of work to get it done. Here's hoping that I don't get sick! (knock on wood)

I thought we could celebrate, but real life called and Gunner is off doing the student thing.

I'm sad to think that it has all come to an end, but also thankful that we have survived it. For the 18 years that we have been together, I have always been second priority. Always. Sure I know he loves me most of all, but there is no arguing that you are always going to be pushed to the side if the Army calls.

The Army doesn't care if you just had a baby, your dad passed away, your lawn needs to be mowed, or that your inlaws are coming to visit. She also doesn't care that you are in the hospital, or that you have to somehow figure out how to be 3 places at once.

For the FIRST time, I am his first priority. Well of course there are three kiddos too, but I don't have to fight for his attention. He won't deploy. He won't get late middle of the night phone calls to check the alert roster (rest assured, in 22 years, it never failed). There will be no lockdowns due to missing items. No one will write me a ticket if my lawn isn't mowed. He won't be gone for years at a time. I can make plans, and the Army won't interfere at the last minute.

There will be no PT. No piles of dirty ACU's to wash. No mandatory fun days. No deployments. No Staff Duty. No CQ. No being responsible for Soldiers that make poor decisions.

Not everything is peaches and cream. There will be no dressing up for balls. No homecomings. No ACU's. Will I ever move again????? Not to mention, the boy will be home all.the.time. (Come on now, he's been home off and on for 18 years, plus gone for 5 years, a girl gets used to that! Surely I am not the only one that treasures some alone time! (For the record, the year deployments suck!))

We are adjusting to our new norm. I go to work and he goes to school and takes care of the kids. I can actually make plans, and then at the last minute not have to cancel due to the Army. The lawn needs to be mowed, and I just point it out. I haven't taken the trash out since he returned home from Afghanistan. I've learned that I have a love/hate relationship with the Army.

When push comes to shove though.......I will always love the Army and the life it provided for the last 18 years that I've been with Gunner. For that I am grateful, but I am going to miss it......terribly......

My name is ABW

2011-10-30T19:56:00.000-06:00

I could tell you that tomorrow is my husband's last day of active duty.

I could also tell you that we cleaned the garage today and that we still have about half a ton of TA50 left. We can't get rid of "this holster" because he used it in xxxx firefight. The list goes on. We still have the BDU's that he wore in Bosnia in 1995. Ummmm......we were married in 1994.

Then I found a picture of him in Bosnia. He was so young!

I miss his clean shaven days. He still--so far--has kept the GI haircut. Gunner, if you are reading this, please pretend you have to be clean shaven every day!

I promise you that PT has not even entered his mind.

I also promise you that if you are 5 years old and begging me for gum at 8:32 pm, which it is right now, that it won't happen. Please go to bed my little man.

Speaking of Junior, he has been staying in school. He lost a tooth, I actually bought boxers today in the hopes that he will be more comfortable in them. Boys are not all peaches and cream! I've learned more about stuff I don't want to know about than I want to!

Em turned 14. How did this happen. We got her a new cell phone, after she lost hers back in April for texting in class. (It was disconnected before she returned home that day.) She managed to drop it in the toilet a few weeks later. I am thankful that we know rice will solve the problem.

Abs is in orchestra after school two days a week, and we are still looking for a great violin teacher. We had drama the other day where a girl who invited her to a party, uninvited her because some kids said they wouldn't go if she was there. I was devastated. I called the parent and explained the situation and the parent called back and the child apologized to me and to Abs. My heart still hurts, but Abs wants to go to the party. She's a tough one, so invitations aren't always extended to her unfortunately. My poor baby.

We are babysitting my mom's cockapoo mix while she is out of town. We love him. I don't think she will love the fact that Gunner had him in our bed this morning. The poor little guy was "crying" though.

I became a co-sponsor of the Science Club at school, God help me. I have 18 4th graders right now. I am thinking that my second graders were easier, but I am determined to make these guys love writing. Maybe they need a blog.....

I spend entirely too much time at school preparing for the next week. I am trying to get organized. For me, that's a feat!

Gunner has gone overboard this Halloween. He told me it's because he is always gone, and he wants to do every holiday to the hilt. I'm the type of person where you put the tree up Christmas Eve and take it down immediately after the presents are opened. I bet those days are gone. It has been nice having him home. I hope he doesn't think I am going to spend all Christmas vacation backing cookies!

Happy Halloween!

7 Reasons to Date a Military Man

2011-10-29T20:11:00.000-06:00

I am a regular at Fox News (you had an influence on me Dad!), and I saw this article.

Bringing Home the Troops: 7 Reasons to Date a Military Man

What do you think?

I totally disagree with #6. Gunner might have been a neat freak at one point in time, but it hasn't been while he is married to me!

When Should I Panic????

2011-09-23T19:56:00.000-06:00

We are closing in on the end. In a week, we will be getting our second to last paycheck from the military. (Thank goodness they never did away with once a month pay, but really, that was my biggest concern back then? LOL) Sure we have retirement coming in after that, but heck, that's squat--but don't get me wrong, it's a hard earned, much appreciated squat!

We got our first ever electricity bill. What do you mean it isn't included in our rent and you won't pay me if I don't use it all???? Water? That costs money? Oh dear, the hot tub is heated with gas?

I'm thinking we should live by candlelight....or by lantern? This whole settling into the civilian world is new to me. We have never ever rented a house. We've never had to take care of a pool and hot tub....I'm totally not complaining about those two perks though. We never had to learn how to take care of sprinklers, or have such a huge lawn that I can't mow it with just a weedeater.

Did you know that they pick up trash more than one day a week in the civilian world? I had no clue! What's better is that I have no idea when they pick up the trash because, well, it's Gunner's job!

The house seems huge to us, and I actually don't have enough/right size/right color curtains to cover the windows regardless of the 10 houses we have lived in previously. I am thinking I am going to create re-adjustable curtains for military families.

We have a two car garage. Do you know how much stuff you can fit in that? (I'm blaming it on the fact that we haven't had time to unpack, not on anything else, I repeat, not on anything else.)

We are back in the land of mexican food. Heaven.

I joined the "Biggest Loser" at work. I am probably way too competitive for this. I have to win, as there is money involved. I told my crossfit coach I joined. He's as competitive as I am. He rides me, and questions everything I eat. I love it. Count on me to win, win, win and my clothes to fit, fit, fit!

So while I settle into civilian life, I am starting to mourn the military life. No deployments? (That's good, but also bad, because let's be honest, those homecomings ROCK!) My kids will no longer be able to wear "My dad fights for freedom, what does your dad do?" tshirts. Of course there is always the me factor, in that for over 10 years, we have never lived together longer an about 15 months. Yikes!

I have friends that are getting ready to PCS now, and I am totally jealous, but of course while we were doing our first PCS to Germany, they were probably in junior high, or as my children remind me daily, it's called middle school.

I'm thinking early bedtime tonight so I can work tomorrow, then lounge in the pool the rest of the weekend. I think now would have been the ideal time for me to be a SAHM!

P.S. Gunner has been home for 5 months. Amazing!

Coming Up for a Breath

2011-09-12T19:09:00.000-06:00

One of the hard things about starting a new job is that you have a learning curve. Every school is different. Every grade is different. Every child is different. I spend 6 days a week at school, and sometimes over 12 hours a day. It's starting to wear me down, so I am trying to be more productive with my time and crank out my work quickly. I haven't been as regular at crossfit as I would like, but I am determined to make a priority. Crossfit=happy mom=happy kids

We are loving the pool at our new house, and after the kids are tucked into bed, Gunner and I are enjoying the hot tub.

Now if I could just find more time at home, then maybe we would finally get unpacked!

So far my beloved son has spent less than a week at school full time.

We've been in school for just over 3 weeks now. The 5 days he spent in school, was probably spent in ISS. Yes, my son, was the one who was suspended on the first day of school......for sliding out of his seat at lunch and barking like a dog. I didn't know that was a crime, but you could imagine that it only got worse from there.

I won't get into details, but it's been a stressful situation.

Abs is actually doing really well this year, and Em is hanging in there. They both miss their school in Colorado. I miss Colorado. Everything happens for a reason. Everything happens for a reason. Everything happens for a reason. That's my new battle cry.

My leg is still in the healing process. It got infected and I was put on a super high dose of antibiotics. I had to stay on them for 24 hours and then they went in, re-opened the wound, cleaned it out, and sewed it back up. Eventually it stopped swelling up to massive sizes, and I was able to walk on it....and most importantly work out with again.

So we are getting settled in, I will come up for a breath every once in a while, and I think making crossfit a priority will help some. Maybe some wine too. That helps right?

If anyone has a great decision on how to make my life easier, please let me know!

In the meantime, here's a shot from some mini spring rolls that I had when I went out with my friend Abbey.....

Really, these things were almost as big around as a coke can. Mini spring rolls?

Oh, and bedtime is a battle with Junior. What's up with that?

I'm alive....really!

2011-08-28T07:31:00.000-06:00

It was questionable for a while. We made it to Texas, and moved in with my mom.

I started working right away, and we just finished our first week of school. I loved 2nd grade, but I LOVE 4th grade. They can do so many things!!! I think it's going to be a great year!

After my first day of orientation at my new school.....I went to crossfit.

I did a box jump.

I missed.

I saw my insides coming out. Seriously. I can totally deal with blood and guts, but yet I cannot deal with vomit? Go figure.

Blood was going everywhere and my coach ran to get his first aid kit and try to stop the bleeding. We couldn't get it to stop. I managed to make it to my car before I started crying, and I called my friend Abbey. I told her what happened, and she asked if I wanted her to come to the er with me. Of course!

The before.

This was after they cleaned it out. You can see my fat. Ewwwwww! It was really deep......

My friend Abbey kept me laughing, and also documented everything. Here's me with one of my fat globules. (I had worked out, excuse the disheveled look!)

Abbey and I hanging out in the er.

We both have teenage girls who are in the stage that you always have to have two fingers in every picture. Strange children. (My shirt is totally making me look fat here, ugh.)

The after picture.

Very gross. 9 stitches. There was not much to sew together, so they had to yank my skin together tightly.

This happened after work, Monday. So I returned to my second day at my school gimping around. By Wednesday my leg was 4 times what it should have been, so I was back in the er, and put on super strong antibiotics. By Friday, I was back in the er, and they cut my stitches off, cleaned out my infected leg, and sewed it back together. Good times. Good times.

The moral of the story, is have a great friend who isn't grossed out by blood, and always jump super high on a box jump and don't miss!

Why do I do this????

2011-07-08T13:29:00.000-06:00

So we leave in a few days for Legoland, and I am trying to get everything done for the movers. Of course I waited till Friday to *really* start.

Anyone who has done a PCS with kiddos knows how difficult this can be. (When we PCSed with no kids, I was stressed out, but I had NO idea how hard it would be with three kids. I should have enjoyed it while I could!)

Since I have to start work shortly after I get there, I need to pack up all my work clothes and teaching supplies. I thought the easiest way to do this would to be to clean out the big walk-in closet in the master bath, and we'll also clear out the bathroom so that they don't even have to come in there. (I really don't want them packing the bathroom trash!)

So I am currently moving everything out of the closet so I can repack it with stuff that we are taking. Then I have to unload the bathroom to the kids' bathroom. I usually keep everything in our bathroom because.....well......do I need to remind you of stories of Abs and shampoo, conditioner, floods or toilets?

Gunner took all three kids to the movies so I could get started on this little endeavor. I think I made a bigger mess, and now I want to quit. Instead I am procrastinating.

Then there is the separation of all the things we get rid of when we move. Some people wash everything, but I have no time for that, plus after a few years, those things usually need replacing. I get rid of the plunger, toilet brushes, cheap trash cans, shower curtain liners, anything plastic, and I'm sure there are lots more. The outlaws told us to leave the BBQ pit behind. The thought of washing it doesn't sound appealing!

Of course there are the things I need to hand carry with us because we don't want them to get damaged or stolen. (Have you ever had something stolen? We've had a few things that were taken over the years, but nothing too expensive.) Do you remember that story about the household goods that were ruined by a fire? So in go the baby pictures, the wedding pictures, his saber, the tank drawing, and all the notebooks with our important information.

After that, we have to pack things for the kids to do on the trip--DVD players, DVDs, a few toys and books. Add in a pot and a few utensils for cooking and stuff like soap, sanitizer, toilet paper, kleenex, etc. and you have a whole other pile. But don't forget that you still need to add in the food that they won't carry. Sometimes I can sneak the spices in, but other times we have hand carried them. We don't ship canned goods because they weigh so much and we are already pushing our weight limit. (Do you take your food?)

I'll have to pass on a lot of the food to someone else, although we are currently on the PCS meal plan. You know, the meal plan where you throw together whatever is left so you don't have to go to the commissary? All of the sudden we are eating strange combinations, and the kids are less than excited about it. (The other day, Junior, who eats no meat, was perfectly happy with a jelly and relish sandwich. He devoured it like it was the best meal he ever had--what does that say about my cooking?)

After getting all these things separated we will still have computers, a copier so I can do my other job, and a printer. We have no idea where we will leave or when we will move into a house, so we have to be prepared.

How do you prepare for a PCS? Please tell me someone else hand carries all that stuff with them too!

Trip to the Mountains

2011-07-08T05:52:00.001-06:00

Here at Fort Carson, when your Soldier is deployed, you are issued a Mountain Post Hero Card. This card entitles you to discounts throughout the community, including Burger King....come on, I can't be the only one that rejoices that there is a Burger King on post some nights!

One of the discounts is you get to go to one of the YMCA mountain resorts for next to nothing, including meals. In 2009 we used this discount to go to the YMCA at Estes Park, and loved it, but the food was less than desirable.

This time we decided to go to the Snowy Mountain Resort.

It was beautiful!

A self-portrait by Junior. After breakfast we headed to the zipline. Only Em, Gunner, and I ziplined.

I loved it once I got over my fear of jumping off a gigantic pole!

After that we went through a labyrinth and stopped off to take a few pictures.

You know how Junior loves his Grandpa, so he found lots of Grandpa wishers to use. Hundreds of them.

We had some time before lunch and hit up the Homestead. The kids LOVED it. They got to dress up in pioneer clothing and take a tour of the homestead.

The sheriff wasn't too happy because he didn't have a chair.

They husked corn using the cornhusker.

They washed laundry.

Teamwork with my children? Of course then they all had to do it themselves.

Junior is the only one who poses anymore.

Then Junior and Abs decided to take a wagon trip.

Trust me, they usually fight.

Junior learned how to make butter.

After the Homestead and lunch, we went horseback riding.

After the horses, we headed out on a three mile hike to a waterfall.

This was before he discovered that he could stomp through every mud puddle and stream. The little imp!

Em & Junior.

We had to fit everything in, so we headed to the Gold Mine next. It's a cave, but without a flashlight we could get too far.

I've given up on taking serious pictures anymore!

Anyway, it was a much needed break from the stress of retirement, and let me tell you it is stressful! (and expensive since it cost us $800 at CIF). (The moral of that story, is to keep every receipt for every item you ever turn in, during your entire career. Wouldn't you know this was before it was computerized? Ugh!)

Retirement, Balloon Crashes, and the Wild West

2011-07-07T20:51:00.000-06:00

There's never a dull moment in this household.

First, I got the teaching job I applied for in Texas! I'll be teaching 4th grade, and although I have never taught that level, I am sure someone out there can give me lots of advice on everything under the sun. I really stress about lesson plans.

Me getting a job, means that we had to figure out how to move to Texas quickly! We did some calculations, and we had to stay until Gunner finished his VA appointments....all 500 of them. I think everyone in the VA system has evaluated his injuries and documented his aches and pains. At 40, with 22 years in the Army, that means he has a lot.

So once we decided on a date, it meant that we had to use all my groupons that I had been collecting. Last Saturday we biked down Pikes Peak.

Talk about incredible!

I even got in a few pictures.

My husband is so photogenic. Me, not so much. Anyway, I highly recommend this trip if you come to the Springs! It wasn't a hard ride, just a few uphills, but most of the 20 miles downhill was fast, and the switchbacks made it exciting!

Since that wasn't enough excitement for me, we used our rock climbing in Garden of the Gods groupon, on Sunday! I was terrified, since I don't like heights at all, and I just didn't see how I could scale up the side of a gigantic rock.

Well I can!

Yes, that would be me climbing up!

One more for good measure!

It was absolutely amazing, and I was good at it! I can't wait to go again, and I am trying to figure out how I can fit in one more trip before we leave!

After rock climbing, we had to try and locate "the mothers" (my mom and his mom traveled together to the Springs for his retirement ceremony). After locating them, it was off to the park to have a BBQ for Junior's birthday. I can't believe he is 5. More importantly I can't believe he is potty trained! (Oh, his surgery on those parts went well, and he is healed and has no more problems!)

He's gotten so big!

So has his cowlick. We just got it cut because it was GIGANTIC.

A rare picture of my children not fighting.

After cake and Blue Bell, my mom and I headed to bed because we had to get up at 3:30 AM to head off on our balloon trip. I had purchased the groupon as a Mother's Day present for her.

Next time I think we will get a trip that keeps us on the ground. I thought that since this was on my mom's bucket list, that it would be a great adventure.....what I didn't account for is that our balloon would crash. The flight itself was great after it got off the ground....

The flight was beautiful....The landing, not so much.

This was how many times the balloon hit.....hard. We were lodged into our section of the

This is my mom trying to get out of the basket after we crashed. She spent the next day in the emergency room and had injured her knee (which will require surgery) and also her ankle, which they said was not broken. Of course that's what they said about Emily's, and it was. I think she needs to stay off it and get it xrayed again, but if you think I don't stop, meet the most stubborn woman in America.

The next day we relaxed, and then my mom and I headed off for a little target practice! I had never held a real gun, shot it, or even wanted to be near it.

I was told I was a natural, and the instructor called me Annie Oakley. Not to mention, I LOVED it! The class was great, and I can apply for my concealed permit, which I want to do. I am not buying a gun though, that's just too much stress with three kids in the house! I can't say that I am over my fear, but I do have a new appreciation for guns.

Just to keep things even more interesting, On Wednesday, June 30th, Gunner had his retirement ceremony.

Hard to believe that we were standing up there and seeing the end to something that has been a part of our entire marriage.

A "high-five" for making it! After almost 17 years of marriage, 5 year year long deployments.....we made it!!!

More to come, stay tuned for a last second move, a vacation that I decided we had to have, and the start of something new!

Army Friends

2011-06-21T05:50:00.002-06:00

One of the good (and bad things) about military life is the coming and going of friends. I'm sure you have all been the ones who have left friends behind, and also been the ones who have left. I remember when I left Fort Lewis, one of my civilian friends cried. I was so sad for her, but it had also become second-nature to me and I was okay with it. Sure I would miss them, but I have learned that it is never "Goodbye" but always "See you later"....

When I moved to Fort Carson, I didn't know anyone.....except one lone blogger, Erin. Then I met The Displaced Dutchican. When my house flooded, I didn't have to ask twice, I called Erin and she took Sammy and grabbed Junior from daycare to keep him till I could get there. She kept Sammy for about two weeks and even cut poop out of his matted dog hair. If that doesn't mean love, I don't know what does!

The Dutchican picked up the girls, fed them, and had them ready to go when I went to pick them up. I never worried. (Although I heard Abs was quite vocal at the local hamburger spot, much to Em's embarassment!)

That's what makes a military friend.

Friends that know when you call that you are in trouble.

Friends that know you need help, and will drop everything to help you.

Friends that don't think twice and know that often times you have no one else to help.

So many times our families live so far away and we have to count on those friends to help us get through things. When my dad passed away, I had a friend that came over and cleaned my entire house (I was 7 months pregnant) and later that day her husband came over and mowed my lawn. Then he knocked on the door and took my car to get cleaned inside and out. I didn't have to say a thing, they were there for me. I had friends that made dinner for the girls and I during that time as well.

I didn't ask.

If anyone knows me, I rarely ask for anything, but would drop anything for a friend.

So while I can go to almost any place that I have ever lived and know that I can count on a friend, I will miss that part of the military life. There's nothing like another military wife. Like Erin said to me when Gunner deployed for the third time to Iraq "If you want to come over and just sit here with someone who understands and you don't have to say a word, just show up".

I've had friends that have helped me through deployments. Friends that have made me laugh when I only wanted to cry. Friends that had faith in my when I had little faith in myself.

I think that the friends that I have made in the military will stand the test of time. The Army is a small place and we have run into people in Germany that we hadn't seen in forever, and I still meet with friends from other posts, that I haven't seen in years, but it's like we never were apart.

I only hope that your military friendships are as incredible as mine. No one else will ever understand what we go through, but someone else in our situation....no words needed. What military friendship have you had that has stood the test of time?

Where does time go??

2011-06-19T18:45:00.000-06:00

I think of all the things I want to blog every day, but then get lazy.

School is out, and I've already made one trip to Texas for the girls to go to camp for a week. My outlaws took Junior for the week, and I was sans children. The first time in.....forever!

I went to Dallas for a few days to visit my old suitemate from Baylor. I met up with a blogger, Heidi. We met for lunch and 2 1/2 hours later, we finally left the restaurant. I had a great time!

I met up with my friend Abbey, found a free bingo on post in the middle of the day where I won an XM radio. We made a new friend, and returned to bingo that night. I am not a pro at all, but I did win $200! Into the under the bridge fund it goes!

I ate tons of mexican food, met a friend for breakfast at my favorite little cafe, did crossfit (of course!), and didn't work out as much as I should have. I saw a Ranger's game (they lost), and ate tons of ethnic food. Yum! With all that eating, I was worried, but I didn't gain a pound. Whew.

In retirement news, Gunner has just 10 working days left in the Army. It's a scary time, and many major decisions need to be made quicker than I would like. Don't worry, if you know me, I have a plan A, plan B, plan C, all the way to plan P right now.

I got his retirement present, and have taken it somewhere to have something done to it, that needed to be done. I can't wait to show it to y'all, it is UNBELIEVABLE!

Stay tuned, because I am sure things will get crazy over the next few weeks!

I've applied for some jobs, and am waiting to see what the future holds. We know a move is in order, since we can't live in housing forever. Although if they make an allowance, I wouldn't mind.

Disappointed in Army Wives

2011-05-27T11:53:00.000-06:00

I follow Army Wives, the tv show, on Facebook. Today they had this post up:

Official Army Wives

In honor of Memorial Day weekend, we wanted to share photos from Season 5's fallen soldier, Jeremy Sherwood. Remember Jeremy with pictures from the emotional episode here:

They then linked to some pictures of him.

I didn't even read the other responses, and I had to jump and say my piece.

There are so many fallen heroes that deserve respect on Memorial Day, not a fictional character. Could they not come up with some other way to link to Memorial Day?

I then went back and read the 80+ comments, and saw that I was not the only one who was ticked off.

Do you think people are overreacting, or do you think Army Wives really messed up? Obviously there social media person did a crappy job with this one! Maybe they should hire me!

I'm addicted....

2011-05-26T19:04:00.000-06:00

I'm addicted to Groupon. I'll admit it.

How was I supposed to know that I needed to try out that restaurant I kept driving by? It was delish.

It started out slowly, and grew.

I joined Living Social.

Then our local newspaper had one.

I'm sure there's another one I subscribe to as well.

Without them, I wouldn't have known I wanted to go rock climbing in Garden of the Gods.

Or go up in a hot air balloon.

Or bike down Pikes Peak.

I had a massage and a facial. I had 6 laser treatments (for less than $100) and no longer shave my armpits!

Let my husband try crossfit for a steal.

I discovered a love of Sri Lanken food due to the newspaper deal.

I'm signed up to take a weapons class. I'm terrified of guns, btw.

I look at the deals of the places I am going to visit.

I obviously have a problem.

I told Gunner if the Afghan restaurant in town has one, I am all over it. He said I could eat alone and that it would not make him feel more at home.

What deals have you scored from Groupon? What deals are you looking for?

Retirement

2011-05-24T05:41:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of reasons that our retirement is different from a lot of other people's.

We still have a 4 year old.

I went to a Pampered Chef party the other day, and all the women who had husbands that were about to retire...had grown children off at college.

Can you imagine? We would have had to jump on the breeding bandwagon right away after we were married! I was in no way ready, and when I finally did get pregnant the nurse was shocked that I was having my first at age 25. Did she think I needed to be welcoming grandchildren?

So while so many people look at retirement from the military as a time to breathe for a little while....there's no doing that here! Our oldest is only 13....I say "only", but then I think in 9 years she would be the age that I was when I got married! Why did my parents let me get married so young??? (I had finished my undergrad at least.)

Gunner has hit the job market full force. Today he spent the day taking classes put on by business leaders in the community with a special interest in hiring Vets. We put together a resume, and he has a local job fair tomorrow, then another one on Wednesday. He.needs.a.job.

Anyone want to hire an Army Vet with over 22 years of military service? He's dedicated, smart, hard-working, and an all around good guy (cute too!). We'll even move anywhere in the world, and I am the most non-complaining (unless my house floods) wife, of all times!

Surely something will workout....right????

In the meantime, the kids continue to keep us on our toes. Junior needs surgery and it could totally explain why he wasn't potty trained until recently...and he's almost five. Abs has turned into quite the violinist. We have been through the ringer with her this year, but we are finally making headway. Finally. Em is as sweet as ever, and has a love of Shakespeare and sewing that translated into her being the costume designer for the school's performance of A Misummer's Night Dream. I had never read the story before--although I probably crammed the cliff notes the night before the test--so it was nice to sit back and enjoy it. I can't believe that next year I will have an 8th grader, a 5th grader, and a Kindergartener! (Ummmmm.....when Abs entered Kindergarten, Junior entered the picture. I PROMISE you, that will not happen this time!!!!!)

So as life continues to change at a moment's notice, I look at retirement as not the end, but a brand new beginning of all that is to come! I'm only hoping that someone has a plan for us and it is put into place before our last Army paycheck arrives. If not, look for us under your local bridge! (Don't worry, we have started an "under the bridge" fund!)

End of an Era?

2011-05-13T16:08:00.000-06:00

After over 22 years in the Army, the 5 uniform changes that have occurred, and 5 deployments, I always said if there was a war that you should be at my house.

What once fit in a tiny front closet when we got married, now takes up half of our garage.

What is it you ask? TA-50

I'm sure you have all learned to embrace the plethora of equipment that your husband has been issued. I've tried numerous ways to organize the crap too.

There were hanging devices. Stacked crates. Left in the boxes that they were packed up in. Footlockers. Tubs. The tubs seemed to work the best, because at least I could stack them on top of each other.

How many gorilla trunks are sitting in your house right now? We got 4 by mail shortly after Gunner returned home. I was totally ~~not~~ overjoyed to see it arrive. These were added to the 8 gorilla trunks we already had here waiting for his return.

But.......

In just a matter of time, this stuff will start disappearing from my garage. Hopefully huge amounts of it.

Soon he can go request a list from CIF with the master list of everything that he needs to turn in. What will I do without 50,000 pounds of TA50 to move every couple of years? What if there is a war and we need to hunker down and live off of MRE's and be ready to dig our own trenches or create a new village complete with a multitude of uniforms for everyone to choose from?

But then I start thinking about all the duplicates he has. You can't just have one e-tool can you? A Soldier with less than 5 canteens? That's unheard of. How could he have been a Soldier without stocking up on 8 sleeping mats? Less than 20 pairs of boots? How would that work, since he has to have tanker boots, then there are the black boots, then there are gortex boots, mountain boots, rubber boots, desert boots--you know, the right boots to match the right uniform?

With the right boots you have to have the right accessories. We have a rucksack in every uniform color. Don't worry, as he also has accumulated an assault bag in every color. In case he gets thirsty, he has a camelbak in every color.

There are soft caps, berets, kevlars, pyle caps, pt caps, stetson, mess cap. We've got 15 duffel bags, all painted with previous unit assignments. We've got DIFFERENT PT belts from every.single.unit.

The list goes on. So while I started thinking that we might be downsizing, I realize that my grandchildren should someday be prepared for their Grandpa to be sitting in old uniforms and telling them stories "Back when I was in the warrrrrr....".

So maybe we'll be okay in case of an emergency, because I can't imagine all of this TA50 is going anywhere...

Questions--I need answers!

2011-05-11T08:26:00.000-06:00

It's been so long since I've worn makeup, and since I will be entering the workforce sometime in the near future, assuming someone wants to hire me, I need makeup.

What's your favorite brand of makeup?

This of course brings up the question....when did you start wearing makeup? I see girls at Em's school that have started wearing makeup, but I was thinking I'd let her in high school, which is still a year away. She hasn't complained about it.....yet!

I took the girls shopping for Mother's Day, because we needed to get them some camp clothes. Keep in mind that my daughter is about 5'7" tall, thin, and does not look 13. Why do they want her to dress like a hoochie mama? Anyone know of any good clothing stores that will have cool clothes for her age, but not break the bank?

Next question is back to potty training. Junior is potty trained. Reflect on that for a moment. My almost 5 year old son is FINALLY potty trained. He is wearing underwear. He is dry. Let's be honest, this is a miracle in itself. But....did you potty train your sons at night by letting them go in underwear? I'm thinking if the kid wants to wear pullups to bed at night, he will eventually train himself, and I should push it. Heck, I'm just glad that I am not changing diapers during the day anymore!

(Gunner, please do not read this) Retirement presents. I have something in mind, but I was wondering if anyone had some great ideas for a present to give him for retirement? (I apparently get a yellow rose at his retirement ceremony....5 deployments and I get a rose? I should get a 24 karat rose!)

Which brings me to coin boxes. I have looked at several online, but was wondering if anyone had a recommendation of someone that they ordered from, and the quality was impeccable? You know how they love their coins!

Last question--I have my half marathon on Sunday, and I need some good songs for my playlist. I know I need to download some black eyed peas, but what are some other good up-tempo songs that need to go on the list too?

Thanks guys!

Reintegration Part I

2011-05-03T10:20:00.000-06:00

Being that this is our 5th (and LAST!) deployment, I thought we were pros at reintegration. I choose my battles, and goodness knows with three kids, there is plenty for both of us to do and keep us busy.

The one thing that drives me nuts?

Here is my status from FB yesterday:

ABW Wonders how she survived years driving while Chris was deployed and before I met him, but apparently lost all skills once he returned home. Thank goodness he is here to tell me how to drive, or I might not be able to function.

Someone said instead of like there should be an "Amen". Most agreed with me. A civilian friend said her husband would never do that and she wouldn't allow it.

This all came to a head yesterday when I was driving Gunner's new car.

"Watch out for that parked car."
"This guy might try to cut you off."
"The light might turn red, you should slow down."

I glared at him, and asked him if he wanted to drive. "Oh no, you're doing fine, I'm just helping."

A little history here. I am old. I got my driver's license when I was 16. In order to do that, I had to pass my dad's strict driving lessons. Basically that meant that I drove around an empty parking lot in first gear, having to stop and start. Once I got that down, he would let me coast around in first gear and he would yell "STOP" to test my reaction time. After passing that little bit of ~~pure hell~~ pure joy, I was able to start shifting gears.

From gear shifting we moved to practicing in a parking garage how to stop and start again without rolling backwards on an incline. My poor dad spent hours with us behind the wheel making sure that we knew what was going on.

Gunner? He got his driver's license when he was 21 (they gave him one to drive a car, when all he had ever driven was a motorcycle). The first car he drove was a military vehicle--a humvee, so thank goodness it was an automatic. (Side note, his brother had never driven before and during his first assignment with the Army, he was told to drive a deuce and a half, while he had never driven before. By the end of the day he felt courageous enough to shift to second gear, lol) He could have benefited from my dad's "Learn how to drive" class. Granted he has gotten a lot better over the years, a lot better.

But.........cause there's always a but....

If I could drive while he was gone (almost a total of 5 years of deployments, and we won't even count field, TDY, and all that other times they are away)......do you think I have lost all ability?

We do laugh about it, and he is getting better. After our afternoon trip to the car dealer, I let him drive to go get the girls. I pointed out how he scans the roads for IEDs, watches for anything out of the "norm", and has been known to drive aggressively like he is in a convoy.

So while I know this part will eventually fade, I do notice a lot of telling the other person how to do things. While he tells me how to drive, etc., I tell him how to take care of the kids, how things should be done. Usually by the time we get it ironed out, he is gone again, so we wait another year and start all over again.

How do you handle this part of reintegration?

The Winner Is...

2011-04-25T17:44:00.000-06:00

Abbey!

I'm still not able to post that random number generator, so if anyone can tell me how to do it for next time, I'd appreciate it!

Abbey, send me your address, and I'll have your camera shipped out to you!

P.S. More to come!

I'm still alive!

2011-04-21T05:23:00.000-06:00

I have no great story as to why I fell off the face of the earth, other than using this guy as my excuse:

Having Gunner home has been such a huge help. After 96 hours off, he was exhausted from trying to keep up with my schedule of crossfit, carting children around, doctor's appointments, and all the other normal day to day stuff to maintain a family of 5.

Our laundry load increased exponentially. The amount of food we have to cook is increased as well. I wouldn't change a thing though.

We've been working on finding jobs, and let me tell you, the Army is not helpful in this area AT ALL. That's a whole dozen other posts that I need to write as well.

We've also balanced out the work with fun. Gunner took the girls on a moonlight wolf tour where they got to meet wolves up close. The girls LOVED it.

We went to the Western Museum of Mining and Industry to pan for gold.

The panning was free, and you got to keep what you collected. There was some gold involved, and that was all my kids needed to hear before they were hooked.

Junior had more fun splashing water and mud all over himself.

They had an area where you could dress up like a miner.

Notice the wet tshirt?

Don't let the folded hands fool you! Emily found a new boyfriend too.

Junior really wanted a hat, and with a dad who recently returned home, we know that sometimes they have such guilt, they just can't say no.

On the way home we stopped off and took pictures in front of Pikes Peak.

Plus we have done a lot of this.....

Notice the new furniture? Thankfully we have a dog that doesn't shed! We also had to break down and buy a new car. If you want a great car (ranked #2--A Ford is first, but don't hate, I won't buy one. We actually went to get a Nissan Sentra because we know that they are reliable and they were ranked #31!)

Meet our new little Honda Fit.

It seems small, but has a ton of storage, and actually the whole family can ride in here, but I would not recommend it for long trips with three kids in the back! (I'd actually recommend a limo, where you can close the barrier and not hear them, but that's out of my price range too.)

It's a great little car and gets about 34 miles per gallon around town, and 37+ on the freeway. It also has voice activated stuff, which is kind of neat, but luckily the button you have to press before it works is on the steering wheel, as the kids heard voice activated and started all saying "Radio 92.9" or whatever their favorite station is, all at once.

So we are settling into being a family again, with a lot of big changes coming up in the future, that I am excited about. I also have a lot to blog about too, so stay tuned!

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway for a free digital camera, here!

The Great Flood & Giveaway

2011-04-20T12:23:00.003-06:00

Remember the flood? I think of it every time when I sit down to watch tv on an old 19" tv with no HDTV, and I am either on the floor or sitting in a lawn chair. (On the bright side my lawn chairs are comfortable!)

My kitchen as they started sucking up the water and I could get in there. Apparently my house is lopsided and the water ran into the kitchen. It couldn't possible run into the bathroom located on the other side of the house where the hot water heater was located and a drain!

Imagine all the little paint pockets you see below, filled up with water and squirting all over your stuff. There were hundreds of them, which just made the whole thing worse, because with the squirting streams of water, it was able to destroy even more. Plus, this is one section.....the whole living room was covered and the water was about 4" deep. A mess I tell you! The water was gushing out the front and back doors, leading to a sheet of ice at both places.

I have to give housing kudos for putting us up at The Hampton Inn (whose beds and pillows I love), and for getting our house done in just under two weeks. While I loved the Hampton, even with two adjoining rooms, it was tight quarters for the 4 of us. Every day after carting children around, I would go check on progress and document it....just in case.

I was contacted by the someone related to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, to check out their new FREE iPhone app related to creating a home inventory. Something I SHOULD have done before I ever had a flood occur. Unfortunately mother nature doesn't follow my time schedule.

I did have to download this on to Gunner's phone since my software wasn't upgraded, and I just have the 3G. It's super easy to use, take pictures, and you can even email it to yourself and have it backed up on your computer. During the claim process, they wanted before pictures of the furniture and electronics, which I didn't have unless they were in use. They got a picture of Junior jamming on the wii guitar, a random picture Abs took of the tv, and a picture of me sleeping on the couch. I was not thrilled about sending any of them!

The NAIC also has instructions on how to create a home inventory.

To help you create a home inventory, the NAIC is offering a FREE Kodak Easyshare digital camera (retail value $49) for one lucky reader! (It takes amazing pictures as you can see below!) All you need to do is leave a comment telling me what is the most loved item in your home is, that you would capture first on your home inventory!

I will draw a random winner on Monday April 25th!

Sammy the dog after he was rescued, kept by a friend for a while, and finally groomed.

Disclaimer--I was provided a digital camera to use for my review, but all opinions are my own, with no outside influence from the three little kids that live here.

Home

2011-04-02T19:34:00.000-06:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Homecoming or Bust!

2011-04-02T09:30:00.000-06:00

As we prepare for yet another homecoming, I wanted to link up to my previous homecoming stories....

Homecoming #1 from a year in Bosnia.

Homecoming #2 from a year in Iraq.

Homecoming #3 from a year in Iraq.

Homecoming #4 from a year in Iraq.

Soon there will be a FINAL homecoming #5, from Afghanistan. I better charge that camera!

Free Welcome Home Sign

2011-04-01T17:02:00.001-06:00

I have tons of things to finish up before Gunner gets home.

One of the things that we always do is to hang a sign up. I have used the same sign the last 3 deployments, and today I found it so we could get it hung up!

Buildasign will give you a free sign too--you pay shipping & handling--by clicking on the link on the right hand side of the page.

I got this sign back in 2008 and after serving us well, I will be glad to retire the sign with no more deployments on the horizon!

Soon....

2011-04-01T15:48:00.000-06:00

Soon......

I will see his face.
I will no longer have to be the only one chasing children.
I will be able to hand over potty training to him of his son.
I will have to give up control of the remote control every night.
I will have a lot more laundry to do.
I will find my house buried in a sea of ACUs.
I will have the "Army" smell back in the house. (Ummmm......do you know the smell I am talking about?)

I need to quit coming up with optional things to do and get the house straightened up.

I've made banana bread.
Found a cookie recipe that apparently I need to try before he comes back.
Window shopped online.
Emailed with a friend.
Thought that I really should go to the store to get a new trash can, but then thought better of it.
Watched mindless tv.

Anyone else procrastinate right before redeployment?

(When we lived in Germany and Gunner was returning from Bosnia, I waited till the last minute to do everything. They said they would give us a 3 hour warning. Instead we got about a half hour warning, and I had to shower, find something to wear, and race over to help a friend get her kids ready since she was a fellow procrastinator!)

Camp Purple Signup!

2011-03-31T07:29:00.000-06:00

Today is the day to sign your child up for Camp Purple, a free camp for military kids. Em has been twice and Abs once, and they both loved it.

Go here.

You can read about our experiences with Camp Purple here.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-30T08:41:00.000-06:00

It's been almost 8 months. He'll be home soon...

We HEART Nutella

2011-03-28T11:33:00.000-06:00

Make that a big red puffy heart! Gunner is German. While his dad was stationed in Germany, way back in the dark ages, he met and married Gunner's mom. On Saturday mornings, his mom would always make crepes (she even got us our own crepe pan and when Gunner is home, he carries on the tradition). They would have fruit, nutella, and even ice cream. (Throw Blue Bell on anything and I am there!)

I was selected to host a nutella party, and invite 10 of my friends over to enjoy in Nutella festivities. How can I say no? The kids have inherited Gunner's love of the stuff (For the record, I am not a chocolate person, but because of the hazelnut, I have been known to eat a little nutella on occasion.)

We had gift bags, we had recipe cards, we had samples of nutella, coupons, nutella coffee mugs, and of course a giant jar of the stuff! (Ummmmm....no pictures of the food, because I spent my time trying to keep my kids from devouring it all!)

We served up some crepes, peanut butter and nutella (which is what my kids lived on during our trip to Disneyworld), and fresh fruit with nutella to dip it in. Everyone was in heaven!

There's just enough nutella left for Gunner, and I have hidden it from the kids. Do you eat nutella? What's your favorite way? We always ship it to Gunner while he is gone too, so he can use it to make a quick sandwich when he comes back from patrol and the mess hall is closed.

(Even Uncle Dave attended the festivities!)

*The nutella and all nutella merchandise was provided to me at no cost for me to evaluate and share my opinion. The opinions are mine and mine alone. How can you not like nutella?

A Decade with Abs!

2011-03-25T05:14:00.000-06:00

9 lbs 9 oz. A little turkey. Little did we know what lay in store for us.

She was such a sweet baby.

Her father has spent half of her life deployed. He left the first time when she was two.

Some days I wondered if we would ever reach 10. Thankfully we did, and she will have no surprises tomorrow because I sent her to the car to get a vitamin water, and forgot I had all her presents in the back. She said she didn't look, but come on, it's Abs we are talking about!

Happy Birthday to my favorite 10 year old girl. Here's hoping the next decade is a little bit easier on us both!

(We're just doing something small and waiting for a big dinner out when Gunner gets home. She was ALL about that plan!)

Great Opportunity for Military Families in Florida!

2011-03-24T15:37:00.000-06:00

A Special Event to Celebrate and Honor Military Families is being sponsored by NASA, on April 18-April 19^th in Orlando, Florida.

NASA has provided an opportunity for military families to participate in a multi-day celebration culminating with the Space Shuttle launch. We are pleased DoD has reached out to the National Military Family Association to help share this incredible opportunity with military families.

Considerations for participation:

· You must be a military family; the opportunity should not be extended to neighbors or friends who are not military families. Space is limited and ID’s will be required.

· Military Families will need to provide their own transportation to Orlando and lodging (if applicable).

· Military Families must take DoD sponsored buses to the Kennedy Space Center and Causeway on Launch Day (no POVs will be authorized)

· The events planned are focused on school-age children, and at least one activity has an age restriction of 12 years or older.

· Launch day will be a long, but exciting and engaging day! The buses are not expected to return to Orlando until 12AM-2AM. The launch is scheduled for 7:48 PM EDT.

Monday, April 18 --L-1/One Day Before Launch there will be an afternoon of space related hands-on activities and demonstrations at the Orlando Peabody Hotel hosted by NASA education specialists;

Tuesday, April 19 --L-0/Launch Day –a special treat with military astronauts and spouses at the Peabody as they discuss with families ‘TDY to Space’ and then get families moving with ‘Train Like An Astronaut’ fitness challenge. A mission overview on STS-134 shall be given and then families will board DoD sponsored buses for transportation to Kennedy Space Center and its Causeway. Military Families will have the opportunity to participate in a special LEGO: Build the Future event on the Causeway in advance of the launch.

Further details and an application to register for NASA’s Special Event to Celebrate and Honor Military Families is available at http://www.militaryk12partners.dodea.edu/nasa.cfm.

The registration will close on April 1st or until allocated spaces are filled.

I would do this in a heartbeat! If you do participate, please let me know how it goes!!

The Winner Is...

2011-03-22T22:02:00.000-06:00

Eve! (I don't think she has a blog, because I didn't see one, but she does follow a lot of blogs!)

Congratulations Eve!

General Mills & Hot Wheels Giveaway!

2011-03-21T15:21:00.000-06:00

I should have had great pictures to put with this post, but when you take them and forget to include the memory card, you end up with not much.

Anyway, General Mills and My Blog Spark hooked me up with 5 boxes of General Mills Cereal-Lucky Charms, Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cookie Crisp, and Reese's Puff Cereal.

(Imagine Junior surrounded by the cereal while sitting on the stairs)

First, my kids were over the moon excited, because I rarely by those types of cereal. Included in each box of cereal was a hot wheels pullback racer. Junior was ecstatic with the first one I gave him, and Abs was upset because he put the stickers on wrong. (I kept the stickers away for the next 4 cars!)

(Imagine Junior and Abs ~~playing~~ fighting over the cars)

Soon my children had polished off all 5 boxes of cereal. Junior's favorite was Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Abs loved the Reese's Puffs, and Em preferred the Cookie Crisp. My favorite???? Lucky Charms, hands down!

A couple of things I like about these cereals, is that they aren't tiny pieces so I can put the cereal in a bag and we are off and running. It's a quick easy breakfast, since we are constantly on the go.

General Mills and My Blog Spark would like to provide you with a cereal prize pack! All you need to do is comment below and let me know your favorite cereal! I will draw for the winner tomorrow, so make sure to get your name in right away!

All cereal and prize packs were provided to me by General Mills, via My Blog Spark. All opinions are my own and only my own.

Memories

2011-03-20T19:20:00.000-06:00

Gunner was home on R&R when Junior was born. He left when he was 13 days old. Sigh....

Homecoming Nesting?

2011-03-20T08:59:00.000-06:00

I've been sorting, cleaning, and tossing. Trying to get done everything I said I was going to do during the deployment, that didn't get done. (All of the sudden this deployment seems to have flown by, well sort of.....)

No, I am not tackling the garage anymore! (It's full of the wet furniture that I had to hang on for the insurance company, and now it's too heavy for me to drag to the curb, so it will lie in wait for Gunner to come home)

My friend told me the other day that I must be "homecoming nesting", and I think that pretty much describes it.

I'm looking for a maid to come right before Gunner returns to do a deep cleaning, and before that, I need to make sure I get all the boxes unpacked from the flood, and put everything where it needs to go, or get rid of it.

I have a friend that makes lists of everything to clean, by room, before her husband comes home. I'm not that organized!

So, are you a homecoming nester, OCD about making the place clean before he comes home, or do you just go with the flow and hope he doesn't notice the piles hidden in the closet?

Hanging By a Thread

2011-03-18T19:44:00.000-06:00

Well after two weeks, we FINALLY got Em in a cast.

Purple, her favorite color. The ortho was not happy that we had been there twice and no one could make a decision and she had to be in pain for two weeks without a cast on. After about 24 hours, her pain level dropped immensely. Whew.

I was up this morning at 3:45, due to a barfy Em. I can handle blood, I can handle guts, I cannot handle vomit. It makes me ill. I quarantined her to her room and have delivered broth, bread, and water. I sent the other two to bed tonight with barf buckets. I am hoping for the best. Em claims it is food poisoning, but I am not buying that.

Yesterday we celebrated what would have been my dad's 72nd birthday. For any new readers, Abs noticed that we celebrated Lincoln and Washington's birthdays, so why couldn't we celebrate Grandpa's birthday? No arguments from me, and while I think of my dad every day, it was nice to have the kids remember things about him last night over dinner. (That would be the dinner at the mexican restaurant where Gunner's three children ordered cheeseburgers. They must not be my children!)

The kids wanted chocolate cake and lite icing. This led to us buying a winnie the pooh cake. Not exactly what we had in mind, but it was our only choice. Actually the last birthday my dad celebrated was when Abs celebrated hers, and they shared a Disney princess cake. He was a great sport about it, although the lady at the cake counter at HEB looked at us a little strange!

This my friends is Blue Bell......in COLORADO!!!! We heard that it had arrived on Tuesday and the kids went crazy....well I did a little too. If you haven't had Blue Bell before, you are missing out. It's HUGE in Texas, and apparently it's a hot item here. We got to Walmart, and three cases had sold out, and they had compiled into two cases what was left till the next shipment came in. I was talking to an older gentleman while we were in there, and he had been stalking the store for two days, and was upset it was out on the east side of town before the west. We love our Blue Bell!

So now Spring Break will begin, and mind you my children have ELEVEN days out of school. That shouldn't even be allowed while your husband is deployed. It's also sad, because Gunner should have been home this Sunday. (Of course with the outbreak of the barfs, I bet he is glad he's safe in Afghanistan a little bit longer)

Anyone do/doing anything exciting for Spring Break?

How to Help the Wounded Warrior Project!

2011-03-17T13:25:00.000-06:00

As I wrote in my last post, many moons ago, I am a big supporter of the WWP, and the issues that they work on.

I was contacted by Rudolph Foods, to help spread the word on how they too are supporting the WWP.

Enter:

Pork rinds, honestly, I love them. I remember when I was a kid, we would go to my grandparents ranch in Oklahoma and they would butcher the hogs, and there would always be fresh pork rinds to ~~nibble~~ gobble on.

I have several bags of the product that are headed over to our next FRG meeting so I can share them with the other wives in Gunner's company.

I did open one bag, and Junior was in heaven!

Currently, they are asking everyone to go vote at voteporkrinds.com and for every vote they receive, they will donate 10 cents to the Wounded Warriors Family Support Program.

How easy is that? So please go click and support our WW's and their families by checking out the website and casting your vote!

Wounded Warrior Project

2011-03-08T19:09:00.000-06:00

Have you heard of this organization? It's one of my favorites because of the work that they do on behalf of wounded warriors and their families.

What is troublesome to me now is what the VA and the White House are trying to take away from these Heroes and their families.

Wounded Warrior Project calls on Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the White House to make good on promised benefits.

Caregivers of veterans recovering from Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) at risk for being left out of Congressionally mandated benefits by VA

Jacksonville, FL (March 7, 2011) As we enter Brain Injury Awareness Month, the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is committed to ensuring that veterans injured during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom and their caregivers receive the benefits included in the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act signed into law last year by President Obama.

“In 2010, Congress put assistance in place to ensure that the caregivers of these brave men and women are able to continue providing the necessary support for their recovery,” said Steve Nardizzi, Executive Director of WWP. “Nearly a year later and ironically coinciding with Brain Injury Awareness Month, family caregivers of as many as 2,500 severely brain-injured warriors may now be ineligible to receive benefits promised under a plan the VA continues to defend.”

“Last month, the VA submitted a plan that would shrink the number of families qualifying for benefits by more than three-quarters, hitting those with cognitive and related brain-injury impairments hardest,” Nardizzi continued. “It is unacceptable for the Administration to deviate so dramatically from the clear direction Congress set, and jeopardize the care of these service members to meet a new agenda.”

TBI has emerged as one of the signature wounds of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result, amazing strides have been made in the medical intervention and treatment of TBI. But with that comes a long road of treatment and care for these veterans when they return home. It’s a labor of love for the family caregivers of these severely wounded warriors, but also an all-consuming one in which many families have had to commit all of their resources to their loved one’s recovery process.

In providing for caregiver assistance, Congress clearly specified that the law covers caregivers of veterans who sustained traumatic brain injury in the line of duty and who were “in need of personal care services because of…a need for supervision or protection based on symptoms or residuals of neurological or other impairment or injury.” It is apparent when reviewing the Act as a whole, that the rehabilitation of veterans with traumatic brain injury was an intended goal with respect to each of these provisions.

WWP is calling on the Administration and the VA to recognize the severity and complexity of these injuries and guarantee that these American heroes and their families are provided the best support and care possible.

Join the effort to secure what has been promised to the caregivers of our nation’s heroes:

Visit us on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/caregiversNOW
Learn more at www.woundedwarriorproject.org

About Wounded Warrior Project

The mission of the Wounded Warrior Project^®(WWP) is to honor and empower wounded warriors. WWP’s purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured servicemen and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and service to meet their needs. WWP is a national, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, FL. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.

You can also join their facebook page here.

I don't know if they still have the gear, but I picked up my WWP tshirt from Cracker Barrel, and everyone needs an excuse to go there and eat fried till your heart can't take it anymore!

Tomorrow I have another way to help the WWP!

Common "Army" Sense

2011-03-07T19:17:00.000-06:00

Common sense and common "Army" sense are two totally different things.

I've got pretty good common sense. (Ab's lack of common sense does not come from me!)

If I had common "Army" sense.....

   I would not have gotten excited LAST month about Gunner coming home THIS month. He's not.

   I would have made notarized copies of my POA's, so that when the house flooded and they were ruined, that I would not be trying to get one from Afghanistan, like yesterday, since my ID card expires in mere days.

   I would not have taken on so much in March thinking that Gunner would be home, because surely we all know that the Army will change things.

   I would have switched our doctors to a closer location as soon as we moved on post, because trying to get Em into the doctor for her ankle is stressful for the whole family since we are still assigned to the Academy. (Plus side, I love them there, but the drive and time it takes is getting old!)

   I would have sent a few more cards to Gunner in case he was extended, because then because of the laws of the Army, he would have missed them all and been home already.

   I would have hired a maid like I did last deployment.

What common "Army" sense things can you add to the list?

Guest Blog: ANOTHER Evening With ABW's Kids

2011-03-01T21:17:00.003-06:00

ABW asked me to write another guest blog. So, as I sit here at ABW's home at Fort Carson doing even more laundry, I thought this was as good a time as any.

As a reminder for established readers and an fyi for new ones, my name is Dave. I've known ABW since the Baylor Sailing Team college days before she was married with these three ~~crazy~~ wonderful kids. I met Gunner before they were married and was one of the groomsmen in their wedding. I've remained close to ABW and Gunner over the years and have gotten closer with the family over the last two as I was living in Denver for a time and am now, for unemployment reasons, a sort of gypsy back and forth between Colorado and Texas.

As I'm on my way back to Dallas from Denver for awhile, I decided to stop off for a quick visit. Of course, that quick visit has now turned into a couple of days as it's become obvious ABW needs a little assistance here. I arrived at Fort Carson late Sunday afternoon and we met at the dog park so that our two designer (rescue) dogs could have a meet and greet. This worked well when ABW's mother and new puppy visited several months ago, so we decided to give it a try due to the fact that our last visit involved a tempestuous cockapoo puppy not being too happy at having an older schnoodle trying to rule the roost. This proved an excellent idea and they've become well behaved colleagues.

Not long after we had arrived at the house, ABW decided to run out and grab pizza for the kiddos before taking Em to a girl scout ice skating event. ABW wasn't gone ten minutes when Em tripped coming down the stairs and injured her ankle. So, while she was laying at the bottom of the stairs crying, I began assessing the situation and damage. I did know she was hurt, as opposed to a past incident with Abs at the park when she feigned a twisted ankle. I raised Em's pantleg to look at her leg since we had heard a pop and the top of her ankle above the shoe. Since I've had a sprained ankle before, I wanted ABW to get home before I removed the shoe since that could accelerate the swelling. I called ABW and told her what happened and to get home. Between all of us, I knew she'd be home in a matter of minutes but thought that my phone call would relieve Em a bit, knowing her mother was rushing home. Of course, this event caused great excitement in the house. By the time ABW entered the door, Emily was still on the floor crying with Junior dancing around her and Abs had begun playing the violin for a soothing effect. Throw in two concerned pooches and it was a sight to behold.

After looking at the ankle and a telephone consult with ABW's mother in Texas who is a retired nurse, it was agreed upon that Em needed an ER trip--particularly since the next day's schedule alotted zero time for another appointment. So, off they went with pizza in tow while Uncle Dave was left to put two children to bed. As a huge relief, Abs was pretty well behaved. She showered and besides a brief argument with Junior regarding the television and remote control, got settled down with Bella Serra on the computer and was essentially a non-event which was both appreciated and shocking. Junior, of course, was a slightly different matter. Getting him in the tub and bathed wasn't a big deal. I could tell his eczema was bothering him so after administering the required nightly pullup, he got coated with both his prescribed ointment and aquaphor. He loved this and told me over and over how good his skin now felt and how he needed this every single night. He can be such a cutie pie.

So then I put him in his room to play and fall asleep. I went up every ten minutes to peek in on him--the first time to turn off the light and the second to see what he was doing. On this second visit I realized he wasn't in the room. Sure, there's one gate up at all times, but thanks to Abs he's learned to escape. I quickly scanned the upstairs to see where he was. Did he go into Ab's room? No. I then saw that ABW's bathroom door was shut and the light was on. I immediately went to open the door and it was locked. "Junior, I know you're in there. You need to unlock and open this door RIGHT AWAY." I did have a moment of panic as I remembered a story of when I was a child and we were visiting my grandmother--I had run down the hall to the bathroom saying I was going to "shave like daddy" and by the time my mother and grandmother got there I had gashed my cheek. Anyway, I heard the bathroom door unlock and I quickly opened it. Junior was just standing in the middle of the large bathroom and yelled out "ta-dahhhhhhhhhhhh." Cute, but not. So, I put him back in his room and told him if he didn't behave I'd have to put up another gate (knowing I should but kinda didn't want to deal with it). Junior said "you should probably put the gate up." Of course, Abs yells out from her room that she could get out of two gates, but not three. Yes Abs, I know and so does everyone else in blog-land. But hey, I got a kick out of it as I had to love Junior's honesty.

So, most of yesterday was spent doing laundry. A lot of laundry. I won't say how much in an attempt not to embarrass ABW, but let's just say I did it all day and am still doing it today. Lots of laundry means lots of folding. And then you add all the clothes that were already clean but not folded and let's just say I've never folded so many clothes in my life. I still required some assistance in trying to figure out whose clothes were whose. I mean, Junior is easy but it can be more difficult regarding the girls.

ABW got a call from daycare yesterday that Junior was being unruly so she had to pick him up early and got to keep him with her in the car half of the afternoon due to her crazy day of appointments and whatnot. When they finally arrived home he ran up the stairs, saw me where I was busily folding clothes and yelled "Uncle Dave!!!" I greeted him enthusiastically and then asked him where his clothes were as he was only wearing a pull-up. His answer was a flat "I don't want to talk about it." Ah, a good day was had by all.

ABW still had appointments for the kids as she was going all day nonstop. I mean, she went through a half tank of gas yesterday running around--what with taking the girls to school, Junior to daycare, herself to crossfit (her only escape), a doctor's appointment for her, picking Junior up early, picking Em up early from school and taking her to the orthodontist, then picking Abs up from school, then dropping Em off at home (where she spent a long time matching socks), taking Abs to OT and then later to violin. Amazingly, we were able to get everyone to bed and Em agreed to babysit for awhile while we ran down the street for an awesome German meal. Yes, I wish I was able to help ABW with all the running around but it was more important for me to wait out the four hour window for the maintenance men to come work on the constant beeping from the smoke/carbon monoxide detectors driving everyone, dogs included, nuts. ABW had already pulled some down but others just kept going. In perfect fashion, the maintenance men neglected to show during the prescribed window and when they finally showed up later and after a time-consuming inspection explained that it was a wiring issue and that someone would have to come out the next day (luckily they disconnected the wire so the sporadic beeping would stop). And hey, no biggie as I already have to spend this afternoon waiting around for another maintenance man to come fix the leak from the icemaker dripping water down into the fridge and making a mess. Apparently I'll be adding "fridge cleanup" to the list of things I'm doing around the house.

Well, that's all for now as the laundry is calling. And one final note all you mothers can relate to--regular sized loads of laundry with children's clothes are an extra joy as it's just more clothes to be folded. I mean, I'm used to only having to fold adult clothes (I'm 6'2") and not those of people much smaller who, for one reason or another, change clothes frequently.

Homecoming Again

2011-02-23T18:34:00.000-06:00

After 4 previous deployments, and homecomings, and R&R's, I'd like to say that I am always prepared for reintegration.

Instead, what I know, is that every reintegration is different, and each one comes with its own challenges.

Will he be different? Will we get right back in the swing of things? How will the kids react?

So, I am sure I am not the only one who needs to know or needs a refresher course on reintegration.

I know to take things slow.

We wait about two weeks before he takes on disciplining the kids. He's been gone for a year, he doesn't need to start jumping all over them because they didn't pick up a mess or the dog hasn't been fed.

What else do we need to know? What worked well for you? What was the biggest problem that you faced during the reintegration process? What was the best thing your husband did for you when he came home? (The CSM mentioned giving Gunner "shopping" time before he came home. How could I argue with that and I immediately put money in his account! What's good from Afghanistan?)

How did you help the kids readjust to having their dad home?

Please let me know how reintegration worked or didn't work for you!

The Bachelor

2011-02-22T09:37:00.000-06:00

Who else is still watching?

There are three girls left....who do you think he will choose?

The blonde girl, I think her name is Allison?, drives me nuts. A little too perky for me.

Chantel, she's too emotional, and will drive him nuts.

So my choice? Emily.

How could you not love her?

So who is your pick for Brad Womack?

Valentine's Day--What's your take on it?

2011-02-14T22:47:00.000-06:00

I get kind of irritable around Valentine's Day. There are so many people that start ranting and raving about how it's a commercial holiday and doesn't matter, because their significant other shows them how much they matter every other day of the year.

Really? It sounds like a cop out to me. If you don't agree, please explain it to me.

Here's my take....

Gunner tells me he loves me all the time. He does nice things for me, and he always complements me (my favorite is when I ask him if I have lost weight, he tells me to turn sideways and then says "Where'd you go?". Cheesy, but it makes me laugh.)

Does he make a point on Valentine's day to do something special for me? Yep.

So many people say that it doesn't matter, but yet they make every other holiday count.

What about Mother's Day? Do I really need a whole day to be appreciated for being a mother? Shouldn't they do that every day? Mine say thank you if we go out to eat, appreciate that they have clean clothes, a clean house, full bellies, that I drive them to their events. I am recognized daily for being a great mom by my kids and Gunner. Why do I need my own day then?

Father's Day--Same as Mother's Day, I let him know all the time that he is appreciated as a father, so do I have to recognize this day?

Christmas--If you are religious and go to church every sunday, do you really need to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th? Shouldn't you be celebrating his life and what he stood for every single day?

Veteran's Day--My husband and I thank veteran's all the time. Should we not do it on Veteran's Day because we do it all the time?

Thanksgiving--I give thanks every day for what I have, the people I know, and I let them know. So should I stop celebrating Thanksgiving? (BTW, I am NOT giving up the DFAC on Thanksgiving!!!)

I could go on and on, but I just get irritated that people think Valentine's day is so commercialized. In case you have been missing from the planet, so is every other holiday out there.

So tell me, do you celebrate it? Do you hate it, and if you do hate it, why? Please don't tell me because he doesn't need a special day to recognize his love for you, give me the real reason, if you have one.

Oh Dear

2011-02-14T18:59:00.001-06:00

Hello, my name is ABW and I am trying not to freak out.

We are finally back in the house after numerous mishaps. More pipes frozen, water pressure messed up, no place to move furniture. They drywalled over the switch to turn one pipe off and on. They brought movers, then sent them away, then brought them back. The movers broke a ton of stuff, including doors off my shrunk. They said it was too heavy. I told them it was funny that they thought it was heavy when Gunner and I moved it in this house. Turns out they were from a temp agency and weren't movers.

So we are home, but of course nothing can be easy.

We have science fair projects due in less than 10 days, which we were able to start once we got back into the house. It was a mad dash to make it work, and we have a backup plan if those experiments don't work.

Abs has been Abs these last few weeks, therefore resulting in never a dull moment, and constant stress and anxiety for me. She's the one with GAD and I feel like I have it by having to keep up with her.

Junior took the time in the hotel really hard.

Emily is glad to be back in her own room.

Sammy came back to us, and got cleaned up. I'm so glad that he's home, and even bought him a chicken pot pie from the dog bakery to celebrate. Ummm....yeah....I have become one of those dog owners. He's so sweet though!

We are sitting in kitchen chairs, and to be honest it is getting old. I got a note on the door this afternoon that they want to send the adjuster over, or they are coming back to take more pictures or something equally insane. They are not the most organized people, but I have to say that they are pretty nice.

More later when I can sit down for more than 5 minutes. We just got back from OT, and have violin in a bit.

Off and running....

Valentine's Day During Deployment

2011-02-11T13:25:00.000-06:00

Gunner and I aren't the mushy type, and the thought of battling crowds on Valentine's Day is not appealing to me.

Ummmm....right now what is appealing to me is getting back into my house!!

Anyway, what do you do to celebrate Valentine's Day while they are gone? Out to eat? Movies? Something special with the kids? Do you buy the kids presents? Get a babysitter and go out with a friend?

I'm sure Gunner will call if he can, and to be totally honest, that's okay if that's all he can do.

I have a friend whose husband wraps presents for every holiday and extras for when she is "blue", and leaves them with another friend to deliver at the proper times. Considering that we moved 5 days before he left, I knew that was happening, but I thought it was a ~~great~~ brilliant idea!

How do you celebrate?

Homecoming Ideas

2011-02-10T22:52:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I can count on one hand the number of trash days I have left, and it could be sooner.

Gunner is coming back to a stressed out wife, and three angelic (while they sleep) children.

We're meeting him at the airport and going through security, just for the heck of it. Can we take balloons through? I'm thinking we can't.

Any cute ideas for shirts for the kids to wear? Or should I just buy them each a new outfit?

Any great places to find a welcome home outfit for myself? I'm thinking that since I will have three children to chase (okay, so Em doesn't need much chasing) that I will need to have jeans on. Any ideas will be appreciated.

I already warned him that if the next few weeks go like the last few, that he shouldn't expect the house to be spotless. I don't anticipate buying furniture or a tv or much of anything before he gets back.

I feel like I am dropping the ball as this is his last homecoming, and I live for these. How can I make it extra special? (Yes I know that seeing us will make everything good to go, but surely you have a few extra ideas!)

Any help will be appreciated!!!

Hotel Living

2011-02-09T20:33:00.000-06:00

I love the beds in this place. By far the most comfortable hotel beds I have ever slept in.

The bathrooms are big.

Because I am the lightest sleeper in the world, I have piled all three kids in the adjoining room and am able to sleep.

I love having all the beds made by someone other than myself. (Okay, honestly, I don't make the beds that often at home)

I love that breakfast is ready when we walk downstairs. At home we are under the direct order to grab something as you run out the door.

It's much easier to wake up three people living in the same room, and not upstairs where they can hide under their covers.

Did I mention the beds? Oh, and let's not forget all the comfortable pillows, and not that cheap stuff at the other places!

In the meantime:

We are running out of clean clothes and I refuse to pay the price for the hotel washers, but might be forced to suck it up.

We have lost the remotes to both tvs. Operating Locate Remote did not work well this evening, so we will try again tomorrow.

They don't have DVR. I can't remember the last time I watched tv and didn't have the fast forward button available. Heck at this point though I would just take a remote!

We miss Sammy the Dog terribly. He's apparently doing great at Erin's house and has made a BFF. The kids asked if we could have visitation rights, lol.

The lack of a kitchen is getting old, and I might actually cook when we get home.

House Update: They came, they drywalled, and they drywalled over one of the pipe turn off/on switches, so it is off and can never be turned on. Brilliant? I had to call it in. It's freezing here and I saw that they stopped by and made sure my water was off, hiked my heater up to 79 or something (ummm.....are you trying to make me have a massive electric bill???), and are dripping all my faucets. They haven't even seen my summary on damaged items yet, but so far it is over $8000 and that's without all the stuff that can't be replaced, like the shrunk that will need to be repaired.

We still don't have carpet, and who knows when the house will even be dry enough for that with the crazy snow and ice.

I can now look on this whole situation and while I can't laugh, I can realize that I will survive it. I had a friend that came over on Saturday and helped me take 5 million pictures (give or take a couple million), and then took me out for a drink.

While the FRG is useless, I did get a call from Rear D offering to help me however they could. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and in the meantime there's always my comfortable bed, perfect pillows, a bottle of cupcake.....now if I could just find that remote!

Winner!

2011-02-07T18:19:00.000-06:00

Sorry, due to the flood and everything else I forgot to draw a winner, but the winner is HMB over at Table for Two: Me & You.

Congratulations HMB!

When it rains....it pours....literally.

2011-02-04T22:23:00.000-06:00

Thursday morning I got everyone off to school in record time--we had just had two snow days, so I was ready for them to get back in the swing of it!

Came home to hang out with Sammy until it was time for crossfit.

Went to crossfit and had a GREAT workout.

Came home, had been gone about an hour and 20 minutes. Sammy is always peeking through the kitchen window looking for me. (I swear the dog has separation anxiety)

I saw my cute little furry cockapoo....standing on the kitchen table. Really? On the table? I went to the door and didn't even notice the water pouring out of the front door. I opened the door and there was a wet Sammy, jumping on me, covered in water and ice. I look around and the entire downstairs is flooded (well except the bathroom where the water heater is behind a door and there is a DRAIN there, lol).

Water was ~~pouring~~ gushing out of the ceiling on three sides. I didn't know what to do. Apparently running around with a cold wet dog in your arms while asking the dog what to do is not very successful in stopping the water. I ran next door where my neighbor had a friend over and asked them to call housing because my house was flooding. (A friendly word of advice--in a crisis, I am NOT the person to have because I panic, that's why Gunner is so good for me!)

I finally find a phone and call housing three times and get no answer. The neighbor's friend comes over and shuts off my water. He tells me to run to housing down the street. Ummmm.....I guess they were out and about because the office was locked up tight.

I ran back and continued calling housing...press 3 if you have an emergency work order. I probably broke my three button.

I finally give up and call the MP's. The fire department shows up and sloshes through my house. They got on the radios and kept on housing until they showed up. Then the carpet people appeared like magic and were making plans to move everything into my garage. LOL My garage? Really, you think you can fit one more thing in that garage?

They decided pods were the answer. The fireman stayed until they had it clear to housing and everyone there that I was not moving anything or footing the bill. Thank goodness for them!

So we wait for pods. I called Erin in a panic asking her to come get my poor pupsicle. Then I asked her to get Andrew. A true friend, as her husband is home on R&R and they just ran with it and kept him for me. Then I called the Dutchican to help me with the girls. Thank goodness for blogging friends! While I struggled to pack and make sure I had everything of importance with me, they fed, watered, and kept the kids alive, which I struggle with most days! (Although I did hear that Abs was a little vocal about the SWAT team at dinner!)

To make a long story short, the pods finally arrived, they moved my stuff, removed the carpet, and set fans.

Housing put us up in two adjoining rooms in a nice hotel, and needing some quiet, I put all three kids in one room and then claimed the other as my own. It's easier to put them to bed, and then I don't have to be in the dark all night. Does that make me a bad mom? I haven't closed and locked the doors adjoining the room....yet.

So in true ABW fashion, the last 7 weeks of this deployment are turning into the 7 weeks of hell.

On the bright side, I am thankful for the support of all my friends. That I had friends I could call on in a crisis and who helped me with the kids and the dog. That another friend emailed Gunner and he called within 20 minutes of notification. That I had tons of offers of help. That I have insurance.

Most importantly, that I survived. At the time I envisioned the worst and didn't know how I was ever going to make it through it. If Gunner had been home, he would have been so calm and made me laugh while it was happening, but me, Mrs. Panic, was a mess. I'm sure one day this will be funny, but right now it is all I can do to keep from crying.

More later on the drama of housing, itemizing, and all things army related....

Good Memory

2011-02-02T20:14:00.001-06:00

This was Gunner coming home from his first deployment.

Can you find him in this picture? He's the one with the big smile.

Why Can't We Be One Happy Family????

2011-01-31T22:00:00.000-06:00

Here in Colorado, every little section is their own school district.

It really doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but then I grew up outside of Houston, and Houston was one giant happy school district. Well I don't know about happy, but they were there.

So since there are so many school districts, every one of them can pick and choose what snow days that they want. That's great.......until you realize that businesses follow the schedule of the school district in which they reside.

So we are in 11 for school, except for Junior who is in 8, we reside in 8, but Girl Scouts is based off of district 20. no worries because one of Abbie's doctor's appointments goes of district 2. But then there is another who doesn't close at all. So while we are having frigid temperatures, I am trying to monitor all of the closings to see what appointments we have and who is going to school.

In all my brilliance, I signed up to get texts from the news channel on which districts would have delays or closing. The first text went through a couple weeks ago.....at 4:30 AM. Really? Let me sleep in a little before you start texting! Of course I was up after that and unable to sleep, which worked out since I only signed up for one district and not the other 5 that I apparently need to be monitoring as well.

Stay warm!!!

Are you kidding me?

2011-01-30T20:46:00.003-06:00

Please tell me why you would want there, and where you would wear these Michael Jordan heels? Have you ever seen anyone in public in them?

Maybe I will eat my words in a hundred years, but I would never wear them. Would you?

Strong Bonds Weekend

2011-01-30T20:38:00.001-06:00

Go checkout this link. Strong Bonds--Building Ready Families.

On the right hand side you can click on the Locate an Event button and then search by state for events in your area.

You can search by branch, then by type (family retreats, pre-deployment retreats, marriage retreats, etc).

Then you can search through dozens of retreats to find one that applies to you.

Best of all? It's all free. You pay for the gas to get there, and they provide lodging, all meals, and even childcare.

Why do they do this? It's money appropriated by the government (well until Obama takes it away), to help families deal with repeated deployments.

Our trip this weekend was to Glenwood Springs, Colorado. We drove through the mountains, past Breckenridge, Vail, and a half dozen other resorts. We got free tickets to the hot springs, where Abs and I lounged in the hot water.

It was h-e-a-v-e-n.

On the other side of the therapy pool was a pool that was a little bit cooler--if you consider 94 degrees cool. We rotated back and forth between the two, and I think we could have spent all night there. Unfortunately Junior had no interest in going, but the time with just Abs was nice.

It was so nice to have a REAL meal, with choices, that I didn't have to prepare. Abs at one point told the leaders of the retreat "This is the best food we've seen since my dad deployed." Thanks a lot kiddo.

It was really a relaxing weekend, minus the screaming in the car from Junior on the way there and back. (mental note--never go on another road trip again without the dvd player. If I had seen a walmart at one point I would have pulled over and bought another one.)

There are tons of things to do in Glenwood Springs, and I think we are going to go back as a family when Gunner gets home. There are Limestone caves to explore, Doc Holiday's grave (actually the memorial site since they aren't sure where he is buried in Potter's field), and a lot more.

Let me know if you have been on one of their retreats, what you though, and if you haven't been if you were able to locate one to attend. You won't be sorry, and I'm glad that they have this money to do things like this for the families!

Blizzard Blog Hop!

2011-01-27T11:39:00.001-06:00

Hi! My name is Army Blogger Wife, and I have been married for 16 years to Gunner, who is active duty Army. We have three kiddos, Em, Abs, and Junior, who keep me on my toes and provide plenty of blogging fodder.

We are currently stationed at Fort Carson, CO, and not snowed in.....yet.

I love triathlons, crossfit, swimming, reading, and reality tv. All more than I probably should.

Gunner is currently deployed to Afghanistan for a year, and has previously done three year long tours in Iraq, and one in Bosnia.

We are currently on the cusp of retirement, and some days I think it can't come soon enough, and other days I realize how much I will miss this lifestyle, although not the deployments.

I love homecomings.

I am currently hosting a great giveaway that you should enter!

Make sure and leave a comment so that I can visit your blog too!

Cute Idea--Brat Town Bugle

2011-01-26T20:01:00.000-06:00

I don't remember how I stumbled on this, but I wish I had found it sooner. I still might try to find some time for the kids to do it before Gunner gets home. (Boy, you have less than 10 weeks left, and it's almost like they are coming home tomorrow!)

Anyway, this is a free site, and you can print the pages off, and have the kids create their own newspaper! What a cute idea, and would have been great to do over Christmas vacation.

Check it out here: Operation We Are Here

Stella and Dot Giveaway!!

2011-01-25T05:55:00.000-06:00

Stella and Dot Giveaway

With

Army Blogger Wife

When Tracy contacted me about hosting a giveaway, I checked out her items, and fell in love with these earrings.

Then I looked at the girls section and found this cute necklace that "screams" Abs.

Thankfully, Tracy has provided a beautiful necklace for my readers to have a chance winning!

Avery Chains and Pearls Necklace (Retail Value $69)

(Pictured Left)

5 antiqued silver plated chains dripping with freshwater pearls. The combinations of pearls with chain in this necklace updates the classic pearl for a rocker chic look. Approximately 18 ½” – 24"

TO ENTER:

Visit http://www.stelladot.com/tracyt and browse around, then come back here and leave a comment on this post telling me what OTHER favorite piece of jewelry is on the website

EXTRA OPTIONAL ENTRIES: (Leave 1 comment for each entry on this blog)

· Become a fan of Stella and Dot on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stella-and-Dot-Independent-Stylist/144453258946980

· Follow Stella and Dot Stylist Tracy T Hall on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tracythall

· Follow Army Blogger Wife on Twitter: ABW26

· Tweet about this contest. Leave 1 comment for each tweet with the link to the tweet. Copy and paste the following: GIVEAWAY! I entered to win #Stella&Dot Jewelry from @ABW26 and @TracyTHall http://www.stelladot.com/tracyt

· Blog about this contest and link back to this post and http://www.stelladot.com/tracyt

You must leave 1 comment per entry. Extra entries will not be counted unless you leave a comment for each one. Contest runs until Monday, January 31^st, 2011. Winner will chosen with random.org and notified by email on or before 1/31/11 and asked for full name, address. If no response, a different winner will chosen. Must be 18 or older to enter. Contest open to USA or APO/AE. Prize will be shipped directly by Tracy T Hall, an independent stylist for Stella and Dot.

Military Housing

2011-01-24T07:56:00.002-06:00

Besides a few apartments when housing wasn't available yet, we have always lived in housing.

I like that I don't have a lease, that I can leave when I want, and that there is always someone to call if something goes wrong. I like that there is always a fenced in backyard. It's awfully convenient to have someone come unlock your door when you manage to lock yourself out, with no fees.

Housing will mow my yard when Gunner is gone. They will come pick up a dead animal in my yard if I call them.

We have lived in stairwell housing in Germany, "townhomes" at Fort Lewis & Fort Hood, a duplex at Fort Hood, a duplex at the Academy, and now we are in a townhome type situation once again.

I currently LOVE our house. It's not big, but there's room. I like having a garage. There are enough bathrooms for us, especially since Junior doesn't use one.

I like being close to a shoppette, the commissary, the px, and hourly daycare.

Some of the drawbacks are that you are very close to your neighbors. Last week I had the crap scared out of me because someone rang my doorbell at 11 pm. I answer the door and it's the MP's asking about a domestic disturbance. I explained that I had three sleeping children, a barking dog, and a deployed husband. They were looking for my neighbor.

At Hood, our neighbor (in our duplex) tried to kill his wife. He went to jail for about a month till he was bailed out, and he came back and within minutes we were surrounded by MP's. Housing moved her out the next day to an undisclosed location.

Gunner once found our neighbor's kid in a diaper, down the street, in freezing weather, playing near a storm drain.

So anyway, all this leads up to me being addicted to House Hunters. Maybe it is the fact that we have never owned a house and I dream of one day (not anytime soon) buying our first house. Maybe it is because I like to see how other people live. (Surely I'm not the only one who is out walking the dog and will glance over if a window is open to see what it's like. Really, I'm not a peeping ABW!)

What I have a hard time with is people that turn their nose up at the houses they are shown! I know people want their "dream house" with the big master bathroom, walk in closets, an island in the kitchen, and all the things that they have dreamed of. Maybe it is so many years of just taking what is offered, that I can't imagine being THAT picky? We do have a master bathroom and a walk in closet in this house, but many haven't had those features.

I sometimes think if Gunner and I went on that show, they would show us the first house, and we would sign for it. Having alternatives? Unheard of! A garden tub? Never had one, but was at my mom's house and discovered that it is hard to bathe a child in one. A gigantic kitchen? I'd probably just fill it with appliances instead of having the bare minimum.

We have never looked at a house and said "the rooms are too small" but instead say "we'll give Junior the smallest room since he is the youngest" or "Em can have the small room this time because it has a door to the bathroom". We don't look at a kitchen and think about all the baking we are going to do and the lack of counter space, we are just relieved if there is a pantry to put food in!

What's the best housing you have ever lived in? (Ours is here at Carson)

Have you ever bought a house at a duty station, and was it worth the trouble when you moved?

Have you ever had crazy neighbors like mine?

How has living in military housing changed the way you view your future home?

Quiet

2011-01-23T00:25:00.000-06:00

With Em gone for the weekend, things have been so quiet here.

The phone isn't ringing off the hook.

The kids are getting along.

No one is pestering me to cook, they like oatmeal and ham.

Junior didn't get out of his pjs. Now that I think about it, Abs didn't either.

He's at such a sweet age. (Minus when he turned himself into the Incredible Hulk one night when he was supposed to be sleeping!)

Tomorrow I go get Em from her weekend youth retreat, and I can't wait to hear how skiing, tubing and all that went. We're also meeting my friend Dave for pho.

Tuesday is another trash day, and it can't come soon enough!

Milspouse Friday Fill-In

2011-01-21T12:59:00.001-06:00

Okay, so I haven't done this in forever, but I'm joining back in...

1.What do you usually want to know about someone when meeting them for the first time?
Want to train for a triathlon/race with me? I'm horrible at meeting people, so I do usually start with where are you from or how long have you been here.

2.Would you rather know everything about your spouse, or be regularly surprised?
He continues to surprise me after 16 years of marriage. I wonder if I continue to surprise him or if he has figured me out. Gunner?

3.If you could live in one city for the rest of your life, where would you live?
If money wasn't an option, I would choose NYC or Seattle. If we have to be realistic, I like Colorado a lot.

4.When you go out of town, what one material thing do you ALWAYS take?
My cell phone. If all else fails, I can snap pictures, talk to people, get on facebook, and blog.

5.Using no more than 10 nouns, and ONLY nouns, describe yourself.
Ten nouns? Ummmm.......triathlete (not the best, but I am getting there and enjoy it), mom, wife, professional student (I love going to school, and the abundance of degrees that I don't use....well....maybe someday), blogger, friend....having a hard time coming up with more......biggest fan to my husband and kids, procrastinator, military wife, and teacher.

Toddlers & Tiaras

2011-01-20T21:40:00.001-06:00

Surely I am not the only one who has way too much time on their hands after the kids go to bed, and views such awful shows such as Toddlers & Tiaras.

Really, has anyone ever done pageants? Are they this bad????

Some questions--Why do they think it is cute for the girls to talk like a baby? Seriously, get them into speech, it's not cute and they look ridiculous.

Last night's episode involved a girl with ADHD, Cassidy. I live with ADHD, that girl, while she may have had it, also had a serious case of being a brat. Being allowed to act the way she did, and to treat people the way she did? She needs an ass whipping. Her mom? She needs one too. Who sits there and talk about their kid behind their back and be jealous of the girl who won because she's the "whole package" and her own daughter is a mess? The whole family got under my skin. Really, you have to take money away from your bills to put your daughter in a pageant? Don't even get me started on how idiotic that is!

Kiara was cute, and at least her mom was out there trying to earn money, and she actually questioned whether or not they would continue.

Ellyson, the daughter of the Airman, she was cute, but her parents about sent me over the edge. I'm all about being supportive of your kiddos, but they obviously are living out their fantasies in their child. They should be saving that $500 for her education, but I doubt that will happen.

I guess I don't get the whole pageant thing. I was in Little Miss Exxon when I was about 4. I was painfully shy, and it was torture to get out there. I have those pictures somewhere, I'll see if I can dig them up. I was a cute kid, but thank goodness there were no pageants after that in my future!

I have no desire to put my girls in pageants, so I am probably not the best person to watch this show. Why do I find myself tuning in each week? Has your child ever done a pageant? How did they do? Is it a regular thing? Did you do them growing up? Seems like a strange way to spend ~~Gunner's~~ my hard earned money!

You Know When the Men Are Gone--Winner!!!

2011-01-19T18:17:00.000-06:00

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:8Powered by RANDOM.ORG

The winner is:

JMBROOKS89 at While You Were Gone

Tostitos & the USO Reunite Soldiers and Families!

2011-01-18T06:04:00.000-06:00

Heck, we won't have the big homecoming this year, maybe we should try for this? That would be one heck of a way to welcome Gunner home and make it memorable!

Tostitos and the USO Reunited U.S. Troops Serving in Iraq with their Families during Tostitos BCS National Championship Halftime

Emotional homecoming for Tostitos “Connect to Home Bowl” military players becomes first of many heartfelt reunions to take place this year as part of Tostitos “Reunite America” campaign

PLANO, Texas (Jan. 10, 2011) – The Tostitos brand, in partnership with the USO, today revealed surprise reunions with loved ones for U.S troops live on field during halftime of the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game. The reunited troops played alongside former college football all-stars in the recent Tostitos Connect to Home Bowl, which took place at Joint Base Balad in Iraq over the holidays. The one-of-a-kind college football bowl game experience was part of a series of activities led by Tostitos, a flagship brand of PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division, and the USO to honor and celebrate U.S. military heroes. The on-field reunions also marked the kick-off to the Tostitos “Reunite America” campaign, a program that will foster consumer-requested reunions of all kinds nationwide during 2011.

Moments before the surprise reunions took place, family members of four Tostitos Connect to Home Bowl military players were recognized on field for the sacrifices they make on behalf of the country each and every day. Then, in a dramatic and emotionally charged moment, from behind an oversized banner emerged their loved ones – the troops serving overseas who had made the more than 7,500 mile journey to reunite with their families in person. Among those reunited were:

· SSG Alton Day, U.S. Army, Elizabeth, N.C., his wife Gwendalyn (Gwen), sons Alton, Jr. (age 14) and Aydan (age 2), and daughters Alexandria (age 12) and Alannah (age 5)

· SPC Danyul Davis, U.S. Army, Houston, Texas, his wife Jalexus, son Jai (age 1) and brothers Jeremy Michael Powell and Guy DeJohn Jackson

· Sgt Louis Davis, U.S. Army, Ft. Bragg, N.C., his wife Stephanie, daughter Zaiyah (age 3), mom Linda S. David and sister Simona R. Green

· PO1 Terry Eady, U.S. Navy, Ocilla, Ga., his daughter TeOndra (age 9), son Terrvon (age 12) and cousin Henry Leroy Fisher, Jr.

The reunions for troops and their families that took place as part of today’s Tostitos BCS National Championship Game were celebrated by millions around the country, but were only the beginning. Starting today, the Tostitos brand embarks on a mission to create real-world, consumer-powered connections throughout 2011 as part of Reunite America. To participate, consumers can visitwww.facebook.com/Tostitos to submit stories explaining who they would like to be reunited with for a chance to have the Tostitos brand actually make the connections happen.

“The joy people experience when they are reunited with those they care about is universal,” said Justin Lambeth, vice president of marketing, Tostitos. “And, it’s one of the many reasons Tostitos is so excited to facilitate a series of reunions and homecomings through Reunite America. It was incredible seeing our first big reunion happen at the Tostitos BCS National Championship with help from the USO. Now, we look forward to giving others a chance to spend meaningful time together through this program.”

“The USO focuses on bringing our troops a touch of home when they are deployed, but actually coming home to their loved ones is what they look forward to the most,” said Sloan Gibson, USO president. “We are a proud partner with Tostitos to make these very special reunions possible.”

Current pop culture trends show that consumers are looking for ways to reconnect, not just online, but in real life. From television shows that spotlight high-profile reunions to the recent trend in tracing ancestry roots, people are seeking out long-lost connections. With that in mind, the Tostitos brand intends to make desired reunions a reality for many people who otherwise might be limited to connecting with friends and family online, or not at all.

Whether it’s reuniting troops and their families, reconnecting long-lost loves or bringing together former college roommates, Tostitos fans will be able to watch all of the reunions made possible by the brand at www.facebook.com/Tostitos, including the one taking place during today’s Tostitos BCS National Championship Game. They can also share the reunion videos with family and friends.

PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that each generates more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses - Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade - also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in more than 200 countries. With annualized revenues of nearly $60 billion, PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

The USO (United Service Organizations) lifts the spirits of America’s troops and their families millions of times each year at thousands of places worldwide. We provide a touch of home through centers at airports and military bases, top quality entertainment and innovative programs and services. We also provide critical support to those who need us most, including forward-deployed troops and their families, wounded warriors and their families and the families of the fallen.

The USO is a private, non-profit organization, not a government agency. We rely on the generosity of our volunteers and donors. In addition to individual donors and other corporate sponsors, the USO is supported by Worldwide Strategic Partners American Airlines, AT&T Inc., BAE Systems, The Boeing Company, Clear Channel Communications, The Coca-Cola Company, Gallery Furniture, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Procter & Gamble and TriWest Healthcare Alliance. We are also supported through the United Way and Combined Federal Campaign (CFC-11381). To join us in this patriotic mission and to learn more about the USO, please visit www.uso.org.

What's your Hometown?

2011-01-17T13:08:00.000-06:00

Someone asked me where I was from the other day, and I didn't know how to answer.

I was born in Australia.
Grew up in Houston.
Went to college in Waco.
We've been stationed at Hood, Germany, Ft Lewis, Hood, and now Carson.

My parents don't live in Houston anymore.

I'd hate to say my hometown is Killeen.

Do you get to just pick somewhere? My favorite duty station?

Gunner is an Air Force brat, so he's lived everywhere, but spent the most time in California.

So do we even have a hometown? How do we know where to go from here?

What's your hometown, and how did you figure it out? (Really, I do have more important things to worry about, but I just never know how to answer this question!)

Catching Up

2011-01-16T23:15:00.000-06:00

Alegria was wonderful.

From facebook: ABW had a great time at Alegria. The girls were amazed. We had watched people flying through the air, throwing flaming batons around, and more when Abs leans over and says "I don't know if this was the best place to take me, because I am now full of ideas!" She's planning on doing human body bending during recess from now on instead of "wasting her time with something useless like playing".

It was definitely worth the expensive tickets, and even Em sat there with her mouth open through parts of it. I suggested that after Gunner retired he could be one of the fire guys, but the girls didn't think he fit the bill. Whatever!

I just watched the Bachelor, and the vampire girl is still there? Really? He must get extra money to keep her around. At least those two catty girls--the waitress and the manscaper--are gone. All the crying and stuff was getting on my nerves.

I like Emily the best, and I hope it is not her that wants to leave next week.

I'm over the one on one dates and them having private concerts. Please.

On the potty training front, Junior has decided that he is going to clean himself up and not tell me. He came downstairs from quiet time and had on three pairs of underwear. He had pooped, found some wipes, cleaned himself up the best he could and changed. He stuffed his pullup in the closet, and his hands were filthy.

Into the tub we went. On the bright side, he is taking care of it, on the other hand, I'm grossed out! Let's hope things get better. I figure he will wait till I have one trash day left and then knock it out and be potty trained by the time Gunner comes home. I would not find that amusing.

I took Sammy to get groomed today, but apparently he was missing an updated rabies shot. Don't they check these things? They could tell me as soon as I walked in the door after my 45 minute drive, so it seems that they could have saved me the trouble. Instead we did the self wash, had his nails clipped, and will figure it out this week. At least he is clean and fluffy again, since he was looking pretty nasty from all the snow he's been traipsing through this week.

Here's to another week down. Last week lasted f-o-r-e-v-e-r, so I am hoping this week will fly by to make up for it.

Operation Paperback

2011-01-15T06:46:00.000-06:00

I heard about this organization a few months back and immediately signed up, because who can't use more books? We received our box before Christmas and it was chocked full of books for all the kids reading levels. I finally got to read The Book Thief and I have another pile of books to read in the upcoming weeks. Goodness knows I have no exciting nights in this house after the kids are in bed, and I'm able to plow through a book or more every week.

Operation Paperback has volunteers all over the United States that gather books for your families and ship them out, free of charge! It was easy to do, just go here to sign up!

They even ship books to your Soldier who is deployed, and you can sign them up here.

They also have several ways that you can volunteer with their organization as well.

Happy reading!

You Know When the Men Are Gone--Giveaway!!!

2011-01-14T05:36:00.003-06:00

I was shipped a copy of the book You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon, for review recently.

I had it sitting in my pile of books to read, and I picked it up one night when I was missing Gunner.

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

Really, seriously, I loved it. I've actually read it two times since then.

"There is an army of women waiting for their men to return in Fort Hood, Texas. Through a series of loosely interconnected stories, Siobhan Fallon takes readers onto the base, inside the homes, into the marriages and families-intimate places not seen in newspaper articles or politicians' speeches."

After spending over 6 years at Fort Hood, meeting my husband while he was stationed there the first time, and having our son there, Fort Hood will always hold a special place in my heart. Many of the places that she mentions I have been, which made the stories seem even more real.

You can watch a preview of the book here:

After each of the stories, I would have to put down the book and think. Some of these stories I have seen played out in real life, which made it hard, because I could think of Soldiers and their families that lived these "fictional" stories.

The back of the book reads: "There is an army of women waiting for their men to return to Fort Hood, Texas. As Siobhan Fallon shows in this collection of loosely interconnected short stories, each woman deals with her husband's absence differently. One wife, in an attempt to avoid thinking about the risks her husband faces in Iraq, develops an unhealthy obsession with the secret life of her neighbor. Another woman's simple trip to the PX becomes unbearable when she pulls into her Gold Star parking space. And one woman's loneliness may lead to dire consequences when her husband arrives home. In gripping, no-nonsense stories that will leave you shaken, Siobhan Fallon allows you into a world tightly guarded by gates and wire. It is a place where men and women cling to the families they have created as the stress of war threatens to pull them apart."

Siobhan Fallon is an Army Wife, who has been through two deployments of her own.

Because I LOVED this book so much, I have ONE book to give away! Just leave a comment below and let me know how you deal with the stress of war. (Limited to US addresses, APO and FPO as well)

My way of dealing with stress? The last two deployments it has been working out. For one or more hours a day, I can focus on myself, what I need to do, and the stress of everything disappears. Not that it doesn't come back afterwards, but I have a reprieve. How do you handle the stress of deployments?

I will draw for the winner on Wednesday January 19th!

First Deployment Question

2011-01-13T12:18:00.000-06:00

I got an email from a reader not too long ago:

A month into my first deployment (better half is deployed, I'm home),

I found your blog. Do you have any other army-wife deployment blogs/

online resources you recommend? We plan to get married when he gets

back, and I know other deployments will be in my future... but I won't

be in my home town next time. Not used to the erratic communication

schedule and am finding it a bit difficult. Holidays don't help

matters.

Any other resources you can pass on would be great-- I'm not living on

the base he was deployed from and since we aren't married, I haven't

found many official Army resources I can take advantage of. So,

online info/ blogs/ whatever would be great.

Love your blog-- can't imagine going through so many year-long

deployments, though. Wow.

Thanks!

My advice? Stay busy. Set goals. Don't get caught up in the drama. Surround yourself with non-toxic people. Make plans for when they come back. Save money. Write letters. Take pictures. Live your life, he doesn't want you to put it on hold! He will change, work hard to make yourself better and your future family better. Survive and Thrive!

Anyone else have advice or want to put their blogs in the comments so she can read about other people going through this same thing?

Winding Up

2011-01-12T20:17:00.000-06:00

We still have a few months to go, but since the last few months always seem to go the slowest for me, I have been busy scheduling things for us to do.

This weekend we have:

Then Em is headed off to a weekend in the mountains where she will enjoy snowshoeing, tubing, crafts, sleigh ride, sports, skiing and more. It's a free weekend for teens of deployed Soldiers/Airman, etc. She's really excited about it. I'm jealous!

There's a Girl Scout mall lock-in coming up, and then I'll take the little kids to see:

How do you help pass the time the last few months before they come home?

Stars and Stripes Valentine's Messages!

2011-01-11T16:51:00.001-06:00

I remember when Gunner was deployed to Bosnia, we had no internet connection, very few phone calls, and our only contact were letters. We were stationed in Germany, and I religiously read the Stars and Stripes paper each day to keep up with what was happening over there.

On Valentine's Day, we could buy an ad in the paper to send our husband's a message. Of course I had to do it, because I could only imagine if he were the only one.

Fast forward a hundred years, and now it is a service that is provide by Stars and Stripes for free!

If you have a loved one overseas, go here and send a message, free of charge. You can even upload a picture, and select which edition, whether you want it in print, or only online.

So if you'll be apart over Valentine's Day (I'm starting to think Gunner plans this, lol), make sure you let them know you are thinking of them (and then go get yourself a really nice present!)!

Lucky

2011-01-10T07:15:00.001-06:00

I was sitting here tonight, watching it pour down snow (I really wish there was a phrase for that like when it is "raining cats and dogs", shouldn't it be "snowing like ????"), and I realized how ~~lucky~~ fortunate that I am.

I've got a great guy.

Really, I am.

If Gunner was here, he would have helped me clean the house all day. (For the record, he said he would clean the house for a year over being in Afghanistan for one more day. Let that be noted, because I will be calling on that later.)

He would walk the dog in the snow.

He would have read stories to the kids.

Tucked them into bed.

"Whooshed" them. (Basically, that means he takes their covers, throws them up in the air and everyone in the room cries "woosh". I apparently don't do it the same, so I am relieved from that duty.)

He would have helped get dinner on the table.

He would have given Junior a bath. (For the record, GUNNER'S son colored his entire body with markers today during 'quiet time' because he was trying to be a secret agent and not be recognized.)

Tonight at dinner Abs and I had this conversation:

Abs: What if we get snowed in?
Me: We won't, we'll be fine.
Abs: At least if we run out of food, we have you to eat.

Yes, my children decided last summer while we were camping, that in case of emergency I would be the first one eaten because all I do is take pictures.

Please check on me tomorrow in case my children decided to "feast".

Military Spouse Scholarships

2011-01-10T06:36:00.000-06:00

For Immediate Distribution
Contact:
Bailey Bernius
PR@militaryfamily.org
www.militaryfamily.org
703.931.6632

Applications Now Accepted for Military Spouse ScholarshipsApply before January 31 deadline

ALEXANDRIA, VA January 5, 2011 — The deadline is quickly approaching for spouses to apply for the National Military Family Association’s Joanne Holbrook Patton Military Spouse Scholarship Program. Scholarships of up to $1,000 are awarded to military spouses to obtain professional certification or training, complete a two- or four-year degree, or attend graduate school.
Scholarships are awarded in three categories: all military spouses, spouses of wounded service members, and spouses of fallen service members. Applications will only be accepted online and must be submitted by midnight EST January 31, 2011. Spouses of uniformed service members (active duty, National Guard and Reserve, retirees, and survivors) from any branch or rank are eligible to apply. The scholarship funds may be used to assist with tuition, fees, and school room and board. Apply now!
This scholarship program is made possible by partnerships with BAE Systems, Fisher House Foundation, Folds of Honor Foundation, and General Dynamics. For more information on military spouse education and careers, visit the Spouse Education section of our website.

About the National Military Family AssociationMilitary families serve our country with pride, honor, and quiet dedication. The National Military Family Association is the leading nonprofit organization committed to strengthening and protecting the families of the men and women currently serving, retired, wounded or fallen. We provide families of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Commissioned Corps of the USPHS and NOAA with information, work to get them the benefits they deserve, and offer programs that improve their lives. Our 40 years of service and accomplishments have made us a trusted resource for military families and the Nation's leaders. To learn more, visit www.militaryfamily.org.

Change of Plans--WINNER!!!

2011-01-09T10:33:00.001-06:00

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:6Powered by RANDOM.ORG

I once again wasted time trying to figure out how to get the picture installed on this page, and this is the best I can do. Maybe in a few years I can actually figure it out!

So, the winner is McMgrad89 at So I Was Just Thinking!

Enjoy your movies and new blanket!

Facebook Updates

2011-01-09T10:03:00.000-06:00

Another installment in my life on facebook....I know the suspense is killing you, lol.

ABW is thankful for the patient old man at Home Depot that helped Abbie come up with ideas to make a car out of non-car parts. When it was all said and done, the two had discussed all the finer points of car building, and he whispered to me "you must be tired every night by the time she goes to bed, but she's worth a million bucks". That she is.

ABW I registered today for the Colfax half marathon. BTW, Gunner , I signed you up too! Think of it as me investing in your health.

ABW is really over deployments.

ABW just caught Abbie "flossing" her toes with a dog treat. Ewwww. If anyone can figure out what goes through her mind I would appreciate it. Her excuse was that she did not have a big ball of twine

ABW has the collards and black eyed peas on. Yum. Let the good luck start!

ABW hopes that they are serving black-eyed peas and collard greens in Afghanistan, as she would hate for Gunner to miss out on traditions

Abs: I get tired of being told what to do.
Me: Become President and you can tell people what to do.

Abs: Or I could be a mommy, they do the same thing.

ABW Just saw the funniest thing. Andrew was fussing so I finally went to check on him. He was sitting in a giant silver mixing bowl (hey, it was his hat yesterday) and was asleep. He would fuss every time he would fall over. I asked him what he was doing and he said "waiting for Santa".

Thanks & New Problem--Bullying

2011-01-08T07:09:00.000-06:00

Thanks for all the advice on potty training. I once had Junior sit in his mess till he got tired of it--wouldn't you know, he didn't mind at all. I had to put him outside at one point in the backyard, and he played nicely on the back porch while sitting in his own feces, singing happily. He must get his stubbornness from his father.

I have tried making him clean himself up, but probably not as regularly as I should, so I'm going to give that a shot again. He did it a few times and was happy as a lark.

My new problem is bullying.

My dear sweet Abs, who we have all come to know and love, has been bullied since the beginning of school. I have fought with the school non-stop, demanding that they do something, and they always point it back to Abs, which 95% of the time is not the case.

Yesterday things came to a head when "he" attacked her and shoved her down. Now I realize that these are 4th graders and that stuff like this happens (although being a 2nd grade teacher, my students knew better than to do anything to hurt anyone). But, this has been consistently happening, although more on the harassment level--you're stupid, you're dumb, you're ugly, anything that he can say to cut her down.

The physical was more than I could handle, and I fired off an email demanding a response from them. Their solution was to keep Abs out of her specials classes and therefore keep them separated. Really? She's not the problem.

I have had Abs moved, against her will. That will probably backfire on me, but I couldn't let her deal with that anymore, and it was obvious that the school wasn't going to do anything. The problem is that Abs loves the school, and I like that they are challenging her, but then there is this problem.
Publish Post
I'm frustrated. It shouldn't be this hard to protect your child. Any suggestions?

And Here's Where I Ask for Help

2011-01-06T22:08:00.000-06:00

I keep saying I am laying low, changing poopy diapers till Gunner gets home, and then it is his problem.

After changing THREE of them today, for a child who eats everything that I do, I am disgusted.

I am looking for all potty training advice. I have put him in diapers, and he pretends that they are pullups. He knows what to do. He isn't scared of the potty, he just won't go.

I've bribed. I've threatened, I've begged.

We are getting NOWHERE.

I'm at my wit's end. Everyone says it will come. He's going to start Kindergarten in less than 7 months, and I really don't see 7 months making a difference.

The kid is brilliant. He can write his name, has an Abbie size vocabulary, and can rationalize everything....

He will not use the bathroom. He will sit there sometimes, but not on a regular basis. Timers don't work. Regular intervals don't work.

Nothing works.

I really might have the first boy that is not potty trained when he goes off to college. I don't know how he thinks he can hide pullups at the Air Force Academy!

Help!!!! Someone out there has to know the miracle that I am looking for....I hope!!!!

Family Movie Night--Giveaway!

2011-01-06T05:27:00.000-06:00

Goodness knows with the military there is a change of plans around every corner. Heck, I emailed a bike ride I wanted to do with Gunner, and he told me it looked great, and maybe we could make it in at least ONE of the cities, but who knows which one.

Anyway....

It's Family Movie Night on Fox, this Saturday, January 8th, at 8/7CST.

“CHANGE OF PLANS” SYNOPSIS

Up to this point, Sally Danville’s life has played out just as she hoped it would. As a beautiful and free-spirited musician, she and her fighter-pilot husband, Jason, live life on the go, free of domestic responsibilities. But with a single phone call from Child & Family Services case worker, Dorothy (Phylicia Rashad, “The Cosby Show”), she learns that things don’t always go according to plan. Sally (Brooke White, “American Idol”) is met with the news that her best friend from college has died in a tragic accident on a Peace Corps mission and has named Sally the legal guardian of her four kids – 3 of them adopted from third-world countries. Now Sally and Jason (Joe Flanigan, “Stargate Atlantis”) must quickly learn to parent this instant family and help the kids deal with the culture clash of life in America. The story is both humorous and heartwarming, revealing how fulfilling life can be when you look beyond your own plans and invest in the lives of others.

I'm a sucker for a movie that pulls at your heartstrings, like all those Hallmark made for tv movies. Surely I'm not the only one!

Now for the good stuff! I'm allowed to offer to my readers, a giveaway of a cute fleece blanket, like the one shown here (ummm....the cute but dirty dog is not included, and they are sending you the blanket, so yours would be clean whereas mine will be washed tonight after Abs tucked it around Sammy. Forgive the blurry picture as I still have not found my camera charger. I'm convinced it is around the next corner!).

In addition to the blanket, you get THREE movies that have previously been P&G/Walmart movies for Family Movie Night--Secrets of the Mountain, Jenson Project and A Walk in My Shoes. (I linked to the trailers, and wish I had seen them all, they look great!)

All you need to do is leave a comment, and let me know what you do for Family Night at your house! I'd love the ideas! I will draw the winner on Sunday, January 9th, 2011! Good luck!

Making Time Go Too Quickly?

2011-01-05T05:15:00.016-06:00

Gunner wrote on facebook that he was ready for this deployment to be over.

It reminded me of when Junior was born.

Gunner came home two days before Junior was born on R&R, and left when he was 13 days old. I was left with three kids, lots of stitches (TMI, I know), and I didn't know if I should wish the remaining 6 months away or not.

I looked at Junior every day and saw how much he was changing, and I just wanted to savor every last minute with him, because he was my last baby. I knew Gunner was missing his first smile, his first laugh, and a lot of other firsts, which made me sad.

On the other hand, we missed Gunner terribly, and he wanted to be home. Did I want to rush Junior growing up in exchange for him being home? How do you rationalize that in your head?

In the end I just took it one day at a time, and it was all good. The second half of the deployment did fly by, so I was happy about that but also sad.

Now I find myself in a similar but very different position. Junior is growing up fast. Em's a teenager, Abs is Abs, and he's missing it all. Sometimes I wish time would just fly by and he could be home. The sad part is, that once he is home it won't be long till Junior is in Kindergarten (assuming he ever potty trains) and we have no "little" ones anymore.

(meeting his son 6 months later 2006)

Where did the time go?

I admit, I watched the Bachelor

2011-01-04T21:26:00.000-06:00

Please tell me I am not the only one. I usually don't watch it, but I did watch it the first time that Brad Womack was on there.

He's cute. He seems genuine. I believe he has changed, I guess.

The women? Where do they find these freaks????

Vampire teeth?

Just plain weird.

Some of the girls are so far fetched. Really, she slapped him and he kept her?

He should have tossed her to the curb.

Unfortunately, I'll probably watch the entire season to see if slap girl and vampire girl make the cut. I need Gunner home to save me from crappy reality television!

What should I do in 2011?

2011-01-04T17:15:00.000-06:00

There's a million posts out there on goals and making 2011.

I want to do a half ironman. This will be in preparation for my Ironman in 2012.

A couple of Olympic distance tris. A couple of sprints. With Gunner home, I should be able to do more.

I want to run a marathon, a couple of half marathons. I'm not super speedy, but I like the feeling of completing things. It drives me nuts when people won't even attempt something because the task seems overwhelming to them or they won't win. Get over it and get out there and try something.

I'm taking a snowshoeing class with a friend, and so I want to go snowshoeing a few times. That should be interesting.

I need to get Abbie and Andrew to ride bikes.

I am still working on the garage challenge. That should have been an entire deployment challenge.

I'll think of a few more things to throw in there for good measure, but most importantly, I am looking forward to this deployment being over!

Funny video about military wives....

2011-01-03T21:46:00.000-06:00

This made me laugh and laugh. Let me know what you think! This is the PG version, less of the f-bombs.

Preview

2011-01-03T08:46:00.000-06:00

I was always told that whatever you spend your time doing on the first day of the year, is how you spend the rest of the year.

This is not a good sign.

I changed at least 4 poopy diapers.

I cleaned the living room.

I tried to take a nap, but was interrupted consistently by Gunner's children.

I washed three loads of dishes.

I walked the dog in frigid temperatures where my nose hairs were freezing.

On the other hand....

I have three healthy children even if they are a little rough around the edges some days.

I have a husband that loves me more than anything else in the world.

I am healthy, love to workout, and have big plans for this year.

Gunner will be home this year, and we will bid the Army goodbye. That's good and bad in a way.

Deployments will come to an end for us. (knock on wood)

Even if I still can't find my camera battery charger, I can afford to buy a new one.

The list goes on, so hopefully 2011 will turn out much better than 2010!

The Little Things.

2011-01-02T09:09:00.000-06:00

I sent Gunner one of our Christmas cards this year, and he received it today.

I should have taken a picture of the inside, but everyone signed their names.

Gunner emailed to let me know that the card had arrived and he loved that Abs signed the card Absters, which is what he calls her all the time.

Then he asked "Who signed Junior's name?".

I had forgotten to tell him that he could sign his own name.

Sigh. How many more trash days?

Guess What!

2011-01-01T17:46:00.000-06:00

My husband will be home THIS YEAR!!!

I'm a ~~little~~ over the top excited about it. A brand new chapter of our lives will begin.

What do I do before then though?

It's a brand new year, and I should be making my brand new goals. A half ironman? A marathon? Six pack abs?

I wish I knew what the future was going to hold when he gets out, so I could plan accordingly.

I'm a planner. I'm a backup planner. I make plans like my daughter changes clothes....constantly.

We are currently stuck in the house due to snow and ice.

This is a video from a street not too far from here. No I didn't make it, but it's crazy!

I chose to stay off the road, because this Texan does not like to drive in this mess. Unfortunately with a high of only 14 today, I am going to have to venture out to get some more medicine for Abs.

It's been negative temps every night during dog walking duty, but I continue to take the dog out. Apparently in this neck of post, I am the only one who does it. Poor little pups!

Happy New Year! 2011 has to be better than 2010!

A Good Military Spouse Video

2010-12-28T11:21:00.000-06:00

Watch it the whole way through....

Let me know what you think. I had to get over his grammar, but the message was clear.

Christmas

2010-12-26T22:14:00.000-06:00

Although I never really got into the Christmas spirit this year, I did make sure that the kids had a great time.

How could Santa go wrong with electric guitars? I guess that means lessons need to be in the works.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, his pajama top is too small, his bottoms don't match.....it's how we roll.

I finally did it and got the girls each a dsi for Christmas.

One of the few pictures I managed to catch of Em.

I used the Tag reader in my classroom, but the school had a set. I scored on the price and got it for less than $30 with 12 books and the pen! Score! (Oh, and I got one DSI for free. Just call me a bargain shopper.)

The kids were happy with everything they got. I even got a present. Abs went shopping in Em's room and had wrapped something up for me.....something Em had just received from her teacher a few days earlier. Never a dull moment with that kid.

After presents, I ran over to the DFAC to see what the hours were for Christmas dinner.

They weren't serving.

At least Denny's was hopping! We had a friend and her son join us for dinner, and as long as I wasn't cooking, I really didn't care where we ate.

One more holiday down, and a day closer to Gunner coming home. Slowly but surely.....trash goes out tomorrow night!

Christmas Cards

2010-12-25T07:36:00.005-06:00

So I haven't finished sending out all the Christmas cards, because, well, just because. I will eventually get them out, so don't look if you know you are missing one. Of course if you are not looking then send me your address immediately!

Not a great shot of the card, but you get the idea. I found them on etsy. How can you not like that place?

For all the new readers, there's always last years card that still makes me smile every time I see it (drawn by Abs).

While Christmas is the hardest time to have Gunner gone, at least I know that he took the place of someone who missed last Christmas and that Soldier gets to be home this year. Next year, he's all ours.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

For your reading pleasure (and yes I know parts don't rhyme, but I should be filling stockings right now instead of worrying about rhyming words):

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, except for a military spouse;

The stockings were hung by 550 cord, with care,

In hopes that skype would work and her husband could be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of their dad in camo, danced in their heads;

And me in his sweats, and Army crap,

Had just settled down with lots of presents to wrap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the floor to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the crappy mini blinds and hoped no Soldier did crash.

The moon on the grass that I was glad did not grow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to housing below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature tank, and eight tiny rear-deer’s,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be Sgt. Nick.

More rapid than deployments, his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Alpha! now, Bravo! now, Charlie and Delta!

On, Headquarters! on Scouts! on, S-2 and S-3!

To the top of the main gate! to the top of the wall!

Now convoy away! convoy away! convoy away all!"

As sand during a sandstorm does manage to fly,

When they meet with a desert, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the tank full of toys, and Sgt. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The stomping and clomping of each combat boot.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Through the mail slot Sgt. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in camo, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all pressed with fine spitshined black boots;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a Soldier just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they looked tired! his dimples were there,

But through it all, his sadness he did wear.

His strong mouth was quiet as he wondered how,

She managed to do it without sweat on her brow;

The single white envelope he held tight in his hand,

Was the first thing he set down, all covered with sand;

A single letter sent home, written straight from the heart,

Even if the military did keep them apart.

He was skinny and strong, silent and stealth,

No danger of stealing, as he was used to no wealth;

A wink of his eye and a nod of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And turning and smiling, he straightened his clothes

And giving a salute, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his tank, to his convoy gave a yell,

And away they all flew like a bat out of hell.

But I heard him call cadence as he drove out of sight

Remember he loves you he’ll call you tonight.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T21:35:00.000-06:00

I have three children nestled in bed, while visions of their dad, dance in their head.

We hung the stockings from the staircase with 550 cord. (What military family doesn't love 550 cord?)

Flat Daddy is guarding the tree and the kids also wanted to put him up so that Santa would be reminded about all the dads that are missing Christmas morning. (So I might have cried at that statement)

Cookies and milk and salsa and chips were left out for Santa. (You have to leave out at least a few German cookies!)

Abs drew a picture of Santa with specific instructions on whose stocking was whose. Remember the 4 stockings? Ummmm....yeah.....they gave Sammy one, but not me. LOL

I think the car was left by Junior because he still isn't potty trained and he was trying to bribe Santa. Of course Junior had to draw a picture too...

The best present of all came tonight when Gunner got on the webcam and sent pictures of himself.

I miss him. His one request was for me to take a ton of pictures on Christmas morning. Guess who can't find the battery charger or the flip. Luckily I found a backup camera and will use that.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cheer?

2010-12-23T23:10:00.000-06:00

All the presents are wrapped, and in keeping with tradition, they will love everything that they are getting. Thankfully the zhu zhu pets were not as rare as last Christmas, and I even got the kung zhu model. Junior got one at the USO party and has been carrying it around like a pet. Abs has been begging for one since last year, so I managed to score one.

My in-laws had their presents here way before I was even done shopping, and today the elusive gift basket they got me was finally received. I am not a big of Fed Ex right now, but at least the product arrived. It's a huge basket filled with wine, godiva chocolates, truffles, and lots of other good stuff. After the last few months I have had, it was nice to receive.

The Santa presents are ready to be put out--do you wrap yours or just put them out? We used to wrap them, but now I just put them out for them to play with once they wake up.

Knock on wood, even Abbie, has never gotten up early on Christmas morning. I probably just jinxed that though.

Tonight I went to dinner with my friend Erin, then to the movies, and out for a drink. It was nice to get out of the house sans children for once, before the holiday chaos ensues. Plus it was low key, which is just what I needed, since we are both hitting crossfit in the morning. We are doing the "Twelve Days of Christmas".......I just checked the website, and this workout will makeup for us not working out Christmas Day. Ouch!

So tonight I go to bed happy, with a lot less to worry about over the next 48 hours than I thought. I do have to hit the commissary, but Abs and Junior like to help, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

I'm trying to come up with some snack foods to serve on Christmas day before our DFAC dinner. Any suggestions? I am really craving brie right now, so that will have to be on the list.

While Christmas is never the same when Gunner is gone, I am glad that I have a husband that loves me unconditionally, treasures his children, and can still make me smile from halfway around the world. Life is good.

Shout-Outs

2010-12-18T22:25:00.001-06:00

Every month or so, the Brigade posts shout-outs from down range.

I watch them. I look for Gunner. He's never there.

On FB the other day I wrote:
ABW: Before I have to be thoroughly depressed that I watch another series of "shout-outs" and you aren't on there, let me know if you ever do one!

Gunner: Like a camera crew is going to give up their safety to come out to my little chunk of the war.

I should give up, but I noticed they posted a new one.

I watched it, and no matter what, even if I don't know the guys, they still get me. I think of all the people left behind. All the people spending Christmas without their Soldier this year. It just makes me sad.

But then they post the "bloopers" and I laugh and laugh.

So....does your brigade, unit, or whatever you want to call it do the shout-outs? Has your husband ever done one? I thought for sure after 5 years away from us, someone would want to tape him!

Funny story, before we had yahoo and instant messanger, when the guys lived in tents during the deployment in 2003, they used to video tape the families at the company. The girls were 5 and 2, and we got two minutes to talk to the video camera and then clear out for the next family to tape their message.

I showed up with Em and Abs in full dressup garb (their idea).....complete with boas. Once the taping started, we were at a loss as to what to do for two minutes, so I decided that they should sing the ABC's.

I'm holding them, one on each leg, boas fully visible, and the singing begins.

A B C D....the girls are sharing the ONE microphone.
EFGHIJ.....the girls are starting to fight over the microphone.
KLMONP....the war has begun.
QRSTUV.....the feathers from the boas are now flying around us as I try to grab the microphone and continue singing.
WXY and Z....the war begins again, I'm grabbing the microphone, feathers still flying, both girls screaming, me singing, and we end with me begging for him to return.

Gunner said he had never laughed so hard in his life. He wasn't looking for the perfect message, but he did catch a glimpse of his "perfect" family.

Sixteen Years

2010-12-17T04:58:00.000-06:00

That's how long ~~the Army~~ Gunner and I have been married, today.

SIXTEEN! That's almost longer than I lived at home!

We started at Fort Hood, then to Germany, to Fort Lewis, WA, to Fort Hood, then to Fort Carson, CO.

We had three children along the way (one at each duty station, so Gunner wised up and at this place we adopted a dog).

We are on our FIFTH year long deployment, although this last one will be cut short a few months due to his retirement.

We've lost all of our grandparents, and my dad.

I won't even count the number of times he went to the field, JRTC, TDY, or to NTC during our married life.

We've traveled.

We've laughed.

We've cried.

We've made it work.

I'm lucky to have found him on a chance meeting.

I'm lucky he called the next day--he asked for my number, and I gave it to him, but told him that he couldn't say my name correctly, I would hang up. Not only did he call exactly when he said he would (a man after my heart), but he pronounced my name correctly. Whew.

I'm lucky that he loves me.

(But he better admit, he's pretty damn lucky too!)

Thanks Gunner for a great start with the Army, and a great future WITHOUT THE ARMY!!!

All I Want for Christmas

2010-12-16T06:49:00.000-06:00

Well besides a non-crappy school, which would be totally opposite of the CRAPPY one they go to now....(more on that later)...

I'd like:

I went into Target and asked for this type of underwear and she couldn't believe that anyone would make it or wear it. She obviously didn't workout!

I definitely need some of this soap:

ETSY can be my downfall some days. I managed to find dog holiday butt covers. Really?

I need a new tea kettle:

If you can throw in an educational attorney for me to fight the idiots at Ab's school, that would really be a blessing. Cause apparently people that are less educated than me think that they can decide my child's future with their poor judgement.

If that doesn't work, I'll take:

a week vacation sans everyone. I had a friend that vacationed at a monastery that didn't allow talking. I want to go there.

A massage.

A pedicure.

A break.

A case of Two Buck Chuck.

A garage cleaning service.

Gunner home.

A girl can dream can't she?

Disgusted

2010-12-15T18:37:00.001-06:00

That's how I feel when I read what people have written about the Sears Heroes at Home Gift Registry, on facebook.

It's a program that they run, people donate, and gift cards are sent out to people who registered and qualified for the program.

They don't have to do it. It's not something you should count on for Christmas. It sure as heck doesn't let you bad mouth Sears or the program just because you didn't get it.

Really, they won't have a Christmas this year? Do you plan ahead? Have you contacted your FRG? There are tons of programs put on by organizations that supply Christmas presents to military families that need help. Operation Homefront does a huge program too.

Most of the comments on facebook have been removed by the administrator of the page, but it was one wife after another bad mouthing anything and everything related to it. Then there were those that complained because they didn't get as much money as last year on the first gift card, and they were pissed. Really?

It's an embarrassment. It's sad to say, but I hope that Sears does away with the program, because why should people give money to support the families when so many are sniveling little bitches? Get a job, an education, and take care of your own families people, and quit complaining about what YOU think you are entitled to.

To Sears, thank you for making this program happen, taking the time, energy and money to run the program (which can't be easy with all those sniveling little people calling all the time and bitching), and for making some military families life easier for providing this program. I for one appreciate all that you do to support the troops.

I'm in a crappy mood tonight, can you tell?

Regrouping

2010-12-13T13:56:00.000-06:00

I ordered more presents, but have yet to wrap one. I did have a friend that offered to come over and wrap with me, while we drink wine. That I might be able to handle!

I hired an advocate so I can work towards getting an IEP for my Abs.

Junior wore underwear to hourly care this morning and stayed dry. (Cross your fingers and everything else that you can!)

I started addressing Christmas cards.

The house is clean.

I did my crossfit today.

It's 66 degrees and I am in a tshirt and sandals. Heaven.

I have a Christmas party to go to tonight, and while I have no desire to go, I am trying to talk myself into it.

I'll overlook that there are piles of laundry in the hallway upstairs, that I pulled the front of a drawer off of the shrunk, and that the girls start Christmas break this friday until January 5th. (Seems awfully long to me!)

We have snow possibly coming in a few days, my mom might visit after Christmas, and while the school wants to argue with me over the law, our new advocate helped write the law and is ready to go to bat for Abs.

I've decided that my outlook always changes on Monday because I put Junior in hourly and have my workout and some time to myself. I'm never productive, but that's okay, every once in a while we need to regroup.

Holiday Slump--Need Help!

2010-12-11T19:08:00.000-06:00

I need your best advice. I don't ask for help much, but I am finally admitting I need it.

I have no holiday spirit. I bought a few gifts, but I just can't bring myself to leave the house and do anything (other than crossfit). I was supposed to go to a dinner tonight put on by Operation Homefront, and ordering pizza sounded like more fun.

It didn't help that I am apparently at war with Abbie's school. I have hired an advocate, and she is going to save my sanity I think.

I feel like the last month I have been put through the wringer and then doused in ice cold water a half dozen times for good measure.

My question to you.....how do you get out of the holiday slump when your Servicemember is deployed? The last 4 times he was deployed over Christmas, I was on top of my game. This time.....not so much.

The kids are excited about Christmas, but there is nothing under the tree because I can't even bear to wrap presents this year. So let me know how to snap out of it and get it together, I could really use the help this year. I guess 5 Christmases alone is my breaking point?

Funny Abs story--Jr wanted to watch Dora, and Em was less than excited and exited the room. Abs proclaimed "I may be too old for Dora, but I have a soft spot for Spanish people." It reminded me of when we were at Epcot this past summer. We wanted to ride the Test Track cars, and it was faster to go as a single rider, but then you can't ride with your family. Not a big deal since the girls are older and Grandma was watching Junior. Abs got placed in a car full of big burly hispanic guys talking in Spanish. She was so excited, yelled out "Hola" to them, and they were immediately smitten by the pint size gringo speaking to them in Spanish and were so nice to her during the ride, even when she screamed. If you've heard her scream, then I assure you, the guys should have qualified for some military award!

A Visit To Santa

2010-12-09T21:00:00.000-06:00

The clinic where Abs receives OT a million times a week, decided to have pictures with Santa today. Dealing with kids with special needs, sensory issues (like Abs), or children with an assortment of other struggles, it makes it hard to get in line at the mall, with all the lights and sounds that can affect them more than the normal child.

It can be sensory overload for some (like Abs) and so we just opt to not do it. We jumped at the chance to reserve a slot, have a bit of time with Santa, and he played his part well and talked to each of the kids (well except Em, who cringed at the thought of seeing Santa).

Santa invited Abs to sit on the arm of the chair. She told him she wasn't allowed to sit there, but he finally convinced her it was okay this one time.

I managed to get Em to sneak in for one picture. Oh the joys of having a teenager in the house!

Junior was asking Santa if he was on the naughty list. He must not have gotten the memo that I had to change dirty pants several times today. Ugh.

I'm hoping that their photographer got a better shot than I did!

The Winner Is....

2010-12-07T19:11:00.000-06:00

The TWO winners of the Hallmark Recordable Storybooks are......

Charity at A Day in the Life of 5 and Casey at The Ever-Changing Life of a Military Wife.

I loved hearing all your stories, but I used the random number generator, which I still can't figure out how to post on here. I should probably ask my daughter and she would be able to do it in no time at all.

If these two can please send me an email, I'll forward your information on so that your books can be on their way (although I don't know about delivery to Turkey before Christmas!).