Job Interview

K just interviewed for a job this morning.  He's working now in a temporary Army job and so needs a job to come back to when he gets home from training this Spring. I really hope he gets it. I know he will really like the work, even if it isn't his "dream job". And it will keep him satisfied until his "dream job" opens up. What K really wants to do is have another Army job somewhere close by - but there aren't many openings for his rank so we just have to wait until one comes along.


I also hope he gets this job for some more stability. I have a career and pull in a decent salary now, but I'm too nervous to buy a house on my salary alone because I work in the social service field and with the economy what it is, programs are losing funding. (That's a whole other post!) We've been saving up a lot of money and the only debt we have is his car payment and 2 semesters worth of college for me and we have a sizable amount for a down payment, just want to make sure that we'll still be living here in 5 years for the purchase to pay off.


There are many benefits to being a Guard member (even though the "weekend warrior" saying isn't so true anymore) and one of them is being able to have the best of both worlds. K is able to serve his country like he has always wanted to. We can stay in one place, near our families, if we choose to and I can establish myself in a career without having to worry about moving every 3 years or so. The flip side is that K needs to find his civilian career path as well, and the Army sometimes can challenge that. He has 5 months of training beginning this fall so it has hampered other company's willingness to hire someone that cant start until the spring.


I don't mean this to come off as sounding criticizing of the military, far from. I am very grateful for everything they have given and done for my soldier and me as well. We wouldn't be who we are today if it weren't for those experiences with the military and the challenges have only brought us closer together. Fingers crossed that this job works out!

Baby on His Mind

The soldier has some serious baby hungries. We were walking through Scheels the other day and he probably pointed out a dozen baby clothes saying how cute and little they are. I just couldn't help but chuckle at him. We've had many conversations about when to start a family. He would start trying tomorrow, I think waiting till we're 27-30 sounds like a good time to start having kids. He just looks shocked and says, "We'll be 30 by the time we do!!".

I know it's selfish, but I still have a lot I want to do before we have kids. I want to buy a house, go back to school to get my Masters and do a lot more traveling. Plus, we can make plans at the drop of the hat without worrying about lining up a babysitter, and let's face it, kids are a drain on the pocket book. All you moms out there must be horrified by reading this, knowing the joy your kids bring to your lives. But I think this just shows I'm not ready for kids yet. Of course, I know that when we plan God laughs, so thats not to say that I wouldn't be thrilled if he chose to give us one tomorrow, but I do think I'd rather wait a few more tomorrows if I have a choice.

Always Packing

 I feel like all I've been doing is packing lately. I packed last weekend to visit my inlaws. Then I packed on Tuesday to go out of town for a night for work. This weekend I packed to go camping with K. Now I just packed because I'm heading out of town again for work until Thursday. Then I'm going to have to pack on Thursday because we're going camping again next weekend.
Usually I'm watching K pack for one of his many trips with the Army and then kissing him goodbye for a weekend or a few months. I don't like being gone so much, I am a bit of a homebody, so I always look forward to coming home again. I miss my big comfy bed and my pillows, and I never sleep well without K. Hopefully we'll be able to get Skype to work so we can talk over that the next few days. It's going to be different being the one gone.

Baffled

Yesterday’s post was pretty short and random so I’d like to go into a little more detail regarding the funeral for the soldier as there are still a few things bugging me.


First, I have to say the Patriot Guard riders who escorted his body home, stood guard outside the funeral, led the procession, and surrounded his burial did an amazing service and I’m always thankful and overcome when I see them traveling down the road, carrying the flag. I remember the very first time I saw them or even heard about them was when K returned home from his deployment and they escorted their buses all the way home from when they crossed into our state (some 400 miles). It was quite a site to see. Then I was overjoyed, this time it was heartbreaking.

Second, the chaplain from the 82nd said a very nice eulogy for the soldier and the pallbearers handled themselves and the soldier with respect and dignity. I know my friend was very touched by their careful consideration of her Soldier and his family. They took several moments to speak privately with each family member and my friend and she was very comforted by what they said.

Third, and the reason for the title of this post, was that I could not believe that the guests at the funeral were taking pictures. I understand that the news was there to film the funeral and burial, but actual family/friend guests were taking pictures. I can only assume that it is because this is a military funeral and they were photographing the soldiers. We don’t have an active post anywhere around here, so it’s still a novelty to see soldiers dressed up in Dress Blues or Class A’s. I just couldn’t understand why a guest would do this. Maybe I’m only thinking of one angle here, but I find it extremely disrespectful and upsetting. At one point when I heard the woman behind me’s camera turn on I turned around and gave her a “look.” Would you do this at any other funeral? I was so relieved when the pastor told a few guests to put their camera away during the chaplain’s eulogy.

Summer Essential Swap Arrived!

It's here it's here! I love getting mail and this was a great swap sponsered by Flip Flops and Combat Boots.

I rushed to the Post Office over my lunch hour to try and get there before the noon rush – I did – and picked up my Summer Essentials Swap package. It was perfect. Anyone who knows me knows that I love organization, so an agenda/planner is the perfect gift. Plus it’s cute! Thanks Renee!!

Weekend in Review

Finally just got home after a very busy end to the week and a weekend away from home. This weekend was my friend's fiancee's funeral. I went with a few of our friends and it was a very sad service. The 82nd Airborne flew down to be the pallbearers and give him military honors at the funeral. It was very touching to see those men become so emotional over a soldier they probably did not know. My friend is still grieving very much but is starting to accept that he is gone. I believe the funeral actually helped her.
Immediately after the funeral I drove up to where K works and he got off early and we headed to his parents to visit them for the weekend. We don't get down there enough so it was nice to see them. Just got home an hour ago and realized immediately on entering that we forgot to take out the garbage before we left. STINKY!
I checked our mail and saw that I have a Summer Swap package from Renee at Waiting to Exhale waiting at the post office, so I'm excited to pick that up tomorrow. Then I headed out to my garden and had a meals worth of beans to pick and several more tomatos, peppers and yellow squash are coming in. I even saw a few cucumbers that were starting! Can't wait for another month when they should be big enough to pick. My mother-in-law gave me 3 strawberry plants so I planted them and hope they'll do ok. I then planted more beans and peas and should have another batch of those in September. I hope you all had a good weekend!

Upgrade

I did it, I finally decided on a cell phone! It only took me how long to pick one out! I'm a very picky person about some things, and my cell phone is one of them. I like it to be simple and easy to use. Originally I wanted to get a blackberry because using internet is much more functional and they have a Skype feature - which would be great when K leaves in the fall, but to sync it with my work email would cost $99 for the license, and Verizon makes you buy the most expensive data package - mandatory! Eventually I narrowed it down to a Samsung and the LG cosmos before settling on the LG becuase K has an LG so we can share chargers when traveling.

It's very user friendly, and easy to navigate. I got my personal email account set up, even sent my first email! Now I just need my work account set up and I'm golden.

Getting to Know You Sunday

Head on over to MannLand5 and link up for Getting to Know you Sunday.




1. What is YOUR definition of sexy?
Being confident in who you are.



2. Would you rather clean up puke or change a poopy diaper?
Change a poopy diaper, I'm not very good at handling puke- I tend to get sick myself around it.


3. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
I'm an introvert until you get to know me and then I'm an extrovert


4. If you had to give up one of your 5 senses for a year..which one would you give up?
Hmmm, this is a tough one. I'd probably give up taste, no more chocolate cravings - think how easy it would be to lose weight!


5. Cake or Pie?
Cake - German Chocolate is my fav.


6. If you could play any character on TV (old or current) who would you play?
Carrie from Sex and the City


7. My favorite website is.....?
I don't really have a favorite web site.


8. The highlight of my day is....?
Cuddling with hubby at night before bed.

Hooligans

We have a saying my state when people ask us how we can live in such a cold climate (it's usually 40 below for the whole month of January and most of February, and that's before you add wind chill). We tell them it "keeps the riff-raff out." Well, it's not working any more. Last night hubby had a softball game, and of course they were all drinking during the game. I met him at the game, so I just drove us home in his jeep afterwards and we left my car at the diamonds to pick up this morning before work. K biked out there at 6am to get in a workout before work and pick up my car. Well – some hooligans had broken into my car during the night. They smashed my window (must have missed on the first try because they put a deep dime size dent in the door below the window), and then stole his ipod, the charger, the fm transmitter and his phone charger.

What they stole didn’t bother me so much as the time it took me to handle this situation. K got back home at 6:45am with my car, I was just finishing up blow drying my hair. He called the PD (they had already noticed the break-ins and left a card on my windshield and called me at 2am to notify me – obviously I didn’t wake up and listen to the message until later this morning) and completed a report. I then called to find someone who could replace my broken window – the earliest anyone can is Tuesday. Made the appointment and gave them my credit card number (not excited to see that bill). The police came to look at the car and document the damage and get the serial numbers for the ipod and fm transmitter. Then I had to vacuum up all the broken glass while K picked up the bigger pieces. There was so much and it was everywhere, even in the backseat on the passenger side.. So I got everything vacuumed up but my car is sparkling now with all the glass dust that doesn’t vacuum up. Then I had to wrap my window with plastic. Very ghetto fabulous. Here’s a picture for your enjoyment.

All said and done I finally made K go shower at 7:45am (he had to be at work at 9pm and it’s an hour drive). Needless to say he was going to be late. We called both our employers to let them know we would be late this morning. I felt so bad for him because he doesn’t like to be rushed or unprepared and he’s leaving for drill straight from work and they’re heading right out to the field for the weekend. And he felt terrible because he kept thinking it was his fault – it’s not, you should be able to leave your car without it being vandalized. I was a half hour late for work too, which isn’t as big of a deal for me as they are much more flexible than the Army is.

I had planned on driving down to a town an hour from here to meet up with a friend from high school and go to a concert. But before I can go I need to go to Lowes and get a piece of plexi glass to put in my window so I have something more substantial than a sheet of plastic. I definitely don’t need to leave my car sitting out in the parking lot of the concert just to have someone cut the plastic and break into my car. Again. With my luck they’d figure out how to start it and steal the car itself. If I can’t get the plexi glass to work then I’m stuck here tonight.

Stay positive, stay positive, stay positive (I’m repeating this to myself all day).

How Can You Help

Yesterday was a rough day for us and I can’t imagine how much more so it has to be for my friend, (we’ll call her Jane) whose fiancée was killed. She left yesterday with his parents to fly to Dover AFB to meet his body. Our friends got together last night to commiserate and see what we can do to help her through these next few months. Instead of throwing her bridal showers and bachelorette parties we’re going to have to think of something else.

I’ll be honest and admit that I am pretty awkward about death. I just don’t know what to say or do, so I end up saying if you need anything let me know. But are they really going to come forth and say – I can’t get out of bed today, can you mow my lawn? I don’t want to be pushy because I know you’re dealing with a lot immediately surrounding the death, but I want them to know I care and am there for support if they need it. Grief and mourning are private processes and everyone deals differently so I don’t want to make assumptions about what they need or feel. How do you adequately express that your heart is breaking for them without placing a burden on them with your feelings? What can you possibly say to give them any comfort? Do they even want to be comforted?

I’ve never had a major loss in my life. Sure, grandparents have died, but it’s expected – they grow old, get sick and die. I don’t know what I would do in this situation, I only know that if I think “what if it was K who was killed?”, my heart drops. What do you do for someone when part of their heart is gone?

Sacrifice

On Sunday we celebrated our nation’s freedom, on Tuesday I was reminded just how high the price of freedom is. My friend called me last night with the terrible news that our friend’s fiancée had been killed in Afghanistan on Monday morning. He was killed alongside a few other soldiers by an I.E.D. He was to return home next month and they were getting married in the fall.

I cannot begin to imagine what she is going through now that her entire world has turned upside down. She was moving in with this same friend who told me the news in August until their wedding in the fall. After that she was moving with him to Ft. Bragg where he is stationed, and was going to complete school there. He was getting out of the Army in 2 years, when they would return to this area and he would start teaching. They have been together since high school and are so in love.

I became very emotional when I found out, which is unlike me, but this is perhaps the first time I have truly been faced with the gravity of the consequences of this war. Not only for my friend, but for all military spouses. With my husband in a guard unit 3 hours away I have never become involved in an FRG or gotten to know the other soldiers he works with or their spouses well. While K was deployed he told me when they lost a few guys, but as sad and tragic as their deaths were, they were still just a faceless name.

Now, I know him, and I know my friend and everything she had been planning, hoping, dreaming is shattered. Remembering how just a few days ago she was showing off her wedding gown and counting down the days until he returned and we were shopping for a dress for his homecoming and convincing her that she should make a welcome home sign to hang on the fence at his homecoming is heartbreaking.

Please send out a prayer for my friend and his family as they go through this trying time. “It is good that war is so terrible or we should grow too fond of it.” – I can’t remember who this is by

4th Weekend

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. The 4th is definitely one of my favorite holidays and this was the first 4th of July I was able to spend with K, and we've been together for 6 years! It was an amazing weekend spent with friends and family. Both of us had four day weekends for the holiday so we headed to my parents on Friday and my sisters came too so it was great to see them. The 3rd was a family reunion and wedding that evening. Finally for the 4th we were able to go to the lake and spent most of the day out boating, wakeboarding, skiing and tubing. In my mind there is no better way to spend a holiday weekend then enjoying the beautiful weather outdoors at the lake. A fireworks show snuggled up with my hubby next to the campfire completed the perfect weekend.
We just got back home and my plants are all but dead. Apparently it didn't rain here this weekend like the weatherguy promised me before we left so I need to water these babies and coax them back to life.