Spring Break

This weekend we are finishing up spring break with the kids.  I know most moms secretly (or not so secretly) dread vacations because they have to "deal" with their kids All. Day. Long.  I've even been that mom.  But I homeschooled the kids for a few years before we moved to this duty station, and I can honestly say that most of the time I like having them home.  This week has also been quite pleasant because Axl, our oldest, has been at scout camp since Monday.  We've missed him, but it's kept him and Sue from fighting, so that has been nice.  Also, he's the kid who'd be happiest staying home all day, every day.  You could say he's not much of an explorer.  My younger children are much more willing to go places, so this week we enjoyed the beach and the aquarium without complaint.  Never once did I have to say, "You're coming with us because you are a part of this family and families do things together!"  It kind of takes the fun out of an adventure when forced cooperation is required. 

Last night my husband Mike went to stay with Axl for the last night of camp.  I think Mike has missed Axl the most, which is ironic because he's hardly home to see the kid anyway!  Those who've been married for a while might understand when I say I had a hard time sleeping last night without Mike.  When you're used to a warm body next to you, it's hard to sleep without them even if they sometimes drive you crazy.  Also, it didn't help that we had a thunderstorm last night.  Or that at 2am the fire alarm went off..for no apparent reason, although I suspected it might have something to do with the air conditioner.   I waited for the A/C to click on again, and thought I smelled something smoke-like, but I might have been imagining it.  Anyway, for about 2 hours I stayed away trying to figure out how I'd get the kids out of the house in case of a fire.  If the front door is blocked, I figured our best bet would be the play room windows (which are the lowest and don't have shrubbery under them.)   So I'm thinking and thinking, what toy could best be used as a missle to break our windows?  Are these windows typhoon resistant?  Can anything break through them?  Oh great....now we're trapped in this firepit!  Thank you base housing!  Eventually I succomed to sleep, but, wouldn't you know it....at 4am the damn fire alarm goes off....again!  Only this time it woke Brick....the lightest sleeper (and most fearful of all the kids.)  This time I was too tired to be scared, but not too tired to be pissed.  I found a stool and started dismantling the fire alarm, thinking it had to be the battary.  Surprise, surprise....the stupid safety thing didn't have a battery!  Either I fixed the problem or I broke it more because after my "repair" it stopped beeping.  So, I went back to bed and, thanks to some smart and understanding children, (who knew they'd have to deal with Grouch Mom if they woke her) I managed to sleep for 3 more hours. 

However, I'm still thinking a nap might be in my future.

First Things First

Well, this is it.  I'm starting a blog.  I never thought I'd do this.  I've always had a ton of reasons for not doing this.  I don't have the time.  I've always thought, who wants to read what I have to say?  I've read other blogs and people can be mean.  The writers are often brutalized for posting their thoughts.  I hope that's not what you're planning on doing here.  As George McFly once said,  I don't think I can take that kind of rejection. 

Really, my reasons for starting this are selfish.  I just have to put my thoughts out there and hope for the best.  I have a lot to say, darn it!  I'm going to talk about a whole slew of stuff on here--kids, motherhood, wifehood, military life, current events, books, and who knows what else.  If I start to get readers, that would be great.  Otherwise, I'll just go on writing and getting my thoughts out there. 

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that this is my second attempt at a blog.  My first blog is a little too revealing and probably wouldn't pass the internet safety and operational security rules.  Once I filter through the posts and take out any top secret information, I'll start moving them over here as well. 
I do hope this someday becomes an interactive blog where readers will share their ideas and thoughts with me.  I love the way blogs can help people from all walks of life open up a dialogue.   One feature I've added up there is "Question of the Day" where I'll ask interesting (or possibly boring) questions about life and hopefully readers will respond. 


I can't promise I'll write every day (or every week for that matter!) but I do hope to make this a regular part of life.  If you'd like to know a little more about me, click up there on the tabs.  Thanks for joining me.  I hope you enjoy the blog.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, the tabs up there didn't work the way I thought they would, and my "Question of the Day" idea seems to have run into some road blocks.  Bear with me while I work out the kinks in this new blog.  I'll think of something!

Good bye, sleeves up.

For those of you not in the loop of Marine Corps drama, there was quite an uproar a few weeks ago because an order came down that Marines will no longer be allowed to fold up their uniform sleeves. Most of you are probably thinking, "Who cares?" but the Marines are not happy about this change, nor are their wives/girlfriends/partners/significant others (it is the NEW Marine Corps, after all...I'm trying to be PC.) The Marines are trying to come up with all kinds of reasons why this sleeves down policy is a terrible idea--it's too hot, it goes against tradition, it's an exercise in discipline to make sure those darn sleeves are rolled exactly right, etc.... But what it really comes down to is that the sleeves up just looks really cool...and they don't want to lose any of their coolness or possibly be confused for the Army! (gasp!) Don't believe me, see for yourself....

Cool....

....not as cool.

   

 

Overseas Moving Process

Back in February, Mike received orders for a duty station in the Pacific. This wasn't a surprise, as he had listed it on his "Wish List" of preferred duty stations. However, wishing for it and getting orders elicit two very different emotions. It's kind of like getting engaged. At first, you're so excited and you're all dreamy-eyed, fantasizing about life in the beautiful, tropical paradise. Then, reality sets in and you discover the mountains of paperwork and less-than-efficient government personnel that you will be forced to deal with. Then comes the day when your husband gets home at 7pm to find four hungry children and a slightly intoxicated wife who was pushed over the edge when some guy at the Naval Hospital asked her to fill out one too many forms. That’s when you hit rock bottom.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Just like a wedding, the devil is in the details and more than once you will find yourself wondering if all this is really worth it. Here’s a very abridged version of what’s involved in preparing for this move.

1. Medical screening—every member of the family has to be in pretty good health in order to be allowed to move to this overseas duty station. Don’t panic, there is a military hospital over there, but if someone were to need specialized care for an extended period of time they would probably need to stay in United States. (I'm not sure what would happen in that case....they would either change the orders for another more suitable duty station, or they would send Mike alone for 1-2 years. The Marine Corps is flexible like that. Luckily we "passed.") The medical screening is the most taxing part of the whole Overseas Moving Process because they ask you to fill out very detailed forms regarding every possible health issue you might have had….in your whole life.  Mike and I used this time to reminisce about the good old days--like the time Axl threw a light saber Sue which resulted in her needing stitches (or glue, in this case.) Or the time Mike tried to recapture his youth and broke his wrist skim boarding in St. Augustine. Good times.

Anyway, we filled out a small forest’s worth of paperwork and went to the appointment smugly thinking we’d done everything we had to do. Oh, not so fast. This experience of completing a task and mistakenly thinking you’ve done all that’s required will be repeated several times in the Overseas Moving Process, but I won’t elaborate here because it’s still too fresh to talk about. I'll just say that I'll be surprised if anyone else actually lives on this base because apparently we are the first people who have ever gone through this process and there are still a few kinks in the system. When all was said and done, we all had to get flu shots (even though flu season is over) and I had to make three separate visits to the pediatrician's office to get different forms filled out. (He’s probably more grateful than I am that this process is over!)

2. Area Clearance—this is the Holy Grail of the Overseas Moving Process. You get this once your medical screening has been approved and all the powers that be have signed off and are 100% sure that they actually want you to go to overseas. We finally received this TODAY! Hallelujah!

3. Passports—we are required to have special passports as military dependants that allow us to stay in a foreign country for an extended period of time. It is also recommended that we get regular passports in case we want to travel to other countries while we’re in that neighborhood. Both passports are exactly the same except for a stamp in the back of one stating that you're a military dependant. I personally think it's a big scam the Feds have cooked up so they didn't have to fire some unionized worker. ("Here....you can be in charge of the "special" passports.")   Our passport saga required a trip to a neighboring state so we could get a copy of Doris' birth certificate, but the good news is we all finally have both sets….and that’s all I want to say about that.

 

I think we’ve covered more than enough in this first blog entry. Next time--WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO ALL OUR STUFF?