MacGyver to the rescue

I'm throwing a housewarming party in 4 days. YIKES! Good incentive to get everything up and functioning... but I may not sleep much this week.

So what do you do when you find an awesome living room set at Goodwill for $50 and have an appointment in an hour? Not to mention, when you drive a sedan-style car and have neither blankets nor bungees but only disintegrating jumper cables with you? MacGyver to the rescue. That was probably the least safe 10 miles I've ever driven- the coffee table and end table in the car blocked all the mirrors and the end table in the trunk bounced perilously with each bump. But I got them back and in the house myself with no major damage to anyone or anything. Yay!

New phrase: deployment annoyment. If it's not trademarked, I call it.

Vocab of the day: 
Military: AAA = Assign Alternate Area
PNW: "tourists and transplants"= as can be identified by their use of umbrellas, while natives ignore the drizzle

Epic Mealtime

So I'm out and about when I determine I am very hungry. Lately I've been trying to eat well, lots of fruits and veggies, as little processed food as possible. I arrive in grocery aisles and try to think of something fast and good I can make, but I'm drawing blanks. I wander aimlessly for a while and then encounter the freezer meal section.

"It's fine," my peace-making brain says. "you've been all over with this moving business and a frozen dinner isn't the worst you could choose."

My principled brain pipes up, "No! You've been doing so well! Don't give up to frozen food now!"

Back and forth, I pace the freezer aisle for a good 10 minutes before hunger leads me to break down and grab a few boxes of frosty dinner-to-be (hey, the 7th was free- I'm just being economical), dash to checkout and head home.

Once home, I eagerly grab a box and turn to shove it in the microwave... Only to realize I have no microwave. And these babies have no alternative preparation. Epic Meal Fail- I ate an avocado and crackers instead. Well, there's a weeks's worth of dinners waiting in my fridge if I do get that microwave...


- Posted on the go through via BlogPress for iPhone

Who said I was an adult?

Somebody (ok, several somebodies) apparently agreed that me and the hubs are adult enough to purchase a house. I find this insane. In fact, both the military (for our loan) and the government (it was a foreclosed house) decided that we were responsible enough to make this major purchase. Poppycock, I say! I still laugh at things that only middle schoolers should find funny. But even with all this talk of tightening mortgage requirements and all, we now own a home. Wow!

And in true building-while-flying fashion, this is roughly how the deal went down:

Us: We'd like a place to live.
Realtor1: I'm slightly racist and will call every neighborhood you want to live in "sketchy!" Also, I will not return your calls or emails.
Us: Um,  next.
Realtor2: Remember that awesome house you liked and went off the market for a month? It's back and it just got cheaper!
Us: Yay! Ms. Fannie Mae? We'd like that house please.
FM: Silence.... (for about a week).... there may be another offer coming in. What's your best shot?
Us: (Scribble number on back of envelope... erh, lots of housing forms) This?
FM: More days of silence.... ok.
Us: Yay! Let's inspect it and make sure it's not falling down.
Inspector: Good house! Some problems. You should get them fixed.
Us: Ms. Mae? Can you fix these or give us a discount?
FM: Silence..... No.
Us: Um. Ok! 
Lender: Paperwork, paperwork. I will fill it out very quickly! Lots of scanning and signing and sending! Now you should be able to sign that you want the house with escrow.
Us: Ok!
[Day to sign arrives]
Escrow company: We have no paperwork. Try again.
Us: Agh!! 
Lender: Agh!! Resending everything ten minutes ago!
Escrow company: Ok. Sign every single paper in the world with your name and "hubs name, by your name, as attorney in fact."
Me: Attorney in fact... I like it. I'm keeping it! (sign sign sign)
Escrow company: Ok. You own a house now.
Me: Um. Cool!
[Next day, get keys. Following two days, movers bring everything in]
Me: Cool. Ok, there's no light on the front door. Maybe I should go get one to replace it.
[Walks into home improvement store, finds massive wall of lighting. Observes them closely for 45 minutes]

Me: GOOD LORD SOMEONE LET ME BUY A HOUSE! AND NOW I HAVE TO CHOOSE A LIGHT FOR THE FRONT DOOR AND THERE ARE SO MANY! What if I make the wrong choice? Then everyone will know that I have bad taste in door lighting and shouldn't have a house. And our house will be ugly. And nobody will ever want to buy it from us in the future. And we'll be broke in an ugly house. There are so many colors, which color are all the metal things in the house? Lots of different colors, WHICH LIGHT DO I CHOOSE?!?!

Slight exaggeration, but not much. It was funny how none of the signing and scary mortgage numbers phased me nearly as much as that wall of endless light choices. I took a deep breath, narrowed down my choices and reminded myself that the house had seen worse than an imperfect front door light.

The good news is I bought one, it is installed and I like it. Deep breaths. Another day of building while flying, and they all turn out pretty well.



Vocab of the day: 
Military: ADM= Acquisition Decision Memorandum
PNW: Emerald City= Seattle! Ironic after the move from Kansas, but it is always green here.
*In honor of now being an official resident of the Pacific Northwest, I'm going to add a PNW term or trivia bit as applicable.

The horror...

Watched Revolutionary Road before bed. Now I kind of wish I had watched Saw instead.

In the midsts of trying to buy a house, that was not a good movie choice.

Daily list of happy

In times where I don't have structure (i.e. job, classes), I find it helpful to make lists and schedules. I suppose this is self evident from the back-to-back list posts, but the heart wants what the heart wants. I came across this quote on Pinterest and it inspired me to make a list of intention.

So here's my happy list for this first week being my own roommate again. 

Every day I want to:

• do something that makes me feel strong
• do something that makes me feel beautiful
• connect with someone on the "it's been way too long!" list
• do something to advance my professional goals
• do something to advance my artistic goals
• make someone else happy

Yeah, that looks good.

Vocab of the day:
Military: SOI= statement of intent

Happy dance to do list for 2012

Two days to separation. Suck. I'm feeling slightly bipolar, fluctuating between the happy dance of "It's a great adventure!" and, "Freaking ugh- don't wanna!" [See here post for full explanation of the happy dance.] Most of the time I'm enjoying being around the boy before he goes- being goofy, snuggling, watching hip hop documentaries. But most often it's when he falls asleep that I suddenly have a fit of panic. It lasts for an hour or few, and then the next day most is fine again. I'm also in an awful rut with fits and starts of productivity- getting 3 applications sent one day, then none for the next several... Not to mention the house hunting.

So today I decided to start making a list of fun things that I can more freely do once I'm a single lady again (or at least a separated one with all the living space to myself). Lots of these he doesn't even care about but I keep them to myself out of self consciousness- here's to unfettered ridiculousness at home for the next year!

To do while he's away:

• Take up new musicals and blare them at top volume in the house, car, while out and about/exercising, etc. Sing loudly with them, play on repeat until I learn all the words.
• Go to operas and musicals all the time! Ok, when budget allows.
• Eat waffles and french toast for breakfast whenever I want
• Hog the entire bed and crank up the heat
• Go to Burning Man
• Less shaving
• Watch my guilty pleasure TV shows at full volume whenever- Project Runway, America's Next Top Model are top contenders
• Indulge in a once-a-week night owl stay up forever binge and then sleep in late. But just one!
• Paint my nails wherever I want without being concerned about the smell.
• Perhaps do a 30-day vegetarian trial?
• Put up a giant cheesy 'vision board' a la Happy Endings (Year of Penny and Vision Boards). Maybe.
• Work on guitar/piano/sing at any time and volume without being concerned I'll break his eardrums
• Art/craft projects that can take up room and last days with just me tripping on them. 
• Make my kitchen table a desk. All my desk! 
• Enjoy dance workout tapes that are awesome but make me look like a flailing primate.

Well, that looks like fun. If we have to do this separation thing, at least I have some entertaining things to look forward to.


Vocab of the day:
Military: PES= Positive Enable System

The calm before

One week until the hubs flies out. For a year. Ick.

In other news, we're happily cozied in to a cute lake house rental out in the woods and house- and job- shopping. Well, the jobs aren't quite so easy to get, especially since sellers are practically hunting us down on the house end (not a bad problem to have).

I went to try out a derby team's practice last night- hooray for my back wonkiness healing over the interim! I think it was good, but all I could do was compare it to my last team. I found myself picking out things about this team that bugged me that I know I find endearing in my old teammates. I guess change is just hard. And my skating was sucky after nearly two months off skates.


Vocab of the day:
Military: CWT= customer wait time

Returning Home

Many folks at Burning Man refer to this one-week social experiment as "home" for various reasons. Many say they've never found acceptance or community like the Burn. This video and the accompanying song have been playing on repeat in my head- it seems that each move is awarded a theme song by my random neurons.

On the plane back to Seattle, it occurred to me that I have never moved back anywhere. Every move that I've made has only been to another home in the same area or to a different area. While we'll be in a slightly different area and living a quite different life (student v military/working life), it's nice to come back to an airport you already know, a community you know, friends you know. Now it's nice to hear "Welcome home!" and have it feel very true.

*On a crazy side note, apparently Kim Jung-Il died in the last day or two (the news was held by the NK press). How wild- we moved to Korea right after the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea aka North Korea) sunk the Cheonan submarine and left as the Dear Leader passed. Might have gotten out just in time to avoid some craziness...


Vocab of the day:
Military: HOR= Home of Record

Email to Detroit airport staff

To the Detroit Metro Airport management,

I wanted to thank the kind officers who helped me tonight- I arrived on
a long flight from Korea after a week of accelerated
out-processing/moving due to my husband's recently announced deployment.
After two years of living away from my home in the US, I became very
emotional going through immigration. Both the officer at the desk and
another assisting officer became concerned and far from judging me for
my wrecked emotional state, these two men offered some very kind words.
One of the officers then proceeded to help me find my baggage and walk
with me through customs so I could catch my connecting flight smoothly.
I was and still am overwhelmed by this kind gesture.

While it would have been easy for these gentlemen to either ignore my
tears or make me feel awkward for my outburst, I cannot express how much
it meant for them to offer empathy and assistance while I was struggling
to process sleep deprivation, the move and deployment. I wish I had had
the presence of mind to catch either of their names so I could thank
them personally but I did not. I commend the Detroit airport for
helping servicemembers and their families feel welcome and supported
during their travels.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart 


----------------------------


*These sweet guys tried really hard to comfort me and finally realized saying "welcome home" was what set me off and stopped saying it... 

Bring it!

Yes, I'm in the midsts of another move and it's time for another ridiculous to do list.

• Quit online part time work left over from Korea- check as of today. A little sad, but must clear the old for the new.
• Get a real phone/plan. New iPhoney???! 
• Find a temporary home near post 
• Figure out where we're living long term and find a home there
• Determine buying/renting?
• Find a job. And more than a job, a career-ful job. Hooray!
• Find a roller derby league. Practice. Join. This should probably be preceded by a lot of practicing and making sure I'm still able to function on 8 wheels.
• Finish editing fun Korean cooking video made with friends in Korea

 I'm sure there are more, but those are the biggies. And of course, get ready to figure out what the hubs deploying means for a lot of things. Agh. Here goes!!


Vocab of the day:
Military: METL= Mission Essential Task List

Beginnings and Ends

Moving phase.... 2.5 complete? We're in DC, hubs is in training. We made it stateside! All fairly easily sans a meltdown in the Detroit airport on my end (thankfully the customs officers eventually realized that saying, "Welcome Home" caused me to turn into a waterfall and stopped saying it. Not to mention how nice they were about the whole sobbing thing).

After a week catching up with friends and getting some Americana in the capitol for a week, off to Seattle to attempt settling in in the few weeks before hubs heads out on deployment.

I think this will be the last "Korean of the day" (let's pretend it was anywhere near daily) since now we're no longer living there. Sad sad. Well, here's to more fun posts about culture shock (Pandora! Hulu! English-speaking taxi drivers! Only carrying one currency!).



Vocab of the day: 
Korean: 마지막 (ma-jee-mag? anyone who speaks Korean won't miss my pathetic pronunciation attempts) = last
Military: CONUS = CONtinental US  (v. OCONUS/outside continental or contiguous US)

M-Day

M-Day is getting increasingly closer... that is, Move Day. First it was March, then last December, now early December. Mostly a good thing, though sad to leave good people and roller derby. Tonight I have John Meyer's "Neon" in my head, I think the "always buzzing like neon, neon" resonates with my mental state lately.

Last week hubs and I visited a friend's trusted Korean fortune-teller (a common practice for couples starting to date) with a translator, which was odd and funny and interesting. She was way off on things like us living in Korea for years, never living apart (deployment) and such, but told me that the shape of my nose and forehead predicted I would run my own business someday. "You're the boss!" she said several times. I have to say I like the idea (I mean, who doesn't) but now have to figure out how/if that works in the next phase of life. Packing, moving, farewell parties, planning next steps. Here goes!

Vocab of the day: 
Korean: 두목 (doo-mog?)= boss
Military: BOSS = Being on Ships Sucks (probably not an official acronym, but the internets told me so...)

Korean captive

I found an article that perfectly encapsulates how I feel right now, "Stockholm Syndrome." Not that Korea has exactly been a terrible captor, but now that we're drawing into the final weeks, everything here seems so fantastic, so easy, so cool and international. How can good 'ol home compete?

I'm trying to cram in every last experience, coffee with friends, restaurant and remote attraction, not to mention the productivity that I may never have time for again once work comes calling.



No Korean or military jargon of the day... too busy! ;)

When it rains....

So, Seoul has been great for my life and bad for my blogging. Not a bad tradeoff, but sorry to those few readers who have hung in with me.

We've had a most delightful string of Couchsurfers, most recently a Portugese-turned-Belgian couple Juana and Antonio who are on a honeymoon year (the Belgian government allows a year of unpaid travel with the guarantee you can get your job back- how awesome!). They also had great stories about their previous 5 years working with a computing giant, one in particular about a cultural training they had to attend. The trainers characterized French people's response to anything as, "That's terrible! It will never work!" and Americans' as "the happy dance," where things aren't good, they're AWESOME! That presentation wasn't fair, it was FANTASTIC! I love this idea of the "happy dance" and was amused that Juana and Antonio identified my happy dance so many times- "We're totally lost, what a great ADVENTURE!" and so on.

Juana and Antonio were also greatly amused at the phrase "when it rains, it pours" as there's no equivalent in Portugese. It's turned out to be a very timely phrase these days. No more moping in front of tv-on-my-computer for days, I have to schedule in lazy days now! Between museum docenting, general domesticity I undertake, part time online work, and travel/party planning, I decided to join ROLLER DERBY. Probably more on that later, but it's consumed my life and thighs and I couldn't be happier. The team is still pretty new and hoping to get bout-ready by spring. Which of course means...

Today got word we might be back in Seattle as soon as December. Eeek! After all that time pining for the US, work, friends and family there... of course it's now that I really wish I could stay until spring. But, of course it's not official yet, and can change a dozen times or not happen at all. When it rains, it pours.



Vocab of the day: 
Korean: rain= 비 (bee)
Military: "uncertain environment" = just what you think it might be

City Life

I've been extremely negligent with blogging, but I'd rather not force bad posts and let things be for a bit until inspirations strikes again.

Seoul.      Credit: here

We've moved to Seoul, a city bigger than New York and life is very different here. Gone are the days of sitting with nothing to do (mostly). There are a group of soldiers and spouses here much more matched to our life situation- no kids, fairly educated, adventurous. I attend gym classes regularly with friends, am signed up for a 7k in a month, am hosting a book club soon and we have friends stay with us nearly every weekend. I'm also hoping to do some intensive Korean this summer, which I'm really looking forward to. In this rush the job hunt has slipped in priority, and the jobs I have been able to find have been nothing special. In fact, I've found three jobs that lit my fire since we moved, all of which were at our old location. Cruel fate. On the other hand, I've started probing some really cool volunteer opportunities with nonprofits and NGOs here and I expect at least one of them will pan out.

But overall life is looking up. Up from a year ago isn't hard, but I'll take what I can get and start climbing.

Vocab of the day: 
Korean: 낙천가 (nag chon ga) = optimist
Military: NFL = New Foreign Launch

Finding home

I've come to discover that living in a place doesn't necessarily make me feel like it's home. Sometimes for quite a while- three months in the current case. In fact, I've decided that the one thing that truly emphasizes the idea of home is leaving and flying into the local airport.  It's that feeling of, "I know this place. When I get to the end of this trip, I'll be in my bed, using my shower and cleaning up my space again." When I moved to Seattle, it probably took five or six trips into Sea-Tac before I could pick out landmarks flying in, mentally drive to my neighborhood and plan my next exploits of going to school, grabbing groceries or coffee and planning a night out with the girls. It's being able to visualize myself in a place that helps solidify its home-ness, and the airport is a key place for me to truly understanding where I live.

For the moment, flying into Seoul still seems totally bizarre- how can "home" be a place where I don't speak the language, where most of my friends don't live, I don't have a job and I can barely figure out how to buy laundry detergent on a good day? But somehow, each trip whether an hour away or around the entire world (see month of June... or imagine it as I didn't post then) helps the relief settle in just a bit more when I hear our talking front door welcome me home, even though I've yet to learn the phrase it uses.

As with most military families, I'm sure I'll learn to adjust more quickly the more moves we make. I can't imagine the upheaval that comes with moving 5, 6... 10+ times during a careers and how the families that don't strangle said career person dragging them from state to state or country to country.

So for now I'm going to settle in with a mug of tea and my coziest blanket for an episode of a crazy Korean drama and be happy I'm home.


Vocab of the day:
Korean: home = 가정 (gah-johng)
Military: HD = home defense

Observation Post

It's not really a coffee shop as a Seattleite would expect. It's more a breakfast item/coffee vendor tucked in the second floor of motel on base, but it has a few reasonably comfortable chairs, tables near outlets and nobody gives you the stink eye if you hang out for hours with your single drip coffee.

Often when I'm killing time, I bring the trusty old lappy along and settle in a corner to catch up on news, whittle away at email, peruse facebook, read blogs or even browse Failbook if I'm really trying to kill time. However, even better than the amusements the interwebs hold is the people watching at this particular establishment- a little slice of military life.

This little cubby is apparently a hot spot for folks waiting at the hotel to PCS (permanently move) out of the country and I've been privy to some fascinating conversations, as summer is when many people move to accommodate school schedules. From the drawl-tastic Southern young man frantically trying to corral his two small children while his wife texted indifferently in the corner, to an older couple browsing the newspaper and chatting, to the mom with two teens challenging them to a game of hangman, it's fascinating to be a fly on the wall during their upheaval.

I've witnessed a correlation: those who seem to have more time in the military often have the same conversation ("Yes sir, we can't leave the country without x, y and z documents. Any chance we can get them today?") with far less panic and frustration than those who are visibly newer to the service. I can only imagine where I would have rated on that scale during our first move, and ponder how many moves one has to do before putting all your belongings in crates (every 1-3 years) and shipping them to a new country in which you have no home, no friends, no language skills and knowing that everything will turn out in the end. As much as I may poke fun of the concept, that definitely qualifies as Army strong.

Vocab of the day:
Korean: 사람들  (sah-rahm-dil) = people
Military: OP= observation post

And so it begins

Day 1 in Korea

“I don’t know when I count” I say to my husband. In this particular instance, we were aboard a bus taking us from the in-processing building on post to the DFAC (dining facility) for breakfast. The guy wrangling us on to the bus had called for a count off, and luckily in this case I was able to quickly enough discern they just wanted people on the bus and not specifically soldiers and blurted out “Three!” without too much confusion.

But this has been a theme of the past 24 hours or so and will likely continue to be at least during the in-processing ahead. Of the two dozen or so new soldiers who arrived yesterday and are doing “Day Zero” training all day today, not one seems to have a spouse along, though several have families as they've asked questions about how to address various issues when their families arrive. Overall, I’ve been either completely ignored or politely acknowledged depending on the situation, from the briefer giving me a warm “Good morning, ma’am” to the later comment I heard on the bus– “We have 25 people on the bus. But it’s not all military, there’s a wife.” (I can’t even really discern the reason for the last comment- it seemed to just be a statement of fact, but why did the commenter feel the need to differentiate?) There was even a small ruckus at said dining facility when the cashier at the front was insistent that either I couldn’t eat there or that I had to pay (the first was untrue, the second we were offering money for, to some confusion) which was only cleared up many minutes later after some tricky limited language conversation with the manager. And of course, after holding up many of the other folks behind us.

As I noticed when I stayed with Ben in the soldier’s quarters a few months ago at JAG school, none of the other spouses I’ve encountered seem particularly keen to jump into these experiences with their significant others. They seem to stay in hotels elsewhere, eat elsewhere, generally make themselves scarce unless at an official event where showing up and looking pretty is part of the package. It’s probably that they all know better than me, or have done this once and are now over dealing with the awkward looks, or perhaps feel awkward themselves walking around in soldier’s quarters and facilities like they belong (God knows I do). There's that whole "they're serving the country, it's a very special job," and technically we're not... but....

In some ways, this pisses me off that spouses who have likely given up their careers, homes, friends and familiar circumstances to move across an ocean to support their service member can’t feel comfortable in their new surroundings. But yesterday I also realized that in some ways I was the only spouse in attendance at Ben’s “bring your wife to work” day. If he were at my research office in Seattle, I wouldn’t want him interrupting my boss’s remarks or getting in my way when I’m trying to accomplish things. So should I be surprised that it makes the most sense for me to mostly be quiet and ask questions only when we’re waiting around?

The to-do list for today looks both terribly domestic and at the same time just awesome. After balancing school, work, thesis, student senate and school governance,  both past and upcoming wedding celebrations  and until fairly recently helping with a mayoral campaign, it’s strange to be by myself with no phone, no internet (yet) and a full day to deal with such a small number of things. I can understand how it would be easy in this life to focus on keeping the home in order and going to the gym, and I think I’ll enjoy it for a while and then enjoy getting back to work myself.

To do:

Call the sister

Go to mini-PX

Go swimming! A lap lane that's completely empty= heaven!

Enter ID in system so I can leave post

Explore- hotel, post, as far as I can walk?

Korean character flashcards

Buy a watch (so used to the iPhone ):

Work on rank/symbols

Vocab of the day:
Korean: 여보세요/ Annyong Haseo= hello (new goal to phonetically spell out as many Korean vocab words as possible in the future!)
Military: DFAC= dining facility

Waiting, waiting

Some time between middle and high school, I remember hearing a performance of a song which I'm pretty sure was a spiritual which went something like, "Waiting... waiting... waiting... waiting... waiting, all my life." I can't find reference to it on the wide web, but I'll continue to believe it exists.

The song seemed laborious, sad, beautiful... and I'm not shocked that it's coming to mind right now. I'm completely tuckered out, with the little frantic rabbit-patter in my chest still, and yet everything hinges on waiting for something out of my control. This coming morning, if all goes well, someone in Korea will have put their stamp of approval on one piece of paper (my command sponsorship) and sent it to an installation in Georgia, where someone will amend another piece of paper (hubs' orders), who will then have to book me on an international flight that leaves TOMORROW.

And of course if all is set in motion as hoped, tomorrow is all the time we have to drop off my car on post (an hour away) to be shipped, get me a visa from the Korean consulate, merely begin processing my government passport application and drop off some of our remaining belongings in storage. And then some other errands like doing our taxes, throwing a goodbye party and finding a temporary home for my wedding dress that don't hinge on bureaucracies across two continents behaving. Ah life.

It is fantastic to have the hubs back. It is not so fantastic to feel a bit adrift- unemployed (if temporarily) for one of few times since I was 14, graduated from school (yay! what now?) and unsure of what's next and if it will even resemble anything like former phases of life. I am thrilled to see my recently-engaged sister within the week and trek off on this adventure in earnest, but right now it's a lot of uphill boulder rolling and paper pushing before we get to even glimpse the other side. Also trying to get wedding/reception receptions mailed... um tomorrow. I'm rethinking my previous conviction that handcrafting and wax sealing each one was absolutely essential. Good night, and good luck.

Vocab of the day:
Korean: 급함 = hurry
Military: AT = awaiting transportation

Inside/Outside

Wow, today my work sent out the following email. So incredibly sweet, but also a little overwhelming with all the military-ness. I guess it's time to get used to it...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ten-Hut!

Shannon is shaving her head, donning camo, and heading to Korea!

(She's graduating early; her last day at work is 3/19.)

Let's have a little [office] gathering to give Shannon a big Hooah!*

Shannon ain't no box of rocks,** but while she's been squared away*** at [work], she's entering newbie**** land now.

Please bring some beverages and/or snacks, 4 pm, [office] barracks. Weather permitting, we'll hit the deck. Camo encouraged, but not necessary.

Questions? Just ask Sgt. Star:  http://sgtstar.goarmy.com/ActiveAgentUI/welcome.aspx

Need a little bootcamp before 3/18? Watch an episode of "Army Wives"  (starting its 4th season ... who knew?)

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/army-wives

Or, perhaps read the moving poem below (moving... get it?) from the "Army Wives" website.

over and out (and clearly unfit for duty),

d

*Probably one of the best known Army words is "Hooah!" (pronounced who-ah, or who-uh). This word is usually shouted or grunted by motivated soldiers. It's general meaning is "Yes", "OK", "I agree with you", "Awesome" or any other concurring comment. Oftentimes, a group of soldiers will offer up the "Hooah" response when they are acknowledged for a job well done, or to express their happiness when told that things have gone exceptionally well and they are proud of their accomplishments.

**Box of Rocks - Uncomplimentary description for an Ate Up soldier, who manages to repeatedly do stupid things. Such a troop may be described as "...dumber than a box of rocks".

***Squared Away - This is a description of a soldier who always looks sharp, knows his job exceptionally well and is always on top of things.
****Newbie - This describes a fresh soldier just arriving into your unit.

The Military Wife

Lots of moving...
Moving...
Moving...
Moving far from home...
Moving two cars, three kids and one dog...all riding with HER of course.
Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house;
Moving curtains that won't fit;
Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours.
Moving away from friends;
Moving toward new friends;
Moving her most important luggage: her trunk full of memories.

Often waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting for housing.
Waiting for orders.
Waiting for deployments.
Waiting for phone calls.
Waiting for reunions.
Waiting for the new curtains to arrive.
Waiting for him to come home,
For dinner...AGAIN!

They call her 'Military Dependent', but she knows better:
She is fiercely In-Dependent.

She can balance a check book; Handle the yard work;
Fix a noisy toilet; Bury the family pet...

She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors and toggle bolts.
She can file the taxes; Sell a house; Buy a car;
Or set up a move... all with ONE Power of Attorney.

She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.
She reinvents her career with every PCS;
Locates a house in the desert, The Arctic, Or the deep south.
And learns to call them all 'home'.
She MAKES them all home.

Military Wives are somewhat hasty...
They leap into:
Decorating, Leadership, Volunteering,
Career alternatives, Churches, And friendships.
They don't have 15 years to get to know people.
Their roots are short but flexible.
They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other:
They connect over coffee,
Rely on the spouse network,
Accept offers of friendship and favors.
Record addresses in pencil...

Military Wives have a common bond:
The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands; his commitment is unique.
He doesn't have a 'JOB'
He has a 'MISSION' that he can't just decide to quit...
He's on-call for his country 24/7.
But for her, he's the most unreliable guy in town!
His language is foreign
TDY, PCS,  OPR, SOS, ACC, BDU, ACU, BAR, CIB, TAD
And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.
She is the long- distance link to keep them informed;
the glue that holds them together.

A Military Wife has her moments:
She wants to wring his neck;
Dye his uniform pink;
Refuse to move to Siberia;
But she pulls herself together.
Give her a few days,
A travel brochure,
A long hot bath,
A pledge to the flag,
A wedding picture

And she goes. She packs. She moves. She follows.

Why? What for? How come?
You may think it is because she has lost her mind.
But actually it is because she has lost her heart.
It was stolen from her by a man,
Who puts duty first, Who longs to deploy, Who salutes the flag,
And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military Husband,
She will remain his military wife.
And would have it no other way.