MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #39

Giving it another whirl! 

Have you and your spouse agreed to live in separate locations (a geographical bachelor tour) knowing that the short-term inconvenience would have long-term benefits for your family? How did it work for you? submitted by When Good People Get Together

Not yet but we've discussed it. Right now our kids are young and I'm homeschooling the oldest so we're pretty travel ready. It'd really depend on the situation. I'm getting ready to start grad school in the next few months so yes, we know it might at some point be beneficial for us to live apart for awhile. I've had several friends who've done the geobatch tour with varying degrees of success. Frankly we spend enough time apart, I'd like to avoid it. 

What is your favorite thing about being a MilSpouse? submitted bySarah Ruth Today


"Just" being proud of him for his service and sacrifice. Moving, while it can be a pain (see our nightmare move haha) can also be a great adventure! 

If you could still have your spouse/significant other and your family, but take the military life out of it…would you?  submitted by Trust. Love. Believe. Bake.


That's a tough one. On one hand yes because I miss having my career and location stability but on the other hand, I've really enjoyed all of our adventures. I could live without deployments of course but it is what it is. Regardless we're now on the downhill slope to retirement so we'll find out in just a few years. 



What have your homecoming experiences been like after a year long tour of separation? submitted by Army Soldier, Army Wife


Thankfully uneventful. Just takes a few days to get used to having him around again. We're pretty low key people and hubs, thankfully, is a pretty calm guy who's been there done that and hasn't had any re-integration problems. 

If you have a child(ren) why you chose their name(s)? If not, why you would name your child something?  submitted by Tiara’s & ACU’s


With our oldest we didn't find out what we were having - I was *throughly* convinced that it was a girl...so much that when he was born and hubs announced that he was indeed a HE, I promptly said "no it's not!" So we had several names picked out - I'd had a lot of complications and conked out from meds soon after he was born. When I woke up, I asked when we were going to fill out the birth certificate only to have the nurse tell me that my husband had done that "hoooooours ago!" I was not amused. It was his first choice name and my 2nd...lucky for the hubs, it fits him PERFECTLY and I could not fathom him having any other name. After that debacle, I had the final choice on baby two haha. His name was just one that I really loved and seems to fit him perfectly. His middle names (yes two) are after my grandpa who passed away while I was pregnant with him and after my dad. I would love to have a little girl because I had a few fantastic girlie baby names but we're done so they'll just have to sit in my memory. 




Mr Linky http://www.blenza.com/linkies/links.php?owner=wifeofasailor&postid=29Apr2011

Moving Sucks

There are no two ways around it, moving sucks. Even though the military kindly pays to pack my crap up (even if they don't always do a good job of it) and unpack it if I so desire, moving sucks. There are unexpected expenses, unpleasant surprises, innumerable stressors...I could go on.

Originally the plan was for one of us to fly out to Texas to find a house before we actually move but since the whole move basically got moved up a month and with the holidays added in, that wasn't going to happen as there simply isn't enough time. So now we're debating the wisdom of renting something sight unseen or just waiting till we get there. Right now I'm leaning towards waiting as there's a lot of inventory so we shouldn't have a problem finding something when we get there. Then I think I find something great and want to jump on it but then I'm back to being indecisive. We'll figure it out...probably about the time that we get there.

The hardest part right now is of course saying good-bye to friends that have become a surrogate family, that have been there during the dark days of deployment when you think you can't make it just one more day. Trying to explain to my 5 year old that while several of his friends are moving around the same time that we are, they're not moving to Texas too, quite frankly sucks. He remembers when we moved here from California but it wasn't the same, he was not-quite three, not really old enough to have best friends and be involved in sports and the like. This time he is and it's a lot harder for him at least, to say good-bye.  He's an adaptable, easy going little dude who makes friends easily so I'm sure he'll be alright but still. Smallish probably won't remember Georgia much, he's 2 1/2 and shy BUT he does NOT do well with change so, yeah, this will be interesting.

Never did I imagine that I'd be a little bit sad to leave Georgia (less the state and more the friends but still). It's happening so quickly it's a bit breathtaking. Our house will be packed up 10 days from now. We'll be in Texas in less than 3 weeks. I feel ready yet desperately not.

One thing that is easier about this move is that I'm not hugely pregnant, on bed-rest with all kinds of fun complications so there is that. It'll be nice to not have to stop like every thirty minutes to pee haha...yes that made the drive from California to Georgia tons of fun.

And now I really should go sort through some more endless stuff....

Hurry Up and WAIT

Last night at the convenient time of 3:30am I got a call from my darling husband telling me that they've just put out that instead of arriving at 11pm which is late but manageable, they'll now be getting in at 3:15am. Which is significantly less so. The welcome home ceremony will also be outside and to add to the fun, it's supposed to be the coldest night we've had since last winter. Not freezing but in the low 40's which is pretty darn cold considering that yesterday it about 85 and will be about that today as well. Then there's the fun of dragging out two small boys in the middle of the night. That will be FUN! YAY! Except you know, not. I'm also sitting on the knowledge that once the Army has changed times they're very likely to change again. Usually the end result is the families sitting out on the field for most of the night. Delightful. 

At the end of the day though, whatever the time, I will just be glad to finally have him home.