My deployment playlist

Christina over at Married To A Sailor is at it again....contest time!  This one is all about deployment playlists...  I can't choose a favorite, but here, in no particular order, ar my top 5 songs, and why I listen to them OVER AND OVER when hubby is away....

"Wait For Me" by Theory of a Dead Man
This is the song that my OpLove photographer used to make a slideshow from our pre-deployment photoshoot.  Just listen to the lyrics, and TRY not to shed a tear!

"On My Watch" by Mike Corrado
Mike Corrado is a Marine, and served in Fallujah while my hubby was there for his first deployment (He was Major Corrado then, not sure what his current rank is).  This song by itself is very moving, and if you watch the video on YouTube you will see in the credits that the pictures were all provided by II MEF (2nd Marine Expeditionary Force) which included my hubby's old unit.....and my hubby is IN there, TWICE!  I watched this video through tears at least a dozen times during the second deployment before I even recognized my hubby in there!  If you like this one, check out Corrado's other work - my other faves are "Stand" and "Start Saving Me"

"Love Song" by The Cure
I listen to this song for a lot of reasons - number one, I am a pretty big fan of The Cure (I'm an 80's girl).  Early on in our relationship, hubby and I talked a lot about 'the meaning of love' and he kind of liked the way this song says it......he told me he had never been IN LOVE before, but he knew no one had ever made him feel the way I do. The next time we heard this song, he told me THIS is what he meant!  And then, if you listen to the lyrics, "However far away, I will always love you"....it's kind of the perfect deployment song.

"Somebody" by Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode is my favorite band of ALL TIME.  This song - the concert version - was playing the first time my honey told me he LOVES me...actually said the L word OUT LOUD.  It was a pretty big deal.  That was 13 years ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday!  Of course, I already knew by that point that I was going to marry him, but didn't want to scare him off, so I kept that information to myself for awhile.  :) Oh, and before I met my hubby, I had a mad crush on Martin Gore (the blonde from Depeche Mode - not the lead singer, but he sings this one, and all of the 'ballad' type songs they do).

"When You're Gone" by Avril Lavigne
This song is kind of a cliche deployment song, but the video makes me cry every time.  Especially the old widower!  More than anything, this one makes me think of all the reasons people have to be away from loved ones, and makes me so grateful that I get to look forward to my hubby coming HOME!


Now click HERE to go vote for me if you love my playlist!

Another interview

A while back I posted about an interview I did for an article in the Veteran Journal about being a reserve spouse.  Yesterday I did an e-mail interview for another article, this time for a magazine that does a feature called "Life of a Military Wife". 

I'm not sure what the timeframe is for this article, but rather than wait, I thought I might as well give you all a sneak peek - so here ya go!


How have you been handling your fourth pregnancy while your husband is away?


The pregnancy is actually helping the time to pass faster with this deployment. I wish my husband could be here, especially for the birth, but at least he has experienced that before. Since it is my fourth baby, I am more confident in my own body’s ability to get through this, so I am not as dependent on his presence. (I think I would be terrified if this was my first baby and my husband had to deploy mid-pregnancy like this!) One thing I’ve done to help him feel involved from afar is send him weekly email updates with general pregnancy info about the particular week I am in, and I add some specific little tidbits about my experiences that week. We get to talk on the phone about once a week, and he always asks me how the baby is doing, so I feel like he gets to share in some of this, at least. I guess I do miss being spoiled the way I would be if he was here, but other than that, I’m having a normal pregnancy and am enjoying good health.



What are some recurring challenges you face as a military wife?

I think the biggest challenge is parenting through multiple deployments – I was a single mother of two when I met my husband thirteen years ago, and since then we’ve had one more child (with number four on the way)....so I know what I am talking about when I say that deployment is FAR more difficult than single parenting ever was. It seems like every little thing becomes a BIG thing during deployment! Another big challenge for me is helping my husband to bridge the gap between military life and civilian life – especially with his expectations of people. Sometimes it seems he forgets that civilians are not precision-trained like Marines are, or he forgets that his Marines are people, too.


What are some of the biggest joys related to being a military wife?

The greatest joy for me is the PRIDE I have for my husband, and the sense of being married to my own personal hero. I also have the joy of watching my sons look up to their dad, as their own personal hero. Obviously, a happy homecoming after a long deployment is a special joy that most of my civilian friends will never experience.


How is your family life while your husband is away?

This varies from one deployment to the next, but we always struggle one way or another. We each take on new responsibilities (some that we enjoy, and some that we resent) and take up the slack to keep things somewhat functional, and we try to pull together more. (I said we try...)


What do you find is the biggest challenge you have faced while your husband is gone?

I think the biggest challenge is always the single-parenting aspect of deployment. Everything changes when my husband is away, from discipline issues to division of labor, and I find it difficult to really ‘be there’ for my children’s emotional needs while dealing with my own feelings of fear, sadness, etc. There are other challenges, like the inevitable broken appliance or car maintenance issues that just miraculously happen while he is gone, but none of these are as tough to face as the challenge of single-parenting.


How do your children deal with the stresses of deployment?

We’re still really learning how to cope with deployment stress. My oldest child actually ran away from home at the beginning of the second deployment, and ended up moving in with extended family. Her issues at the time were not completely deployment-related, but the added stress definitely contributed to her extreme behaviors. At the beginning of this deployment, my fifteen year old son had a major meltdown, and is temporarily staying with family across town – hopefully returning before school starts. So far the youngest (now ten years old) seems to have the most problems, and yet has the most effective coping mechanisms of all three. He tends to wet the bed and revert to things like fear of the dark, and becomes more clingy and ‘needy’ when Daddy is gone, but he also is more sensitive to others’ needs during this time. I’ve found it very helpful to keep them all occupied with organized activities, especially sports.


What do you wish that people knew about your life as a military wife?

I guess I wish people understood that my children and I ALL serve when my husband does – and we don’t have the benefit of years of training, or specialized tools to help us be ”sub-Marines” (my friend’s word for Marine family members). We just do what needs to be done, and not necessarily always for the altruistic reasons that led my husband to enlist nineteen years ago.


As a Marine reservist spouse, how do you deal with the constant transition from military to civilian life?

This part is hard, as I literally do have to ‘switch gears’ when my husband goes active duty, and then have to switch back again when he returns to his regular job and to his reserve status. Reintegration is particularly difficult. I tend to let friendships fall by the wayside during the active duty period, and when possible I then make friends with military spouses who can relate to what I go through during deployment. This was not a conscious choice initially, but once I realized what I was doing I saw the value in it, and it’s kind of a strategy now. I even started a deployment blog, and through my writing I have connected with some amazing new friends, all military wives. I can only hope that my civilian friends will still be there for me after this deployment, when I return to planet earth again.

I have found that I do better with the back-and-forth adjustments when I am working outside the home, as I can then count on at least ONE aspect of my day-to-day life to remain basically unchanged, and mostly unaffected by the deployment. When that is not possible, I instead make conscious choices about ‘new’ things I want to do or see during the deployment, and I can then focus on the novelty of this time apart. I can’t say that I am an expert at making these transitions, but I am definitely getting better at it.


What is something that people can do for military wives?

I think the most important thing people can do (for ANYONE, not just military wives) is to just be there – listen, be a friend, and don’t judge. We are all individuals, and I have yet to meet a single military wife who can fit into the mold created by all the stereotypes and assumptions of the general public. I can’t speak for other military spouses, but for myself, I depend heavily on connections with other people – and I seek out the solid, dependable friends who can hold my hand when I am scared, cry with me when I am sad, let me rant when I am angry, and laugh with me when I am just plain crazy.

Guest blogging and memory lane

Today I am the 'guest blogger' on Nicole's blog, "Flip Flops and Combat Boots"....check out my musings over there, and get a look at her fancy new layout!

And now, you are cordially invited to join me on a walk down memory lane.....

If you've read my blog, you know how life-altering it was when my hubby went to Officer Candidate School in 2004....I just came across photos from his OCS graduation saved in my computer:

(how stinking CUTE was Bonehead?

Almost ten years old here, and Knucklehead turned 4

a week after OCS started)

This is usually the closest he comes to SMILING in pictures...

but moments later I caught THIS one!  love those dimples!

check out Knucklehead's hair!

not the best picture of me, but this was the last time I had short hair -

hubby hated it.

but he was impressed with my 45 lb weight loss

during the 16 weeks we had been apart!

his dad was BEYOND proud to see his son follow in his footsteps

(my FIL was a reserve officer for the last half of his military career, also prior enlisted, and retired as a Colonel)

Hubby with his two sisters - so great that they got to fly to Virginia for this!

and finally.....totally unrelated, but also worth sharing:

This photo was taken when we were awaiting the birth of Knucklehead, ten years ago. This was a few hours into a painful day of Pitocin to induce labor - before we were sent home disappointed and told to WAIT some more. Sweet little Knucklehead did not actually make his debut until ten days AFTER this photo was taken, but since I won't have a chance to get another photo like this, (thanks again, Deployment!) I cherish this snapshot.

TMI

Ha ha ha!  I just had to share this short laugh.....

I got a text from my sister this morning that said, "Whoa, WAY too much information!" with a smiley face.....

HUH?

I had no idea what she was referring to, so I went back through my 'sent' messages, and it turns out I had accidentally sent my sister my response to my friend's question ('whatcha doin?')...

The text I had mistakenly sent to my sister:

"Working on hubby's package"

I laughed so hard I cried!  I guess the dirty mind thing runs in the family?

love/hate

I've been feeling the need to rant lately, but am kind of doing everything half-assed right now - so here is my half-assed version of a RANT POST:

I have a love/hate relationship with almost everything these days....

For instance, of course I LOVE a long phone call from the hubby during deployment, but I absolutely HATE the fact that these calls only happen at 2 AM my time.  We got to talk for almost an hour on the phone the other night, and I am STILL recovering from the lost sleep.  Like I said, love/hate.

And I absolutely LOVE watching Knucklehead (my ten year old) thoroughly enjoy himself at the beach, but I HATE the fact that I have to drag so much gear across the sand just to do it.  Especially since yesterday's sand-wrestling episode might be what sent me into a scary bout of false-labor (I posted about that little drama on my pregnancy blog last night). Ok maybe that one is a love/hate/HATE.

I'm loving 'summer vacation' with just my ten year old, while daddy is deployed and big brother Bonehead is staying with my parents....but hating the fact that we can't afford to go DO anything with all this free time.  I guess you really do get what you pay for, right? ("free" time equals WASTED time, as it turns out....)

I actually LOVE having the bed all to myself so I can toss and turn all I want to - and I HATE the fact that I STILL can't get comfortable, even with all that extra space (combination of pregnant belly and missing my hubby).

I love living in California, where you can drive a short distance and be at the mountains, or the beach, or the lake, or the desert.....but I HATE the other drivers on the road!  Maybe not all of them, but 99.9% of them are complete freaking IDIOTS.  Ooooh maybe next time I want to rant I will do a ROAD RAGE post!  A subject near and dear for this cranky girl.

I guess my biggest love/hate relationship is with the Marine Corps.  I am so incredibly PROUD of my husband for everything he does, and am really and truly proud to be a Marine Wife....but oh I hate hate hate hate HATE deployment!  I hate knowing that the Marines will always have his loyalty, first and foremost.  I hate being 'the other woman' when I know his first love is (and will always be) the United States Marine Corps. 

And finally, I LOVE happy homecomings, love that 'reunion' moment after a long deployment, but I HATE the actual reality of re-integration.  Not sure why I am already worrying about this, since we have at least 6 months to go, but I truly dread all of the crap that comes with welcoming him back into our day-to-day lives (and trying to fit back into HIS, which is re-defined with each deployment)

*sigh*

The Price Is Right

I have this sick obession with The Price Is Right.  So far, I have been in the audience 15 times, and am determined to get picked as a contestant and get ONSTAGE!  Three times now, a member of my group was picked to 'come on down', and in all three cases the contestant (my friend, my mom, and my mom's friend) did not get a correct bid to actually leave "Bidder's Row".  All three went home with some cool consolation prizes, but I want to actually get ON STAGE. And preferably win something big, so I can justify all the time I've already invested in this. 

In case you think I am just kidding here, this is how obsessed I am:

Yes, last halloween, instead of a jack-o-lantern, I carved a PRICE-O-LANTERN.  That's the logo for The Price Is Right, for you 'normal' non-TPIR fans out there.

I even used TPIR to announce my current pregnancy to my mom!  We had planned to wear black shirts with white iron-on lettering, and hers was supposed to say "Grammy of 23"  Of course, I had to make it say "Grammy of 24" so as soon as she saw it, she asked me who was pregnant.  I then opened my jacket to show her MY black shirt with the white letters that said "HEY MOM, I'M PREGNANT!" and I had added an iron-on photo of my positive pregnancy test.  I was so excited that day, and when the producers pre-screen the audience members. they are LOOKING for excitement, so I thought for sure it was finally my day to get called......but NO.  {Funny thing about that 'Grammy' shirt though...a few days after my big news, my little sister told me that she is also expecting, and due about 10 days ahead of me....so the shirt should have read "Grammy of 25"!  Of course, my sister is one of those people who can actually KEEP a secret, so she wasited until she was at 12 weeks gestation before she even announced her pregnancy....I only found out early because she needed me to babysit while she went to her OB appointments.}

If you watch the show, you've seen some of the cool-crazy-funny t-shirts the contestants wear.  I've done everything from dressing 'normal' to wearing matching shirts with my group (some home-made and some professionally screen printed) and STILL have not gotten onstage. 

I haven't had a chance to go back to the show since that pregnancy announcment, and finally get to go back on July 20, and than am going again with a group of military wives on August 3.  The August trip will definitely involve matching shirts, but the July trip we're each just wearing whatever we want.  I posted on my pregnancy blog about this recently, and need help choosing a shirt!  Right now I am looking at two different options, both playing up the whole baby-belly thing:

Not sure if it makes a difference, but I got my hair cut after I took these pictures, I guess I should have taken new pics with the new 'do......here is what my hair looks like now:

Please post a comment telling me which shirt you think would be better, and WHY!
(and if you are a milspouse living in so-cal and want to join us for the Aug 3rd trip, we still have room for a few more people!)

I have a dirty mind....

This is not exactly breaking news to anyone who has known me for any length of time.  I'm the girl who makes a dirty joke out of something innocent, and who laughs heartily if someone else shares something off-color. 

Deployment seems to bring out the best worst of this in me, probably because I don't have to worry about embarrassing my sweet prudish shy hubby, since he is half a world away.

For instance, this week I put together a 'deployment survival package' for another Marine wife who just celebrated her birthday without her man......I included basics like that great kleenex with the lotion in it, and of course Costco-sized bottles of tequila and margarita mix, but the best part (and she also got a kick out of this) was the HUGE package of batteries I gave her.  Yes, batteries. 

You know, for B.O.B.?  

What, still don't get it?  That stands for Battery Operated Boyfriend.  As in, your hubby can rest easy, knowing you would never cheat on him, because even if you get really desperate, you have a safe 'option'.  I highly recommend it, actually.  If you don't have one, GET ONE.  Or two.  Seriously.  Try amazon.com under 'health and personal care'.....

Ahem.

Anyway, I decided to try something new to stay 'intimately' connected with hubby for this deployment....for the first time ever, I wrote him a very detailed, very x-rated fantasy, starring him and me.  I printed it out and sent it sealed in an envelope in one of his care packages.  Then I waited.

And waited.

I asked him via phone and email a few times  hundred times whether or not he had received my package with the surprise inside.  When he finally got the package, I was DYING to know what he thought of my little 3 page long fantasy.  His response, via email: "I got that package, thanks for the letter, hope you are well."

Really?  That's it?

So then I wondered obsessed about this....did he love it? hate it? Was he aroused? disgusted?  I really needed to know, either way.

I asked him about it in at least three different emails.  Of course, if I send an email with three questions, I will only get an answer to one of those questions, on average.  And I don't want to barrage him with 10 emails a day, so I try to condense them somewhat, as long as I can keep them from becoming novels.  So in truth, he might not have even noticed my question the first couple of times.

Meanwhile I was still sitting here, wondering obsessing about this.  Finally I wrote the same question down in a real snail-mail letter, which he just received yesterday, and this is his actual email reply:

"Sorry about the letter. It was impressive, but I'm trying not to think about that stuff so I can sleep. I don't get a lot. I appreciate the effort though."

This is not all that surprising, but am I wrong to feel a little bummed that he doesn't share my perverted tendencies? The last thing I want is to cause him to lose any sleep, of course.  On my end, I've found that if I stop thinking about 'that stuff', something else will inevitably keep me awake anyway.  Insomnia is just another fun part of deployment, right?  So I indulge in those thoughts, OFTEN. 

Now I know you're all DYING to throw in your two cents on this subject, and I honestly look forward to the comments - so hit me with your best shot!

NEW LAYOUT!

I can't say this enough....THANK YOU    THANK YOU    THANK YOU   to THE WIFEY for making me a custom blog layout, all FREE of charge.  It's awesome!  If you are not already following her, click on her name to link to her blog.

I still have to learn to play with it, add some photos, etc. but check out the third column over here on the right...---->  I have a GRAB BUTTON!!!!!  Feel free to post it on your own blogroll if you think your followers would enjoy my little corner of the blogosphere.

I am also updating my blogroll now (slowly but surely) so check back here tomorrow and see if I am following you.....if I am not, please post a comment with your URL so I can check you out!

I am off to the world's worst waiting room baby doctor now, but I can't WAIT to get back and play with my new toy blog!

Notes Girls Write

My OpLove photographer (and new friend) is doing a really cool project called "Notes Girls Write".  She has collaborated for months with another great photographer to take photgraphs of girls and women with a note written by the subject.

And guess what?!

Last week I got to be the subject!  They're trying to get as many shots done as they can by tomorrow so they can compile their cool NGW blog into a book to submit for a photography contest.

I love my NGW photos!  Too cool. Thanks for letting me 'model' for you Melodee!

Veteran Journal

I was recently interviewed for an article in the Veteran Journal - you can read it at veteran journal online

The article is a look at Guard/Reserve....if you're a new follower, you may not have read my previous post about the lack of support for reserve families during deployment.  I followed it up with a rant post about how isolated I sometimes feel.

Sometimes.

Today I actually feel pretty good, and am thrilled to be a part of this 'community' of milspouses!  And an update on the FRG thing - the unit that hubby deployed with (not his own unit) DOES have a very active FRO, and I have now added her on my Facebook.  It's like magic!  Instant connection to information, other spouses, etc.  *POOF*

:)

"guest" blogger.....

I asked my husband to send a note of encouragement to our ten-year-old, and this is what he sent:



Dear *****,



First, know that I love you very much. Please understand that our society has many problems and polarizing issues that cause consistent conflagrations. Our fore fathers who left us our country, our liberty, and our freedom also left us with a lot of responsibility. They put their lives, their property, and their happiness on the line to ensure that the future would have at least the same opportunities if not more than they did. These values: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are not our birth right, they are our inalienable rights that must be protected and nurtured under the laws set forth in the Constitution. Inalienable (rights) means that they apply to everyone, not just Americans (citizens of the US), people all over the world. We must stand ready to assist those fledgling democracies all over the world that need our protection from tyranny. We cannot just sit home in comfort watching the news about places all over the world where people are brutalized, exploited, and murdered with or without cause, especially if those people are crying out for freedom. We must assist all who need it. Remember, it was only seventy years ago that we stood on a very high ledge where the world almost plunged into unending nepotistic tyranny. Talk about politics and world affairs if you will, but don’t complain about the people or the actions that give you the freedom to TALK about these things. You can complain about issues if you want, but unless you get off the bench and do something about it, then remain respectfully reverent and thank those who do. Remember, the only thing tyranny needs to succeed is for good men to do nothing.



I know that you will do well in whatever you do. I see the divine spark in you that causes you to do the right thing and stand up for others who cannot defend themselves. Please keep your spirit and try as hard as you can at everything you do. I know you will.



Enjoy your donut day. I would be there if I could. I think the world of you and know that you are great. Thanks for being who you are. I’ll be home soon. Take care of your Mother.



I love you.


Semper fidelis ductus exemplo,


Dad.


(Capt. *****, USMC)

OK so aside from the fact that he apparently forgot he was talking to a TEN-YEAR-OLD for the main part of this letter, all I can say is WOW. Pretty amazing, huh?


Knucklehead's class is having a 'Donuts with Dads' event tomorrow, and poor little guy is not complaining, but he is definitely sad that Dad can't be here (donuts are their special treat together when Daddy is home).  So I had asked hubby to send something to Knucklehead, preferably a picture of himself or something to cheer him up.


And he sent THIS. 


Just wanted you all to see why I LOVE  this man so much!


As much as deployment sucks, I would do this ten more times if I had to for this amazing man.......but don't tell him that!

stolen from facebook.....

I saw this as a status update on facebook, no idea who originally wrote it, but I had to share it here:

Recipe for a Military Spouse: 1 1/2 cups of Patience, 1 cup Courage, 3/4 cup Tolerance, dash of Adventure, 1 pound of Ability. Add 2 tablespoons elbow grease. Let sit alone for one year. Marinate frequently with salty tears. Pour off excess fat. Sprinkle lightly with money. "Knead" dough until payday. Season with international spices. Bake 20 years or until done. Makes unlimited servings.

**I love the 'until done' part.......some of us are DONE sooner than others!   :)

he is impossible to shop for

Hubby's birthday is coming up in a couple weeks, and I have been looking for the 'perfect gift' for a long time.  I mean, a LONG time.  Since before he deployed.  Of course, one of the requirements for this mythical 'perfect' gift is that it has to be something I can ship to him over there, and preferably something he can USE over there.

The gift thing started with this little drama:

Originally, we were supposed to see a U2 concert for his birthday.  Last year they announced new tour dates near us (we had tried to get tickets to earlier shows and they all sold out in MINUTES) so when the on-sale date came, hubby was sitting at his computer, credit card in hand, logged in to ticketmaster to get first crack at the tickets.  This was last November.  He ended up splurging for floor seats, at $250 each.  OUCH.  But it was for his own birthday, and you only live once, right?  Then in January he got his official deployment orders, and while we were bummed about the concert thing, he urged me to go without him, take a friend.  Then we found out about baby on the way, and the concert was a no-go for me, too.  Hubby figured, no big deal - he had bought the extra traveler's insurance on these tickets, so if we couldn't make it for some reason, we could get a refund.

NOT.

Those stupid insurance things do NOT cover deployment for war!  HUH?  They also don't cover non-war deployment if you are normally active duty.......in other words, they would cover a RSERVIST who is deployed for NON-WAR reasons???? Like that would ever happen.  Anyway, we found a clause that said we could get a refund if we could not attend due to a high-risk pregnancy (normal pregnancy is not covered).  We decided to talk to my doctor about labeling me high risk so we could file a claim; with my age and weight, it technically is high risk anyway, right?  Besides, we are talking about nearly $550 here!

While waiting for my next appointment (next chance to talk to the dr) I decided to post an ad on craigslist to sell the tickets locally.  Two weeks later, a bite - the guy even offered to pay cash for the tickets!  Turns out the buyer is a pastor at a local church, and was looking for a way to really surprise his wife for HER birthday.  DONE. :)  Hubby went with me to finalize the deal (remember this was craigslist, and hubby is more paranoid than most men) and we both breathed a sigh of relief when they guy turned out to be exactly who he said he was, and had the cash ready, etc.  Everything went off without a hitch.  He even offered to add my hubby to his congregation prayer list for military.

SOOOO, a week or so after we sold the tickets to this guy, hubby was wearing a U2 concert shirt from a tour about 10 years ago.  It has HOLES in it. well, duh, its a ten year old t-shirt!  That's when the idea hit me to contact the pastor who bought our concert tickets, and ask him to pick up a new t-shirt that I can ship to hubby for his birthday.  Of course the pastor was happy to help, and we arranged to meet again before the concert so I could give him some cash for the t-shirt. 

YAY!  Birthday present DONE!

Or not.

Bono (lead singer for U2) had emergency back surgery last week.  Meaning the concert is now postponed until sometime NEXT YEAR.  Sad face for that nice pastor and his wife, and back to the drawing board in my search for a birthday gift.  Well, not the drawing board exactly.  More like the world wide web.

Thankfully, last week I found fanfire, the livenation site for concert gear.  I bought him the t-shirts from the concert we originally wanted to attend last fall, and another cool one with the band's picture on the front. 

I know he will wear both of these, so FINALLY I can say, *whew!*

Hubby's birthday is the same week as Fathers Day, so I stressed a little about a Father's Day gift.  Every idea I came up with was something he would use AT HOME, but not 'over there'.  Finally my friend Jessica told me what she is sending to her hubby....

its a USB drive from Things Remembered, and you can engrave any message on it!  They have it in a shiny silver, too, but I think hubby will like the gunmetal finish better.  Load it with plenty of daddy-pics, mail it off, and DONE.  Only $30, plus $12 for engraving.  Hubby has his netbook with him, so he will be able to view the pics almost any time he wants, and can even carry them with him on the attached keychain, for like, FOREVER.  Cool idea, huh?

So now I just have to figure out an anniversary gift.  We were married July 6th, 2002.  This will be our 8th anniversary, and it is the 4th time we have to spend it apart.  Sounds about right, 50%, right?  Anyway, I really want to find him something AWESOME for our anniversary.  Remember, this is the same guy who bought me a Kindle for my birthday last year, and for our anniversary he got me an iPod touch.  My birthday this year (right before the deployment began) he got me an iPad.  So, yeah, I need a GREAT gift for him this year!

I did find this cool Slingbox......I can hook it up to the TV/DVR in his office (aka the man cave) so he can log on over the internet and view anything that's playing live, or anything he has recorded, on the home tv. 

He can even use his netbook over there to SET the DVR to record something!  I know he misses TV more than he misses me, so this would be a GREAT gift for him.  Unfortunately it is WAY out of my budget, so I am looking for some extra babysitting jobs or something to pay for it.  That's a lot of babysitting, but he is so worth it!

Just in case you were wondering, MY gift preference for this anniversary would be this:

I know I'm not getting it, but I really really really WANT it.  Almost as bad as I want my husband home with me! :)

I'm easy to shop for....I just have expensive taste!

It's all in the name...

Of course we already picked out a great name for the new baby, after some drama and debating over the middle name.

But what about a bloggy name for him?

Since my 15 year old's blog name is Bonehead, and my 10 year old is referred to on here as Knucklehead, I feel I need to find a pseudonym for this little one, too.  Like, before September-ish.

Knucklehead has suggested a few ideas, including Jarhead and Egghead....but I want to know, what do you, my readers, think?

Please leave me a comment with your ideas, opinions, etc. I really do read all of the comments, and when called for I comment back or will directly contact the commenter if needed. 

*note: any negative connotation in these names is technically a coincidence....though I was upset with Bonehead the first time I called him that on here.  :)  The names are kind of a joke, and a way to respect at least some little bit of privacy for my children, rather than use their real names on here.

building community

You may (or may not) have noticed the cool new 'military spouse blogger' button in my sidebar....it links to Household 6 Diva's new milspouse blogger list!  She is compiling this awesome list of milspouse bloggers, sorted by branch of service, as a way of giving back to the blogging community.

If you are a milspouse blogger, or want to show your support for milspouse bloggers, go check her out, and grab the button for your own page!  make sure you follow instructions on that post so you can also be added to the list, allowing other milspouse bloggers to FIND you.

:)

THANKS Ann Marie, for this awesome new list!

Four down.....many many many more to go

Today marks FOUR WEEKS since my heart left.  Right now it feels like those first four weeks flew by, but as I think more about it, they really have dragged on. So many ups and downs, so little sleep.

Hubby called me last night, after a week of almost no contact (just a couple of brief emails).  We actually had a pretty good conversation, including the part about Bonehead.  And he got to talk to Knucklehead on the phone, which was pretty cool!

Speaking of cool, I found out today that Bonehead DID get into the Operation Purple Camp that we applied for - he was initially wait-listed, so apparently some of the kids who were originally accepted were not able to participate.  I know my dear Bonehead doesn't 'deserve' to go, but this program is so incredibly POSITIVE, I just can't see taking that experience away from him.  This may be just the break he needs from all the deployment stress.  And it is a SURF CAMP!  He will be camping on the beach all week.

Anyway, we are all hanging in here - doing better than I actually expected to be right now!  Finding ways to laugh, play, relax. 

Knucklehead told me this joke before he went to bed tonight:

"How does a man with no legs cross the freeway?"

(silent shrug from me)

"You take the F out of free and the F out of way"

.....(confused look from me, and then YES I fell for it, I actually FED him the punchline.....)


Did you say it out loud?  I did: "There's no F in way"

OK not necessarily the funniest joke I have ever heard, but from my TEN YEAR OLD????

Hi-lar-i-ous!

His laughter alone will get me through the MANY remaining weeks of this deployment. :)