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Women Left Waiting Blog Event

UPDATE!!
This blog event has been going for a couple days now and I've loved reading the different posts! And there are give aways! Don't miss out! Go to:



I can't wait to read more about this event.  It sounds like a lot of fun!  I signed up to help with ideas for cook out on Memorial/Armed Forces Day.  The event is next week which works out well since we're going to be hosting our own event here for DH's boss who's coming in from DC for a visit.

What Not To Do

DH and I stayed up late the other night watching Strategic Air Command, a 1955 movie starring Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson.  A professional baseball player (Stewart) is re-called to AF Active Duty and assigned to the Strategic Air Command.  His wife has some adjustments to make and watching as an AF wife- it made me laugh at all the things a new AF spouse should NOT do.

• don't call your husband 20 times a day
• don't show up unannouced at the front gate without an ID
• don't show up at your hubby's boss' office demanding to know where your husband is
• don't chew out your hubby's boss
• don't kiss your hubby in the Gnereral's office
• and many more.

It's a cute movie and a fun watch.

Daisies for Mother's Day

Gerbera Daisies are my favorite.  When my husband took our boys to go get flowers his first thought was to get roses, but my youngest(7) reminded him that I like daisies more.

  

The MilSpouse

I've been reading of an Army Spouse/Husband and he has a post that is so REAL! 

The Silent Ranks are saluted
excerpt: 

I find one of the more difficult aspects of being a MILspouse is the unknown. I think with a little time the unknown of where you live next year can be overcome. I feel that the unknown of what time your service member will be home after leaving for PT can be dealt with. I think after a few years under your belt knowing a CQ/staff duty day can randomly appear is surmountable. It's all those other unknowns that can literally bring the most sain of people to the brink of insanity. Not knowing if deployment is coming quicker than anticipated. Not knowing if you can make plans for the weekend, especially when it involves a day that is significantly important to the marriage and/or family. And then of course there is the great unknown. Not knowing if there will be a knock on your door. Not knowing if as you try to rest your eyes at night(because you don't really sleep you just rest as a MILspouse during deployment) if at that same moment your service member is caught in a fire fight. Not knowing if you will hear from your service member after just hearing on CNN that the base they are at received casualties. You sit by the phone knowing it won't ring because they are in a blackout until all family members are notified. Not knowing if you should try to go to bed or if the instant messenger icon may pop up when they log on so you can chat, knowing you don't know when you may hear from them again. Not knowing if during singing happy birthday to your child the SKYPE connection will be lost. For the female MILspouse's not knowing if you may have to endure the rigors of child birth alone. Thousands of miles from the father of your child. Time zones away from family. An eternity away from anyone you would consider a friend.

Liaison

Last minute liaison get together with the FBI. Kind of a combined going away for one of our own who worked on several occasions with the local FBI field office.
Things like this are better to deal with now that our eldest is old enough to babysit the younger two. Although it throws a bit of a wrench into the established routine. Our Aspergers child doesn't do well with sudden schedule changes. (More on that subject later.)  
(Later) 
Why is it when you go to functions where there are more than one group of people coming together, that no one mingles from one group to the other?

Cautiously Optimistic

The media has been dissecting and debating the events of Sunday night for a couple days now.  They've shown a lot of the clips of people across the country celebrating and have also shown interviews with families of the victims of 9-11.
I think I'm a little on the side of cautious optimism.  Yes this is a great thing- bin Laden was an evil man who deserved what was dealt to him.  But there are still men and women, husbands and wives, sons and daughters still in the middle east devoting their time and skills in defense of freedom.  And I worry for them and their families.

Military Sacrifice and Honor

Before he addressed the crowd that had assembled in the St. Louis Hyatt Regency ballroom last November, Lt. Gen.  Kelly had one request. "Please don't mention my son," he asked the Marine Corps officer introducing him.  Four days earlier, 2nd Lt. Robert M. Kelly , 29, had stepped on a land mine while leading a platoon of Marines in southern Afghanistan. He was killed instantly.

Without once referring to his son's death, the general delivered a passionate and at times angry speech about the military's sacrifices and its troops' growing sense of isolation from society.

Honorable Service

My husband and I have observed lately that the general public has no idea what it means to "Serve your Country".  Where we are living now, the people in the community live a privileged and very easy lifestyle.  They know nothing of what a military family life is like.  Recently a couple asked us of my husband's most recent deployment, "Will you have to go back or are you done?" 

Done?  We were a little taken back.  As if they were saying well you went there and came back so you must be done.  Have they not heard of all the sacrifices many in the Army who have deployed so many more times than my husband has, possibly 3-4 times more.  Have they not heard of families who are spending more time apart than they are together?  Have they not heard of fathers and mothers struggling to keep their children safe and happy, having to cope with one or both parents being deployed?

I'm watching a Medal of Honor ceremony honoring two Army infantrymen who 50 years ago served and gave their lives in order to protect and defend their comrades and country.  One flew himself on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers.  Another commanded his squadron to move to safer ground while he stayed behind to ward off the oncoming enemy. One of these great men came from a family of great military service- all 6 sons and the father all served in the military and two other relatives are serving now, one in Afghanistan.  Why do the general public not know more about these great heroes?  Why is service to country not more of an honorable station in our society today?  Why are there not more families speaking to their children of the honor of service?

DH as asked to speak to the young men in our church's youth group this week about what he does in the military.  He could easily make this all about AFOSI and how it's the most wanted career field in the AF, and he'll briefly go over all that and about different things the AF does around the world, but he's going to take this unique opportunity to talk about Service, about the great and honorable opportunity it is to serve one's country.  He'll talk about honor and brotherhood, about service and sacrifice, and perhaps they'll THINK about military service.