Mil-Spouse Friday Fill-In #10

I never got around to doing Mil-Spouse Friday Fill-In's last week since I was in Pittsburgh.  But I'm back this week for week #10.

Here are the questions for this week:

1. What secret indulgence do you act on while your spouse is away? (from Devil Dog Darling)  Blogging and excessive use of the internet.  Although it's not really secret, I guess.  When hubby is home my internet time is limited so we can spend time together after the kids go to bed; when he's not home, I have ALL night!
2. If you were a spice, what would you be? (from New Girl On Post)  Hmmm....this is a hard one.  Part of me wants to say Old Bay because I'm from Maryland and I like a little spice in my life.  The other part wants to say Thyme because I'm always giving my time to my children, family and friends.    
3. Where do you go for support when your significant other is deployed? (from Texas Meets Washington)  My family and maybe a few select friends.  I thought going into deployment that I had a strong support group of mostly friends, I have learned in the past several months who my true friends are.  I've also learned that my family (my dad, mom & sis) are going to be there no matter what happens.  
4. What is the oldest thing you own? (from A Troop’s Girl)  The oldest thing I own, is actually older than me.  It's my baby blanket which I apparently stole from my big sister when I was a baby.  I've always had it close over the years and would cuddle with it if I was sick or sad but right now it's serving time in Kuwait with my hubby!
5. How did you vision your future pre-military? (from Daddy’s Duty)  There never was a future pre-military for us.  Even when we first started dating in high school we knew he would be in the service - back then we thought Navy and not Army but the service non the less.  I couldn't what our life would be like without the military even if I try to think about it now.  I have no idea where we would be living or what we would be doing for careers either.  

I hope you guys join in and link up over at Wife of a Sailor, if you don't already.  Have a great weekend!

Mil-Spouse Fill-In #8

 Wow!  I can't believe Mil-Spouse Fill-Ins has been going on for eight weeks now!

I've been saying since the beginning that I wanted to participate.  But like I've said my life has seemed to have gotten away from me lately.

Anyway, I finally get to participate!  Yay!

This week’s questions are: 

1.  What is ONE thing you’d like civilians to understand about being a military family?
That the "extra" money we get during deployment is not only not enough but doesn't even begin to make up for the fact that my husband is gone for.a.year!  Yes, the money is nice but I'd much prefer to have my husband home than a few extra dollars.  
  
2.  What is your favorite mistake?  
Mine would have to actually be a favorite mistake of my husbands.  See my husband and I dated on and off in high school and then split up for several years.  During this time he was married and had my two oldest children.  Without his "mistake" I'd never be blessed with my oldest children. (This really is the abbreviated version of this story - maybe I'll have to tell it one day.)

3.  What indulgence could you give up for a year?
I honestly can't say that I have an indulgence.  The only thing I can think of is my Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee.  and I am NOT giving that up!  I've already cut myself back to one a week but that's as good as it's ever gonna get :-)
  
4.  If you could be a winged animal, what would you be?
 I would be a fly.  Originally I was thinking some sort of bird because I didn't want to be a fly and sit on poo all day; but I think I'd like to be a fly so I could visit my kids at daycare and see what goes on everyday.  Even though my kids are in daycare on post, I still always worry about what happens when the parents aren't there.  (And it's not that I'm not comfortable with our daycare, I actually love them, it's just always something I've thought about.)   
5.  What is one question you’d like to see asked in a future MFF?
Do you set goals for yourself during deployment?  What are some of them?  (Oops, sorry.  I guess that's technically two :-)

From A to Z

I saw Sara over at Welcome to the Blog of an Army Wife and Lindsey over at Just Another Milspouse had posted these get to know you better ABC's. I starred them in my reader and kept meaning to do it but time has just seemed to get away from me! I guess better late than never. (And it gives me something easy to post in advance since I'm visiting with my parents!)

Anyway, here are my ABC's.

A. AREA CODE: 443
B. BED SIZE: Queen - but it sits up high like a California King
C. CHORE YOU HATE: Can I say all of them? Scooping poop has to be the worse though and normally that is hubby's job!
D. DOG'S NAME: Klondike. (yes, he's all white and no, we didn't name him - he came with it.)
E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY" ITEM: Dunkin Doughnuts Iced Coffee. (I've been trying to be good and only get it once or twice a week lately though...stupid diet!)
F. FAVORITE COLOR: I don't have one.
G.GOLD OR SILVER: Silver
H. HEIGHT: 5'1 1/2". (Yes the 1/2" does matter!)
I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: I tried the violin when I was 9 or 10. It was horrible!
J. JOB: I work at an elementary school with 3 and 4 year old special needs students. I love it and it's very rewarding!
K. KIDS: Three.
L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: The five of us plus the dog in a house that I can't wait to move out of!
M. MOM'S NAME: Kathy.
N. NICKNAME: AJ or Aimers or Shithead (yes, my husband and I have odd terms of endearment for each other, his is Shitface - but we like them!)
O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: four nights for a c-section for our youngest.
P.PET PEEVE: I have many of them (thanks Dad!) but one of them has to be shutting the shower curtain when you get out.
Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: I am horrible with this stuff! I don't remember actor/actresses names or names of movies, let alone quotes from movies.
R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY: Righty
S. SIBLINGS: Older sister and younger brother.
T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: The alarm goes off at 6:20am. (I rarely can drag my ass out of bed at that time though!)
U. UNDERWEAR: Really? People really want to know that?? If you must know, I wear thongs.
V. VEGGIES YOU DISLIKE: Wow - that could be a really long list. Mushrooms, asparagus, brussel sprouts, peas, lima beans.... just to name a few that pop into my head.
W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE: What mom of 3 kids is ever on time? By the time I run around and get the three of them ready, there is no time for myself - and hells if I'm going out looking horrible all the time!
X. X-RAYS YOU'VE HAD: Many. Most recently on my foot again. (And the MTF wants to send me 2 hours away to go see a podiatrist! Are you kidding me?!?!)
Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: One of my favorites is this dish. And it's healthy!
Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: I feel bad for them all but I still like the elephants and monkeys.

Hope you've learned a little something about me. (Even though I'm sure you really didn't care to begin with :-)

Thursday Morning Meme

Perusing through blogs the other day, I found this meme and decided I'd save it for a day when I was not up for blogging. Which happens to be today.... So here goes:

1.How long have you been a Military Wife? It will be 4 years this August. We have big plans to celebrate our 5 year anniversary when he gets home!

2. How many deployments have you gone through? This is our first one.

3. What do you like about being a Military Wife? I've learned that I'm a much stronger person than I ever gave myself credit for.

4. Do you live on base? No and I miss it.

5. What is your favorite base so far? We haven't been to a ton of them but Ft. Belvoir would have to be my favorite of the ones we've been to.

6.What's the hardest part of the military life? The constant coming and goings.

7.Do you go to the grocery store or commissary? I use to shop at the commissary but since I started couponing I shop weekly based on ads at the grocery store.

8. Do you prefer Dress Blues or Dress Whites? Dress Blues.

9.Do you have a lot of Military Wife friends? Not a ton. There are a few and a few who had prior service but I wish I had more.

10. Do you prefer wal-mart or the BX/PX? The PX here sucks! And I hate Wal-Mart. I'm a Target girl all the way!

11. So how did your Husband propose? When we got home after a long day of helping my parents on their house in WV. He had asked my dad's permission.

12.Did you marry him after he joined or before? After. Although we've known each other since we were 14!

13.How long have you two been together? Goes back to the last question...we're going on 16 years on and off! Back together for 6 years.

14. Any kids yet? Yes. 3.

15. Any kids yet to come? I hope not. 3 is enough.

16. Is your husband one of those (I am army hear me "HOOAH"/ I am Marine Corps hear me "OOHRAH") kind of guys? No. He is a family guy and his family comes first.

17.Have you ever done combatives with your husband? No.

18. How many bases have you lived at? One. But we've been to many others just haven't lived there.

19. If you could change one thing about the military what would it be? That AGR soldiers don't get screwed with everything!

20.Do you like military balls? I've never been. We've had dining outs - but that's not really the same.

21.Where does your family live? Maryland.

22.Do you have a job? Yes, right now I'm working part-time at an elementary school with special needs kids.

23. Have you ever gotten in a fight with a CPO's wife? No.

24. Name one thing you do when your husband is gone? Blog.

25.Do you think other wives do that too? Yes, probably everyone who is reading this!

26.When you see movies about the military, do you notice when things aren't right? Sometimes but I do it with all movies. My husband does it sometimes too.

Hope everyone enjoyed. Let me know if you decide to do it as well, I'd like to see everyone else's answers too.

10 Things I Love

A little over a month ago, ">Michelle gave me a letter to participate in this meme. You list 10 things that you love that start with the letter you are assigned.

Of course this some how got lost in my inbox (I think it was around the time of my last giveaway) and I'm just now uncovering it - so here it is! Sorry Michelle!

My letter was "P":

1. Peace and Quiet. Which generally only happens after the kids are in bed.
2. Pizza. Just regular old cheese has become my favorite lately.
3. Pictures. Of the kids, of my family, of SF.
4. Potatoes. Any kind - fried, mashed, scalloped.
5. Parenthood. It's amazing and really can't be described unless you've done it.
6. Pass the Pigs. It's a game I'm hoping to get for Christmas.
7. Phone. When SF is gone, this is the thing that keeps me connected with people taller than 3 foot.
8. Playing Soccer. I know this one is stretching it - but "P" is a hard letter!
9. Presents. I actually love to give presents more than I do receive.
10. Procrastination. Okay, I don't actually love it...but I sure do seem to do it A LOT!

If you'd like to play along, just leave me a comment and I'll assign you a letter.