November Part 2

If you missed the first half of my recap of the month you can find it here.  

By that weekend (I had surgery on Wednesday); the kids had gone with my parents and I was on my own to take care of not only myself but my dog.  Even though my doctor told me I could walk on my foot - it was unbearable.  I spent most of the weekend either hopping or crawling to where I needed to be.  That made things like filling the dogs water bowl pretty complicated.  Lets just say he drank a lot of bottled water that weekend as that was the only way I could do it without spilling water everywhere.  

I think it was probably Tuesday (not even a week) before I begged my friend Jamie to come pick me up and get me out of my house.  I just couldn't take being cooped up any longer.  She did of course and we went to Target; our favorite store!  I don't remember the last time I laughed as much as I did that day as I rode around in the motorized scooter bumping into things left and right.  It was definitely what I needed to get out of my funk.  

The kids were back home for two days (Monday and Tuesday) before I sent them off to the other grandparents house for the Thanksgiving holiday so I could attempt to finish recoup-orating.  I was probably the most depressed I've been this whole deployment during this time.  Again I was home alone with the holidays approaching and not only was my husband deployed but my kids were gone too. 

I decided to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with friends instead of family.  My thought process went like this: if I didn't have my husband and my kids - I didn't want to be around any family.  I was depressed enough as it was and I was sure that being with extended family would only make me miss MY family even more.  

While no one came right out and said it, I got the feeling that my family was a little upset about my decision not to join them.  They just didn't get my reasoning - they kept saying they were MY family.  Then again; none of them have had a spouse deployed, let alone deployed over the holidays - so I didn't exactly expect them to get it.  

I pretty much spent that entire week planted on my friend Jamie's couch with her and her husband.  They would come pick me up every morning and take me home every night so that I could still care for my dog.  They also fed me an awesome Thanksgiving dinner!  They did everything and anything I asked of them - and I truly don't know if I will ever be able to repay them.  

The whole not driving thing lasted for about 3 weeks before I had had enough and started driving again.  I got tired of feeling like I had to constantly entertain because there was always someone here.  It was nice at first but after being on my own for so many months; it started to get old.  I just wanted to be alone again!  (I know that sounds crazy).

So that brings us up to December.  Stay turned for another post with December's high points and low points.  

Operation Paperback

I first learned of Operation Paperback from ABW.  She mentioned it on her blog and I immediately went to the website to check it out.

Basically they are an organization that collects and sends books to not only deployed soldiers; but also to military and veteran hospitals and USO centers at the airports.  They have also recently started sending books to military families of deployed service members too.  You select the ages of the children and your own reading interests and they will send a variety of books out.  And on top of everything - it's all free.  They even cover the cost of shipping!

I love finding organizations that support our soldiers and their family members during deployments and hard times.

If you would like to sign up your soldier to receive shipments you can do that here.

And if you would like to sign up your family; you can do that here.

Happy reading!

Day 128

I seem to have missed my 125 day countdown.  I'm not entirely sure how that has happened, but I guess it's not a bad thing.  I guess it signifies that the days are moving fairly quickly - or at least busy enough that they all seem like a blur.

As I've mentioned to several people recently though, the days seems to drag on but the months seem to be flying by.  We are almost to our half-way mark for R&R and I can't wait!  And only about 8 more months before this stupid deployment is over!

Obviously since, I didn't realize what day it was, I'm not planning anything special to celebrate the passing of another 25 days like I normally do.

What I do have planned though is attending the Family Program Academy in Pittsburgh this weekend.  Have any of you attended the same thing or similar for your FRG group?  And are any of you located in the Pittsburgh area?

Homecomming Video

I'm sure most people have seen this video on Facebook.  But in case you haven't, it is a must see!  

I think I was crying not even a minute into it and cried until the end.  Very touching.

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 :-)

MilSpouse Community

I seem to go MIA over the weekends. Sorry about that. It's not that I mean to, it just seems that weekends get hectic even when I plan nothing and I always seem to run out of time.

But I wanted to let everyone know (in case there is someone out there that hasn't seen this yet) that Ann Marie over at Household 6 Diva has started a military spouse blogging community!

It's an awesome way to meet new military spouses or if you just want to support military spouses you can do that too. Go check it out and sign yourself up!

Mil-Spouse Blog Hop

My name is Amy. I am 29 years old and currently I work part-time at an elementary school with special needs students who are 3 and 4 years old. While my job can be very challenging it is also highly rewarding. I am also currently taking classes to complete my master's degree in Human Resources. In what little spare time I may be able to find these days, I love reading a good book and am always looking for suggestions.

My husband and I have been married for four years this August but we met when we were 14 in high school and dated on and off throughout the years! He is my best friend and the love of my life. He is currently mobilized and will be deploying to the sandbox sometime soon.


We also have three children (whose names I don't use). The oldest is a 9 year old girl, the middle is a 6 year old boy, and the youngest is an almost 3 year old boy. Between school work and sporting events, they keep me quite busy!

I hope you'll take time to poke around if you are coming over from the blog hop and see what is going on around here. Hopefully there will be some new features here soon as I'm currently working on some changes. Hope to see you around!

**Riding the RollerCoaster is hosting this awesome blog hop for military spouses!

OPSEC

In case you're not military and are not familiar with OPSEC, it stands for operational security.

Sara over at Welcome to the Blog of an Army Wife did an excellent post about OPSEC and I recommend everyone going over to take a look at it.

This is something that is very important to me for the safety of not only my husband but for the safety of all of our service members as well. Please remember to practice OPSEC!