Life Lessons of a Military Wife

Getting out of the rut of a deployment

February 21st, 2012

Last summer I purchased this USB digital recorder. I forgot I had it until now. My great idea, was to carry this thing around and to record thoughts as they happen. In reality, I wasn’t smart enough to figure out how it worked, because it has all these menu items and dozens of buttons, and I soon lost interest. I did record something though, as I just plugged it into the USB to see if there was anything on there. There was. Wow, I must’ve been going thru a rut myself when I recorded this. Please excuse some of the moments of heavy breathing. All I can think of is I must have been walking up the stairs or something to breathe that hard in between comments!

I wouldn’t even be sharing it, except I think there may be some nuggets of advice on there.

Click, The rut of a deployment

I think I mostly took my advice this time around, although I confess there were a few weekends in there where I did lounge around in PJs. I think it’s ok to do that when you need some quiet time and time to recharge your batteries! Honestly, there were some times I didn’t want another person asking me, “How are you doing?” or “Can I do anything for you?” or “Give me a call if you need anything!” or those knowing glances to see if you are a train wreck yet. I’m not gonna lie. As much as people feel for you or want to help you, sometimes they don’t realize they are giving you constant reminders of being alone or in worst cases, feeling glad that it’s you and not them. It’s something I chalk up to human nature and not something to get my feathers ruffled over or to take the wrong way.

Do you have any other tips to add? Or thoughts on your own deployment experience?

Blog Round-Up #26

February 20th, 2012

I am a little giddy this morning. Let’s see….DH has been home two days now from deployment, and we are all still on Cloud 9. I don’t even know what that term means exactly, but suffice it to say I am happy…the kids are happy…and we are all just happy. I snuck on here, because DH decided to go into work this morning. Never mind the boss told him to take the week off. Never mind the base will be a ghost town as this is our Pre-Lenten Break or “Ski Week” as it’s called. People leave the base in full force and only the bare bones inner workings are still going on. Well, at least it gives me an opportunity to catch up on my favorite blog reading with my favorite tea mug. There are definitely some good ones this week!

A Special 10% Discount for LLMW readers at Hero Puzzles

February 18th, 2012

I would like to thank Cody at Hero Puzzles for offering a special discount to my readers! Hero Puzzles has some amazing high quality wooden puzzles that you can personalize with your favorite family photo. This is an especially great item you can treasure to remember your deployed loved one.

Thoughts About the Big One (Retirement)

February 16th, 2012

Retirement. Are you going to put in your 20? Or more? I’ve had thoughts myself as the wife of a servicemember. My DH too. I’m not gonna lie. The Army has pretty much been my whole life and about half my DH’s. You could say it’s all we know. Here’s my track of thinking…and some thoughts from DH he has shared with me.

Giveaway: Win an awesome Hero Puzzle!

February 14th, 2012

I always love it when military folks come up with cool things. This is one of those cool things. Imagine a personalized 100% birchwood top-quality peg puzzle your child will absolutely fall in love with. Your photo gets imprinted on the puzzle and is such a neat gift to give to a military child, especially a child who is about to have a parent deploy. In fact, the owner of the company came up with the idea to help his own little one remember and to treasure images of his dad while he was gone. I’d like to make the effort to reward one of my readers with such a cool puzzle. But wait, that’s not all!

The winding down of a deployment

February 13th, 2012

It wasn’t a long one…not more than six months this time around. I am actually counting down the days now and see an end in sight. My mind is racing with so many thoughts. I am forgetting appointments, am having trouble reacting to things that before barely caused me to blink before, and I am irritable and yell at our kids. I recognize what’s going on. I’m nervous, anxious, a little irrational….a little giddy too. Woe is me with the sleepless nights and not so peaceful days at the moment.

Blog Round-Up #25

February 12th, 2012

So cold!

Come on snow day Monday! I bet it’s just wishful thinking. Had to open the kitchen window to vent the stupid dryer. Even though it is an icebox in there, even with my jerry rigged “insulation” around the hose hanging out the window, I am thankful for my American dryer, where every load is delivered fresh and HOT unlike those steamy condenser European dryers. Since I’m too lazy to run up to the third floor to get our one space heater, I’m going to make do with fingerless gloves and a cozy scarf while I go through my favorite blogposts of the week! Enjoy!

Top Ten Observations of a Middle School Dance

February 12th, 2012

Lordy where have I been for the last 20 years? I am going to admit I have only volunteered once at a school dance and it was an elementary school one at that. Kids were more concerned with crawling under the tables and navigating the box maze carefully crafted and set up on the stage. In middle school…..oh yeah…not the same experience. Here is what I observed at my son’s middle school dance last night themed in its Mardi Gras splendor.

Surprising things you need to know about heating your European home

February 10th, 2012

http://www.stefan-kapsner.de/Heizöl

I used to hate it when Opa would tell me it was time to open up the tank. Every summer we spent with my German grandparents, a major production of summer was the opening of the tank. Attached to my grandparents’ house was this concrete pool-like structure with two huge oil tanks inside. We would take about two hours to meticulously take off all the insulation, tarps and metal coverings and climb down inside to prep it for the oil guy. The heating oil guy would make his rounds of all the neighbors, and we’d be all set until the next summer. If you are moving to Europe, you are going to be looking at homes heated in a variety of different ways: oil, natural gas, electric, solar and you might even see some homes heated with geothermal heating. Here’s what you need to know about your heat and the choices you’ll make in your rental (or even purchased) home. Keep reading, cause it’s an eye-opener!!

American products NOT FOUND here

February 8th, 2012

I thought I’d sit down today and write a list of things I have never been able to find on the local economy, either in Belgium or Germany. Now, I know there are more and more expat stores out there…stores that import strictly American products. I’m not talking about those kind of stores (or check out this internet one). So far, I refuse to go in them, because I don’t want to get sticker shock mostly. But you may think differently. You won’t find these specialty stores in smaller cities, but I have walked by them in Brussels, Berlin and Amsterdam if my memory is serving me properly. Here are the things I wish I could find on a regular basis off-post.