Frustration Builds

You’ve done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination.
~Ralph Marston

I am definitely frustrated. Frustrated with everything right now. I’m frustrated that my husband is 2,300 miles away. He’s on his three year sea duty rotation. He’s on land right now, which doesn’t happen often during sea duty. I should be there with him while he’s on land before he deploys again. But I’m not. And that’s frustrating beyond belief.

I’m frustrated that I am the one responsible for getting the house fixed up… including some really tough projects… with no help. I’m frustrated that because of the situation we are in with us being separated, I have to work a second job on the weekends.  And STILL try to find time to get all the house projects done.

And what makes me even more frustrated is hearing Huzzy on the phone tell me how bored he is and how his day was frustrating because his fishing rod broke. And after working for hours on the house after working hours at my second job, it’s frustrating to hear Huzzy talk about how he’s relaxing by the side of a lake fishing. I want to relax. I want to be bored.

But most of all, I want to be able to spend time with my husband while he’s on shore.  Spending time away from one another while being deployed or going to a school is what being a Navy spouse is about… but it’s tough when I could be spending time with him but I’m not because of some stupid circumstances.

~Wifey

Friday Funny #1: Funny Navy Video #1

I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.
~Woody Allen

I think I’m going to start a new tradition. It may be somewhere else in blog land but I haven’t seen it, so I’m saying I’m starting it.  I will try to do a “Friday Funny” every… uh, Friday.

As a Navy wife with a husband who isn’t home much (and not at all right now) sometimes things can get a bit melancholy. So, I want to implement Friday Funny.

I’d love it if all of you… especially MILspouses… would like to join me and post a “Friday Funny.”  It can be anything from a comment that made you laugh or a funny story or even a funny photo/video you have seen.  Leave a comment if you post one and I’ll visit your blog to see!

Okay, my first Friday Funny is the first in a set of Navy videos that crack me up each time I see them. These Sailors have a lot of time on their hands while they are deployed at sea… and they are very creative and hilarious!  I also love that some of the officers got in on it and were joking around with the enlisted guys. That’s some team building there!

Navy version of “Pump It” by the Black Eyed Peas

Come back next Friday for another hilarious video!

~Wifey

COMDOCs Are Just Days Away

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
~Francis Bellamy, The Youth’s Companion, 8 September 1892

My recruiter called today to tell me that HQ called to tell her my commissioning documents were ready. She should have them by the end of the week.

I plan on swearing in as soon as I can so that I can get the ball rolling and start drilling as soon as I can. When I start drilling, I can at least see Huzzy once a month (at least when he’s not deployed) because I will be drilling about 20 minutes from where he is stationed. I can’t wait.

When I swear in, I can also contact the CO of the Reserve Center where I’m drilling to introduce myself, as is the proper thing to do I can also let him/her know that I am looking for a job in the area and maybe I can get a lead or two. I’m sure the CO would rather have me living within 50 miles of the drilling center so they don’t have to pay for a hotel instead of me flying cross-country once a month for drills.

I never thought the military was something I would ever join… but now I just can’t wait.

By this time next week, I might be an officer in the United States Navy Reserve. Wow. Just. Wow.

~Wifey

Navy Wives Improvise

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.
~Sylvia Plath

All you Navy wives out there know about improvising.  When everything is topsy-turvey and we are in the middle of a PCS, we have to find ways to get things done.  That’s what I did this morning.

Ladies, I have learned that if your tweezers were accidentally packed by the movers and your husband takes the only other one with him when he moves cross country, you have an alternative.  If you have a set of nail clippers around, you can use those to “cut” your stray eyebrow hairs.  It didn’t even pinch my face (okay, if you have deep wrinkles, it might)

Weird, yes.  But it will work until I can get to the store and buy another set of tweezers.  It’s a Navy Wife Life!

So as a Navy Wife/Husband, what is the strangest thing you have done to improvise?

~Wifey

Discounts for Military Members/Families

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!
~Maya Angelou

No one enters the military for the discounts.  There aren’t enough of them to make it worth it. But knowing that people recognize the sacrifices of our military men and women and their family is comforting. While people complain about how their husbands/wives are gone for a two week business trip and how hard it is without them, we military spouses would give our eye-teeth to have a deployment last only that long.  We know the true meaning of sacrifice and love for our country.

While Huzzy and I never expect discounts and incentives for businesses, you better believe that we will frequent those businesses more often.  Why?  Not because of the discount (which is definitely nice) but because those businesses are ones that support our military members and their country. And if those businesses don’t see the discounts being used, they will think that it doesn’t matter and stop offering them.  But it DOES matter.  Our spouses need to know that people beyond their own families care what they are doing for their country.

In honor of Memorial Weekend, the following places are offering discounts to members of the military and their families.  Please join me by supporting these businesses and telling them how much we appreciate them.  If you know of other businesses that should be listed here, please let me know and I’ll add them. This may become a permanent page for military families looking to give their business to companies that support what they are doing for our country.

Memorial Weekend 2009 Discounts for Military Families (must show ID card):

Home Depot – 10% discount on purchases up to $2,000 starting Thursday, May 21 and going through Wednesday, May 27.

Lowe’s – 10% discount on purchases up to $5,000 starting Thursday, May 21 and going through Monday, May 25.

Year-Round Military Discounts (that I know of… may not be nation-wide)

Texas Roadhouse- 10% off

Red Robin- 25% off