Category Archives: PCSing
Bad Luck and Our Luck… Seems to be the Same Lately
If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.
~Hee Haw Gang
We just can’t catch a break. When we had some extra money after our wedding, Skah cost us $500 in emergency vet and regular vet bills.
When we saved money from the PCS, the Navy demanded something like $1,000 back since I didn’t move with Huzzy at the time.
When I got a second (and third if you count the Navy Reserves!) job to help make ends meet, we had to hire a contractor to tile the kitchen floor just so it could get done since I didn’t have time to do it because of working three jobs. Another $1,100 down the drain.
And when we save some money so that we can do some tent camping and go out to a movie or two during the two weeks I’m spending in Washington before and after my drill weekend because Huzzy is deploying this fall (ya know, since we were married 22 weeks ago and have only spent 11 1/2 weeks together and only seen each other for three days in the last four months), the Navy erroneously garnished Huzzy’s wages from the said PCS move… that we paid back by the 30JUN deadline.
So now, not only will we not get to do anything but sit in Huzzy’s tiny rented room in a rented house for two weeks, but we won’t be able to pay all the bills on time this month. I mean, we’re barely making ends meet as it is with me working two jobs (and of course, my third job of the Reserves… there’s paperwork problems and I probably won’t get paid for my drills for several months even though I’m shelling out $300+ a month for plane tickets). Losing something like $1,000 in one paycheck just isn’t going to cut it.
Oh, and that toe that I cut 5 weeks ago? Still not healed. My doctor appointment was set for Monday for a re-check and to decide what to do. It was changed to Friday since the doctor has the stomach flu. It now needs to be changed again because he’s not getting better. I sure as heck hope I can get an appointment Monday or Tuesday because I leave Tuesday night to go to the other side of the state to drop off the dogs at my mom’s house and to fly out of Detroit on Wednesday.
*sigh* I just feel like throwing my hands up and giving up lately.
Thursday Thirteen #8: Random Thoughts
Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
~Winnie the Pooh
It’s time for the Thursday Thirteen again. If you have a Thursday Thirteen of your own, leave your website in the comments section and I’ll try my darndest to visit it 
13 Random Thoughts
- I suddenly looked down the other day and noticed that our 17 month old Great Pyrenees puppy is no longer a puppy. He’s filled out and is totally boxy now instead of lean and lanky. It happened pretty much overnight
Skah at only 11 months... he had lots more growing to do!
(which is probably why he’s limping… they do that when they have huge growth spurts). My puppy is gone! But at least he’s replaced by a majestic, regal dog.
- Why do people insist on being stupid? Ignorant I can deal with but stupid is a whole ‘nother ball game.
- I hope I get gained by my Navy Reserve command in the next few weeks. I’d love to start drilling soon.
- My commissioning ceremony is Saturday. Holy Moley, it’s turned into something huge! Apparently the CO of the recruiting district has made it mandatory for all recruiters in this zone. Probably has something to do with the good connections both my place of work and myself have with him.
- I’m terrified that I’m going to show how new I am that day. I had to ask the local Chief with help on how my combo cover is supposed to fit. And I just finally figured out today a good way to do my hair the way I’m supposed to.
- I was about to cut off said hair to my chin just so I didn’t have to deal with putting it up the “proper” way, which I couldn’t figure out until today.
- This past weekend marked 3 months that Huzzy and I have been married.
- By the time I see him, we’ll have been apart 11 out of 18 weeks of our marriage. Most will say that it’s the Navy life, but he’s not on deployment. That will happen sometime this fall.
- I need to make a page on OPSEC (Operational Security) so people know why I can’t be more specific than “this fall.” I got the idea of doing a page like this from To the Nth. I hope she doesn’t mind me copying her idea.
- I am really craving some Olive Garden Soup, Salad and Breadsticks lunch. Huzzy and I need to save as much as we can since we are supporting two households (and I am working two jobs to do that). But he went out with friends to see Transformers last night and I think I should get something, too. Besides, that lunch won’t cost as much as the movie did.
- I really need to get my house finished and on the market. I’m glad my mom and brother are coming over this weekend to help. Too bad I have to work on Sunday, too.
- My mom is bringing over a twin mattress. WOO-HOO!!!! No more sleeping on couch cushions on the floor (though they are infinintely better than sleeping on an air mattress that can’t hold its air)!
- I need to start doing these things days in advance so they are already up and I don’t have to scramble around every Thursday morning to get my morning stuff done AND my TT.
Another Year Older
A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip.
~Author Unknown
I can’t believe I’m 27 today. I know that’s still young, but dang! I sure am getting close to 30. I still see myself as 23-24 years old.
Twenty-seven is just one of those years that is making me feel old. Changing from 25 to 26 felt like no big deal. This year feels like huge jump. A few months ago I noticed some very faint crow’s feet starting to appear, which really took me aback. But at least they are smile lines and not frown lines. I’d hate to have frown lines.
Let’s see… the past year included:
June
- Taking my first vacation in two years… and my first two-week vacation ever! Yes, with the then 60-pound 5 month old puppy.
- Going down to the St. Louis area to Huzzy’s hometown and seeing where he grew up
- Riding my first motorcycle ever
- Nearly being bounced off said motorcycle on the highway
July
- Huzzy completely moved in to my house.
- We learned that our orders were going to be to Washington state (versus southern Georgia). Yay!
August
- Had a yard sale.
September
- Decided I wanted to look into becoming a Navy Reserve Public Affairs Officer.
- Decided I wanted to pursue a Navy Reserve Public Affairs Officer commission.
October
- I dunno what happened… I was busy!
November
- Went to my second awards dinner/dance for the Navy recruiting district. Minus the dancing since they didn’t have that
- Thanksgiving with my family… probably the last one for quite a while.
- Found out that our then 10-month-old puppy was 100% deaf. He was 85 pounds.
- Taught said puppy 6 signs in ASL in four days. Impressive!
December
- Had three interviews with Navy Public Affairs Officers– and Captains at that!
- One of those interviews I was very proud of. I called the Navy News Desk in Washington and asked the Lieutenant who answered the phone for help.
- From that phone call, I was set up with a Captain at the Pentagon. The PENTAGON. I flew to D.C. to do the interview. I had an interview IN THE PENTAGON!
- Sent my package into the board for review.
- Christmas with Huzzy’s family… probably the last for quite a while.
January
- I learned that I was selected in the January board as a Navy Reserve Public Affairs Officer.
- The fuzzy pup turned one and was 99 pounds.
February
- Did my physical for the Navy at MEPS.
- On February 13, Huzzy asked me to marry him. Yes, it was Friday the 13th. I hope that doesn’t mean anything bad!
- We set the date for our wedding… we only had 5 weeks to plan.
- Did a lot of planning!
March
- Lots more planning for the wedding.
- We were married on March 21, 2009.
- We went on a “honeymoon” which really wasn’t one since we were actually on house hunting leave.
April
- Huzzy checked out of his recruiting command.
- Celebrated Huzzy’s 29th birthday.
- Learned very quickly the bane of military wives everywhere: PCSing.
- Started sleeping on an air mattress & living with one broken couch, a TV, two pots and one baking dish. Talk about Spartan living!
May
- Said goodbye to my husband as he PCSed across the country without me.
- Dealt with some annoyances with WalMart and my mortgage company, U.S. Bank Home Mortgage.
- My commissioning documents arrived.
- Still sleeping on an air mattress.
- Started fixing up the house on my own.
June
- Started working a second job… actually, it’s where I currently work, just I work the ticket counter on the weekend.
- The fuzzy pup is nearly 1 1/2 years old and somewhere in the range of 110-115 pounds. I used to weigh that much… 9 years ago!
- Commissioned as a United States Navy Reserve Public Affairs Officer.
- Continued sleeping on an air mattress… that loses a lot of air each night. My back is saying “ouch!”
- Continued fixing up the house on my own in hopes to put it on the market this month.
Wow… lots has happened in just 12 months. This next year is going to see even more changes and fun and I’m really looking forward to it.
~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
The First Goodbye
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
~William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
I’m sorry but Shakespeare is full of bullroarky. Parting with your husband while he goes off on a deployment–or in our case, moving to a new duty station alone before deploying–is never “sweet.” And if it is sweet, I’d have to say that you need to re-evaluate your marriage.
I’m not going to sugar-coat it. Saying goodbye was tough. Really tough. And when Huzzy started tearing up himself, it just made it that much worse. Not only were my tears for my sadness, but seeing that he was hurting too made me hurt that much more. He also said that having to get in his truck and leave me was much worse than leaving on deployment… because when he’ll deploy, someone else will be driving away–he’ll just be on the vessel that is going. Last night, he was the one who had to put one foot in front of the other and leave.
But we’ll be okay. I know this because our love is strong. And it’s what we have to do. As my mom has always told me when things got tough, “Other people can do it, so you can do it too.” I have used this as my motto from the time I was young. Thanks, Mom, for that phrase.
And to help get through the first few weeks of our first separation–what I’ve been told are the worst of the worst–I have a lot of projects left to do. I still have to nail the back of our kitchen counter on, take all the doors off the cabinets, sand them down, add moulding and stain, paint the outside of my house and paint most of the walls inside the house. That’ll keep me busy for a while!
What does make it hard is that other than a few people, no one at work knows he’s gone. They can’t know because I want to keep my job. I don’t think they’d fire me, but who knows… my immediate boss does know and she’s pretty close to the top of the food chain. So when people asked, “Did you have a good weekend?” I have to smile, and lie. What I really want to say is, “No, I didn’t. My husband of less than two months left me to drive by himself 2,300 miles to a new duty station and I’m stuck here. I should be making that long drive with him. Now I’ll have to do it by myself with three dogs and two cats. No, I’m not fine and my weekend was not good.”
But I won’t. Because I’m a Navy wife and it’s what we do. We don’t let people know when our husbands leave for reasons of OPSEC (mine isn’t deploying just yet so it’s no secret he’s gone–no secret unless you work with me, that is!).
It’s the life of a Navy wife.
~Wifey
