*Sigh*

I can really tell a difference in myself today. And I'm not sure what it means about me.


Yesterday and the day before I was totally motivated to get things done around here. I mean, I have worked outside like I haven't in maybe forever. I have been a better housekeeper and was happy doing it.


As I said in my last post, Sarge didn't come home for his weekly visit last night. Since then I have been in a massive funk. I am doing my housework, but it is taking me twice as long as necessary and I really just feel like going to bed and sleeping. I'm sensing depression looming, but isn't it a little silly?


Why should I be depressed because he didn't come home in the middle of the week? He will be home this weekend and it will be one of our adults only weekends. Our children will be with their other parents, so we will have time to be together and reconnect emotionally. We will have two whole days for "us".


But still. Ugh.


So, I see this tendency in myself and I want to be and do better. I will get up off this chair, stop belly-aching about this, and keep on keepin' on. I'll do it with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. I am praying to God for my mental health and to take the anger and depression away from me. I know He will take this from me.


I think I need to call or text my husband and tell him I love him.


The Sarge's Wife

It Ain't Always Sunshine & Roses

I know that usually I talk about how proud I am of Sarge and how much what he does means to me and really to society at large.


Today is not one of those days.


Sarge lives away from home Monday through Friday because of where his job is located. I choose to live here because it is an awesome place to live and raise my child. He lives there because he is able to continue to be a full-time soldier and do what he loves. We agreed some time back that one of us would make the trip to the other's location on Wednesdays. It is something I needed more than him, but I really needed it.


Yesterday, you might notice, was Wednesday. Sarge didn't come home last week because of a busy schedule at work. I didn't say one word and took it in stride. But, it was Wednesday again. He had said he was planning to come here. I did not make plans to go there because of that. Then I get the, "I'm not sure I'm gonna make it today" text. Turns out he had administrative work that was assigned last minute and two funerals that were given to them literally that morning.


My head understands all this. My heart hurts and I'm really kinda pissed.


I have given up any semblance of normal family life so that my husband can do what he loves and feels is his duty. I have sacrificed sleeping in the same bed with my husband, waking up with him, and just sitting on the sofa watching tv. Normal, everyday, things lots of wives take for granted.


I don't usually give myself pity parties. This is a life I chose. I knew who I was marrying when I married him. I moved to the small town we live in because my parents and grandparents live here and my husband has spent more than half our marriage deployed to various parts of the world.


I could totally move to where he is. But I won't. I refuse to give up a life I built while he was off serving our country. I life I built and that he said he would retire to over two years ago.


So, here I sit. Pissy. And it doesn't help anyone or anything, but at least I can vent about it here.


Thanks for listening.


The Sarge's Wife

A Hero's a Hero, No Matter What

My hubs, The Sarge, is a leader of the team that performs full-time Military Funeral Honors for the State of GA. He spends his days honoring our veterans who have served our country in times of war and times of peace. He leads a team of young men who are dedicated to giving these men and women the honor they deserve at the time of their passing. Their days generally consist of several funerals at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA and passing along final honors to family members who are grieving the loss of someone incredibly important to them.





On Wednesday, Sarge and his team performed a ceremony of a different kind. You see, there was a homeless gentlemen who had been found deceased on Christmas Day 2009. He lived in a wooded area near the metro Atlanta area. He was found by another homeless man who was checking in on his buddy because he had not seen him and was worried.



The county where the man's body was taken tried diligently for three months to find some family member to inform of the man's passing. They found no one.





The morgue knew the man's identity because of his good friend and had confirmed that the man was a veteran. They contacted the Georgia National Cemetery and asked if they could give the man a final resting place. GNC immediately agreed. They then asked Sarge and his team if they could give the man the final honors he had earned with his service to this great nation of ours. The Honor Guard immediately agreed.




So, Wednesday came and, worried that the man would have no mourners, they had some of the soldiers who were on duty at the Canton NG Armory there to honor this gentleman. At the time of the service, the homeless man who found and identified his friend came to the cemetery to mourn his friend. He was the one soul in this world who seemed to even know that this man was no longer with us. No one knows how the man got to the cemetery or how he was going to get back to where he normally camps. He stood in his jeans and flannel shirt as the Honor Guard carried out their mission. He wept silently for his friend as "Taps" was played on the bugle and the soldiers saluted his fallen friend. The soldiers presented the man with the folded flag, representing the gift of service his friend had given the United States. He said simply that he was proud to have had the opportunity to know his friend.





Yes, we have soldiers who fall in battle and are saluted by their communities. We have veterans who pass away and are mourned by those who knew and loved them. But, we also have veterans who are the "invisible" in our cities and towns. Veterans who have no family to even know they have passed. I cannot tell you how proud I am that my husband and his team are proud to give all veterans the honor and dignity they have earned upon their passing.





These men are my heroes. These men are heroes to us all.

After Much Delay, Wecome Home Bravo Troop!

A couple of weeks ago, I had the honor of going to a celebration:

Signs were hung.

I hung out with my friends, the wives, so excited for them and emotional beyond explanation.

Pride for one's soldier...

Eagerly awaiting...

"Welcome Home, Uncle Tim!"...

HERE THEY COME!

Honoring our heroes...

"Hi, my name is Daddy"..

Clark and Bonnie Turner ready to plan their "real" wedding...

God Bless the Cav Scouts of the 1-108th!

Here Comes the Parade!

Tomorrow I am travelling with Baby Girl up to Canton, GA. Sarge is based out of there for his Military Honors Unit with the D.O.D. But, that's not why I'm going. I'm going because his military brothers, heroes every one, will be returning HOME from De-Mobilization after spending the last year in Afghanistan.


The town of Canton is having a parade to celebrate these soldiers home.


We are having a ceremony and celebration at the Armory following the parade.


Sarge will get to see some of his best friends that he hasn't seen in a year. I will get to see my friends and their children with the husbands/fathers that have been gone for over a year. It will be a great time and a huge celebration.


But I will also be spending time remembering the 8 families of soldiers in the Unit that did not make it home from war. I know that 1st Sgt. Blair's wife went to Ft. Stewart to see her husband's soldiers come home, because her husband couldn't. He was watching over them from heaven.


My heart breaks for these families. But it swells with joy overflowing for my friends who finally have their men back in their arms. It is thrilled for the men who get to sleep in their own beds, under their own roofs for the first time tomorrow night. The men who for the first time in their recent memories can sleep totally relaxed, without worrying about attacks from strangers who want to kill them for being there, for trying to make things better for them and their countrymen.


I am so proud of all these soldiers. I am so proud of these families for making it through one of the toughest times in military life. I will be standing with my friends and waving my flag full of pride for my husband's Troop. And I am sure that pride will come in the form of flowing tears and cheers.


I'll post pictures from this great day tomorrow. Please check back and see my friends in one of the most joyous times of their lives.


I'm proud to be family of the 48th Brigade, 1-108th, Bravo Troop of the Georgia National Guard!


HOOAH!

The Sarge's Wife

Things to Do:

Motivation.

I just ain't got it.

I don't know why; I'm not feeling blue.

My house needs the clutter from yesterday picked up. I have some laundry that needs doing. I want to have the house vacuumed and dusted before Sarge gets home for the weekend. I want and desire all these things.

As a SAHM, I know that these things are my career. I know these are my responsibilites. Here's the thing though - no partnership track or raise to motivate me. And Sarge certainly isn't going to fire me. He knows that his rank has nothing to do with my authority.

And yet, here I sit, typing. I've checked Facebook and played Bejeweled Blitz. I've checked Twitter and checked out links to neato new blogs my bloggity friends have recommended. I've read my favorite blogs. I've even entered a photo of my cat in The Pioneer Woman's current photo assignment. I've gotten things done.

Hey! I've gotten things done! I have been motivated today! And now, I think I will move on to my Household 6 responsibilities.

After all, the Army wife is nothing if not dutiful, punctual and committed to task.

Oooooh, but here's my picture for the contest:

Ok, now I'm gonna get to my housework!

Love y'all!

The Sarge's Wife

What I Learned at The Wal Marts

I went to the Wal Marts yesterday for a few necessities. While I was there, I learned a few things:


1. Those pictures from the "People of Wal Mart" website are real. If I'd had my camera with me yesterday, I totally could have been published on that site.


2. I could never work as a checker at the Wal Marts these days. Don't get me wrong, when I was in college I spent every school holiday in the checkout lane at our local KMart. It is TOTALLY not a pride thing, I just don't have the patience.

I used the "self-check" lane because I only had a few things and the lines were long. There were three things that were just not going to scan for me. I straightened the bar codes. I wiped them in case there was some kind of condensation on it. I was about to absolutely lose my mind. Baby Girl was worried that SHE had done something wrong. I did everything but call those things children of God.

Thank goodness for the patient girl half my age attending to the self-check lanes, because she finally keyed the items in and I was on my way.


3. The ground beef in a tube stuff is just as good as the stuff in the styrofoam trays. It was extra lean, left hardly any grease in the pan, and was an actual pound, not a pound and a half, a pound and a third, or whatever the trays turn out to be. It was less expensive. It made my lasagna yummy. I'm a changed person. I'm no longer a meat tray snob.


4. The "Great Value" brand cheezy-poofs are the way to go. Baby Girl declared them delicious. And for the coup de gras, she said she could "taste the Wal Mart in them." She explained that they were "extra cheesy".

I don't think the Walmarts would use the "tastes like Wal Mart = Extra Cheezy" ad campaign, but I laughed so hard, it was well worth the trip.