Still in boxes.

Hey, 

I won't wear you down about this today, but we're still in boxes, 2 months in.  :)  

Yes, I think I've just grown weary of emptying them out all the time, when much of what remains boxed hardly gets used.  Yet, a lot of it I am not ready to part with.  :)

I made the house fully functional within a week, which is outstanding for me, because my sister came for a visit at the end of our first full week in the house.  

Still, there isn't much to look at here: furniture doesn't quite fit, no curtains are up, and a lot of stuff still doesn't have a place.  I didn't even finish the last place after 2-1/2 years, so in comparison, I'm doing better.  

I guess I could be working on my 100th box today, instead of writing a blog, but it will just be repacked when I turn around, and life is just too short to unpack boxes for several days, right?  

This is our official 5th PCS, I think, but we've moved more frequently than that.  I believe this is our 10th abode since we married less than 9 years ago.  Part of the problem is the time we spend waiting for our housing, both on and off-base, each time we move.  

Anyway, it's tough.  I can talk about it for a long time, but am going to get some errands done instead, today.  

Thanks for listening.  :)

Crazy Hours!

Every evening, between dinner and bed, I ask my husband, "What time will you be going to work tomorrow, and what time will you be home?"  

I think if this were an occasional occurrence, it could be within the limits of normal, but everyday my husband's schedule is a mystery to me.  With just a spouse alone, this can be a little nutty, but add little ones into the mix, and a mixed-up schedule can really put strain on a family.  

A very good example of our schedule over the span of 4 weeks includes 5 days of going to work from about 7am to 6pm, 5 days of 2pm to 1am, and 5 days of 5am to 5pm, plus 5 days of 12pm to 9pm.  That's a lot to absorb, but basically it is all over the map at any given time.  Daily schedules do not necessarily match consecutively, but the whole gamut of schedules may be run in any one week.  

This is naturally a wear on my husband whose sleep, eating, and exercising schedule gets turned on its head continually.  My kids and I have no stability, either.  What I wouldn't give to know that every Thursday, I could count on him to be home at 7pm so that I could take a class, or go to the gym, or just have some type of stability.  Our older kids miss their daddy on days when he's home while they are at school, and he doesn't return until after they are in bed.  Sometimes I have been known to let them stay up late so that they can say, "Hi!" to their dad before going to bed.  This is good, but then the kids are a little less fun to be around the next day.  

I don't think this constantly changing schedule is fair to the kids, either.  

Also, when he returns late at night, or leaves early in the morning, the noise that is inevitable sometimes wakes me and our little ones.  After he comes or goes, I can end-up staying awake for hours, not able to sleep because of my kids or my mind's following wakefulness.  

Because we are constantly on the move, and do not find baby-sitters or childcare providers readily due to lack of knowing anyone at first, I depend on my husband to help me with my needs, such as going to the doctor or the dentist.  I can't make these appointments on my own, because his schedule is such a mess, but have to have him call to make the appointments, and hope that he can give me the chance to go to the doctor.  

What do you think?  

This is one of many difficulties facing some, but not all, military families.  Naturally, when our kids are older, a crazy schedule will affect us differently, but for now, I find it tough to handle on top of all the other demands the military makes of its families.  

Thanks for listening!  

:) C.M.

What do you think?  

Wow! A Blog!

Hi!  

I'm C.M.  and I don't do much more than email on a computer, so this is a big step for me.  Shoot, I don't even watch television, I just received another cell phone for the first time in years, and have generally been out of touch with technology.  I'm in the right generation for it, and am smart enough, I guess, but I just don't trust technology much.  :)  

Yes, and I still use the little smiley :) faces everywhere.  

I'll explain a little about my title: It's not because my spouse has forgotten me, no!  You see I'm a military spouse, and as such, sometimes I feel the military forgets about my, well, our needs.  

There are so many wonderful things I could write about, and perhaps will, but the thing I need to talk about the most is how the military has forgotten about its spouses in a lot of ways.  Sometimes I feel that in regards to spouse treatment, the military has a lot of catching-up to do.  Also, I would like to talk about military family life in general, from my point of view.

You would be incorrect if you thought that by my complaining about some aspects of the military that I don't appreciate it, or believe in it.  My husband (and I) made a conscious decision together for him to continue his service, and we both are proud to serve our friends, neighbors and countrymen in this way.  We also have a love for many of the people in the military, who are like family to us.  

I hope here you will hear some of your thoughts, or at least appreciate some of mine.  

Thanks so much!  

C.M.