Well, deployment is right around the corner. My heart is just aching.
And then I'm angry.
And I'll be the first to admit that I am not one of those military spouses who is just thrilled with military life and all of it's "adventures". I grew up in the Air Force lifestyle and thought Navy would be similar. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA.
You could call me bitter.
I'll try to make an excruciatingly long story, shorter:
And then I'm angry.
And I'll be the first to admit that I am not one of those military spouses who is just thrilled with military life and all of it's "adventures". I grew up in the Air Force lifestyle and thought Navy would be similar. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA.
You could call me bitter.
I'll try to make an excruciatingly long story, shorter:
My husband has had the shittiest end of most deals when it comes to rules, changes, schedules, deployments, assignments, etc. And of course, what screws him, screws me too.
Boot camp: his battalion got the least amount of phone calls-he called me twice. Once, the "I'MHEREILOVEYOUIHAVETOGOBYE" and the other was for about 30 minutes. Far less than anyone elses (I was part of a website where moms and wives exchanged information about bootcamp and supported each other...turned out to be the bane of my existence).
Boot Camp Graduation: almost everyone that graduates is allowed the weekend of liberty. We found out about 3 days prior to paying for the hotel and getting a plane flight that included that entire weekend that, NOPE! He gets 6 hours and then leaves at 3 a.m. for school. So it was an enchanting early morning that I got with my husband at the airport. Then I got to sit in Illinois/Michigan in balmy March for 3 more days without my husband. That was an awesome way to spend a huge amount of money we didn't have!
First Duty Station: "It's fine, we'll be together at our first duty station and things will be better!" Orders come out: Gulfport, MS. Dear. God. How great to sign up for the Navy and be brought to America's armpit. (Sorry for those of you that think MS is great...I am not one that does and I'm painfully honest about it.) Oh! And as soon as he gets here, he was instantly deployed. So no living together, setting up a house together or even moving together. See ya!
First move: Did I mention, I did this by myself? Oh, yeah. About a month after the death and funeral of my grandmother (which I attended by myself), I packed a huge Uhaul with all of our crap, put our car on a tow hitch on the back and left on a 9 hour drive that ended up taking nearly 14. Tow dolly got a flat tire on the way there. Did I mention, I had an appointment with housing right before they closed so I could get a house on base since I had nowhere else to go? Luckily, I was able to get someone to stay past closing for me, but yeah not pleasant. I was using my husbands card to pay for gas, they suspended it because I used it in too many states...so my parents had to wire me money for food-because did I mention, we were broke as a joke? Did I also mention that I moved here in the middle of a Hurricane? Literally-it was a Category 1/Tropical Storm, so no big deal to someone who spent a TON of time in Tampa, but still...it was raining, and lightning like CRAZY. My awesome military neighbors stood around watching me move in-never waved, never said a word. And I could go on and on about my first move, but I think you get the point. Let's sum it up with this: I called the camping area on base to ask if I could use the laundry facilities there for one load since I had no clean underwear and couldn't afford appliances, husband is deployed and I'm new to the area and alone, etc.-the lady interrupted me and said, "Let me just cut you short on all your woes and sorrows..." Welcome to the Navy!
So let's talk about this deployment (as much as I can without giving any details at all so we can all be in the dark together-ahhh, OPSEC!): schedules came out and a huge amount of people get to stay back for a MUCH shorter deployment to a place that could definitely, and IS definitely an exotic paradise. My husband is going to a place where it is required that he take medication to prevent malaria and another to fight the possibility of a bacterial infection...sweet.
And ALLLLLLLLLLL of the wives I talk to-their husbands get exotic, short deployment where they are allowed to visit their husbands. And then there's me.
I just get tired of feeling like we get the short end of the stick every, single, freakin' time!!
I know living in negativity is NOT the way to live! But I'm very realistic about our situation-it hasn't been pleasant, fun or easy. Not that I expected it to be rainbows and butterflies AT ALL. But I'll tel you what, I certainly never expected THIS.
On a calmer, more positive note: I have a wad of things to accomplish when my husband is gone. I'll be fine. We'll be fine.
Cause let's be honest: Every little thing, is gonna be alright-Bob Marley
Boot camp: his battalion got the least amount of phone calls-he called me twice. Once, the "I'MHEREILOVEYOUIHAVETOGOBYE" and the other was for about 30 minutes. Far less than anyone elses (I was part of a website where moms and wives exchanged information about bootcamp and supported each other...turned out to be the bane of my existence).
Boot Camp Graduation: almost everyone that graduates is allowed the weekend of liberty. We found out about 3 days prior to paying for the hotel and getting a plane flight that included that entire weekend that, NOPE! He gets 6 hours and then leaves at 3 a.m. for school. So it was an enchanting early morning that I got with my husband at the airport. Then I got to sit in Illinois/Michigan in balmy March for 3 more days without my husband. That was an awesome way to spend a huge amount of money we didn't have!
First Duty Station: "It's fine, we'll be together at our first duty station and things will be better!" Orders come out: Gulfport, MS. Dear. God. How great to sign up for the Navy and be brought to America's armpit. (Sorry for those of you that think MS is great...I am not one that does and I'm painfully honest about it.) Oh! And as soon as he gets here, he was instantly deployed. So no living together, setting up a house together or even moving together. See ya!
First move: Did I mention, I did this by myself? Oh, yeah. About a month after the death and funeral of my grandmother (which I attended by myself), I packed a huge Uhaul with all of our crap, put our car on a tow hitch on the back and left on a 9 hour drive that ended up taking nearly 14. Tow dolly got a flat tire on the way there. Did I mention, I had an appointment with housing right before they closed so I could get a house on base since I had nowhere else to go? Luckily, I was able to get someone to stay past closing for me, but yeah not pleasant. I was using my husbands card to pay for gas, they suspended it because I used it in too many states...so my parents had to wire me money for food-because did I mention, we were broke as a joke? Did I also mention that I moved here in the middle of a Hurricane? Literally-it was a Category 1/Tropical Storm, so no big deal to someone who spent a TON of time in Tampa, but still...it was raining, and lightning like CRAZY. My awesome military neighbors stood around watching me move in-never waved, never said a word. And I could go on and on about my first move, but I think you get the point. Let's sum it up with this: I called the camping area on base to ask if I could use the laundry facilities there for one load since I had no clean underwear and couldn't afford appliances, husband is deployed and I'm new to the area and alone, etc.-the lady interrupted me and said, "Let me just cut you short on all your woes and sorrows..." Welcome to the Navy!
So let's talk about this deployment (as much as I can without giving any details at all so we can all be in the dark together-ahhh, OPSEC!): schedules came out and a huge amount of people get to stay back for a MUCH shorter deployment to a place that could definitely, and IS definitely an exotic paradise. My husband is going to a place where it is required that he take medication to prevent malaria and another to fight the possibility of a bacterial infection...sweet.
And ALLLLLLLLLLL of the wives I talk to-their husbands get exotic, short deployment where they are allowed to visit their husbands. And then there's me.
I just get tired of feeling like we get the short end of the stick every, single, freakin' time!!
I know living in negativity is NOT the way to live! But I'm very realistic about our situation-it hasn't been pleasant, fun or easy. Not that I expected it to be rainbows and butterflies AT ALL. But I'll tel you what, I certainly never expected THIS.
On a calmer, more positive note: I have a wad of things to accomplish when my husband is gone. I'll be fine. We'll be fine.
Cause let's be honest: Every little thing, is gonna be alright-Bob Marley