Knee Deep in the Hooah!

I am having a mid-life revelation. I am slowly seeing what my future holds. I am not a fortune teller so I am not claiming to see details of events to come, but rather I see a general trend that seems unstoppable.

I am slowly turning into one of “those” people who shakes her head at current trends and says under her breath “today’s kids, gees!” I am fighting the bitterness, but it’s a losing battle. There is a new dawn of awareness for me as to the origins of why a lot of elderly folks grow that layer of crust on the personality with time. They aren’t mean. They aren’t just grouchy, but they are irritated and it’s not hard to see why.

When you reach a certain age (I think it happens for most of us in our 40s) you begin to realize that the things you recognize as cultural familiarities are no longer part of the culture around you. Sure, when you go to the reunion or hang out with others your age it is less apparent, but when removed from that context, you suddenly realize that the world is upside down.

In your day certain things were not permissible, but today they are magically sanctioned and culturally promoted. One day things look one way, and the next day they look differently. One day certain trends are cool and the next day they are not. Our culture is always changing, so I am not talking about the small changes. I also am not of the mindset that all change is progress. Anyone who would assume that change is good just because it’s, well, different, is likely to use the argument that the sun is hot because it’s on fire. Mm-k. [Read more →]

Tags: Funny, Junk Drawer, boring fashion, getting old by Claire
10 Comments »

Today is Mike’s Birthday! I know that for a lot of people today is just another day. It’s not only just another day for many, but is just another Monday kind of a day. Well, for me today is the mark of the one year anniversary of when Mike landed in Kuwait. It also happens to be the one year anniversary of Knee Deep in the Hooah! Today is my one year anniversary of blogging about Mike’s year in Iraq, Bryan’s time in OCS, and about the rest of us schmucks who are at home waiting and living.

Today is Mike’s 23rd birthday. It just so happens that this is also the third birthday in a row that we could not see him or talk with him. His 21st birthday was spent in the field in his AIT Infantry training. He had just turned 21, and the night before his birthday he got no sleep. If I recall right, this would have been the night when a couple of guys in his unit had fallen asleep with out securing their weapons first. Group punishment is the name of the game, so all of the other guys (Mike is included in this lump) got to dance around the camp holding their guns and singing “I’m a little teapot.” The next morning one his favorite Drill Instructors came up behind him and said “No drinky-drinky for you soldier!”

Of course this way his way of saying “Happy Birthday” without sounding too nice, lest he lose face with the men. It kind of reminds me of Sam Elliot’s character in the movie “We Were Soldiers,” when the one soldier passing him on a sidewalk says “Nice day, sir,” to which Elliot replies “What are you a ‘bleep’-ing weatherman now?” That was his warm and fuzzy way of saying “Shut the hell up private, and nice day back at you!. And they say that men have a hard time showing emotion! Poppycock!

His 22nd birthday was spent in Kuwait, and now the 23rd will be in Iraq. The picture above is of he and a buddy in Kuwait celebrating with Bitburger, which is a non-alcoholic beer. I sent him a couple of boxes with gifts, cards and goodies. It all feels like such a small token considering all he has done over the last 365 days. He will come home 15-months chronologically older, but I imagine mentally, emotionally and spiritually speaking, he is older than that. He will come home with a combat badge, an Army Commendation Medal with a “V” device for Valor, and a Purple Heart. I am so grateful that we have hope for a 24th birthday that will be filled with a lot of chatter, a lot of beef stroganoff (his favorite), a lot of cake, and a lot of love.

Happy Birthday Mike! I love you, miss you, and I am eagerly waiting for your homecoming. God speed, and “Illegitimis non carborundum.” That means “don’t let the bastards grind you down.” — General George J. Stilwell

Tags: Army, Army Mom Posts, Iraq, Shack Pack news, deployment, family life, getting old, military, updates, war on terror by Claire
9 Comments »

I have to own up to something. My dear, kind husband blogged for me last night because I desperately handed him my laptop, swallowed the largest dose of Advil ever known to be consumed by someone still alive, and slowly, painfully and gently crawled into bed and whined like a baby for the rest of the night.

He said I let him blog because I am kind. No, I was not being kind. He was being kind by helping me out. I was, in military terms, “embracing the suck.” Yes. Oh. YES.

I wrote a while back about a new body sculpting class I was taking and how I felt as if I had been attacked with razor blades dipped in alcohol (or some such description) afterward. It’s the “good” muscle pain (pardon me while I bust a rib laughing at that one!) Anyway, my beloved, intense, but slower paced class has morphed into a class we now call “cardio fusion.” Mm, “cardio fusion.” Sounds like a really weird mixed drink that comes with an umbrella.

I am a pretty cardio driven type of person. I love running, fast walking, or doing some time on the cross trainer at the gym. I normally do at the very minimum 30-minutes a day, and if I have my way I get a full hour in of straight cardio workout. It’s what the AHA recommends. I do not have a problem at all with cardio exercise, but when you couple cardio exercise, with weight lifting and obstacle course type drills, then I have a problem.

True Confession: You read it here first. I am a major clutz. I trip over air. I am not coordinated. I am lucky that I can actually run and not kill myself — believe me it takes concentration.

OK, time for self-abasement is over.

I did not kill anyone in class by accidentlly dropping a barbell on them, but I did fall. Hard. I embraced the gym floor with great passion, and now I am embracing the suck that comes afterward.

When I fell, I bruised a knee, the lower part of my right hand and jolted myself pretty badly. The best was yet to come. No, it was the result of a severly sprained body. I sprained everything. My mid back caught a lot of the impact somehow.

So, I am confessing. I had to clear my conscience. I did not want to lead you all astray. Carry on.

Tags: Funny, Shack Pack news, family life, getting old by Claire
4 Comments »

So, we are now officially into our third day of daylight savings time — or we are coming off of DST or something like that, I think. I can only semi-think right now because the stupid time change has left me discombobulated once again. So, what is it we are saving exactly? Daylight? I don’t feel like I have added a single second onto my day since I have had to spend the majority of the day trying to remind myself to keep my eyes open. Ugh.

I was raised in Arizona where the time never changes and Coyotes never sleep. I have lived in the South for over 20 years now and you would think that my body would be adjusted to the time change dealio. Nope. My body and brain reject it on every level. It’s always the Spring forward thing too — I can handle the whole “Fall back” time, but this losing an hour in the morning time just kills me. It’s just an hour, so I can’t figure out why it leaves me so cloudy headed for about a month.

Here’s a new platform for a Presidential Candidate who wants to stand apart from the others — promise that you will pass legislation that will leave our time alone and lower our taxes. Heck, with those two promises alone you could win the seat!

I hope to come out of my cloud soon. I am totally exhausted, but making it. I even made my first Indian dish right here at home. The only real Indian cuisine restaurant in our area shut down, and we have been “needing” some Tandoori Chicken and Naan. Well, I gave it a shot and it was good… not as good as we have had, but I know a few things I need to do next time. Oh, and I only set the fire alarm off one time while using the cast iron skillet to simulate a Tandoor oven. :) Hey, being a homemaker is not just a job… it’s an adventure.

So, chime in and tell me how you are doing with this time change — actually you can chat about anything you want to. What’s on your mind the most these days?

Tags: Daylight Savings, Food, Shack Pack news, family life, getting old, glorious food by Claire
10 Comments »

Remember the old Tootsie Pop commercial where the little boy asks the owl “Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?”

The owl grabs the sucker out of the kids hand, licks it three times and crunches it to the bottom, and then he concludes “Three!”

The announcer closes by saying “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know.”

Today my question is, “When will we get Bryan’s final check from the Army?”

So far we are working on nearly 3 months. The money is there. It’s out of audit, and has been for a long time. It’s not been deposited and no one knows why.

“How many months do you have to be chaptered out of the Army before you get your final paycheck?”

The world may never know.

Tags: Army, Army Wife Posts, Shack Pack news, family life, getting old, military, politics, updates, worry by Claire
6 Comments »

I started taking a body sculpting class at the Y last week. We did, what felt like, 100 or more Iron Mike’s- which are lunges with a barbell and weights being held high on your shoulders. We did a million variations on those too. Some were on a step, some were on the floor, some were half on the step and on the floor. Woot!

Today’s lesson in “How to create the most incredible pain imaginable” class we focused on the arms. Oh joy! The arms! My favorite! Again, we did so many different torturous things I can’t even describe it to you, but when I went to hold the blow dryer over my head after my shower, my arm was trembling! I am going to be SO SORE tomorrow that it will not even be funny. No pain, no gain? We’ll I had better wake up looking like Marilyn Monroe tomorrow, that’s all I have to say!

The cartoon is done by none other than Mollywalk. Take a peek over at her wonderful cartoon blog — she’s incredible!

Tags: getting old by Claire
3 Comments »

I have not updated in quite a while regarding Bryan and his fracture. He is making some progress with his physical training and I think that considering he never had any physical therapy he is coming along fine. We go to the gym most days (he goes every other) and run on the tread mill. This past weekend I was able to talk him into running/walking a 5K around a lake with me. We both could run/walk it in a reasonable time. He is no where ready to take an APFT or anything, but hey he has to start somewhere, right? After all his APFT score was good and it didn’t come over night. He had to train, so train is exactly what we will continue to do.

His overall health is good, but I can tell he’s antsy and needs to find something outside the home to do. He has some temporary work coming his way, and I think it will be a huge relief to him. Not to mention that after spending endless days with the very lovely, but ever so precocious Princess, he thinks that OCS was a cake walk by comparison. I have a feeling he may be right! A little extra spousal appreciation is always a nice thing to come by.

So, for now we will just keep plugging away, and we will see what that hip lets him do. He’s a pretty strong guy, so I will be surprised if it holds him back at all. Now the bigger question is, did we lose momentum? We have such a limited time frame and we have spent some of our padding of “extra” time not to mention our padding of living money. Will he be able to make that “one hell of a recovery” or will be looking at his scar 10 years from now still scratching our heads and wondering “what was that all about, anyway?”

It’s still a little surreal to both of us, but it’s slowly seeping into our reality and being integrated as one of our experiences. It’s hard when your life is turned upside down and you go through months of training and indoctrination to have it suddenly stopped. It’s also hard when you have been gearing your home up for months and preparing for the first PCS, studying, learning, connecting, and suddenly you don’t know where you are going to be living in a few months.

As I have said before it’s really arrogant for me to think that I really know what is going to happen one moment to the next. I read a quote the other day that asserts “We plan. God laughs.” I don’t know if God laughs at our planning or not, but I am sure that in our finiteness and our futility we must look pretty pitiful trying to manipulate the earth and sky to do what we think we need it to do. Shoot, we must look pitiful in our attempt to even declare that we truly know what we need, yet alone try and make it all happen exactly as we have planned.

I am tired of wrestling, personally. Unfortunately in the case of wrestling my body and spirit are both willing and weak. That’s a bad combination. Maybe it’s time to surrender and just rest in the knowledge that the one thing that has really changed is my own awareness of my limitations. Again, I don’t think that is so bad, really. I would rather look like a fool to those who are proud, by admitting that I am limited, than proving myself a fool to everyone by insisting that my limitations have limitations.

Tags: Morale, Shack Pack news, family life, getting old, military, updates by Claire
No Comments »

I finally heard from Bryan, and I talked with Mike not once, not twice, but about 5 times this weekend! Well, we didn’t actually get to finish any of our conversations yesterday. Our phone calls kept getting dropped. So, even though we had 5 different phone calls they all seemed to serve as a lesson in frustration. This morning he called back and the lines were clear and they held through the duration of the call! Yeah!

So, my first update on Bryan: How does a man who is inching toward 41 do in BCT? So far he is holding his own and doing quite well! They are now out of “total control” and he is starting to get an hour of free time in the evenings. He said that he does have a nickname, only it is not the nickname that everyone told him he would be given.

The recruiters and all of our military family and friends told him that he would be called “Pops.” He is actually being called “Father Time!” He thinks it an absolute riot! He said it also kills some of the younger guys because the one guy in their platoon who is older than dirt can do more push-ups faster than they can! It was wonderful hearing from him.

It is hard those first few weeks because it feels as if they have fallen off he face of the earth. Contact is so limited and you have no idea what is going on. When Mike was in BCT he was in Charlie Rock Company. The Company Sgt. did a wonderful job and put up a website where he published pictures each week of the training. It really helped to see pictures of Mike and what he was up to. It really alleviates some of the anxiety and the longing to see the person in BCT.

As for Mike… he is doing well too. He told me this morning when we actually got to hold a conversation that he has no real concept of time. The missions they run are at weird hours, and go on for days. When he is out working he really misses the day changes because they are so focused on what they are doing. He said he can’t believe that even with the surge and the extension that he only has one year left — implying that time is actually going by fast for him. I am glad that it is becoming a blur for him. He sounded really upbeat this morning. He has 3 days off in a row (his Company’s 2 days off and his Platoon’s 1 day off worked out to happen consecutively). His spirits sound high, his outlook positive and he was having a really good day. That, in turn, makes my morning feel all the better.

Until Mike and Bryan are home I can’t help but jump with excitement when the phone rings (sometimes a jump of anxiety when there is a lot going on in Baghdad), and look forward to seeing their handwriting on envelopes in the mail. I can’t wait to see them both again!

Tags: Shack Pack news, family life, getting old, military by Claire
2 Comments »