The Subtle Way 9/11 Changed Me

Today we are marking the 10th anniversary of September 11th. It was a horrific day, but out of the horror grew heroes, faith, and hope. It affected everyone in a different way--no two people reacted the exact same way. No two people have had the same experiences since that fateful day. For some, their entire world ended that day with the loss of someone near to their heart. For some, they lost a sense of security that we, as Americans, had been enjoying a bit much since Pearl Harbor. For some, it inspired them to join in the fight--whether that be through Armed Forces, Firefighters or Police department. For some, it was a moment of patriotism that has since passed. For me, it inspired an intolerance of the media that I still have not gotten over.

Sometimes I wish I was a bit more like him

Army Guy has this ability to compartmentalize events like no one's business. Some days, I wish he would do it a bit less, but more often, I wish I could be more like him.

When Army Guy deployed the first time, we had a rough deployment. The first months, several Soldiers were lost. After blackout was lifted, Army Guy would touch base with me. Sometimes he talked at length about the event. Sometimes he just made random comments about the event. But he would always take one phone call/IM session to address the event and then he'd move on. It was like I was the closure for him. As soon as he finished talking to me about it, he packed it up and put it away. Not forgetting, but continuing on with the mission.

Tales From The Toilet

**WARNING: This post may contain content that is unsuitable for non-potty training experienced people, 

please proceed with caution**

So I have this toddler. This toddler that decided she needs to pee on the potty. This toddler that has no concept of when she needs to pee, just that she wants to pee. on the potty. At 24 months. And I know there are those of you who potty trained at well before 2 years of age and kudos to you. I am not one of those though. I'm a potty train at almost 3 years of age (or have daycare do it for you) kind of moms. Trying to convince a toddler to NOT potty train is a delicate thing. Having a toddler that doesn't seem to mind/notice when she accidently slips and puts a leg in the toilet, and then comes over, naked and plops that wet leg up on your couch is just disgusting. And makes the not potty training imperative.

Summer & Leave = Mommy Meltdown

Let me start this post with the following disclaimer: 

    "I Love My Husband and My Children with All of My Heart."

But....

I love them a little more when a majority of them are out of the house for at least 6 hours a day, Monday through Friday. 

Army Guy has been on leave, because of his ability to stockpile leave, since basically March. MARCH. Almost 4 months. And while yes, it's been great having him home, it would've been nice to have a warm up period. See, Army Guy came home from his latest sandbox and pretty much instantly went on leave. So, we went from one extreme to the other. No warning, no re-deployment briefs, no prep....just home. All. of. the. time. 

At first, it was awesome. He got up with the kids, I got to shower with only 10 interruptions, the kids taught him how the morning routine went, we'd run errands, have some downtime and then the older ones would escape school, the bewitching hours would begin, and then wham it was kids bedtime and we were curled up on couch watching TV. Then we added PCS prep to our lives. Not too much stress, but anyone who has PCS'd before knows that the husband being home for a PCS adds a different dynamic to having to do all the PCS prep. Typically, Army Guy is working his butt off while I'm at home figuring out what we are moving, tossing and donating. This move, he was home....asking questions. Not bad questions. Not invasive questions. Not rude questions. Just questions. I patiently (some times more patiently then others) answered all questions, explained how we moved, figured out the move.mil system, explained it to Army Guy, and we muddled through it all. And just as we were feeling all confident about our move, our movers showed up with a truck that was too small on the day that school let out, the day before we had cleaners and final inspection with the Property Management company that we listed our house with. Crap. Okay, no biggie...it's just stuff. We watched them load and then unload, and call for another truck. We hoped it would all get there and we let it go. School over. House cleaned. Keys to Property Management. Down the road we go. 

At that point, I was looking forward to Army Guy being with Thing 1 in a different vehicle. Yes, I'm a bad wife. I was just looking forward to having some quiet, non-thinking time. And I did have that, for about 2 hours off and on over a 10 hour car ride. Somehow in my delusional thinking, I'd forgotten that I'd have Thing 2 and Sam-I-Am with me. And while I didn't have to have huge, thinking conversations with them, I had to acknowledge EVERY time one of them said "MOM!" like I was 6 car lengths in front of them instead of the 2 feet I actually was. 

I then realized I was fighting a losing battle. I'd lost my quiet time. Poof. Out the window it went, somewhere along I-24 in Kentucky. 

No big deal. We'll get done with this whole move thing (which included a 3 week stay in Texas with the parents...) and then my quiet time will come back. It'll bring coffee and pedicures. It'll be great. 

And yet, here we are. Done with move. House setup. Still no quiet. 

Insert Mommy Meltdown Here.

I'm trying to be adult about it and understand that Army Guy is getting ready to go into a job that will have him gone more then home and that he's just trying to spend as much time with me/us as possible. I'm trying to be adult about it and understand that the kiddos are just bored and anxious because they've just had a major change. I'm trying to be adult about it and understand that it's a good thing that everyone needs me because eventually they'll get to a point where they don't want to be seen in public with me and then they'll go to college across the country and my house will be lonely. I'm trying to be adult about the fact that our lives will go back to a "normal" schedule and that I'll crave quality family time. 

Army Guy reports in tomorrow and school starts the first week of August...that'll help...right? :) I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Porter + PCSing = Something bad...ALWAYS

Let me start by saying I love this dog...he's so entertaining and loving and tolerant of his not as furry siblings...

BUT...

He doesn't PCS (aka move) well. Or I should say, Porter makes PCS's way more entertaining then they ever need to be.