This month we reached the halfway mark of deployment four. I swear, if I hear one more person say, “Well, that went fast!” I may be moved to violence. It has not gone fast. It has been five months (today) of excruciating and aching loneliness and I swear time has slowed down every single movement of the second hand just to thwart me.
One of the best perks of being a military family are attending the free shows that the USO sends on tour every year.
While many of the artists are intended for the adults, the USO has a very special relationship with some characters who live on the most famous street in the world.
U2, 2001
So you know I have been training for my first marathon. You know that I have been considering going back to work. What you may not know is that after the last job search fiasco, I had basically decided not to look for work until after the marathon was over in late October. But I still check the job posting websites for the U.S. government and our local school district.
One of my biggest struggles as a military spouse has always been what I feel my personal sacrifice has been in order to follow my husband's career.
Colbie Caillat, 2011
Oh, this is how it starts, lighting strikes the heart
It goes off like a gun, brighter than the sun
Oh, it could be the stars, falling from the sky
Shining how we want, brighter than the sun
During 2003, when my husband served his first tour in Iraq, communication was scarce. About a month into the deployment I was ready to beg for smoke signals or a carrier pigeon just to know where he was. There were weeks with no contact, and when it finally came, it was a letter that arrived six weeks after he left.
Last week Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced a massive reduction in the number of furlough days that were necessary to help close the budget gap brought on by sequestration. He also announced that commissaries would no longer be closed on Mondays.
Don't celebrate yet. Did you read the follow-on news?
There's still a budget shortfall. Congress has to cut another $52 billion from the 2014 fiscal budget, beginning Oct. 1. Then, every year for the next eight years Congress needs to cut another $50 billion. The Department of Defense is squarely in their sights.
Fifth Harmony, 2013
I'll never be that girl again, no
I'll never be that girl again, no
My innocence is wearing thin but
Even though I have been a military spouse for almost seven years, having my husband back in the fleet after a year of school has made me feel like a rookie military spouse all over again.
Except this time, I already know a handful of abbreviations and which days to avoid the commissary. And thanks to the furlough, that feels like it should be every day.
Your retirement party is what you make of it.
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