Doing better today

I think that working on the house we are moving to has helped my brain really reset. I was still in a bit of a funk this morning but after I worked on "The Bungalow" I felt more clear and able to focus. It might have had something to do with all the paint fumes... :D

Thanks to all who expressed concern about my depression. I hesitate to post what prompted it, as I don't want to have someone else freaked out. Let's just say that I will never post something that Mike tells me without considering all the possible ways it can cause panic in anyone.

It's definitely made me think about what I'll post in the future. So, at least I got something from it.

My inner battle

After being disturbed greatly by a post on a site I frequent, I just have to say that I am going to make myself crazy. Partial information, especially to an Army parent, is deadly. Deadly as in, I'm having problems breathing and am breaking out in hives, simply because a parent shared that something happened to an unknown recruit at my son's base. My brain is out of control and I think I need to reset it before I give myself a heart attack.

I'm having a particularly difficult week, so this was just the thing to push me over the edge. I'm already sleeping far too much and crying over the dumbest things.

I am going to call it a day and start over tomorrow. :D

"O Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the winds, I come to you as one of your many children. I need your strength and your wisdom. Make me strong not to be superior to my brother, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy: Myself."

BTW, it is STILL raining here!!! Thanks Fay!

I think I speak for everyone in Florida (ok, at least most of them) when I say..."ENOUGH ALREADY!!"

I think the news said she was making her fourth landfall. That's just amazing that she's held on this long.

Military Museum opening

The Armed Forces Military Museum in Largo, Florida opened this week. I just thought I'd share. It looks pretty interesting.

Waiting for Fay and My New Proud Army Mom Bumpersticker

I'm frantically trying to catch up on work before she hits. IF she hits us. Who knows at this point? I have seen some wicked bands come through and they say she's going to skim past us and hit Jax, then sort of scoot along the GA border and just soak the states of Florida and Georgia for a few days.

woo

hoo

:P

Anyway, I had to take a break and get my Army fix. I printed up a bunch of stuff on our new dog to send Mike. We got a Belgian Malinois shortly after he left for Ft. Knox, so he has no idea what it is. I sent pics yesterday, but I thought I'd supply some details today. Then I realized that there is no post today. So....it's going to have to wait until tomorrow, I guess.

I made some bumper stickers over at Zazzle. It took forever to make the stars look sewn onto the flag. BUT it was worth it. I'm happy with how it came out. I just need to make a bunch of different ones now...I have "Proud Army Mom" and "Proud Army Parents" and "Proud Army Family". If I get done with the website for our gymnastics gym sometime soon, and before power goes out, I'll get the rest up there.

Here's a shot of the Proud Army Mom bumper sticker:

Ok, going to go back to work...

See you all later!

:)

Another letter today!

I think I'm getting spoiled now! I got another letter, WITH details about graduation AND family day! He graduates BCT October 3rd, has a family weekend from Oct 3-5 WOOHOOO!!! And then he graduates AIT November 20th.

This letter was dated Aug 12, so I'm not sure he's still there but he says he was in red phase still ("for past two weeks"), the gas chamber is next week (this week?)

I sent him a care package of writing paper, pre stamped envelopes and stamps today. We also sent some other letters we wrote and a birthday card that Michelle forgot to send him when we finally got his address.

I need to start plotting how to pay for gas to Kentucky. It's going to be $500 for gas to get there...and then a whole weekend in a hotel + food... I best get to cranking out some websites here. LOL

NO matter what it costs...it will all be worth seeing him. I can't wait!!

More Details on Letters I Got Today

I finally have a minute to sit and think (not that I want to, that tends to start up the old tear factory.)

Some of the points from his letters I got today:

He asked that I write every day (he doesn't care that he has to do 10 pushups for every letter) he needs the emotional support.

He says he loves it at times and hates it at others

He got all his teeth fixed (this was great news for me, since he had some problems with his braces destroying some teeth, which got discovered about the time we went into serious financial problems so I couldn't afford to fix them, it's been a big worry of mine that he'd be stuck with holes in his teeth til he could afford some expensive work, and it would be all my fault for not fixing it when he was at home still)

I told him that people actually thank me for my son being in the Army (as well as tell me to thank him). He thinks that's cool. (so do I but I am not really sure that I should be the one they thank.)

He says it is starting to look like he's going straight to Iraq/Afghanistan after training (could that be part of the "You're going to Iraq and will probably die" speech or is it part of the rumor mill that goes around BCT OR is it really that he got some clue of it so early? He's only in BCT so I'm guessing...it could be any of the above. :P

He absolutely LOVES being a Cavalry Scout...he goes on about all the awesome stuff they do - he's got a list a mile long here - everything from busting in doors while helping infantry to driving tanks to demolition. His exact words..."This MOS Kicks Ass!"

My next day's letter (stuffed in same envelope) says he had a few minutes to write after church so he wanted to let me know what was going on:

They did the team building course, did a PT test, did the obstacle course ("we won and got a streamer on our flag!" , he got his M16 last week, he can make his bunk hospital corner in 4 minutes, his wall locker is usually straight.

"We clean so much. I hate cleaning so much."

...and that was pretty much it in a nutshell.

That was loads of information. I'm so excited!!! That was cool. Except for that leaving for Iraq/Afghan right after training. I KNOW he's in the Army...so what should I have expected? But still...it shattered my whole "living in denial" thing I had going on.

*sigh*

I miss that kid.

Ok, before the waterworks start, I'm going back to work. Thanks for your time!

:)

We got a few letters today

I haven't written in a couple days due to running out of stamps and money and energy...tomorrow I'm going to buy lots of books of stamps and send out Mike's care package with prestamped envelopes and writing paper.

I'm excessively tired lately and I've not been able to keep up with anything here. I am trying to do too much and need to sit on my butt for one day and just read and relax. BAHAHAHAHA!! Like that will happen.

I'm still working but had to write something since my brain won't stop going over it...one of his letters had the dreaded sentence, "It's starting to look like we will be shipping out to Iraq or Afghanistan right after training." Now I know that was expected. I mean, he's in the Army, right? What else are they going to do with him?? But I was also thinking he was going back to PA after training for a while before he got any kind of orders to ship out of the country. And I didn't want to hear it. Period. I did start tearing up when I read that...but...then it stopped. I've not started crying yet. That worries me. It could get really ugly later. I'll be needing some serious blogtherapy later.

For now, I'm behind on work and need to feed kids and rescue the cat from the dog...so I will be back later!

Saying thanks to a Soldier

I have always felt an enormous amount of gratitude towards the members of our Armed Forces. I see Soldiers...Marines...any member, and I just get so overwhelmed with gratitude that I literally start tearing up. I have no idea why. I've always been that way. I've also always been afraid to say anything to them for fear of bursting out crying and upsetting them. And now...with Mike being in the Army and me being on the verge of bawling at a moments notice anyway? I can't even imagine an encounter that doesn't involve me apologizing for my crying.

I was in Norfolk, VA one time that my brother's ship (USS Eisenhower) was coming back from the Persian Gulf about 15 years ago...and from the moment you could see the Sailors on the rails to the minute I went back to get on my train to go home...I was just smiling like a loon with tears leaking out of my head. Maybe I'm nuts. Or maybe I just don't go out of my way enough to thank people who deserve it and it's all built up inside like a pressure cooker? I vote for the latter (who wants to admit to being nuts?? LOL )

I saw this on goarmyparents.com and it looks like something I could do without totally embarrassing anyone (especially me). I tried to download it so I could play it from my own server and not use their bandwidth, but the download was an .exe file and I'm all Mac baby! Those just don't work here. So even though they have it in a Mac native format, Quicktime, I just can't view it here. I'll have to send you all to their site directly.

When you get a few minutes, check this video out about expressing gratitude to our members of the Armed Forces....it's worth it.

HE CALLED!! HE CALLED!!

I'm so overwhelmed that I can't even think. I tried not to cry but I did start when I heard his voice.

I had to come and comment, I felt like I was going to burst.

I'll be back when I can think.

:D

I think I've finally figured this out

But I could be wrong...so bear with me.

Mike's MOS is 19D and he's currently in BCT in the 5-15 Cav. Or is it Cavs? Cavalry? Not sure of the proper way to say that.

I'm trying to pretend I'm catching up on work today (that's where the link to technorati came from - me TRYING to focus on work) but then the mail came and no letters from Mike (darn), but the Army wants to send Mike a free water bottle for requesting more information about joining. LOL Talk about being a little too late.

So, when I actually finish work, I'm going to go check up on what's going on at GAP and see if I can't clarify my incorrect terminology when describing what troop, platoon, battalion, whatever, my kid is in.

Catch you all later!!

:)

Claim Your Blog In Technorati

and get it listed in front of more people!

What is Technorati? According to BloggerForce.com it's "An Internet search engine that indexes and searches blogs. Technorati tracks blogs and other forms of citizen media, including video blogs (vlogs), podcasts and amateur movies and videos in real-time. All this activity is monitored and indexed within minutes of posting."

As a web developer and a blog designer, this is one thing I recommend to all my clients. I just thought I'd share it will all my fellow Military Bloggers.



Technorati Profile

Did you know that Soldier is a proper noun

and therefore needs to be capitalized?


I think Army Medic Dad explains it far better than I can over at goarmyparents.com (click this line to go there)


:)

Sending Care Packages to Soldiers

After cassee01 asked about a good place to contact about sending care packages, I did a little searching and then found the mother lode of all links regarding care packages and other things to boost Soldier morale.

You can find a long list at America Supports You

:)

I've been keeping busy here

Michelle is sick this week and has somehow taken over my schedule. I think I might be feeling some guilt for not spending as much time with the kids as I should and I've gone too far in the wrong direction. Or maybe I just needed some extreme kid cuddle time. Anyway, she's feeling better and now I have to get back on track.

We are probably moving in about 2 months, and I have to get my butt up to the other house to get it in livable condition before I have to start moving furniture there. This is going to be a very interesting adventure. Due to crappy economy here, we are moving from 2400 sq ft. to 900 sq. ft. It's a temporary move until we can get things stable and then I'm finding a farm and planting my butt. I need some nature. This whole beach thing ain't all it's cracked up to be. Maybe if I had about 100 acres on the Gulf of Mexico that could sustain horses and a boat dock to go do some educational dives every day....THEN I'd be thrilled to live so close to water. But this is concrete and a man made beach, it's just not the same.

I'm writing to Mike tonight and sending pics of the new dog. I had to go get batteries today and now...I can't find my camera. I'll have to write my letter and wait til morning to get the pics. The girls had the camera, so I'll just wait til they are awake and ask them. The chaos of an impending move has the girls area of the house upside down (I'm slowing weeding out unused items and taking them to be donated.) It's not worth searching for it now.

I can't tell you how relieved I am to have heard from Mike. I felt so incredibly disconnected before we got letters from him. Like the bond that he and I have had since his birth was snipped and I was feeling a bit panicky. I'm not sure that makes sense to anyone, but it's the best description I could come up with.

Ok, got to get some work done. Thanks for listening to me spew my thoughts.

:)