Day 1: Introduction

First, it seems a little silly to do introductions, when chances are that the only one who will ever read this is my Fabulous Spouse.  However, on the odd chance that you stumble across this and find yourself compelled to come back, here is a little bit about myself, my family and the purpose of this blog.

For starters, I try never to use names. It sounds silly, especially to people like my sister.  In a world where everyone is on Facebook and is sharing where they will be going, where they are, how much they are drinking, the fact that their home is empty and ripe for a burglar or a stalker to come home and visit… OK, I have issues.  It is that whole “Don’t talk to strangers” thing that I am now shouting to the world for them all to read and use to lure my kids into their car.  Ok, maybe it is more than issues.  It is probably sit on the couch and log some serious therapy time. LOL.  Whatever.

Christmas Eve: Fabulous Spouse, Oldest Child, Me, Girl Friday, and Illusive Middle Child



I have had a charmed life, in my own mind.  I met the love of my life in college. Luckily, he loved me back. We got married as soon as he graduated and was commissioned into the US Navy.  A year later, we had our Oldest Child.  Three months later, he left on his first six month submarine deployment (translation: no e-mail, no Skype, total operational silence).  I lived on ramen and saved my pennies, and schlepped my 6-month-old to Europe for the 3 month working port call (not my best idea, because at 13, Oldest Child has no memory of this, and it is hard to enjoy yourself when you have to worry about the baby waking and crying…)

Fabulous Spouse was on his second big six month deployment when September 11^th happened.  We went to shore duty and had our wonderful Illusive Middle Child.  We moved cross country to the scary liberal wilderness that is the Left Coast…seven month’s pregnant with Girl Friday.  She was born by C-section, and Fabulous Spouse deployed two weeks later on a ballistic missile submarine (translation: no port calls).   That left me at home with a newborn, a 22-month old, and my Asperger’s 5 year old (in his angry phase).

We had evolved to scattered e-mails, usually once a month or so. However, they usually went something like: Should be sleeping, no time to write, must keep short so that all messages will fit. Love you.  Fortunately, I can read between the lines and got: I miss you with all my heart and soul, but since 17 others will read this before it is sent and I cannot afford to lose my man card I will just say I love you, and that is pushing it. PS- I totally support retail therapy because Susie’s husband left his man card on the pier and will be writing something totally sappy and 2 pages long.  Buy yourself something nice.  PPS- Tell Rhonda and Mary that it is Susie’s husband’s fault that their e-mails got dropped as he took too much space, and my next three messages will probably get dropped for the same reason.  I love you!!!

We had a few more “patrols” and then went into the shipyards. Then, Fabulous Spouse was selected to help support the 2007 surge in Iraq with an IA (Individual Augmentee) job at the Embassy in Baghdad.  It was a different deployment to say the least, especially as we were the only ones experiencing it.  However, we still lived in a Navy town, and we still had all of our Navy friends just blocks away, and all the other Navy kids whose parents came and went for months at a time.

At the end of those six months, Fabulous Spouse decided that it was time to settle down a little, not get shelled daily, and try civilian life.  After a year, he was back in the Active Navy Reserves, missing that patriotic active duty component of his life.  Consequently, yesterday, he left on a Virgin Airlines flight to start his 420 day orders for an IA to Afghanistan.

This is my blog to process and share with him the life that continues to go on back home.   These are my love letters to the sandbox that he will call home.

This deployment also is full of firsts.

This is our first Reservist IA (Individual Augmentee) assignment.

This is my Fabulous Spouse’s first time to the Sandbox in Afghanistan.

This is our first deployment without the support of the military community (something that scares me more than I care to admit).

This is our first deployment with all three kids old enough and active enough, that I need a minimum of one clone, one chauffeur, and a maid not to drop too many of the balls.

I have been through many deployments.  Some of them have been short, some have been long, some have flown bye and some seemed like they would never end.  At this point, I have no idea what kind of deployment this will be.  However, of course, I am hoping that it will fly bye.