What's in a name?

I’ve been envious of other milspouses who have creative names for their husbands on their blogs. Something other than DH or Hubby, etc.
Marine Wife has Stretch. Homefront 6 has MacGyver…and my favorite is Butterfly Wife’s Jack Bauer. It should not surprise me that Butterfly Wife suggested a great name for Hubby in the Spousebuzz chat room last night.

Stuntman.
It fits.

At the age of 5, the mailman told my mother-in-law that her son was on the roof. Her reply? “He’ll get down when he wants to.”

As a teen, he would roll down the sidewalk doing a handstand on his skateboard.

He doesn't like to fly, but thinks nothing of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane...if the Army pays him for it.

He introduced me to dirt-biking on our first date.

Last year, on base, several soldiers were trying to find a way to hang a giant backdrop on some high scaffolding, no one wanted to climb. My hubby takes one look, and climbs to the top. He was old enough to be the father of most of the soldiers watching.

So yes,
he is now Stuntman.

Transportation

Hubby needed a Big Mac?

A Change of Pace

The last week or so I have slept well…still not that many hours, but well.
Because I know Hubby is stuck inside the wire for about a month.
I know he’s bored…but I don’t mind. I’m actually kinda hoping his “temporary” responsibilities become permanent. He’s not, he misses the missions, but that’s what you get for a dual-MOS I guess…you go where you’re needed.
He just received the package I sent containing nice new sheets. He had always told me not to bother sending anything like that since he rarely slept in his own bed. Now he’s sleeping in the same place, albeit a crappy bug and rat-infested tent, every night.
We’ve even been able to use the internet connection more often to chat, therefore utilizing that modem we forked out so much $$ for.
He’s still so far away, and I still worry about his safety, but my nerves are a little less frazzled…and I’m going to enjoy this temporary reprieve.

I'll Pick Myself Up

Dear Hubby,
I miss you.
I need you.
I need your arms around me…to hold me…to support me…

I know that I’ll survive…the alternative is not a option…
I just wish you were here so I could fall…and be caught.

Hi Hubby!

I finally gave Hubby my blog address, so here is a note to him…

Hi Hubby!
Just a few things you should know:
1. Some days are good and some are bad. I often use my blog to vent. Try not to worry that I’m going totally bat crazy here.
2. I am concerned with OPSEC, as I know you are. I’m pretty vague about things.
3. I refer to you as “Hubby” most of the time. Also, you know E1, E2 and E3…they’re your kids. Wasn't it your idea to have all their names begin with the letter "E"?
4. I DO use the doggies names.
5. TripleE (my name) refers to E1,E2,and E3 not my cup size.
6. Feel free to comment, but don't feel that you have to. You can just email or IM me if you want. :)
7. and last but not least, I LOVE YOU!

Looking 9 years into the future...

I’m Beginning to Hate Acronyms

Today was a beautiful day. Not as warm and I was able to do a lot of yard work. I cleaned the pool, chopped off tree branches, seeded a bare slope in the yard that has new sprinklers, and rolled the trash cans down to the curb. All the time, E3 was playing with the hose set to “trickle” and E1+E2 were playing in the mud he created. I know that I have a gardener (Ha, still cracks me up that I hired one), but I don’t pay him enough to do everything.
I’m just going along, like any other day, in denial.
Everyone tells me how strong I am…I’m not strong, just in denial.
And it’s working for me most of the time.
I had one of those calls from the sandbox tonight, you know the ones filled with static and delays.…”Hi… I love you…I made it to my destination…everyone’s OK….my truck…IED…everyone’s OK…just..truck...told to go to TMC…gotta go…love you...” end of call.
Thankfully, I was in the middle of a Spousebuzz chat and could ask what TMC meant. Troop Medical Center.
Tonight I’m very thankful
I feel like I'm going to puke, but I'm still thankful.

Those Eyes.

Things I do when I’m missing my Hubby (a.k.a. what I find myself doing all the time)

1. Wear his PJ pants…the ones his Mom bought him, Calvin Klein, I wouldn’t have spent that much on PJ pants!
2. Drink Diet Mt. Dew…his main source of liquid when he’s home.
3. Eat pistachios or almonds…his main source of nutrition at home.
4. Wear a dog-tag style necklace that he sent to me while he was in training
5. Listen to our dirt-biking music…Offspring, NoFX, StrungOut…
6. Watch videos on iMovie from his week at home between training and Iraq
7. Hug E3 and look at him in the eyes…he looks so much like his Daddy ☺




Any other suggestions? What do you do?

Back in Time

Two and a half years ago, Hubby informed me of his desire to rejoin the military. It was a shock to me. Of course I knew that he had the heart of a soldier. I knew that he was in boot camp at 18. He had traveled the world, Korea, Germany, Panama… He jumped out of many perfectly good airplanes… He left service several years before we met and vowed that if the Army ever needed him again, that he would answer the call.

Our civilian life was happy and comfortable. Why would he want to change that? He had a great, family, career and home. After the initial shock wore off, I realized that rejoining was something he HAD to do. None of my friends understood. They’re supportive now, but still don’t understand.

This train of thought began when I saw a DeLorean on my street today.

First, I saw how uncomfortable the driver and passenger looked…then I thought about the whole Back to the Future movie series. In my sleep-deprived mind, my mind went to the tangent of “if I could go back in time, would I beg Hubby not to sign those papers?”

The answer is “No”

I miss him terribly...most of the time I’m exhausted... but I’m also learning so much about myself. I’m proud of my Hubby and what he is doing. He amazes me.

A Dragon on the Roof

There’s a monster on my roof right now. OK, maybe not a monster, but something big! Maybe not BIG exactly, but bigger than a bird or a mouse.

You see, it’s late, E3 decided that he wanted a midnight snack (did I ever mention that I type one-handed while nursing the baby?)
Something is walking on my roof, and making quite a racket! This is just the sort of thing Hubby is good at. I’m not going out there to shine a flashlight on the pest. It’s dark! and my lazy dogs are all asleep.
It’s probably just an opossum family. They creep me out.

My knight-in-shining-armor needs to return.

Did you know?

Did you know that on our first date, my hubby and I ALMOST drove to Vegas to get married? We talked about it, even rode in a horse-drawn carriage that had a "Just Married" sign on the back. We just knew that we were with the one we wanted to spend our life, the one with which we wanted to grow old. We didn't drive to Vegas, mainly because our family would have freaked-out, and I mean FREAKED! I didn't want to cause my mother to have another stroke.
On our second date, he surprised me with a heart-shaped diamond engagement ring. We were engaged long enough for me to move from Minnesota to California (a job transfer opportunity appeared just at the right time) and plan a small wedding.
That was almost twelve years ago. Our anniversary is next month and we will be apart.
We don't usually even plan big celebrations for our anniversary, so I'm not going to miss that. I'm just missing my best friend right now. I miss snuggling up on the couch and watching something stupid on TV.
Usually I'm so focused on keeping everything together and helping the kids cope with missing Daddy, that I don't even let myself think about missing him. Today we missed him together.

Hubby photos

I received some digital photos in the mail from Hubby today. I asked that he send me one so I can order a Flat Daddy for the kids. It's basically a life size cardboard cutout of Dad. I realized that I didn't have a good clear photo of Hubby by himself. All our photos are of him holding one of the kids and cropping out the kids to submit the photo would look strange. Well, I downloaded the photos and HOLY COW does he look hot. I know I married a cutie, but he is even more handsome than I remember.
I spoke to Hubby today, it was nice to hear his voice.
A good day overall, kids were good, no drama, house is still a mess.