Surviving Separation: Dealing With It
I’ve been asked by Care.com to contribute to a series about celebrating the holidays as a military family. In Holiday Boot Camp for the Military Spouse, Care.com listed resources for 26 tips for making this holiday special – no matter where your family is stationed.
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Sunday Viewing
Our rule for Sunday viewing is this: it must be a Bible story, or about God or the Bible in some way. We have a HUGE movie selection, and a big portion of our movies are God focused, so there is no problem finding something to watch. We love it when the kids pick something that is a specific Bible story, but we’re happy with Veggie Tales or similar programming. Kaylee has several Christian themed teen appropriate movies and documentaries, and Gregg and I could watch the documentaries, video studies, and movies we have for a solid month and not put a dent in our choices.
Transitions
I’ve had so many people ask me how the transition of Gregg being home has gone. This past weekend, while Gregg had drill in Alabama, the kids and I visited my parents in West Virginia. At church Sunday, their pastor asked me how married life was treating me – as if we were newlyweds. It made me laugh. It also made me want to share this.
A Volunteer Force
Think about this for a moment: Every single person in today’s military is a volunteer. And every single person there has either joined or extended their contract during war time. We are coming up on the ten year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9-11, and we have been at war for almost ten years.
Cybil & the Fiero
Hi from Ft. Wayne, Indiana. We drove the 280 miles last night, arriving at 11 PM, so that Gregg could buy Kaylee a Fierro. She’s 14, and he plans to spend several months rebuilding it with her, teaching her all about the inner workings of a car. By the time it’s finished, and she’s old enough to drive it, she’ll be in a classic 1985 sports car that’s safe and gets good gas mileage. He is so excited.
Staying on Schedule
You can make schedules all day long. The challenge comes in implementing the schedule. Here’s the way I’ve looked at it: I’ve thought about how a hired housekeeper for a large home is able to stay on task, keep it immaculate, and cook meals in the process. The answer is: she doesn’t play around on Facebook all day, she doesn’t watch television in the middle of the morning, she doesn’t read a murder mystery in the middle of the afternoon — the housekeeper clocks in at a certain time in the morning, performs the daily tasks as the job description requires, and leaves in the evening. When I worked, I was able to do my job efficiently and exceptionally because I worked – all day long, I worked. I had a schedule, I kept it.
You Just Can’t Plan Some Things
I used cloth diapers, but training pants and vinyl covers didn’t work well. They always leaked, especially if Jeb was in his car seat or seated in a stroller. So, I went from cloth diapers to disposable pull ups. I only used them when we went out and at night. Most of the rest of the time, I just let him be at home naked.
Surviving Separation: Abiding
My dad said that in his career he saw a pattern. The spouse leaves, and the spouse left behind creates a whole new life. Part of it is a defense against loneliness. Part of it is a way to make time go by faster. But, new jobs, new hobbies, new schedules open the door to new friends, new intimate circles, and more often than people will admit, new lovers or friends of the opposite sex. This creates a whole new life of which the absent spouse is not a part, and when he or she returns, isn’t necessarily welcome.
39
Thirty-nine years ago today, I was born. It seems very strange. I don’t feel like I’ve lived long enough, have enough authority to be, or have enough experience to claim thirty-nine years. I remember when my parents were my age, and they seemed completely in control, larger than life, in charge, and in authority. Inside, I often feel none of those things, and I wonder if my parents felt the same way as they approached landmark years.
Treasures on Earth
I have no idea how old these books are. The index page is not dated and I haven’t researched them. An accompanying book from a different publisher with similar page age and binding is dated 1942. I can only assume these are at least that old.
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Gregg & Hallee
