Welcome to the Marine Corps!

Being a Marine wife can be bittersweet at times.  Part of it is full of adventures and excitement...the moving to foreign lands, the new friends, the interesting challenges you're forced to deal with that you never think you'll overcome but in the end somehow you manage, the long awaited reunions with a deployed husband.  Other parts can be downright miserable.... watching good friends move away, saying goodbye to a husband for an indefinite amount of time, trying to make a "home" out of a place that could probably be condemned.  It's a roller coaster, that's for sure.  It all looks so exciting from a distance, but once you're on the ride you are thrilled and terrified and more than once you wish you could get off.  Then, the most surprising part is that point when you can see the end of the ride on the horizon and you wonder, "Am I really ready to get off yet?" 

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic and melancholy this morning because this weekend we had to endure another challenge of Marine Corps living....we missed a family wedding.  Apparently no one received the memo that there will be no important family events while we're on the other side of the Pacific!   It's hard to believe that the bride-to-be was a flower girl at our wedding, and, to top it off, she's marrying a Marine!  Bill and I tried to figure out a way to get at least one of us over there, but it wasn't meant to be.  So, once again,  we'll have to wait to see the pictures and hear the stories of the big day. 

Like many Marine weddings, this one has been wonderfully planned in a few short months.  I asked the bride about the date, and she said it's the only weekend in the next two years that she can be sure her Marine will be able to make it.  (I can sense Marine wives everywhere nodding in sympathy.)  Since we won't be able to join her on this special day, I've asked a collection of seasoned Marine wives to share some of their wisdom.   Welcome to the Marine Corps, Emily.  You're in for quite a ride.  

You know you're a Marine Wife when......

...you wake up at 6am to an empty bed and realize he's been at work for 3 hours already!

...you plan your life in 3 year increments or 2 deployments--which ever comes first.

....you have a dog named Chesty, Hummer, or Gunney!

...you're evacuating (alone) from a hurricane and the only advice you get from your far-away husband is to take his guns and uniforms. 

...when you can count 9 months back from your child's birthday and it's a homecoming/outpost date.

...you're able to throw together a home cooked meal for "a few friends" from work (which means a small platoon) on a 2 hour notice (if you're lucky!)

...the words "deserts" and "green" mean something... and you have a preference.

... instead of him moving in his old ugly furniture and "art", he moves in a house full of uniforms and gear!

...you were sad the day the sleeves-down policy was put into effect. 

...you know his "last four" better than your own.

...you can find your husband (from a distance) in a formation of 100 men in cammies.

... you know the exact day he switches from deserts to woodlands.

...you can spot a USMC sticker on a vehicle 5 miles away.

...Your husbands next job changes several times in one day...and at the end of the day you still don't know where he is going.  Never believe he is getting a specific  job until he has been doing it for at least 30 minutes!

....you go to sleep next to the phone in hopes of a call.

... you roll your eyes everytime you see a soldier wearing their cammies in public.

...you know that "field day" has nothing to do with a field.

...the terms PCS, TMO, and DLA instill feelings of panic, irritation, and excitement....in that order. 

...your daughter's goodnight "lullaby" is The Marines Hymn. 

...you complain everytime your husband comes home from work with that unmistakable "stinky boy smell"...... but secretly you love it. 

...When the only way you can wake up your husband is by shouting his last name as loud as you can!

...you want to shield your children's eyes when a driving by a group of Marines PTing in their green silkies. 

...you associate names like "Tarawa,"  "Guam," "Guadalcanal," and "Pelelieu" as both World War II battlesites and streets that you've lived on. 

...even after all the moving trucks, birthday balls, last kisses, lonely nights, house hunting expeditions, reunions, laughs and tears....you'd still say "I Do." 

Birthdays and Bowling, Liturgies and Lawn Mowers

I'm not even going to apologize for the delay in getting this post up.....you guys know me by now so it's no surprise.  We've had another busy week around here.  On Monday we celebrated the last birthday of our Family Birthday Season....Andrew turned 8.  Naturally he was awoken with muffins and singing, then he went off to school and Mary and I joined him for lunch that day.  For his birthday dinner he chose Dad's steak and "chicken on the bone"  (grilled chicken drumsticks.)  That was followed by presents and a giant birthday cookie cake.  It was a pretty low key birthday, but I think he had a nice day.  Naturally, he was excited about his presents....

A watch.....(now he tells me what time it is....All The Time....)

And another Nerf gun to add to his arsenal.... he's too focused on planning his attack strategy to even smile.....

And some hugs from his sisters....

Andrew wasn't the only one who received exciting gifts on his birthday.  That afternoon while I was in the front yard I saw my neighbor had put his riding lawnmower for sale in his yard.  As this point in the story, it's important to note that I'm the primary lawn maintenance person in the family....followed closely by Michael.  Bill is a distant third.  I quickly dashed inside and typed out this email to Bill.

 (FYI-- A Habu is a very poisonous snake that only lives on Okinawa and prefers to hang around thick, jungly areas--much like the jungle that borders our backyard. The "feet eating fish" place is a spa in town where you soak your feet in a small pool and these little fish eat all the dead skin off your dry, scaly heels. It's "The Thing" to do around here....)

And wouldn't you know it....next time I mowed the yard I did it in style.

So, back to Andrew's birthday.  What he was really looking forward to was his birthday party.  Bill and I have retired from doing the big class party thing, so we told Andrew he could invite a few friends and we'd take them all to a fun place.  He chose the bowling alley/arcade/Pizza Hut (all in the same building.)  He invited his friends--Sam, Ian, and Brady--and on Saturday we drove to Camp Foster to celebrate his big day.

There was bowling....

Cake....(or cheesecake, in this case....)

And presents....

We're pretty simple folks, and a birthday party (and a new lawnmower) are usually more than enough excitement for one week, but we finished the week off with an one last important event....Andrew's First Communion.  In this case I was very grateful that Andrew was a boy because the girls' parents had a heck of a time finding First Communion clothes here on Okinawa.  The morning of the big day I had a neighbor knock on my door desperately asking if by some miracle I had a First Communion veil her daughter could borrow.  The one she ordered several weeks ago never came.  Luckily, I just happened to have brought Emma's veil, and I even knew where it was! Although the boys' Communion attire wasn't too hard to find, our First Communicant was not too happy about wearing it....especially the tie.  (It made me long for those baby years when you can dress them up however you want and they don't know the difference!) 

The First Communion mass went along as most First Communion masses go.  It was held at 4:00pm, which just happened to be nap time for most of the younger kids.  At one point I looked down our pew and four little ones were passed out.  Even our rambunctious Mary fell victim to the sleepies.  As you can see, Michael wasn't too thrilled about having to be her pillow. 

After the celebration we came back home to have a little reception with some friends.  But not before trying to take a family picture in our nice clothes.  Many of you know this, but our children DO NOT like taking pictures.  They act like it's a form of torture to have to stand next to their siblings and parents and smile.  Before I handed the camera over to my friend Laura, I warned her that this would not be a fun experience.  There would probably be yelling and crying before we were finished, but she's a good sport and she still agreed to take the pictures. Here are the shots of our "happy" family on this important day.  Bill and I plowed through, knowing there would be a glass of wine waiting for us when we were finished. 

"It's like trying to herd ants...."

Notice how Emma is making bunny ears on Michael (why do they do that?)  I'm seeing her do this out of corner of my eye and I'm yelling, "NOOOOOO."  Andrew's trying to escape, and Bill has the death grip on him.  And Mary's just yelling like a crazy person.  Don't you love our happy family? 

Still not the best picture, but at some point enough is enough.  You just have to call it a day. 

Finally, picture time was over and we set the kids loose to play and climb trees in the back yard while the adults had some cocktails.   Once we had recovered from the picture trauma, we called the kids in and started eating our family's customary First Communion dinner...a Big Sandwich from Subway.  (yes, we have Subway here.)   This tradition started after Michael's First Communion and since then it's become our standard fare for First Communion receptions. 

That's pretty much it.  We've had a busy few months around here, and I'm looking forward to some down time before summer vacation....when we'll brave another long trek across the Pacific for Vacation USA 2012!