The summer panic is starting to set in.
For some families with a stay-at-home parent this means finding ways to entertain the kids for eight long weeks.
For others, like mine, it means finding affordable, fulltime day care, for eight long weeks. In our family that weekly dollar amount is multiplied by five. And the resulting number is twice what I actually make on the job for the week.
Uggggggh.
It’s been a full-moon, thunderstorm kind of month around here.
If it can go wrong, it has. And normally all at the same time.
It’s also not just me. My fellow military spouses are experiencing some real low lows this spring, too.
Broken appliances. Speeding tickets. Family emergencies. Car accidents. Power outages. Sick kids. Migraines. Houses that seem to keep getting messier.
They are plaguing everyone.
I wake up to a few text messages every morning.
“Want coffee? I’m hitting Dunkin’ Donuts before I see you at school.”
One message often reads, “Going to the store. Need anything?”
And sometimes, I’ll get the ever-necessary, “The kids are driving me crazy. Wanna make pizzas and watch movies at my house tonight? Better than being alone.”
Last week, I had a fellow military spouse invite me over for a playdate and give me her own bed to nap in while she watched the kids and popped popcorn, knowing I was pregnant, tired, and over deployment that week.
Editor's note: Friday is Military Spouse Appreciation Day. We count down with a blog each day from our own dedicated staff members as they recount why they love this crazy life.
A few weeks ago, I asked my co-family readiness group leader (who happens to be a man) what his favorite thing about being an Army spouse is.
His answer was a long drink of coffee and giving me the slow blink.
Editor's note: Friday is Military Spouse Appreciation Day. We count down with a blog each day from our own dedicated staff members as they recount why they love this crazy life.
I sat down at my computer a few days ago to tell you why I love being a military spouse. I wrote something about the opportunities this life has given me, and the people I have met and the friends I have made.
And then, I threw it out.
Last fall Christine Gold moved to Colorado from Georgia at the very beginning of her third trimester for a Navy PCS with her husband and their first-born daughter.
“It sucked,” she joked. “Being huge, tired, having to pee always. Especially with the altitude; it was so hard on my body.”
She struggled to find a healthcare provider that met her needs, and she didn’t want to waffle between providers and not receive the frequent medical checks and appointments she and her baby needed at the end of pregnancy.
By Tiffany Shedd
Spring has sprung. Flowers are blooming everywhere. The air is filled with the sound of mowers, and, the dreaded pollen. It’s time of new beginnings. But what about those new beginnings you started way back in the dark, cold days of January? Those New Year’s resolutions? How are those going? I, for one, will admit it. We have experienced some setbacks.
The tax man has come and gone. Still holding that blank form in your hand, unmailed?
Umm, you may want to take care of that, today.
If you have it filled out and ready to go and just never made it to the post office, go. Now.
If you never filled it out and need more time, apply for an extension. Visit this link: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4868.pdf to fill out a Form 4868 for more time to do your math. This will give you until Oct. 15.
Spring cleaning is time for bringing in the new and tossing the old. For many military spouses, it coincides with PCS season. As families prepare to move on to their next military adventure, they are getting rid of everything from outgrown clothing to household items.
But, if you are staying put or just arriving at a new duty station, spring is also a great time to look for bargain items. Deciding what to sell, donate or how to get the most for your stuff can sometimes be more confusing than moving orders and military acronyms.
I would like to consider myself a seasoned military spouse by now. After eight years of Marine Corps life, more than eight moves, two babies born in two different states and re-establishing myself over and over again (you get the drill), I feel pretty confident in navigating around this crazy military life (not that I need to list it all out, we all know what its like!).
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