I decided to post something other than the remainder of my 4th of July pictures today. I mean my kids are cute, but even I get sick of looking at them all the time. :P
I was thinking about my previous "lives" today. I feel as if my life is lived in increments. First there was my childhood, then my teenage years, then the few years after high school, then the three years we lived in KY, then the three years of hell spent in MA, and then there is the present. Each time I think about these different periods of time I think of myself as a different person. Really each period I was a different person. I had a different life each place.
When Kale and I were living in KY just the three of us, I was happy. We didn't have much money and the only places we went for vacation were our parents houses, but we were happy. We had a couple that we hung out with regularly, they were our age, and she was pregnant when we met. After a few months though it all turned sour. We found out he was abusing her mentally and emotionally. He would not let her spend any money, not even on personal items like pads or razors, she had to use his used razors and his parents gave her gift cards to Walmart for other items. After I found out about this I encouraged her to leave him and she did. But she always came back. We got the chain of command involved, but his dad was a very influential retiree in their field of work and was able to get them moved to a new post. It was sad and I often think of her and how she is doing. I know he got out of the Army because he was being investigated for his spousal abuse and I know they are living back in Alabama. Other than that I don't know anything more. Other than that and a few other small newly wed issues our first four years of marriage flew by. We only needed each other to be happy. I wasn't homesick or lonely at all.
When we found out we were going to recruiting we were worried. We had heard horror stories, but were optimistic we could come though his tour unscathed. Boy were we wrong. It started with our duty station, Kale had an in who was going to get us into Orlando for assignment. Unfortunately he had a family emergency that forced him out of the office the day they made the assignments. The FL and KS areas were closed to us, Kale was neither African American or Hispanic, so to the northeast we were sent. At first I was not happy, but then I turned around and determined I would make the best of it. It was far away from everyone, but closer to my grandparents. Plus I had never seen Boston or NYC and I would be close enough to go to both. They told Kale that he would be able to do his job while grocery shopping with me or doing family things with us.
Yeah, they lied. They lied about everything. It pretty much sucked the entire first year. Our marriage nearly didn't survive. I almost didn't survive. Until I met K and started hanging out with her I really wasn't sure I was going to stay. She kind of saved my marriage/life. I was very down before we became friends. We started taking trips around MA and the area, going to zoos, the Yankee Candle Factory Outlet, NYC to Ikea, Ikea in CT, she introduced me to Ikea and I am disappointed now I am not near one. We did a lot of shopping, since the only positive factor about being on recruiting duty is the extra pay, it did not make up for all the bad factors however. Really the only thing that kept me semi sane other than K was shopping. It was hard adjusting when we moved back here.
Now that we are back in KS I am back to being a daughter on a daily basis. And a sister, aunt, sister-in-law, and friend I hadn't been these things in years. I love being here with my family, but part of me would like to go some where alone again as a family, like we were in KY. We need to start taking trips as a family again, without all the extra people in our lives. Don't get me wrong, I love being with our families, but it would be nice to be just us again.
Showing posts with label Recruiting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recruiting. Show all posts
Thursday, July 10
Monday, June 2
Used To...
Kale and I used to play games every night. Our normal games were Trivial Pursuit, Rummy, Phase Ten, Skip Bo, Scrabble, and Life. We haven't played a board game in years and we haven't played cards steadily since I was on bed rest while pregnant with Sophia. Everything that used to be great, wonderful, and fun in my life pretty much stopped when we moved to MA and were in recruiting hell. I really resent that time in my life, even if I did meet K during that time. I lost a lot and although I did gain a very good and wonderful friend, I lost a lot of my family and myself being there. I have tired to get it back, but it's been rough and I am not a person who forgives or forgets easily.
I am worried I will get used to Kale being gone and when he comes back I will wish he weren't there. I know what it's like when he's been on leave for a long period of time, he gets on my nerves. I did (jokingly) tell him that if my house stayed really clean the whole time he was gone that I wouldn't let him come home.
I am not the same girl I was 5 years ago when I had to grow up even faster than when I became a mother at 19. I am not the same girl who was so in love with her husband she hated to be apart for more than a day. I am not her anymore. I don't know if I want to be her again, but I would like to think that my husband is my everything again. I am just not sure it's possible.
I am worried I will get used to Kale being gone and when he comes back I will wish he weren't there. I know what it's like when he's been on leave for a long period of time, he gets on my nerves. I did (jokingly) tell him that if my house stayed really clean the whole time he was gone that I wouldn't let him come home.
I am not the same girl I was 5 years ago when I had to grow up even faster than when I became a mother at 19. I am not the same girl who was so in love with her husband she hated to be apart for more than a day. I am not her anymore. I don't know if I want to be her again, but I would like to think that my husband is my everything again. I am just not sure it's possible.
Tuesday, February 12
The End of Recruiting
I am going to cope out now and give a list of good things and bad things that came out of our recruiting experience.
Good Things:
My friendship with K
My daughter was able to go to one of the best public schools in the country
My daughter Sophia
We were able to see all the sights in New England
Bad Things:
My marriage almost ended and its still not the same
My shingles
I had to see a therapist and take "happy" pills (not so bad really, but the reason I had to was bad)
I gained 40lbs
I had no money for months
Half of our furniture was broken in the move from KY to MA (our stuff was in two containers and they dropped one getting it on the truck)
I was patronized numerous times by my husbands station commander
My husband was gone from 5am to 12am Mon-Fri and 6am-4pm Sat
He missed b-day parties, plays, anniversaries, parent-teacher confrences, and vacations
He lost most of his hair and gained 40lbs
It was a rough three years and I guess I can say now that I wouldn't change it. My marriage will continue to heal, I am still not sure it will be what it once was though.
Good Things:
My friendship with K
My daughter was able to go to one of the best public schools in the country
My daughter Sophia
We were able to see all the sights in New England
Bad Things:
My marriage almost ended and its still not the same
My shingles
I had to see a therapist and take "happy" pills (not so bad really, but the reason I had to was bad)
I gained 40lbs
I had no money for months
Half of our furniture was broken in the move from KY to MA (our stuff was in two containers and they dropped one getting it on the truck)
I was patronized numerous times by my husbands station commander
My husband was gone from 5am to 12am Mon-Fri and 6am-4pm Sat
He missed b-day parties, plays, anniversaries, parent-teacher confrences, and vacations
He lost most of his hair and gained 40lbs
It was a rough three years and I guess I can say now that I wouldn't change it. My marriage will continue to heal, I am still not sure it will be what it once was though.
Thursday, February 7
Recruiting Hell Part IV
In the beginning of 2004 things are getting better. I start hanging out with K more and more. We even start going out alone on Saturday evenings, leaving the kids with our husbands. I had never once left my children alone with my husband before that. Now I was leaving them with him once a week. He was happy I was getting a break and off his back. I was starting to realize that he really had no control of his schedule. Before that I just assumed he was staying late on purpose. SGT Asshole had a hold on our lives and I hated it.
Because they had messed our pay up so badly and overpaid us so much, we were sent to a budget counselor. She was to figure out how much we could afford to live on while they recovered the extra money out of his paycheck. We had a plan all in place and some asshole in finance decided it wasn't "fair" to us, so spread the payments out over 28mths. GRRR! The way we had it planned it was going to be paid off in 4mths. Life really sucked at times.
Things were getting better with each passing month. By the summer of 2004 I was much happier and settled. We decided to try for another baby. I had planned on getting pregnant in Dec. Normally when I decide to get pregnant, boom that next month I am pregnant. Nothing happened for months. All the stress we were under had effected both of our fertility. (Side note: I forgot to mention that when all the high stress, no money, him never home, me alone, mad at mothers, was going on I actually developed shingles from the stress. That's when they sent me to a therapist.)
A year passed and things were as normal as they could be. Finally after a year of trying I became pregnant. I found out the day after I took the girls for Valentine's pictures. I was used to missing periods, they had been very odd since we moved. But I had a run in with the girl taking the pictures. She did a shitty job and I left without ordering one single picture. Very unusual for me, I am not that confrontational usually, at least not in public. The next day I was feeling so yucky I took a test and was finally pregnant.
I was elated, finally after a whole year. I know that is nothing for some women to experience and that I am lucky I have children at all. I just knew I wasn't done, I wanted more babies. My pregnancy started normally. My first two pregnancies had been very easy, not much happened. I should have known from my first visit with the OB that I was in for trouble. She looked at me and said I know you are going to be diabetic. She based this off the fact that I am overweight and that there was a 12oz jump in weight from my first to my second child. I should know to keep my big mouth shut, but don't know enough. I made the mistake of telling her I "failed" my first two blood sugar tests and had to take the 4hr fasting blood sugar test with my 2nd child.
Things went smoothly for the first few months. I lost 20lbs, which was perfectly fine considering I was over 40lbs overweight. I had really terribly morning sickness, first time I had that problem. My 3rd pregnancy was the first time I vomitted from morning sickness. But that was normal. Then she did my 1st ultra sound and found out I have placenta previa, not too bad though, she said it would take care of it's self in a few months. But until then, no sex. My husband was out of town for the next two months anyway.
Then came the blood sugar test, UGH! I of course failed the first test. I was way over. I went to have the 4hr fasting, drank the nasty shit (I really hate that stuff and will not miss that part at all) and had my first and second draw, then proceded to vomit all over myself. Naturally I was mortified and left to get cleaned up. Felt terrible for the rest of the day and refused to go back for another try. My Drs response to my stubborness was to treat me as a diabetic, threatening me with insulin injections. She told me to take my blood sugar four times a day for two weeks and come back to discuss the results. I did so, morning, after lunch, after dinner, and before bed. Mind you she never told me I needed to stop eating at 7pm to get a proper fasting blood sugar in the morning. So out of the 4 tests a day for 14 days, I had three high readings. All of them were in the morning, all of them were on mornings after I had been up until midnight eating and drinking. She considered me full fledged diabetic after that.
So to appease her for the rest of my pregnancy I let her go on believing what she wanted. I kept taking my blood sugar level, never had a high reading again, since I stopped eating after 7pm. And I never changed my diet, I lied to her and told her I did. I was eating a whole cake a day and eating shaved ice with koolaid every hour. I love sugar and was not willing to cut it out of my diet. I never gained a poung this pregnancy, actually lost a lot of weight.
Then she did an ultra sound 6weeks from delivery, baby was breech, and because of it my fluid looked low. The first thing she said to me, before I even spoke, was "I WILL not turn a baby with a low fluid level. You will HAVE to have a c-section." I was not pleased and was terrified. I went home and reserched breech presentation and found several ways to postition myself to encourage the baby to turn. After three days of this I felt her flip. My next ultrasound confirmed this. But even after I went back to her and she had the report that the baby was head down and my fluid was normal, she still said most likely c-section. At this point I knew she was angling to just do it for the extra cash. I was livid and I told her absolutly not, I would not be having a c-section. Nothing was wrong with me, nothing was wrong with the baby. I had been getting ultra sounds and stress tests twice a week for two weeks and nothing was abnormal. She still made me do these until the baby was born, but I won the c-section fight.
To be continued......
Because they had messed our pay up so badly and overpaid us so much, we were sent to a budget counselor. She was to figure out how much we could afford to live on while they recovered the extra money out of his paycheck. We had a plan all in place and some asshole in finance decided it wasn't "fair" to us, so spread the payments out over 28mths. GRRR! The way we had it planned it was going to be paid off in 4mths. Life really sucked at times.
Things were getting better with each passing month. By the summer of 2004 I was much happier and settled. We decided to try for another baby. I had planned on getting pregnant in Dec. Normally when I decide to get pregnant, boom that next month I am pregnant. Nothing happened for months. All the stress we were under had effected both of our fertility. (Side note: I forgot to mention that when all the high stress, no money, him never home, me alone, mad at mothers, was going on I actually developed shingles from the stress. That's when they sent me to a therapist.)
A year passed and things were as normal as they could be. Finally after a year of trying I became pregnant. I found out the day after I took the girls for Valentine's pictures. I was used to missing periods, they had been very odd since we moved. But I had a run in with the girl taking the pictures. She did a shitty job and I left without ordering one single picture. Very unusual for me, I am not that confrontational usually, at least not in public. The next day I was feeling so yucky I took a test and was finally pregnant.
I was elated, finally after a whole year. I know that is nothing for some women to experience and that I am lucky I have children at all. I just knew I wasn't done, I wanted more babies. My pregnancy started normally. My first two pregnancies had been very easy, not much happened. I should have known from my first visit with the OB that I was in for trouble. She looked at me and said I know you are going to be diabetic. She based this off the fact that I am overweight and that there was a 12oz jump in weight from my first to my second child. I should know to keep my big mouth shut, but don't know enough. I made the mistake of telling her I "failed" my first two blood sugar tests and had to take the 4hr fasting blood sugar test with my 2nd child.
Things went smoothly for the first few months. I lost 20lbs, which was perfectly fine considering I was over 40lbs overweight. I had really terribly morning sickness, first time I had that problem. My 3rd pregnancy was the first time I vomitted from morning sickness. But that was normal. Then she did my 1st ultra sound and found out I have placenta previa, not too bad though, she said it would take care of it's self in a few months. But until then, no sex. My husband was out of town for the next two months anyway.
Then came the blood sugar test, UGH! I of course failed the first test. I was way over. I went to have the 4hr fasting, drank the nasty shit (I really hate that stuff and will not miss that part at all) and had my first and second draw, then proceded to vomit all over myself. Naturally I was mortified and left to get cleaned up. Felt terrible for the rest of the day and refused to go back for another try. My Drs response to my stubborness was to treat me as a diabetic, threatening me with insulin injections. She told me to take my blood sugar four times a day for two weeks and come back to discuss the results. I did so, morning, after lunch, after dinner, and before bed. Mind you she never told me I needed to stop eating at 7pm to get a proper fasting blood sugar in the morning. So out of the 4 tests a day for 14 days, I had three high readings. All of them were in the morning, all of them were on mornings after I had been up until midnight eating and drinking. She considered me full fledged diabetic after that.
So to appease her for the rest of my pregnancy I let her go on believing what she wanted. I kept taking my blood sugar level, never had a high reading again, since I stopped eating after 7pm. And I never changed my diet, I lied to her and told her I did. I was eating a whole cake a day and eating shaved ice with koolaid every hour. I love sugar and was not willing to cut it out of my diet. I never gained a poung this pregnancy, actually lost a lot of weight.
Then she did an ultra sound 6weeks from delivery, baby was breech, and because of it my fluid looked low. The first thing she said to me, before I even spoke, was "I WILL not turn a baby with a low fluid level. You will HAVE to have a c-section." I was not pleased and was terrified. I went home and reserched breech presentation and found several ways to postition myself to encourage the baby to turn. After three days of this I felt her flip. My next ultrasound confirmed this. But even after I went back to her and she had the report that the baby was head down and my fluid was normal, she still said most likely c-section. At this point I knew she was angling to just do it for the extra cash. I was livid and I told her absolutly not, I would not be having a c-section. Nothing was wrong with me, nothing was wrong with the baby. I had been getting ultra sounds and stress tests twice a week for two weeks and nothing was abnormal. She still made me do these until the baby was born, but I won the c-section fight.
To be continued......
Recruiting Hell Part III
Life sucked from that point on and only got worse as the days went on. Kale's job started before the kids and I were up and he was never home before they were in bed. This was so rough on them, they were used to having daddy around. Daddy gave the baths every night and daddy put them to bed. This was rough on me too. Aidan started to develop her bowel issues at this time. BMs were so hard on her, she wouldn't eat, she wouldn't go on her own, I had to force feed her, and I had to help her poop. It didn't take long for me to become depressed. It didn't take long for me to be crying every night to my mom. She came out to visit me not very long after we moved, I believe it was March.
I didn't know anyone, I didn't know where anything was. They had messed up and Kale's paycheck was $0. They gave us $6000 for our moving pay, but told us not to spend it, they think they made a mistake. Here we were, in a new place, new situations, no money, and our normal life was so far gone. I blamed him, I blamed him so much. It was HIS fault, he put New England down and he did it without asking me first. We fought, we fought so much. I would call him when Aidan was crying and wouldn't stop. For HOURS she wouldn't stop. She missed him, she was in pain, she was hungry, she was a baby. I didn't know how to deal. I would call his cell and just set the phone in the room with her. If I had to listen to it HE did too. Life sucked.
In April my parents flew us out to KS, well the kids and I. We spent two weeks there and I called him every night saying I didn't know if I was coming home or not. He called his mom and told her I might not come home. She called me, she lectured me, she yelled at me, I hung up on her. I was sooooo ANGRY at him, livid that he would tell her something so personal, it was none of her buisness. I did end up going home with him, I was too chicken to ask my parents to stay. I didn't speak to his mother for 2mths after that.
At this point I am blaming him for everything, he is only home one day a week and even on that day he still had to go in most of the time. I have completly withdrawn from him, I barely spoke to him. I usually just yelled at him, I often wonder why he stayed with me at that time. I was horrible to him, I knew after that first few months that he was never going anywhere.
I finally got up the nerve to ask my mom if we could come live with her, just while he finished recruiting duty. She told me no, that if I left I was giving up on my marriage and that would be a huge mistake. I was upset, beside myself. I felt abandoned by everyone. It took me three weeks to get over it and forgive her. My dad finally had to call and explain her to me. I understood, but I wasn't happy.
I decided to go to college in the fall, that way I could get out of my house. I had never been a fan of daycares, but I went and toured the one on the Air Force Base and was very impressed. I felt comforted knowing they were in a very controlled building, each room had three cameras, and you had to sign the kids in and out each day. It was in these halls that I would meet my savior, the one to keep me sane, to pull me out of my funk, my best friend K. Her son and my Lilly were best buddies, in the same room. Her husband also worked in the same office with Kale, and turned out they were good friends. It took me nearly a year to open up and trust her, to let her in to my life. I am very hard to become friends with, but once I am your friend I am loyal to a fault.
She and I both pulled our kids out of the daycare after one semester of college. Both of us had major issues with our kids getting sick. I was in the doctors office every week, alternating kids. By the time I pulled them out, they were one ear infection away from tubes. Her son has asthma and was hospitalized. The station commander SGT Asshole, wouldn't even let her husband off to stay with him for a day. Not one single day in the week or more he was in the hospital. I hated that guy, I still do.
At this point I am in therapy once a week and I am on anti depressants. I have gained 20lbs already. My marriage is not the same, my children are not the same, I am not the same.
To be continued......
I didn't know anyone, I didn't know where anything was. They had messed up and Kale's paycheck was $0. They gave us $6000 for our moving pay, but told us not to spend it, they think they made a mistake. Here we were, in a new place, new situations, no money, and our normal life was so far gone. I blamed him, I blamed him so much. It was HIS fault, he put New England down and he did it without asking me first. We fought, we fought so much. I would call him when Aidan was crying and wouldn't stop. For HOURS she wouldn't stop. She missed him, she was in pain, she was hungry, she was a baby. I didn't know how to deal. I would call his cell and just set the phone in the room with her. If I had to listen to it HE did too. Life sucked.
In April my parents flew us out to KS, well the kids and I. We spent two weeks there and I called him every night saying I didn't know if I was coming home or not. He called his mom and told her I might not come home. She called me, she lectured me, she yelled at me, I hung up on her. I was sooooo ANGRY at him, livid that he would tell her something so personal, it was none of her buisness. I did end up going home with him, I was too chicken to ask my parents to stay. I didn't speak to his mother for 2mths after that.
At this point I am blaming him for everything, he is only home one day a week and even on that day he still had to go in most of the time. I have completly withdrawn from him, I barely spoke to him. I usually just yelled at him, I often wonder why he stayed with me at that time. I was horrible to him, I knew after that first few months that he was never going anywhere.
I finally got up the nerve to ask my mom if we could come live with her, just while he finished recruiting duty. She told me no, that if I left I was giving up on my marriage and that would be a huge mistake. I was upset, beside myself. I felt abandoned by everyone. It took me three weeks to get over it and forgive her. My dad finally had to call and explain her to me. I understood, but I wasn't happy.
I decided to go to college in the fall, that way I could get out of my house. I had never been a fan of daycares, but I went and toured the one on the Air Force Base and was very impressed. I felt comforted knowing they were in a very controlled building, each room had three cameras, and you had to sign the kids in and out each day. It was in these halls that I would meet my savior, the one to keep me sane, to pull me out of my funk, my best friend K. Her son and my Lilly were best buddies, in the same room. Her husband also worked in the same office with Kale, and turned out they were good friends. It took me nearly a year to open up and trust her, to let her in to my life. I am very hard to become friends with, but once I am your friend I am loyal to a fault.
She and I both pulled our kids out of the daycare after one semester of college. Both of us had major issues with our kids getting sick. I was in the doctors office every week, alternating kids. By the time I pulled them out, they were one ear infection away from tubes. Her son has asthma and was hospitalized. The station commander SGT Asshole, wouldn't even let her husband off to stay with him for a day. Not one single day in the week or more he was in the hospital. I hated that guy, I still do.
At this point I am in therapy once a week and I am on anti depressants. I have gained 20lbs already. My marriage is not the same, my children are not the same, I am not the same.
To be continued......
Recruiting Hell Part II
We spent a wonderful, fun-filled month in Florida. Went to Disney, went to Sea World, and spent a lot of time with Kale's family. His grandma was giving us a dining suite, table, chairs, hutch, and corner china cabinet. We were towing it behind our van all the way back to MA. His parents were coming with us to help us. We head out on a Friday and by the time we hit the border of VA there is a freaking blizzard going on all the way up the coast, all weekend long. By this time Aidan and Lilly are starting to get sick and I am worried. It's Kale and his dad driving our van, towing the trailer, and they have the dog and cat. Kale's mom is driving me and the girls in their van, SCARY. She is not known for her steller driving, as a matter of fact not two months before she rolled her van, on the highway.
We hit the blizzard and it hits us hard. When we pull into our hotel you can't even see across the parking lot. Everything was closed and the girls were so misreable with colds. The next morning I decide they need cold medicine and ibuprofen, my MIL doesn't think the cars will make it out of the parking lot, so she decides to walk to the grocery store, across the street, in a blizzard, in knee deep snow. After 2 hours, Kale is very worried, rightly so his mom is a clutz and falls often. Just as he's going out to find her, she comes trudging up the parking lot.
We wait it out a day and then head out again. Blizzard is still working it's way north, as are we. We get to Maryland and decide to stop there, we can go no further that night. Then we head out again in the morning, the snow had finally ceased. We get to our house late afternoon, the driveway has been plowed, but has a sheet of ice 3inches thick on top of the blacktop. Kale and his dad each take turns trying to back our trailer into the garage, unsuccessfully. They are not the most handy of men. The instead unhook the trailer and push it into the garage.
At this point my poor girls are sooooo sick. I can wait no longer, I have to take them to the ER. Kale's dad wants to wait until we get to Conway NH that night. We were going to spend the next few days up there waiting for our household goods to arrive, the storm had pushed our date back. My FIL cousin and wife were going to host us for the next few nights. It's another 5-6 hr drive and at this point I know the girls have ear infections and are in dire need of antibiotics. I don't want to wait and I put my foot down. MIL and I take them to the ER and wait forever, then get the meds and head back to the house. We all leave and head up to Conway, getting there very late.
We spend to nice days with Kale's family. Shopping and having fun. Other than his "Uncles" constant drinking and smoking we have a wonderful time. We head back to the house after a couple of days. We find out on Wednesday the day our stuff arrived, that Kale was to be AT work the very next day. URGH! This is where mistake #2 came into play.
Mistake#2) We stupidly assumed every fluffy, fun detail they were feeding Kale in recruiting school was going to be truth. They told us that after he signed in they'd give us a whole month to get settled in our house before he would have to work. That's why we spent our month off in FL and not in MA getting the house ready. More "promises" will come out later in the story.
So the next day he goes to work, our house completly full of boxes and his parents are leaving the next day. Not only does he have to work Thursday and Friday, but Saturday too! OH MY GOD! I was livid. Friday he gets home well after 5pm and we are driving 2 hrs to go visit his Great Aunt, it's Aidan's 1st b-day and she wants to do the party for us. We had a nice time, her house is very small, even smaller than the one we were living in. His parents help as much as possible on Saturday, we get the girls rooms, the living room, and the kitchen set up. The rest of the boxes were residing in our bedroom.
Sunday they leave and Kale and I try to go through more boxes. I am so overwhelmed and upset at this point I practically shut down. Life as I knew it was gone.
To be continued.....
We hit the blizzard and it hits us hard. When we pull into our hotel you can't even see across the parking lot. Everything was closed and the girls were so misreable with colds. The next morning I decide they need cold medicine and ibuprofen, my MIL doesn't think the cars will make it out of the parking lot, so she decides to walk to the grocery store, across the street, in a blizzard, in knee deep snow. After 2 hours, Kale is very worried, rightly so his mom is a clutz and falls often. Just as he's going out to find her, she comes trudging up the parking lot.
We wait it out a day and then head out again. Blizzard is still working it's way north, as are we. We get to Maryland and decide to stop there, we can go no further that night. Then we head out again in the morning, the snow had finally ceased. We get to our house late afternoon, the driveway has been plowed, but has a sheet of ice 3inches thick on top of the blacktop. Kale and his dad each take turns trying to back our trailer into the garage, unsuccessfully. They are not the most handy of men. The instead unhook the trailer and push it into the garage.
At this point my poor girls are sooooo sick. I can wait no longer, I have to take them to the ER. Kale's dad wants to wait until we get to Conway NH that night. We were going to spend the next few days up there waiting for our household goods to arrive, the storm had pushed our date back. My FIL cousin and wife were going to host us for the next few nights. It's another 5-6 hr drive and at this point I know the girls have ear infections and are in dire need of antibiotics. I don't want to wait and I put my foot down. MIL and I take them to the ER and wait forever, then get the meds and head back to the house. We all leave and head up to Conway, getting there very late.
We spend to nice days with Kale's family. Shopping and having fun. Other than his "Uncles" constant drinking and smoking we have a wonderful time. We head back to the house after a couple of days. We find out on Wednesday the day our stuff arrived, that Kale was to be AT work the very next day. URGH! This is where mistake #2 came into play.
Mistake#2) We stupidly assumed every fluffy, fun detail they were feeding Kale in recruiting school was going to be truth. They told us that after he signed in they'd give us a whole month to get settled in our house before he would have to work. That's why we spent our month off in FL and not in MA getting the house ready. More "promises" will come out later in the story.
So the next day he goes to work, our house completly full of boxes and his parents are leaving the next day. Not only does he have to work Thursday and Friday, but Saturday too! OH MY GOD! I was livid. Friday he gets home well after 5pm and we are driving 2 hrs to go visit his Great Aunt, it's Aidan's 1st b-day and she wants to do the party for us. We had a nice time, her house is very small, even smaller than the one we were living in. His parents help as much as possible on Saturday, we get the girls rooms, the living room, and the kitchen set up. The rest of the boxes were residing in our bedroom.
Sunday they leave and Kale and I try to go through more boxes. I am so overwhelmed and upset at this point I practically shut down. Life as I knew it was gone.
To be continued.....
Recruiting Hell Part I
In the summer of 2002 we found out my husband had orders for recruiting. We were a little worried, but excited we wanted to have a new "adventure". My husband attended recruiter school in November and you can give three areas where you would like to recruit. He selected Florida (where his parents lived), Kansas (where my parents live), and New England (I had no idea he had selected this area and he only did so because his parents grew up there and there were a few obscure relatives there. None of them we ever spoke to.). He had an "in" or so we thought, he knew the guy who assigned everyone and he guaranteed we'd get stationed in Orlando. We were elated.
Then on the day everyone was assigned the guy got called out on emergency leave. His wifes grandpa had died. Well he told no one else in the office of our arrangement and low and behold we are assigned to New England Battallion. I don't blame this guy one bit, emergencies can't be helped. He spent the next week trying to fix it, but because my husband spoke no spanish they wouldn't trade our orders with some one elses. Even though the guy wanted to trade for New England. Okay, whatever, we will deal.
Mistake #1) The Batallion Commander calls and asks my husband...."Are you city folk or country folk?" My husband, being from downtown Orlando says "City folk sir." And he assigns my husband to Boston Company, downtown, financial district. The other company, a small town on the coast, south of Boston. It's never good when he doesn't consult me on life decisions.
I start looking at housing and immediatly start freaking out! The cost of living is outragous and we can't live in the city because of our very large dog. At this time it's just Kale, Lilly (4), Aidan (not quite 1) and I. We look for weeks and just before we start to move we find out we can live in Wayland, the Natick Army labs have a set of 12 houses there and lucky us one is avalible. One catch though, we have to drive up there to sign for it, before we head to FL. We had taken a months leave and were spending it with Kale's parents. By now it's January 2003 and our report date is February 21.
This is how it went:
Thursday; our stuff was packed
Friday; our stuff was put on the truck and we head to KS for a weekend with my parents
Monday; we go back to KY to clear housing, then head to VA to stay with my aunt
Tuesday; Kale, dog, and I leave kids and cat with my aunt and we head to MA
Wednesday; we sign for the tiniest house in the whole town and leave some of our things there
Thursday; we head for VA to spend the night
Friday; we all head for FL, arriving late that evening
In less one weeks time we went up and down nearly the entire east coast. I was glad to stay put for one month, had I known what was coming we would have went back sooner.
To be continued.....
Then on the day everyone was assigned the guy got called out on emergency leave. His wifes grandpa had died. Well he told no one else in the office of our arrangement and low and behold we are assigned to New England Battallion. I don't blame this guy one bit, emergencies can't be helped. He spent the next week trying to fix it, but because my husband spoke no spanish they wouldn't trade our orders with some one elses. Even though the guy wanted to trade for New England. Okay, whatever, we will deal.
Mistake #1) The Batallion Commander calls and asks my husband...."Are you city folk or country folk?" My husband, being from downtown Orlando says "City folk sir." And he assigns my husband to Boston Company, downtown, financial district. The other company, a small town on the coast, south of Boston. It's never good when he doesn't consult me on life decisions.
I start looking at housing and immediatly start freaking out! The cost of living is outragous and we can't live in the city because of our very large dog. At this time it's just Kale, Lilly (4), Aidan (not quite 1) and I. We look for weeks and just before we start to move we find out we can live in Wayland, the Natick Army labs have a set of 12 houses there and lucky us one is avalible. One catch though, we have to drive up there to sign for it, before we head to FL. We had taken a months leave and were spending it with Kale's parents. By now it's January 2003 and our report date is February 21.
This is how it went:
Thursday; our stuff was packed
Friday; our stuff was put on the truck and we head to KS for a weekend with my parents
Monday; we go back to KY to clear housing, then head to VA to stay with my aunt
Tuesday; Kale, dog, and I leave kids and cat with my aunt and we head to MA
Wednesday; we sign for the tiniest house in the whole town and leave some of our things there
Thursday; we head for VA to spend the night
Friday; we all head for FL, arriving late that evening
In less one weeks time we went up and down nearly the entire east coast. I was glad to stay put for one month, had I known what was coming we would have went back sooner.
To be continued.....
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