PWOC Fall Focus

After an hour and a half of fitful sleep, my alarm went off at 2:15am yesterday. We rolled out of the Walmart parking lot at 4, and almost 10 hours later were here in Tennessee. What a day.

We're at a Marriott in Franklin, TN, and it is beautiful. The colors aren't quite in full bloom, but anything is better than the greenish-brownish of South Georgia! It made me even more excited to go up north in a few short weeks.

The conference (which is for the Southeast Regional of PWOC) has gone pretty well thus far. Of course, that is tempered by the fact that dinner was fantastic. Between the lasagna, chocolate cake, and extremely good coffee, my mood barometer went up tremendously...

I think the funniest part, bar none, was when Kathy Troccoli was singing a heartfelt emotional song and fell off the stage. Yep, right on the floor. It was stinkin' hilarious. Of course, she was laughing- it's not like I'm some creep who delights when others get hurt. Still...

Then, today I found myself at a workshop that was, shall we say, not exactly what the description in the conference materials presented. How in the world can I get out of this class early? I thought. Then, the fire alarm went off, so I spent the next half hour sitting in my car while the firetrucks rolled up. We were quickly allowed back inside and I snuck up to my room. Apparently God heard my plea and divinely caused the fire so He could bless me by letting me out of that class. Yes. That's it.

More later...

thoughts on a dreary evening...

Do you ever find that the more you have to do, the less motivated you are to start??

3:00am is going to come WAY too soon, I'm afraid. Yes, I leave in the morning with 11 other women for a PWOC conference in Tennessee. The house is a mess, I'm not packed, there's laundry to do, and... here I sit...

Weekends and What Not to Say

Sorry it's been a while. We've been busy, but nothing blogworthy (as my last post demonstrates). Well, by "busy" I mean Jon had a 4-day weekend last weekend... gotta love Federal holidays (Christopher Columbus Day? Who knew?) We enjoyed it, as it was- quite literally- the last weekend we have until December 15/16. Not even kidding. I don't mean that, like, we have plans on Saturday evening or anything- I mean for the next NINE weekends we have WEEKEND plans away from home. Then, we have a couple weeks to rest (during Christmas), followed by a birth, him changing jobs, and moving. Oh, hopefully in that time we'll also sell the house, which means we'll also be packing and finding a place to live. Nice.

Now that you feel sufficiently bad for me, moving on...

On Thursday we went to UMT (Unit Ministry Team) Training at a local mega-church. There were some things we gleaned, and some things we weren't exactly impressed with.

Based on that experience (and others), let me just say this- if you're not military, no one expects you to be military. If you can understand that, we all will be happier.

The fact is, no one knows exactly how to act around military- especially wives whose husbands are deployed. And the fact is, I'm not sure what to tell you- everyone wants to be treated differently.

Here's a couple general rules of thumb, though:

~ Don't act like you know what it's like, unless you do. (I'm sorry, but your husband's 10-day camping trip in Canada just isn't the same thing...)

~ Ask questions. Again, we don't expect you to know what it's like- so if we start talking in military lingo, ask what in the world we are saying!!

~ Accept our emotions. Yes, we knew what we were signing up for... that doesn't mean we LIKE deployments (or extensions), constant moves, or "The Army Way" about everything. There are bad things about the Army, just like there are about your job... we don't have to take those things with a smile. Saying, "Well, you knew this before..." doesn't bring my husband home, and it doesn't make it any easier.

~ Acknowledge that there is more to life than the Army. Just because my husband might be deployed (or is out in the field, or even simply wears ACUs to work every day), that doesn't mean I can't have a life and interests outside the Army. Normal just looks different, that's all.

Again, these are general rules. If you're in the military or a spouse and would like to add to this in the comments section, please feel free!

Basically, just as in anything, act in love and respect, and itsallgood...
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Just a disclaimer: If this post seems disjointed, it's because I have written it over the past 4 days...