“Thank You For Your Service”
If you were to say, “Thank you for your service” to me, a military spouse, I would say “you’re welcome.” My husband, personally, doesn’t care much for being thanked, probably because he joined the Army for himself. I, on the other hand, wouldn’t have chosen it in a million years. Some women have strong feelings about saying they didn’t serve or that they are not a part of the military as a spouse unless they were active duty or National Guard themselves. They say they aren’t out there risking their lives, and they don’t go to work every day and train. That’s fair. We are still “civilians” because we didn’t…
Hi Ho, Hi Ho- Back to Work I Go!
The funny thing about being given 12 weeks of maternity leave, paid, is that it means there’s a job I should return to. I actually found myself back at my desk two weeks early in order to save the last two weeks of leave for going home when my husband’s unit takes leave. When I envisioned having a child over the last 3 years I imagined I would be in a position where I was freelancing as a writer and able to stay home. When I envisioned having a child eight months ago, I thought I would just quit. I was so in denial about the fact I would have…
Marriage: Year 3
It occurred to me that each year I’ve written some sort of year end review about my marriage for my anniversary. Today is my third anniversary. Without looking back at my other essays on it, I know I’m not as happy and not as profuse as I was one year in. I don’t want to shy away from the realities of marriage and the Army, but I do understand how sensitive of a matter being honest actually is. I am not as happy as I was two years ago because stress exists, namely the fact my husband has been on a different continent for the last 5 months and I…
Dis Tew Much
About a week ago… This is officially too much. My fantasy is to evade work for a week. Actually, on my 40-minute lunch, and 20-minute break I lean all the way in and literally pretend like I don’t work. Something about not working because I can’t stop coughing or crying feels off base of that dream. I had a rough weekend with physical exhaustion, stress, and nosebleeds and was finally motivated to figure out how to use my FMLA benefits at work. As soon as I initiated the process, I called out work for the second half of Monday. On Tuesday, I managed to stay clocked in for 30 minutes. Then…
Work, Work, Work, Work, Work
It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything because I’m too busy WORKING! Yes, chile- I have a job, and a lucrative one at that. Well anything is lucrative when you came from a salary of zero dollars a month. The road has been long, but I have finally made contact with civilization. It all started with one eventful week back in February. My mother-in-law had texted me after an episode of Shark Tank advising me to apply to a local company that was on the show. As did two other people. I went on the website for R. Riveter and submitted an application, which was kind of like filling…
The Commissary
Every time I think of the commissary, I think of Akon’s song “Locked Up.” It says “Commissary’s gettin empty. Cell mates gettin food without me.” This isn’t the same kind of commissary. And they are never empty even though they never have fresh basil. The Commissary is the grocery store on post. It’s not a primitive trading post, and they don’t sell government commodities, MOM. It’s a regular grocery store, for the most part, and it’s exclusive to military i.d. holders. This Army post has two commissaries that are basically the same but are laid out differently. First of all, the commissary is usually connected to or in close promixity…
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Should You Live on Post?
Dear Hiring Manager,
Please find detailed my unemployment history starting on January 30, 2015 until present. While it may seem that I should be employed right now, I assure you that my time away from the desk can be lamented and accounted for. February-April I had initially expected this to be my period of applying to and interviewing for jobs. I had expected to find a position that would be the next step in my career and paying more than I previously made since I thought I was under-paid as it was. I ended up taking a job with Bankers Life and Casualty Company at the very end of March, and spending April…
Update: Some New Friends
A lot has happened since my last post lamenting the scarcity of friends and opportunities to make them. Namely what has happened is that I have made some. Knowing my husband would be leaving for a few months, I had to decide to set myself up for success and put myself out there to make friends. I realized that after I’ve written an essay about having no friends, I couldn’t get away very well pass up opportunities and decided I would need to say yes to everything. PWOC First of all, I went back to Protestant Women of the Chapel. PWOC is a biblestudy that is held on almost every…
