Tears - no, no tears

I'm super anxious about this particular move, but that's only because we have so much going on in our lives (outside of the military stuff) between now and our departure date. So much that I should not be blogging. Of course, the man in blue is playing baseball with our son right now, so he's not doing what he should be either. Or is he? I suppose playing with the kids to keep them sane is a key part of happiness this PCS season too. After all, I can't box them up and keep them quiet, can I?

My family and friends in this area are anxious too. Actually, from what I learned the other day, some (many) tears have been shed. Um, trying to ignore that. It's hard to do, but unfortunately, to avoid a meltdown myself, I have to remain stoic and laugh whenever possible. I have had totally enough stress this week (too much to even blog about) and don't need anymore - just yet anyway. My sister who lives about an hour from me was telling me how hard this all is on her and my mom.

Okay.

This is not the first time I've moved. It's not the first military move either. However, it's the farthest away from THEM. And, to top it off, my sister doesn't fly and my mother has no desire to do so anymore. Dad, well he's ok with it, but work often precludes him from taking time off. The rest of the family? Well, they say they'll visit, but I won't hold my breath. They never did before. And, I'm ok with that. It's reality. I know it's reality for many of you too. Everyone gets excited about your next duty station and swears they will visit and maps out the really cool places to go and then....and then.....and then you are PCSing again and they never visited. Same old story.

People always want you to come "back home". For us military folk, home is mobile. No, not Bama for the collective audience, but it's mobile as in transient. We move a lot. *cue sad Miranda Lambert song* I'm such a contradiction, I know. Go with it.

So, "back home"  isn't always something we all have. Sometimes it's nothing we want. Other times, it's something we know we'll get back to after that golden twilight tour--maybe. Why can't "home" come to us? The home that is our family/friends anyway? They can see life from our new vantage point? Walk a mile or a minute in our shoes - check out the local flavors we are experiencing.

Alright, so many times finances are an issue. BUT, they are for us too. We don't have the financial means (usually) to travel back and forth between "temporary military home" and "back home". Even if we did, we have so little time in one area - really - 2- 4 years, that why travel "back home". Oftentimes, our spouses are working crazy hours or underway that the little time he or she is home, we'd just rather spend it together - not traveling.

Watch out for that slipper, sudsy stuff on my soapbox and the vicinity thereof.

Stepping down now.

So, I don't have time for tears right now. I need all the strength I can muster to forge through this crazy season and keep the kids reminded that this is normal for us. They don't have to see sadness surrounding this. And, I apologize if I can't console you friends and family when this is so hard on you. I really just can't. I hope you know that it's because this is life. It's good. It's all good.

Did you know?

....the Coast Guard is really cool to join! It's not like being in the military. You do some law enforcement and fight off pirates. Yep, that's about it!

Wait, WHAT?

Can you believe these words actually came from the mouth of a military liaison in a Congressman's office?

Yes, my jaw hit the floor. I was in disbelief and disgusted. I am even more upset that I didn't refute the statement. I felt lost for words. How do you even address such ignorance? The regular civilian with no military ties, I might look the other way, but a political individual?

So, this guy, continues to tell me, Yeah, that's what I tell the kids who want to join the service, but don't really want to be in the service. The Coast Guard is a safe bet. Or words to that effect.

Let me say this diatribe of idiocy was prefaced by me stating to him my husband was in the Coast Guard and I volunteered for a support group. He asked me why such an organization would exist. To him, I explained because many organizations and entities don't support the Coast Guard the way the other branches are supported. I continued They don't really view us as military, which is....and then he interrupted me with Well, it's not really the military.

I know, I know, I should have ripped him a new one. I didn't. I failed my Coast Guard family in putting this guy in his place. Or did I? Was it even worth it?

I'm thinking of having a letter written from the organization I volunteer for to give him a little background and up to date information on what the role and mission of the USCG actually is. I think he missed that somewhere along the way. I suppose I could direct him to: http://www.uscg.mil/top/missions/ or simply have him talk to some of the folks doing their jobs defending our coasts each and everyday or the ones over in PATFORSWA or some other region around the globe.

Coast Guard left out again.

*sigh*

I figured I'd pass this on:

I sent this email to milblogging@gmail.com

------Original Message------
From: Just a Girl in a Port
To: milblogging@gmail.com
Subject: Bloggies Categories
Sent: Sep 9, 2008 1:30 PM

Are the Milbloggies including the Coast Guard as a branch category?This was the list, we saw and didn't know if folks could include the USCG. Thanks.

U.S. Air Force
U.S. Army
U.S. Marine Corps
U.S. Military (Parent)
U.S. Military (Spouse)
U.S. Military (Veteran)
U.S. Military (Supporter)
U.S. Navy

This was the response I just received:

On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 7:10 AM, <milblogging@gmail.com> wrote:

Unfortuantely this year we didn't include the coast guard. We plan to include coast guard and foreign national military and more next year, but we identified the categories that had at least 10 active bloggers. I also returned from a deployment and didn't have time to update the site with everything which put me behind on some things. I hope you understand and I hope to see you nect year. If you have a list of coast guard bloggers who are not listed in the database please send it to me and ill get them added.

Cheers
Jp