Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Social Etiquette

Country Stampede was freakin’ amazing. Besides the performers, I was also interested in the social etiquette I observed while we were there…

1. Attire

I get it, it’s hot out. 90 – 100 degrees, and the humidity sucks. I was hot, too, but let’s talk for a minute about appropriate wardrobe choices. Just because it’s hot doesn’t mean you can wear a teenie-tiny bikini with nothing but cowboy boots. For one thing, those boots have got to be hot, sandals may keep your tootsies cooler, and we’re not near the water, I know you’re not planning to get wet, so let’s put something else on, shall we?

While we’re at it: Bikini-top with shorts is closer to being dressed, but still not appropriate unless you’re near a body of water. (And what’s with leaving those shorts unbuttoned, or rolling the hem over, anyway?)

I hadn’t seen this one before last weekend but a t-shirt, bikini-bottom and cowboy boots does not make up a complete outfit. You don’t look sexy; you just look like you forgot your pants.

Now that we’ve covered swimwear, let’s talk about dressing appropriately for your age.

If you are old enough to drive, smoke, drink or vote, please don’t wear a plaid mini skirt, or any mini skirt for that matter. Leave the body glitter in your daughter’s play-make up alone. Please be advised this is not Mardi gras, so please takes the beads off, especially if they have a plastic replica of a male or female body part attached to them. That’s just gross, where do you even find something like that?

Finally, I’d like to address the young woman in the bikini-top, jean shorts and cowboy boots…

Sharpieing “Insert here” with an arrow pointing down your crack is trashy. You look like a tramp.

2. Personal Conduct

This is a fun, outdoor, all day event, thus, the rules surrounding alcohol consumption are more relaxed... It’s ok to have a beer at 2 in the afternoon. It’s not so ok to drink a whole case before lunch.

The porta-potties may be gross, but you can’t just pull down your shorts and squat to pee wherever you want to. This means you, girl in front of us who just moved her folding chair to the side and asked us not to watch… Ew.

Keep your hands to yourself. You may be drunk, but not all of us are and I don’t appreciate you grabbing my hubby, or smacking my A$$ as we walk by. (I can’t blame you, though, I’d want to grab him, too, and I do have a mighty fine derriere…) As a reminder, basic rules of no pushing or shoving still apply, too.

Thanks for your cooperation, folks! We’ll see you next year!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Life Changing Updates (part II)

I realize my last post was primarily about hubby, but since what he does affects me greatly, it seems important information to share. Skip it if you don’t care, I won’t get my feelings hurt :-) But here’s my side of the story (because isn’t that how it always is? His side/Her side.)

Now that hubby’s the new Troop Commander that makes me the Commander’s Wife. I’ve been “issued” a handbook (No, I’m not making this up) and with (his) increased responsibility comes (my) increased social obligations. I’ve pretty much decided to tell people we’re separating, to avoid the “mandatory shoulder rubbing”. Hubby and I now have to be more involved in the FRG (Family Readiness Group) and I’m expected to be more involved with the wives’ groups. Fellow introverts will understand how I’m feeling, and for the extroverts: I’m looking forward to this like a root canal. (But really, I am so proud of him, and honored to be his wifey!)

Moving on, what I really wanted to talk about was change, and what I’m doing.

In an effort to create some structure and control, I’ve been trying to find areas that I can directly affect, things that will make me feel better and make life easier. For the last 5 weeks or so, these are the things I’ve been focused on changing.

My Job

In addition to hubby’s work changes, a new career path is in the future for me too. I’ve started an at-home training program to become a Medical Transcriptionist. I know it sounds like a scam, but it’s not. Basically, I’m just learning medical terminology and word structure (My WPM is already kick A$$), they provide me with dictations so I can practice, and then I can count all of these hours spent training as experience so I can apply for some jobs. I’ve wanted to do this for a while, I don’t know why it took me so long to start. I'm about 10% of the way through the program already!

My Time

There are claims of 80k a year in MT, but realistically, I know to start, I’ll only be making about what I make now (NOT 80k…!). But, I’ll get to work from home, that’s what I’m most stoked about. I’m looking forward to getting some control back in my life by finding more time in my day. Right now, we both get home about 6 and we aim to be asleep by 9. This means we have 3 hours after we get home to make and eat supper, do household chores, care for all of our furry kids and have some “us” time. That’s hard to do in 3 hours. Soon I’ll be able to start work at 5:30AM (After I’ve already fed the dogs, made lunches, seen hubby off to work!), put in 8 hours and be done by 2. That extra 4 hours every day is going to be amazing, I can’t wait to have supper on the table when hubby gets home, with the laundry and poop scooping already out of the way!

My Weight

My diet is still on track! I’m 1.6 pounds away from my mini-goal, and I have until the 1st to drop that last bit! My clothes don’t fit anymore… in a good way. Even if I don’t actually make my mini goal on schedule, I’ve lost 16.4 pounds, and I feel good and in control of my weight. No matter how long it takes me to reach my final goal weight, I’ll get there and I’ll maintain! It feels great to see changes.

The Little Things
Be more understanding and patient, more appreciative and less selfish. Spend more time with the dogs and less money. Take responsibility; make changes where changes need to be made. Drink more water. Let things go, choose my battles wisely. Become the person I want to be.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Life Changing Updates (part I)

For someone who likes structure, control and plans, I’m holding up pretty well under all the chaos that is our life right now!

Hubby is leaving (again… the story of our lives!) for the National Training Center next week. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a month already since he came home from Fort Polk, LA.

We’ve had a great time this month while he’s been home, doing things like a culinary-focused trip to Topeka, KS for my birthday a few weeks ago, where we enjoyed Indian and Mediterranean cuisine, Auntie Annie’s Pretzels and home-made ice cream, among other tasty things. (The Little Apple doesn’t offer much in the way of cuisine…). This weekend we have tickets to the country music festival, Country Stampede, to see favorites like Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Tracey Lawrence and Little Big Town.

It’s been wonderful having hubby home, and as it turns out, he may be home for a while…

Changes in deployment plans have us unsure if his unit will deploy later than expected, somewhere besides the expected destination, as part of another Brigade, or perhaps, not at all.

Deployment changes have brought command changes. His (now former) Commander got pulled into another brigade, and hubby was chosen as his replacement. No Captain’s Career Course or increase in rank, just the promotion. Still super proud of him though!

For my non-military readers, here’s the translation (Because this stuff is as confusing as heck, I know):

Hubby’s boss got transferred and hubby was promoted. He was not given a raise or a new rank, and normally, he would attend "Captain's Career Course" before taking this postion but I’m confident, as are those who picked him, that he’ll do a great job! He’s now the Troop Commander, or Commanding Officer (CO), which is something like a regional or district manager, if this were “real life”. He’s now in charge of multiple Platoons. Platoons are the smallest units, made up of 20-30 soldiers and one officer who is the Platoon Leader (or PL. Basically, the supervisor); imagine these as branches or offices. As you can see, he’s not making any major war-deciding decisions, but he’s got a lot of responsibility. On top of the soldier’s well being, he’s also responsible for all of their equipment, everything from binoculars to Bradleys (A slightly smaller version of a tank).

As if the new job and new deployment plans weren’t enough change for now, hubby is submitting a Civil Affairs packet (This means he’s trying to “transfer to another department”). There’s no way in H3LL he won’t get chosen when the board reviews applicants next April, so we’re expecting a move next spring. We don’t know where he’ll go for Captain’s Career Course if he gets chosen for CA, but we do know that we’ll end up in North Carolina for the rest of his Army career if he stays CA. Using the word “know” loosely here...

I’ve learned 2 things in my 25 years (Side Note: I had to check off one of those “age range” boxes the other day, and I was in the “25-34” box… YIKES. Hubby is still in the “18-24” but not for much longer!)

1. Things Change. Don’t ever put all of your eggs in one basket. Have a backup plan. Be flexible.

2. Amplify the rules about change if you’re in the Army. Things will change more often, and even things that shouldn’t change inevitably will, usually at the worst time possible.

My response to all of this uncertainty in our lives has been to take control where I can. Create my own stability and structure. Check back tomorrow for what I’m doing and how it’s going because this post has gone on long enough! :-)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...