Author: To the Nth

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #5

4 Comments

Besides the horizontal mambo, what do you miss most when your spouse is deployed?

We do not yet have our first full deployment under our belt, but that does not mean we have not had our share of separation for this training or that detachment.  When my husband is away on det, the thing I miss the most is laughing together over random silly things that pop up throughout the day.  My husband’s job is such that even while he is deployed, we are likely to have good, consistent communication peppered with opportunities to Skype, but it’s not the same.  It breaks my heart when we cannot share those “you had to be there” moments.

What do you miss least?

When my husband is away, I do not miss having to plan my life around the flight schedule one bit.  When he’s home and has a 0600 brief, that means I’m dragging my somnolent behind out of bed at an ungodly hour, too.  When he isn’t scheduled to land until 2100, my dinner plans are thrown out the window just as much as his are.  When it’s just me, I don’t have to wait until the late afternoon to find out what time I’m getting up the next day, and it is possible to get into something resembling a regular routine and sleep schedule.

You only get three crayons to finish your picture… which three do you choose and why?

Green, brown, and blue, because I can finish drawing my sweet picture of a dragon launching skyward.

Seriously.

I love dragons.  I have since I was a wee kidlet.  I have a fair few in the house, and I do actually draw them when I get the notion–with crayons, even.  Colored pencils and oil pastels add some variety.  (Hey, you can’t say I didn’t warn you I was a nerd.  It’s right up there in the blog header.)

If you could have your own fragrance, what would it be called?

Cross-Country Planning: The familiar paper scent of shuffled sectionals, a tricky morning breeze, and the slick metallic tang of aviation, grounded by a mug of black tea.

If the shoes make the man (or woman), what do your shoes say about you right now?

“You don’t exist!  Nyah-nyah!”

It’s summer and I’m indoors, so my shoes are not on my feet.  A pair of ratty fake-enstock sandals sandals are hiding out under the coffee table in case I lose my mind and decide to venture out in the heat (or until such time as one of the four-legged members of the household decide they would make excellent cat toys).

Are you a military spouse/fiancée/fiancé/girlfriend/boyfriend? Hie thee to ENS Wifey’s blog, snag the questions, and add yourself to the Mr. Linky for this week’s MilSpouse Friday Fill-In!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #4

12 Comments

What food reminds you of your spouse?

Thai food holds a special place in our hearts.  We went to A Little Place Called Siam (no longer extant, sadly, though I believe there is still a Thai restaurant in that location) for dinner on our first date before heading to our high school cafeteria for Spring Formal.  Since then, different Thai restaurants have become “ours” in just about every town in which we have spent significant time together.  We judge most places by their drunken noodles, which is what my husband orders nine times out of ten.

Who would you rather sit next to in a cross-country plane ride: an irritating non-stop talker, or a quiet stare-er?

The quiet one, definitely.  I’m usually looking out the window and cheerfully oblivious to anyone else around, an attitude much more difficult to maintain when some full-of-himself lawyer is droning on about how he had to fly to this place and that place to get statements and subpoenas and all kinds of things that were a lot more impressive to him than they were to a girl who just wanted to visit her fiancé.

What are your best tips on how to save money?

If you don’t need it, don’t buy it.  This seems to be a slippery concept for some people.

What is your favorite summer memory?

My extended family’s yearly trips to the beach were a fixture in my life up through college.  All of us — parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins — would rent units on the ocean and spend a week playing on the beach by day and partying by night.  Each family would take one night to cook dinner for all the rest, so we got a variety of fun dishes.  I loved getting to spend so much time with my cousins, and I cannot even estimate how many hours upon hours we spent boogie-boarding in the surf.  We barely got out of the water except to go chow down on sandwiches for lunch, our fingers still pruney and salty from the sea.  Adult beverages flowed freely for those of age; one of the perks of growing up was finally being able to partake of my grandfather’s killer Bloody Marys at about ten in the morning while digging my toes in the sand.

Time has a way of marching on, though, and “The Beeeeeeach” no longer exists as a week-long family reunion.  As we kids got older and started pairing off (and even contributing to the next generation), it became unfeasible for all of us to coordinate our schedules.  I miss it, though, and it makes me a little sad to think that any children we might be blessed to have are unlikely to have that same kind of yearly vacation.  I might go so far as to describe The Beach as the anchor of my year throughout my childhood.

Do you believe in ghosts?

I’ve never had one walk up and introduce itself.  Maybe I smell funny.

When I was about eleven years old, though, I absolutely believed in ghosts.  A few friends and I kept a notebook and interviewed our classmates at recess about their brushes with the paranormal (including alien encounters; one friend was a confessing X-phile and quite firm in her assertions that “the truth [was] out there”).  We occasionally frightened ourselves with Ouija boards, but most of the time, it seemed that the “spirits” we called with our Parker Brothers-brokered séances had a perplexing fascination with farts and cuss words.  Go figure.

Are you a military spouse/fiancée/fiancé/girlfriend/boyfriend? Hie thee to ENS Wifey’s blog, snag the questions, and add yourself to the Mr. Linky for this week’s MilSpouse Friday Fill-In!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #3

12 Comments

What is your favorite household chore?

Cooking!  Even though I love to cook, the daily grind nature of the task (“You mean you’re hungry again?  We just ate yesterday!”) makes it a chore.  Even when it’s not so much fun cudgeling my brain for ideas to get ourselves out of the latest what’s-for-dinner rut, I’d still rather cook than attack any other routine household maintenance items.

What is your favorite childhood memory?

Ooh, toughie.  I had quite an enjoyable childhood (thanks, Mom and Dad), so picking out my one true favorite would be nigh impossible.  Many of my good memories involve playing with my little brother.  I’m the eldest by four and a half years, which I think was perfect: we weren’t so close in age that we were always in competition with each other, but neither were we so far apart that we had nothing in common.  We created elaborate stories around our LEGO sets, dreamed up incredibly detailed backgrounds for video game characters (Sonic the Hedgehog and Ecco the Dolphin, in particular), and built snow forts complete with snowball caches that never quite got used and an escape route that involved a sled positioned precariously atop a hill behind the fort.

Our parents always told us that siblings are quite possibly the people you have in your life the longest, so it was important to cultivate that brotherly/sisterly relationship.  I’m glad we did, ’cause that means I have a baby bro (who is actually an adult with a job and a girlfriend and all that good stuff) with whom I share all kinds of childhood memories.  We’ll remember together.

What is your most embarrassing moment?

I can’t point to one moment in my life and say, “That one, that there was the time I most wished I could melt into a puddle and disappear on the spot.”  One thing sure to get my cheeks flaming and the tears of shame pricking my eyes is saying something factually wrong in front of someone whose intelligence or expertise on a subject I respect.  I hate-hate-hate being wrong, or even mildly mistaken.  I’m supposed to be the smart kid!

What uniform of your spouse’s is your favorite?

I’m fond of summer whites, which is a uniform my husband hates.  It was the first Navy uniform I ever saw him wearing.  He had just finished up Plebe Summer at the Naval Academy, and when I first caught sight of the boyfriend I had last seen wearing a T-shirt and shorts in the days just following his high school graduation, I’m sure my jaw hit the floor.  He looked stunning.  I’ve loved summer whites ever since, but I rarely get to see them.

My husband’s favorite uniform is definitely the flight suit.  He would wear his “fireproof pajamas” to any event — change of command, parade, wedding, you name it — calling for a uniform if he could.

What canceled TV show do you miss the most?

Firefly.  My husband and I both are dyed-in-the-wool Browncoats, and we daily mourn the fact that Joss Whedon’s brilliant, witty space Western was cut off before its plot had the chance to develop into its full-fledged glory.  Though it lasted less than one season on the air, the characters immediately became favorites.  One of our cats is named after Serenity crewman/tough guy Jayne Cobb’s “very favorite gun.”

Are you a military spouse/fiancée/fiancé/girlfriend/boyfriend?  Hie thee to ENS Wifey’s blog, snag the questions, and add yourself to the Mr. Linky for this week’s MilSpouse Friday Fill-In!

High-flyin’ Aunt and Uncle

10 Comments

I know it’s Tuesday, but I cannot shake my sense of today’s Monday-nity (get it? Mundanity/Monday-nity?  I crack myself up, and unfortunately for my readers, I can’t help sharing).  My husband’s 0645 brief this morning sent us plummeting back to reality after a delightful four-day weekend.  Hearing the alarm go off at a truly uncivilized hour was rough, but at least we are heading back into the fray with memories of grilling delicious meat, imbibing tasty beverages, and embarking on miniature adventures to sustain us until the next bubble of breathing space.

I suppose one might make a case for our next escape from the needs of the Navy being very soon — the end of this week, in fact — but any “break” that involves travel to and from a place in quick succession with lots and lots of socializing squeezed in does not a relaxing time for us make.  While it will not be a rejuvenating breather, precisely, the reason for our upcoming whirlwind trip is a good one: our first nephew was born last week, and we will be attending his bris.  I can’t wait to meet the newest member of the family, hold him, make faces at him, and — very best of all — hand him back to his mom and dad when he gets fussy or needs a diaper change.  Quoth a high school classmate of mine who has nieces and nephews of her own, “Returnable (to their parents) babies are AN EXCELLENT KIND of babies!”

I may not be the most skillful knitter ever to take needles in hand, but I think this will do for absorbing "burps" that go the extra mile.

I learned how to knit a few weeks ago, which is not as big a non sequitur from the previous subject as it might seem because my new craft allows me to do neat things like produce a handmade burp cloth for a baby present.  I’m still a neophyte knitter, but I’ve got a pretty good handle on things rectangular, such as scarves, dishcloths, and yes, burp cloths.  It tickles my sense of the absurd to spend my free time lovingly constructing a hand-knit object for the express purpose of catching spit-up.  If a colorful cotton schmatta brings a little cheer to parents dealing with the myriad ways an infant can make a mess, I’ll call it time well spent.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #2

8 Comments

Tell us about your dream job… one that you could do regardless of pay.

I’d be an astronaut in a heartbeat.  Alas, it is unlikely that anyone will walk up to me and hand me an application.

What is your most prized material possession (kids and pets don’t count!)?

I live on my computer.  *pets her MacBook*  My wedding and engagement rings are pretty special, too.

What has been your favorite duty station and why?

I love where we are (Virginia) right now.  We’re close to family, and we’re most emphatically not in South Texas anymore.

What is your least favorite household chore?

I’m not crazy about cleaning bathrooms, but I really hate mopping.  Luckily, my husband doesn’t mind mopping, so I have someone on which to pawn off that chore when he’s around.

If you could give one piece of advice to a teenager today (not specifically a MilTeen), what would it be?

The Internet is forever.  Be careful what you put on Facebook, because that thing you did at that party that was totally hilarious to you and your friends?  Probably not so funny to Aunt Hortense… or your future employer.  Don’t think that your privacy settings will shield you from all potential fallout, either: even if you’re as conscientious as can be, all it takes is one of your friends forgetting to log out (or worse, forwarding something without your knowledge or consent) and all of a sudden a whole crowd of unintended people have access to your information.

Want to play?  Hie thee to ENS Wifey’s blog, snag the questions, and add yourself to the Mr. Linky for this week’s MilSpouse Friday Fill-In!