Happy March! Er, happy middle-to-end-of-March, I suppose. With Sampson getting ready for deployment and then heading over the horizon, I was pretty well slammed for the first part of the month. Since Wifey’s military spouse fill-in only rolls around once a month now, I wanted to make sure I got in on the fun before the April questions went live. Better late than never, right?

What is your favorite/most unique anniversary/birthday gift from your spouse? suggested by Bel at Being a Better Me

Sampson has given me some wonderful gifts throughout the past decade-plus (I can’t believe it’s been almost eleven years since he asked me out). It’s hard to choose just one, so I’ll go with one of the very first. For my seventeenth birthday, the cute boy who had just asked me to prom weeks prior came to a big family birthday party bearing a huge poster with a bow on it.

Even that early in our relationship, he knew how much I loved James Bond, particularly as portrayed by Sean Connery. It said a lot about Sampson that he found such a thoughtful gift rather than defaulting to the teenage-boy standard of flowers or something. The poster still hangs in our bedroom to this day. Some people might think it odd to have 007 spying on our slumber, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

What’s your first thought when you see it’s snowing (or what would you say if you don’t live somewhere with snow?) suggested by Poekitten from Many Waters

My first thought is almost certainly something inane, like, “Ooh, flurries!” After that, my brain starts clamoring for hot chocolate.

What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed?  suggested by Erika from Chambanachik

Not that we had the slightest bit of control over it, but I would have preferred Sampson to get home from a pre-deployment exercise when he was supposed to instead of almost a week late. It was painful to lose that time we were supposed to have together before he left this month.

What was your favorite thing that happened in February? 

Getting all dolled up and going to a 1940s-themed hangar dance at the Military Aviation Museum was a real treat. Sampson and I may not be accomplished swing dancers, but we never turn down an opportunity to spend an evening amongst gorgeously restored warbirds. An unexpected snowstorm made our Valentine’s date all the more magical.

What are you looking forward to in March?

Civil Air Patrol flying! I can’t wait to get back up in the air again.

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

After a holiday/New Year/life-jut-got-busy hiatus, the MilSpouse Friday Fill-In has returned in a new monthly incarnation. Wife of a Sailor (hi, LTJG Wifey!) will post questions on Thursday for us to answer on the first Friday of the month. Checking in with the greater milspouse blogosphere with this meme sounds like a good way to kick off a new month to me. Happy February, y’all!

What is your favorite winter memory?  

My little brother and I built some pretty epic snow forts during the notable (read: snow-heavy) winters of our childhood. We grew up in the DC area, which gets snow just often enough that the local governments have plows, but not often enough that people really know how to handle more than a couple inches. That made the rare occasions we got a foot or more of snow nigh-magical for us kids: schools were closed, our seldom-used snow boots were at the ready, and we could exhaust ourselves in our transformed neighborhood secure in the knowledge that hot cocoa awaited us when sledding and snowball arsenal-building was done for the day.

What is your current favorite TV show?

I always get a chuckle out of “The Big Bang Theory,” probably because I recognize (and perhaps bear some resemblance to) the quirks of so many characters.

We’ve also been enjoying “Coast Guard Alaska.” How could we not? It combines military aviation (my husband’s career) with search and rescue (the focus of my volunteer work). Also, there’s always a chance that we’re going to see someone we know; military aviation is a small world. We do roll our eyes a bit when the show tries a little too hard to find the human interest angle; a scene where they showed a bunch of officers getting together for dinner seemed staged and forced. The show is at its best when it displays professionals doing a demanding, often dangerous job with the calm confidence that every member of the aircrew knows his or her role and will get it done. That’s how I would like to be in the cockpit when I fly with the Civil Air Patrol.

What was your favorite thing that happened in January?

January turned out to be a pretty good month despite the fact that Sampson was gone for most of it. SpouseBUZZ LIVE Eglin was a definite highlight. It was wonderful to finally put faces to the familiar names of my fellow bloggers, and to find out that they’re awesome in person, to boot.

What is the best sound in the world to you?

Nothing fills my heart to overflowing like the sound of my family — my folks, Sampson’s folks, our siblings, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, assorted cousins — gathered together and laughing.

What is the biggest lesson you have learned as a MilSpouse (or significant other)?

Though the Navy may play a significant role in my life, and no matter how much I love (well, most of the time) being a part of the military community, my role as a supportive spouse is not central to the Navy. I have other roles that are about me and my passions where my contributions are key; it’s far better to look there for a sense of accomplishment — and yes, recognition for that accomplishment — than to resent always being a mere appendage to my husband in the context of his military career.

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

I’ve been missing from the MFF ranks for a few weeks now, but there’s nothing like an early Friday wake-up (boo-hiss, flight schedule, boo-hiss) to inspire a jump back onto the fill-in wagon.

My plans for Labor Day included bottling our beer, but what really happened was the drive back home from my unplanned (precipitated by  Hurricane Irene) trip to Northern Virginia. I call it my HURREVACation.

Call me crazy, but sometimes I just need to play old video games. I grew up with Sonic the Hedgehog and Ecco the Dolphin, and there’s still something magical about those games to me. Modern graphics and sound are not the be-all, end-all of the gaming experience.

One of the funniest things I’ve seen lately is my cousin’s three-year-old daughter dancing up a storm at a recent family birthday party.

It’s strange, but a haircut of Sampson’s that has grown out too much drives me crazy while his still-extant deployment mustache is perfectly fine with me! You would not believe the (good-natured) crap I have gotten for “letting” him keep the ‘stache this long after coming home. At this point, I think he should go ahead and keep it around for the next deployment so we don’t have to endure the awkward, sketchy-to-the-max growing phase.

One, two, buckle my shoe… three, four, shut the door — and hope they don’t have blasters.

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

Though I missed last week’s fill-in fun (I think my husband finally being home was a good excuse), I can’t pass up the chance to celebrate the MilSpouse Friday Fill-In’s big five-oh. Before you started, LTJG Wifey, did you ever think your weekly questions would take off like they have? Congratulations on reaching this Internet meme milestone!

Do you eat raw cookie dough?

I sure do. Getting to eat the dough/lick the batter is pretty much the reason I bake from scratch.

When you get online for the first time of the day… what site do you immediately head to?

My morning simply hasn’t begun until I’ve rolled over to my Gmail inbox to see what damage was done to it overnight.

What was your favorite pet as a child and why?

I loved my Clancy-cat. He was the chillest animal I have ever met; when my family decided to adopt a cat after our dog passed away, we knew Clancy was the one because he was the only cat in the shelter not to cringe when my then-three-year-old brother ran up to the cage and gave a big, “HI, CAT!” He lived to a ripe old feline age, but I still miss him.

If you had a snail that could magically grant wishes, what would you name it?

“Whiskey,” short for “Damn, I’d Better Cut Back on the Whiskey.”

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?

Couldn’t tell you — I always bite the silly things.

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