Happy July, everyone! Boy, was I ever happy to flip the calendar page this morning. Here’s hoping July holds much happier things in store than the end of June did.

Have you (spouse) ever considered joining the military and what do you think of dual military couples? submitted by Project Army Wife

I’ve thought about it in the past. Had I attended my hometown high school instead of a magnet school, I might have gotten involved with NJROTC and perhaps pursued ROTC in college. More recently, I went so far as to research all the medical waivers I would need in order even to be considered. One of them would require me to have surgery, wait at least six months to make sure I was fully healed with no deleterious effects, and then attempt to get the waiver approved. There are one or two other issues that might also require waivers, so I would not be a fabulous candidate for a commission on the physical side, at least.

It’s all right, though: I’m happy to keep my service on the civilian side with Civil Air Patrol, the United States Air Force Auxiliary. Volunteering with CAP gives me the opportunity to do good things for the community while remaining flexible enough to roll with the punches of Sampson’s military obligations. Plus, I look dead sexy in a flight suit.

Dual military couples have my respect and admiration; theirs is a difficult path, especially when both husband and wife are Active Duty. My personal speculation would be that such a marriage would be easier if at least one spouse planned to get out of the military (or at least go Reserve) shortly after the initial commitment. Two people who wanted to stay Active Duty for the full twenty years would almost certainly wind up geographically separated for the majority of those decades, even when they aren’t deployed. I’m sure determined people could make it work, but I know it wouldn’t be for us.

What is your idea of a perfect Sunday afternoon? submitted by A Few of My Favorite Things

I think Vera and Valentine have the right idea.

What do you usually do for the 4th of July holiday? submitted by Anchor’s Away

I give voice to my patriotism and joy in the United States of America by indulging in socially acceptable pyromania. Delicious grilled food is a bonus.

If they could make an Olympic event JUST for you that you know you’d medal in, what would it be? submitted by Pants are Confusing

Impressing Retired Folks with my Rapid Competence in New Electronic Devices. I’d be a shoo-in, never mind the Russian judge.

What have you been doing to get yourself bathing suit ready for the summer? submitted by Not Just an Army Wife

Not a thing. I bought my first new bathing suit in years last summer and, what with one thing and another, never wound up wearing it. I tried it on this spring and found it still fit as nicely as I remembered, so I reckon I’m good to go if I actually make it to the beach this summer.

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!

Are you a different person than you were five years ago? submitted by Sisterly Thoughts

In 2006, I was embarking on my first summer since I was five years old that didn’t have a new school year waiting for me at the end of it. Sampson and I were engaged and planning our wedding, though he was up to his eyeballs in All Things Flight School at the time. I spent a lot of time poring over a Naval Aviation forum in an effort to predict what our lives would be like.

A lot has happened in the past half-decade, but I would say it’s been happening to the same person. I hope I am wiser, but I don’t think I’m a brand new individual.

If you could go on Amazing Race, who would you take with you as your partner and why? submitted by Thoughts from a Poekitten

I’ve never seen a single episode, I must admit. If teamwork is necessary, though, I pick Sampson. We work extremely well together.

Does Facebook or Twitter actually bring more stress or good in to your life? submitted by Just an Arizona Girl

The positives continue to outweigh the negatives, especially where Twitter is concerned. I love my Twitter buddies! As Facebook has morphed from a collegiate hangout to a place for everyone from my grandma to my tween nieces to the rabbi who officiated at our wedding, the way I use it has changed. I keep my virtual mouth shut more often than not. With so many people from so may different parts of my life reading, it can be tricky to figure out which “hat” I ought to be wearing.

Also, my grandma thinks that anything that shows up in her news feed is directed specifically at her. This assumption has led to some amusingly awkward moments with folks who have their privacy settings such that friends of friends can comment on their status updates. I think several of us in the family have had to explain to our friends the identity of that mysterious white-haired lady who just left them a comment.

June is National Soul Food Month- what’s your soul food? submitted by NH Girl Displaced

Macaroni and goat cheese, preferably with a smoked Gouda. Devilishly decadent!

If you could live in any other era than the current, which one would it be & why? submitted by Sugar in My Grits

I’m fairly comfortable with our current temporal situation, but I like to think I’d’ve kicked butt with the WAVES or WASPs in the 1940s.

Are you a military spouse/fiancée/fiancé/girlfriend/boyfriend? Hie thee to LTJG Wifey’s blog (and wish her a happy birthday! birthmonth! It’s still her birthmonth, even if the day is past), snag the questions, and add yourself to the Mr. Linky for this week’s MilSpouse Friday Fill-In!

Underwear Parties, how old is too old? submitted by Wookie & Co.

If you’re going to have an underwear party, I think you should probably wear some of your newer stuff. No one needs to see frayed elastic or worn bra straps, and faded colors just wouldn’t contribute appropriately to the festive atmosphere.

Oh, did you mean the age of the wearers? Context would seem to be more important than age. I must admit, though, I don’t foresee that particular context popping up in my post-collegiate life unless my husband and I by ourselves constitute a “party.”

What was your favorite class in high school? submitted by Adventures of M-Squared

Anthropology was both fascinating and a lot of fun. Highlights included:

– A trip to the National Zoo to observe primate behavior

• Note that “primates” also include the human visitors to the zoo

– Guest speakers such as the forensic anthropologist who brought a skull that still had the murder weapon (a knife blade) embedded in it and told us tales of identifying plane crash victims by their teeth (which were not necessarily found with the rest of their owners)

• Bonus fun fact: apparently the term “high fragmentation,” when applied to a plane crash, does not refer to the state of the aircraft.

– A contest to see who could, using only one’s feet (any use of hands was disqualifying), peel a banana and lift the fruit to one’s chin the fastest

• I won!
• When I told my mom of my triumph after school, I thought she was going to choke to death from laughing (I’m sure she was just overcome with parental pride)

Come to think of it, I wish there had been time in my college schedule for an Anthro course. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when major requirements precluded my taking “The Anthropology of Star Trek.”

Have you ever convinced packers/movers to pack something they aren’t supposed to for a PCS? submitted by Ground Control to Major Mom

K-rock to Corpus: our fastest PCS ever.

This one gets a resounding “maybe.” When we moved from Kingsville to Corpus Christi, the entire pack-up, transportation, and unload process took place in the space of a single day. I’m pretty sure the packers threw it all in with little regard to what was technically allowed, since none of it would even be staying on the truck overnight.

That packing/moving team was fantastic. They were efficient, friendly, and motivated to get everything done in one day. Contrast that with our move (just over three months later) from Corpus Christi to Virginia. The lack of professionalism from that team was a huge disappointment after having had such a good experience only a few months prior.

Blogging plays a growing roll in the media. If you were asked to embed as a blogger with a deployed military unit, would you go? What do you think your blog would be like? submitted by To the Nth

Since I asked the question, you can probably guess that yes, I would participate in this hypothetical embedded blogger program. Specifically, I would want to share the story of a Navy squadron. When people outside the military community hear “deployment,” I believe the images that spring to mind for many involve Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Army. Our military and its activities throughout the world are far from monolithic, though, and I would want to shine some light on that heterogeneity.

CODs fly out of all kinds of places -- like Greece -- over the course of a deployment. (U.S. Navy photo by Paul Farley/Released)

Let’s say I were embedded with the aforementioned Navy squadron, and let’s make it a COD detachment such as my husband is on now. Sampson jokingly refers to a COD det as a traveling rock-and-roll show: although the pilots fly out to the aircraft carrier on a nigh-daily basis, they live on land. Where on land, specifically? It changes — as quickly as every few days, in some cases — as the ship moves. When the carrier is transiting from one place to another, the men and women on the COD det have to pack up, move, unpack, and set up a base of operations in a new place. The logistical feats they perform are monumental, yet largely invisible to the people on the aircraft carrier. The Boat, collectively, cares only that their cargo shows up, the mail gets there, and the VIPs arrive and depart as scheduled. Those aboard don’t necessarily see the mad scramble necessary to do it all and make it look easy.

The up-close and personal nature of most blogs would be well-suited to highlighting the diversity of the military experience, even within the same branch of the service. A blog filled with those day-to-day struggles, annoyances, and yes, occasional sweet deals (hey, COD guys do get to live on the beach instead of being stuck on a giant gray floating monstrosity) might shed some light on their efforts. Maintaining OPSEC would no doubt require some special considerations about what to publish, but I believe there would be a way to honestly tell the stories of the people who come together to perform a given mission.

Do you think kids should attend year-round school? submitted by Marrying the Navy

I believe kids should learn year-round. I also believe that a significant chunk of learning should not be restricted to the classroom. Kids need time to explore the world beyond the building where they spend the majority of their day in a room with only their peers and a single adult running the show.

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!

When you vacation what type of vacation do you like to take (beach, historic, adventurous, food oriented, etc.)? submitted by Megan Dub-Yuh

I don’t know that any of our vacations have fit into neat categories. In the future, I would definitely like to take a food-oriented trip to New York City, though. Then you could, in the words of my hilarious mother-in-law, “roll me home from the table.” Yes, a vacation revolving around deliciousness would be right up our alley.

What is your best memory associated with a song (you know we all have tons!) submitted by Ramblings of a Marine Wife

Tough one. It’s hard to choose one memory from such a musical multitude as “the best.” A summertime memory that springs to mind involves “Bohemian Rhapsody” and a beach house filled to the brim with my extended family in various states of inebriation, all singing at the top of their lungs. There was headbanging, too — it was glorious.

Oh, now it’s in my head and the dang cats don’t know the words. Sigh.

If you had six months with no obligations or financial constraints, what would you do with your time? submitted by Married to the Army

Fly. A lot. Preferably someplace scenic, with a variety of cross-country locations within a reasonable distance for the fabled hundred-dollar hamburger.

What is one thing about you that people do NOT typically notice at first that you wish they would? submitted by Our Motto is Patience

Huh. I haven’t the foggiest notion what people do notice about me at first, much less what they fail to spot.

…submitted by The Three Turners: It’s a summer of sequels, and if you had to live in one of each of the following “worlds” (there are three total) which would you choose and why?

Oh, this kind of question can get incredibly complex for people who love speculative fiction as much as I do. I will deliberately keep things simple, lest I wind up writing a geektastic dissertation on the fictional universe in question, its peculiarities, and the minutiae dependent thereon. (You’re welcome.)

X-Men: Be a Mutant, what would your power be?

Something in the teleportation family would be an awfully handy power for a military spouse, don’t you think?

Harry Potter: Be a Witch or Muggle?

As if Angela Noelle’s recent post on her trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter wasn’t already feeding my dream of extremely belated Hogwarts admission! Now really, is it any contest? I’d pick magic any day of the week.

Twilight: Be a Vampire or Werewolf?

I have not read the books or seen the movies. The series I used to read about vampires and werewolves involved no sparkling whatsoever and rather more *cough* explicit paranormal sex. Oh, Laurell K. Hamilton, I do remember when your Anita Blake books actually bothered with plots, though. I lost interest when, somewhere along the way, the books transmuted from decent horror-ish stories to one scene of freaks gettin’ freaky after another.

If we broaden the scope of the question to include more generic vampires and werewolves (my favorites being found in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series), I’d prefer to shift my shape every full moon than make one permanent shift from living to bloodsucking undead.

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