Memorial Day Weekend

The past few days have been busy ones at Tara. My last day at work was Wednesday and I haven't really had a chance to enjoy the downtime yet.

Tanker got home about 0930 Thursday and we spent the afternoon helping get together decorations for Bonnie Blue's current best friend's 16th birthday party. Then dinner with the mother-in-law and her husband. Fried fish doesn't really fit in to the Weight Watchers program but I managed to stay on track with a baked potato and salad. Friday was spent working on Tankers latest project. He is rebuilding a 1978 Camero and having way too much fun with it!! My truck went in for it's latest checkup and came out with a $382. bill...great...two days after my last paycheck hits the bank. And Saturday we had some friends over to join us for dinner. Isn't life in a small town exciting??!!

Today we went to church to hear the interium pastor. Haven't been there in awhile - that whole situation will be fodder for another post - and I am praying fervently that they find a new pastor soon. I have come to the conclusion that I don't need to listen to another Baptist preacher who has Dr. in front of his name. It was the most tedious sermon I have heard in a long time. And if I get one more hug from an insincere person I will probably lose my lunch. There was, however, a very fitting tribute in the bulletin that I thought I would share.

They answered their country's
call to arms,
into battle they do go.
Where their final destination was,
no one will ever know.
May their final resting place,
under some unknown sod.
Be forever hallowed,
for it is known only to God.

We will take some time tomorrow to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice serving our country. This is one thing that they do right in small town USA.

Someone You Should Know

I am not usually up at this hour...have to be up for work in about 5 hours and normally require at least 7 hours of sleep...but I just finished a great book. It is Heart Of A Soldier by James B. Stewart.

From the back cover:

Heart of a Soldier is the extraordinary story of war, love and comradeship, danger and heroism, told by a Pulitzer Prize winner who is one of our finest writers.

When Rick Rescorla got home from Vietnam, he tried to put combat and death behind him, but he never could entirely. From the day he joined the British Army to fight a colonial war in Rhodesia, where he met American Special Forces' officer Dan Hill who would become his best friend, to the day he fell in love with Susan, everything in his remarkable life was preparing him for an act of generosity that would transcend all that went before.

Heart of a Soldier is a story of bravery under fire, of loyalty to one's comrades, of the miracle of finding happiness late in life. Everything about Rick's life came together on September 11. In charge of security for Morgan Stanley, he successfully got all its 2,700 men and women out of the south tower of the World Trade Center. Then, thinking perhaps of soldiers he'd held as they died, as well as the woman he loved, he went back one last time to search for stragglers.

I wish I had known Rick Rescorla.

Reading of interest

There are several blogs that I stalk...err....read on a pretty regular basis and have been following a few stories that you may find of interest:

This is a story I have been following since Brian Kilmeade did a story on Fox and Friends. I sent a card to Joshua during his stay at Walter Reed and have wondered what has been happening since. Take a tissue and check out the story on Joshua Sparling at The Gunn Nutt . You will see the best and the absolute worst America has to offer.

Another story I have been following is the closing of Fran O’Brien’s restaurant in the Capital Hilton, Washington, DC. Here is the latest, thanks to Fuzzilicious Thinking …and yes, I will be joining the boycott of all Hilton properties.

And last but certainly not least, Greg is a soldier that I have been following for awhile. He is back from Iraq and is now battling colon cancer. Leave a note of encouragement for him and his wife, Sher.

Later....

There IS good out there.

It's been an interesting reading the newspapers lately. Seems like everywhere you turn there is nothing but negative news and then...I find this amazing story about people going above and beyond the call of duty. Active duty soldiers miss so many important events in their kid's lives and now, because of the goodness that is out there, there is a group of soldiers that will be able to see their children's graduation from high school. Too cool! Check it out here.

And for those of you who know me well, did you see the hyperlink? I'm learning!

Our Pathetic Life

Can anyone explain to me what's up with Grey's Anatomy? This is one show that Bonnie Blue and I both have on our "must see" list and Sunday/Monday's finale was no exception. We have gotten to where we watch everything after the fact on Tivo but didn't on Monday. Sat through commercials and all. Isn't Tivo wonderful?! There were so many good parts:

• Webber...His wife setting him straight. It was a "You go girl!" moment.
• Webber's neice...When she is telling him that she has been loved. Cool.
• George...God bless him. He just needs to get over Meredith but I am not convinced that the bone girl is my choice for him.
• Yang...I know this girl has emotional issues but please! I was glad she finally got over it and did the right thing with Burke.
• Izzy...can you say dumb blond? Make that dumb, dumb blond. But then when Denny said it was his turn and gave his little speech, Bonnie Blue says "How cheesie!". It was a good opportunity for me to explain to her that I hope she finds someone who is that cheesie with her.
• Doc...The tears started when they were putting him to sleep. I guess having just gone through that ourselves it just hit too close to home. I was glad to see Meredith pull her hand away when Derek touched her.
• Alex...I knew this guy always had it in him. When he picked Izzy up and held her - we started the ugly cry!

I am so over the whole Meredith/McDreamy thing. We both were actually screaming at the TV when they went into the room...DON'T KISS HER...OH NO. THEY ARE NOT GOING TO. Once again, I am making a learning experience from a fictual television show.

So, does she pick Finn or McDreamy? We have decided that she really needs to not pick either of them and should go back to knitting. We like the vet too much to want him involved in all her drama and since Derek decided to stick it out with his wife he ought to stay there.

How pathetic is this? A whole, longwinded post on a TV show!!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

OK...What's the deal with guys and Mother's Day? Earlier this week I ordered some chocolate covered strawberry's for my mother (her absolute favorite) and decided I should check with Tanker about his mom. I am thinking with the new laptop he has that he should be able to do the online thing for her too - but nooo he hadn't even thought about it!

So, this morning there is a beautiful plant in a really unusual container sitting on her table in all the colors that she loves. And she will spend another delusional year thinking her youngest son thought of her today. I just hope he remembers to call her!

The things we do for our loved ones...

The Winds of Change

I am sitting here this morning thinking about all the changes that are about to happen with our family this summer. The big thing is I have resigned and my last day of work is Friday. 5 more days.

Now, I never really thought of this as a "real" job...I've always said my last "real" job was 8 years ago (did I actually say eight? OMG!!) when I worked as Director of Human Resources for a division of about 350 restaurants. Tanker got really tired of following me around (3 moves in 3 years) and we settled in the middle of nowhere near his family. But this job allowed me to learn about a different industry and kept me busy during his deployment. And my coworkers were lifesavers during that time.

It is time to move on...or actually get my priorities straight and be more available to Tanker and Bonnie Blue. She is almost done with high school and, before we know it, she will be gone. She never has really been good at entertaining herself and the thoughts of her being on her own, at this age, for 11 hours a day was not very appealing to me. She has a friend that she spends WAY too much time with (that whole story will be left for another day) so I am trying to keep her busy. So far we have planned...

• Driver's Ed...2 weeks of 0830 to 1130.
• Trip to visit my family up north for a wedding. (This will be WAY cool. My family has not seen Tanker since he got back from the sandbox.)
• Bonnie Blue is going to be a youth counselor for our National Guards Kids AT.
• Working on a trip to the Gulf Coast with my best friend.
• Little Bubba is going to visit over 4th of July with his soon to be step-daughter.
• And, of course, we will be able to spend more time with Tanker. His schedule will be less flexible this summer and won't be able to come home as much as he has this spring.

This puts us through about the middle of July. If I can handle all the driving we should be busy! And I was worrying about what I would do if I wasn't working!!

Take a minute...

As usual, I am running behind, but May is Military Appreciation Month.

Loyalty Day, May 1
VE Day, May 8
Military Spouse Day, May 12
Armed Forces Day, May 20
Memorial Day, May 29

Make a point this month to thank an servicemember (active/guard/reserve), veteran, or military family member. I know, from personal experience, that just letting a servicemember's family know that you appreciate their sacrifice will be greatly appreciated. Alot of times, the family member of a servicemember (especially guard and reserve) feel very isolated while their soldier is deployed. Most live miles away from a military installation and the people they interact with on a daily basis are understandably clueless. Let them know you care!

We purchased a new home about 3 years before Tanker was deployed. For months I had been complaining about the fact that I could not get a sturdy enough flag pole to fly my flag on because there is always a rather strong wind at our house. I can't even begin to tell you how many bent flag poles I have thrown away!! Tanker had been overseas about 3 months when Bonnie Blue and I went to Big Bubba's college graduation. On the way home I spent a good bit of the 4 hour ride feeling sorry for everyone because Tanker was not there to see him walk. I mean, he was so proud of the fact that Big Bubba was a college graduate...and had done it pretty much on his own with the academic scholarships he had received...and Tanker was thousands of miles away. Let me tell you - I can work up a pretty good pity party and I was at the peak when we pulled in our road and I saw something in my headlights that looked totally out of place. There in the perfect spot in the middle of my front yard was a gleaming commercial grade flag pole!! I sat there for several moments with the lights shining on it and tears streaming down my face looking at both the United States and Army flags flying. Friends of ours from our church had taken the time to put this up while we were gone! I can't even begin to explain how much this meant/means to me.

So the moral of the story is...take some time to listen and learn what you can do to help a military family. It doesn't have to be this time consuming (although Dennis swears to this day that it took them no time at all to get it cemented in) but do something to let them know you are there for them!!

And make sure your flag is flying...

Who's Who

Since I will be attempting to post anonymously...I do have a teenage daughter that I seem to embarrass with great frequency and a husband in the military (wouldn't want to ruin his career completely!)...I thought it might be helpful to tell you who's who.

Hubby is affectionately referred to as Tanker. Just seems to fit. He is currently on Active Duty training troops to deploy overseas and loving it. The only down side is he is stationed about 8 hours from home. We are used to him being away from home alot (his civilian job was a long haul flatbed trucker) but after the deployment it just seems that we should get back to normal - whatever that is!

Our oldest son (24 y/o) is Big Bubba and graduated from college while Tanker was in Iraq. He lives about 4 hours away and is planning on going to law school. Big Bubba is absolutely smitten with a wonderful young lady who I am sure will be our daughter-in-law shortly.

Our next son (23) is Little Bubba. Daughter nicknamed them that years ago! Little Bubba lives "up north" about 13 hours away, and is settling down with a great girl (and her 2 y/0 daughter). They are expecting a child in October '06. I am hoping they will marry before the baby is born!

Daughter (15) is Bonnie Blue although this may become BB or Bonnie because I tend to be just lazy sometimes. I asked her for a nickname suggestion and she followed the whole Tara theme here. She is the only child left in the house and is spoiled rotten. While shopping today I decided we may have to have an intervention to handle her shoe addiction problem!

And I am Scarlett. I am a 40 something wife, and about to be stay at home mom. I have decided that I need to be available for both Tanker and Bonnie Blue this summer. I expect by the time school starts in the fall I will be needing to go back to work but, who knows, maybe I will actually enjoy the domestic goddess thing! I am involved with a great group called Soldier's Angels - check them out at www.soldiersangels.org - and am a co-leader for Tankers unit's FRG (Family Readiness Group). You will probably begin to see a thread in my posts. I am very pro-military and have absolutely no tolerance for those who do anything to disrespect the work these folks are doing for us. Enough said.

So, there you go. Until next time...

This is an interesting beginning.

I didn't blog through the time hubby was was in Iraq...and there was plenty of drama to write about then! It may have helped. Who knows. But we survived and he is now back in the states and for that I am eternally grateful.

Now we are learning how to keep going with an 8 hour car ride between us...a teenage daughter living here at home...#2 son about to make us grandparents...and #1 son comtemplating marriage.

So if you are interested - hang on tight - and enjoy the ride!!!