Small Things

It's Military Family Appreciation Week!

I can't believe I didn't even know there was such a week!

As Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, puts it: "Families serve just as their uniformed service members do. And the military family has rarely faced as many challenges as our families do today. After seven years of war, hundreds of thousands of families have served through multiple deployments in support of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, as well as many other locations throughout the globe.

"But the love and support of our military families do more than allow us to serve abroad. Our families serve at the very center of American society. They are the bedrock of a free republic which provides for a common defense – and their commitment to the values of hard work, self-sacrifice, and moral virtue is a source of great pride and inspiration for us all."

Wow . . . "the bedrock of a free republic" . . . that's some serious stuff. Much harder to get my head around that than it is to understand the part about hard work and self-sacrifice. That part is all too clear, especially now, at the end of a deployment. Cheers to all my fellow milspouses this week! Ain't it nice to be appreciated? ;-)

Resurfacing

I just took a Princess Bride Challenge quiz on Facebook, and now the title of this post has me thinking of the scene when Westley and Buttercup finally emerge from the sandpit in the fire swamp, gasping for air.

Life gets that way sometimes, and I wish I was the consistent type who could keep writing in spite of a chaotic life coupled with pneumonia. But I am not that on top of things. Add one more thing to my pile and I do feel like I've fallen into a sandpit and need my Westley to grab a rope and help pull me out. Too bad mine is cruising the Pacific somewhere.

Though I must say, when I watch that movie, and when the R.O.U.S. is attacking Westley, I get really exasperated at how Buttercup just sits there, scooting away from the giant rat in terror, helplessly poking a stick toward it. Puh-lease, like she couldn't grab a bigger stick, start swinging and do some damage. Buttercup is no milspouse, that's for sure. Course, she hasn't had kids yet, either. That would toughen her up a bit.

I'm feeling healthier, and trying to knock things off my never ending to-do list, because it's less than a week before Jamie comes home. Which doesn't give me much time to get someone to haul away the nasty old fridge in the garage before he can stop me. Gotta get busy, but I am definitely back, so stay tuned.