Happy Veterans Day

Yesterday was an important day in our house, and across the nation. Even before my husband enlisted, I've known that veterans were people to be respected and honored (without them, I don't think my mom would've even considered coming to the US). But, this Veterans Day someone got me thinking. One of my friends told the story of how her father suffered physical injuries and PTSD after his experiences with war, and asked, with so many of our men and women experiencing maladies that range from PTSD to loss of limbs and everything in between, "why do we say 'happy' Veterans Day?"

Here's my answer to you my friend:

Everyday we respect our veterans. Some of us personally take care of them. In our house, we stand with our veteran, support our veteran. We thank the ones me we meet for their service. Every day. But, on Veterans Day, we celebrate our veteran. We celebrate him, and his brothers and sisters in arms. We take that extra step out of our daily bubble to let them know how much we appreciate them, with parades and ceremonies and programs in the schools. That celebration, that appreciation, that creates a good feeling. A happy feeling. That is why, in our house, November 11th is always a HAPPY Veterans Day.

Thank you to all the veterans that might read this.

And good luck to those men and women thinking about enlisting.

Much love,

30 Days of Thanks: Day 26

30 Days of Thanks

Day Twenty-six: A Charity

There are a lot of charities that are near and dear to my heart.

Here are some that have helped me and my family in the past:

Toys for Tots

The Salvation Army

The Red Cross

The USO

Operation Homefront

30 Days of Thanks: Day Sixteen

30 Days of Thanks

Day Sixteen: An Experience

So this entry started out as a joke, and is now becoming something else. Hehehe.

Today, I’m thankful for the start of my friendship with ML. We met over the internet via, not one, but two military support message boards. I honestly didn’t think much would come of it, since there is such a vast difference in our ages and our stages in life.

What started out as emails of support between a Marine wife and a Marine Girlfriend, became a random & crazy first phone call (she was lost in Wilmington, I was traveling the notoriously dead zone riddled back roads of Iowa). She and Vincent visited us shortly after we arrived at Camp Lejeune, and ML was the first person to spend the night in our “new” house -- we didn’t even have our furniture yet!

Together we’ve waited in line at book signings. Traveled from NC to SC, and back again, with a van full of kids and dogs. We braved Black Friday in Columbia -- twice. Eaten copious amounts of chocolate cookies. And attended so many Pure Romance parties that I’ve lost count.

Our relationship is, truly, one of a kind.

Husbands out of the Corps -- We're still Moto

We ♥ Nicholas Sparks

Much Love,

L Schueder

30 Days of Thanks: Day Five

30 Days of Thanks

Day Five: A Place

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, NC

On this day, I give thanks for Camp Lejeune. Now, I know there are Marines and their families screaming, “What? Camp Lejeune sucks!” I give thanks for Camp Lejeune because that is where I met some of my closest friends, and had some great experiences that, for me, were once in a lifetime.

Lunch w/ the Lovelies

partners in crime

Besties!

Tiff & Jon a.k.a. The Monkeys

My Ja-Ninja

Miss Bess-ina

Much Love,

L Schueder

This post inspired by Designer Wife--30 Days of Thanks

You Matter to Me

You Matter to

 Me Day!

Today is the 3rd annual You Matter to Me Day. I think it’s fitting today, because I have been thinking about some very special people lately. Some things have happened in the past weeks to make me really start thinking about those that I love, and those that love me. And, seeing as it’s “You Matter to Me Day” I thought I should tell you more about the ones that occupy my heart.

that's my man :)

The Husband- The love of my life, and one of my best friends. He’s the man I steal the sheets from at night. The one I spent a year perfecting my lasagna recipe for. And I was the first girlfriend that he ever let drive his truck. ;)

yup, just like their momma

Small, Medium & Large- a.k.a. The Kids. My children are the reason I get up before the sun everyday. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t know the joy of that first cup of coffee in the morning. I also wouldn’t know that it’s possible for a human to operate on only 3hrs of sleep (dang book-hangover).

bffs and motards

ML- She’s my Person. The sister I’m glad I never had (‘cause we might not be so close if we were). If she called me up in the middle of the night needing to move a body, I would grab the Husband’s truck (see above) and be there faster than you can say “bless your heart.”

I heart her!

JaNinja- My other “almost-sister”, she’s the one that feeds my caffeine addiction. She’s the one that knows the way to my heart is a Venti Mocha Frappuccino. Bonus points if it’s a surprise. She’s also knows every good sarcastic barb should be followed by “Bazinga.”

La Madre & the Bro-Haas- Aside from Papi & the Offspring, they are the only family that I know. I will love them forever (uh, duh) even when they choose to name their children wrong. (Video game names are unacceptable! I will always call him Bubba!)

ML's man

Vinny D- He belongs to ML. He is also the closest thing Papi has to a BFF (besides me, he he). If he puts up with ML’s and my silliness, he deserves some mad props. Needless to say, he also enjoys a good “Bazinga” now and then.

That would be the short list. The long list includes (in the order my brain farted them out):

Loved Ones of CLB-6 OEF 2010  -those middle of the night calls made me feel so important! I cried, I laughed, I got mad with y’all (that’s with not at!). I indulged in quite a bit of “coping.” No Ladies’ Night will ever be the same.

CLB-6 OEF 2010 FRT -Nobody will ever understand crazy like these ladies and I do. Unless you, too, are a member of a Family Readiness Team.

My SC Family -a.k.a ML’s family. I love them as much as I love my own. I think everyone knows that if I didn’t live in IA, I would live in Columbia, SC. Please pray for PawPaw, he had surgery this morning.

BCCHS Class of 1999 -The friends I made in Bay City will always hold a special place in my heart (probably somewhere around the left ventricle). Example: I was invited to the 10yr reunion even though I didn’t graduate with them. (Have we really been out of high school that long?)

Malarky’s Crew Summers of ’00 & ’01 -I can’t even say why without incriminating anyone. :p

Animals -I heart animals. Especially my own, of course.

The In-Laws -I have the best Mothers and Father in-law. They even remembered my birthday this year! (ahem, the Husband!!!) Sometimes I wonder if I spend more time with them than I do my Papi.

The long list gets even longer, but I think it’s time I got off my butt and let some of these people (S, M, & L to be specific) know I love them by spending some quality time with them today. Let someone you love know they matter to you today--take a second to give them a hug, phone call, or even a text to know you’re thinking of them.

If you’re reading this, YOU MATTER TO ME, too!

Almost Homecoming

Homecoming is right around the corner for us. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t scared shitless, because I am. I have no clue what to expect from my husband. He has seemed to be “normal” for most of this deployment, but the last few times I’ve talked with him, something changed. He’s not the same guy that I remembered. I could almost hear something that sounded like defeat in his voice.

He’s also started being a bit insensitive. It hasn’t seemed as though he was taking my feelings into consideration. I understand that he’s got a lot on his mind, but he does still have a family back home, and a wife that would like to hear that he still loves her once in a while. There are days when it gets very hard to keep my frustration in check. Those are the days when he is very lucky that I can’t call him, and give him a piece of that frustration.

This is our first deployment. I find myself often with my arms outstretched, palms facing upward. Hoping for an idea of what I should be thinking, and feeling, to come to me. There are days when I think I know what’s going on, but lately those days have been few and far between. For a time, I was going through the motions: feed the children, feed the dogs, clean up after the children, clean up after the dogs, bathe the children, bathe the dogs. Day in and day out, until suddenly I realized that it was already July.

An unexpected shake up finds me expecting my husband home a couple weeks early. There are parts of me that are ecstatic to see him, and others that would rather I had that time back to prepare. Or even longer. I feel guilty for not being completely over the moon to see him, but everyone keeps telling me that he’s going to come back a changed man. Will it be good, or bad? And if he does change for the better, will it stick?

What about the kids? The children are now 2 and 3, they know that Daddy has been at work for a very long time. He’s been off helping the good people, and fighting the bad guys. I have finally told them that Daddy will be home soon, and that we need to get ready for it. But, how do you get toddlers ready for homecoming? Is the youngest going to remember him? Or run screaming for the hills when this stranger in cammies comes at her and asks for a hug?

And the dogs, oh the dogs! Anyone that’s been to my house, knows how my fur-children react to strangers. They have been Momma’s girls for the last six months, who is this guy suddenly trying to discipline them and telling them when and where to poo? I think that will be a very loud reunion.

On the flip side, what if they all completely take to my husband’s return? I have been caring for all of them for so long, I’m not sure I’m ready to give up the crown just yet. I like being the ultimate force in the house. Now I have to share that power? I don’t know how I feel about that.

Don’t get me wrong, there are things that I’m looking forward to. I miss having someone come home to me everyday. I can’t wait to share disciplining-that is tiring after a while. We have some very headstrong princesses in our kingdom. I am so looking forward to having someone to pick up the dog poo. And of course the intimacy, he he he, the intimacy.

This is a very scary place to be right now. Do the positive and negative possibilities cancel each other out? Will everyone behave? Will the flights land on time, and will everything run smoothly so that I’ll get him back when planned? Did he actually shave off the Afghanistache?

My husband and I have never been apart for this long. Very soon we’ll know if we were successes, or otherwise. He’ll see all the things I changed in the house. All the events that were held in our home. He’ll see the ghetto dog kennel that was erected in our backyard. And hopefully, he’ll see just how much we missed having him home with us.

Our Marine Corps, Our Family

They say that the Marine Corps is a family, and I’d like to believe that. And, there is no better time to witness the Marine Corps family in action, than during a deployment. I know that were it not for the support of my sisters in arms, I would have gone mad by now.

First of all, it starts with our wonderful Family Readiness Officer, Mrs. Mary Mathews. She has been given the responsibility of overseeing the welfare of not only the Marines of the unit, but also their families. There are somewhere around 700 Marines in my husband’s unit. That’s a lot of guys, and then you add in the spouses, children, parents and whoever else the Marine chooses. It’s enough to make your head spin!

That woman deserves every penny of her salary, and then some. She has even helped friends of mine whose husbands are not in her unit. And for the first four months of this deployment, she did it all on her own. She had absolutely no volunteers. Give that woman a medal! And some cherry cordials, they’re her favorite.

I have received I don’t know how many calls from women, not because they were in the hospital or having an emergency, but because a friend was. And if for some reason that young mother needs to stay in the hospital overnight, there are a number of people ready to step up and babysit.

This sisterhood that was formed the day that our Marines left warms my heart. I spoke with Mary once (after yet another crisis had occurred) and asked her, “has anyone ever had a deployment this eventful?” She answered, “With this many trips to the hospital, I don’t know. But, they definitely have more wife drama!” And you know what? As much as I don’t wish anyone to the ER, I prefer this to the drama.

I would rather us banding together in times of need, than stabbing each other in the back. Our men are overseas fighting for freedom, and to make sure the fight stays over there. And back home, the women have nothing better to do than to say bad things about each other, and call one another names? I have a problem with that. You ladies need to find a better use for your time.

Not to say that this unit is without its drama, but even that showed our cohesiveness. When one person tried to stir the pot, it made the rest of us even closer. We learned who are friends were, and what was good for our group. We stood together proud of ourselves, proud of our Marines, proud to be Marine wives, and not afraid to tell the world.

We’re closing in on homecoming now, and it seems the chaos has changed type. Plans are being made by wives not in the area, to move here. Parties are being held to make banners for loved ones. Baby showers are being thrown for little ones that just can’t wait for daddy. Wives are reuniting and resparking friendships. Or meeting for the first time, and finding kindred spirits.

Pre-homecoming Meet and Greets are in the organizational stages. And I’ve already had more than one wife (or mother) tell me that this isn’t their first deployment, but it is the first get together of this type. I would love to meet the person standing next to me, waiting to charge the busses, before that day. To have a chance to share stories in a more relaxed setting. (Of course, preferably one where I’m able to stuff my face.) So that when we’re standing there Homecoming day, I’m not afraid to spark a conversation and make the time fly by faster.

It’s been a long week, I’m quite tired. But I find comfort in knowing that I have a telephone full of numbers that I can call to find a sitter if I need a moment. Or if I need someone to listen as I vent about the week’s hardships. I also relish in knowing that all those people in my contact list, or out in the Facebook world, know that they can call on me at any time. Be it at 1430 or 0230, I will always answer.

I could not have made it through this deployment without the constant support and reassurance I get from those ladies. Thank you CLB-6 sisters, for reminding me that not all the horror stories about us are true. The Marine Corps is a family. A small, at times, very tight knit family. And it’s almost time for a Family Reunion.