It came.......IT FINALLY CAME

Ladies, I have been a bad blogger.....and i'm sorry.

I have decided (for reasons you have probably assumed) that I'm putting Little Rhody Girl on hiadus for a week or two, to help somebody settle back into his home. Into our home. No worries. I definately will be back, I have about 5 recipes to back post, and that doesn't include my three day long bake-off which is scheduled for next weekend.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday

THIS is what I have to be thankful for....

It finally came, it's finally over......

Thank you, all of you, for all of your support. He's home with me, and I couldn't be happier!

17 Days

There are 17 days before my husband gets home.

this is HUGE!!!!!

I have lived the last 7 months alone, solo, solamente a mi, meaning just MYSELF.

I am a little nervous about having him home, don't get me wrong I am really looking forward to having someone to fall asleep talking to, to take after dinner walks with, ;-). All of that...But at the same time I am a little nervous about having him home after having so much time of living on my own.

O.K. I need the advice of all the navy wifes out there who are wiser than I. What should I expect, what should I do/not to to help my sailor's transition easier? PLEASE HELP!

1Nov2009

We are, offically, in November. The month my Husband comes home to me!

Okay, I just googled to find an image of a ship comming home to use for this post, and I just found the key-stone piece of my waiting on the pier outfit. I guess I'll just go casual-chiche with jeans and my black military jacket which I wear over t-shirts because I will be wearing THIS under it.

I am already SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

November will be a good month for me, for at least two reasons......

Excuse me While I smash my Head in this Wall

During a break from my Trauma class today I was sitting on the outside stairs leading into the hospital soaking up the SoCal Sunshine chit-chatting with some fellow nursey co-workers when this happened.

"So -what's his face- is going to pick up my daughter today."

"What, that's your nickname for your husband? You call him what's his face? Not worth
remembering his name huh?" -snickers-

"Ha ha...yeah. Hey Sara, I guess you could call your husband that too, since you never see him."

"Um.......what?"

I resisted the temptation to cause some her some trauma (after all we could have used it as an example for class)

People's Idiocy Astounds me sometimes....

"I'm sorry don't you mean Thank you for you and your Husbands service to our country without which I wouldn't be able to live the way I do and our America as we know it wouldn't exist? That's what I thought.

by the way...you're welcome..."

14 things you should NEVER say to a Military Wife

Civilian Friends...read this and take notes.
My Military Sisters....Amen.

taken from True Military Wives Confessions

14 things you should NEVER say to a military wife!..
Unless of course you are willing to take that chance on catching one of us on a REALLY bad day and we end up kicking your ass........remember our husbands are trained to stay alive....do you want to bet that they didn't bring their "work" home when they knew we were going to have to live and take care of ourselves for a year at a time because you can bet your ass my husband did!!!!

1. "Aren't you afraid that he'll be killed?"
(This one ranks in at number one on the "duh" list. Of course we're afraid. We're terrified. The thought always lingers at the backs of our minds —but thanks brilliant, you just brought it back to the front. Maybe next you can go ask someone with cancer if they're scared of dying.)

2. "I don't know how you manage. I don't think I could do it."
(This is intended to be a compliment. Though, its just a little annoying. Here's why: it's not like all of us military wives have been dreaming since childhood of the day we'd get to be anxious single moms who carry cell phones with us to the bathroom and in the shower. We're not made of some mysterious matter that makes us more capable, we just got asked to take on a challenging job. So we rose to the challenge and found the strength to make sacrifices.)

3. "At least he's not in Iraq."
(This is the number one most annoying comment for those whose husbandsare in Afghanistan. What do they think is happening in Afghanistan? Aninternational game of golf?

4. "Do you think he'll get to come home for Christmas/anniversary/birthday/birth of a child/wedding/family reunion, etc?"
(Don't you watch the news? No! They don't get to come home for any of these things. Please don't ask again.)

5. "What are you going to do to keep yourself busy while he's gone?"
(Short answer: Try to keep my sanity. Maybe there's a military wife outthere who gets bored when her husband leaves. For the rest of us, those with and without children, we find ourselves having to be two people.That keeps us plenty busy. We do get lonely, but we don't get bored,and drinking massive amounts of wine always helps keep me busy.)

6. "How much longer does he have until he can get out?"
(This one is annoying to many of us whether our husbands are deployed or not. Many of our husbands aren't counting down the days until they"can" get out. Many of them keep signing back up again and again because they actually love what they do or they VOLUNTEER AGAIN and AGAIN to go back to Iraq b/c there is work that needs to be done.)

7. "This deployment shouldn't be so bad, now that you're used to it."
(We do learn coping skills. We figure out ways to make life go smootherwhile the guys are gone. But it never gets "easy" and the bullets and bombs don't skip over our guys just because they've been there before.The worry never goes away.)

8. "My husband had to go to Europe for business once for three weeks. I totally know what you're going through."
(This one is similar to number two. Do not equate your husband's threeweek trip to London/Omaha/Tokyo/etc. with a 6-15 month or moredeployment to a war zone. Aside from the obvious time difference,nobody shot at your husband or tried to blow him up with an I.E.D.,your husband could call home pretty much any time he wanted to, and he flew comfortably on a commercial plane. We do not feel bonded to you in the slightest because of this comment and, if anything, we probably resent you a bit for it. Comparing a 12 month combat deployment to a few weeks business trip is like comparing a crappy Hyundai Excel with a Mercedes convertible.)

9. "Wow you must miss him?"
(This one also gets another big "duh". Of course we miss our men. There are some wives who do not and they're now divorced.)

10. "Where is he exactly? Where is that?"
(I don't expect non-military folks to be able to find Anbar Province ona map, but they should know by now that it's in Iraq. Likewise, knowthat Kabul and Kandahar are in Afghanistan. Know that Muqtada al Sadris the insurgent leader of the Mahdi Army in Iraq and that Sadr City ishis home area. Know that Iran is a major threat to our country and thatit is located between Afghanistan and Iraq. Our country has been at war in Afghanistan for seven years and at war in Iraq for five years. These basic facts are not secrets, they're on the news every night and in thepapers every day —and on maps everywhere.)

11. "Well, he signed up for it, so it's his own fault whatever happens over there.
(Yes, ignorant, he did sign up. Each and every day he protects yourright to make stupid comments like that. He didn't sign up and ask tobe hit by anything, he signed up to protect his country. Oh, and by theway, he asked me to tell you that "You're welcome." He's still fightingfor your freedom.)

12. "Don't you miss sex! I couldn't do it!"
(hmmm, no i don't miss sex. i'm a robot. seriously…military spouses learn quickly that our relationships must be founded on something greater than sex. We learn to appreciate the important things, like simply hearing their voices, seeing their faces, being able to have dinner together every night. And the hard truth is, most relationships probably couldn't withstand 12 months of sex deprivation.)

13. "Well in my opinion….."
(Stop right there. Yo, I didn't ask for you your personal political opinions. Hey, I love a heated political debate, but not in the grocery store, not in Jamba Juice, not at Nordstrom, not in a bar when I'm out with my girls trying to forget the war, and CERTAINLY NOT AT WORK. We tell co-workers about deployments so when we have to spend lunch hours running our asses off doing errands and taking care of the house, dog, and kids, they have an understanding. We do not tell co-workers and colleagues because we are giving an invitation to ramble about politics or because we so eagerly want to hear how much they hate the President, esp. while we're trying to heat up our lean cuisines in the crappyoffice microwaves.)

Last, but not least….

14. "OH, that's horrible…I'm so sorry!"
(He's doing his job and he's a badass. Don't be sorry. Be appreciative and please take a moment out of your comfortable American lives to realize that our marines/soldiers/airmen/coasties/sailors fight thewars abroad so those wars stay abroad.)

If you want to say anything...say thank you, after all, we are sexually deprived for your freedom.

Stressful Homecoming.

I have been following several Military Wives blogs over Kyle's deployment. It's nice to know that there are other women going through the same thing I am. I was hoping to become closer to the other officer's wives on Kyle's ship but most of them are much older than me, with children. They are all in such a different part of their lives compared to me so it's a little hard to relate. All of them have been around the block once or twice so I guess it's hard for them to remember back to what it was like to be a young newly-wed dealing with their first deployment (hello!)

Anyway many of the girls have been talking about homecomings. Unfortunately the stress of deployment doesn't end when your solider comes home. You get used to living alone for months and months and all of a sudden there is another body in the house, and as much as you want him/her there it does take some getting used to. -At least that is what they are saying- I haven't done this before. So frankly I'm a little nervous about it. I know it's still two full months away (two months and a few weeks, and probably some extra days thrown in there), but I have gotten used to living alone, so even though I will be over the moon to have Kyle home, it still will be new and there will be a transition time.

That will be me in a few short months!

Excuse me, but I have to vent

Tonight I went to an event sponsored by my employer, Scripps Health, a large hospital group in San Diego. It was a San Deigo Padres game that over 12,000 Scripps employees went to. There was a nice BBQ beforehand with free hot dogs and drinks, peanuts and cracker jacks. This was NOT what I am writing to vent about, just so you know. The game was really fun and it was fun to see so many fellow Scripps people there. We we all wearing white t-shirts for the event so the entire 300 section of the stadium was a wall of white. (One of my friends was watching the game at home and he asked where I was sitting, I told him I was the one in the white shirt haha)

Okay there were several things that kind of depressed me about the game

1) Kyle really likes baseball, and was bummed he wasn't here to come to the game
2) I went with my friend Brooke and her fiance
3) There we met up with
**Justine and her boyfriend
**Helen and her husband
**Kim and her almost boyfriend
**Natalie and her boyfriend
(this goes on)

yeah, so I was pratically the only person there without a significant other....I felt like the last person picked for kickball, no one wanted me.....I wish kyle was there so much. The fact that I haven't herd a peep out of him in three days hasn't helped.

I guess most people know what that's like...what most people don't know is what it feels like to be the single person when you are actually married...just so you know...it REALLY SUCKS.

Independence Day

This is one of the first times in my life that I have woken up on July 4th and had a completely new perspective on what that day actually means. The reason being is that on this particular day I woke up, in my bed, without my husband, for the 78th time since he left on deployment. I won't see him again until almost Thanksgiving. He is out there defending our country so we can celebrate holidays like this. It's because of people like him and every other solider/sailor/airman(woman) in our military that we even have a July 4th to celebrate.

I have had mixed feelings about the deployment, like any new Navy wive I imagine. Some days are easy, you get into routine, work, home, you distract yourself with projects and going out with friends. And other days are just so difficult, I can barely drag myself out of bed. One night two months after he left I had a nightmare that woke me in the middle of the night and I reached across the bed to try and grab his hand, and I cried when in the following moment I remembered that he isn't there, and won't be for a long time.

You always hear "protect and support the military men and women and their families." I guess I never really thought about myself as one of those people attached to "...the families" part. I didn't come from a military family like my husband did, so this is all kind of new for me. The thing I can tell you is that the fact that my husband is a Naval Officer, however much that complicated our relationship, has not lessened my love for him. Quite the opposite in fact. Yes the time apart sucks and the distance great, but this man is making a great sacrifice to keep our way of life sustainable. I have a great respect for him for what he does, and I will be waiting on that pier when he gets home....

So please, on this day, our Nation's 239th Birthday, when you are all doing your celebrating (I will be doing some BBQing myself) take a moment out of your day and think about my husband, and all the other husbands and wives, daughters and sons, brothers and sisters who are not home today because they are fighting so we can have a July 4th 2010.

Happy Birthday America!

25 Goals For Kyle's Deployment

So I have Decided to make a list of Goals for myself for the Deployment. You can find them






wait...






wait for it....








right....





there!

Updates

So it's been over a WEEK since I last posted. Sorry guys! and a lot has been happening, well not TOO much but there you go.

Last week at work my manager came up to me as told me that I am going to be in charge of precepting (nursing term for training) one of the new grad nurses he just hired. He is sending me to a preceptor class at the end of the month and I guess she will start at the end of June when I get back from Rhode Island. At first when he told me this I was really excited, I love to teach and work with younger nurses, I love answering questions and finding answers for people. I definitely see myself as a Clinical professor someday. After the news sank in a little bit I started to get really nervous about it, after all I'm just a baby RN myself, what if I don't do a good job? What if she thinks I'm a big idiot because I can't answer all of her questions?? I talked to some people about my frustrations and I am feeling a little better about it but I am still nervous. I hope I do a good job!!!!
Good news I herd during this conversation is that my managers are looking to transfer me to the ER. I am hoping to go in the fall, I'll keep you posted!!!!

Also yesterday I met some of the JPJ Officer's Wives for a play-date in the park. It was a good time to spend with some other women who are going through a similar situation that I am going through. It isn't exactly the same of course (most of the other women are older and already have children) but even just the small bit of time we spend chit-chatting really helped. I was the first to arrive at the park so I spent a few minutes sitting on a bench watching children play. It was really wonderful to watch them with there families, so happy. I can't wait to be a mom someday (oh wait, yes I can wait haha!)

Hope you guys didn't think I had totally fallen off of the radar. Here's to another long week of life on the Med-Surge floor!