Resource Thursday: Recreation Equipment Issue

This week's resource is a lesser-known opportunity that is available on most major military bases. Recreation Equipment Issue is much more exciting than it sounds! They actually allow military (and family) members to rent out TONS of outdoor equipment, ranging from camping supplies, carnival games, inflatable bounce houses, and yard work tools. Equipment options include small mundane things like ice chests or rakes, for occasions when you just need a few extra tools to make things go smoothly. But you can also rent things as large as a tow-able camper for a weekend trip, a lawn mower, a pig cooker, or even a generator! Their prices are much lower than any other rent-a-center, and all you have to do is pick up and drop off at the proper times. We are renting a bounce house from them for our daughter's birthday-- only $45 for the day, rather than the $90 I spent from a civilian company last year, even with a coupon! We have also previously used them to rent lawn equipment when we were tackling cultivating and seeding jobs. You only need the tools for 1 weekend, and then you don't want to have everything in your garage forever, so renting is a wonderful and affordable solution! Check it out at: Lejeune REI.

Top 10 Reasons I know we are back in North Carolina

Well, after 2 weeks in Pennsylvania, we are back to our home in North Carolina! Hubby still has another week of training, but the kids and I are just glad to be back in our own beds, getting back to our routines, etc. It was a little rough getting unpacked and re-adjusted today on my own. We just went through a deployment a year ago, but man I feel out of practice! So for fun, here is my--

Top 10 Reasons I know we are back in North Carolina:

10) Totally empty refrigerator
9) Base traffic
8) Cooking dinner alone
7) Gas less than $3.90/ gallon
6) parking lots full of mini vans and pickup trucks
5) Mosquito bites
4) grocery shoppers wearing cammies
3) a full social calendar
2) friends just a few minutes away
1) flip flops and sandals instead of boots!

Yep, it is nice to visit family sometimes, but there is no place like home!

"Home" Sweet Home

Well, for anyone who is wondering, I made it to my parents' house safely! It was actually one of our best trips, because I somehow missed both DC and Baltimore traffic. The kids were I bit whiny, no matter how many snacks or toys I gave them, but other than that it was a pretty easy drive. But now that we are here... I am exhausted! I always think it will be a relaxing break to visit my family: extra adults to help with the kids, someone else cooking meals, limited housework and chores for me to do... Yet somehow, it is much more difficult watching my little ones here than when we are home. It's a new place, so for a few days they completely forget their usual routines, act like they don't know any basic rules like 'share your toys' and 'don't hit your brother,' and they don't sleep well at all! Plus, it is much bigger than our house, and not really childproof, so the kids require much more constant attention than in our own home. So even though it has been wonderful to catch up with my family and see some people I haven't seen for almost a year, I find myself worn out and in need of a true vacation! It's a good reminder that it is so much easier on us to entertain visitors at our own house, rather than traveling all over to see family. I will have to remember this during deployment when I get bored and feel like visiting the family will be "a nice break." It is probably a good thing that our next visit won't be until Christmas! Which do you prefer: going "home" to family, or having relatives come visit you?

Packing... SO MUCH STUFF!

So I spent the day packing for my 2-week trip to visit my family in Maryland. I've made the trip by myself with both kids many times before, particularly during the last deployment, but haven't done the drive for 6 months now. The kids are a little older (i.e. more whiny and loud!) and I'm kind of dreading the drive. But as I was packing I realized how different my version of packing is than my husband's.

Whether he is packing for a short training exercise or a long deployment, he gets a packing list, and is expected to get everything into a few relatively small bags. But at least he is only packing for himself. When I pack, it is for 3 people, and 2 of them are completely irresponsible. They can't even be trusted to bring their own toys! So I spent the day rounding up all of the "essentials" that I use every day at our house, which won't be at my parents' house. Not just clothes, shoes, and jackets, but also plastic plates and utensils, baby gates, portable beds and high chairs, baby medicine, favorite DVD's, snacks, etc. I feel like I am packing up half the house! It is currently piled in my dining room and I am searching for the energy to throw it all into the van. I want to do it tonight because my mental checklist for the morning is already pretty long: take out trash and recycling, turn off heat, run dishwasher, load snacks and ice in cooler, get kids dressed, fed, and in car! Not to mention all the little things I have taken care of in the last few days: paying bills early, cleaning out the fridge, getting a neighbor to collect the mail... all this to leave the house for a few weeks! When our husbands leave, they pack up their stuff and just walk away. I wonder if they have any idea of all the "little" things we keep track of to keep the house and family running smoothly?

But hey, at least we have the luxury of being within driving distance of family! How do all of you who have to FLY home with children handle the packing and baby gear????

Alone Again

Well, this is it. My husband has left for some training to prepare for deployment in a few months. He has been here almost every night since returning from deployment last July, and now we won't see him for a few weeks. As a somewhat "seasoned" Marine wife, I realize that a few weeks is nothing. But I am surprised how much this impending training has been getting to me in recent weeks! I guess I have been viewing it as the beginning of the end. After 7 months here, suddenly he's gone for most of April, back for the month of May, gone for most of June, then deploying sometime shortly after that. So even though he was packing for a relatively short, easy training mission, I have been mentally preparing for the deployment itself, and that has created some tension. Especially since our baby will be born AFTER he deploys, I am starting to feel like I need to get furniture moved and set up the nursery soon, while he is still here. It's like going into "nesting" mode when you still have 20 weeks left to the pregnancy!

But in a way, now that he is gone, I can breathe a little easier, and get ready to move on. I am planning to spend the next few weeks with my parents--my first real visit to their house in exactly a year! We got used to visiting every few months during the last deployment, so it has been strange to go so long without seeing them and my "back home friends." I think focusing on the immediate future and this visit to family will be a lot more refreshing to me than focusing on the more distant future where husband will be deployed.

Of course everyone struggles with pre-deployment stress. I just didn't expect it to start so soon! Anyone have some good ways of calming yourself when your mind starts racing months before the actual deployment?