the start of our military farewell

Last week I got what will hopefully be the last "military surprise" dumped on me.  In the grand scheme of things, it's really not a big deal at all, but it has changed some plans around.

B put in his official resignation letter with the Navy last week.  We knew this was coming; we planned on this.  However, when he submitted it, he was told that he has to get out in August.  We have been telling everyone November 2012 for the past year or so.  I know it's only a matter of months, but it was still a bit of a surprise.  He even asked to be extended a few more months, and the powers that be weren't having it.

Discharging from the military is simultaneously frightening, liberating, the most natural thing in the world, and apparently the most unnatural thing around this base.  The base we are currently at seems to have two types of people: those who just joined the military (currently in A-school or flight school), and those who are only a few years from retirement (currently teaching/commanding A-school and flight school).  For the record, B works at a command with a ton of civilians, and it's not A-school or flight school.  I've met very few people in that mid-range level, but I love it when I find them.  It usually happens around here that when I tell people, "He's getting out," they respond, "He's retiring?"  At our last base, I watched oodles of men and women separate from the service, and no one batted an eye because they knew how much it sucks to be on a ship.  I guess here they're still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed?

B and I have gone back and forth about him joining the Reserves, and after a talk with an O-6 from the aviation world who discouraged it for submarine officers, I think we both agreed that we will be fine without those headaches.  (In case you're wondering, B has a degree in electrical engineering and can also do nuclear engineering thanks to the Navy.)  When I first brought up the Reserves, B told me I should join it.  I'll keep that in my back pocket if times get rough--I think I'd make a good Reservist!

We purposely planned to have our first child while on this shore tour.  The timing worked out right, he's home all but 3 predictable days a month, the pre-natal visits and birth are free, and we were ready.  I'm glad that our plan is panning out, but the fact that we will have a child adds a bit of worry to the date bump-up.  B doesn't want to start a new job until October, so I'm trying to factor in the cost of insurance to our 2012 budget.  If it was just the two of us, we'd probably just go without.  It's not looking very cheap right now, but hopefully we'll get some answers when he goes to his Transition Assistance class on base.

You may have noticed that I rarely post about the military on my blog.  I started this whole thing to pass some time while he was deployed last year, but everything went rather swimmingly so there wasn't too much to vent about.  Plus, we'd already been through it before (with me as a girlfriend), and it was ten times worse.  I purposely never branded this thing as a "milspouse" blog, since I've known that B wouldn't be career military since the moment I met him.  I also realize that I will have spent just as much time out on my own in civilian land (post-college) as I have under the protective cocoon of the Navy.  That's about three years with each.  That fact won't stop me from missing the amazing perks we get around these parts, namely the commissary, free healthcare, and a free gym.

One thing I realized I really won't miss are the military traditions.  I didn't grow up in a military town, I don't have any close family who made a career of it (except my grandfather, but he died before I was born), I didn't know the difference between officer and enlisted until meeting B, and frankly, B just isn't into the traditions, so I guess I'm not either.  He wouldn't even take me to the military ball once we got married (we went to one in Virginia when we were dating, and it was pretty lame so I don't blame him).  I've only seen B dolled up in his dress whites once in our entire 5-year relationship.  I'll still have a soft spot for submarines, especially women on subs, but that will probably be all I take with me.

Oh, and this great picture of him with the Blue Angels from yesterday morning:

B is in khakis and black jacket on the right.

Since this post is semi-appropriate for the upcoming Veterans Day, feel free to see some thoughts and research on the semantics of that word (and whether it applies to B and other active-duty submariners) from a post I did last year.

While I'm ready to tackle the civilian world, I'm still wary about the next place we live possibly being our "forever" home.  But more on that later!

 

the re-introduction of Victorian calling cards

Last week, I needed to get someone's address. I see this woman on a regular basis (we volunteer together). I was about to write it down on a scrap of paper, but before I could she just whipped out a "business" card and handed it to me.  She's retired and doesn't have a side business or whatever, so it was totally unexpected.

The card simply had her name, email, phone, and address.  She had printed it herself on her own computer.  I threw it in my wallet and went on my merry way, thinking it was the coolest thing ever!  It actually reminded me of the calling cards you hear about them using in the Victorian days (except now with a lot more information).

Old style: just a name

I knew that you can get a free sample pack (with free shipping) of 10 business cards from moo.com, so I decided to make my own!  We have less than a year left at this address, so I think 10 will be plenty.  I'm excited to get my cards in upcoming week!

What I ordered: I put my phone number in black instead of a title or industry

By the way, this may be only news to me, but apparently Shutterfly has a decent selection of calling cards (a lot geared toward moms) if you want to get fancy.  I found a few other sites have them referred to as "mommy cards," which I can definitely see being useful when you meet other moms and want to set up play dates and such.

*Neither moo.com nor Shutterfly gave me jack squat to write this post.  But if you're out there lurking, feel free to get in touch.
 

Georgia shower recap

Well, I've officially been back from Georgia since Tuesday night, but I have been soooo exhausted all week!

I'm glad I went for as long as I did, but it seems the recovery is taking as long as the trip itself.  Driving the 6 hours by myself while 7 months pregnant really wasn't too difficult.  I had to force myself to walk around more at the stops, but that was about it.

Saturday was the shower.  My MIL and her sister (B's aunt) actually drove down from Indiana to attend!  That was so cool of them.  You can totally tell it's the first grandbaby for my MIL.

My sister totally listened to my wishes ("demands" as she probably would say), and this was the cake she got Publix to make:

Woohoo, not a cake wreck!  Check it against my previous post to see how they did!

Speaking of my sister, she called my new shape "disgusting" because I haven't blown up and it just looks like I have a basketball stuffed under my shirt.  I've been thin my whole life, so she took full advantage of this rare opportunity to refer to me as "Fatso."  Gotta love sisters!

This was me modeling and twirling for everyone to cut the ribbon to estimate the size of my belly.

Most people's guesses were WAYYYY too big, but one person did actually under-estimate!  That was pretty nice.

And here's a decent belly shot of me turned sideways with my mom and sis:

I got, um, A LOT of gifts.  See the massive pile on the right there.

It was actually a bit overwhelming, but Baby W and I are very thankful!

 And I guess people figured out the giraffe and jungle theme pretty easily!  We got some adorable stuff:

I actually got 2 of those stuffed giraffes I'm holding.  I think I might just keep both :)

It was great being able to see everyone at the shower.  I won't be back in Georgia until after this little one is born (which is weird to think about), so it was nice to be able to catch up with everyone sans nursing/burping/diapering/etc.

After the shower ended, I ran downstairs to watch my Georgia Bulldogs beat their big rival!  Yes, we are Gator Haters in our family!  UGA doesn't win the game against Florida often, so it was beautiful.

I actually was able to stay in Georgia through Halloween and go trick-or-treating with my niece and nephew.  I decided to sport a costume using mostly borrowed items:

I guess I'm Super-Mommy (Under Construction).  The tool belt and nail apron (the green thing) are my own.  Oh, and that ridiculous shirt that B gave me.  That's my mom's flannel shirt and my nephew's construction helmet from his dress-up stuff.  He also brought me some of his Handy Manny tools (they all talk), so I threw them in there.  Then we just grabbed a bunch of stuff that was sitting in my niece's pack-n-play at my parents' house (the links, the turtle, random bottles from my sister, etc.).  The Huggies were a free sample I got in the mail--too small for my niece now, so I guess I'll hang onto them!  Yep, that was my $0-budget Halloween costume!

After trick-or-treating, my mom loaded everything into my tiny car, including some rather large hand-me-downs from my sister.  That was insane!  Mom likes a good challenge.  Everything fit though, and I only had a bit of trouble seeing out my rear window.  B helped me unload and we just spent Friday night tidying up our office/baby's room, moving things from one closet to another, and figuring out how to put together the hand-me-down swing.  When we were having trouble figuring out the swing, I said to B, "You do realize that trying to figure out these kids' toys will be a constant for the next 10 years or so, right?"  I think we have officially opened this new chapter of married life.