Another Delay... Big Surprise!

We learned today that there is another delay in our moving on to Fort Benning, Georgia. So, sparing you all the details, we should be here at Ft. Meade, MD until at least next weekend. By then the issue should be resolved. That also delays our flight date to Iraq a week. So, the time is ticking on our deployment already, so the longer we stay here the less time we are in Iraq. That's good I guess, but we will be making a lot more money when we get over there. Sharee reminds me though that "money's only money." So, another week of PT here, and of digitizing music at Radio Row at the schoolhouse. Other than that bit of news, nothing new here. Every day is pretty much like the last, and every weekend consists of trying to get away from the barracks for a little while. I talk to Sharee a couple of times a day and the girls every once in a while. Hailey likes to talk to me, which makes me feel good (since she's normally not a phone talker), and Lacey mostly just waves at the phone. That's all.

Quote of the Blog:
Change before you have to.
Jack Welch

Back to the Grind

I am now back at Fort Meade, MD. I was able to go home for a 4-day pass. It was really nice to be back home and spend time with my three girls! Lacey took a little while to warm up to me again. She even went as far as to not look in my direction on the way home from the airport. I kept tickling her leg and she started to laugh. Monday she was very clingy to me though. So, at least she remembers me. Hailey was excited to see me, which made me feel really good. She told me about how her first dance class went and all about her (now) 11 Webkins. I loved just spending time with my family again! But as it always does, time went by way too fast. Also, I got to see my newest niece, Marlee. (I hope that is spelled right) She looks just like her older brother. That's wierd too, to think of Griffin as an older brother. I even got to hold Marlee for a little while before she started crying. But I don't feel bad, because she won't even let her dad hold her without crying. We didn't expect to be able to see each other so soon, so we were just grateful for the time we were able to be together. Now I'm back, doing to whole Army thing. I'll be here till the end of the week. Then on to some more training at Fort Benning, GA. It might be hard, but totally worth it to prepare for deployment. Hey, anything to help me stay safer. I guess all I have left to say is that I adore my family and miss them so much already! Sharee will appreciate the quote this time...

Quote of the Blog:
I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.
Rita Rudner

OH YEAH...That's why I left the Army!

So today has been pretty aggravating! Everything was going well until about 5pm. Let me back up and start at the beginning. We(SPC Bramble and I) are now volunteering back at the schoolhouse. That is so we can avoid as much of the regular Army stuff as possible. We sit in radio studios and digitize (put into the computer) music. That way the students can do an all digital radio music show without having to use actual Cd's. Anyway, that really consists of us listening to the music while it is digitizing (we have to get the audio levels perfect). We really are left alone, and we can take a break whenever we want. That is from 8am - 4pm. Then... we have to go to a formation, to get the info we need for the next day. THAT is where the day started to go downhill. I had to check in with the personnel office, and found out that we still have no idea when our orders will come to go on to Fort Benning, GA. Second, I had to go see the Platoon Sergeant and ask about taking a 4-day pass this weekend so I can go spend a few more days with my family before I'm deployed to Iraq. It should be a no-brainer for me to get it approved because number one, we already graduated so we are just hanging out till we leave. Number two, it is a holiday weekend and thus a 3-day weekend anyway. So it shouldn't be that hard to get them to say yes, right? Wrong! Earlier in the day the Platoon Sergeant asked me to mapquest the distance from here to home as part of the needed paperwork. When I brought him the distance, he said that it was over 300 miles and that the pass is denied because it is too far. (If it is over 300 miles you have to take leave) So I said, "Well, then can I take leave to go home for the 4-day?" He then asked how much leave I have saved up (in the Army leave is accrued at 2.5 days of leave per month of service). I told him I had 2.5, since I'd only been back in the service for a month. So, I asked if I could use 1.5 days of advanced leave as well. To which he replied that is up to the commander because since I am deploying I might not be around long enough to earn back the advanced leave (he said this while drawing his finger across his throat, indicating I could die before I "earn" 1.5 days of leave!). So, needless to say I am pretty pissed off about that. So, in order to see my family I am re-doing all the pass paperwork with an address for a hotel in Hershey, PA. They evidently don't really care where I go or what I do, as long as the distance matches up on their paperwork. So, the end result should be the same (I'll go home), but as is the way of the Army, I need to jump through pointless hoops to get there.
Then I went to the formation where we were talked to like children about people not cleaning up after themselves, and what the punishments will be for those who continue to be messy. The worst part was that to say that took, no joke, over 30 minutes! This is the kind of stuff that cemented my decision to get out of the military. I'm hoping that this kind of thing doesn't happen on deployment, but maybe that is just too much to ask. Maybe though, since the unit is National Guard and tend to have a more realistic(civilian) approach to things.

Quote of the Blog:
Common sense is not so common.
Voltaire