I just have a few brief notes to make in this entry . . .
1) If anybody has ANY clue why my TTLB (Truth Laid Bear) status won't post correctly in my sidebar I would love some advice. I don't know what I am doing wrong - but it's very frustrating. I have searched all over the TTLB website, and now today, I can't even find where he tells a person how to post their ecosystem status in their blog! UGH!! I have emailed the site owner last week to no avail -- so if anybody has their status in their blog PRETTY PLEASE with sugar on top help me!! Mwah! As a bonus, I can't get my outgoing links in "My Blog Log" to show up either - lol!
2) If possible, would any of you be willing to give a 'shout out' to two different blogs for me? The first blog owner, An American in Italy, is celebrating her 5th Wedding Anniversary away from her hubby. I would love for some more people to go and wish her a very happy and blessed fifth anniversary! Next, my new friend at A Long Strange Trip has been having some problems with people giving him a hard time about what he thinks and believes about the war. Only problem with that is that he actually has the balls to be serving - and therefore has earned the right to an opinion on the subject. He has decided to take a break from blogging for the time being, and it would be great if you could go over to his blog and show him some major support for the sacrifice that he is making for all of us right now.
3) After I posted my deployment advice yesterday - I thought of one last thing that really helps me when I am down in the dumps about this situation. Whenever I get super upset and at my breaking point, I simply stop looking at myself and I start looking at my soldier instead. Al signed up to be an officer in the Army National Guard before I met him - and he did it because he believes in what he is doing - and he believes in America. He obviously didn't know when he signed up that all of this was going to happen (or even that we were going to meet), and that he would definitely be deployed to Iraq - but the DUTY was there. It's always there, looming over the soldier's head. The Soldier's Creed, which they must memorize backwards and forwards and upside down when they are at BCT is this:
The Soldier's Creed
I am an American Soldier.
I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.
I am an expert and I am a professional.
I stand ready to DEPLOY, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.
Al knew the whole time what he was getting into - as a Soldier - DEFEAT IS NOT AN OPTION and deployment can happen at any moment! Even if I somehow turn into the worst Army fiancee in the whole world tomorrow, and decide to give up and walk away - Al can't do that right now. You can bet your bippy that he has plenty of days over there that he would have loved to throw in the towel and tell the Army to stick it where the sun didn't shine --- heck, he would have loved to do that a BUNCH when he was in deployment training. But he couldn't -- he has honor -- and he respects that honor -- and as such he will fulfill his duty -- and he will try to do it with a smile on his face.
So, when ever I start feeling sorry for myself and start being all self-centered and feeling like a big pansy - I think - wait a minute, Al's got it much worse than me right now. He is living in a ridiculously hot climate, dust is everywhere, the food isn't awful - but he can't go to Captain D's whenever he wants to either, he has to do his business in a burning hot and nasty portajohn every day, the showers are sometimes nasty gross, he isn't always in danger - but he could be in danger at any moment, AND HE IS THE PROPERTY of the Army right now and has ZERO personal freedom. And when I think about those things, I don't feel sorry for him, because that would imply that I have a lack of understanding about the joy that he has on some basic level about serving his country - but I do realize that ANY problems or concerns that I have right are menial compared to his. And then, then I am able to suck it up - and get through one more day (just like him) with a smile on my face.
Any good relationship is a partnership - and I happen to feel that the partner that I have selected for myself is the very best one in the WHOLE world. He is wonderful to me - and even in The Sand, he does whatever he can do to support me - and to show me that we are a team in all of this. That's all anybody could ask for. So, to close, Al is also a huge reason in what makes this deployment bearable --- and it's all the more reason why I love him so very much.
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7 comments:
My TTLB Ecosystem ranking doesn't show properly either, I've tried reloading the code, but that didn't work either.
You go girl. You are right about when we start feeling down or want to start fussing about one thing or another, we need to stop and put ourselves in our soldiers shoes/boots (that they have to wear day in an day out) not to mention all the rocks and sand that they walk on all day. I can not imagine what that is like. I could hear Michael walking in the rocks in the video that he sent me. So now, I don't complain about my feet hurting. I always think about my soldier, and know that there is someone else that has it much worse than I do.
I love you girl. I sure will be glad when we get our 20-day notice for R&R, or however many days notice that the ARMY decides to give us.
Find your blog in the ecosystem ranking list and then click on "details", it will then take you to your TTLB page. A message asks you to click a certain link if the blog displayed is yours. From that link, a code and instructions will be displayed. Try that.
NZ does a great service for the blogosphere, really he does - but my daily visitor stats haven't been updated on the TTLB since February, when I first began blogging.
I'm thinking of dropping out and starting over to see if that makes a difference. I'd prefer my stats be accurately displayed.
Good Luck
What a great way to put it! When my hubby was gone I used to get really cranky after days dealing with the 4 kids on my own. I NEVER complained to him, though, he didn't even have a clue about some of the more rough stuff we were dealing with at home.
I never would have considered shoving my petty little life issues on him when he was going about the business of keeping himself and his men alive and getting their missions done. Sometimes it seems to me that there are those in this country that are dumping unnecessary issues on those that are fighting right now, though.
You've got it, girl, you said it for me.
Well put. I intellectually know that she has it much worse than me, but sometimes I get selfish about MY feelings. Also, when I'm having a bad day, I step back and imagine I was someone else who could handle this better, i.e. my girlfriend. I know that she would be there for me if/when the roles are reversed.
I am off to both sites....oh wait, I go there everyday.lol. I think the deployment advice you are giving is so great. you are such an inspiration.
I appreciate what you've said. My husband got off active duty six years ago (right before we met) and neither one of us ever thought he'd wind up back over in Iraq.
My thoughts are with you, and I admire your attitude...it's the same one I'm adopting!
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