21 June 2010

A list.

This will be short:

1). I am trying to think outside the box in regards to this career/identity mess I find myself in. I am entirely indebted to one Hilary Fish for giving me some great suggestions and getting me out of my own way. She rocks the casbah. So there is researching going on, and lots of thinking, and I'm feeling a bit better about all of it. Its a good thing.

2). Don't let anyone tell you there are time constraints on reintegration issues. There just aren't. Some crop up right away, some linger, some wait until the honeymoon is over. Just FYI.

3). Stay at home wifery ain't all it is cracked up to be. I'm starting to feel like a caged animal. I need to get out. I need people that I get to talk to face to face. I need goals that aren't a) clean the kitchen, b) do the laundry or c) find a way to not get bored. I'm thinking our retirement date & move cannot come fast enough... and neither can my trip to Hawaii with my best friend.

4.) Is it just me or are military towns cultural and culinary wastelands (save Fort Lewis)? If it ain't a chain, and it ain't a movie theater- we ain't got it. That makes me sad and doesn't help with the boredom.

5). This insane summer heat at Fort X really takes the fun out of summer. I've never spent more time inside than I have this summer. Not a fan.

6.) Go see Get Him to the Greek. Especially if you liked Forgetting Sarah Marshall (a personal Fave). It is hilarious and awesomesauce and when you leave, you'll be singing along to "Furry Walls". Well worth the price of admission.

Okay, thus endeth my bitching/randomness. I'll try to put on my happy pants tomorrow!

2 comments:

Rachelle at Craft Rage said...

I understand how isolated life can be on or around a military base.

The best advice that I've ever been given is to take a few university level correspondence courses. Here in Canada, we have Athabasca University, which is a properly accredited university. This just means all credits are completely transferable to a regular go-in-every-day institution.

There's got to be something similar in the US, maybe ASU (Arizona State).

The courses are relatively inexpensive, you can switch degree programs mid-swing if you want, and you can also stop taking courses if you want, and as long as the content in the course doesn't change, you can pick up where you left off at any time, if you wish. It's portable - even if you get posted elsewhere, you don't have to stress about making arrangements to transfer courses. You get shiny new student ID, which is just fun to flash around.

The courses I took connected me to an online community of other students taking the same courses, which helped me feel connected to the world outside of the military.

It gave me something to do other than obsess about which of six thousand newly washed socks looked most like the other six thousand identical socks. It made me feel like, when I got back to a base near a city, I'd be able to contribute to the household, get out of the house, etc.

At the rate I'm going, I will be 90 before I graduate with my B.Comm, but at least I'm doing SOMETHING.

Hil Fish said...

Aw Tuck, thanks for the shout-out. Thanks for being open to my flights of fancy. Like you I need projects since being a newly minted 30-something housewife has some transition issues! We shall talk more, don't forget your homework assignment, its due Friday.