Anecdotes of a Military Wife

· You unpack your things and at the same time get yourself ready for packing up again. Me and my husband love to travel. We keep our plans flexible so we would always be ready to adjust according to the blueprints and surprises that come with being in the military world. My husband received his orders early this year and we will be moving to one of the islands in the Marianas in a couple of months. Anothergreat adventure ahead! ;)

· It took 10 minutes to get my Military ID card, 5 minutes to enroll in Military Health Plan. Took 2 hours of waiting and 16 weeks of processing just to get a TIN from IRS.

· While we were jogging in the base, we had to make a 5 minute rest as the trumpets begin to play at exactly 5:00 PM (ahem 17:00 pala). Everything and everyone stops to pay respect to the flag retreat. You face towards where the sound comes from and wait for the national anthem. While it was a little weird for me, well, it was something new – listening to a familiar yet unfamiliar tune. The embarrassing part is the fact that I do not even know the words to that popular tune. Not that I need to sing, but because singing (even if it’s just in your head) makes any anthem an anthem. I just use that 5 minutes standing there watching my husband and waiting for the end of the hymn because that’s the only line I know for now. =P

· I absolutely love the Air Force logo! :)

· Communication revolves around thousands of acronyms. “TMO billets are located at all USMC Base/Station, MARFOR G-4 SMOs, MEFs, and FSSGs.” Amazing! :)

· You make the most out of the most normal lifestyle you can have for you know that the commitment they have being in the military could change everything anytime. They might go to some faraway unstable place and you have no choice but to prepare yourselves for it.

· I would get to know the people as Sgt this or Master Sgt that. The problem for someone like me is: 1. I am really really bad with remembering names, 2. All the more, I would not know their first name and calling them by their last name would seem disrespectful; 3. If I do decide to call them by their surname, I have to connect the correct rank to the correct surname. Someday I might need for my husband to discuss their org chart to me, visual aids always works for me. Then he should give me an exam.

· The base here in Maryland is where the Air Force One Hangar is. So far I’ve only seen Air Force Two, the one that is being used by the vice president. It was wonderful having to see all those different kinds of planes and fighter jets, parked or taking off, while having someone who can identify each of those and tell you stories about them too. It makes them all the more real.

· I get to shave my husband’s head because razor crew cutting is fun! An automatic 10 dollar barber shop savings for us. Hehehe!