Stoppage of MyCaa Funds

As some of you may already know the Department of Defense stopped all funds that had been awarded to Military Spouses under the MyCaa. I could not believe my eyes as I read what they did. Without warning, without letting anyone know, they just withdrew the monies that had already been awarded to "re-evaluate" the program and its effectiveness. While I support the decision to make sure the program is running how it was intended I do not and can not support them pulling the funds that were already awarded.
I for one was awarded these funds, luckily for me I am now in my last 2 classes before finishing my program. I still had 3000 dollars in my account, I wasn't sure if I would be using it or not but it was there. But unlike myself, there were a lot of spouses who were not finished and who were depending on those funds for next semester and ones after that.
As military spouses we don't ask for much, and in turn we don't get much. This was something for "us" finally. A program to further our educations in careers that would follow us on the never ending PCS move.
What I encourage everyone one to do is call your congressmen and senators and tell them how you feel about what the DOD has done. If you are not a spouse of a military member but support our military please help support the families. I for one have started calling, writing and emailing.
This is a slap in the face to all the spouses that thought they had money for school and had it yanked without warning.
Here is a link to the story so you can read it yourself.
http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2010/02/military_spousetuition_halt_021710w/

Back From the Great North Murphy's Law be Damned

934th Air Force Airlift Wing

Well we are home finally and I have to say..."It is fantastic to be home." If you follow me on twitter you know that my husband and I had to go on emergency leave to Minn. If you don't follow me here is the break down. Last week my husbands father, who travels the world as a tech rep had to cut short a trip to Africa when he fell off a piece of dredging equipment and broke his heel. In Africa (West) they treated him the only way they could, with Nsaids and sent him on his way. On the flight back his intestine was eaten through by the Nsaids and all their contents leaked into his abdomen. Yes, you guessed it, this in NOT good. Apparently it happened on the plane and when the plane landed in Minn. he was met by an ambulance and taken right to the hospital where they performed emergency surgery. During the surgery he went into kidney failure and of course at this time my husband had to be there. No family at all is in Minn. The company the FIL works for is based there and that is the only reason he goes there. So being it is a school year, and a Senior School year we decided my son could not miss school and since he was driving and leaving for college this would be a great time to see if he could get by on his own.

Well although I struggled with leaving him, a lot, I eventually realized my husband would need my support and off we went to the Great North. So, you have the short of it, FIL is in ICU and we have to go to Minn and leave our 17 year old alone at home for the first time EVER.

(Neighbors have eyes on house and we have other friends on stand by if need be)

So how does that Murphy's Law thing go..oh ya..we didn't even get to Minn and we had a voice Mail from our son, "I left the lights on in the truck and the battery is dead, I am stuck at the school parking lot." PERFECT...gone 4 hours and he is stuck at the school..bad mom, bad dad, I told you so, I shouldn't have left him alone....yadda, yadda, yadda..worse fears...yikes.

So after a panic attack and some well placed phone call, and a really good judgement call on my sons part I have to say....that crisis was averted. So no worries, off to see the FIL. Luckily there is an Air Force Reserve Base with a really nice lodge (thank you twitter friends) close to the hospital. We go see my FIL and he is in bad shape, and we don't know if he will be ok, all they are telling us is he isn't out of the woods and it's tough seeing my hubs hurting about his dad. Anyhow we head back to the lodge and I am trying to spin this into it doesn't have to be all sad, "hey look, at least it is snowing right? Haven't had snow in like 2 years and now we are surrounded by 4 feet of snow in all directions!" Feeling bad now because my son won't see the snow..back to lodge...

So day 3 and son calls, "guess what mom! we got 6 inches of snow last night! Oh ya I am going to the movies in Jacksonville with my friends.." ya, in the snow, that you never driven in, I don't think so..

So now are you getting the gist of the trip, FIL not doing good, left son with great truck and no snow and now that is not the picture I am dealing with..but nothing I can do about it..

Anyhow I am rambling now. The good thing is this, FIL is doing good, doc says he expects a full recovery and we come home. Son is fine, the house is clean and he is in one piece and.....HE MISSED US!

So everything worked out just fine..in the end. Thank you all for all the wishes, prayers, good vibes and everything else you sent our way! Lessons learned about life are hard won..

PICTURES..MORE HARTING NOSTALGIA

Found these today..have to share.

Some New Family Pics

Ok so here is what we ended up with..I am not a big fan of any of the ones I am in. The weather was really bad and lets just say the wind had its own plans for my hair. But I love how my hubs and son looks, it really does capture the fun we have together in the candid shots. The pics were done by a young Marine wife that is just starting out, she is really good and did the best she could with the weather and not being prepared for how tall we all are..I am 5'11 and I am the shortest of our bunch. But here goes..hope you like them.

I’m joining in with Household 6 Diva for her Blizzard Bloghop! I’m excited to ”introduce” myself and “meet” some new bloggers!!
My name is Heidi and I am a brand new blogger, and have only been at it for about a month.

My first blog was basically a Here We Go type entry to finally jump in head first. I have been so encouraged by so many of my friends on twitter who write amazing blogs. I only hope to be half as good as them.

My Blog is titled Empty Nest, PCS and All the Rest because that is what I am facing in the coming months. All at once, a lot of life changes. My hope is that if I blog about it and share with those that read it will help me deal with it. I have PCS'd and I have dealt "with all the Rest" but the Empty Nest is the new life changer, the hardest one.

My husband and I have 1 child, a son. He is 17 and he is the our pride and joy. We consider ourselves the "3 musketeers" after living overseas for many years, from Asia, to Europe and to Africa and back to the best..the U.S. of A.

I was born and raised in Philadelphia, my father was a Marine killed in Vietnam when I was an infant. It is fair to say he was my first hero even though I never met him. My sister married a Marine and I married a man that was on his way to being one. No wonder, my son is going to ROTC with the Marine Option to be a Marine as well.

Well that is a brief introduction and as I blog more you will learn more about me and my wonderful family as we pack our bags for our next adventure and drive across this great country on our way to California. Stay tuned.......

Trip Down Memory Lane

Just looking at some of my old pics, here is a few I thought you may like. Soon I will be getting a new camera and I look forward to sharing with you. I have so much beauty and craziness in my life that I look forward to freezing some of it in time. Enjoy some of our oldies but goodies.


Son fishing in Canada.

From Hubs first deployment.

My son with his godfather who we lost this summer..

We miss you Ricky.

My son in London. The story behind this pic is long.

Lets just say bribery was involved.

This is my hubs and me in Spain, on Embassy Duty

This is me on the left, love that dress, with my cousins.

Sometimes You Catch A Break

Yesterday the Marine Corps decided to cooperate with our family. As most of my military friends know, this is not something that happens a lot. My husband (the pro-active man) decided as he usually does to take things into his own hands. He learned a long time ago that if you ask for what you want, and if it is in the best interest to the Marine Corps you can usually get it. He hears a lot of people complain about how, "the Corps/Army..IE is screwing me over". He usually never agrees. He tells his young Marines that he sees in his office everyday that there are certain criteria you should understand about the military. If you need something and it serves in the best interest of the Corps and you can explain that, it can happen. So that is what he did. He found a way to explain to the Marine Corps why it was in the Corps best interest and his that he didn't report until June instead of April as they originally asked. I won't go into too many details but most people would never dream of going up against the monitor to ask for a delay in orders, they would just complain about it, never realizing they could have possibly changed their circumstances. The point I am trying to make is, before you complain about the Military screwing you over, try to come up with a plan for yourself that makes sense and is in the best interest of the Corps or whatever your branch of service. Most things aren't written in stone. It was amazing how in the span of a few hours my husband convinced 2 SgtMajs to see why his plan made more sense, and they didn't even get shitty about it. So now we can all enjoy my sons last few months of his Sr. year and my husband doesn't have to miss a second of it. I am so happy that sometimes you catch a break.