A Day in the Life...Louisiana style!

So, living in the Leesville/Fort Polk area has taught me a little of what it must have been like back in the early 1900's when people "loaded up and went to town," once a month or so. Other than the PX, Wal Mart and a couple of Dollar Generals, the immediate area does not offer much in the way of shopping, therefor the Day family usually makes a monthly trip to either Alexandria or Lake Charles to visit some of our favorite stores! Since Randy had today off and it was payday, we decided that when we picked Cash from school (he gets out at noon on Fridays) we would grab some lunch and then head to Alexandria. Now Alex is closer than Lake Charles, but does not offer quite as many options as far as shopping goes. There is also NOTHING between Leesville and Alexandria (this will be come an important thing to remember later in the story). So, we pick up Cash, make a quick stop by Sonic and we are off! About 15 miles from Alexandria, Cash announces that he has to use the bathroom, we ask if he can hold it for a few more minutes and he says he can, but he seems a bit antsy, so Randy decides to pull over into a wooded area. Now, much like the bear in that old saying, poor Cashie had to "poop" in the woods and Randy accompanied him. After a few minutes life was good and we headed up the dirt road we had pulled over on to find a place to turn around, however Cash immediately announces that he has to go again! Now, a truck had passed us as Randy was getting Cash back in the van the first time around, and as poor Cash is making his second visit to natures toilet, a Durango pulls up and starts questioning Randy about what we are doing on that road! So Cash is copping a squat and Randy is yelling at the dude that his son just had a bit of a stomach ache and could not make it to Alexandria. He also apologizes to the guy, because we just figured he was the owner of said woods. Finally, when the guys takes out a notebook and starts writing down out license plate number, Randy approaches him to see what is going on. The guy explains that he is a sheriffs deputy and there had been a rash of burglaries in the area. Randy explains, once again, that he is in the Army stationed at Polk and his five year old son had to use the restroom! I am not sure what sort of burglars we looked like in our mini-van with Sir Poops a Lot out in the woods, but whatever! So, we get that all straightened out and we head off. Randy had to take a conference call, so the boys and I headed to the Children's Museum for a little fun and learning. Then we headed off to Target, the Spirit Halloween Store, Best Buy, Cici's Pizza and Big Lots! I told you we took care of a lot of business when we headed to town! Now, about 7 hours and many bathroom stops along the way, we head into the back gate of Fort Polk, which is about 7 or so miles from our house and Carter announces that he has to tinkle NOW!! Yep, you probably can figure out where this is heading, but needless to say the train tracks by the JRTC drop off point got watered tonight!! I swear, living with all these men is going to be the death of me!!!!

I Wish Everyone Could Experience...

Growing up in the El Paso area, I never paid much attention to Fort Bliss. We were out in the valley and rarely got to the Northeast and I just did not have much to do with the area. It was "just there." I think it was that way for a lot of my friends. Of course, this was prior to 9/11 and the whole patriotic movement that went on immediately after that. My first real experience with the military was when I started dating Randy. I had only been on post a couple of times prior to dating him, so I didn't know much. As many of you can guess, I was immediately mesmerized by the prices at the PX! Seriously, I never imagined I could get a Dooney for such a great price!! Slowly I also starting getting wrapped up in other, less shallow parts of military life. I attended my first hail and farewells, dining outs and other functions. For the three years that Randy was stationed at Bliss, we always went to the Christmas tree lighting and got to hear the Army band play Christmas carols. Seeing all those men and women in uniform, especially their dress blues, always makes me so proud. Now that we live on post (and right across the street from post headquarters) I get to experience even more of Army life. I wake up to a bugle call and know that the day is coming to an end to a bugle call. I wish that all my friends could experience what it is like to have a complete stranger come up to your husband and thank him for what he has done for his country. I am a very proud Army wife and I don't mind saying it. I think if more people were able to experience what it is like to "be" military we would have a much more patriotic nation. I know that I am much more "hooah" than I ever was before. Seeing a hearse driving down the road carrying the body of a soldier that died for your freedom will certainly change your perspective, and actually knowing the person will change it even more... So, I do wish that everyone could experience a little of what it is like to be a military family. I am proud of my husband and his fellow soldiers and I am so very glad that I have gotten to be a part of this crazy Army life!

My Doodle Bug

Every year about this time, I get a little misty eyed. For most people that happens because the anniversary of 9/11 is right around the corner, but for me it happens because Carter D.'s birthday is tomorrow. My pregnancy with Carter was not the easiest in the world. I had numerous kidney infections and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and had to take insulin shots. Needless to say, that on September 9, 2007, I was ready to meet my boy on the 10th! Little did I know that meeting him would turn into the most harrowing two weeks ever. Because Cash had been so big and had to be born via c-section, my doctor had scheduled a repeat section for me on September 10th at noon. She arrived a little early, so he was actually born at 11:54am. All was normal, as far as everyone was concerned when he was born and life was good. However, on the morning of September 11th, the pediatrician who had stopped in to look at all the new babies came into my room and told us that she was a little concerned. It seems that Carter's breathing was way too rapid and she had admitted him to the NICU for further testing. Thus began the worst experience of my life. It turns out that my little boy was very, very sick and the most helpless feeling in the world was not being able to do a darn thing to help him feel better. It turned out, after much testing, that Carter had both sepsis and pneumonia, and no one could figure out how he contracted them, especially because he was a c-section birth. He had to be treated with massive doses of antibiotics, and we were not even allowed to hold him for his first few days in the NICU. Let me just tell you, when someone says they do not believe that there is a God, I just want to tell them that having a child that you think might not make it will make you hope like heck that there is indeed a God and he is listening to you! After almost two weeks, and many, many prayers, Carter was able to come home with us. Doctors never did figure out why he was so sick, but I am ever so grateful that they were able to treat him and make him all better. So, tomorrow I will wake up and have a healthy, happy (most of the time) four year old and I will say a very big thank you prayer to God for watching over my little Doodle Bug....

Our 7th Anniversary!!

Today is Randy and my 7th wedding anniversary. We got married in the hottest church, on the hottest day and then took the hottest trolley ride ever to Fort Bliss for the reception. Poor Randy was wearing his wool dress uniform and, did I mention, it was hot! We had a beautiful wedding though and a great reception. I have to laugh though, because while our wedding was awesome, we seem to have the most unromantic anniversaries ever! Here is a little timeline for you:

1st anniversary- I was five months pregnant and we spent it moving from Texas to Monroe, La.

2nd anniversary-This was the only one that has been uneventful!

3rd anniversary-I was in the middle of the world's worst pregnancy with Carter!

4th anniversary-Randy was in Georgia taking a class getting ready to deploy 15 days later.

5th anniversary-Randy had just returned from Iraq.

6th anniversary-I had lapband surgery two days prior and we were getting ready to move to Leavenworth.

7th anniversary-We are in the world's smallest FGO house with nothing but a card table, four chairs and a couple of air mattresses!!

Now, if I were a shallow person, this would all bother me, but I find it very funny. Oh the stories we will have to tell our grandchildren. A word of advice for anyone our there that is going to marry someone in the military: GET MARRIED IN OCTOBER!! Do not get married during the middle of what will become prime PCS season! lol

The Big Move and A Word To My Fellow Army Wives

It has been a long time since my last entry, but we have been a busy family! Randy graduated from ILE and Webster University and we left Fort Leavenworth for Fort Polk. Along the way we stopped and stayed with friends, family and had a great day at Sea World. Upon arriving at Fort Polk, we were a little disappointed to find that we weren't able to see a house the day we arrived, but had to wait until after the weekend. We did, however take a couple of days to explore both main post, and all the housing areas to get an idea of what there was. On Monday, we were shown a very SMALL house, and boy was I disappointed! We then went back to housing, to see what else they had to offer. It turns out that all FGO housing on this post is SMALL, so we decided to just go ahead and take the first house we were shown. The house itself is not my dream home, but the neighborhood is AWESOME. We are on a cul de sac and in the middle of the cul de sac is a huge playground. I love that the kids can play and I can sit in the front yard and watch them. Fort Polk also has wonderful community centers and pools. We have gone swimming almost everyday and it is so nice. We are still living on portable furniture, but our stuff is scheduled to arrive on July 11th. I really, really hope it does, as I cannot take much more sleeping on an air mattress!

Well, enough about the move itself and on to a word to my fellow Army wives. On the 4th we were invited to a BBQ at one of Randy's soon to be co-workers house. Upon arriving, I met four or five husbands in the yard and they informed me the ladies were inside the house. I went in and introduced myself and was immediately inundated with banter about how much Fort Polk sucks! I mean these ladies just went on and on. Now I know that Fort Polk is not high on most people's dream place to PCS list, but in my humble opinion, telling a person that just arrived here how much it sucks and how horrible life is going to be for the next couple of years really isn't a good thing. Maybe Randy and I are weirdos, but we really do try to go into every new place/job looking at it like there is a reason we were sent here. GOD has never let us down, or steered us wrong and that is just the way we look at things. We also love Louisiana. We really enjoyed our time in Monroe and are looking forward to spending more time in this state. So, fellow military spouses, please do not immediately tell people new to an area how much it sucks. Maybe that is why everyone is so down on places like Polk, because no one ever bothers to give the area a chance, they just listen to what other's say and don't bother to form their own opinion. As for me, I am keeping an open mind and just enjoying this nice warm weather!!

Home is where the Army sends us, but I still miss my friends!!

"Home is where the Army sends us." This quote can be found in many different Army homes, and it is true. While we occasionally have some say so, more often than not we are sent to a new duty station to fulfill "the needs of the Army." So far for us, this has worked out and the Army has not sent us someplace that we were absolutely dreading, although I am a little iffy about Fort Polk, but I believe it is what you make of it! The worst part, however, about leaving a duty station is moving away from the good friends you have made. This has been particularly true for me in our last two moves. When we left Hood, I was not only leaving my sister, but had made some really good friends in the Meetup group that I belonged to. It is sad to move on, because you miss so many milestones in the lives of the people that you once saw several times a week. For example, I still haven't gotten to see our good friends Stephanie and Josh Moody's Samantha in person, and I have no clue when I ever will! Here at Leavenworth, we have met so many nice people, but in about the last six months, we have just clicked with the Powell family. I was sad to see all of their stuff getting boxed up yesterday, knowing that meant the end of our time here together was coming to an end. I know that I will make great friends in Louisiana, and who knows, it is a small Army and we may even meet up with people again somewhere along the way, but it is still sad to leave those that you have grown so fond of!

And the trend continues!

I have mentioned before how bad weather/bizarre happenings tend to follow the Day family, and this spring is proving not to disappoint! On Saturday I was supposed to attend the final 6th Infantry Bunco before many of us moved. I spent a good part of the day making some delicious brownies to share and was excited to get some "girl" time! The weather turned fairly ominous about 7:00 pm, but I was hopeful that it was just a thunderstorm and all would be good. My friend Traci stopped by and we headed out the door to walk down the street for Bunco, Traci clutching her umbrella and Strawberry trifle and me balancing my brownies in one hand and my umbrella in the other! We got to the house where Bunco was being held, headed in the door and weren't there for five minutes when the tornado sirens started going off! Now, there were about six of us there when this happened and we all just looked at each other, torn between the need for some serious alcoholic/food fun and the need to make sure our families were okay. It was a tough call, but we all headed back to our respective houses, to make sure the men folk and kids were okay. We did, however, say that if this storm passed quickly, we would all be back! So, I headed back down the street, with my umbrella and brownies and came in to find that Randy and the boys were just playing and getting ready for bed like nothing was going on. Apparently, along with the sound of a crying baby in the middle of the night, my husband can also not hear tornado sirens! I have never experienced tornado like weather, but it is crazy how still everything gets. When I walked down the street to Bunco, it was quite windy, but by the time I got home the wind had completely stopped and it was very, very still. The kids had no idea what was going on, they were just really excited to get to stay up late! We all headed down to the basement, put on a movie for the boys, and Randy and I took turns coming upstairs to see what was going on. Yep, we would be those dumb asses who got sucked up in the tornado, because we were too curious to stay in the basement! We kept checking Weather Bug on my phone to see what was going on, and saw that the tornado warning would expire at 8:30...well the sirens did go off around then, and we brought everyone upstairs to get ready for bed, only to have the sirens start up again! This happened a couple of times, but the sirens finally went off for good around 9:30! By this time, I was too exhausted to head back down the street! Luckily, no tornadoes hit post, although a huge tree in a yard down the street from us split in half and fell down. So, yep, the trend continues, and this may be a long month before we move out of tornado alley!!!