What a wonderful weekend!

Aaryk was home this weekend! It was so nice to have him all to myself for a few days. We did spend time with many of our friends, but just knowing that we didn't HAVE to be anywhere was nice. I just saw him off to the airport, he has to be back for formation at 1800 and his flight should get in at 1600. We saw 'Revenge of the Sith' on Friday, and I think my bother's description was a good one- satisfying. It had enough neat little bits tying it together with the series to make it fun. We went out to dinner, finally had a chance to use a gift certificate from our anniversary. And, of course, we played LOTS of City of Heroes!

My last day at work is this Thursday, and I have to be out of my apartment on Friday. I'll be staying with friends for a week, and a group of us are headed to Sedona that next weekend, the 11-12. I'll have everything packed from there and just keep heading north when we are done playing in Sedona. The plan from there is to spend that night in Albuquerque with a friend, head to Dallas to visit family for a day or two, and then on to Aberdeen by the 17th.

I plan on staying in Aberdeen for about a week. Aaryk graduates from his AIT on the 22nd. We also have some friends we want to meet up with who live in Pennsylvania. After that, it's off to Chicago for the summer!

Once we know FOR CERTAIN where we will be stationed, and when, we'll be back to Phoenix to get our stuff out of storage. At the moment, it looks like Aaryk will be attached to the 82nd, and we'll be at Fort Bragg. But that can change, and is contingent on his getting through Airborne School, if I'm not mistaken.

Whew! I think that gets everything up to date! Thanks for your continued prayers and all!

Inducted into the Ordnance Corp

This morning Aaryk's group was inducted into the Ordnance Corps. He was part of the Medical Corps the last time he was in.

I found the regimental insignia~



Just pretty cool stuff! I'm learning more about the Ordnance Corps. Aaryk said it's the oldest one in the Army!

Memorial Day, Packing, and the 82nd

First off, thank you to EVERYONE who found my blog through Hugh Hewitt and left such uplifting comments and emails. I know I have the love and support of my family and friends, but to see it pouring in from people I've never met is just incredible. Aaryk said to tell you all 'Thank you!' too.

The best news first- He's coming home for Memorial Day weekend! After some wrangling and changing of airfares, I got his ticket to come home. It's so neat to see how people in the business world treat our military. I was on America West Airlines website, getting his tickets and thought, "Hmm, I wonder if they offer any kind of military discount?" So I called, and sure enough, I was able to save about $50 that way. Unfortunately, I had him getting back to APG 90 minutes after formation on Monday the 30th. So, I called to see about changing that part of the ticket. The very nice lady on their reservation line walked me through the process, and waived the $100 surcharge for changing a non-changeable ticket. Bad news was that I had to pay an extra $122 for the ticket, because by that point all of the cheap seats were gone. But, he's coming HOME for 3 1/2 days, so it's all good!

My second experience with a military discount was at Shurgard Storage. I chose them to store our stuff because they are just right around the corner from our apartment. I figured that convenience was well worth any price difference I might find elsewhere. When I asked him about a military discount, he gave me 1/2 off my first full months rent! So, I've got about 60% of my things in storage now, and hope to be done with everything but the 'daily needs' stuff this weekend. I'll be staying in the place until Friday June 3, because they couldn't do the final walk through over Memorial Day weekend.

My last bit of news is that AT THE MOMENT, it looks like Aaryk will be attached to the 82nd. Which means most likely Fort Bragg, North Carolina. As with everything in the Army, that is subject to change at a moments notice, but that's what his file online says now. So long as it's not Ft. Wainwright Alaska (I REALLY dislike the cold, no matter how pretty it is!), or Korea (just because I can't go with), we'll be happy! Heck, we'd be happy in Alaska. Frozen, but happy!

Wow....

First of all, thanks to Hugh Hewitt for the very kind words here-http://www.hughhewitt.com/#postid1631

It was such a pleasure and a privilege to get to talk with him when he came to Phoenix last night.

Thanks also to all of you wonderful folks who are leaving comments. I'll make sure that I pass them on to Aaryk.

I'm posting a powerpoint presentation I used for a Toastmasters speech I gave on the Warrior Transition Course. It'll give you an idea of what it's like for the prior service guys going back into the Army. It's an 8 MB file, and you need Powerpoint to be able to view it, but it's here-http://members.cox.net/ladydrake64/WTC.ppt

Thanks again, and...wow ;)

Tales from the Proving Ground

I was talking to Aaryk the other day. He told me about the alarm on his watch going off a little after 9am one day during training. Since they were busy, he didn't turn it off right away. A drill sergeant came over and asked him why he had his alarm set. Aaryk told the drill sergeant that he set his alarm to go off at 9:11 every morning.

I don't remember the drill sergeant's reaction, but when he told me this I asked him why it was set. He told me it was so when things got tough, he would never forget WHY he's doing what he's doing.

Wow. I was speechless.

Is it any wonder I love this man so much?

Just wanted to share that one with you all.