The 21st of May

There is a new song by Nickel Creek, one of my all time favorite bands in the whole wide world, that is called 21st of May. So, I listen to this song and realize it's about a guy who thinks the world is going to end on May 21st. Well, of course, no one knows the end of times. But today seems a bit appropriate for this topic. Today is Billy's phase two physical. From what I understand, once this physical takes place, this gets the ball rolling for his chapter. In other words, it's the end of our Army times. Of course, nothing in the Army is fast - so we could be here for months. But then again... they could have us out of here in weeks. I'm just needing to stay in long enough to get my surgery and finish school.

Speaking of moving, it occurred to me that by moving this summer (or soon thereafter), this will make the 7th school Emma will have attended from grades K-8. That's nuts, right? But see the best part about this is she is a champ!!! Seriously! The kid just got invited to attend AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination). You have to be invited into this program and they base it on standardized testing results and grades in school. I'm super proud of that girl!!! She is so adaptable. I've always thought she was a bit more mature than kids her age (in some ways), but I think she's just been forced to grow up a little faster. Perhaps now that we can move somewhere and stay for the rest of ever, she can really start to thrive even more!

(as if write this.... Billy is told he won't be having his final physical because nobody told him to go do a mental health evaluation first... typical. I really don't see this process going by quickly.)

Moving Right Along

So, we're moving on. New roads to travel down... the destinations are limitless! We have to chance to completely start over... again. Before we leave Fort Campbell and the Army, we still have several lose ends to keep us completely occupied. Almost super busy. 

First, Billy has recently been to two sleep studies where they've diagnosed him with sleep apnea. This explains his crazy choking spells during the night and his constant napping. We are hoping they approve him with a CPAP machine to transform him into Darth Vader during the night. It's going to be super fun to sleep - not sure which would have been worse... the snoring or the machine. 

Second, I'm in the process of having a procedure done to....um.... well to put it delicately.... I'm a bit busty - like officially measured at 38F bra size - and due to some degenerative discs in my back caused by the ginormous headlights, I'm being evaluated for a breast reduction. Hopefully, this will take place AFTER I'm done with school in just four weeks. 

Thirdly, Allison starts fast-pitch softball tomorrow. Oh and she has grown over 6 inches in the past year. She's now taller than me. Yup. 

And finally, William has been doing Tae Kwon Do for a couple weeks now. It looks like he enjoys it. I hope it's something he will want to continue... and that it is something we can afford in the real world. 

How's Emma?? She's 13. She is making friends here which is going to suck when we have to move... again. But I think she is most excited about getting out of the military than any of us. 

So... now that I'm caught up with the little goings-ons in the Blackburn family, I'm going to study for my first of three major exams in my class - this exam will cover the things we learned in the first four classes from 2 years ago. FUN!!! 

So what's next?

Hello folks! (all seven followers of mine!)


Looks like we're getting out of the Army. It's a very long story... but the short version is this. Billy asked for help. He didn't get it. He failed. And they said 'you're out.'

Yeah, we're at Fort Campbell now. Have been for about three months. Three months. That's plenty of time to let a soldier to become established enough for a Commander to decide if he is worth keeping after failing one PT test - if you can't hear my sarcasm/bitterness, I apologize. Considering we just spent a small fortune to move here... living in a hotel for 29 days... moving into this beyond crappy military sub-standard living quarters they call a house... after they lost or broke or jacked up like 10% of our stuff while moving it...I'm done. I'm done with this Army. I'm done with this toxic environment. I'm just done.

I realize I never write in this blog anymore. I think this is mainly due to the fact that it was leaning towards a 'life in the military' genre, but really I was not able to put into words most days the absolute nonsense that we've had to endure on a daily basis. Stuff like my almost 40 year old husband having to have an NCO (higher ranking soldier) go with him when he needed to make an appointment to see the eye doctor. Usually the NCO was a good 5-10 years younger than Billy and what sense does this make? Is he not capable of finding the eye doctor on his own? He has been treated like a child since the day he left for basic training just over three years ago. We kept thinking as he'd get a bit more experience or rank under his belt, they'd back off. But it's like these young guys have such a big purpose to prove.

Billy just wanted to do his job and go home.  Out of these almost 1000 days of Army work, he's probably "done his job" 200 days worth. The other 800 days were full of "go do this nonsensical something" "go clean out some storage shed" "you need 6 copies of the last 200 pieces of paper that we've requested and lost every single time you hand it to us" So, yeah, I think we're over it.

The first day he arrived at Campbell and met with his leaders, he asked to get help with his run for PT. They were all encouraging, and yet he got 0 days of help. So, he fails his run on the first record PT test, and they decide "since he can't run, he obviously sucks as a human being and we do not need that kind of loser in our unit... he's out of here." Yet, they keep guys who never show up, always sick, don't know their job functions, screw things up constantly. None of that matters because all those guys know how to run fast. Good to know that's the priority of our nation's guardians. Run, Forest, Run.

Ok. I'm bitter. I'm angry at how things have happened. But I'm not angry that we're moving on. I'm relieved. I'm ready for a change. I'm not ready to deal with moving again. To house hunt again. To register my kids in their ump-teenth school. I just want to be normal again.

By the way... I'm in my last class of the masters program. Will be done in 28 days.