Tired of being the "bad guy"

I want my mommy!  I want my husband!  I want a spa day! 

I think the third one I might be able to do- at least a pedicure? 

I have had an amazing/exhausting/frustrating week.  I am surprised I am still able to sit upright and type.  Why you ask?...

Amazing- I got to meet and work with some awesome Navy wives through Compass this week.  While I did do some teaching and feel like the participants learned something from me- I learned so much from them and the other Compass Mentors.  If you are a Navy wife and haven't done the course yet- DO IT!!  (and I say this in hopes you have a Compass team at your duty station.)

Exhausting- Compass, school, errands, Compass, school, errands, kids, kids, kids, kids (get it?)

Frustrating- I hate being the bad guy all of the time.  I feel like I am still at the same place with Brother.  I thought there was an improvement way back when with school.  It feels like 2 steps forward and 1.999 steps back.  We still have the same issues with school, only now he is pre-pubescent.  And as you can imagine [insert sarcastic tone here]- that is just a whole lot of FUN! 

He IS a good kid.  He doesn't get into trouble at school, doesn't fight, doesn't swear in front of adults (as I have seen other kids his age do.)  He is generally is a good and respectful child.  But getting him to care just a little about doing his work, completing his work, and the quality of his work- that is like trying to push a Mac Truck up a hill in San Fransisco.  He pushes back when I push him- and he pushes hard (not literally, mind you.)

I feel for him, he has a lot going on.  His hormones are starting to act up, he is growing like crazy (so he is having growing pains), and his dad is deployed.  It is an emotional rollercoaster- one that I am not handling so well. 

The other frustrating part is that I can't share this with Hubby.  He is deployed and needs to be able to focus on his job.  If he knew how frustrated Brother and I are right now- he would then be worried over something he can't do anything about right now.  And if he is worried about home, then he can't have that focus he needs.

I have seen other milspouses discuss what should and shouldn't be shared when our service member is deployed.  It is really hard when your spouse is the one you usually share everything with.  I do share certain things- and he knows these are things that I can handle (and I usually can.)  But the whole getting homework done and helping with studying for the spelling test.  Well- he can't do that where he is at. 

Back to the topic- I am just tired of being the bad guy.  I am so ready for Hubsie to come home and take over!  Well- the control freak in me doesn't really want him to completely take over.  But you know what I mean!

Thanks for listening, I feel better now...

Life gets in the Way!

Wow, I didn't realize I had taken so long to post!  I thought it had only been a week, but apparently it has been much longer!  I haven't even read anyone else's blogs recently- I usually keep up those at the least.
February has turned out to be quite a busy month for me.  Sister landed her first modeling job.  It was such an awesome experience for both of us.  She was supposed to have only 2 changes of outfits- they ended up doing 4 with her- I guess they really liked her.  She got to wear Christian Dior.  Christian Dior!  I don't think I will ever have that experience.  I can't wait for the magazine to come out in March.  It would be awesome if she makes the cover- but I am trying not to get my hopes up.  For all I know this will be her only modeling job- so we millked it for all its worth. :)  I will definitely post the pictures here once I get my paws on the magazine.

I am finally going to start teaching English.  My neighbor is moving and is handing over her students to me.  I am very excited!  I am starting with two of them this week.  I have met most of the students- they are all such sweet ladies- ranging from 20 to 50 years of age.  Of course now I have to do a super scrub on my house since most of the lessons will take place in my living room.  But that is a good thing for me.  Its called MOTIVATION.  And of course getting paid in cash- Yen- is a good thing.  The exchange rate is about 88 yen to the dollar- so getting paid in Yen is the way to go right now.

I did my first Compass presentation last week and I did alright!  Compass, if you aren't sure what it is, is a Navy Spouse Mentoring program.  We do classes for new spouses, though we tend to get a lot of "experienced" spouses as well. We had some really nice ladies in our class.  I was very nervous about presenting and was regretting signing up to do so.  But after it was over with, I was glad I did it.  Now I have a better idea of what to do next time.  I guess that is how things like that go?

Spring is in the air, though we have been getting some snow.  But I saw some plum tree blossoms yesterday- that gave me hope.  The plum blossoms are the first sign of spring around here.  The Cherry blossoms follow.  I am so excited for that!  I promise to post lots of pictures!!
I must go.  But I leave with a promise to not drop off the Earth like I did this last month.
Cheers!

Feeling Inspired

Today I attended the first day of a 3 day course called Compass. Basically it is an in doc class for new Navy wives. Married for over 13 years to a sailor, I am not a new Navy wife. However, this class was NOT offered when I first got married. They just started Compass a few years ago I believe. I was inspired to take the class for two reasons. The first being that there is probably something or something(s) I can take away from the class. The second is that I am interested in becoming a mentor and would like to help teach the class. So far, my interest is peaked. The first thing they stress when the class starts is that there is no rank among us Navy wives. I think that is awesome because Lord knows as a new Navy wife many years back i was quite intimidated by the officer's and upper enlisted's wives. Not that there was anyone that treated me poorly- but still...

All this knowledge and experience I have must be put to use! Haha, I sound quite full of myself. Honestly, if I can help at least one new wife, it will be worth it. The lady in charge of the program is actually husband's boss's wife. She is a very very sweet lady who sent me many emails before I arrived- emails packed with loads of useful information and advice about moving here. She also wants me to be a mentor- how could I refuse her?

Today we learned some Naval history, about our benefits as Navy wives, etiquette, and resources that are available. Much of this would have been very useful to me when I was a new wife. Lucky for me I was resourceful and was brave enough to venture out and meet other wives. Some are not so brave. Some are scared away by rumors they hear. Believe it or not- there are some Navy wives that don't like Navy wives! They refuse to socialize with their own kind. Granted- the military brings on a mix of people from all walks of life, and many corners of the world. This can be a wonderful thing in that you get to meet some very interesting people. You can also meet some very strange people who think so differently from you that they might as well be from another planet. Well, maybe not that bad- but still... Some new wives are very young- I mean they just left their parents home for the first time and have never been on their own. They have an especially hard time. Many of them cannot make it without some sort of support system. It is awesome that the Navy has started to make an effort in the past few years to try offer new and better resources.

So what I am getting at is that I have a great opportunity here. The ladies that are presenting the class actually are coming from a different base. They want to start a program at the base at which I live at now. So here is my chance to really make a difference in the quality of life for the spouses here. And of course I will benefit from more than just the warm fuzzy feelings o having down something good- I will also have something to write down on my resume. So when I am asked- "what did you do while in Japan?"- I can say I did more than sight see and eats lots of delicious food.

It feels good to have a purpose here now. Hopefully this turns out to be a good thing!