Germany

Mario arrived safely in Germany this evening. He was able to use his computer to call me on Skype. So we were able to talk to him for about a half hour. Mario seems to be in good spirits. He will be leaving for Manas Air Base in a couple hours. He may spend a couple days there before heading to Afghanistan. But at least his 180 days begins when he arrives at Manas.

I am proud of myself because I didn't cry once at church today...not even a tear. Mario's blessing that I will be able to control my emotions was a big part of that I am sure. We have a new Sunday School teacher who is great and I felt the Spirit strongly in Relief Society. So church went well with the exception of two wiggly 6-year-olds in Sacrament meeting.

Feeling Blessed

Mario is on his way to Germany this morning. After spending the night in the terminal and talking to a few of the other deploying airmen, Mario was feeling pretty blessed. He recognized a guy from his training in Wyoming and immediately went to talk to him. He said it was evident the guy had been crying. The guy had his deployment canceled and was looking forward to taking his wife on a special Valentine's Day date. Then Friday night, he got a call and said that they found him a new job and he needed to be on a flight Saturday morning. The poor guy knows he is going to Kabul but has no idea where and what job he will have.

Mario spoke to a single mom who was stationed in Japan. She got notice that she was deploying 5 days ago. She had to leave her dishwasher loaded with dirty dishes and a washing machine loaded with laundry to catch a flight to the mainland to drop off her kids at her mom's house before deploying.

Mario talked to another airman who spent weeks in Florida to train for her deployment job but then had it changed at the last minute. So all that training was for nothing.

With Obama's troop increase, some career fields are going to 6 months deployment and then home for 6-12 months before redeployment. Fortunately, Mario is not in one of those career fields, but with the frequent changes in the military, we never know. Four out of the six officers in his office are deploying this year.

There were at least 100 airman that were with Mario waiting to board the plane for a deployment. He only spoke to a few. I am sure there are many more stories like the ones above. It made him realize that we are really blessed. We have life very easy. It also makes me realize how much we need to appreciate the sacrifices these military men and women are making for us. I am so thankful for these sacrifices and so thankful to live in a free country. Sometimes I take that for granted and then I remember what Mario's grandparents went through in Cuba and I realize how lucky we truly are.

On a separate note, Zach has never fasted in his short life. But last night he told me he wanted to fast for daddy. I thought he would forget, but as he was getting out of the shower this morning, he reminded me that he was fasting. So it gave me the opportunity to teach him how to fast. When I asked Nathan to go out of my room for a couple minutes so Zach and I could pray to start his fast, Nathan said he wanted to fast also. But then when he found out that fasting means not eating, he changed his mind...maybe next month.

Finally Here

Well, the wait is finally over and I am optimistic that the 6 months will go quickly. I think the 3 months leading up to the deployment will prove to have been the hardest. The anticipation and anxiety were a bit overwhelming at times. I know the best part will be when Mario has been back for a couple months and we have all forgotten that he was ever gone.

I recall attending a Relief Society meeting in Hawaii when we first moved there. The speaker was a retired military wife who talked about how she loved the military and that she wouldn't trade any of her experiences. She said that deployments were difficult but that she appreciated them because she saw tremendous growth in her and her children. I think that will be the case with our family also. It is funny how a meeting that I attended at least 7 years ago brings me peace now.

I am grateful for the comfort and peace I feel today. I know it won't be an easy day and I will probably tear up when people ask me how I am doing. But overall, I feel a great sense of peace. I am grateful for the blessings Mario gave me and the kids on Sunday. I am also grateful for the blessing Mario received from his father last month. Mario was promised that he and our entire family would be protected. While praying last night, Mario felt the Spirit overwhelmingly telling him that we would all be fine. What peace and comfort the Holy Ghost brings to us during difficult times.

Wish it was only a dream

I woke up this morning wishing that Mario's deployment was only a dream. I am not so lucky. The Air Force has already changed his job for Afghanistan. He was supposed to be an aid to a civilian. But because of Obama's troop buildup, they need to put him in a new slot just created and something that needs to be filled right away. Since he has already been trained, he will be the Officer in Charge of a biometric lab at an Army base in Kabul. This job doesn't even require the NATO training that Mario had in Norway. It just shocks me (I'm not sure why considering it is the government) that they would spend all that money to send Mario to Norway and then send him to a job that doesn't even require the training. Mario at first tried to fight the change but was unsuccessful. Now he seems to have come to terms with it and hopefully will like his new job. I think that the base he will be at will be better because it has more amenities. Also the church services are on this base. He would have had to travel each Friday to attend church. So for that reason alone, I am glad that he had a job change. He leaves early Saturday morning. Nate and Zach have a basketball game that morning soon after he leaves. Hopefully I will be able to make it through the game without crying. All the other wives there have seen their husbands off on many deployments, so maybe I will get some sympathy or maybe they will think I am a baby and I need to suck it up. I think they all agree that the first deployment is the hardest. I was asked to substitute in primary the next two Sundays. I told the primary president that I would do it, but I explained the situation and that I will probably be a wreck the Sunday after he leaves. So she asked if I could just teach this Sunday. Now I feel bad and I want to commit to teaching, but I also know that I will probably need a couple days to regain my composure after he leaves.

Concealed Weapon Permit

I have completed the basic handgun course. I was amazed at the totally normal people in the class. There were senior citizens, young people, and a very nice couple. Tomorrow I will take the course to get my concealed weapon permit. Wow, I can't believe the differences between the California and Arizona laws. In my opinion, California is nuts about all their laws. It is definitely not a gun-owner-friendly state. I had to wait 10 days to purchase a .22 handgun. Then another 10 days when my handgun needed replaced. Arizona is the exact opposite. You can walk in and purchase a gun the same day. Then, I could walk around town with a weapon as long as it is not hidden unless I have a permit. It has freaked me out a little when I see people carrying guns around. I can't even imagine all the people concealing them. Just look for the bulges in their pants or shirts. All it takes is an 8 hour course and $60 paid to the state of Arizona and you too can carry a concealed weapon. That is a bit scary!

Anyway, Mario asked me to take the course even though I don't really plan to tote around a gun (except they really do make some nice, leather concealed weapon purses...might be worth carrying it once in a while so I have an excuse for a new purse). Mario asked his boss for the day off tomorrow to watch the kids while I go to my course. He told his boss where I was going and told him I am taking the course so that I "will be legal now." He insinuated that I carry a weapon now illegally. I thought that was so ridiculous. I have never met anyone from Mario's work, but I can only imagine what they think of me.

My real intention in taking the course is so that I can learn the laws of Arizona and know when I am legally allowed to use my gun. Plus it doesn't hurt to get some practice with the experts and the more I learn about them, the more comfortable I am handling them (remember my blog about my first shooting experience...I locked myself in the truck and didn't want to get out at the range. I was so scared).

I did recently have an experience at church where I was wishing I had a gun. I walked into church and in the foyer was a man wearing a trench coat with non-church clothes underneath it. He had a fanny pack under his shirt. I almost took the kids and walked back outside. But Mario was already inside and so I went to look for him. When I found him, I asked him if he had seen the guy with the trench coat. He said he had and that the guy was really nice and helped set up chairs. I couldn't believe Mario wasn't nervous about this guy. Anyway, turns out he was homeless and was invited by a homeless woman to attend church with her. I felt bad for being so scared of him but I have always had this fear of someone walking into church and shooting up the place. I know, call me crazy! But I would feel safer knowing that some of the men (or women) at church are carrying some concealed weapons to defend us in the event that ever does happen.

Fighting over Dishes

Eric and Erin having been fighting the past month about doing dishes. The funny thing is that they are fighting over which one gets to do the dishes for dinner. Mario and I just sit back and enjoy. It started with another attempt at getting the kids to do a better job with chores. Yet another chore chart was created. Mario was very pessimistic and thought this chart would last about as long as the others...maybe a week or two. But we are going on our second month and the kids are going strong. This time is different because I pay them more than I have in the past. They each get $10 a week for chores but they only get paid twice a month (when we get paid). Eric recently made a deal that if I add $5 a week he'll babysit as often as I need him to. I didn't think that was a fair deal for him but I did decide to add the $5 for times when I just need to run a 15 or 20 minute errand. Otherwise he gets $5 for each time he babysits.

So back to dishes, on the chore chart they each are asked to do dishes 3 times in one week. I didn't assign specific nights. So they both want to get them done at the beginning of the week. I didn't raise procrastinators I guess. They call dishes early in the morning because I won't let them call them the night before.

Other chores include each washing one load of laundry, sweeping and mopping, cleaning the bathroom, cleaning out the car, dog duty, trash, vacuuming, clean room, and practice piano.

They pay their tithing and then put half into savings. I tell them they can spend their savings but only after they tell me what they are saving up for and not just a impulse buy when we are at the store. Eventually they need to add in mission, college, and car savings too. Right now they both say they want to save up for a Nintendo DSI.

Trilingual

When Mario became a RAS officer, he started getting paid an additional $350 a month for speaking Spanish because it was required for his new job. Mario has been wanting to take the Portuguese test also since it is pretty close to Spanish. But he kept putting off the studying for the test. Since he is getting ready to deploy, he decided to go in and take the test anyway. He was so excited when he scored well enough to get an extra $250 a month for Portuguese. That will go straight to the kids' mission accounts.

So now I can say that my husband is trilingual (at least as far as the military is concerned).