Dining In 2015

On Friday the MCT portion of SOI-E had a Dining In that we were lucky enough to be able to attend. Ryan and I have been married nearly five years and together over seven and this is the first time we have been able to attend one! Other units had them scheduled and then cancelled over the years so we were looking forward to an evening out together. Plus, I always love a reason to see my husband in his dress blues! Dining Ins are a little less formal than Birthday Balls, so cocktail attire is encouraged, but I did see a mix of dresses for sure. Most women were in cocktail dresses, some were in long formal gowns, and one or two were in very casual dresses. It seemed anything semi dressy was acceptable, but I googled the bejeezus out of it ahead of time to make sure! I rarely have an excuse to wear a little black dress, particularly one as comfortable as the one I did wear, so I was all about the cocktail attire.

We clean up pretty good! I worked half a day and then used the extra hours to work on my hair and make up, always a challenge for me, but I thnk I did ok. The Dining In was held on base and it was a beautiful evening. The last time we were at this pavillion was for our first Ball in Lejeune, and the docks were under construction. A backhoe does not a romantic backdrop make! But three years later it looked really nice. We arrived for the cocktail hour and were early enough to take advantage of the limited open bar... as in we each got one free drink before the free part ended! Works for me! We mingled and I met some more of Ryan's fellow instructors and their spouses, which was nice.

The Dining In is all about rules and ceremony... including lining up and marching in to your seat. Once you are seated, you do not get up until the break otherwise the Vice can make your spouse pay a fine and visit the grog bowl. Other infractions include rudeness, breaking ceremony, uniform infractions, or anything else the Vice and the President deem to be punishable. Needless to say if you have to pee, you hold it! The dinner was nice and once the guys got into the spirit of fining the heck out of one another it was pretty entertaining. The grog bowl is pretty disgusting. The liquid inside almost looked like a bloody mary and was kind of thick with chunks of unidentifiable things floating in it. The poor Marines who had to take shots of it (some only had one, others had as many as five or more) looked pretty green afterwards!

 

Other traditions, besides staying seated, include the President having to taste the beef (to make sure it is "fit for consumption") as well as the wine. The Marines are usually pretty mean and do something to the food and wine to make it gross (I believe ours covered the beef in super hot sauce but I have heard of it even being covered in cat food before) because the President has to eat it. If he doesn't, no one else is allowed to eat anything! So unless you want a hundred or so hangry people, you stomach a small bite.

After the break (and a huge, mad dash to the bathroom) the fines are closed and you do the traditional toasts and the guest of honor speaks. Ours was a Sgt Major who has been in many years and nearly moved me to tears at one point when he spoke about some of the amazing men he served with and lost... including one of his good friends who was killed in the recent helicopter training accident in Florida a little while back.

Everyone is given a cigar to enjoy for when the smoking lamp is lit. Ryan and I have been smoke free for over eight months now, so we didn't even chance it with a cigar... I was pretty proud of us for sticking to it.

 

After the toasts and speeches the President dismisses everyone to the bar to join him for a drink (and a cigar) and you are free to mingle or go home. We hung out a little longer and chatted with some people before heading home again.

 

It was a lovely night and we both had a really nice time. I do have to say, as much as I love dressing up, it was super nice to change in to my sweat pants when we got home. We snuggled on the couch and watched the Simpsons and ate grilled cheese sandwiches.... you can't beat that!

 

All Over the Place

Time has been a tricky thing for me lately. With Ryan in cycle and me back at work it feels like there isn't really a set schedule for anything anymore... it's strange. I am now almost six weeks post op and feeling much better. On two occasions (naturally at four in the morning) my stomach rebelled something and I was up and sick for awhile and then off kilter for a few days, but I am just watching what I eat and going from there. Red meat and I may never have the same relationship, which kind of stinks. I only seem to handle the very expensive ground beef or burgers (93% or 97%), but roast beef, steak and anything else is a no go. I guess I can live with that.

Ryan is now in his second cycle as a combat instructor and this one is much better than the first (which was his training cycle). We still have periods of time where we don't see each other for a few days but there are those wonderful few that we get to hang out and spend some time together. After this cycle he will have some time on a normal work schedule since the busy season for SOI is over, which I am looking forward to.

I've been doing a lot of meal prepping on my days off, trying to cook lunches and dinners for the week for two people and doing the laundry and cleaning and grocery shopping; let's just say I remember days off being more relaxing than they have been as of late! Sometimes I feel like he is deployed again, but instead of maintaining a house and a life for just me it is for him too. He ghosts in exhausted; eats, showers and sleeps, and is gone again long before I wake up. I try to keep food in the fridge and the laundry clean and the house not a total disaster. I try not to get frustrated when mud tracks across the floor I just vacuumed or the laundry pile magically reappears as soon as I fold the last load, but it isn't easy. Not trying to complain by any means, I'd rather have him home in this capacity instead of deployed, but it can be exhausting at times trying to keep all the plates spinning.

Besides that my poor blog has been suffering for the past year or so. The community I was welcomed into years ago has drastically changed. I never have been one to blog for profit or into the business side of things, but I wonder if I missed out by not doing that. All the bloggers I started out with have pretty much stopped blogging. My readership is way down, comments and page views alike, and it is a bit depressing. I unfortunately do not have the time (and truth be told motivation) to go on a social media blitz or do some of the other things that extend into uber readership. I remember when blogging was more about sharing your story and personal relationships than networking and graphs and such. It's intimidating. I see blogs with thousands and thousands of followers and almost feel dizzy! That's a lot of pressure! Sometimes I think, I want to blog about this! but before I know it a week or two or three has passed and I have no idea what happened. How have I not come back to the space that was once my ultimate sanity?

I know this is all over the place... but I am still here. I am still trying to find my voice and write it down.

I hope you're still here too.

Ryan's SOI Instructor Graduation

Since I am a bit behind, Ryan graduated from SOI Instructor School a few weeks ago! For the past few months he has been learning all about what he will be doing for the next three years, instructing at MCT for the most part, and he has been working his tail off. Long hours and lots of PT in this course were only a preview in to what is actually ahead for his job! But I know he is going to be happy here. Grueling schedule aside, it is what my husband loves. Infantry related things and instructing Marines, two things I must say he really excels at. I have a feeling he will do so very well in this SDA. Here is to the next three years... I am so very proud of him.

 

 

This class of instructors was a bit smaller than normal... their next class is supposedly about four times as many Marines! Which is good, apparently they have been needing more instructors lately so these men and women are eagerly awaited!

Getting ready to graduate

 

YAY! So proud!

 

Reciting the Instructor's Creed

 After the ceremony there was a small lunch where we got to meet his new company (at least his new Chain of Command) and get some more information. They basically affirmed what we have heard all along, be prepared for some long long long days. We got this, no worries. Between the Dup and my trusty 9mil I am not worried about anything! It was nice to meet them though and get some information though.

 

Again, so very proud!

 Ryan's old boss (Master Sgt) came to the ceremony as well, which was so incredibly nice. We will defintiely miss the support we had in Ryan's old company, MSgt was pretty terrific, he and his wife even came with my husband to see me perform in Dracula! Hopefully we will be able to stay in touch with him and his wife, they truly are wonderful people.

 

Ryan is on leave for the holidays and will start with his new company in the new year. I work up until Christmas Eve then I have a few days off, work some more, then we have more time together for New Year's Eve, so I am really looking forward to the time we have together. It may be the last big break we get for some time!

 

And now, on to our next adventure! 

 

Our Next Step...?

Found on Pinterest

Everyone knows the military is nothing but 'Hurry up and Wait'. We've all done it. Waiting for deployments to start/end, PCS orders, re-enlistment, leave requests, picking up rank... our spouse's (and I suppose by proxy; us) do quite a bit of it. This is just the latest step of many. For a pretty direct example check out my husband's last re-enlistment saga.

Anyways.

My husband has known for a long time that he wants to be career military and do his 20 years. With the drawdowns and everything else happening lately this plan is becoming harder and harder. He is doing all he can to be at the top of his game and stay in. Hitting his eight years in the Marine Corps last month has been prompting him to do more considering he only has two years left on his current contract. For the past six months he has been trying to put together a package for his SDA (Secondary Duty Assignment) which is similar to a B-Billet but can only be certain things. Like squares and rectangles, all SDAs are B-Billets but not all B-Billets are SDAs... yea I had no idea either. His options were MSG/Embassy Duty, Drill Instructor, Recruiting Duty or Security Forces.

MSG/Embassy Duty was our to die for wish when we first got married, but to go accompanied you need to be a Staff Sergeant or higher. Since Ryan needs to do his SDA to have a chance of picking up SSgt this is sadly not an option for us. He could do it unaccompanied but we have no desire to go through that. My husband would also rather jump off a bridge than be a Drill Instructor. He has flat out said he'd almost rather do unaccompanied MSG than DI. To each their own! Recuriting Duty wasn't too appealing but Security Forces was the gleam in my husband's eye. It was his original MOS when he entered the Marine Corps and he loved every minute of it. So that was where he decided to put his package together and submit for.

The monitor said they were not accepting for the next fiscal year until May 1, so Ryan was determined to have his package ready for then. He went and spoke to the career planner and got things going. For weeks he ran all over base getting physicals, signatures and all sorts of things. We had a bit of drama with some signatures but the package was complete well in time to get sent up to Headquarters by May 1. All we had left to do was cross our fingers and wait. We knew Ryan's 2 NJPs from back in the day could be an issue, but the monitor for Security Forces when asked heard that Ryan had them but had been prior Security Forces he said, "Send in the package".

Time goes by.

Last week, over a month after the package is sent in, the career planner calls my husband. He asks, "What's up with your package?" My husband replies, "I would ask you the same thing, did you hear anything?"

No.

It was sitting on his desk.

The damn thing sat on the career planner's desk for a month. It went up that day.

It was denied within two days because there were no spots left.

When Ryan told me it was like a punch in the gut. What now? I was thinking at work that he'd maybe try for Recruiting Duty next, unappealing as it was, when my phone started blowing up. Ryan over and over again to call him.

So I step outside and call him and he informs me the monitor for Security Forces is also the monitor for SOI (School of Infantry) and if Ryan was interested he'd want him as an instructor at the school. Were we interested? Ryan and I talked on the phone for less than a minute but in the end he, with my support, decided to go for it. At this point we do not have many options left. So Ryan hastily scrambled and submitted yet another package, as instructed, and we are waiting again.

What if he gets it?

Well.... we will be in the Camp Lejeune area for another three years... damn :P I was sort of looking forward to moving. I can live with it though. I finally have a full time job, we have a house, and it's doable. 86 hour work weeks... yikes. Things will definitely be changing with those kinds of hours. SOI is on Camp Geiger, near New River, so the commute is doable for Ryan especially since most days he will be there by 0430. There will be more overnight duty, up to three times a week possible. All of that seems pretty intimidating since we were thinking of maybe starting a family. Eventually. You know, definitely in the next three years! So 86 hour work weeks with possible three nights away from home with me pregnant then with a newborn? Oh, yikes.

But what choice do we have? If he submits a package for something else, it could easily be denied. All someone needs to see are 2 NJPs (from six years, two ranks and two deployments ago) and that could be it. This is a big opportunity that unfortunately we cannot turn down.

Once again, we wait.

The career planner has the second completed package ready to go. Hopefully we will hear something affirmative soon.

And yes, my husband is calling the planner every day to make sure it is getting sent in.

Now, we wait. Cross your fingers friends!