Officer training

Well....we just got back from leaving DW at COT until Dec 10th!! (What am I gonna do??!!??). She is in Montgomery, AL at Maxwell AFB. The one good thing, she's within the 200 mile radius they allow them to travel for the weekends that they have free. Now the bad things, she doesn't have a car, and the car that she would have had is circling the drain as I type, and she will have to be there over Thanksgiving.
She is restricted to base this coming weekend, but next weekend we will go and spend the weekend with her. It sucks....more for her I am sure, as she hasn't got any military experience. Hopefully someone with some time will help her out.

We got there today (they had to report from 1-6p), at 3p. There were two guys at the front door. One had about nine other 'to be officers' lined up and was talking loudly-not yelling- to get them to salute and stand at attention. The other told DW to get her luggage and place it in the pile by the door, give us our good-byes and then join the bunch. We were in the car less than ten minutes later!! I guess I wasn't expecting that to happen that quickly.

So, it is just me and the boys for a month....damn I miss her.

*sorry for the pity post

[mommax3]

I'm sorry, Matt. I hope you will find some ways to make it go by quickly. DH did his (it was in San Antonio then) prior to starting med school.....we had been married three years at that point and had never spent a night apart. We had just bought our first house in Indy and he left right after we got moved in.....so every "new" noise that the house made was a potential robber/rapist. The yard had not been mowed in about a month when we moved in, so I finally just decided to make that my project for the first week (I was teaching then and school was out for the summer) and spent most of every day taming the jungle in our backyard......I really slept like a baby after a few days of that!

Do you have anything "different" planned while Gretchen is gone, to help break up the monotony?

Sally

[fluffhead]

Re: Officer training

So, it is just me and the boys for a month

wow! good luck with that!
Sorry you're family is temporarily askew, but think how much you'll all appreciate each other after its over!

5 weeks?
Yikes. That would put a serious dent in my mental health. Good though that you can drive to see her. Are there any fun things to do on the way there or back?
Hang in there!

[DCJenn]

Well, Matt, I know your pain my friend.

So, since you're missing your partner in crime, let me tell you how this will actually help her be a better military doctor-

1) As bad as OBC is, it's nothing compared to basic training. So, when she's dealing with 18 year olds who are feeding the baby 12 ounces per bottle and don't understand why he/she is "throwing up all the time", she will be able to understand a little better where these kids are coming from.

2) When people who have less rank than she does are standoffish, she will know it's because she's an officer, and it's nothing personal.

3) When things are going badly, wherever our troops are, she will know that some of them have had no more and no less training than she has. (which should frighten her and give her a renewed respect for those in the field) and let her also take comfort in the fact that the medical corps is soooo not regular military.

4) She will learn to appreciate every single military person when confronted with their civilian counterpart. The military has a knack for hiring the stupidist civilians, EVER.

5) She will learn how to wear all that insignia. (and admit it, it's sexy...)

Jenn

It will be over soon, trust me!!

[houseelf]

Matt,

I'm sorry for you and your family. Could you break up the monotony by visiting family or having them come to visit you? How are the boys faring? How is Gretchen faring? And you?

Good luck.

Kelly

[Meenah]

Wow. My thoughts are with you. You are officially invited to Princeton,NJ for Thanksgiving. Anyone else in the vicinity is invited too.
Luanne

[Auspicious]

Re: Officer training

It sucks....more for her I am sure, as she hasn't got any military experience. Hopefully someone with some time will help her out.

I would be absolutely shocked if they didn't. When FH went through DCO School it was a good mix of people with prior service and those without and in general people with prior service love being knowledgeable in all the military stuff and love sharing that knowledge with interested parties. And even beyond the military-specific stuff . . . there was one guy in their class who failed the swim test on Friday and was going to have another chance on Monday and one of the strongest swimmers in the class stayed on base over the weekend to teach the guy to swim while everyone else went to New Orleans. (It worked.)

Anyway, DCO School was a really positive experience when all was said and done for FH and I hope COT goes just as great for Gretchen. I'm sorry about Thanksgiving and about you having to go so long without her (Dec. 10! Sheesh!). Sending positive vibes your way.

Thanks for all the positive thoughts and information too!

She called last night and sounded pretty good. She was getting ready for bed because the 5am PT was going to kick her a@@! She is(was) not a morning person, I am thinking that she will have to break the habit of hitting snooze 12 times(ok, that's an exageration-nine times!) before getting up!

As for the time in between....there is really no family near or available to come and see us. Although the in-laws offered to fly from Seattle to visit!(mostly just saying they would, they don't have vacation time from work) The boys and I are going to hit the beaches tomorrow evening and take pictures at sunset. The weather is finally cooler and the sunsets have been unbelievable here. We MAY take a trip to South Carolina to visit my grandparents, but I will have to pack the truck full of patience first. That would be at least eight hours in the car with both kids strapped into car seats. The travel DVD player fried itself, along with the power plug on the last trip we took. It may happen, it may not.
We are also going to start decorating the house later with some Turkey stuff that we have, along with making some crafty things to keep Drew busy. Then we will put up Christmas stuff later (can't believe that is nearly here!?). And we will probably try to get some Christmas shopping done too.

Along with my wife being gone, there are three neighbors that have left town and asked me to watch their homes and gather mail. Maybe that will help pass the time too.

[SueC]

I hope it goes by quickly for you Matt! 5 weeks is an awfully long time!