Deployments Make Me Crazy

Week before last I called city hall.  The street light across from our house has been out forever and its really dark when I come in and out at night.  I spoke to a really nice gentleman who said he would be happy to call the utility company and get it fixed ASAP. I crossed it off my list and went on with my morning.

The next day I heard a truck outside and went over to the window to check it out.  I was amazed that they would have gotten to the light so quickly.  As I opened the blind and peered out to inspect the pole, it was then that I realized what I had done. 

The "light" pole" in front of my house actually contained no light. 

It was just a pole.

No wonder it's so dark out there. 

Seriously you guys, you cant make this stuff up. 

I would loved to have seen the face of the utility worker who got that work order.

Really, talk about embarrassing.

It's true. Deployments make me crazy. Chalk it all up to no sleep. No peace and quiet.  No mommy time. And lots and lots of stress.  Whatever it is, something chemically in my brain changes the moment he packs that ruck sack and I start asking for lights to be changed that don't exist.  I know from your emails and messages that I'm not alone.  I think we all live on the edge of sanity for months on end.  I could blame it on the kids, but to be completely honest, I was like this during the last deployment too.  Everybody knows about the whole "Murphy's law" of deployment but not everybody talks about the deployment crazies.
And I swear somebody should study it. 

What is it about bidding your hubby farewell that makes you start plotting the wackiest stuff of your life?

I think of the friend who actually showed up at the airport wrapped in a trench (and nothing else) and went to meet her hubby at the gate, forgetting that she had to de-robe to head through security.  The friend who caught her sock on fire because she just knew she could fix the dryer all by herself. The friend who decided that she could in fact, take apart a treadmill and completely overhaul the motor- oh wait, that was me.  The friend who opened the bathroom window wearing nothing but a shower cap and discovered a hot air balloon hovering mere inches from her window, finding herself herself eye level with the people inside- oh wait that was me too. (I will have to tell you guys that story another time, but the balloon landed in the street in front of my house. Apparently they were having trouble. But boy did they get a show on the way down...)

I call these crazies endearing. 

The harmless, Rosie the Riveter, I am army wife, hear me roar, oh my gosh cant believe that just happened crazies. We all have those stories, and often its those tiny little hysterical moments that get us through separations.

But I also know from your messages and stories and emails that there is another

kind of crazy lurking during deployment. 

The hubby and I like to call them the "harmful crazies".

The harmful crazies are those people in your life that see deployment as a chance to pour on the drama.

And oh do we have some of those in our life.  I don't often talk about those people on my blog, because honestly, I don't like to give them that much time. But lately I've been getting a lot of feedback that y'all have some harmful crazies too.  And I just wonder, what is it about deployments that cause people
to go all street rat crazy?

I'm talking about people that you haven't seen since your high school graduation that suddenly fly out of the woodwork asking all kinds of inappropriate questions.  People that otherwise do not give you the time of day but suddenly lay claim to the fact that "they have a family member serving".  And let me just clarify here, I'm not talking about sweet aunts and uncles and cousins that you only see once every two or three years who want to support you.  We have a HUGE family and lots of family members on both sides that send well wishes during deployments.  And we love you guys!

It's those people that see deployment as open season on your spouse or who think they're entitled to daily updates and play by plays of your life.  People who tend to "forget" that your husband really is at war, and just because you get a daily email or occasional call does not diminish the risk.

And the questions are my favorite.

" What are you worried about? Your husband's an officer, doesn't he have soldiers to do the work for him?"

" Aren't officer's the rich people of the army?"

"Has he had to shoot anybody yet?"

"Is he really in danger over there?"

" Why hasn't he emailed me?"

"Why hasn't he called me?"

And of course there are the ones that blame you, the spouse, because he had to deploy.
I actually had a family member tell me during the first deployment that "if he died over there it would be
all my fault"

Seriously.

Crazy.

Street.
Rat.
Crazy.

What more can you say?

So now's your chance to sound off. 
What crazy stuff goes on in your world during deployment?
Let's hear your stories, girls, I know you got 'em.

Deployment Hugs!