Never in my life would I imagine that I would be here, typing on this blog. But, to no avail, here I am ! The reason why I have started a blog, is because I happened upon someone else's Blog earlier today, and she totally inspired me. She has 8 children under the age of 12, and it seems like she even speaks in full sentences and everything! 
She is a stay at home mom, like myself, however she has twice as many children as I do. And she has this blog, I read some of it, and I thought to myself, "Wow. I wish I were more like her, with her positive, God Loving attitude" .  So, I started a blog!

My Husband is Active Duty Air Force. He has been in for 24 years this month. We have been married for almost 15 yrs.  He is currently serving over in Korea, for a year. It stinks, and there is nothing we can do about it. I remain "state side" with our 3 boys, 2 dogs, 1 cat and a fish. We call the fish, "fishie". Yup- 1 fish, in a 30 gallon tank. We used to have about 15 of them, and they started dying. I didn't want the fish tank, hubby did. It came from a friend. I told Hubby that he would have to clean it. And we have had it for quite a while now, he has yet to clean it. I have a good friend, who is a very handy guy for maintenance stuff around the house. He will come over and clean it for me, for the fee of a beer or 2. Deal ! So I don't clean the tank. Poor Fishie. I think he's lonely. But enough about him...

Pat, (Hubby) was told last year that he was up for a re-assignment. This time, it was to Korea. He had 2 choices, and about 3 days to make up his mind. Either take the assignment, or retire from the Air Force. He came home, we talked about it, and he thought about how bad the economy was, he thought about how hard it would be for him to get a job right then and there, and he wasn't done taking classes at night to acquire his Bachelor's degree. So he decided, that it would be best for him to take the assignment to Korea. I prayed and prayed that it would get cancelled. It did not get cancelled. He left 3 November 2009.

He is due back this coming November, if all goes well. But here's the thing. Usually, as the story of my life goes, something happens. And, of course, something did. The Air Force has decided to change their regulations on retirement, effective 1 January 2010. With this new regulation, Hubby will be forced to retire April of 2011. Which is 6 months, (give or take) after his tour of duty is supposed to be over in Korea. In the meantime, he has taken a test to see if he qualifies to make the next rank. He would become a Senior Master Sergeant. He was told by (whomever) that he stands a pretty good chance of getting this rank, and going to Korea will enhance his possibilities. If he were to become a SMSgt, his retirement pay would also increase, once he has "time on the stripe". Which means, he has to become a Senior Master Sergeant and remain active duty for (I think) 3 years, then he will be able to collect the pension of a SMSgt.  But now, they changed the regulations, so he does not believe he has enough time left before the Air Force will force him to retire. See , at the age of 45, they want to bring in the young whipper-snappers that can do the job of the older, higher ranking troops. Atleast, that is my opinion... for what it's worth.

So, we wait. We wait to see if Pat has passed that test. He tells me that next Thursday, is the date of which he finds out if he made that rank or not. So we will see what happens.

Next time I blog, I shall write how San Antonio comes in to play with all of this- I need to go deal with my kids for the time being!  Take care...