I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS

Yes, yes, another month has passed with my lazy self neglecting to post on El Bloggo. I suck. I’m sorry.

In all fairness, there hasn’t been that much going on over here. Hubz has been working really hard – usually in the office six days a week, and rarely home before 8pm on a weekday. The upside is that he’s enjoying the work, and seems to be getting recognition for his efforts. I’m proud of him! I don’t mean to complain here – once you have just one friend whose spouse is deployed, you realize that a little interruption like overtime is just a drop in the bucket….and I LOVE the fact that nobody’s shooting at him :)

Okay – so what does a Military Spouse on foreign soil do without kids or job to keep her busy? Hmmm…well, judging by my activities of late – darn little. She lets the housework slide a little (since tomorrow is also available for cleaning) and the meals get a little less creative (it’s suddenly such an EFFORT to cook). I know, right? Poor little rich girl gets a free ride to Europe and falls apart? I think I’m starting to realize the amount of self worth I derived from my career. I’m kind of working my way into a new and strange identity over here – and apparently none of those steps down my new road includes a propensity to do laundry :)

So, after about two months of floundering around my gilded cage, I dug in. I looked into jobs on the base (which are few and hard to know about without an inside track), and took a German Class (21 other bored housewives, two mornings a week – AND I can now count past 12 - yay!!!), and finally stumbled upon a volunteer recruitment website run by the base. On a Friday morning I responded to five jobs that interested me, and by Friday afternoon, I had a hit! It turns out that the Army Substance Abuse Program (ASAP) needed someone to step in and help run their campaigns. It seemed like a good fit, and all in all, I am enjoying the experience.

Amazingly, the laundry is now getting done, and putting together dinner is holding more appeal (when Hubz is actually home to eat it!). Things are starting to turn around a bit. I’m not completely there yet, but I at least have a few days in my week with a distinct purpose and direction. I knew that living overseas was going to be a learning experience...but who knew what I'd learn would be about myself?!?