Back into wife life....

Amidst the time that Romeo spent in earthquake-land, I had gotten wife-life down pretty well.

or so I thought.

I had become accustomed to keeping house, cooking (somewhat), cleaning, decorating, laundering, and so on and so forth. I figured I was on the path to Betty Crocker's Housewife of the Year.

or not.

So Romeo arrived from home from earthquake-land, and my housewife-ing skills slowly deteriorated. As the days went by, the dishes began to pile up, the laundry was out of control and the house was just in shambles.

humphhh.

Now, we have embarked on our next journey- home ownership.

scary business.

And I see our pending move to be a refreshing possibility. New home, new rooms to organize and decorate, and a new opportunity to start over and work on being a better wife.

not that I think I am a bad wife.

I just know that I could be better.

Like today for instance, I have managed to ruin yet ANOTHER pair of Romeo's ACU's.

Note to self: Check pockets. Thoroughly.

I lost the laundry battle to a black-ink ballpoint pen.

See, every day is a new lesson on how to be better.

Now I'm going to make a list.

Things I've learned about (Army) wife-life:

1. Don't bombard with questions about his day as soon as he walks in the door. If something truly exciting or awful happened, he would have called. Otherwise, allow breathing room.
2. Don't wash ACU's without checking pockets. Thoroughly.
3. Do not begin dinner until after you KNOW he is on his way home, if you start too early, prepare for cold food and disappointment.
4. Clean. A lot. Often. Expect it to never be done. Don't put it off. Things will just get worse.
5. Plan catch-up days. You'll need them.
6. When stuck for recipe ideas, stick to simplicity. Basics never fail.
7. Make lists.
8. Don't get mad when the phone rings in the middle of dinner, or in the middle of a movie, or in the middle of the night. He's not happy about it either, believe me.
9. Expect to need to wash PT's at 10pm. And expect them to need to be dry by 4:45am. Expect to have to wait up to move them from the washer to the dryer.
10. NEVER, and I mean NEVER, let him crawl back into bed before he leaves for work. You both WILL fall back to sleep and he WILL be late and it WILL be your fault for not waking him up.
11. Also, NEVER wake him up any earlier than necessary. This will create a very unhappy GI Joe.
12. Have some kind of breakfast/snack on-the-go available. He'll want it.
13. Expect houseguests. Possibly multiple.
14. HAVE AN OUTLET. Something for you to do BY YOURSELF (or with girlfriends). I run, and believe me, it is the savior of my sanity.
15. DON'T RELY ON HIM TO ENTERTAIN YOU. It's tough moving to a new place and not having friends, but FIND SOME. It will be a blessing to both of you. There's no worse feeling for you to expect him to be home at night to hang out, and then he's working late or out with the guys. And its no better for him to know you're around waiting for him. BE SOCIAL.
16. Always be prepared to have to go fax paperwork at 9:30pm. (Thank you, J)
17. Always be prepared to need to take Class-A uniforms to the dry-cleaners at 9:30pm. AND have them ready for formation the following day.
18. Even though he may not always say it, GI Joe loves you completely.
19. You may be at your wits-end, but it is all SO worth it. Always remember that at least he's there to drive you crazy, and not half way around the world.
20. Finally, no matter what, no matter how awful you may be a doing laundry or organizing or cooking of whatever, he'll always love you anyway!

And despite the tough parts, I'm thankful for ALL of the lessons I've learned thus far!