What it's Like for the Husband

Here's a bit from Tim’s side

A Conversation

Last week, Tim’s BOQ room mates were comparing alcoholic drinks. Tim listened with interest throughout the conversation, and then indicated that he felt left out. Their response:

“Man! Are you allergic to alcohol or something?”
“Man! Does your wife drink?”
“Man! How did you guys find each other?”
“Didn’t you have alcohol at your wedding?”

… “Well, Horner, I guess you’re our designated driver.”

A friend described it this way – it’s a work hard, play hard mentality.

Like Tim says, these are the guys you want beside you in a war.
They’re not the guys you want to drive you home Friday night.

If you’re a dedicated Christian in the USMC, you will stick out immediately. Contrary to what you might think, being serious about what you believe and talking about it will often earn you more respect than trying to blend in.

Among the “just plain stupid” (Tim’s assessment) habits in the BOQ is chewing. That’s right – chewing – like ole grandma down on the farm. Apparently Tim’s room mates leave Gatorade bottles full of spit juice in interesting places.

And for Our Pregnant Marines…

A pregnant Marine in the MCX caught my eye last week. Like Tim pointed out, her sleeve rolls were neater than the sleeve rolls of the guy walking past her. (Note: Sleeve rolls are very important – they’re like that “Yeah, it’s got a Hemi” sticker you see on pick up trucks. If Tim were a pick up truck, his bumper sticker would say, “Yeah, It’s Got Sharp Sleeve Rolls.”)

Anyhow, I thought it was cool that this pregnant Marine had, in addition to sharp sleeve rolls, special extension buckles on her camouflage blouse, to let it out gradually for her baby.

Nineteen Dozen Cookies

Sarah and Meredith (two officer’s wives whose husbands are at TBS with Tim and who also go to our church) and I decided to make cookies together for our guys and their roommates back at the BOQ. It didn’t seem to take that long at all (it helped to have two Kitchen-Aids).

Sarah has been here for a while – her husband started before Tim. She filled us in on the-officers-wives-you’ve-probably-heard-about. These are the ladies that don’t work during the week and instead gather together to gossip with each other during the day. They “didn’t realize that their own husband would get deployed if he had a LAW CONTRACT, of all things,” and are quite upset when they realize that they can only take 3000 lbs of household belongings to Japan with them, meaning they will have to leave behind their Dyson, and that their dog will be in holding 180 days until he is declared disease free.

The Latest on the Commissary

We found that if you go shopping at 10 AM Saturday morning, the crowd is a lot smaller (almost non-existent). Of course, this may have had something to do with the fact that it was not a pay day week.

Tim starts classes for real today. Zero week is finished. Not that all the paperwork has finished processing – we’re praying that the system will hurry up and recognize Tim as active duty so we can be approved for IDs, insurance, and payroll.

The Globe and Laurel

Tim’s buddy Kyle called us up Saturday and asked if we wanted to go to a local Marine lore restaurant. He wanted to tell us about his visit with Bridget, and how they got engaged the weekend before. He is a very happy guy now.

Major Spooner, a living legend, runs the Globe and Laurel with his wife. The walls and ceiling of his restaurant are covered with WWII memorabilia – including Chesty Puller’s insignia, and some pretty cool guns, which of course I don’t remember what kind they are. They have good steak sauce, too! It is called Gung Ho, and you can buy it online at gunghosauce.com for $5 a bottle (20 oz.). I feel dumb mentioning that, because it sounds like such a guy thing, but it was really good.

The cool part was that we got to meet Major Spooner. He came out onto the back patio, saw us, and asked us if we minded if he smoked his cigar. Of course, we told him no. Then he said he would wait until I was gone (they smoke and drink, but at least the older ones are chivalrous about it). We got to say hi, so we were happy. Then, the Marine Corps Museum came and interviewed him at the table next to ours. They do this every Saturday night, apparently.

Perhaps I should mention – the reason we were on the back patio was because the inside of the restaurant was full. There was some kind of party going on, and the people were a little tipsy, so we were glad to have the outdoors all to ourselves! We did get to look around inside, though.

Sunday Lunch

Every Sunday a family in the church hosts a military lunch. Kyle, Tim, and I went, along with another enlisted Marine whose name I think is David. The father of the family is in the Air Force, and they have five children. One is in the military stationed in Germany. Their daughter, Stephanie, is our age and lives at home, so I was able to meet her. We enjoyed talking (a lot!). She works in D.C. and commutes via bus every day, which I think must take some guts. Needless to say, I am very thankful to have found some girls here that I enjoy being with.

P.S. I found out how to make a big church seem smaller – sit in the front! Just kidding. :) We have been getting to know more people every week, and the really encouraging part is that the ones we’ve already met remember us from the week before! Of course, I go through names in my head all week so I will remember, too.