Wrinkled clothes and dirty floors

Ironing and Cleaning floors. I don't do either. They fall on the "honey dew" list.

I never took the time, nor do I want, to learn how to iron. Whereas, Kyle had four solid years during ROTC (before the wrinkle-free uniforms came out) of perfecting his ironing skills. He constantly teases me about this. But really, if I did do his (or my) ironing, it wouldn't be up to his army standards, so my philosophy has always been...why bother? On my birthday this year my mom decided to take care of my ironing pile, as an added birthday gift to me, and continues to threatened to teach me...no thanks!

On the floors. I don't mind vacuuming and do keep a tighty home but strongly dislike sweeping and moping. Kyle on the other hand doesn't mind these two chores. As long as I allowed them to happen on his schedule, this cleaning system worked for us.

So friends and family...if my clothes are wrinkled or the floors in our home are dirty during the duration of Kyle's tour, you now know why.

Kyle's 24 hour/day, 10 day OPS mission rehearsal exercise is completed. They were strongly praised for a job well done and continue to fine tune the operation before flying out to the big sandbox across the ocean.

Army Wife

I never really thought of myself as an army wife until very recently...I had been through Kyle's ROTC experiences. And the Army has put miles between us before. For Officer Training camp, Airborne School and while he was stationed down in Missouri for a few months. But this is the first time its all been the real deal to me.

I needed to get my own military ID for health insurance purposes (and AWESOME discounts) and had to endure the process that is the US ARMY. First, the ID card facility was in a secure building. Which meant I had to be escorted everywhere. Good thing I hadn't had my morning coffee yet...Of course I didn't have the proper paperwork to get said ID. But after I flashed a big bright smile and handed them the phone with my less than patient husband on the other end, we had it all figured out and I left with my shiny new ID card.

Kyle and his proud-to-be an 'Army' Grandma






















I'm even starting to learn some of the lingo. Like:

Chow: This is meal time

POA: Power of Attorney

FRG: Family Readiness Group

DEERS: I don't know exactly what the acronym is but know that it is a computerized database of military family members. And that I am in it.

PX: Post exchange. Code for army base shopping and where to get the discounts.

DFAS: Which any good army wife CFO would know:) is the Defense Finance Accounting Service or in other terms, where the paycheck comes from


Soon, The Lifetime original series, "Army Wives" is going to be calling me with authenticity questions:) Ok maybe I'm getting ahead of myself now...

Can you HEAR me now?

I think those Verizon guys need to head down to the Ft. Bliss area...seriously, the phrase has taken on a whole new meaning to me. Our cell phone calls are dropped regularly. Its a good day if we get to end of our call without being cut short. Its frustrating.

And I have also developed a new unhealthy relationship with my phone. I always use to carry it around with me but now, its ALWAYS on me. Because Kyle's talk time is extremely limited when he does call I answer. Yep, I am the rude girl at a restaurant or the one in the check out line that should just hit ignore and call back. But with the reception being how it is, if I wait and call back he could have moved three steps into a no cell reception zone.

The picture above is a sand storm Kyle experience this week. This storm I'm sure, did not help the lack of cell phone reception.

Ear protection (part 2)

Viewer Advisory: No animals were injured during these photos. No animals were injured by this shooter, ever. Targets and clay disks only.
While searching for photographs for my brother's birthday party, I came across these. Please note who is not wearing his ear protection properly (my dad is wearing earplugs)...

Wearing proper ear protection since the early 1980s.

Facebook

Can you really go anywhere these days without hearing about facebook? It's even on CNN, so it must be important! And who among us hasn't started a story by say, "So, I was facebook stalking the other day and..." Even those of you strong enough to have not yet taken the dive into the social network world, want to know whats going on in the facebook realm.

I do miss the old facebook days when you could "see" who was stalking you by using the down arrow in the search box option. Now, I am blinding being viewed by my facebook friends. I do love it though. I enjoy reconnecting with friends from my past and long distant relatives and of course, the pictures are my favorite.

Just the other day my own husband was facebook stalking me. It was actually kind of cute. That night he was asking about some of my facebook friends and about pictures he hadn't seen. Its just another way we can stay connected while having to be apart.

We Are Family

This weekend my family was in town. It was great! We successful threw a surprise party for my brother! I am truly blessed with an amazing family. They have made this time in my life that much more manageable by planning and executing more family events and outings. And for this I am very grateful. Sometimes I wish, I could move all of the people I love within just a few miles of me (yes, even my high maintenance brother, you know who you are!).

Kyle update: His sprained ankle is better. He reports that it is still weak, swollen and bruised but less painful. This morning he was 5 minutes late for a meeting. He claims the meeting started 5 minutes early. But nonetheless, his tardiness resulted in 10 push-ups for every minute late. He decided that next time his ankle slows him down, that rather than be the only one late, he will tackle others on their way, so they are late too. Niiice, Kyle.

Missed

It has been a little over two months since I left home for mobilization and pre-deployment training. The training is a seven day a week operation. In addition, we also do 24 hour operations as necessary, including 24 hour OPS for the duration of our January field exercise, and again over the next ten days for our mission rehearsal exercise.

Anyway, over the last two months I have been surprised by some seemingly small things I miss, and equally surprised at by some things I haven’t. I suspect this list will change over the next few months as our operation tempo increases, and then further as I establish an operation routine overseas. In any event, I stress that these are things that I hadn’t anticipated; i.e., it’s given that I miss being with Kathy and Simba every day.

Ready to Bring Back:

1) Weekends/ Holidays: It’s hard to maintain perspective on the days of the week, instead it’s just priorities of work, missions, and due-outs that role from one day to the next. For example, I didn’t realize today was Saturday until just now, and I didn’t realize it was St. Patrick’s day earlier this week until I saw everyone’s drunken. I miss the weekends days were the only priority was to get up, read the paper, hit the gym, maybe walk to the coffee shop down the street for a sandwich, and even going into the office for a few hours of quiet work time.

2) Driving: I rarely, if ever drive anywhere. Even when driving is required, its “NCO business” so officer’s generally don’t drive. I am hoping to get my own Chevy trailblazer to cruise around the US base complex, which would be nice.

3) Good food: Don’t get me wrong, the food is fine and I’m no food snob, but I do miss getting a nice meal at Piatini’s in Chicago, or one of the many fine restaurants we frequented while working in California.

Discovered I Can Live Without (For Now):

1) Television: I catch CNN or Fox news briefly at morning and evening chow, and usually I get an ESPN update at mid-day, that’s about it.

2) Alcohol: General Order #1 prohibits the consumption of alcohol, period. I have had a few, passing cravings for a cold beer on a hot day, but everyone’s in the same boat so it’s really out of sight out of mind.

- KYLE

Birthdays

I am the older woman. It's true. Fourteen days older to be exact. And much wiser. We have celebrated our birthdays together for the last seven years and this will be our first apart. Sad.

Our first birthday together we hadn't been dating all that long. When I opened my gift from Kyle, I knew I had found a keeper! Two certificates to skydive together. It was perfect.

We decided it was best to skydive first and call our parents second, after we had landed safely. I remember calling my mom and telling her about the jump. She responded, "Ok, its done. You did it and never have to do it again, right?!" Well...I don't know. It was pretty awesome.

We jumped at East Troy. Kyle first, I insisted. And even though I leaped a few seconds after him, he claims he could hear my screaming the entire free fall.

I learned a lot that birthday, like proper form for jumping out of airplanes, but mostly I learned that I found someone who shared my sense of adventure, need to explore and desire to see the world.

Ouch Yikes Hooray

Kyle sprained his ankle. Ouch! Yesterday, while on a run, he took a stride onto uneven ground and rolled his left ankle.

His long hospital visit lasted several hours and resulted in little sleep. In bed by 3AM, up at 5AM. Yikes!

His personal P.A. suggested home care. Hooray! And I completely agree. Ok, so his personal P.A. is our fellow MU alum, and fabulous friend, Deanne, and has as much army authority as I do...so I guess his recovery will be taking place away from home for now.

Feel better Solider!

Simba is Irish

Kyle and I decided. He must be. The red hair is definitely an Irish trait. Plus, as his adopted mom, I'm 50% Irish (his Gigi is 100%) and I've kissed the blarney stone, so Simba must be, by association. Not to fuel cultural stereotypes but Simba loves beer. If you open one in front of him, he is going to be your new best friend, begging by your side. And as previously mentioned, green is one of his colors. I think if you look really close, you can see some freckles under that fur!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Love, Simba Patrick O'Malley Fitzgerald

EARPLUGS, EARPLUGS, EARPLUGS

In a loud environment you might have noticed a few things about Kyle. He is either leaning into his conversation with his left ear, watching the lips of the person talking, or standing back and just nodding politely. If its the nodding options, you can be sure that Kyle is asking for the play back on the car ride home. "So and so said what about such and such?" Over the years that I have known Kyle, he has had some loss of hearing, especially in his right ear. I blame the Army or maybe a few years B.K. (before Kathy) of loud music or other ear piercing whatnots. Kyle carries some blame too. Protect your ears! Says the nagging wife:)

Kyle had live fire training over the weekend. I reminded him to wear earplugs with which he responded, "Huh? What? What did you say?" HA, HA Kyle...You are sooo funny!

EARPLUGS, EARPLUGS, EARPLUGS

**On a side note a few readers had mentioned some difficulty in commenting. I changed comment settings to hopefully make it easier.**

Austin and Texas

This weekend was spent in Wisconsin with Kyle's family. Our nephew, Austin, a super cute four year old got me to thinking.

When I arrived Austin greeted me with an excited "Hi Aunt Kathy! Hi Simba! (pause pause) where's Uncle Kyle?" Aunt Kathy is pretty cool but Uncle Kyle...well he's the coolest! I explained as best I could about Kyle's whereabouts. This intangible idea was lost and a few hours later Austin asked if Kyle would be with me next time I came over to his house. We grabbed his globe and explained where Kyle was and where he would be going. "So, Texas is far, far away? Even farther than Nana by the lakes house?" Yes, we explained...even farther than Nana by the lakes house (which is a four hour drive from Austin's house).

That night we had a family skype date. Austin was able to see and talk to Uncle Kyle on the computer. But to a four year old this made absolutely no sense. "So, how did Kyle get in the computer?" we all tried to explain as best we could. Followed by a, "But how did he get there?" I mean really, think about it...how do you explain the w-w-w and video Internet calling to a four year old?

Office Dating

After complimenting my couch potato, the wheels starting turning. I told Kyle how impressed I was that he had not mentioned missing TV or even complained once about it. This is when I could see the wheels start. Kyle says, "What if we put your web cam up to the TV? It would be great!" I think he was half joking when he first mentioned it...I think.

A few days later, our first TV skype date took place. I rigged my computer up to the bedroom TV by opening a dresser drawer for it to sit on and another to keep it at just the right angle for the TV to be perfectly framed. Kyle and I watched the newest, Office episode together. It was great:) We could laugh together and talk about one of our shows after. It was almost like we were watching it together...almost.

Above is a picture of Kyle's mobile office while in Florida. Slightly different from his civilian job office here.

Watch Out

Today Kyle is participating in vehicle training. So if you are in Texas or the tri-state area...watch out! He is learning proper protocol for Humvees and other military vehicles, in sandy terrains and in different war zone situations. Knowing Kyle and his record of breaking/crashing heavy equipment, lets keep our fingers crossed that Kyle doesn't bust any expensive army machinery today. Watch out mystery noises...He'll find you and not with a rubber soled shoe either!

Symbols and Mottos

The Barred-Red Arrow Symbol
The 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team's symbol is the red barred arrow. This emblem was chosen by Commanding General, Maj. Gen. William G. Haan during World War One. He chose this as the division symbol because his troops pieced every enemy line put before them. Kyle now wears this piece of history as a shoulder sleeve insignia, with pride like many men and women have before him.

Their Motto: Forward


The Service Flag The service flag is the official banner authorized by the Department of Defense for display by families who have members serving in the Armed Forces during any period of war or hostilities the United States may be engaged in. Here at Hartman Headquarters we hang our flag with optimism, faith, concern, and a great deal of pride.


Our Motto: Hurry Home

Mystery Noises

Lots of noises. Mostly at night and much more likely to occur when Kyle is not home. I lay down to go to bed and they start- the mystery noises. This has caused me to have some trouble sleeping lately. And last night's storm did not help my situation. I tried the background noise thing. It helped. I used a humidifier but burned out the motor when I accidentally left in on the week I was out of town. I then started the bad habit of going to bed with the ADT panic button in my hand. One of these nights, I am going to roll onto it, setting off the silent alarm and completely FREAK out when the police show up pounding on my door.

This isn't really anything new for me though. When I was in high school, my mom and I called the police over to investigate a mystery noise . We were convinced someone had broken in and were slightly embarrassed when the police officer pated us on the back, gave a smug smile and said, "Don't worry we get these calls from women all the time."

About a year ago, when we first moved in, I remember waking up in the middle of the night from one of these noises. Kyle, being a dutiful husband, went to investigate this noise upon my request. He didn't grab the pepper spray or a baseball bat but a rubber soled shoe. I remember thinking, a shoe? What kind of self-defense aid is a rubber soled shoe? In Kyle's defense he was awaken in the middle of the night by me and was practically sleep walking...That noise, like all the other noises to date, have been nothing more than just that, a noise.

On being a Dog person

Upon returning home this week, first things first, I went to pick up Simba from the kennel. I feel so guilty when he has to go there. He's always so sad when we drop him off. Waiting for Simba to come out, I inevitably starting looking around the retail area of the facility. Dog winter coats 25% off! In Simba's size AND in green! How could I resist? Yes, I know that a more responsible CFO would have walked away but I'm new at this whole CFO thing and well, did I mention it was in green, Simba's signature color??? I could hear Kyle's voice in my head, "How many winter coats does a dog need?" I couldn't help it. I know its 60 degrees in Chicago and almost Spring but this is more of an investment really. Simba has many, many winters ahead of him and can never have too many outfits or accessories in my CEO mind!

Did I mention, I am a totally dog person?

Top three reasons I'm a dog person:
1. They are always happy to see you. No matter what mood you're in or what happened last time they saw you.
2. They never judge. Even if you decided to have a quart of ice cream for dinner in bed, they still think you're the best.
3. They have an unwavering loyalty about them.

Even though Simba can be "hard to love," at times (this is a whole other blog entry! Think Marley and Me times 10). The top three reasons I love him:
1. He's a sleeper. On weekends he will sleep until after ten, if I let him!
2. He's a cuddlier. He loves to lay on the couch with me or in bed.
3. He's great on car rides and loves to run errands with me. Oh! And he lets me dress him up:)

Below are pictures from Kyle's field medical training.



Kyle's bruised arm after his training partner, Corey, tried, unsuccessfully, four times to put an IV in. This picture doesn't do the bruise justice. Kyle bruises like a peach.


A picture of Corey, all wrapped up after Kyle learned the proper bandaging procedures.

Brains and much much more

The very first things that attracted me to Kyle was his intelligences. We sat in the same Philosophy lecture all semester long and while I struggled to keep up with the material, Kyle participated in conversations with the professor with a confidence and ease that amazed me.

In an effort to comfort me upon learning about Kyle's mobilization, a wonderful friend of mine reminded me that "If anyone can handle this, Kyle's so smart, he can." Thanks, friend.

When soldiers are called to an overseas deployment they are given a list of affairs to get in order. So many little things that you would never think about have to be attended to. Along with these things, like a copy of his orders, getting me a power of attorney, making sure I have all his passwords, codes and access to everything (this goes back to the CFO stuff, gotta be able to get on to the accounts). Kyle thought above and beyond to make this time apart as easy on me as possible.

A few examples of Kyle's 'make this easy on Kathy' plan include:

ADT: Kyle had our home alarm system hooked up with all the bells and whistles. I even have a portable panic button that sets the home alarm off within a block radius of the main system. He wanted Simba and I to feel safe...Sometimes it feels like Fort Knox. We've set the alarm off several times (I'm sure the neighbors love this.) and even had the fire department over once for a little visit!

AAA: Knowing how much I HATE car maintence, Kyle signed us up for triple A. Triple A is actually a really a neat program with lots of perks.

Signature Stamp: This is great:) Kyle gave me a rubber stamp with his signature on it. This way if there is something that comes up that needs his signature this year its only a quick stamp away!

All and all Kyle's plan is working. I'm learning just how thoughtful/smart of him it was to have come up with all these "extras".

Hartman Household Board of Executives

Like all families, we have an equal share of chores and responsibilities between the three of us. Here was the Hartman Household Board of executives breakdown up until recently:

CEO (Chief Executive Officer): Kathy. As CEO I would make decisions about things we needed/wanted. For example, furniture for our home. I would present the item to the CFO for budgeting purposes. He would either approve the item, search for the item at a better price or decline the request until finances were made available.

CFO (Chief Financial Officer): Kyle. As CFO Kyle would pay bills and make sure the Hartman household was being 'fiscally responsible'. He researches all the best economic choices for us and is pretty darn good at it.

COO (Chief Operating Officer) : Simba. As COO Simba dictates when we come home, when we go for walks, how often we go for walks, whether we need a dog walker/dog sitter/or kennel reservation.

This worked for us. All parties were happy with and good at their tasks. Now with Kyle away from home, the dynamic has changed a bit.

Not to complain in any way but I am now the CEO, CFO, and CIO (Chief Information officer). This means that I have the same responsibilities as before as CEO but in addition I now pay the bills and have all the CFO responsibilities. As CIO, I am responsible for keeping family and friends in the know with happenings. Hence, the start of this blog:)

Kyle thinks that my new CFO responsibilities will help me be a better CEO in the future. I disagree. In fact, I would like to retire from my CFO position as soon as possible. Any takers? I don't like paying bills or watching bank accounts or disputing credit card charges. For all other non-CFOs out there - Life is expensive!

Simba continues to be a wonderful acting COO! And Kyle still adds his input for big Hartman household board items but mainly leaves them up to me. This is a bit scary. But I am trying hard to make all the best choices for our board.

Below are pictures from Kyle's send-off ceremony in Madison, WI. Governor Doyle spoke along with other Wisconsin dignitaries. Can you find Kyle among all the camouflage?

Send-off Ceremony

Skype

What a wonderful invention! Skype is software program that allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet and with web cams see live video of each other. Kyle and I had our first official Skype phone call last night. Because he is currently in the boonies, cell phone connections are poor at best and it can get a little frustrating when your call is dropped over and over. Yes, I know...this is only going to get worse.

During our skype call Kyle was able to give me a tour of his room. I have to say his previous assessment ' Its better than a prison cell but worse than a dorm,' was pretty right on. He also modeled his new body armour for me and impressed me with his newly learned Arabic. His new Arabic phrases include all the important ones: 'Stop' 'Drop your weapon' 'do you understand' 'turn around' 'lay on your stomach' and 'put your hands where I can see them'. He even showed me his newly issues M4, which is code for a really big gun. Above is a picture of Kyle and his M4 while training in Florida this January.