My Second Bought with Anthrax...
Not as bad as it sounds, of course, but it does hurt. That's one thing that the Marine Corps is really good at, being sure that I get stuck with all the needles that I need to get stuck with. This latest one is a doosie. The smallpox vaccination still beats it by a long shot, but this one feels like I broke my shoulder. I couldn't even sleep on that side last night. So yeah, that's the closest that I've come to actual combat injury. See what I mean about not having war stories? One day I'm going to retire and end up as that substitute teacher who has flashbacks during class, but mine will be of sitting behind a desk... which I suppose I could pull off in a classroom.
I went and had my R&R brief today- Oh! I haven't told y'all about that yet. I'm going to be coming home for a couple of weeks of "Rest and Relaxation," which is where that military acronym comes from. Although, I suppose it's not strictly a military acronym... Anyway, as with everything, I had to receive a brief. It consisted mostly of instructions about how to conduct myself while on vacation. Things like "don't drink and drive," "don't be stupid," "don't break the law," those kinds of things. The only part that I found helpful was when the chaplain talked about how shocking the change might be. He made the point that everyone has adjusted to living without me there and my arrival is going to throw that balance off for a couple of weeks, so don't be too worried about awkwardness and all that. Anyhow, it was still fairly common sense, but things that I just hadn't thought about. The really disappointing thing is that everyone is going to want to see me, but I won't be able to see everyone this time around. I am planning on not reenlisting, though, so Helen and I will move back to Texas eventually.
Actually, looking at our future has been kind of exciting, recently. There's a position that Helen would like to get while I'm getting my degree at A&M, and it even takes advantage of her degree and the line of work that she's interested in. The twist is that she wants to take a year-long internship that would make her much more competitive for the position, and this internship can be done at any one of a whole slew of hospitals all over the nation! In fact, when we were looking at it, there's only one state that doesn't have a hospital with this internship. I see this as a great opportunity to go on an adventure and direct our own lives after having been hobbled by the military for 5 years. Helen is not yet convinced that the lack of stability is worth the adventure. I'm willing to say "let's go anywhere we want and I'll get any kind of job that I can" but what Helen hears is "entry-level, unskilled labor, starting at minimum wage." She's probably right, actually. It's even more important because her internship won't be paying anything at all. It only costs a very small amount, but that very small amount can be insurmountable without an income, I suppose. I dunno, she has some sort of attachment to being able to afford the car and a real bed and groceries and whatnot. Whatever that's all about...
In other news... well, I don't think there really is any other news. Helen is as wonderful and amazing as ever, and I really can't wait to see her again because I miss her a whole lot. She's such a perfect blessing to me. God knew exactly what He was doing when He gave her to me... imagine that. Being married to her is like a little slice of Heaven here on earth and she makes me look forward longingly to my true Home. Our marriage has already taught me so much about how singular my passion for Christ can be. I really enjoy being married to this fantastic, amazing, lovely, beautiful, industrious, reliable, trustworthy, productive, intelligent, alluring, competent, loving, careful, seductive, helpful, committed, adorable, wise, Godly, gorgeous, caring and entirely precious gift from God, named Helen.
I went and had my R&R brief today- Oh! I haven't told y'all about that yet. I'm going to be coming home for a couple of weeks of "Rest and Relaxation," which is where that military acronym comes from. Although, I suppose it's not strictly a military acronym... Anyway, as with everything, I had to receive a brief. It consisted mostly of instructions about how to conduct myself while on vacation. Things like "don't drink and drive," "don't be stupid," "don't break the law," those kinds of things. The only part that I found helpful was when the chaplain talked about how shocking the change might be. He made the point that everyone has adjusted to living without me there and my arrival is going to throw that balance off for a couple of weeks, so don't be too worried about awkwardness and all that. Anyhow, it was still fairly common sense, but things that I just hadn't thought about. The really disappointing thing is that everyone is going to want to see me, but I won't be able to see everyone this time around. I am planning on not reenlisting, though, so Helen and I will move back to Texas eventually.
Actually, looking at our future has been kind of exciting, recently. There's a position that Helen would like to get while I'm getting my degree at A&M, and it even takes advantage of her degree and the line of work that she's interested in. The twist is that she wants to take a year-long internship that would make her much more competitive for the position, and this internship can be done at any one of a whole slew of hospitals all over the nation! In fact, when we were looking at it, there's only one state that doesn't have a hospital with this internship. I see this as a great opportunity to go on an adventure and direct our own lives after having been hobbled by the military for 5 years. Helen is not yet convinced that the lack of stability is worth the adventure. I'm willing to say "let's go anywhere we want and I'll get any kind of job that I can" but what Helen hears is "entry-level, unskilled labor, starting at minimum wage." She's probably right, actually. It's even more important because her internship won't be paying anything at all. It only costs a very small amount, but that very small amount can be insurmountable without an income, I suppose. I dunno, she has some sort of attachment to being able to afford the car and a real bed and groceries and whatnot. Whatever that's all about...
In other news... well, I don't think there really is any other news. Helen is as wonderful and amazing as ever, and I really can't wait to see her again because I miss her a whole lot. She's such a perfect blessing to me. God knew exactly what He was doing when He gave her to me... imagine that. Being married to her is like a little slice of Heaven here on earth and she makes me look forward longingly to my true Home. Our marriage has already taught me so much about how singular my passion for Christ can be. I really enjoy being married to this fantastic, amazing, lovely, beautiful, industrious, reliable, trustworthy, productive, intelligent, alluring, competent, loving, careful, seductive, helpful, committed, adorable, wise, Godly, gorgeous, caring and entirely precious gift from God, named Helen.
posted by Matt at 10:34
2 Comments:
Hey Matt,
I enjoyed your post. The title made me laugh because I've been sitting around today thinking about anthrax. We have bottles of it in our fridge right now. It's actually goat vaccine that we are using this week to vaccinate all the goats in our goat project, but something about Anthrax being in my fridge doesn't seem right. :0)
I hope your trip to the States goes well !! I must say I'm a little jealous. I'm missing family & American food. :0) I guess I can't complain too much. I'll be in Dubai next week & back in the States for vacation at Christmas. McDonald's, here I come !!
Have a great week !
Koleta
Wow - you all lead much more interesting lives than I do. My only "toxic encounters" are changing poopy diapers.
Anyhow - I wanted to encourage you while you're young and childless to take the leap of adventure and try something out just for the heck of it. If you're in God's will, he'll protect you and provide for all your needs. Once you have kids, things get much more complicated. Not to mention the family starts getting cranky if you don't provide them with easy access to the grandkids.
That's just my 2 cents from the other side of the fence. You'll never realize what kinds of freedoms you have until the kids come and everything changes ;-)
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