And now we are so happy, we do the dance of joy

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
__________________________

______________________________________
For Immediate Release November 11, 2009


STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT ON S.475

Today I have signed into law S. 475, the "Military Spouses Residency Relief Act". This Act, among other things, would provide that when a service member leaves his or her home State in accord with military or naval orders, the service member's spouse may retain residency in his or her home State for voting and tax purposes, after relocating from that State to accompany the service member.

When the military orders service members to move, spouses who move with them often have to pay taxes in a new State or locality and lose the right to vote in the place considered to be home. This legislation will alleviate these and other burdens on our military families. As the Congress has recognized, and as the legislative history reflects, this legislation is an important means of maintaining the morale and readiness of our Armed Forces and significantly enhances the ability of our military to effectively recruit and retain these highly valued service personnel.


BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,
November 11, 2009.

Who you callin wife?

First of all, I'd like to offer another contest. Dh just started reading my blog - Hi honey! - and decided he doesn't like the name dh. I don't want to use anything that will give away his identity, to honor his request. Anyone have any ideas? Winner gets a fabulous prize, and that just might include Vegemite. Or not. I can't bring myself to try the stuff. It just smells awful.

Dh and I got our insurance cards from his school the other day. We still have our Tricare, but were required by our visa to get insurance through the school, which might prove easier should we actually need to use it. So we get our cards. This is what it says on them

1. Dh firstname, dh lastname
2. WIFE, dh lastname

WHAT? I've been relegated to no name wife. Not only am I "dependent" (thanks US military) but these people took it one step further and took away my name... Grr. So much for womens rights.

We might have friends!

So, last weekend we went to a Sig-O's barbecue. (Yes, I went from being a "dependent," the military's term, to being a Significant Other at dh's grad school, which they shorten to Sig-O. Some day I'll just be a wife. Just maybe.)

Anyway, at this barbecue, we met other people whose significant others are attending the Owen School and therefore, MIA most of the time. (Like today for instance, DH has been studying for like 5 hours now and it's 2:30pm). One of the couples that we connected with has the husband in grad school and then the wife is here. The husband is a former Marine, so he and DH can relate pretty easily. The wife is a former high school and college soccer player and is currently unemployed (much like myself, except she's not looking for a job. But then again, she doesn't get weird rejection letters in the mail like I do either.) She and I hung out the other day - we went out for lunch and then came over to our condo to go swimming in our pool. It was nice. They are Christians too and attend a local United Methodist church.

This afternoon, we're going to pry our husbands away from the library and go to a wine tasting at a local wine store. And then they're coming over for dinner. It's nice to know people :)

Update on us...

Our condo has officially been ours for a week now. Our household goods (aka all of our stuff in military-speak) were delivered on Monday. We're still unpacking and trying to get 3 bedrooms worth of stuff into 2 bedrooms worth of space. That and we're trying to "simplify our lives" as DH says, and get rid of a lot of our stuff. We'll just see how many wetsuits he plans to get rid of... anyway, we had our first dinner at home last night and it was nice not to have to go out after 2 months of eating out all the time!

DH started orientation this week. Aaaah, orientation, with all of its icebreakers and get-to-know-each-other goodness. It's been a busy schedule. I wonder what the school schedule will actually hold.

I'm in the process of looking for jobs. It's interesting... to say the least. I'm trying to be optimistic and realistic at the same time.

Goodness, jobs are so annoying. The whole process of finding one is particularly frustrating. It's exacerbated by the fact I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Compounding this frustration is the problem that I don't know what I can do with this expensive degree I'm trying to pay off. Add to that my fear of committment - that just as I sign away my life on the dotted line, a better deal will come along and blow raspberries in my face, taunting me that I am such an idiot for settling.

So, I interviewed at one place at the university to be an administrative assistant. They told me I was overqualified and asked me why I wanted to stoop down to take the job. Repeatedly. It's kind of frightening when they do that. They said that I obviously was headed toward something. I just wish I knew what that was. I'm guessing it was teaching Latin American studies?

And then I turned in an application for a retail position at a mall and they offered me the job right away. At $9/hour, working nights and weekends (the only chances I'll have to see my student husband). Plus I'd have to dress business casual, and no, those new khaki pants from JCrew that are so cute don't count (therefore, most of my wardrobe).

Did I choose the wrong things before? Why can't I find a job? Should I go back to school (prolonging my lifelong affair with academia) and study become something useful to society like a nurse or engineer or architect? Grrr. It might be easier if God just hit me on the head with a 2x4 and inscribed on my head what I'm supposed to do.

But it's the weekend. DH has one activity tomorrow to finish off orientation, and then classes start on Monday - woohoo! Hopefully we'll spend some time by the pool and continue to set up the house. Ok... that's it for now :)

Aloha!