FRUSTRATION!!!

Once again the Army has pissed me off. Surprise! So, let me vent... Our two year anniversary is this coming Sunday, the 11th. Last year for our anniversary, he was in Iraq, and we never had a honey-moon, or wedding for that matter to begin with.

So, last month I was planning something big for this year. Alan got his leave request ready, and I was looking into booking flights and hotels to go to Maui or Vegas for a week or so, to just get away for a bit and celebrate us. The next week, Alans company told him he was going to WLC, and when he asked about his leave, he found out that the paperwork had gotten tossed at the bottom of a pile of papers and forgotten. So much for that idea.

Then I got to thinking that most companies usually give four-day passes to soldiers after WLC, so maybe we could just go spend the weekend in Honolulu, which is the same island, but at least still away from home. Alan asked about a four-day pass and was told that his company 'usually only give three-day passes', but they said they will see what they can do. I guess that got forgotten too, because when Alan came back from WLC, sure enough he works mid-shift Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th. So, our anniversary plans were SQUASHED before they had even begun in the first place. So, I decided, no problem, we could just do something smaller together since they were going to give him Thursday and Friday off.

Yesterday we went to dinner and a movie, and tomorrow we WERE going to hike this trail on the North Shore called Wiamea Valley that leads to a gorgeous waterfall. Once again, our plans were SQUASHED! The Army is ridiculous about little details, and Alans company wants to make sure that he meets the height and weight standards, and not overweight, no big deal right? This process only takes 30 minutes MAX! Well, with the Army, nothing is painless. They will not give him a specific time they want to weigh him, and told him to 'stand by' which, in army speak, means wait around all day for nothing to happen until they decide to call him. We cannot even go for a stupid hike without the Army messing it up!

So, recap... Our anniversary plans went from:

A week in Maui/Vegas
to
A four day weekend in Honolulu
to
Dinner/movie, and a nice day hike
to
Dinner/movie/sitting around and waiting for the Army to call...

Thank goodness we got dinner and a movie in early enough! You know what else? I bet that no one is going to call him tomorrow to weigh him. This has happened several times before, he gets told to standby for nothing, NOTHING to happen, and our whole day is lost...

Next year on our anniversary, we are planning to get sealed in the temple, so hopefully, the Army will be able to understand and give him some time... AWOL anyone?

Julie