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By Alyssa, June 30, 2010 8:02 pm

I lost it Monday afternoon.  Lost it.  Fell back on my bed, rubbed my eyes and temples to ease a ferocious headache, and tried to convince myself that I was a good mom as both of my boys cried on timeout in their rooms.

Earlier that day my almost-two year old cried and screamed his way, out of the library, from the park playground to the car, and from the grocery checkout to the parking lot to our house.  Why?  He wanted and I didn’t want.  When he didn’t get what he wanted, his entire body crumpled limp to the floor, pavement, sidewalk forcing me to drag or football carry him to our next destination.

To add to the mayhem, my 4 and 1/2 year old decided moments before each of his brother’s tantrums to ask me every possible question he’d saved during our past two weeks (or maybe his whole life) apart.  ”Why is my car seat on this part of the seat, Mom?” “When do I turn 5?” “Why are we going here?” “Why?” “Where?” “When?”

I love my kids.  I love my 24-hour job staying at home with them.  I would be lying if I said that I love every single minute though.  I find when it gets really tough, I have to take one day at a time.  One hour sometimes.  Ask anyone about this concept on day one of a military deployment.  One day at a time.  Motherhood difficulties aren’t exactly on the same scale as deployment difficulties but the required patience applies to both.

Lying on my bed Monday afternoon I reminded myself that it would take a few days for the kids to calm from their “grandparent mania”.  I also reminded myself that it would take me a few days to adjust from my full-time Army routine.  I took a couple deep breaths, gathered them from their rooms, and apologized that mom lost her patience.  As they giggled a few minutes later sharing snacks, I sighed and thought, one day at a time.

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By Alyssa, June 27, 2010 7:43 am

Columbia State House and Strom Thurmond statue in the background

Bored at the Adjutant General (AG) Captains Career Course, I found myself alone in the hotel researching South Carolina’s historic areas.  I’m not on the east coast very often and wanted to see what the state had to offer.  I decided to use this information to coordinate a State House scavenger hunt for class physical training.  With over 30 memorials on the state house grounds, I enjoyed the tour as many of the clues including statues dating into the 1800s. I think my classmates enjoyed it also, despite the early morning humidity.

CLUES

Complete in order.

Clue 1- Find the monument dedicated to South Carolina’s fallen Law Enforcement Officers and complete 20 elevated push-ups using the ledge of the monument.

Fill in the blank quoting the inscription on this monument.  “Lest    ____    ____________”

Clue 2- Find the symbols that mark the locations the State House was hit by artillery on February 19^th, 1865 during the Civil War.

What is this symbol?    ____________________

Clue 3- Find the “Palm Tree” monument and complete lunges in a circle around the entire structure.

This monument honors what regiment that fought during the Mexican War? ____________

Clue 4- Find the tallest statue on the State House grounds and conduct 25 flutter-kicks at its base.

The monument was unveiled on what day? ________________________

Clue 5- Find the man carrying a rifle and complete 25 over-head claps in front of him.

What test did the South Carolina troops volunteer for according to the monument?  _____________

Clue 6-Find the monument with the broken cane and take a picture of each team member next to it.

Name the president holding the broken cane.  ___________________________

Clue 7-Complete 20 push-ups in front of the African-American monument.

According to the monument, slaves were transported from what four areas in Africa?  _____________________________________________________________________

Clue 8- Find the General on his horse and complete 25 crunches next to the monument.

What is the General’s name?   _________________

Clue 9… FINAL CLUE- To find the last clue, unscramble the letters below to name the Army officer and first person in United States history to win a major election by write-in ballot.  (Hint: A street on Fort Jackson is named after him.)

MSRTO MNTRDHUO                       ___________      ___________________

Once every member of your team touches this monument, you’re done!

Stars marking the cannon strikes during the Civil War

George Washington and his broken cane

My almost-thirty member class split into teams of three and completed the scavenger hunt in about 30 minutes.  We ran a couple flights of the State House stairs to finish off our physical training (PT).

Cut out the PT parts of the clues and I think anyone could complete this hunt.  The clue answers are located at the bottom of this post.  Check out the Columbia’s State House website for an interactive state house map and additional historic information.

Happy Hunting!

Clue 1:  ”Lest We Forget”
Clue 2:  Star
Clue 3:  Palmetto
Clue 4:  May 13, 1879
Clue 5:  Yellow Fever
Clue 6:  George Washington
Clue 7:  The Congo, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone
Clue 8:  Wade Hampton
Clue 9:  Strom Thurmond

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By Alyssa, June 25, 2010 8:57 am

Everybody hates Human Resources, civilian or military.  We affect pay, screw up promotions, and delay paperwork.  Prior to joining the Adjutant General Corps (AG), I served as an Air Defense Artillery officer and vowed to never forget the frustration Army human resources caused me and my soldiers.  It seemed to me the other officers I met in the human resources field dubbed themselves the “red pen of the world”.  These “professionals” (I use this term LOOSELY) had no concept of what it was like outside of the office.

I put off attending the Captain’s Career Course for over six years until I realized this fall I needed the graduation certificate for promotion to Major.  I walked into the class at the beginning of the month with a bias, and I’ll admit, a little smug.  Two weeks with a bunch of AG paper pushers?  Ugghh.  Get me back with the warfighters.

Imagine my surprise when I let down my guard and hung out with a few of my classmates.  Sure, there were “red pen killers” in the class, but they made up the minority.  Most were just like me.  Self-taught human resources soldiers just trying to pass and get back to the real Army.  I met postal officers that risked their lives to deliver mail outside of the guarded bases in Iraq and human resource experts that used Army regulations as a guide to help their unit, not a road block to hinder actions.

I write this post to apologize to my classmates.  Before attending the Fort Jackson course, I disassociated myself with other Army Human Resource managers.  I let a few bad apples affect my view of the branch as a whole.  These last two weeks erased my prejudices.  The leaders I met want to influence change and improve the role of the commander’s adjutant. I’m honored now to call these fellow AG paper-pushin soldiers my friends.

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By Alyssa, June 20, 2010 8:37 pm

Thanks, Dad!  Your dedication to our Nation inspires me and

I couldn’t have asked for a better military mentor.

I love you, Colonel!

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By Alyssa, June 13, 2010 5:32 pm

You’d think I’d be used to this by now. With two deployments and numerous Army training separations, I feel mentally prepared to spend some time away from my family. Emotionally? Well, try not to ask me right after I’ve called home.

I’m trying to stay positive. South Carolina isn’t as far as my trip to South Korea this past March and the boys are in great hands with loving grandparents. Haus is loaded up with work and has our dog to keep him company while he plays Xbox, I mean, ahem… completes projects around the house.

The kids have yet to complain about their vacation to Grandpa and Grandma’s farm. At this very second, they are roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. Grandma set up a theme for every day of the two weeks we’ll be apart. Today was camping day. When asked if he wanted to talk to me again (o.k., so I’ve called them three times today), 4 and 1/2 year old Bubba replied, “No, thanks” and “Oh Grandma, think we can buy those irrigation boots?”.

Perhaps I will take a good friend’s advice and enjoy this solitude as much as I can. Soon enough I’ll be back to tantrums and dirty diapers.  Amazing that even a day without my little ones the dreaded disciplining and diapers don’t seem so bad.  So here’s hoping the next two weeks fly by.  One thing I have learned over the years is homesickness has a way of vanishing the instant I see outstretched arms accompanied by an exuberant “MOMMY!”