Boo to Boudoir!

So, I don't know how many of you ladies have tried doing the Boudoir Photo Shoots for your SO's, but two of my girlfriends and I went and did them the other day.  Let me just tell you what a TERRIBLE experience it was for us!
First, we arrive and put on robes and slippers and sip Champagne... okay, so it wasn't ALL terrible.  My first turn off occurred while they were doing out make up.  These women literally painted out faces with foundation, saying this was necessary so that they could start with a blank slate.  Now, correct me if I am wrong but I'm pretty sure faces aren't supposed to be blank slates, they are FACES... of PEOPLE.  Anyways, they gobbed us up with 15 pounds of eyeshadow, eyelashes, eyeliner, lip liner, lipstick... the whole nine yards.  My favorite part was when they filled in my friend's blond eyebrows with black eyeshadow. Needless to say after this process is complete, we looked NOTHING like ourselves, but of course, this is "necessary" to produce good result in our photos.
Fast forward to the actual photo taking process. Oh My Goodness.  "Arch your back, pop your chest out, look up, look down, look at me, look away, lay on your back, stand up, kneel down, suck in your stomach, hold it right there while I fix your underwear!!" And I am not kidding about the underwear.  Let's just say, I am literally sore today after all that intense posing we had going on.  My new found respect for models, I suppose.
Now after being at this place for a full six hours and paying for our session (the price was $299 for a calendar, and we had each won a $100 gift certificate) we were beyond exhausted.  On my way home from picking up my daughter, I received a call from an employee at the shop.  She tells me there was a mistake when I was charged, and she is sorry to inform me that my gift certificate is not good for a calendar shoot.  Umm, excuse me!? Now, before I go on let me just tell you that the first time we went into this place to get some information, the "manager" explained the calendars to us and told us that we could fill out an entry form for a chance to win $100 off.  When we went in to book our appointments, ANOTHER employee told us that our certificates were good towards the calendar and booked our shoots for a few weeks later.  While we were getting ready for our shoots, we mentioned the gift certificates and a different employee said "Yeah that's fine we will figure it our after you're done." So maybe it's just me, but it seems pretty clear that these employees are under the impression the certificates are good towards the calendars. 
At this point, I am livid.  The woman on the phone tells me that she will give us the "Deluxe" package so that we can use our certificates, and that includes TWO photos.  Again, I don't know how many of you have done this but running around changing twelve different times and trying to nail twelve different shots is nuts!  So rather than bombard this woman who I have never even met I told her that I felt extremely misled, and needed to think about it because she really didn't want to deal with me right then, when I was beyond pissed.
All ended well when the photographer/owner called me later saying she would honor the price we were given, but that she would never normally shoot a calendar at the price.  I explained what the other employees had told me, and she informed be the "manager" was never actually a "manager" and she was also no longer with the company.  It all seemed a little sketchy to me.
Typically, I am not one to try to swindle my way to a lower price, or rip off a merchant maliciously, but I was really disappointed in how this place was run.  Nearly everyone was supposedly "new" and no one seemed to have the correct information.  However, we were given a price for a service, that service was performed, we paid for it, and THEN we were told we owed more money. This story is pretty irrelevant to everyday life, but maybe it will help spare at least a few people from a similar experience.  Do your research ladies! Get all the information up front, and if they a company tries something similar with you, don't back down! Hold your ground and stand up for yourself because no one deserves to be walked all over.
My day started out trying to create a nice surprise for my deployed husband, but in all reality, I'm not sure the headache was worth it.  I AM glad the owner ended up being able to understand where I was coming from, and worked with us to honor the offer we received. It was a fun day with the girls, and I am sure that I will be happy with the finished product, but I have definitely learned to ask more questions up front... even though the price we were given seemed like it would be painfully obvious to anyone.

Ohh deployment...

As I reflect on the past 5 1/2 months of this awful deployment, I start to realize that we are almost home free.  As amazing as that is... it also means it's just about time for the homecoming anxiety to set in.  I know that there are always these mushy videos and photographs of homecoming that brings America to tears... but what happens when the cameras are turned off, the pictures put away, and life starts again?  It literally is like starting all over again.  And while I'll be the first to say "Oh it's like he never left..." we military wives know that a lot of times that isn't the case.
When my husband left our daughter was 8 months old, and when he gets back she'll be about 16 months.  For those of you who don't have kids that means a HUGE difference!  My anxiety partly comes from the fact that I don't want him to feel like he doesn't know how to take care of his own daughter.  But, lets face it - he left with her being fed mushed up food, sleeping half the day away, and slowly crawling around the floor.  Now the little monster runs around like a lunatic, eats pretty much anything, and is wide awake for almost as many hours as I am.  So how do we adjust to this drastic change of life when Daddy comes home? One day at a time.
I haven't had to try too hard to make sure that she remembers who he is.  She sees a picture of that man from a mile away and is screaming "Daddddyyy!!" at the top of her lungs, which makes one less thing to be anxious about.  But I still worry about that adjustment period.  I don't feel guilty for the anxiety I feel, because I know that it's totally normal and a month into homeport I'll be wondering why I ever had any worries to begin with.  But for now we'll take it one step at a time.  We'll try to keep routines as normal as possible when he gets home, and hope all goes well.
I think sometimes it's hard for our fighting men & women to fully understand that our lives actually did go on while they were gone.  I know when my man gets home he always starts to do his own thing how he wants to do it and occasionally I want to shake him and yell "HELLO?! There are two other people in this house to think about here!"  But, it's an adjustment PROCESS and I have learned to choose my battles, very, very carefully. 
I am of the first ones to admit to myself that I am nervous about having him home again. (not that I am not very very excited) I know that when our daughter was born, it took a while for us to adjust.  We needed to respect each other more by realizing that there was a lot more work to spread  around with a new baby in the house.  Once we finally had it down and were in a good place, the Navy put him on a plane and flew him across the world again.  Now when he gets home we'll start all over again trying to get out of our own routines, and start acting like one cohesive unit again.  We'll struggle, we'll surely fight, but we'll get there.  We'll adjust and move on and sure enough it will become just like he never left at all.  This is the life we live, but it is also the life we chose... and I will never regret it, because it has made me who I am today.  So while I may have days where I whine and complain about the Navy and deployment and training exercises... Being a Navy Wife is who I am, and I couldn't be prouder of it.