On Base/Off Base Housing

I'm taking the week off from blogging. I know you'll miss me, but in the meantime I've got some AWESOME guest bloggers to help fill the days. Actually they're more like VIB, Very-Important-Bloggers. They're really that fantastic. Maybe even more fantastic then me. I know that's saying a lot, but I don't like to lie to you guys.

Today's VIB is the bomb diggitty, Amber from Goodnight moon! Really, if you haven't read her blog before...you should. Actually, I'm not making a suggestion. I'm telling you to head over there...

...after you've read her VIB post, of course:)

~Mrs. Mootz

*******

If your in the military

and
are stationed around a base
you know that you either have the option
of living on base
or
living out in town.
You have to weigh your options

and
decide if living on base is really worth it?
or

is living out in town
going to take you to the bank every month?
BAH

plays a huge roll in that decision
especially if you
the military spouse
are a sahm.
My

Fox
and
I
have both lived off base before
and
are now currently living aboard a base.
Obviously there are a ton of
pro's

and
con's

about
living

on
and
off

base.
Do you want some examples?
Okay fine...

1. Living off base means
that when your husband calls

to tell you he's on his way home
you still have anywhere from 30-45mins
(depending on his commute)
to bust tail picking up the house
and
throwing the mess you kept stepping over all day long
into the laundry room
and
closing the door.
Your even able to lite a candle that smells just like
fresh homemade cookies
while you get the Chips Ahoy cookies out of the
pantry
and
arrange them nicely on a platter to display.

2. If you live on base
you have a matter of maybe 10mins

to scramble around your house
trying to pick up th mess
so it looks like you've been productive all day long.
More then likely
you will fail at this attempt everyday.

3. Living off base
you have to get up early to make your
husband lunch

since he can't come home on his lunch break.

4. Living on base means
when it's lunch time
your hubs comes home for an afternoon "quickie"
and
he still has time to eat his lunch.

5. Off base means living

paycheck to paycheck.

6. On base means
having no rent
or
utilities to pay.

Do you see where I'm going with this?
You can find both
good
and
bad

things about
on/off
base housing.

What was that?
You want to hear about some of the
scandal that happens when you live aboard a base?
Well...
How about when husbands are either
deployed
or
gone training
the wife that is home
feeling really lonely
leaves a

"signal"

to let
other active duty service members
know that
they are welcomed to
"stop by"
to
"check"
on you.
These said

"signals"
may be:
-a green porch light
-leaving a mop upside down on your front porch
or
-leaving your trash can out by the curb when it's not trash day.

Or

how about married couples
that invite you over to their house to
"get to know you"
only to find out that the
"getting to know you part"
is really code for
"are you swingers"?

What

about when you find out that your
neighbor is a crackhead?

Or
finding out there is a prostitution ring
that was busted right down the street from you?

Oh...
and
what about all the gossiping that goes on.
Gossiping happens whether you live
on/off
base housing

but
it is extremely bad when you live on base.
Some wives turn things into a popularity contest
and
try to turn things ugly
even
trying to bring their husbands rank into conflicts.

Which leads me to...
how much
wives on base
try to live behind their husbands rank.

Or
when you first meet someone
the first thing they ask you is
"what street do you live on"?
This allows the wife to know exactly what
rank your husband is.

But in all honesty

living on base is like
getting to visit
Disney World
for the first time as a kid.
You just have to decide if your the kid that
enjoyed every bit of the park
and
begs to go back every year?
Or
if your the kid that rode the
Tower of Terror
and
screamed the entire ride
and
to this day has nightmares over it?

Our next duty station
you can count on it
that we will
live on base housing.
I'm the kid that rode the
Tower of Terror.
I might of screamed during it
and
maybe even puked on the person sitting beside me
but
as soon as I got off the ride
and
cleaned up
I jumped back into the line
to ride it again.