Household Baggage Wrap-Up Discussion Thread

Time to discuss Household Baggage, our SpouseBUZZ book of the month. We've already had a discussion on the first half of the book. Today, we'll discuss the rest of the book and ask you to submit your questions for a podcast interview that some of the SpouseBUZZ authors will participate in with Marna, the author of Household Baggage. We delayed this post because some of you had not received your books as of the first discussion, I hope you've received your book and read it by now.

Like last time, I'll pick out a couple of my favorite stories (which is hard to do, they're all so funny) and would like to hear from you which stories you could most identify with.

Chapter Four- Military

I loved the story about the Make-Believe Military. Have you ever watched a military movie with your spouse and had to suffer through the analysis of everything that was wrong. Yep, Hollywood gets it wrong. A lot. And I often get fed up with it, too, but sometimes I have to say to my husband, "it's a movie, it's just a movie...." To which, my husband replies, "standards!"

I also admit to chuckling over the story of The Imperial Officer's Wife. Marna gives her an acronym, "IOW." According to Marna,

We've all encountered the Imperial Officer's Wife (IOW) - that woman who wears her husband's rank. She likes to order other wives around, which never works out very well.

I don't like divisive posts, so let's not turn this into an IOW, rank-bash, but we can discuss the lighter side of having an encounter with an IOW. A few years ago, at our very first gathering with the new commander's wife, some wives were chatting in the back of the room. True story, the IOW said, "Excuse me back there. Yoo Hoo. Do you ladies have something you'd like to share with the rest of us?" That immediately set the tone for what wasn't a pleasant experience. Having said that, I've only had one bad experience. I've been quite lucky in that department, but when I read Marna's IOW story, I immediately thought about that dreadful coffee and had a roaring laugh over the memory.

Chapter Five - Me

Are you offended by the word, "dependent?" Marna is.

I'll say right up front that I have a problem with it. Replacing "dependent" with "family member" was one of the most enlightened things the Department of Defense ever did. "Dependent" is insulting. As an Army wife, i need to be resilient, strong, and independent. That archaic word is a relic that doesn't belong in our contemporary vocabulary.

Although I'm not really bothered by the term, I do have a t-shirt that says, "dependent, my a**."

I love it when my husband jokingly says that if I don't behave, he'll have my "dependent ID card" revoked. "Great," I say. Then you can buy the groceries, stock up at the Class Six and take care of the PX shopping, too. Needless to say, I still have my card....

I loved this book. There are too many fun stories to do the book justice in an on-line discussion. Marna pokes fun at herself throughout and writes about so many experiences which only milspouses can appreciate. I laughed out loud many times and, as I said before, I found this book took me for a stroll down memory lane, which was a precious gift.

Thanks, Marna.

Tell us what you thought about the last half of the book, and leave your questions for Marna in the comment section. When we have the podcast interview taped, we'll post it on SpouseBUZZ.

Comments

[airforcewife]

I noticed that hubby and I had very different reactions to several things Marna wrote about (he actually read the book, too).

To my utter horror, he "found out" some of the tricks I use to cope myself!

But my favorite thing that Marna brought up was the "dumpster diving" portion. The papasan frame in my daughter's room was put out at the curb when someone was PCSing. We also got a spare TV stand this way, and a few nice breakfast nook chairs.

It humiliates my eldest daughter to no end, but every military person we've ever met does the same thing!

[Guard Wife]

Oh, the endless movie analysis!! LOL Now, however, I return the favor by analyzing every legal drama we watch...and we watch a lot of those!

I didn't comment in the last thread, but I am VERY jealous of the window treatments everyone apparently has...I wish I could sew!

[Calico]

Andi,
Please tell me where I can get a tee-shirt like yours!

[navywifemeg]

Oh the military movie/tv show analysis. We were watching 8 Simple Rules last night and one of the daughters was dating a boy in the Naval Academy with 6 inch long shaggy surfer hair. DH was yelling at the TV "THERE IS NO WAY YOU WOULD HAVE HAIR THAT LONG IN THE NAVAL ACADEMY!!!" Lol. On the other hand, we watched NCIS and when they pulled up a screen with a Military ID on it he was shocked to see that it was completely accurate. Either way he analyzes everything we watch...it gets a bit tedious.

[Erin]

I really related to the part about the analyzing of the movies...my fiance does this ALL the time! It drives me crazy! he is also a HUGE movie buff and that doesnt help haha...
I also really liked the "forever friend" story. What Marna wrote about the forever friend was very touching and so true! I plan to use part of that in a "parting" gift that I am giving to my best friend of ten years in July before my then husband and I leave for who knows where.
and i would also like to know where you got that t-shirt...it's awesome!

[Andi]

About the t-shirt, someone gave it to me, I didn't buy it. It is funny, isn't it?

[Kel]

I recently had to fill out a police statement and a Pvt called me a "dependant" i was like " i think the correct term is family member or spouse thank you very much" and he was apologizing to the point of tripping on his tongue. It made me chuckle and think of the book. BTW i LOVE the shirt and would love one.