Archive for Can I vent for a minute?
Something I’d never thought I’d do
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Disclaimer – it’s a long post .. you have been warned!
I hadn’t posted much about this here on the blog (but if you follow me on Facebook , you’ve heard me vent here and there) Over the last several weeks, We (I ) had have lots of problems with the middle school Kiersten attends.(Carson Middle School) Basically, they were not supporting her and her special needs like they were supposed to and her grades, self confidence, etc. were suffering. Y’all know me… you do not mess with my family!
This all started back in May when we had Kiersten’s transition meeting. (going from elementary to middle school). The meeting seemed normal until I started to get a bad feeling about it. We were discussing K’s options for electives and the new IEP person lowered the boom on us all.
We were told that Kiersten COULD NOT have any electives because of her “extra ” classes. SGT Daddy and I were floored and K was devasted. They were saying K would have a 100% academic day with no time for “fun ” classes.
I of course vented my opinion about this .. stating how they were punishing her for her special needs and that was NOT her fault. This was the first time I ever had to disagree with the IEP suggestions and the first time I left an IEP meeting and not signing it. After several days of negotiations, they agreed to drop one of her special classes and give her 1 elective.We were also promised that K would have help navigating from class to class the first week of class.
So we spend all summer happy about her schedule … both sides were happy with the results.
As school approaches, we still haven’t heard anything about her actual schedule, who would be helping her,etc. Finally I go in the day before school is to start and ask. They tell me that ALL the 6th graders will receive their schedule the first day of school. They also tell me that all the 6th graders will meet in the gym and Kiersten’s homeroom teacher will help her.
So I’m satisfied once again and think — Problem solved. WRONG!
Kiersten comes home the first day in tears … her schedule had no electives, no one helped her and her schedule was such small print she could barely read it. Mama is not happy and went to the school and got the schedule changed. No respone on the other things. Now this schedule change would be the first of 4 (yes 4 ) …
The communication was horrible with the teachers, IEP manager , adminstration! After several weeks of them moving her from classroom to classroom, not doing well with her grades (she had a F in one of her classes 3 weeks in school), being bullied by another 6th grade girl .. I had enough!
I spoke with counselors, her homeroom teacher, even the Asst Prinicpal. Sometimes they blamed ME and sometimes they blamed Kiersten. Many times I got the typical administration “brush off ” ! Then, I started to notice Kiersten’s self confidence was dropping.. she didn’t want to play with her friends outside anymore, using bad language and an attitude to match, she didn’t want to go to “that” school anymore. Pretty sad huh?
I realized that this was a SERIOUS problem … so after having MANY conversations with SGT Daddy , we knew we had to get her out of there. We finally decided on having her attend the Colorado Virtual School. It’s a lot like online college but for k – 12. Basically it is homeschooling but the school creates the curriculum, lesson plans ,etc and I help her learn that in an online virtual environment. We enrolled her and pulled Kiersten out of Carson Middle school the very same day! Yes I’m a homeschooling mom… can you believe it ? (i still can’t)
Kiersten has been attending school at home for a couple of days now and I have to say she is back to her old sweet self. She is a happy girl again .. which makes Mama happy! This is certainly not what I expected to be doing in the middle of a year long deployment, but what my kids need is more important then anything else.
Remember a little thing called OPSEC??
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For the last couple weeks, the soldiers from 4th ID 2nd Brigade have been coming home. I’m so happy to see these soldiers coming home safe and sound to their families. ( for me – its also a bit depressing LOL We have a LONG way to go )
On Facebook, Twitter and several other social networking sites, I’ve been seen LOTS of OPSEC (operational security) violations recently. Quite frankly – it worries me!
I understand spouses, kids, and other family members are excited that their soldier is on his/her way home. I would be too if SGT Daddy was on his way home.
The thing is that they are not safe until the wheels are up on the “bird” (plane) and our troops that are still there are not safe when we violate OPSEC.
Ever heard the phrase – “loose lips sinks ships” well the same rule applies for tweets, facebook updates and the like. So please don’t post information about flights, times, operations, etc.
For those that aren’t quite sure what OPSEC is .. here are some tips from the DOD (Dept of Defense)
Don’t discuss current or future destinations/ ports of call/deployment bases .
Don’t discuss current or future operations or missions.
Don’t discuss current or future dates and times of exercises or missions.
Don’t discuss readiness issues and numbers.
Don’t discuss specific training equipment.
Don’t discuss people’s names and operations.
Don’t speculate about current or future operations.
Don’t spread rumors about current, future, or past operations or movements.
Don’t assume the enemy is not trying to collect information on you; he/she is.
The bottom line is Be smart about OPSEC and always think OPSEC when using email, phone, chat rooms and message boards. It not only protects your loved one but mine as well.
Day 41 – I’m going home
Posted by: | CommentsWell the girls and I are back in my hometown of New Orleans and honestly it’s just not the same.
One is the SGT Daddy is not here with us, so it seems a bit weird to be taking a “vacation” without him. (we miss you bunches Daddy)
Secondly, the “New Orleans” that I know and love is not the same and honestly it will never be what I remember. Even all these years after Katrina and the rebuilidng (i use that term loosely from what I’ve seen), I thought the city would be further along in the process.
My Dad (aka PawPaw) took around parts of New Orleans last night and there were so many houses that still had the marks on the house from rescue units that checking for dead bodies. Many houses were had so much overgrowth it looked like a jungle.
Now I’m not saying everyplace was bad, there were several places that people were rebuillding their homes, bulldozed the current place , etc.
The thing that blew my mind was you’d see these official signs indicating some recovery projects happening. As you got closer, it would say Recovery Project … Sidewalk Patching! I couldn’t believe there were so many houses in these areas that were abandoned and the City was “patching ” the sidewalks. (full disclosure – this was near the area were the Industrial Canal was breeched.)
If I get some pictures, I’ll definitely post them so you can see what I’m talking about. All I can say is that I’m disappointed in the City of New Orleans and Mayor Nagin . I expected more from the city that I grew up in. (although I can’t say that I’m surprised )
All in all so far we are having a great time. I’ve had some sort seafood the last two nights, several glasses of beer and lots of relaxation .
I even managed to install my dad’s new Mac computer today and no major issues. (with the computer or teaching my dad ) lol I’m happy to announce PawPaw is now with the rest of us utilizing wireless technology.
Also – if you can say a prayer for SGT Daddy tomorrow (if you are so inclined ) he is going to the E-6 Promotion Board tomorrow downrange.
So as we say in Louisiana – Later y’all !!
Let’s Honor the REAL Heroes!
Posted by: | CommentsBoy ,what a couple of day huh? First Ed McMahon, former Marine and longtime sidekick of Johnny Carson passed away on Wednesday. Then yesterday I hear that Farrah Fawcett passed away as well as Michael Jackson.
When any celebrity passes away, you normally get a lot of “chatter” about them, their movies, what they did,etc. The posts about Michael Jackson were one after another glorifying this man who obsessed with plastic surgery and little boys. I actually had to turn off Twitter and Facebook because I just couldn’t stand it anymore.
I’m not saying he did not contribute to pop culture… he did. He was someone’s son, brother and father. It was just the amount of coverage this person got was seriously above and beyond. All of sudden Michael Jackson’s classic songs were the top songs downloaded on Itunes, Facebook apps were being created (“What M.J. song are you “) . Congress even went so far as to have a moment of silence in MJ’s honor. (this just sickens me) The list goes on and on ….
It got me thinking … why in the world does our society mourn our celebrities (especially a pedaphile in my opinion) but we don’t honor our troops who provide the ultimate sacrifice in the same manner. Why don’t we honor there lives like we saw yesterday?? Our troops are the real heroes that deserve that honor.
It really says a lot about our society and the media when we forgot about the people that are truly make a difference for ourselves and our children, our freedoms and our future.
What do you think ?
Day 3 – USAA and Gremlins
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No I’m not talking about the 80’s movie (Gremlins) … I’m taking about deployment gremlins. It seems that every time SGT Daddy leaves for any length of time , the gremlins come out in FULL FORCE. When he was in Basic Training, my car battery died in the middle of a major blizzard.
So today.. the gremlins reared their ugly head again! I had noticed some weird things on our checking account the other day. I checked it last night and didn’t see anything weird . I decided to check it again today and it was a negative balence with several pending charges.
It didn’t make much sense to me so I called our bank, USAA. The person I talked to said yes there were several suspicious charges on the account but they couldn’t do anything until they cleared. This was not the level of customer service I was used to receiving.
As you can tell, I wasn’t happy about it all so I turned to Twitter and vented there. Once of my twitter peeps @Corpsman re-tweeted (similar to email forwarding) my vent to one of the public affairs people for USAA , John Hancock, who asked me to contact him to see if he can help.
About an hour later, I had a phone call from Jessica, one of USAA’s senior reps. It was determined that the charges were fraudulent and that the fraud department was involved. She also told me that all charges would be refunded no later than next week.
This could have been a lot worse and could have taken a lot of time on my part to try to resolve. It wasn’t. Thanks to two USAA employees that went the extra mile for us . They valued us as a customer enough to make sure me and my husband’s accounts were protected. You don’t get that a lot these days!
Now you guys now of my love affair with USAA and how awesome they are… this experience solidified that!
So if you’re keeping score … Gremlins 0 Tammy 1
I also got to chat (via IM) with SGT Daddy a few times today.. he is doing well and got some sleep. He says its boring, hot and he’s ready to get to the next place. He did say that the air base is really nice, has a nice movie theater and they have beer ! LOL
I heard some not so great news about the 4BCT, so please make sure to keep them and all soldiers in your thoughts and prayers. (for OPSEC and PERSEC reasons, I can’t say anything more than that)
On my soapbox today….
Posted by: | CommentsYes I’m on my soapbox again . I’m all for supporting the troops and our wounded warriors but not this way..
I recently was alerted to a situation of a “wounded warrior” .. now this shouldn’t really surprised you because of my work with HASMO. I was a little ticked off because of all the soldiers I see who fight for higher disability ratings, services, etc.
This situation definitely had NOTHING to do with combat related injuries much less even being in the Army. This soldier was listed under the Warrior Transition Brigade by the Army. I’m not sure why but I’m assuming that the Army didn’t know how to classify him.
I can’t go into the various specifics for several reasons, including privacy reasons… but this soldier was diagnosed with a disease during Individual Entry Training (Basic/AIT) . It had nothing to do with anything that he did or was asked to do during that time. The Army paid for all his medical care and treatment in order for him to get better, so that he could serve.
I understand the reasons why the Army placed him in the WTB unit but should the Army have to pay disability for this soldier? We hear stories of so many warriors with combat related injuries who don’t get what they need. They deserve to have what they are asking for. They went to war and fought for their country.. they did what the country asked them to do.
Why are we giving special benefits,etc to soldiers that don’t have combat or mission related injuries. I have read or heard some many stories of soldiers who are dealing with the effects of PTSD and other issues and can’t get what they need.
This particular soldier, let’s call him Jason… is getting out of the Army and got a job that was specially created for “wounded warriors”. How is this fair? He’s not a wounded warrior… he doesn’t have a physical or mental disability. He was given a clean bill of health and can get almost any job he wants. He is using these particular benefits of the Army’s Wounded Warrior program to his advantage because I’m guessing he feels the Army owes him something.
The kicker is that this soldier didn’t get sick because of anything that the Army or his country asked him to do. While I feel bad for him and his specific situation, but I don’t think its fair or the right thing to do.
I think its a load of horse hockey. I feel that the benefits of being in WTB and the wounded warrior job program should be available to those that are just that… WOUNDED warriors. (mentally and physically)
Getting off my soapbox now…. What do you think?
Ch-Ch-Changes
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I know what you’re thinking.. this post is going to be about Obama. (well not today , one of those will be coming soon)
At the beginning of the year, I said that 2009 was going to be a year of Change for our family with the deployment, etc. I just never realized how much change would happen.
On Wednesday, we had a transition meeting for Kiersten heading off to Middle School next year. I was a little apprehensive about the meeting, partly because I had to accept that she was old enough to go to middle school.
She’s not a baby anymore , thats for sure. Kiersten was very excited about this meeting and the electives she wanted to take next year.
SGT Daddy was able to get some time off from work and off we went to the meeting. This was different from the previous IEP meetings as Kiersten was there. The transition team shared with us what special needs classes she needed in order to be successful and meet the needs of Kiersten’s IEP. She would need extra Math and Reading classes.
Then, they hit us with a BOMB!
They told us that because of Kiersten’s extra classes , she would have NO electives at all. I was a little confused because it didn’t make sense to me at all. The team confirmed that she would have no electives, not even PE/Gym. The Middle School Case Manager assured me that other special needs kids did just fine and had no problems with a full academic day. I didn’t buy that load of BS she was trying to sell.
I don’t know.. I just felt like they were punishing Kiersten for having special needs. I mean after all it is not her fault that she needs the extra classes. I believe that kids (especially Kiersten) need some FUN in their day. The schedule that they were proposing had ZERO fun, except maybe her recess time. SHe is such a creative child and loves to perform. I would hate for her to lose that!
I spoke with her regular ed. teacher Wednesday afternoon and she agreed with me. Kiersten needed to have some electives (fun) in her daily schedule to give her some time for “release”. She didn’t think that the schedule was fair to Kiersten or any kid.
I spoke with the current school Asst Principal as well as Kiersten’s special ed. teacher today about our concerns about her middle school schedule. Both understood the concern but also wanted to make sure that Kiersten had what she needed academically.
Basically they told me that the only way she could participate in any electives was to drop one/both of her extra classes. Ultimately, any decision will be left up to SGT Daddy and I. I know this is far from over , so stay tuned for updates.
On a more positive note, I have BIG news! I’m going to be writing a book!
Can you believe it? I’m pretty excited about the whole thing yet a bit overwhelmed at the same time. The book is going to share my story/experiences as an Army Wife and how its not everything you see on TV! I’ll be sharing more about the book as the I go through the writing process….
So like I said, there are lots of changes happening around here. I wonder what else is in store for this year?
No Bullies Allowed
Posted by: | CommentsToday, I went up to the school to pick up Rebecca as Kiersten had an after school field trip to the Art Museum. As we are walking down the hallway, I see Kiersten. My first thought is why is she not on the bus heading to the Art Museum.
I ask her what’s wrong , and she bursts into tears! Now, Kiersten does the flair for the dramatic and has been known for her “Emmy- award winning” dramatic performances. I had a feeling this was different and something was really wrong.
She told me just didn’t want to go which is weird b/c she has been talking about it all week and she loves ART! All she could do is cry and asking not to make her go. I took her to the art classroom to let her teacher know that she wouldn’t be going.
Finally when we got back to the house, she was calm enough and started to tell me what was going on. Basically, one of the neighborhood boys has been bullying her. He is also in her class.
She told me how he calls her names, tells her she’s stupid, and other things. I couldn’t believe my ears!
I don’t understand why kids have to be so mean, she’s a sweet and good kid and treats others kindly. I know kids can be mean…and yes she has some special needs but nothing that is truly profound. She wants to be everyone’s friend. Now she’s afraid to go to events that this kid will be at, afraid to go to the park,etc.
It truly breaks my heart that this little punk has done this to her. Mama Bear is ANGRY!
SGT Daddy and I are meeting with the teacher and Asst Principal tomorrow morning to discuss on what is going to be done at school to stop this kid’s behavior toward Kiersten .
I know that things will only get worse unfortunately as she gets older. I’m wondering if sending her to a virtual school/homeschool is in our future.
I’ll update when I can ….
Haven’t our Veterans paid enough?
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As usual I perusing Twitter today, looking to see what was being talked about, who was doing what, etc…Then I saw a article headline that made me do a double take! Here is what I saw:
Obama’s idea of supporting our military… Wants Wounded Soldiers To Pay For Treatment
At first, I thought it was something from The Onion, but no it wasn’t. Here are the links about them that I found on my favorite political blog, Little Green Footballs, about the topic: Article 1 and Article 2
So, basically the story is that Obama is putting a plan together that would bill our veterans for treatment for service-related injuries. “Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance, according to CNN.Com“
I mean, seriously?? He’s actually considering this! This is so wrong on so many levels. I mean this is just anti-American in my book. We’ve been hearing from the liberals for the last couple of years– “I don’t support the war but I do support the troops”! Is this part of that support??
When men and women join the military, they give up so much. If they are deployed, they are asked to give up even more. Some of our servicemembers pay a really high price (injured) or sometimes even the ultimate price! Is this how our President wants to repay them for their service?
Even beyond that, these veterans and/or wounded warriors didn’t receive these injuries because of their own fault. They received these injuries serving in the United States Armed Forces. The least our government should be doing is making sure these injuries are covered by the VA.
I think the Leader of the American legion, Commander David K. Rehbein, said it best!
“This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ‘ … to care for him who shall have borne the battle … ’ given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies.”
Several senators said that they were outraged and would kill the proposal. (Republicans & Democrats) I sure do hope so. I’m just angered and furious (and a couple other emotions too) that the President of the United States Barack Obama would even suggest this. I expect more out of OUR President. I expect him to protect us, do things in the best interest of America and make sure that members of our Armed Forces are given the best care available to them, not to be billed for that care! I could only imagine what my grandfather , MSGT Joseph Maltese, (30+ years US Army – Enlisted) would say if he were alive today.
If you disagree with this plan of the Obama Administration, make sure to blog, email, call , phone everyone you know and make them aware of it .
What do you think about all this? I’m curious to know.
Well the verdict is in ..
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The other day I wrote about Sec Gates reviewing the policy of the media ban at Dover AFB. When I got up early this morning, the first thing I see in the paper is that the policy is being changed. Ok I’m not happy about it and really wasn’t how I wanted to start my day.
Personally I think that the policy should have stayed the way it was. Like my grandfather used to say ” if it ain’t broke… don’t fix it ” There was no need to change it… it wasn’t violating anyone’s rights or hurting anyone. In fact it was protecting our military families.
I have mixed feelings about Sec. Gates decision on the media ban. On one side, I’m glad that the final decision is left up to us. On the other hand, if a family decides to allow the media, what will the media do with the pictures. WIll they use this opportunity to exploit our military families?
I think that the new decision will open up a can of worms for some families. What if the spouse doesn’t want it and the mother does? What about more than other coffin arrives? What happens if Family A wants the media there, and Family B doesn’t. Will the media respect that ?
Also I think that this is one more thing a spouse has to deal with during an already horrific time. This is one more question a service member and their spouse have to discuss during their “what if ” conversations.
My other question is what will the media do with these pictures? Will they be respectful of the military families once they are there? I would truly hate to see them doing what they normally do. We’ve all seen it .. they run over, stick a camera in your face and say something totally inappropriate like ” so how are you feeling right now ” or ” what are you going to do now” ,etc.
So what do you think?
