Change of Mind

This afternoon while I was running around the house, picking up laundry, decorating Alaina's room (finally) and sweeping and moping the floors, I thought about what my blog topic would be tonight. I, at first, wanted to lament about "the curse of the second child" and how slighted they seem to be because of their birth order. Maybe I will save that one for another time. Then I was definitely going to talk about post-pregnancy. The mushy tummy feeling that you have no excuse for since there isn't a baby in there anymore and that need to want to look and feel better. I will definitely get to that one...possibly tomorrow. As the night has worn on and my Facebook continues to explode with comments, posts and links about the government shut down, I changed my mind. I decided to change my topics and talk about stress. Praise the Lord that Ben and I don't live paycheck to paycheck anymore like some couples we know or like we used to live on an E4's salary. Trust me (you non-military readers) when I tell you that the pay, especially for lower enlisted soldiers, isn't anything to write home about. It is certainly more of the attitude that you get minimal pay and great benefits. I can't imagine the stress that some families are feeling right now. I can't imagine the anxiety seeping through all parts of the world, especially our men and women serving in a combat zone. Goodness knows they don't need to worry about the stresses at home since they have enough on their plate with, oh I don't know, piddly little things like keeping themselves alive!!!! The last thing they should have to start worrying about it where the money is going to come from to feed or house their families and they are 10,000 miles away. I am sad that the state of the Union is so poor that this is what our country has come to. We have let pride's, ego's and, realistically, stupid and poor planning turn our great nation into a joke. If the government of the United States of America was a business, it would have been bankrupt years ago. Corrupt as all of Capitol Hill has become, what is more disgusting than anything is that men and women who aren't getting paid will still continue to serve admirably. They will still go to work at 5:30am. and get home after dinner, missing seeing their kids for days on end. They will still miss birthdays, anniversaries, special days because they are out training. They will still deploy. Some will come back with a purple heart, some won't come back at all....and this is first group of people to get the cut. This is first group that Congress decides should be the leverage and negotiation point to get their stupid bills passed. Awesome way to show your respect for all these people have done for this country and way to remind us how important we are.