Diamonds

You guessed it...no Mexico posts yet. Just not there yet. I've had this song in my head lately. And I don't know why but I really enjoy the video too.
It's a gray North Carolina day that will more than likely become (if it isn't already) humid and hot. I have no desire to leave the house today but I'm meeting a friend for lunch so there's no escaping it. But today I AM going to dedicate time to being creative. I've been itching to draw and write for days and despite a little smidge of writing, there hasn't been much creativity in these veins at all. But I feel like God keeps showing me bad art work to get a rise out of me. Bad art work to show me that I can do better and that I NEED to use this ability and not waste it. I need to paint that on my wall so I have to read it every morning when I wake up or something.
The military life is proving to be a walking ball of unpredictability. Oh wait...is that a new thing? Heh...I just hate being jerked around. I hate hail and bails (meet and greets at a new squadron) when we're the "new guys." If I didn't already mention it, John was transferred over to a new squadron (for now)...which means attending a hail and bail. I hate hail and bails for several reasons:
1. AWKWARD: There are few things more awkward than wandering around following your husband like a lost puppy because all the other Marine spouses failed to show up so you look and feel like the elephant in the room. The odd glances like "uh, why is a civilian in our midst?" Fun, fun times.
2. INTRODUCTIONS...AND SCENE: Usually at these things, the introduction is the beginning and the end of the conversation with me. They say hi, shake my hand, and then I no longer exist. I sit and day dream about smashing bottles and getting exceedingly drunk or making a scene for the sole reason that I'm BORED out of my mind and am being ignored. Mind you...I don't need to be entertained. But I was brought up that not including everyone in a conversation especially when you've just met is kinda rude.
3. COOLEST PEOPLE ARE THE PEOPLE LEAVING: I ALWAYS seem to hit it off with the people who are leaving (hail and bail...the bail is for the people leaving and moving on to other things in their career) and then I realize...oh yeah...you're leaving. Crap.
But I go to the hail and bails for one sole reason: I support my husband. And although I might want to get completely wasted just so I can drink a few Marines under the table (one of the few ways of earning a Marine's respect these days...kidding...kind of), I endure the uncomfortableness for John (and try to stay as sober as possible). Even if it was a completely POINTLESS hail and bail and we'll no doubt attend another 17 in the next month because the military decided it all of a sudden 1. noticed and 2. cared about the career path of one of its officers (which I don't buy because I don't think the military really knows what is going on right now...er...or what is going on PERIOD...heck, they thought John got out of the Marine Corps when he first deployed, remember?), I still did it for John. And I realize I'm being increasingly negative here...and rereading this post makes me sound like a complete alcoholic (I'm not, I promise)...I'm just having a rough time not knowing what's going to happen tomorrow, where we're supposed to go today, what lies ahead if it gets changed minutely. Through all of this, I feel God's gentle grip on my shoulder reminding me to chill out and trust. Trust: My trust is one of the hardest things in the world to give to a flawless God that loves me unconditionally, yet I fall into accidentally trusting extremely flawed things of this world like um the military and um PEOPLE. Sometimes I'm amazed with how contradictory humanity is. Thank goodness God remains the same.

Photo: Marina and the Diamonds found via Loft965