I am home from the Feral Soldier™ Re-Integration Briefing. My brain is mush. I learned many things during this exciting time.

• It is no longer Your Troop™ but rather Your Soldier™.
• THEY STILL DON'T KNOW WHEN EVERYONE WILL BE BACK
• Refrain from inviting the whole block over to the house after Your Soldier™ gets home.
• Refrain from making loud noises, sudden moves, and sedate the children.
• You have changed. Your Soldier™ has changed. Deal with it.
• Kliever Armory is THE coldest place on earth and their Big Room is an echo chamber.
• STOP ASKING WHEN YOUR SOLDIER™ WILL BE HOME BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW!!
• Afghanistan is sometimes better than coming home. That is because at home there are "problems".
• We should not believe what The Media says about the war. This is a brave and valliant effort.
• The Chaplin is a poop-head and I wanted to throw rotten cabbage at him.
• The Kliever Armory unit was drilling during our briefing and the Solders kept trying to steal our food. They were wandering around the armory with their guns and it was a bit unnerving. I'm sorry I didn't make eye contact with any of the soldiers who looked at me.. but I had nothing to say or offer.
• I'm grateful that we only have Grendel and there are no kids who have to adjust when My Soldier™ gets home.
• I am SO very grateful to have Ian. There are too many reasons to list here but the biggest reason is because he's not a Feral Troop.™
• And last but not least, FOR FOOK'S SAKE, STOP ASKING WHEN YOUR SOLDIER™ IS COMING HOME BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW!

They gave me a bumper sticker that says, "Proud of My Guardsman". When I opened the packet I had to suppress a loud snort. I don't think I'll be putting that on Ian's car.

The JAG dude gave us the same brieing as Our Troops™ will get when they go to Fort Carson. It's a laugh a minute let me tell ya!

I forgot to ask if we should cook the meat before throwing it to Our Soldier™ so I'll just ask Ian when he gets home.

On a good note, a lovely older woman named Shirley sat next to me and we chatted a bit. Shirley has traveled all over the world and this is the 4th war she's had to deal with. She's tired of it. Shirley is probably in her 70's and was a kick in the pants. She left early and told me that my husband was very lucky to have me. SO THERE!!!!!! LISTEN TO SHIRLEY!!

On an even lighter note, gypsylady and I went out for dinner after briefing so I could decompress. We found a lovely wine bar and had a GREAT meal.

My brain is still mush. I might need more wine.