...some of us have to think about the "minor" inconveniences of a government shutdown

I know, it's been discussed ad nauseum, but I'm not here to give you any helpful advice as to how to survive a government shutdown if you don't get paid, why a shutdown is happening or if a shutdown will even occur. I'll leave that to people who are much more informed on the topic.

Me...I just have to deal with all of the minor "inconveniences."

Right now, I'm trying to make sure my other two kids don't get the cold that my middle guy and I have because, you know, my husband is deployed and there isn't someone else around to pick up the slack because mommy is sick. But, hey, I'm tough and we survived a year of continuous strep throat and vomiting, a broken toe, many falls/cuts/and near misses, and a knocked out tooth so I'm sure it will be okay. Hey, the clinic isn't closing, right? Hmm. Better look into that...

Yeah, my husband is deployed. He's in another country putting his life at risk for a mission that he has been told to do and, by the way, he also believes in. And, guess what, he has to show up for work tomorrow. Yeah, it's a Saturday, the day a lot of people get off. And I'm figuring on Monday, if the gov't has still decided to be "closed" he'll be up pretty early and working pretty late, away from his family, in harm's way, as he has done for the past seven months. But he doesn't ever complain. Even when he doesn't get paid.

And back here, while I'm worried about my husband and the fact that I am sick and have sick kids, I had to go up the commissary because, well, a bunch of people who should have figured out the budget last year are bumping up against the wall to get it done and that commissary might not be open tomorrow. And I needed bread and cough medicine. The closest civilian grocery store: it's down the mountain about 15 minutes away. Not bad, but now remember that husband that's gone and those sick kids. And the mountain that I hate due to previous bad experiences. I know I could make it all happen, really I do. And it's not like we're at one of those military installations where you have to drive REALLY far to go to a civilian grocery store. That's going to really rot.

And I should think about switching around our money to cover our bills on the 15th. Which is honestly a luxury because some military families don't have money to switch around to cover bills. So I guess it's not bad for me. Hey, there are those fees but they're not that much, right?? And I hear some credit unions are extending money to service members, I guess they could spend some time looking into that...free time that I'm sure they have...

Lot's of people have it worse, right? Yeah. I know they do. People are losing their jobs, their health care....

Talked to the lady at the commissary. She's wondering what to do about all of those vegetables and milk and bread that will go bad if they are closed for too long. And then someone asked about the hospital. Would they be taking appointments if our kids needed to be seen? Oh, and would the schools be open? How about the child care center? And then housing, would they still deduct their full amount if we only got half a paycheck?

So many questions. And yet it may not happen. Or it may. But really at this point military families have felt the impact. Because we have been told that we matter, that the government cares about how we are doing, that we are dealing with enough "hurt."

No, we're not exempt from the rest of the "hurt" that America is feeling. But it does feel like we've had a lot. The administration keeps holding big ceremonies to honor our children who are hurting because of deployments. And there's the kind of hurt that goes along with sending our family members away so much that the government says they want to spend more money on programs for... The kind of hurt that goes along with the past nine years of fighting the wars that the government is spending a lot of money on. And now we have to worry more about our government not spending money on paying the one group of people they keep SAYING they NEED to spend more money on...

But I'm not worried too much. I have much bigger things to worry about like how I'm going to move my family of four across the country this summer with my husband gone. I know I don't have it bad. Not like a lot of other military families who live paycheck to paycheck who are now worrying if they are going to have enough money to pay their bills or if they are going to have a place to buy their groceries at because they don't have a car and they use post buses....and calling their spouses in Afghanistan and Iraq and making them worry about it all.

But really the the gov't says they really shouldn't worry. Because, you know, they will get it all straightened out...even if it does take a couple of weeks.