If you, like me when we first arrived at our duty station, are sitting at home bored, cranky and just downright unhappy because you can't find a job, can't get motivated to work on the job that you're doing from home, or being a housewife leaves you dealing with a constant lack of mental stimulation, then volunteering might be something worth looking into. When my husband and I came here (my first experience with a military base) my goal was to focus on the one thing I love doing: writing. I sat at home day after day after day beating myself upside the head trying to knock some organized thoughts onto the paper in front of me. Well, how can you write if you have nothing to write about? There are only so many pieces you can write about your every day boring events - your cat attacked you again when you least expected it and now you are sure he was hired by the government to either kill you or break you down, and your misadventures with the new vacuum cleaner you never should have bought because it just plain doesn't work - before you start to lose your mind and wonder why you suck so much.

I had to do something. So what did I do? The one thing I hate, of course. Attend a social thing. Gasp. I saw an ad in the paper about a new military spouse orientation program held at the Airman and Family Readiness Center. My first thought: Why in the world does it need to be five hours long? Second thought: A whole day with a bunch of gabby women I don't know does not sound like fun. I'd rather sit at home and talk to the cat.  

I'm one of those shy people, I guess. I don't mind meeting new people, I just don't like to talk to them. Wait. That sounded awful. But do you know what I mean? It's not that I don't like them or that I don't like to talk (ask my husband - he probably daydreams about stuffing socks in my mouth), it's just that I can'ttalk. I open my mouth to introduce myself and I end up calling myself by my maiden name (you would think that after almost a year I'd have it down, but no), stutter a lot with a few umms and ers, then correct myself way too loudly so it sounds like I'm yelling my name.

I have a volume problem. I either talk so quietly that I have to repeat myself seven times or I talk so loudly that I have to cover my ownears and everyone looks at me sideways and thinks I'm "special". The quiet talking usually comes out in loud places like restaurants and large rooms full of people, while the loud talking most often happens in libraries and banks.

So anyway. I decided to go because I'm new to the military and there's soooo much I didn't know and didn't understand about being a military spouse. Plus, I thought I might make some friends - if they didn't mind the fact that I'm a loud/quiet/question talker (I won't bore you with all the question talker nonsense now, don't worry). But at least I'm not a close talker, right?

Well, I went to the orientation, met some really nice people who didn't seem to notice my lack of talking, learned about all kinds of things I didn't even know about and probably wouldn't have learned for a super long time (like, did you know that once a year during Military Spouse Appreciation month that spouses can sign up to ride in a jet for a fake mission?), and - this is the shocking part - had fun!

Okay, we're getting closer to the point now. Volunteering and finding opportunities to do so.

So, at the event, the coordinator said something about needing volunteers to help plan some upcoming events. I mulled it over for a couple days. Planning isn't really my forte, I told myself. But then I remembered that time at my old job where I was in charge of planning fun and/or educational programs for teenagers and I actually did a decent job. The kids were sad when I left. Then I remembered my last job in graphic design. I knew basically nothing about it, but decided to do it anyway and I ended up loving it. So, maybe stepping out of the box for a bit wouldn't be so bad. I called the lady and we scheduled a meeting. The whole time I told myself that if I felt like I couldn't do it I would gently turn her down and find something else, but I was at least going to try. So I went. I tried. I loved it. Morale of this part of the story: Don't be afraid to step out of the box. Try something new. Even if you don't like it, at least you tried it and were able to come to an educated decision about why you didn't like it, right?

So, if you are a new military spouse and they offer such orientations, go for it. The information you receive that day will make military life a bit less confusing and will give you tons of resources that will be pertinent in your life throughout your spouse's career.

Your spouse has to undergo a ton of briefings when he is in-processing on a new base. This is another great opportunity for you to find places to volunteer. Have him ask the people giving briefings (he's briefed by everybody - Finance, Public Affairs, Legal, OSI, Security Force, Family Readiness Center, Medical Group, etc.) if they have any volunteer slots open. That's how I ended up volunteering for the base newspaper. Public Affairs mentioned during the briefing that they needed help, he threw out my name, I e-mailed them and Bam! Now not only am I doing what I love to do, but I'm also contributing to the community.

Ask around. Ask other spouses of people in your husband's career field. Call the Family Readiness Center and they should be able to steer you in the right direction.

The Air Force has the Airman's Attic where E-4s and under can get the things they need for free (like furniture, car seats). I'm not familiar with other branches of the military and if they have these or not, but if they do, it's definitely something to look into. The Airman's Attic is always looking for volunteers.

Read the base paper. They might have a listing in the back of volunteer opportunities.

Volunteering not only gives you something worthwhile to do, but it also helps the community. And, if you're a work-at-home person like me volunteering keeps you sane by getting you out of the house for a few hours a week.