Another Post in the Same Week...

We were on our way home from church tonight when I decided that I wanted to talk to Hubster. He usually turns the radio on, so I don't get a chance to really talk to him in the car. He has been home for a little over 2 weeks now, and I told him that I have kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. I even asked him if he felt like the reintegration process this time has been easier. He agreed with me. It has felt like that we have picked up right where we left off. I just remember how hard it was the last deployment. It scares me in a way that this time, as of right now, seems to be flowing so easily. I'm praying that another shoe doesn't drop.

I did tell him that I miss those intense feelings that I experienced the first couple of days he was back in the States. Who wouldn't miss that high though? I'm enjoying every minute of our time together. We are already talking about taking a little minivacation during the summer. Just the 2 of us. Maybe during the time that we go to California to see his family. I think we might take a little 2 night trip to Tahoe or Reno. I could care less about the gambling, but the area is gorgeous. I'm sure that he would love it as much as I do.

Not Sure How Much I Will Post...

since Hubster is home. I just don't know what to write about.

We finally made it home Saturday morning at 145. I didn't think we would ever get here. It took nearly 13 hours to get home. The trip normally takes 9, but it seems that we had issues the entire time.

We had a fish fry and birthday party for Ms. Diva, aka KG, on Saturday night. She had so much fun as well as I did with my friend.

Sunday we went to church. Everybody was so glad to finally see Hubster. We went to Hubster's favorite restaurant for lunch. It was on the way to the airport. MIL and SIL went home yesterday. Last night at church, Pastor made the announcement that Hubster had made it home safely from Iraq. He asked Hubster to please stand up, and every body stood up and clapped. It brought tears to my eyes. Then he shared a special scripture about wives, and he said I was one of the greatest wives that he had ever seen.

Today is just getting everybody back in a routine. The boys have achievement tests at school, so their week is a little off any way. KG is already asking when she is going to be able to go to Ms. Heather's house to play with the blocks. We are planning on taking them tomorrow, so that way Hubster and I can have a lunch date. Sounds very exciting. Hubster has a dentist appointment today. I'm sure that is going to be fun. I had already made it before we found out that the VA was going to take care of his dental problems. Oh well, it won't hurt for him to get to know them.

We are still in that honeymoon phase of the return. Where we are just happy to be together, but I can already feel the doubts creeping in on my side. He has been awfully quiet. He doesn't talk, so I don't know what is going on with him. I hate asking questions because I feel that maybe he would just tell me. The kids though are still doing great with him. The girls cry when he leaves.

It Has Been a Long Time...

or so it seems since my last post.

The girls and Hubster are all taking naps, so I thought I would give a little update. We had a wonderful time during Hubster's liberty. Hubster and I had 2 nights to ourselves before the family invaded. I was so glad that the kids had a 4 day weekend. My parents and his sister and mom brought all 4 kids to GP for them to see him. We spent a day at the beach, and then we went and saw the USS Alabama. It was so much fun. I love history and every thing to do with it. I found that fascinating. We even got to tour a submarine. Now that was interesting. No way I could ever serve on one though.

I'm ready to go home though to my bed. The girls and I stayed with Hubster in GP while the rest of the family went home on Monday. This out processing by the Navy has been something. He started the process on Monday. Hubster was off on Wednesday. He went in for 3 hours today for medical and dental, and he still isn't done. Has some paperwork to fill out, and then we should be able to make the 9 hour road trip home tomorrow. I sure hope so because KG keeps saying she wants to sleep in her bed. I can't say I blame her. Hubster hasn't even seen our new house. I hope he likes it.

I forgot to tell how well the girls did upon seeing their Daddy. They wouldn't let him put them down. I didn't even get as much as a hello from them. They were all about their Daddy. I'm glad that they went right to him. That always worried me.

The Reunion...

Photo was taken shortly after Hubster got off the bus.

I forgot how intense the feeling would be of seeing Hubster again. I knew where the buses were the entire time. I will tell you there are not any words that can describe the intense feelings that you experience when I read the words. "We are on base". I started to shake. I was having a hard time remembering to breath. Then when you catch the first glimpse of the buses as they are being paraded around the base. Yes, they were paraded around the base before they got to us. They made the turn to get into the home stretch, and everybody that was there started shouting and hollering. Hubster was on the second bus. He was waving at me from the window, so I knew exactly where he was at. I watched his progress down the aisle. I was not losing sight of him. I got a picture of him as he stepped off the bus. They had told us to stay off the grass, but as soon as he stepped foot off, I ran to him. I could have cared less about the grass, and everybody else was the same way. If they didn't want us on the grass, they should have had the meeting in the parking lot. We were there nearly 2 hours waiting on his bag.

My heart did break for those that didn't have family there to greet them. I hugged a few of them to welcome them home. I hugged his friend a couple of times. He didn't have any family there to greet him. He actually took the picture above of us. I was kind of shocked that there were not that many people there. For over 200 Seabees, there were maybe 40 families there to greet their Seabee. I figured that there would be more with how close we were to the training place. I know that we live 2 states over, but I fully expected to see more people.

I probably won't post any thing else until after Hubster gets to see the kids. They are set to come out to see him in 2 days. KG saw the picture of Hubster and I on my FB page. Grandma showed it to her, and she told Grandma...There is my Daddy. There is my Daddy, and he is with my Mommy. Does Daddy get to hold me? I can't wait for her to actually see her Daddy. Daddy said that he would hold her as much as she wanted him too. BG was also hollering Daddy at the picture. I hope they take to him right away. I've tried to make sure that they know who he is.

The End...

I'm writing this post the night before Hubster is set to be home. I will publish this post as soon as Hubster has safely made his way back into my arms. I wanted to try to put into words what it is like the day and night before they get home.

I woke up Sunday morning at 5 AM. It is now Monday morning at 1 AM. I'm still wide awake. I am running on pure adrenaline right now. The excitement of seeing Hubster after 7 months is beyond any words that I could use to describe it. I sit here on the bed, and I anxiously count the hours until I think he might be here. I have set my phone beside the bed waiting for his picture to pop up when he has finally landed safely in the US. It will be the first phone call from his cell phone in 205 days. I don't know what kind of emotions I will experience when that first call comes through, but I'm sure they will be all over the place. I've got to try and get some sleep. I'm wiped out.

It is now 730 PM on Monday night. Hubster still hasn't made it home. They had mechanical issues with the plane, so instead of being here with me, he sits in a hotel room still over a thousand miles away. Hoping to get home Tuesday. I'm not nervous or anxious any more. I just want to have him home. The saying....SEMPER GUMBY....certainly fits with today.

HE IS BACK IN THE STATES!!!!!!!!

Deployments are Like Pregnancies...

I sent this to Hubster towards the end of the last deployment. I came across it this afternoon when I was looking at the old emails from him that I had received while he was gone. I kept every single one of the emails that he sent to me.

This has been the longest 10 months of my life. I am starting to think of this as kinda like being pregnant.

You suffer for the first few months with sickness. ( You wake up every morning with your stomach churning. Hoping that you don't get a knock on your door from a person in a dress uniform. Looking at every car that might happen to stop or slow down in front of your house and praying that it is not somebody from the military. )

Then you have your second trimester where you start to feel the movement of the baby and you don't have that sickness anymore. ( You have learned at this point not to worry as much about that car that has stopped. You still have that worry in the back of your mind, but you pray every day that the Lord will keep him safe for you. It is about this time that you hit the half way point. This is when the baby moves. You realize that their really is something there. That it won't be long until you see them again. That you have made it through what is supposedly the worst part.)

Then you hit that final trimester. Oh the excitement of finally getting to see the face of who you have been carrying under your heart for this long. There is still some pain and agony involved. The anticipation of the delivery. The delivery that keeps getting moved back. By the time that you have reached the 9 month stage you just want it to be over. You are so tired. Every little thing that can go wrong probably will during this time. ( This is when you start to get to the nitty gritty. It becomes hard for you to focus. All you want to think about is the end. You are tired. You are stressed. This is the hardest part of all. This is the longest 3 months of your life. You just want them to be over. You want to see the end result. )

Then you finally make it to delivery. The labor is not easy, but the rewards of finally seeing your child are worth it. ( I feel that we are in the delivery stage about now. This portion of the deployment is not easy. There is still going to be alot of pushing, but in the end it will all be worth it. Just as you think that you have finally made it to the end, something happens to make it get pushed back. But when we make it to that final step, the step of actually seeing each other again, it will be worth it. The pain and loneliness will just vanish. All we will think about is how wonderful it is to be in each others arms again.)

Hmmmmm....

Life has been so incredibly hectic this week, that I haven't had the time to blog. I decided that I would tonight, since the girls are in bed and asleep.

Things are weighing heavily on me. Hubster is due home soon. There is so much joy in knowing that ours is ending. I feel a sadness though too. It feels like another chapter is coming to an end. It is coming to an end. The anxiety of the not knowing, the what ifs. I just need to give them over to God.

I went and got the base decal today for the Explorer, and the guy was a total butt. My drivers license is still in my maiden name. He told me he could make a big stink about it, and that it could cause me problems. Fine...Whatever...What would you like me to do? I don't exactly have the time to go to the DPS office, and then have it changed to my married name. It is the only thing that is still in my maiden name. Yes, I know it needs to be changed, but I don't have any desire to run up there to do it. I have car insurance. I have the title. I have the registration. What else do you want? I guess they want my name to be the same as my husband's last name. Give me a freaking break.

I have so much to do tomorrow. I'm hoping that I can get every thing on my list completed. Plus sometime during that time talk to Hubster.

Part of the Deployment Check list is Done...

I can mark off clean out Hubster's half of the closet that I took over. I can mark off the clean out the dresser, so that Hubster has a place to put his clothes. That is the fun of moving during a deployment. I packed his clothes up, but I never unpacked them. I just took over the entire dresser and 3/4 of the closet. Had to rearrange some things though in order to clear out of a place for his clothes. The problem is that I can't remember where exactly I put his clothes. Oops. Hope that I find them soon.

I can also mark off the clean my house off my list. It is now cleaner than it has been since we moved in. I'm loving how nice it looks. Anybody want to come and visit?

Just need to start making a list of things to pack. Find my swimsuit. Find Hubster's swimsuit, and pack his bag too for our trip to Destin. I can't wait to see him. Love that man more than he will ever know.

Happy Easter!!!

The last holiday that we will spend without Hubster this deployment. I can't believe that I can finally type that. This deployment has seemed so long in most aspects, but in some it has seemed so short.

Easter is one of those holidays that I think people have lost sight of what it really means. It is wonderful to know that I serve a living Savior. One that was crucified on a cross. Who laid down His life for my sins. Then 3 days later arose from the grave. Wow, that sends goosebumps down my arms just thinking about it.

I told Pastor today the due date. He said that was one of the best Easter gifts he could imagine. He can't wait to see Hubster. All of our friends can't wait to see him.

The kids and I went to a friend's house Friday night for supper and games. It was so much fun. I laughed and laughed. I was telling Hubster about it, and I was telling him who was all there. I told him that DH and his wife were there. I know he will know them as soon as he sees them. They sit behind us in church. He finally got exasperated with me, and he told me that he couldn't believe that I wouldn't tell him who DH was. He thought I was just giving him DH's initials like I do when we talk about some of the wives. I started laughing because his name is really DH. He goes by his initials.

Yesterday I was trying to figure out what to wear for Easter and homecoming. I finally decided on some sandals, a jean skirt that I have, and I bought a t-shirt that I think will be cute. It should be all that I need. I've got to get some packing done. It is very close to homecoming time. I was telling somebody that I can't wait to just smell him. You don't realize how much that you miss that smell when they are gone.

We are going this afternoon to Aunt Margaret's and Uncle Gregg's house. The girls will get to hunt eggs there. She texted me about 1130 to see if I wanted to bring them over. The boys hopped all over that one. We went to the 830 service at church this morning. Then I took the kids to Mimi's Cafe for brunch. That place is so good. I really love the food. Told them I was NOT fixing them lunch though. They all 4 pigged out.

Can't Believe I haven't Posted since Sunday...

Guess this week got away from me. I don't know how that happened. It has been an exciting week to say the least.

MIL is due in next week. She will be staying for 17 days with us. SIL will be in the week after that. She is going to be staying with us for 11 days. The kids are all very excited as am I.

KB is still having issues in school. He got 9 conducts, and I got 2 emails from his teacher. He has been grounded until further notice. He has a book report that is going to be assigned next week, so he is going to get an early start on it tomorrow.

The other kids are doing good. I got a wonderful report on TB from his teacher. I always love that. Everybody seems to just love him. They all talk about how helpful, and loving, and how he always has a smile. Wonder where that same kid is? I don't see him at home. At least he behaves himself at school.

I had to have half my mouth deep cleaned. That is what happens when you don't go to the dentist like you are supposed to. The right side of my mouth is hurting. I had to eat soft foods today. I'm dreading having the other side done.

Not really much else going on. We are very close to Hubster's return. He informed me that he has volunteered to go deploy with another battalion in August. Not sure I'm ready to face another deployment if it comes down to it, but I will. He told me today that he knows the point of contact, and he hopes that gives him a leg up. This seems to be what he wants to do, and I will support him 110% in it. We have not informed the kids that this might be a possibility. I don't see any reason to do that if it doesn't happen. I did inform our Sunday school class, but that was only so that they could also pray that we get God's guidance on this. This is a big deal.