Leave is over. I’m back to that whole single parenting gig. The Husband is legitimately back to work “in a mountain” as our kids call it. Which all means that he was home and I never said a word about it…unless you’re on your A game and noticed my mention of having 3 other people in my house. We keep things on the DL here, obviously.
But really, I feel like life is back to “deployment normal” now. And that sounds absolutely terrible if you really think about it, I know. I can’t help it, though. With this early rotation, it makes the whole thing difficult.
Wow…not at all where I wanted to go with this whole thing. Jumping back onto the train of thought I was on when I started, how about we try for a run-down of the last 2 weeks – bullet style.
- international flights and metro pick-ups were coordinated and made and whatnot. as usual, there were the last minute freak-outs from baby man about “no want Daddy, wanna go get Grandmom” but that was quickly forgotten when Daddy tapped on his window when we got to the metro.
- obscene amounts of laundry were done. which is tragically sad when you consider that The Husband brought home a whopping 2 outfits, 4 pairs of chonies, and a uniform that he wore the whole way home (which, ew. I love you dearly, TH, but seriously…ew. don’t ever do that again, please.)
- somewhere in here was a whole week that seemed like we did a whole lot of nothing, but I know we went places and did things. mostly it was just hanging out with the kids and doing the whole parenting/family thing. it was needed.
- we acquired a loan (a personal first…shuddup, I’m still a baby by most people’s definitions) and bought a new-to-us car to replace the car The Husband bought from his best friend’s father. if you followed that, I applaud you. I struggle with it myself, but that could be the exhaustion functionality.
- the day following the purchase of our new car, we packed up the family and drove to visit a friend for the 4th. let me just tell you that you need more than 2.5 days to adjust to being a family of 4 again before you stick yourselves in a car together for several hours to drive SOUTH on a major holiday weekend. ‘nough said.
- drank ourselves relaxed upon arriving at our friend’s house. our combined 3 children ended up running around her upstairs playing and generally keeping each other awake until well after midnight. I’d feel terrible about it, except for the part where her kid was a huge instigator of a large part of it.
- we did the whole beach thing one day, an indoor bounce playground thing the next day, and came home before fireworks on the 4th because I was ready to sleep in my own bed and zip my kids into theirs and pee in my own toilet and not worry about the messes we made and a whole host of other things that seemed earth-shattering then, but I was just cranky because
- holy UTI, Batman.
- jugs of cran-apple cocktail juice and more AZO than the instructions recommend, and I’m good as new. who’da thunk florescent colors could come from the human body?!
- went to Freedom Fest on base, and had to talk the boy child into liking the fireworks because he had himself convinced he wanted to be scared. so he sat in my lap and literally clung to my neck while he cackled with delight.
- MIL threw together a cookout on the 5th, after she got home from work. The Husband’s oldest sister was in town for some other function (she lives in TX, so visits are few and far between), so the only one missing was my BIL. fireworks for the kids at the end of the driveway, but they saved all the flashy ones for the end so I had to walk away and go back inside.
- against my instructions, my kids were permitted to play with sparklers, and then The Husband brought the girl child inside to me asking for a bag of ice and some burn ointment, because she’d touched her thumb to her 4th sparkler and had a healthy blister already bubbling up. amazing how a mother’s judgment is proven right time and again.
- home shenanigans abound. but like all good things, leave too must come to an end…right when things are starting to really settle in and run smoothly. new routine worked out, and suddenly it’s time to change it again.
- took The Husband back to the metro to go catch his first in a series of flights to get back to combat.
- as much as we might’ve liked to, there was no way I could’ve handled parking at the airport and getting all 4 of us through security to have to say goodbye at the gate and then walk back to the car alone with my kids. so we said our (tearful) goodbyes, and we drove away before the tears had a chance to blur my vision completely.
That was Friday. And while it’s only been 2 days since all that, it seems like a lifetime ago.
Saturday was my birthday, and despite plans for drunken debauchery, it remained relatively low-key. A few of my friends got together and we went to dinner and to play putt-putt. There was a little bit of movie watching, and then I came back home to my empty house (God bless my in-laws for keeping my kids so I could have some “me-time” for the weekend).
Today didn’t really exist, except in the passage of time. I mostly sat around doing a whole lot of nothing before having to scramble to drive back up to my parents to retrieve my couch cover since my mother most graciously agreed to wash it in her “over-sized” washer. Then she demanded I let her feed me, and like the obedient child I never was growing up I complied. My dad discussed the new car with me for a bit, then my mom came back outside to stick a birthday check in my hand before I left. Dropped the couch cover at home, and went to pick up my babies. We finally left an hour after I got there, and I had to drive past home to get gas because there was no way we’d get out of the house before the heat of the day to fill up, and I don’t want to have to worry about having no gas when/if we try to go somewhere fun. Babes in bed after 1030, a phone call from The Husband, extended conversations with my sister (who is currently making me so proud it almost physically hurts), and thus is my life.
On that oh-so cheery note, I do believe it’s time to stop making your eyes bleed and call it a night.
