Post 159: Nearly There

Well, in a few days the kids will go back to school, seems crazy almost. As if I blinked and summer was over. The only thing not over yet is the deployment, but that too is soon to end.

We had some wonderful weather here in England this summer - I'm not sure what summer's are normally like since this was my first English summer, but I loved it. We had days that we're hot enough for shorts. We had days you needed to pack shorts or pants in case the weather changed. The rumor is - "If you don't like the weather, you should move to England, because it changes every 5 minutes". I believe this to be true! Of course we still had plenty of rain, so you no matter what you think the weather is going to be for the day, in England, you go no-where without an umbrella! I hope next summer is as wonderful, so that David may experience it as well.

The kids & I have to make sure we've got everything ready for them to return to school on Thursday, so I've a feeling Tuesday or Wednesday might involve a bit of running around. I've got to get Brier some new shirts - as his are awful stained from last year. That boy can not stay clean for one minute! I've already gotten him some new gym shorts and Ashlynn some new trainers (shoes). She will need new shoes to go with her uniform, but she can get by with what she has for a bit longer, besides she don't like shoe shopping with Mom! Imagine that!

I don't know if they are looking forward to returning to school or not. One day it seems they are and the next, not so much. I do not think they are looking forward to going to bed at a decent hour or getting up early either. They've been staying up late all summer and sleeping in just as late! I am looking forward to getting our sleeping back on track though!

Hopefully, I can accomplish getting MY sleep back on schedule. It's so hard when David is gone. I believe sleeping and eating correctly are the 2 most difficult things to do when he is gone. He is not here to cook for, so the kids and I just have whatever - no real cooking involved. When we get tired of eating something we will fix us a good meal, but most the times it's a sandwich, or mac-n-cheese, or something quick and easy. We should all lose weight when he is gone and usually I do, but it hasn't dropped off as much as I wish it would have this time.

Then he is not here to go to bed with so I find things to do, I play on the computer, I scrapbook, I clean something, I watch T.V. or read a book and then I drag myself to bed when I can no longer keep my eyes open. Which is usually around oh 1 a.m. and then for some unknown reason to me I am up by 8 a.m.!!! It's absolute madness!

I don't know about you, but I find it so much more comforting to go to bed with my husband than alone. The bed is cold, the sheets are cold. There is no-one to snuggle with or keep you warm. No-one to kiss you goodnight or lay there and talk with. No-one to wake up to all sleepy eyed or hear say "Good morning, Sunshine." No matter how much you don't care for being called "sunshine". There is no loud snoring that wakes you up and makes you want to punch your husband. No ice cold feet that make you want to kick him. Nothing...just cold silence and in that cold silence, sleep is ever so slow to overtake you. You miss it, you miss it all.

However, today - I've not felt very well. I got up this morning at 8 a.m. I read a book til just before 1 - actually I finished the book - nothing new, right? Then I tried to get motivated to do something and was not getting very far when David logged on and we tried chatting for a bit.

Brier made that difficult. He loves making faces on the web cam to his Daddy. He was even giving him web cam hugs - it was priceless. I hope David is ready to be attacked when he returns, because I'm not sure he is going to get very far out of their sight for a while. I think I will go with him to pick up the kids at school and try to video tape it - it's such an amazing moment to witness...it might be nice to have it caught on film.

After, we were done attempting to talk, I went and took a nap - a much needed nap. I slept for like 2 hours and I awoke with a major headache. One of those kind that the lights hurt, moving around is not favored, and all you want to do is go back to bed. Know what I mean? Well, that's another downfall of a deployment - there is no one here to make sure the kids are doing okay or have eaten, other than you.

So as much as I didn't want to, I got up. I took some Tylenol and made my way down the stairs. Thankfully, the kids were behaving and both knew instantly that I didn't feel well. They've kept it quiet and I am thankful that they know when not to push me.

Ashlynn, is my little nurse. I don't know what this child will be when she is grown...but I'm sure it will be nothing short of amazing. She immediately came in and asked me if I wanted some soup. Precious. She made me some ramon noodles - she really enjoys cooking - no matter what it is, and I am glad of that. She was also aware enough of my condition to realize the lights would hurt and did not bother turning them on when she brought me the food. The plus side of a deployment - having children that are as sensitive to your needs are you are theirs, but that comes with age and if you've still got toddlers at home - then you've got a ways to go.

The truth be told - no matter how irritated I get at them; I actually have some pretty amazing kids. I love that I can take them with me to get my hair cut and know that they will sit still and behave themselves until I'm finished. Very few Mom's can take their children with them and actually be able to sit down and enjoy their haircut...without fear of what their kid is doing! I love that when we leave the salon, who ever was sitting in the waiting area as well - tells me "They were very well behaved". It makes me feel good and it makes me very proud of them.

I also enjoy that I can take them on coach trips for the day and not have to deal with them whining or complaining about the trip. They are very good little travelers! A thing the "military" life teaches you to be good at.

The only thing they would really rather NOT do - is go shopping, but since Daddy's been gone we've made that into a sport. We make our list and we time ourselves - we see how quickly we can get in and get out of the commissary. Some how we've managed to do it under 30 minutes and one time in 15 minutes! This makes us all happy, because they are not stuck in there bored stiff, wanting this and that, and there is not enough time in our race for me to get annoyed with them for it. Treating it like a sport has made it bearable for all 3 of us.

So even though this week maybe a bit on the hectic side, I know we will manage it together and get back into the school time routine before David even returns home. I look forward to having my "alone" time back, but even more than that I look forward to being able to keep up with my house a little better. It just doesn't stay near as clean during the summer - there is too much other stuff to do, than stay home and clean. Not only that, during a deployment - sitting around the house is not really favored - you have to get out, you have to do things...otherwise you'll sit here and drive yourself insane.

What I do not look forward to is the boredom. Yes, I'll be able to email David during the day as normal, but he won't be at work and just calling to call - even though he always manages to call right as I've sat down on the toilet! It's like he has this radar or something that goes off the moment I decide to go to the bathroom...all I have to do is sit down and that phone will ring! It's so irritating, but it definitely is NOT boring.

And he won't be walking through the door at 5:30, or showing up early just because he can...so what am I going to do to finish off the end of this deployment with the kids in school and David not home yet???

I will simply get the house back in order, have a wonderful dinner planned for him...and look forward to his 2-weeks of leave time upon return. Always having something to look forward to is the key to surviving a deployment. What I have to look forward to now - is his homecoming and that is the best part of all.