Homecoming day April 25, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two years…. we’ve been stationed here two years and after two years, he’s finally home.  I’ve seen him a total of a month and a half, but not all at once.  But he’s home now.  *sigh of relief*

 

The funnier part of that – “that house” will be done next week.  He missed all the fun!

 

He flew home earlier than the ship to make room for what’s called “The Tiger Cruise”, where they take civilians on board (no spouses for obvious reasons) to show them what their sailor’s life has been like.  So my husbands bunk is now occupied by some grandmother… we’re having a great time picturing her trying to climb into his top bunk!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the oldest is 18 now, we left the 3 younger’s in his care while I headed off to the base almost 3 hours away.  First time… I was sweating it a bit.  (No deaths to report however)

 

My attempt to reach my husband, on the most beautiful week we’ve seen in literally 6 months, was quite the adventure.  An hour and a half through beautiful farms next to the water, over long bridges, narrow country roads with trees overhead just to get to the ferry that I almost missed in spite of leaving early.  I was the last car on….. nearly hanging off.   If I had to of waited for the next one, I would have been an hour and a half late to pick him up – Not cool.  I was so happy to have made it, tears were coming to my eyes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ferry ride made for a good time to finish up soccer plans for the evening (not mine, but my teams) and contractor talk and then politely telling them I won’t be answering the phone for two days…. so you can try to call, but I’m not answering!  A nice forty-five minute ride across and I was delivered to the island where the base is located.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I managed to hit school release.  *sigh* Darn public schoolers!

 

Finally I made it to the base.  I was so excited to have made it, I had forgotten to ask the guards for map at the gate which left me up to my own, directionally challenged self, to find where his plane was landing…. on an air base…. which means planes are everywhere you look.  I am now very well acquainted with this base.  Finally seeing a building where women were all decked out in their finest AND hauling babies in strollers, I figured that must be the spot!

 

I parked myself in the terminal the furthest from the crowd I could get and began reading while waiting,  in an attempt to not hear everyone’s conversations about their sexy new skivvies, how they made their outfit, their babies outfit and decked out the house for homecoming all from Pinterest, or how they’re going to mount their man in the parking lot…. ok, maybe the reading wasn’t working so well?  Anyway, I figured he’d be one of the last guys off, so I wasn’t going to stand at the door.  The next thing I know the woman in front of me who had been nervously chatting up the woman next to her for 30 minutes stopped, looked at me in sheer disgust, hands to her side in “Jazz hands” style and a grunt in her throat as my husband poked me to get my attention.

 

“Oh – hey!”  *Picture my grin from ear-to-ear*

Her face of “That’s it?” as we turned to the doors and walked out, was left behind.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here!!”

 

We headed to the base hotel that we booked for the night just the two of us.  Dinner, a little t.v., pictures of his adventures and some alone time.  He was finally home.

 

What an amazing day!

 

 

 

Let the countdown begin! April 19, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

Just a bit longer now until my dentist man comes home and we begin a whole new adventure.

 

He has decided after this last crazy, crazy deployment that he wants to stick around a bit more, so he’ll be taking a job with a fellow student he went to dental school with and switch to the Navy reserves.

 

At least for now.

 

The longest we’ve ever stayed in one place is four years, even out of the military, so we’ll see how long he can take it.  *laughs*

 

So while I’m getting the last few items checked of my list that absolutely need to be done before he get’s home.  And checking off the last few items that I want to get done before he get’s home, I’m fitting in a little sewing time to calm my nerves.

 

 

 

Working hard….

 

 

 

 

“Nerves?” you say?  Yes, nerves.  He hasn’t seen me in 8 months – a very LONG 8 months and I’m not the same person after this “interesting” last year.  Not to mention the upcoming changes.  It’s all a bit much.

 

So while I’m a bit apprehensive about his arrival day, I’m very excited for his homecoming, and our brand new adventure in wide open spaces!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stupid question? April 12, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve all heard that there is no such thing as a stupid question…. but we all know that there really is.

 

Or “Ask a stupid question; get a stupid answer.”  which is probably more accurate than the first line here.

 

As a homeschool mom, I get all kinds of questions all. day. long.  Some really good ones, some that are just part of schoolwork and then there are some questions that you really have to wonder about…. “Child, did you just seriously ask me that?”

 

I am notorious for asking stupid questions though (just ask my husband) – some I don’t expect answer’s too, some are honest questions that I probably should know the answer to, but don’t.  And since no one wants to answer them, I’m left wondering.  Sometimes, that can be a very bad thing….

 

 

 

I remember once in high school, asking someone what the piece of paper was that came with my car tags every year, “You should know that by now.” and they walked off.  About 10 years later I found out it was the registration for my car and I had been throwing it out all those years not knowing.

Should I have known?  Probably.  But if no one tells you, how do you find out?

 

Which is why I always, always answer honest questions, no matter how stupid they sound…. I may answer with a giggle, but I answer none-the-less!

 

I’m not talking rude questions here…. “Are you done having kids?” asked the Sears appliance woman.  I just looked at her in dismay?

 

I thought of this the other day when my oldest came home from school and was telling me about his day.  He was talking about his new Business Statistics teacher.  He had dared ask a question in class and the teacher began a 15 minute lecture on how stupid the question was and told him he obviously needed to go back to pre-algebra.  Nice – what is the school paying you for again?

Thank goodness he has a tutor who actually does her job!  In spite of struggling with math, he’s top of his class, no thanks to a teacher who thinks it’s above him to answer questions.

When he went to class the next week, he ended up showing his teacher how to use his own calculator.

 

If there is any point here, it’s that there really are dumb questions, but as long as they’re honest questions – answer them.  At some point in time, you’ll have dumb questions too.  We all have them.  And they all need to be answered.

 

 

Questions?

 

 

 

Hey there, sailor man! April 5, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

I’m glad to say that my sailor man’s ship is on its way home.  Don’t worry OPSEC Nazi’s, I didn’t say the date, time, where they were at or anything that wasn’t already on FB – BREATH!

 

While I’m still holding my breath with all the N. Korea craziness, I think they’ll actually come home to stay this time.  This last cruise wasn’t planned, but that’s part and parcel when you sign up!

 

What makes me laugh is all the posts on the several different pages I belong to.  You can always tell when things are getting closer.  Every cruise you read things like “OMG’sh – does anyone have this workout video, I need to get back into shape before the ship pulls in!”  Oh honey – you’re not going to lose those 20 lbs and 6 inches you put on in the two weeks before they get here.  But thanks for the entertainment!

 

I know – that’s harsh….

 

We all do it in various ways.  Getting our hair done, tanned up, nails done, some new clothes.  You may recall my post from the last cruise on this subject?  I’m sure there are more ways to get “purdy-fied” than I can… or want to even imagine.

 

After 3,6,9 or 12 months, can anyone blame us for wanting to look good?  Granted, our husbands and boyfriends (girlfriends and wives), will just be happy to finally see us again, but after that long, memories may have changed.  “Is that a new wrinkle – DANG-IT!”  It’s bad enough when you live with them and they see the changes on a daily basis, but when they come home and a long, harsh deployment has left you with some new “wisdom lines” and “silver” hairs or as above, a few extra inches; this can be a bit shocking when they pull back in and expect the person they left behind.

 

Let’s be honest, all the work that was just put in, those few extra lines, grey’s, inches, pounds and pasty white legs, don’t really matter when they step off that boat and see their loved ones again, we all know what’s really on everyone’s mind!

 

 

The Last Supper April 2, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

I showed you a few weeks ago the yards and yards of fabric I had to work with for an Easter play at our church.  And after about 6 weeks, several measurements and several more trips to the fabric store we had these –

 

 

 

 

 

The guys all looked great (and a few women not pictured here)

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It was a great play on Good Friday and the ending was on Easter – my favorite holiday.

 

For me, Easter is even more important than Christmas.  Yes Jesus came down from His greatness at Christmas to be a helpless baby, giving up everything to be like us, but in the end, that seems the easy part.  The hard part was seeing what turds we were and STILL dying for us!  To me, this is the most amazing thing in all the world!  To sacrifice for us…. us…. me…. yeah, because I’m one of those colossal screw ups too and He could have decided anytime that “Father – these people are not worth it.  I’m coming back up and they can work this out for themselves.”  But He didn’t.

 

And no bunny, no chocolate, no jelly beans can compare to that great, amazing gift!